Zeta Psi Gone at Syracuse

Closing the Chapter

By Patrick W. Connelly
Co-Editor, The Frat Boy News

There's a considerable difference this semester at Syracuse University as Zeta Psi fraternity is no longer a part of the campus.

After racking up a variety of offenses including illegal pledges, unregistered social events, alcohol problems and an incident of assault, Zeta Psi's national headquarters decided to shutdown the fraternity.

"Being in a fraternity, it would be like someone coming into your apartment, throwing a punch at your roommate and expecting your two roommates not to try and restrain him," said Nick Martin, the frat's last president, on the assault situation that may have pushed its national organization over the edge.

"The national organization made several attempts to work with Zeta Psi to overcome some of the behaviors that were causing the violations. And, in their own words, the attempts were unsuccessful," the university's interim Greek Life director said.

Big East Aims for Another Successful Season

Wednesday's Frat Boy News Daily Sports Page (compiled by The Providence Journal)

A few years after being left for dead by many in the college football world, the Big East experienced a rejuvenating — and surprising — season of success in 2006.

Besides the three teams ranked in the top dozen and the perfect 5-0 bowl record, perhaps the most stunning statistic of all came in the TV ratings. The two most-watched college games on ESPN all of last year didn’t come on a Saturday and didn’t involve powers Florida, Ohio State or Southern California. Instead, the nation tuned in to see West Virginia, Louisville and Rutgers.

“We had the highest ratings average of any conference on ESPN last year,” said the Big East’s Nick Carparelli, the associate commissioner in charge of football. “We had the second and third largest audiences for a regular-season game ever on ESPN. It was a great year TV-wise.”

Three years ago, Big East football was written off nationally after Miami and Virginia Tech left the conference for the ACC (Boston College followed in 2005). After a shaky season in 2004, the league has rebounded very well. In ’05, West Virginia rolled to an 11-1 season and had a big win over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, a victory that Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese calls the most important in the history of the football league.

Last year, West Virginia, Louisville and Rutgers all got off to fast starts and a place in the top 10 in the national polls. Then, on successive Thursday nights, Louisville beat WVU, and Rutgers shocked the Cardinals. Both games drew ratings above 5.0 and nearly five million viewers on ESPN. Louisville eventually won a tight race for the conference title with a 6-1 record.

“Thursday night has become our version of Monday Night Football,” said Chuck Gerber, the executive vice president for college sports at ABC and ESPN, “and the Big East certainly bought into that. It offers national exclusivity with full national distribution. The exclusive window is priceless.

College Financial Aid Industry Probed

School Loan Corruption Widespread

As a result of an investigation into the student loan industry this week, college employees will no longer be able benefit from loan providers, Yahoo News reported.

Yahoo said the SLM Corp., commonly known as Sallie Mae, also agreed to pay $2 million into a fund to educate students and parents about the financial aid industry, and it will adopt a code of conduct created by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who is heading the probe.

Sallie Mae operates student loan programs at more than 5,600 schools and has agreed to stop running call centers and providing additional staff for individual college financial aid offices. THe company will also stop paying financial aid officers who serve on advisory boards and will no longer fund trips for school officials, Yahoo reported.

Six colleges, including the University of Pennsylvania, New York University, Syracuse University, Fordham University, Long Island University and St. John's University, have agreed to reimburse students with a total of about $3.27 million for the inflated loan prices created by revenue sharing agreements

Syracuse Delts Being Investigated for Hazing

Delts Under Investigation for Hazing

The Syracuse University chapter of Delta Tau Delta is being investigated for an incident where two students sustained injuries while pledging.

The Syracuse Daily Orange reported that two weeks ago, one student suffered a swollen and bruised kidney that appears to be the result of physical contact, Buske said. The other student suffered a minor injury to the face caused by a fall that was most likely related to his level of intoxication.

Campus security is currently interviewing brothers and the pledges to get more details on the situation.

Sig Pig Headed to Super Bowl

Frat Guy of the Week: Marvin Harrison

Marvin Harrison will be heading to the Super Bowl alongside Peyton Manning for the first time in February.

As a brother of Delta Sigma Phi's Syracuse chapter, Harrison was a star wideout drafted by the NFL's Indianapolis Colts.

He has since become a favorite target of Manning and holds several NFL receiving records.