Wednesday
September 24, 2003
@2003 The Michigan Daily
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Vol. CXIII, No. 17
One-hundred-twelve years ofed tonallfreedom
TODAY:
Windy with
thunder-
storms dur-
ing the day
and contin-
uing into
the night.
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{UW7: 47
Tomorrow:
www.michigandailycom
IFC expels frat for hazing allegations
Greek council withdraws recognition of
Sigma Chi after student is hospitalized for
dehydration, kidney failure
By Maria Sprow
Daily Staff Reporter
The Interfraternity Council late Monday night unanimous-
ly voted to withdraw its recognition of the Sigma Chi frater-
nity following the alleged hazing of a pledge who was
hospitalized for kidney failure. The move cuts Sigma Chi's
ties to the University.
University officials said they spoke with family members,
who charged that the hazing involved a physically exhausting
and demanding amount of exercise. Details on how many fra-
ternity brothers were involved, whether any other hazing inci-
dents occurred and exactly how the pledges were forced into
participating are still unknown, the officials said.
Greek Life Assistant Director John Duncan said the student
and seven other members of his pledge class were "not given
much food or water and they had to do an extensive amount of
exercise for an extended period of time."
Sometime after the initiation, the student, a Kinesiology
junior and Ann Arbor resident, reported the incident to his
family, who drove him to a nearby hospital. He was admitted
Sept. 14 with muscle breakdown, which led to acute renal fail-
ure.
"We are under the impression that (acute renal failure) can
be a result of (dehydration and food deprivation), and that is
what we are operating under right now," Duncan said.
The student's mother contacted the Office of Greek Life on
Sept. 17 to inform it of the hazing incident. The student was
released from the hospital Sept. 19. University officials said he
is still recovering.
Sigma Chi President David McMurtrie, as well as sever-
al other members of the fraternity, declined yesterday to
comment about the allegations or the revocation of their
charter yesterday.
Calls were not returned from the national Sigma Chi head-
quarters in Illinois, but University officials said the national
chapter has revoked the local chapter's charter for an "indefi-
nite period of time."
Also as a result of the allegations, IFC President Branden
Muhl said Sigma Chi will no longer be recognized by or
receive benefits from the rest of the Greek community until the
"It's absolutely unfathomable what
would produce or provoke hazing
such as this.'
- Branden Muhl
Interfraternity Council president
national fraternity petitions to return to its former status.
The IFC's constitution states that "chapters will respect the
human dignity of all persons and will not physically, psycho-
logically, or sexually abuse any human being" and defines
hazing as "any action or situation, with or without the consent
of the participants, which recklessly, intentionally, or uninten-
tionally endangers the mental, physical, or academic health of
a student."
Muhl added that it is a policy that the IFC strives to strictly
enforce.
"It's absolutely unfathomable what would produce or pro-
voke hazing such as this," he said. "This is completely unac-
ceptable"
See HAZING, Page 7
'U' extends
policy on
identity
theft, fraud
By Carmen Johnson
Daily Staff Reporter
Last fall, Fadi Kiblawi signed into his
e-mail account at the Shapiro Under-
graduate Library and saw an unusually
large number of e-mails flooding his
inbox.
The messages were mostly angry
replies to an offensive e-mail that
appeared to be written and sent by
Kiblawi, then an LSA senior.
Soon Kiblawi realized he was the vic-
tim of forgery and called the Depart-
ment of Public Safety.
This year, the University has adopted
a tougher stance toward identity misrep-
resentation, responding to "spoofed" e-
mail incidents like Kiblawi's and this
summer's arrest of former Rackham stu-
dent Ning Ma, who is charged with
hacking into University e-mail accounts.
Before September, the University's
New Standard Practice Guide included
guidelines for plagiarism and similar
frauds. But last week a University task-
force introduced new identity misrepre-
sentation policies, which singled out
e-mail spoofing and spam as punishable
offenses.
"We have reaffirmed the core values
of our community, that we have to be
responsible for our information sources
and be aware of where it comes from,"
said committee head James Hilton, asso-
ciate provost for academic information
and instructional technology affairs.
As stated in the guide, University
community members may not "assume
another person's identity or role through
See IDENTITY, Page 7
TAKE TIME FOR NAPTIME
JOEL FRIEDMAN/Daily
Following allegations that Sigma Chi fraternity members
hazed pledges, the Interfraternity Council voted on Monday to
withdraw its recognition of the fraternity.
DPS arrests
suspect in
knife incident
By Victoria Edwards
Daily Staff Reporter
The Department of Public Safety arrested a 42-year-old
homeless man who allegedly assaulted a 22-year-old Universi-
ty student on South State Street late Monday night.
The man, who was turned over to the Ann Arbor Police
Department, was speaking incoherently and reportedly
ordered the student to take him to "the underground" or he
would kill him, AAPD reports state. The victim said he told
the suspect he didn't know what he meant, and he was able
to run away unharmed.
Police declined to say what the man's motive was or
whether alcohol was involved. "We do know whether or not
he was intoxicated, but at this point I don't feel comfortable
telling you about it. It has to do with his intent, and it might
interfere with the investigation, which is ongoing," AAPD
Sgt. Laura Anderson said.
"(The student) was somehow able to get away from the sus-
pect without getting injured,-but I don't know-how;' AAPD
Sgt. Paul Curtis said.
Anderson said that DPS arrested the suspect and turned
him over to AAPD officers, who brought him to Washtenaw
County Jail. She would not give the date of the man's
arraignment, but said arraignments ordinarily take place the
day after the crime.
The reported attack came a day after another violent assault,
when a 20-year-old female University student was attacked at
4 a.m. Sunday morning, as she walked alone down Oakland
Avenue near Tappan Street, AAPD reports state.
According to reports, the student began to hear footsteps
following her, which led her to call a friend on her cell
phone and ask to meet her halfway home. The male
assailant pushed her to the ground, grabbing her shoulders
from behind her.
The aggressor reportedly straddled the woman and attempt-
ed to muffle her screams when another man rescued her by
pushing the attacker off.
The aggressor fled on foot and the woman did not
report any injuries. The suspect is described as being a 5
See ARREST, Page 7
DAVID TUMAN/Daily
A student takes time out to sleep between classes in the Shapiro Undergraduate Library yesterday afternoon. Experts say sleep deprivation
is common among college students.
Experts
By JaMeel Naqvi
For the Daily
link depressiorn, slee)
Some psychologists say students who
deprive themselves of sleep - whether
because of jobs, social habits, approaching
midterms or irregular class schedules - may
be putting themselves at risk for depression
and other health problems.
"I definitely don't get enough sleep," said
LSA freshman Robert Rice, who said he
sleeps between five and eight hours a night.
Rice has balanced work and school since
he was 15, so he said he is used to the daily
Sleep deprivation
perpetuates a vicious
cycle that causes stress,
which in turn, hinders
restful sleep.
grind. Rice attributed his lack of sleep to the
commute from his off-campus house to class
and to his job as a manager at BankOne.
Like many students, he enjoyed the honey-
Sdeprivatirn
moon of welcome week only to settle into
the hustle and bustle of campus life.
Rice is not alone, psychology Prof. Teresa
Lee said.
"Virtually all kids are coping with some
sleep deprivation," Lee said. There is plenty
of data to support the claim that college stu-
dents are disproportionately affected by sleep
deprivation, Lee added.
"Long-term sleep deprivation can lead to
depression," she said. The New York Times
recently reported a correlhtion between high-
er rates of depression among college students
See SLEEP, Page 7
Protesters rally for Borders workers
Weight-ing for a new floor
By Adam Rosen
Daily Staff Reporter
Protesters said Borders has deliberately sought
to keep its employees non-unionized and punished
them when they voted to unionize by a 92 percent
vote last December.
"Borders has been able to crush the union work-
ers, and we are trying to make sure that doesn't
happen any longer," protester Mark Dilley said.
Dilley said it is particularly insulting that the
Borders in Ann Arbor is not allowing its employ-
ees to organize. "This is store number one," Dil-
ley said, referring to the fact that Borders started
in Ann Arbor.
Founded 10 days ago, Borders Readers United
placed about 60 people around the front entrance
of Borders, marching, chanting and picketing -
all under the watchful eye of several Ann Arbor
Police Department officers.
Had they entered the store, the protesters could
have been arrested, they said.
"(Borders Readers United) is a coalition of
community groups that have come together to sup-
port Borders employees," member and Rackham
student Matt Ides said.
Complaints voiced by protesters ranged from
insufficient wages to excessive demands placed on
employees due to understaffing. They said the
contract Borders has offered them would make
them worse off than they are now.
Borders management could not be reached by
phone last night to comment. In the past, man-
agers have said they encourage communication
with employees and do not feel unionization is
necessary.
The few protesters who stayed after the demon-
stration all agreed that the average book buyer
should also care about Borders' treatment of its
employees, noting that customer service has been
affected by the recent unionization conflict.
See BORDERS, Page 7
Lack of jobs prompts
students to try law
By Karen Schwartz
Daily Staff Reporter
A weak job market is motivating
more students nationwide to stay in
school and is sending law school appli-
cation numbers through the roof.
Between 2000 and 2003, the number
of applications the Law School receives
has increased dramatically. With 5,487
applicants for the Fall 2003 class, the
number of applicants was up by 11.1
percent for Fall 2003 and applications
increased by 17.7 percent, according
to statistics released by the Law
School Admission Council. Last year
there were more than 98,000 law
school applicants.
Tim Zessin, a Business School senior,
is taking the Law School Admission Test
in October and plans to head to law
school next fall, a decision he made
JASON COOPER/Daily
Construction worker Justin Allen lays down'new flooring in the
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