The Michigan Daily/New Student Edition -Thursday, September 7,1989 - Page 13
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Volume C, No.1
Ann Arbor, Michigan - Thursday, September 7, 1989
Page 13
Some
frats drop pledging to end hazing
By Noelle Vance
* Daily Staff Writer
Three fraternities with chapters at
the University will eliminate or
shorten their "pledge periods" in re-
sponse to a national concern that
pledging leads to hazing.
Zeta Beta Tau and Tau Kappa
Epsilon will be the first fraternities
to eliminate their pledge programs
beginning this fall and in Sept.
1991, respectively.
The third, Alpha Epsilon Pi, will
shorten its pledge period from 12
weeks to eight weeks.
According to a TKE International
Fraternity press release, hazing has
led to the deaths of about 55 frater-
nity pledges in the past decade and
has prompted several fraternities to
implement "no hazing" policies.
Many activities are technically
considered hazing because they do
not involve education about the
house, but are generally accepted be-
cause they are also designed to
"unify the brotherhood."
On campus these activities have
included cleaning or building onto
the fraternity house and carrying or
wearing weird objects and clothes.
"It was the best semester of my
life," said AEI Vice President Brian
Robbins of the semester he pledged.
The danger of hazing comes when
members do not realize the limits of
their pledges, for instance by making
them drink too much. It is these in-
stances that the fraternities say they
are trying to combat.
ZBT, TKE, and AErI have had
anti-hazing policies for several years,
but, said University ZBT Chapter
President Adam Dishell, "A no haz-
ing policy just won't do it any-
more." Any "two-tiered" pledging
system that allows some members
to feel superior can lead to hazing,
he said.
Under ZBT's "new brotherhood"
program, rushees who are given bids
will be known as "neophites," or
new brothers. They will immediately
become members of the fraternity
and have the same rights and privi-
leges - such as attending chapter
meetings - of older members.
The new programs may cause a
letdown for new rushees who look
forward to pledging, Dishell said. "I
loved pledging... I learned from ex-
periencing... and after my first chap-
ter meeting I was on a high."
ZBT's program is similar to
TKE's "associative member" pro-
gram, which will be implemented by
Sept. 1991. Unlike ZBT, TKE will
not consider those who accept bids
to be members of the fraternity dur-
ing the two weeks before initiation.
"They will be in limbo," said
University TKE Chapter President
Bill Chalmers, an LSA junior.
During the two-week waiting period,
new members will participate in ac-
tivities like the big brother, little
brother program. But the TKE's
have not yet planned any other pro-
grams.
"That's one of the problems,"
Chalmers said. "There's got to be
more (activities), but it won't be
pledging."
Another problem without pledg-
ing, Chalmers said, will be speeding
up the get-to-know-you process dur-
ing rush. "If this guy is going to be
your brother in two weeks, you'd
better take it seriously," he said.
Some have suggested lengthening
the rush period or making it more
formal. TKE, for example, will have
prospective members interview with
a panel of active members.
The new programs have drawn
mixed reviews, Dishell said. "A lot
of us were upset when this hap-
pened, but we realize it's time to
quired to shorten their pledge periods
on a trial basis to periods less than
the traditional 12 weeks.
So far, members of the
University's AEI chapter seem dis-
satisfied with the change to an eight-
week pledge period. "There is no
way 300 guys can meet 100 guys
any quicker," said University AEFI
Chapter President Adam Goodrich.
'A lot of us were upset when this happened,
but we realize it's time to grow up.'
- ZBT Chapter President
Adam Dishell
TKE's Chalmers said. "(Pledges)
won't be scrubbing floors."
ZBT's Dishell said, "(In the
past), activities have always been
done by pledge class. Now it will be
done by year."
Some say more fraternities will
be -moving in the same direction in
the future.
Both ZBT and TKE have been
developing their programs for several
years. A few others, such as Kappa
Sigma and Theta Delta Chi, are just
beginning to look into eliminating
pledging.
"I don't know how well it will
go over," said TKE Pledge Trainer
Glen Silas, an LSA junior. "It
should be more up to the chapter...
If that's the policy (no pledging) on
that campus, it will go over well. If
no one else adopts this policy, we'll
get nine million people because they
know they don't have to pledge or
hardly any because that's not what
they're looking for."
So far, said Chalmers, the dissen-
sion from the new policies has come
from people who don't know about
the program.
grow up."
Immediately accepting new
members seems formidable to some.
"You don't really know who they
are," said Matt Brown, AEII social
chair. "It's like subletting an apart-
ment for these guys."
AETI will not eliminate pledging
this year, because a motion to do so
failed this summer at the fraternity's
national convention in Scottsdale,
Ariz. Instead, all chapters will be re-
AEII's Robbins agreed, saying,
"It's the difference between cram-
ming for an exam and studying for a
semester."
The National Council will vote
on whether to keep the changes in
August 1990.
Though some critics have said
the new programs are nothing more
than renaming the traditional pledge
programs, those involved disagree.
"There's no subordination."
-Court injunction sends
University
Hospital
nurses back to work
* by Michelle Rabidoux
Daily Staff Writer
The University of Michigan
Hospital has won round- one of the
labor dispute with, the striking
members of the University of
Michigan Professional Nurse
Council (UMPNC). The hospital
was awarded a court injunction July
31, forcing the nurses to return to
work on a temporary basis.
The injunction, filed with Judge
Melinda Morris at the Washtenaw
County Circuit Court, included a
court order which forces union and
management negotiators to meet and
bargain August 1 and 2.
The action by the University of
Michigan Hospitals came on the
thirteenth day of the nurses strike.
The University Hospital claimed in
the injunction that the strike was en-
dangering the safety of patients.
"The strike has rendered us unable
to provide care for those patients
awaiting surgery and treatments
which cannot readily be provided for
at other institutions," said Toni
Shears, information officer at the
hospital.
She added that "the strike is ad-
versely affecting training programs
for interns and residents as well as
research activities."
Diane Waller, chief negotiator for
the Michigan Nurses Association
(UMPNC is a bargaining unit of
MNA), said the restraining order re-
quires the nurses to return to work
when they are notified of the court
order by their employer.
With a bargaining date set by the
court, Waller feels that the
University may be more willing to
discuss points of labor that they
have been reluctant to discuss before.
"I think now that the supervisors
have been working long hours
(described as 12 hours a day), they
will be more sympathetic to our
feelings about working long hours,"
she said. The supervisors, composed
of head and assistant head nurses, do
not belong to the union and did not
strike.
Registered Nurse Deborah Stoll,
spokesperson for the UMPNC, said'
"I believe most of our members are
going back to work as ordered."
However, some striking RNs are re-
porting to work and then being sent
home with vacation pay as the num-
ber of patients at the hospital is
much lower than normal.
"The OR (operating room) and
the ICU (intensive care unit) are
gearing up. They are planning 100
admissions today alone," said Stoll.
Michael Harrison, hospital
spokesperson from the Office of
Planning and Marketing, reported
that the nurses were "coming in in
big numbers" today.
"We had 88.64 percent of the
nurses on the day shift report to
work." This figure compares with
hospital reports of 40 percent to 50
percent reporting to work during the
strike.
"The emergency room is taking a
full patient load," Harrison said. 100
percent of the nurses scheduled for
the day shift in the ER reported for
work today, according to Harrison.
As of August 1, 35 percent of the
hospital's beds were occupied.
Members of the UMPNC have
been on strike since July 19. Their
contract with the University expired
on May 30, but it was renewed on a
week to week basis until July 7
when negotiations broke down.
The 1,700-member UMPNC
voted down the latest contract offer
from the University on July 27, by a
margin of 3 to 1.
One of the Council's strongest
objections to the contract involved
the issue of possible bonuses for
mandatory overtime. The nurses
union would like to gain a system of
voluntary overtime, along with more
control over staffing and scheduling,
and greater recruitment and retention
efforts from the university.
The nurses gave strike notifica-
tion July 7. Most patients were then
discharged or transferred to other
hospitals. The hospital did take
some emergency cases and surgeries
during the strike, Shears said.
"We are also continuing to accept
some patients through labor and de-
livery," Shears said July 31. She
noted that 11 babies were born July
27 and 28.
Other area hospitals received an
increase in patients since the strike
began.
'U' hires new Hispanic rep.
by Kathryn DeMott
Daily Staff Writer
The year-long search for a Hispanic Represen-
tative in the Minority Student Services office
ended in mid-July with the appointment of
Katalin Berdy.
Berdy had worked for four and a half years as a
counselor and a supervisor at Latinos for Social
and Economic Development, an organization
which works with Detroit schools to promote
higher education for Latino students.
As Latino representative in the MSS office,
the counseling office which provides minority
students with information about University re-
sources, Berdy will work with students to plan
* events uniting the Hispanic student body.
Berdy to take
charge in new
MSS position
tended the University of Detroit, where she earned
a bachelor of arts degree and a master's degree in
criminal justice. To make tuition payments, she
worked at the Saint Francis Home for Boys in
Detroit, where she grew fond of working with
young people.
Berdy said coming to the United States by.
herself has helped her understand the pains asso-
ciated with assimilating into a different culture.
She feels confident in her ability to counsel new
students because "I know what (new Latino stu-
dents') needs are and understand the fears of tran-
sition."
While minority innort efforts have imnronved
I want to go out there with
a
megaphone.'
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