Greeks, athletes recruit support for anti-hazing week campaign

The organization Greeks Advocating Mature Management of Alcohol will spearhead its first-ever anti-hazing campaign – “Not On This Campus” – beginning today and ending Sept. 30. The campaign is meant to educate the CSUN body, especially students who want to be involved in athletics, fraternities and sororities, about hazing, which is generally defined as pressuring or forcing someone to do humiliating acts for the approval of his or her peers. Today, members of GAMMA and others will pass out literature on hazing throughout the campus. On Sept. 27, several fraternities and sororities will represent their organizations and promote anti-hazing on the Sierra Quad. Jamison Keller, activities coordinator of leadership and fraternity/sorority life at the Matador Involvement Center, along with others, will give speak at the Oviatt Library on anti-hazing, detailing instances of the act. On Sept. 28, there will be brotherhood and sisterhood faded a display on Sierra Lawn showing statistics and victims of hazing. There will also be an essay contest students can enter. They will have to write about their opinions on hazing and how to they can help stop it. The winner will receive an Apple product. “I feel that hazing is a good thing to talk about because people don’t understand it,” said Katie Wakayama, a junior CTVA major and Alpha Phi member who is involved in the campaign. The number one question some people ask before joining an athletic team, fraternity or sorority is “are you guys going to haze me?” she said, adding that the school has a strict hazing policy. “We just want our members to stay,” she said. “It’s OK, we’re not going to hurt you.”

CSU will grant independent education doctorates by 2007

The California State University system can now grant education doctorates to its students by Fall 2007, a decision recently made when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed Senate Bill 724, said CSU Chancellor Charles Reed. Reed informed members of the CSU community about the decision in a teleconference call on Sept. 22, adding that the bill’s signing was one of the most “significant events of the decade.” Reed, who updated CSU members on several issues, also said the system’s Student Conduct Code was modified after approval during the Board of Trustees’ meeting on Sept. 20 and 21. The CSU felt it needed to get into the 21st century, Reed said, adding that the language in the conduct code. The conduct code essentially has what it had before, including details on students’ responsibilities, unacceptable behavior and academic dishonesty, along with other academic-related issues, Reed said. The trustees will advertise the changed conduct code for about 40 days on its website and final action on the code will be made on Nov. 8 at a committee meeting, he said.

CSUN to present $84,484 check to Red Cross from fundrasing

CSUN President Jolene Koester will present a check for $84,484.22 to the CEO of the Los Angeles American Red Cross Roger Dickson for continuing Hurricane Katrina relief efforts on Wednesday on the Sierra Quad in front of the Oviatt Library at 9 a.m. The funds are a result of a campus-wide fundraising effort that began more than two weeks ago with the “$500,000 in Five Days” campaign and ended with a series of smaller fundraisers organized by individual student clubs and organizations. The check presentation event, which should last approximately an hour in front of the fundraising thermometer, will also feature a musical performance by CSUN’s Gospel Choir and recognition of campus businesses for their efforts during the campaign, according to Allyson Gerber, who works in marketing and public relations in the University Student Union. Fundraising organizers have said one of the primary reasons for the campus’ involvement in fundraising was because of the outside support CSUN received following the 2004 Northridge earthquake.

Corrections and Clarifications

In a wild art photo, “Helping Out,” published Sept. 22, it was incorrectly reported that the fraternity that sponsored a Hurricane Katrina relief benefit event was named Alpha Beta Sigma. In fact, the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity sponsored the event in the Satellite Student Union, along with the CSUN chapter of the NAACP.