Miami Hurricane, November 11, 1997

              CORAL GABLES, FLORIDA
SINCE 1927
VOLUME 75, NUMBER 20
n this issue
WWW.HURRICANE.MIAMI.EDU
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER II, 1997
EASY PICKINGS
■ The University of Miami women's basketball team wins its final exhibition game against a Russian club team by 25 points.
SPORTS, pages 6

FOOL'S GOLD
■ Goldfinger played the UC Patio on f riday .tight for the Hurricane How I concert.
ACCENT, page 10
CONTROL IS KEY
■ Why drinking in excess isn't just unattractive, but dangerous.
OPINION, page 12
news briefs
VISUAL HISTORY COURSE FIRST AT UNIVERSITY
The University of Miami is offering a course for the first time this Spring semester.
HIS 482 EX is an innovative examination of photographs and visual documents as historical evidence. It touches on issues in critical thinking, history, psychology, anthropology and visual communication.
The interdisciplinary course offers writing credit and will have individual and group protects, but no examinations,
The instructor, Robert M. Levine, has written several books on phonography, two published by Duke University Press. He also makes videotaped documentaries.
The class meets once a week, on Mondays at noon.
Registration for classes continues all this week. Students should have received mailed notification about times to register. Seniors can register on the EASY system at any computer lab.
today's weather
Partly cloudy with highs in the mid 70s and lows in the 60s. Overnight lows in the mid to lower 60s with a 50 percent chance of rain
Njlion.il WV.il/ier Service
Sigma Chi sues University
■ Lawyer: ‘No due process for fraternity members’
By KELLY RUANE
Editor In Chief
Claiming the administration denied them due process before imposing penalties in September ’ the brothers of Sigma Chi are suing the University of Miami
The fraternity and the Sigma Chi Building Fund Corporation, the owners of the property at 6100 San Amaro Drive, where the Sigma Chi house is located, are suing the University for breach of contract. They are also asking for an injunction on the Rush' ban. so the fraternity will be able to pay its rent and continue living in the house.
The lawsuit, filed in Dade Circuit Court by local attorney Curtis
Carlson, said the UM Student Life Handbook is a “contract between the University and the fraternity." The suit claims the University breached its contract when it denied the fraternity due process.
Carlson said he is representing Sigma Chi because the students have been denied these rights.
“The University has denied | Sigma Chi | the rights guaranteed in the Handhixik," Carlson said.
UM DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURES
The Student Life Handbook says that sororities and fraternities are governed by their respective councils.
For disciplinary pmceedings, the Handlxxik stales that, after a thorough investigation, the Dean of Students office is supposed to decide who will handle disciplinary cases.
The disciplinary pmcedures for
fraternities require that organizations receive procedural due process before any disciplinary action may he imposed These rights include the right to answer to charges and to hear and present witnesses and evidence.
According to the lawsuit, when the student organization is a fraternity. its case should be handled by the Interfraternity Council.
The IFC constitution’ makes the IFC "the sovereign body having jurisdiction over the University of Miami fraternities and fraternity functions for all purposes under the Constitution and bylaws.”
The judicial board of the IFC has jurisdiction over individual and gniup activity involving violation of the University rules and regulations.
Carlson claims that when Vice President for Student Affairs Patricia Whitely decided on the penalties against Sigma Chi, instead
Canes lose at the wire
LOOKING FOR DAYIIGHT: University of Miami running hack Edgerrin rixtm during the second quarter of Saturday's 27-25 loss to Virginia Tech
I Hust title run w‘,fl u t*iunce u| a ^g
®	East championship
comes to bitter end The s,uge v*as set ,or lhe
UUIIICS IU UlllCI CIIU Hurricanes to reium to glory.
By RICK GOLD
Sports Editor
BLACKSBURG. VA. - For all of it setbacks and all of its growing pains, the University of Miami football team headed to Virginia Tech
Then the stage collapsed.
With a bail bounce here and u holding call there, UM suffered a 27-25 setback to the Hokies at Lane Stadium in Iront of 53,177 fans Saturday night
Brill highest paid SG leader in nation
■ Controversy over whether officers should be paid
By CHRIS SOBEL
Hurricane Staff Writer
Student Leader magazine asked. "Who is the highest paid student government leader in the nation?"
The University of Miami’s Student Government president Jonathan Brill's lull-tuition scholarship, worth $19,140, puts him at the top of a list of 150 colleges and universities nationwide.
The survey comes amidst a contmversy that has student leaders and administrators in schools across the country arguing over whether student government officers should receive any pay or special treatment.
"At UM the SG president
has received a tuition waiver as long us anyone can remember," said Brill
Four other student leaders on campus receive the same administrative scholarship us Brill. The editors-in-chief and the business manager of both The Miami Hurricane and the Ibis yeurtxxtk and the general manager of WVUM-90.5 FM ull get free tuition.
"The scholarships that the four of us get do not come from student budgets like SAFAC," said Brill. "Highly intelligent people are compensated with academic scholarships und athletes are compensated. Hopefully, the person who is in this position that has demonstrated superior leadership skill won’t be criticized for receiving scholarship money.”
The SG president receives no other benefits. Along with other student leaders, the SG president used to be able to
RICK GOLD / Sports Editor lames looks for some running University at Lane Stadium.
The Hurricanes are now left to scratch and claw for a second tier bowl bid. Miami can still salvage a postseason berth, but it will take victories over Rutgers and Syracuse in its final two contests.
Despite the result, Saturday 's contest may have been the best game
See SPORTS • Page 4
Graduate students display creativity
■ Students present work at forum
By DEANNA SWICEGOOD
Hurricane Staff Writer The University of Miami Graduate School held its Second Annual University of Miami Graduate Student Research and Creativity Forum on Friduy.
Held in the University Center's International Lounge. 59 students came together to display presentations including posters, sculptures, architectural drawings and models, and multimedia presentations. This event was open to all graduate students in ull fields.
Criteria for judging was based on premise, design, oral presentation or explanation of project, written abstract or written documentation, overall impression, amount or extent of supportive research, quality of research, experiment design and process, and results or data. What the judges looked for was a clearly stated hypothesis and a clearly tested hypothesis to pmve or disprove.
Eight different categories were represented, with a total of 29 awards given out. All winners received ribbons und first place winners received a check for $100.
of handing the case to the IFC judicial hoard, she violated the Handbook.
"It's preposterous." Carlson said.
THE RUSH BAN
The major penalty against Sigma Chi is the prohibition of its Rush privileges until Fall 1998.
The National Inlcrfralerniiy Council has prohibited the interfraternity councils it governs on college campuses nationwide from banning rush, citing that “educational, developmental, and punitive sanctions should he jointly agreed upon and jointly imposed ”
’’Restrictions of rush, when used for disciplinary purposes, are neither educational nor developmental and therefore are not an accepted sanction for men's fraternities." the NIC said.
The fraternity claims that the bun on Rush is a way for the University to throw Sigma Chi off campus and
take over its house.
Sigma Chi is asking for an injunction to lemporurily or permanently slop the University from imposing its "anti-Rush" penalty against the fraternity, The lawsuit claims this policy is a "death sentence" for the fraternity.
"Because of the loss of members through graduation and natural altri-tion. the single most critical’ need of the Sigma Chi fraternity is to recruit , or 'Rush' new members each semester," the lawsuit said. "The inability to Rush, even for a short period, would he the death sentence' for the Sigma Chi fraternity at the University."
RUSH 'CRITICAL' FOR SURVIVAL
According to the suit. Rush is "extremely critical” to the survival of Sigma Chi at UM Of the 24 brothers living in the house right
Set1 SUIT • Page 2
Students become hometown heroes
■ Homecoming tradition sends students to serve
By PADMINI UPPU and STEPHANIE NOEL
Of the Staff
Despite exams, papers and projects that accompany student life at the University of Miami, many students donated part of their time to helping those in need in the community.
About 4<X) UM students participated Saturday in Hurricanes Help the Hometown, a large scale volunteer effort coordinated by the Volunteer Services Center and the Homecoming	Executive
Committee.
The students spent a day performing community service with 27 organizations such us Big Brothers/Big Sisters, the Family Resource Center, Habitat For Humanity and the Salvation Army.
University President Edward T Finite II und Vice President of Student Affairs Patricia Whitely met with the students on the patio and gave them words of encouragement.
"You are the unsung heroes." Finite said.
The mission of Hurricanes Help the Hometown is "to promote civic responsibility for students to curry on to their post graduate lives.” said VSC coordinator Mickey Rubenstein. who also said she hopes this experience will open students' eyes to the needs of others less fortunate than them.
"Whether it's breaking Ihe stereotype of a homeless person, understanding the needs of a child or taking cure of an elderly person, we want students to know they can take an active part in helping others.” said Rubenstein.
Many volunteers were representing the various student organizations that participate in Homecoming.
To win points for the Homecoming competition, each organization needed to have at least half of its membership roster participating in Hurricanes Help the Hometown.
Organizations could lose points if their members did not show up In participate or acted in a way detrimental to the cause, such as leaving the site early.
"Hurricanes Help the Hometown is a really ginxl program Ihe University has." said sophomore
See HELP • Page 2
Miss UM 1997 crowned
|.|. GAMA - LOBO / Photo Editor
THERE SHE IS: Senior Mia Mastroianni was crowned Miss UM 1997 Sunday night at the Gusman. See ACCENT, page 10.