1. Sigma Phi Epsilon Settles Alcohol-Related Wrongful Death Case 2. Campus Crime In The News
	Sigma Phi Epsilon Settles Alcohol-Related Wrongful Death Case Jackson, Mississippi-Sigma Phi Epsilon, the nation's largest college fraternity with over 14,000 members in 260 campus chapters has settled one of two wrongful death lawsuits for an amount that is believed to be several million dollars. The other suit which arose out of the same event is still pending. The confidential settlement was reached on Tuesday, May 27, in the case of Jones vs. The Great Iron Horse Corporation and Sigma Phi Epsilon. The agreement followed damaging testimony at the close of the prior trial day by Joel Epstein (pictured right), an expert witness called by the plaintiffs. Epstein is the former Director of Special Projects and Senior Attorney for the U.S. Department of Education's Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention and the author of a book on college life. In his testimony before the jury in the Hinds County Courthouse in Jackson, Mississippi, Epstein stressed that both the national Sigma Phi Epsilon organization based in Virginia, and the Mississippi State alumni association, had actual knowledge of, and facilitated, high-risk and dangerous drinking at Mississippi State University chapter rush events. Joshua Jones and Matthew Freeman, two 20-year-old Sig Ep pledges, were killed on July 26, 1998, following a Sigma Phi Epsilon recruiting event at the Iron House Grill in Jackson. The two were killed when the vehicle they were passengers in went off a highway in Jackson. The driver of the vehicle, Kevin Tabereaux, then 20, had a blood alcohol level of 0.23 percent, more than double the legal limit of 0.10 at the time. James Bell of Bell, Flechas & Gaggini, the Jackson attorneys who represent the Jones family, noted during the trial that the lawsuit was seeking the corporate death penalty, the total assets of the national fraternity. With the case resolved Bell said he hopes that the sting of this settlement will be the to-date unheard wakeup call that fraternities including Sigma Phi Epsilon need to take meaningful action to combat high-risk drinking in the chapters. Along with watershed events like the death of freshman Scott Krueger at a fraternity at MIT in 1997, the Jones settlement and the pending Freeman case, demonstrate how costly it can be for fraternities that do not take steps to drastically reform their "Animal House" image. Campus Crime In The News UT coach says talk was 'to find out truth' about alleged sexual assault (Knoxville News Sentinel; 06/10/03) Family sues MIT over daughter's 2001 suicide (Boston Globe; 06/05/03) Senate To Consider Arming Campus Police (AP; 06/04/03) After rape complaint, a focus on college response (Boston Globe; 06/03/03) Campus crime logs surveyed (The Tuscaloosa News ; 06/01/03) Counselor: Stress safety issues to college-bound (Shreveport Times; 05/31/03)
			http://www.securityoncampus.org/ Security On Campus, Inc. 649 South Henderson Road, Suite 6 King Of Prussia, PA 19406-4216 TOLLFREE Hotline: 1-888-251-7959 Office: (610) 768-9330 Fax: (610) 768-0646