THE UNIVERSITY DARY KANSAN
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2008
NEWS
3A
GREEK LIFE
Sigma Nu officially reinstated
BY MICHELLE SPREHE editor@kansan.com
After losing its charter in 2005, Sigma Nu fraternity received its reorganization certificate Saturday night at Abe and Jake's Landing, marking its official return as a chapter. The fraternity was officially recognized by the University when it came back to campus last fall.
"It was closed by alumni because they felt the chapter was going in the wrong direction," said Jordan Herbert, Olathe sophomore and president of Sigma Nu.
To regain its charter, the fraternity had to create a petition that logged its efforts for improvement and then had to submit it to Sigma Nu's national office.
"It shows that we are running
a house that instills the values of Sigma Nu and we can do it on our own," Herbert said.
to" LeRoy said. "I saw it as a good opportunity to start something new"
John LeRoy, Leawood senior
John LeRoy,
and vice president of the fraternity, was a new member when the charter was taken away.
"We were shut down because of the alumni and hazing violations," LeRoy said. "It wasn't what I
"It's important to let each member know what they are getting in to, I saw it as a good opportunity to start something new."
Chad Guempel, St. Louis freshman, said that he was told about the past problems and that the fraternity didn't have a charter when he joined. He said he decided to join because he liked the house and the people in it.
JOHN LEROY
Sigma Nu vice president
LeRoy said members of the house didn't trust one another after he was lied to.
"I was kind of hesitant to immediately join because I didn't know how obtainable getting a charter would be," Guempel said. "But they told me they'd gone through the process of petitioning and they would have the charter
"It's important to let each member know what they are getting in
was expecting because I was told there would be no hazing”
back with in the next few years."
Alumni helped with recruitment until the fraternity officially became a chapter again. Herbert said the fraternity gained 33 new members and estimated 20 more would join next year.
"I think we'll have more pull on campus during recruitment next year because were one of the older houses and we'll gain more respect now that we are an official chapter," Guempel said.
Herbert said that it took a year and a half to finish and submit the petition but that it usually took two or more years.
"It's really surprising because it was such a quick turn around." LeRoy said. "It gives us something to take pride in and freedom to enjoy our achievement."
Edited by Lauren Keith
NATIONAL
Teens pleads guilty to murdering his family
Psychiatrist says parents abused the 16-year-old
ASSOCIATED PRESS
TOWSON, Md. — A Maryland teen pleaded guilty Monday to fatally shooting his sleeping father, mother and two younger brothers and then going back to a friend's house to play video games.
Browning's grandmother, Margaret Browning, was in the courtroom Monday morning as attorneys hammered out the deal but was not present when her grandson entered the plea. Other relatives did not speak to reporters as they left court.
Nicholas Browning, 16, of Cockeysville pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree murder in the February slayings of John W. Browning, 45; Tamara, 44; Gregory, 14, and Benjamin, 11.
emerged from the house to say something was wrong with his father. The friend's father saw John Browning's body and called police.
Browning wept in court as prosecutors described the crime.
Browning later confessed to the slayings and told police where they could find the murder weapon.
Assistant State's Attorney S. Ann Brobst asked Baltimore County Circuit Judge Thomas Bollinger to lift a gag order that barred attorneys from speaking to reporters. The judge declined, saying it would be lifted after Browning is sentenced Dec. 2.
A sheriff's deputy brought him a box of tissues, and Browning wiped his eyes and blew his nose.
In exchange for the plea, prosecutors will not seek a sentence of life without parole. Instead, they will seek a maximum of two consecutive and two concurrent life sentences, meaning Browning could eventually be released on parole. Under state law, he would serve at least 23 years behind bars.
Browning was a week shy of his 16th birthday at the time of the slayings, too young under state law to face the death penalty. But his motive remains a mystery.
Other than noting that Browning had been arguing with his father, police and prosecutors have said little about what led to the slayings. A psychiatrist testified at an earlier hearing that Browning was physically and verbally abused by his parents and thought he could do nothing to please them. State psychiatrists found Browning had no diagnosable mental illnesses.
According to a statement read in court Monday, Browning walked home after midnight from a friend's house. He shot his parents and brothers in their heads as they slept and then returned to the friend's house and played video games, pretending nothing had happened.
The next day, Browning and his friends went to a shopping mall, and he placed several calls to his family, leaving them messages to say he loved them and would see them soon. A friend's father drove him home, and Browning
A classmate said Browning had talked about killing his family, but the classmate assumed Browning was joking.
CAMPUS Topeka banking executive explains financial crisis
For those who feel increasingly lost in the waves of news about the imploding housing and credit markets, help is on the way.
Andrew J. Jetter, president and CEO of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Topeka, will deliver the 2008 Anderson Chandler Lecture at 7 p.m. today in the Lied Center.
Jetter said his speech, "Looking Ahead: The Future of Housing Finance in America",would address the issues affecting housing finance,including market structures and regulation.
Jetter said the boom-bust cycle of the housing market over the past seven years didn't have to lead to the country's current economic instability. But extenuating circumstances exacerbated the market's downturn. He said understanding those factors was key to righting America's economic future.
"What I'm really going to do is take a look at how we got to where we are today in terms of credit markets — the core of the problem having to do with the huge run-up in housing prices and the mortgage securities that were issued that were backed by those prices," Jetter said. "I'm going to explain how that created the issues that we have today, and then make some suggestions about what we should do in the future to improve the mortgage finance system."
"We have boom-busts all the time," Jetter said. "That's not unusual. They're just part of human nature. People are emotional. They see opportunities to make lots of money, and they jump in. So why was this so damaging? It has to do with how mortgages are financed today."
Jetter said that from about 2004 to 2007, private lenders primarily mortgage brokers
—packaged large numbers of mortgages together and sold them as securities with often-dubious credit ratings. Part of the mentality behind the
- primarily mortgage brokers
Jetter
ratings was that housing prices would continue their upward trend indefinitely.
"Huge amounts of money flowed into the mortgage market, which just drove the appetite for these securities to be issued and more mortgages to be made," Jetter said. "That combined with the housing bubble, which popped. It became clear that a lot of the collateral that was supporting these mortgages was not nearly as good as originally believed."
NATIONAL Feds derail alleged plot to assassinate Obama
WASHINGTON — Two white supremacists allegedly plotted to go on a national killing spree, shooting and decapitating black people and ultimately targeting Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, federal authorities said Monday.
Ryan McGeeney
The spree, which initially targeted an unidentified predominantly African-American school, was to end with the two men driving toward Obama," shooting at him from the windows"; the court documents show.
In all, the two men whom officials described as neo-Nazi skinheads planned to kill 88 people —14 by beheading, according to documents unsealed in U.S. District Court in Jackson, Tenn.The numbers 88 and 14 are symbolic in the white supremacist community.
An Obama spokeswoman traveling with the senator in Pennsylvania had no immediate comment.
Sheriff's deputies in Crockett County, Tenn., arrested the two suspects — Daniel Cowart, 20, of Bells, Tenn., and Paul Schlesselman 18, of Helena-West Helena, Ark. — Oct. 22 on unspecified charges. "Once we arrested the defendants and suspected they had violated federal law, we immediately contacted federal authorities," said Crockett County Sheriff Troy Klyce.
Associated Press