Spinnaker [Distributed: Wednesday, September 13, 2006]

Lambda Chi Alpha, the oldest fraternity at the University of North Florida, has lost its charter.

The fraternity was found to be in violation of Fraternity Insurance Purchasing Group, National Lambda Chi Alpha and Student Code of Conduct policies after it hosted two parties the weekend of Sept. 2, according to Tyler Young, Greek Life Coordinator.

During the spring semester, Lambda Chi was placed on stage three probation by its national chapter due to hazing incidents in April. According to a letter from the Lambda Chi International Fraternity, "the serious nature of the hazing, combined with the chapter's inability to distinguish right from wrong, left the General Fraternity with few other options."

On stage three probation, the chapter was put under the supervision of an alumni control board. Any fraternity events were to be approved by the alumni board beforehand.

According to a letter from Lambda Chi Alpha International Fraternity, the UNF chapter was found responsible for the following: "hosting an open social function on Sept. 2; providing guests with uncontrolled access to kegs of beer, as well as liquor; providing alcohol to minors; hosting a social event while on emergency suspension with the General Fraternity."

Because of these actions, Lambda Chi will no longer exist in any form at UNF. Former members cannot wear Lambda Chi letters, attend any Greek events as Greek Life members, join any other UNF fraternities, transfer to other universities and join the Lambda Chi chapters there or hold any meetings, functions of gatherings in the name of Lambda Chi.

"After countless hours working with the Alumni, University, as well as chapter leadership, it is obvious that our undergraduate brothers' moral compass is off," stated John Holloway, director of chapter services at Lambda Chi Alpha International Fraternity, in the letter.

Lambda Chi had approximately 60 active brothers according to Young. The 32 associate members hoping to be accepted into Lambda Chi were released and are free to join any other fraternity, he said. The members may choose to move as a group into another fraternity because of the bond they share, Young said.

"Those associate members, I hope they still explore Greek Life and don't give up," Young said.

"At least I had a year of Lambda Chi Alpha," said Brandon Eady, sophomore English major and Lambda Chi vice president external. "It's those guys I feel the worst for."

All former members of Lambda Chi are considered inactive members, said Tom Van Schoor, dean of students. Those in good standing will become alumni of Lambda Chi upon graduation, while members in bad standing will not, he said.

Lambda Chi will not be able to return to UNF until all former members have graduated, which is expected to be three to four years from now, Young said. At that point, the national chapter can choose to apply to come back to campus, he said.

"On a national and local level I enjoyed working with them immensely," Young said. "But there's always responsibility and accountability for actions and that's what this is all about."

"It really is a great fraternity," Eady said. "It's a shame we went down like this. It meant a lot to a lot of people - for 50 guys this was their life."

Lambda Chi is the first fraternity to lose its charter in university history.

"Getting your charter pulled is like getting your heart ripped out," Young said. "I will miss that chapter dearly."

Young said there is a lot of good in Greek Life and that a breath of fresh air exists in Delta Upsilon, that is recruiting on the Green.

Mental health issues on rise for students

In the last five years, the frequency and intensity of student mental health problems has increased across the board, according to the University of North Florida Counseling Center staff.

The number of visits to the Counseling Center during the first three days of fall semester more than doubled this year from 16 to 40 versus the same time period last year, said Richmond Wynn, a counselor at the center.

In addition to more visits, Wynn said, students are being evaluated for increasingly severe issues. Whereas students used to come in with problems regarding first-time-away-from-home blues or painful breakups of romantic relationships, they are more likely today to suffer from some diagnosable disorder, he said.

The largest increases in statistics reported by the center were in the areas of anxiety and family-related problems, where they rose by 14 percent and 10 percent respectively since 2000. Depression and personal relationship-related difficulties are also on the rise, according to the statistics.

Counselors at the center say they're convinced that this is a trend that needs to be examined. "We see a wide range of concerns," Wynn said. Many of the problems counselors help address seem to be related as well, he said, where a student who appears to be depressed may also begin to suffer from substance abuse, poor academic performance or relationship problems.

Wynn said many students are referred by other organizations on campus when they exhibit problems that may have psychological components they can't recognize. A student who goes to Student Medical Services complaining of a headache may, for example, suffer from an underlying anxiety problem and not even know it.

"We believe that counseling should be voluntary," Wynn said. "What we do here is talk."

In extreme cases, Wynn said, a student may be referred to a hospital for up to 72 hours of in-house evaluation. However, he said he could recall very few cases in his six years of experience at the Counseling Center where that was the only course of action. Other concerns that counselors have for students include body image issues that could potentially lead to dangerous eating disorders and even students who are just "having a bad day" and need to talk to someone, said Reena Sheth, another counselor at the center.

"The heart of this is collaboration," said Sheth. She added, however, that she too has seen a rise in serious problems among students in recent years.

In the last five years, more people are coming to the Counseling Center with severe mental issues and prior medication or a history of problems, Sheth said.

Both Sheth and Wynn said that they're concerned that not enough students out there with serious problems are seeking help.

Much of that could be because there's a stigma associated with attending counseling sessions, Sheth said.

Wynn said that traditionally females attend at a much higher ratio than males at the Counseling Center, which could be due to a number of factors. The possible stigma, the make-up of the student body and the tendency for women to be more comfortable with communication are just a few, he said.

Still, Wynn said, there are many more people of both sexes who could need help and haven't yet asked for it.

"There are a lot of people who see counseling as a last resort," he said.

Wynn recommended what he called "preventative" visits as a possible solution for some people who haven't yet reached the point of severe mental issues but feel like they may need help. Relationship strategies, positive self-image, coping skills and even spiritual growth are things that counselors are equipped and willing to deal with, he said.

For more information, contact the UNF Counseling Center at (904) 620-2602 or visit http://www.unf.edu/dept/counseling_center on the Web.

Sen. Feingold calls for party unity

Senator Russ Feingold, an oft-rumored Democratic presidential candidate, stopped by the University of North Florida's Lazarra Theater Sept. 10 to address a crowd of around 365 people.

Feingold, a third-term senator from Wisconsin, spoke in the Fine Arts Center to a group comprised of students, faculty, staff and other community members. The speech, which was organized in a joint effort by the UNF College Democrats, the St. Johns County and Duval County Democratic Executive Committees, the Young Democrats of Duval and the Ponte Vedra Democratic Club, was free to the public.

Event coordinator for the speech, Nicole Atkinson, said the lecture was a huge success.

"We had a great turnout," Atkinson said. "The event brought together democratic groups from all over the state, as well as UNF's own College Democrats."

In his hour-long speech, Feingold addressed a common criticism of the Democratic party: that they are not strong or united and don't have a plan for the country.

"We have to tell the Republicans why they are wrong and how we can fix it," Feingold said. "If we [democrats] are going to win, we must tell them what we will do."

Feingold also mentioned his previous vote against a raise in minimum wage.

"I didn't support the previously proposed raise because it also offered million dollar tax breaks to multi-million dollar estates," Feingold said. "I want a clean, simple raise for those who need it. If the Democratic Party is elected, we will raise the federal minimum wage to $7.25."

During his lecture, Feingold, who voted against the war in Iraq, was highly critical of the president's handling of the situation.

"I am not a pacifist," Feingold said. "I supported the war in Afghanistan and I feel that we should have focused more on Al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden. I never believed the rumors that Iraq and Sadaam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and I think we should set a timetable for our withdrawal."

Feingold also criticized the president's domestic wiretapping programs.

"The president has two obsessions- the war in Iraq and expanding the power of the executive," Feingold said. "The wiretapping program undermines the law and is an impeachable offense. He should be censured."

In reference to a query posed to him during the question and answer portion of the lecture, Feingold addressed rumors of his running for president in 2008.

"Right now, I'm focused on changing Congress," Feingold said. "Based on how things go in the elections, I'll take some time to think about it in November and December."

At the close of his speech, Feingold had a few words of advice for the Democratic voters in the audience who hoped to make a change in the upcoming elections. "The future of the country can be determined by how determined you are."

Feingold, a former attorney, began his senatorial career in 1992, after a solid victory over Republican incumbent, Bob Kasten.

He has made a name for himself by being the only senator to vote against the Patriot Act, citing that infringing upon the rights of U.S. citizens. He was also the first senator to support the establishment of a timetable for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

Remembering 9/11: Where were you?

They were at home or in first period classes at local middle and high schools when they learned that a plane-no, four planes-had smashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in rural Pennsylvania.

Then they heard the towers had crumbled and that the crashes were purposely inflicted by Arab terrorists. And early 3,000 people were dead.

For today's teenagers and college students, that somber September morning brought their adolescent lives into sharp ocus.

"Everyone was super freaked out," said Julie Hopper, who was an eighth-grader in Santa Cruz that day. "There were ll these rumors about other attacks in San Francisco, and my aunt worked at the Pentagon, and I didn't really know what was happening with her until later, when my mom found out that she was OK."

Hopper, now a freshman at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, said that Sept. 11 definitely sparked her interest in foreign offairs: She plans to major in political science and is eager to take a world religion class to learn more about Islam.

"It's like Sept. 11 made me realize there are other things in the world," said Hopper, 18. "I'm really interested in studying abroad, especially now. Living in Santa Cruz you're in this bubble of people that are so liberal, and I want to see other cultures besides the culture of my town."

Many young Muslim Americans say they felt the impact personally because the 19 hijackers were all Arab men, 15 of them from Saudi Arabia. At school, some students were harassed. Others saw their local mosques vandalized.

And for the first time, many young Muslim Americans had to explore their own feelings about Islam and cultural identity.

"I think after Sept. 11, I had a real need to connect and reconnect with other Muslims," said Ahmad Huzair, 20, a senior at the University of California-Berkeley. Born in Sri Lanka, his family moved to Orange County when he was 3.

Huzair was in his first period Advance Placement physics class when he learned that the planes hit. He took a good look around: He knew only one other Muslim student at his high school.

But when he arrived at UC-Berkeley as a freshman, Huzair says he immediately gravitated to the Muslim Students Association. The group, which has a strong presence on campus, has grown in size and influence since Sept. 11 and now numbers about 200. Huzair serves on the executive committee.

Mohammad Subeh, 21, a graduate student in medical school, is the president of another Muslim student organization: the Islamic Society of Stanford University. Subeh was born in Kuwait in 1984 and came to the United States during the Persian Gulf War.

On Sept. 11, he was in high school in East Los Angeles. After the attack, his family received anonymous death threats, he said.

The World War II generation remembers Pearl Harbor. Baby boomers recall the moment they heard that President Kennedy and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. were assassinated. For young people, their day of infamy is Sept. 11.

In a joint survey conducted by the Horatio Alger Association and Peter D. Hart Research in November 2001, 75 percent of Americans aged 14-18 said they considered 9/11 events to be the "most significant in their lives."

"I didn't understand who al-Qaida was or why they were attacking the United States," said Vivek Musinipally 16, who was a new sixth-grader at Bret Harte Middle School in San Jose on Sept. 11, 2001.

Vivek said he woke up early that day and was surprised to find his parents glued to the TV. Stunned, he watched the smoke and flames, and then went to school where much of the day was also spent silently watching TV with classmates and teachers.

Terrorism on American soil was a lot to absorb for an 11-year-old just starting middle school. Now a junior at Leland High School, Vivek is fascinated by politics and reads the newspaper every morning. He is also active in Leland's award-winning speech and debate team. Looking back, he says Sept. 11 was life-changing.

"It really kind of opened my eyes to the world outside the U.S.," said Vivek, who was born in the United States to parents who had emigrated from India. "I always thought that America was the greatest place on Earth, and then I realized that a lot of people don't like us. I learned that, like everything, there's another side."

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Airlines have yet to recover from 9/11

The U.S. airline industry was in serious trouble after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

All flights were grounded that morning-and kept grounded for several days. Even after they returned to the skies, fewer people flew, and airline losses mounted.

A full five years later, the industry remains distressed.

Carriers fly over a greatly changed landscape, with most players battered and still trying to recover from the worst period in the history of commercial aviation.

Airline consultant Michael Boyd of Evergreen, Colo., says the industry has been changed forever by the events of 2001 and afterward.

"Right after 9/11, the shutdown damn near killed the airline business. The slowdown after that in revenue drained cash, and then add to that, in the last two years, fuel prices going up," Boyd said. "All those events basically ended up with airlines changing the way they do business."

As an example, airlines used to have "relatively good compensation" and good benefits, he said.

"Those days-at least for now-are over. You're dealing with a situation where the market cannot support the cost structure that was there before, and airlines have adjusted to that," said Boyd, president of the Boyd Group.

Not all the things that have happened to the airline industry since 2001 can be blamed on the events of Sept. 11. The industry peaked in 1998 and 1999, when U.S. carriers reported net income of $10.3 billion on revenue of more than $233 billion.

As the technology boom collapsed in 2000, industry profits dropped to $2.5 billion, less than half the $5.4 billion net income from 1999, even though revenue climbed to $131 billion from $119 billion.

"The downturn started in the spring of 2000," consultant Michael Roach said. "It started more than a year before 9/11. 9/11 was not the cause. Obviously, it was a horrible event and seriously exacerbated things. But the industry was well into a down cycle."

While the terrorist attack "made it the down cycle to end all down cycles," Roach said it would be a "huge mistake to say 9/11 caused the current industry distress or the current down cycle caused the industry distress."

Instead, he said, "It was caused by years of letting costs get out of control in the belief that higher revenues would surely save the day."

In fact, fares on an inflation-adjusted basis have been declining regularly since the 1920s, said Roach, a founder and partner in the San Francisco-based aviation consultancy of Roach and Sbarra.

For 2001, the U.S. industry piled up an $8.2 billion loss, eclipsing the record losses of $4.8 billion posted by airlines in 1992. Between Jan. 1, 2001, and Dec. 31, 2005, carriers as a group lost nearly $35 billion.

What has made the industry's current problems unique is the length and depth of the downturn. U.S. carriers as a group have lost money for five straight years.

The previous worst period, 1990-1993, coincided with the first Persian Gulf War, a slow economy, and an airfare battle in 1992 that featured a half-price sale that ruined the summer travel season for airlines. The four-year loss totaled less than $13 billion.

The previous downturn caused a number of bankruptcies. The nation's fifth-largest carrier at the time, Continental Airlines Inc., survived, but several others, including aviation pioneers Pan American World Airways Inc. and Eastern Airlines Inc., never made it out of bankruptcy court.

But that round of failures was restricted to middle-tier or smaller carriers. In the latest downturn, the nation's biggest carriers were hit.

No. 2 United Airlines Inc., No. 3 Delta Air Lines Inc. and No. 4 Northwest Airlines Inc. all headed into bankruptcy court to reorganize their finances and slash their expenses. No. 1 American avoided bankruptcy only through hard-nosed bargaining that won $1.6 billion in concessions from employees and hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts elsewhere.

"The big event, the combination of bad things-starting with the end of the dot-com boom and then the fuel costs-has really forced the industry to face up to the fact that its costs were out of control," Roach said.

The rapid rise in fuel costs has caused a cruel irony for carriers after they beat down their costs sharply in other areas. Had fuel prices stayed at 2002 levels, most carriers would be hugely profitable now. Instead, most are still trying to keep their heads above water.

As an example, American's revenue was $20.7 billion last year, $1 billion higher than in 2000, when it reported net income of $813 million. But American didn't make money in 2005, even with the higher revenue-instead, it lost $861 million.

Although some have written off the so-called legacy carriers-the big airlines created before the industry was deregulated in 1978-Boyd said that segment has the brightest future.

Newer carriers such as AirTran Holdings Inc., Frontier Airlines Inc. and JetBlue Airways Corp. are losing their lower-cost advantage over their older competitors, and they don't have the extensive international networks to garner as much revenue, he said.

They're also facing more competition as they grow, with fewer markets to enter, he said.

"Between Southwest, JetBlue and AirTran, there are 250 more big airplanes on order, big being 100 seats and above," he said. "Now they're fighting with each other. Why is Southwest in Denver? Because they have to be."

The future is dimmest for regional carriers whose fleets are filled with small jets of 50 seats or fewer, Boyd said.

Roach said the industry's transition "is not over yet."

Delta and Northwest still haven't made it out of bankruptcy, and many experts believe the industry will consolidate further, he said.

Roach said the industry's fortunes seem to be on a slight upswing. But he finds it worrisome that most carriers haven't had a chance to reduce their debt.

"They haven't built up their balance sheets the way they normally do in good times. They need a few more good years, and it's not looking clear that they'll be getting them."

Student Medical Services given greater responsibility

The University of North Florida has recently revised its procedures for the response to sick or injured persons on campus.

Under the revised policy, Student Medical Services is more directly involved with emergency responses on campus, said Dr. Everett Malcolm, associate vice president for student affairs.

"We're thrilled that the department of student medical services is back at full staff and that people with real medical expertise can assist with any problems," Malcolm said.

In the past, SMS has not been among the first responders to a medical need on campus, said UPD Chief Mark Foxworth.

Now, after receiving a report of injury or illness on campus, UPD will notify SMS and the environmental health and safety office as well. Once on the scene, the SMS staff member will assess the situation and individual and recommend treatment, observation and/or transportation to a medical facility.

"Every situation is unique," said Dr. Frederick Beck, director of SMS. "One or two questions can make the difference on where an individual needs to go."

In 2005, UPD responded to 12 accidental injuries and 14 reports of sick people, Foxworth said. So far this year, there has been 13 reports of accidental injury and nine sick people, he said.

Law interns strike it rich before graduation

Jerry Taylor was all nerves before he started his summer internship at the Seattle law firm of Garvey Schubert Barer. He worried about the workload, whether he would impress his superiors, whether the other attorneys would be tough on him.

As a 23-year-old student with two more years of law school ahead of him, he was under a lot of pressure.

But Taylor's anxiety melted away when he arrived at the law firm and was ushered into his private office with sweeping views of Puget Sound and a nameplate on the door. The lunches, parties and recreation trips that followed helped, too.

"I love this company," said Taylor, a Seattle University student.

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Gulf coast universities still rebuilding

Universities and community colleges in South Mississippi took a huge hit from Hurricane Katrina, suffering damages in excess of $300 million.

A year after the storm, damage to some facilities has been repaired, while some institutions have been forced to move classes elsewhere.

Most school officials say they are working to provide education to students in this area, and enrollments are near pre-Katrina levels in some locations.

Hurricane Katrina caused more than $200 million damage to the University of Southern Mississippi campuses in Hattiesburg and along the Coast, but classes resumed at all facilities by Oct. 10.

Since every building on the Gulf Park campus in Long Beach sustained damage, classes were moved to the Gulf Coast Student Services Center behind Memorial Hospital in Gulfport.

Repairs have been made to the business complex, Holloway Complex, physical plant building and shipping and receiving building. The Advanced Education Center and the library have been gutted and are ready to be repaired.

University officials said they hope classes can resume in Long Beach by the fall of 2007.

The university's Gulf Coast Research Lab in Ocean Springs suffered more than $13 million in damage from tidal surge and wind, but many of the buildings have been restored, and classes and research are being held in temporary modular buildings.

Plans are under way to rebuild most of the buildings lost in the storm: however, the J.L. Scott Marine Education Center has been relocated to the GCRL grounds and likely will not be rebuilt at Point Cadet because of cost.

Other Southern Miss facilities, including those at Stennis Space Center and in Jackson County, received minimal damage and reopened within six weeks after the storm. The university's administrative offices at Keesler Air Force Base were heavily damaged, but services resumed last spring.

On the Hattiesburg campus, roofs on 40 buildings were repaired or replaced, and fencing also was repaired after Hurricane Katrina. Classes began on the campus Sept. 12.

The historic campus in Gulfport was located on U.S. 90 and was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

After the storm, classes were held at different churches throughout the city, but school officials have placed 16 modular buildings on the beachfront property for classes and offices.

"Everything is back on our campus," said Jerry Bracey, dean of the Gulfport campus.

"We have offices here, classrooms and computer labs."

At the beginning of 2005, officials listed the 22-acre property with a real estate agency, saying they wanted to find property north of Interstate 10 on which to build a new campus. The search for that property is ongoing, Bracey said.

University College of Tulane was located in Edgewater Mall when Katrina hit, and like most of the 80 stores there, classrooms and offices at the university sustained wind and water damage.

The mall reopened near Thanksgiving, but Tulane began its six-week fall semester on Oct. 24. Classes are being held on a normal schedule this fall.

Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College sustained $18 million in damages from Hurricane Katrina at its campuses and centers in Perkinston, Gulfport, Biloxi, Lucedale, Gautier and Long Beach.

Most of the damage occurred at the campus in Stone County.

"The only structures that had to be destroyed were at Perkinston," spokesman Bill Snyder said.

Two storage buildings and one classroom building were demolished at the campus, and the roof and gym floor were replaced, as well as some bleachers.

At the football stadium in Perkinston, the press box has been rebuilt.

Pearl River Community College received more than $50 million in damage from Katrina on its Poplarville campus, but within a year, many of the buildings have been repaired.

Workers have replaced or repaired roofs on 27 buildings, and two dormitories have been refurbished.

Katrina's winds blew the roof off of Moody Hall, which housed the auditorium and offices and classrooms for the Department of Fine Arts and Communications.

The building will have to be demolished after the community college reaches a settlement with its insurance company. William Lewis, president of PRCC, said the college can't make plans for building a new coliseum and performing arts center.

Katrina also destroyed the Hancock Center in Waveland, but Lewis said the center should be operational in another location within the next 30 days.

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NEWS

Fraternity loses charter

Mental health issues on rise for students

Sen. Feingold calls for party unity

Remembering 9/11: Where were you?

Airlines have yet to recover from 9/11

Student Medical Services given greater responsibility

Law interns strike it rich before graduation

Gulf coast universities still rebuilding

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