Student Association has taken a removed stance on the issue of the new, tighter policy on greek parties and will leave student activism on the unpopular policy change to the Social Responsibility Committee.

That committee, made up of members of greek life and university administrators, is reviewing the policy with the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs, SA President Jon Barnhart said.

Barnhart said the new policy might lead to more drinking in off-campus neighborhoods, where underclassmen might not know how to stay safe late at night.

But he decided to leave changes up to the members of the new committee, who told him they felt their voices are being heard, Barnhart said. He said SA would focus on keeping students safe once the finalized policy is put in place.

The regulations state chapters cannot serve alcohol, only people of age can bring drinks and the number of drinks each partygoer can carry in is limited to six beers or four wine coolers. The rules also require the guests to check off their names on the list and for chapters to return the list to the university after the party ends.

The new greek party policy also requires chapters to turn in a guest list and cap it at 150 people, including chapter members. The policy turns away ‘mostly first-year and second-year students that might not have as many connections in greek life as upperclassmen do,’ Barnhart said.

SA is also planning to work with the university’s 2010-11 Remembrance Scholars to draft a statement regarding SU students’ feelings toward the latest events surrounding the convicted Pan Am Flight 103 bomber’s release from Scottish prison.

The most recent development has been a call from the Obama administration for the convicted Libyan bomber, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, to be returned to prison. Al-Megrahi was released on compassionate grounds after serving eight years of his 27-year sentence, because he was diagnosed with prostrate cancer and given three months to live. He is still alive more than a year later.

Conflict arose after the doctor who made al-Megrahi’s diagnosis came forward this summer and said he was pressured to diagnose al-Megrahi with little time to live.

New York state senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles Schumer, along with two New Jersey senators, also requested Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to prompt an investigation into a possible deal between Libya and British Petroleum in order to secure an oil deal in exchange for al-Megrahi.

SA has a resolution in the works that condones the proposed investigation, but is waiting to meet with this year’s Remembrance Scholars and gauge students’ response to the investigation before it releases a statement.

‘There’s such a flux on this issue that it’s really hard to pinpoint one thing,’ Barnhart said. ‘And that’s why we haven’t made a resolution or passed one yet, because we don’t have one solid opinion to push forward.’

While some students are angered by al-Megrahi’s release, many are poorly informed on the issue or confused by ‘shaky evidence,’ Barnhart said.

‘Regrettably, it’s been more of a mystery than it ever should’ve been for all of these years,’ he said.

Katie Lewinski, a senior policy studies and international relations major and SA assembly member, said the Remembrance Scholars haven’t yet fleshed out a response to the issue, but the group seems to be on the same page as SA.

She said SA wants to either send out a resolution for al-Megrahi to be sent back to jail or a joint statement with the Remembrance Scholars that calls for the investigations to continue. Lewinski said al-Megrahi’s release heightened emotion during last year’s Remembrance Week.

Lewinski said she hoped a joint statement by SA and the Remembrance Scholars would draw people to remembrance events and inform them about the issues stemming from al-Megrahi’s release.

She said she also hoped the statement would move people to think about the 35 SU student victims of the Pan Am crash and what they’ve missed out on.

‘For me, it’s as important as staying informed,’ she said.

abknox@syr.edu

 

Published on September 7, 2010 at 12:00 pm