From: "Joe Klimek" 
To: 
Subject: FW: Issues at Holy Cross
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Heads up!


Alumni please take the initiative to raise the attached article as a point
of discussion with your undergraduate members.


Please remember to mark December 6th at 7:00 as the next Greek Alumni
Council Meeting.  Good luck to all of your houses as rush gets underway over
the next few days.


Joe Klimek




-----Original Message-----
From: Pakstis-Claiborne, Tracey [mailto:tpc@WPI.EDU]
Sent: Thursday, October 28, 1999 11:01 AM
To: jklimek@etek-partners.com
Subject: Issues at Holy Cross
Importance: High




Joe,


Here is a copy of an article that was in last Sunday's T&G.  I have heard
through the grapevine that WPI is on the radar screen with the WPD as the
next school they are investigating (possibly with an undercover, underage
female.)  I am meeting with IFC and the Presidents this Friday to discuss
and prepare for the big Halloween weekend.  Could you please send this out
to the alums to keep them informed, as their undergrads may be speaking with
them about this.  The meeting is Friday at 5:00 PM in Morgan A if any alums
would like to attend.  I'll talk to you later!


Tracey


___________________________________________________
Tracey Pakstis-Claiborne, M.Ed.
Assistant Director of Orientation and Student Activities
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
100 Institute Road
Worcester, MA 01609
(508)831-5291
(508)831-5581 (fax)
tpc@wpi.edu
http://www.WPI.EDU/+SAO







                  'Tougher enforcement' sought


                  Sunday, October 24, 1999


                  By Mark Melady
                  Telegram & Gazette Staff


                  WORCESTER-- The image of Holy Cross College
                  students being handcuffed and hauled off to the
                  lockup in police wagons has provoked cheers from
                  their College Hill neighbors, disbelief from the
                  students, and anger from their parents.
                           Now, it has the college raising a white flag of
                  sorts.
                           "I hope we can get some type of moratorium
                  on multiple arrests," said a beleaguered Jacqueline
                  D. Peterson, vice president for student affairs and
                  dean of students.
                           But the parties might give out before the police
                  give up.
                           "Kids are afraid they'll get arrested for
                   crossing
                  the street," said Steven Koup, a Holy Cross senior
                  from Buffalo who lives on Woodward Street with 11
                  roommates scattered over three floors.
                           Weeks after the crackdown began, students
                  are complaining of wrists cut from handcuffs and
                  bodies bruised from being jostled in the police
                  wagon.
                           "They don't have seat belts in those things,"
                  said one student. Another said a Holy Cross football
                  player, in his underwear and on crutches from an
                  injury, was ordered into the wagon.
                           "He wasn't even drinking," Jennifer Sobrino, a
                  junior, said.
                           "Did we walk across the street with an open
                  container or commit murder?" said Alyson
                  Macomber, a junior soccer player from Northbridge.
                  "What's going on here? We're not bad kids. I've never
                  been in trouble before in my life."
                           Such remarks, however, do not find a
                  sympathetic ear with residents, some of whom say
                  the arrests have proven the only remedy to a
                  longstanding tradition among students of being
                  disruptive. And there are indications that the hard
                  feelings won't soon disappear.
                           The dispute, which has drawn in politicians
                  and a variety of others, is being felt in many ways,
                  from College Hill all the way to City Hall.
                           Sobrino and Macomber live with three other
                  female students in a building at 926 Southbridge St.
                  that has 21 apartments. After a visit by a Public
                  Health Department inspector earlier this month, the
                  students received a letter from the city saying their
                  apartment was only approved for three residents; two
                  students had to be out by the end of October, it
                  stated.
                           "We know five women lived here the last three
                  years, so why all of a sudden is it illegal?" Sobrino
                  said.
                           Students and college officials, and some
                  residents, share a suspicion that the arrests -- about
                  80 over the past two weekends -- were a local
                  version of the "October Surprise," a political tradition
                  in some cities.
                           "It's quite obvious all of this is occurring in
 the
                  middle of an election," Peterson said. "It makes us
                  wonder why Holy Cross is being singled out. These
                  things aren't happening at other colleges in the city?
                  Hmmmm. That's all I can say. Hmmmm. We firmly
                  believe inappropriate behavior should be addressed,
                  but the numbers of arrests have been a stretch."
                           Dennis Fitzmaurice, owner of Fitzy's general
                  store at Malvern and Hampton streets, agreed.
                           "I've been here seven years and I've found them
                  to be ladies and gentlemen," Fizmaurice, who lives
                  three houses away, said of the students. "College
                  kids drink. Why is Holy Cross being singled out?
                  This kind of stuff doesn't go on at WPI? C'mon."
                           Ronal C. Madnick, executive director of the
                  Worcester County chapter of the American Civil
                  Liberties Union, called the arrests "theater of the
                  absurd."
                           "They've arrested people for being in the
                  presence of alcohol, on suspicion of drinking,"
                  Madnick said.
                           Yet Mayor Raymond V. Mariano dismisses
                  criticism alleging that the crackdown is politically
                  motivated.
                           "The police chief wanted tougher enforcement,"
                  Mariano said during a mayoral candidates' forum last
                  week. "The city manager wanted tougher
                  enforcement. Holy Cross officials wanted tougher
                  enforcement. The neighborhood citizens wanted
                  tougher enforcement. That's what they got."
                           Michael Soter, president of the College Hill
                  Civic Association, echoed that sentiment, saying
                  there has been no doubt about area residents' views
                  concerning the round of arrests.
                           "They loved it," Soter said. "Holy Cross doesn't
                  allow underage drinking and bad behavior on their
                  campus, and the neighbors don't want it on their
                  streets. I think our point has been proven."
                           The association, which has a membership of
                  about 300 households in the College Hill area, led
                  the drive for the police action, which residents said
                  has amounted to little more than
                  break-it-up-and-move-along warnings to participants
                  in a movable weekend scene that often had hundreds
                  of noisy students roaming between party houses and
                  the campus.
                           At a contentious association meeting in early
                  September, several residents complained bitterly of
                  sleepless nights punctuated by loud music and
                  students urinating on their lawns -- and sometimes
                  even having sex in their shrubbery. In the morning,
                  they said, the streets and yards would be awash in
                  beer cans and plastic cups.
                           But many say the claims are exaggerated --
                  that the boorish behavior of a few has been used to
                  condemn the entire student body.
                           "There isn't any fornicating going on here,
                  inside or outside," said Sobrino, who comes from
                  Queens, N.Y. "The dating scene is zilch with the
                  parties. Without them -- whew."
                           Frank Garand, a 1995 Holy Cross graduate
                  who teaches Internet page design at the college and
                  lives at 64 College St., directly across from the
                  college's main entrance, said the perception that
                  Holy Cross is one big Animal House is absurd.
                           "On any given weekend 300 or 400 students
                  walk by and two or three might by noisy or rowdy,"
                  Garand said. "I could see if the police arrest two or
                  three. But this is crazy. One girl got arrested coming
                  back from the library."
                           Garand said the problem isn't a lack of things
                  to do on campus. The college regularly schedules
                  dances, live entertainment and movies.
                           "It's just that kids would rather hang with
 their
                  friends and drink," Garand said. "I used to do the
                  same thing. I'd never do it now. It's just a lot of
                  standing around a keg in a hot, crowded room."
                           George Soter, father of Michael, who has lived
                  on Clay Street since 1954, said he's not sure if the
                  kids are a bigger annoyance now than they were in
                  years and decades past. But he is convinced of one
                  thing: "They sure do drink a lot, more than I ever
                  remember. It's sad.
                           "Holy Cross has lost a couple of kids to
                  drinking in the past few years," he said, referring to
                  two pedestrian deaths near the college that involved
                  students who had been at nearby bars.
                           Michael Soter, 26, who now lives on College
                  Street and operates a convenience store frequented
                  by students, said alcohol consumption has
                  increased markedly in the last three years.
                           "It's like drinking is the only thing these kids
                  can do," Soter said. "I know they bust their butts all
                  week, and no one wants to deny them their parties
                  and a couple of beers. But when the parties go from
                  20 kids to 200 kids, that's a catastrophe waiting to
                  happen."
                           During a late-night mayor's walk not long ago,
                  Soter said, he stopped counting at 225 as he
                  watched students partying in an old Southbridge
                  Street three-decker.
                           Mariano said that sight caused him to shake
                  with fright all night as he lay in bed.
                           "If that rickety old three-decker collapsed, it
                  would have been a tragedy that would have made all
                  the media outlets in the world," Mariano said.
                           Superior Court Judge Elliott L. Zide lectured
                  the first batch of students brought before him about
                  matters of civic responsibility. Then he put them on
                  probation. Zide, who warned that he would be tough
                  on second offenders, will be on campus tomorrow to
                  talk with students.
                           "He's going to talk about the administration of
                  justice," Peterson said. "This is an important
                  teachable moment for the students."
                           Madnick has offered to put on a seminar for
                  the students on their legal rights when arrested.
                           "It's clear from talking to some of them they
                  have no idea what's going on in the courtroom,"
                  Madnick said.
                           The college, meanwhile, is conducting
                  disciplinary inquiries on all arrested students.
                           Peterson said about half of the students have
                  had hearings, and none has been suspended or
                  expelled. She also said that some pending cases
                  could lead to suspension.
                           The disciplinary measures taken so far include
                  mandatory enrollment in an alcohol prevention
                  program, community service, and assignments to
                  write research papers. Peterson said students could
                  also be required to pay restitution in cases involving
                  property damage.
                           Some students have been cleared of
                  wrongdoing by the college.
                           "The first question we asked when the arrests
                  started was, 'Is this an overreaction?' " Peterson
                  said. "And clearly in certain cases it has been.
                  We've encouraged students who feel they were
                  arrested unjustly to file a complaint with the Police
                  Department."
                           Peterson added that the college has been
                  swamped with angry calls from the parents of
                  arrested students.
                           "I don't mean this to sound snobby," Sobrino
                  said, "but a lot of kids who go to this school have
                  rich parents. The city doesn't know what it's in for."
                           City Councilor Paul P. Clancy Jr., whose 3rd
                  District encompasses much of the Holy Cross
                  campus, said the partying issue is cyclical, rearing
                  up every few years.
                           "Back in the old days the Jesuits would beat
                  them into chapel," Clancy said with a laugh.
                           This year, resident frustration reached
                  heretofore unseen heights.
                           "I was a little concerned it might turn into
                  some kind of vigilantism," Clancy said.
                           That is why that although he opposed the
                  mass arrests, Clancy believes the ride in a wagon
                  and the possibility of a criminal record have delivered
                  a message.
                           "These are smart kids," he said. "They'll figure
                  out how to be more discreet. And I'm encouraged by
                  the college's strong willingness to be very positive."
                           Clancy, 4th District City Councilor Janice L.
                  Nadeau and Mariano have proposed that a
                  college-neighborhood-city hall committee be
                  reconstituted to meet regularly on issues such as
                  the one preoccupying the Holy Cross area.
                           A similar committee was formed in the early
                  1990s to cover similar ground. It lasted for about five
                  years and was an effective communication
                  mechanism, both Clancy and Nadeau said.
                           Peterson said the college is open to anything
                  that improves communication.
                           "We've sat down with neighbors, city officials,
                  police and students," said Peterson, who is in her
                  third year as vice president for student affairs. "This
                  is an issue for all of us."
                           One thing that grates on neighbors and
                  elected officials alike is the amount of property Holy
                  Cross owns in the neighborhood. It includes several
                  houses on Caro Street, often the location of the
                  largest and loudest parties.
                           "These properties come off the tax rolls, but
                  city taxpayers have to provide a lot of services,"
                  Nadeau said.
                           Soter noted that people in the neighborhood
                  wanted College Hill designated a "Zero Tolerance
                  Zone," in spite of the distinct possibility that signs
                  identifying it as such would devalue property.
                           At Mariano's urging, the City Council recently
                  voted 6-5 to recommend that City Manager Thomas
                  R. Hoover classify it that way. Hoover declined,
                  saying it was too extreme a measure.
                           Konstantina B. Lukes, an at-large councilor
                  who is running for mayor, concurred with the
                  manager, saying that such designations were
                  intended for neighborhoods infested with "drug
                  dealers, prostitutes and gangs," and that the move
                  was one step away from martial law.
                           But Soter said alcohol is a drug. "If you're 21,
                  selling beer to a minor, you're selling."


                  © 1999 Worcester Telegram & Gazette