Monday, October 21, 1996
GREEK:
Event leads some to question link between fraternities and
violenceBy Marie Blanchard
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Thursday night at a Beta Theta Pi fraternity party, a brawl
broke out between members of the fraternity and strangers who had
broken in through the back of the house, witnesses said.
At approximately 1 a.m., university police responded to a phone
call made by a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity, commonly
referred to as BETA.
According to witnesses at the event, an alleged trespasser was
stopped by a member of the fraternity for questioning while
attempting to enter the party.
When the alleged trespasser pulled a gun on the BETA member, the
fraternity member punched him and ran back into the house, police
reported.
Security hired by the fraternity for the event intervened and
threw the gun-carrying male and his friend outside.
A few moments later, the two returned with approximately four
other friends and tried to get into the party, said police witness
Alex Felix.
"There was a breach of security and guys who weren’t supposed to
be there were asked to leave," said Andy Reta, a third-year
business student and treasurer of the BETA house.
As security attempted to stop the intruders, BETA members
crowded toward the entrance and began yelling at them. A fight
ensued and several members of the fraternity fought with the
alleged trespassers on the corner of Gayley and Strathmore.
According to UCPD Captain Alan Cueba, two BETA members were
injured and brought to UCLA Medical Center emergency room after the
fight.
"I saw the (alleged trespasser) throw the first punch and they
knocked one of the BETA guy’s front teeth out," Felix said.
Reta added that another BETA member had a bottle broken over his
head while fighting in the street. Both men received stitches.
By the time university police arrived, the intruders had left on
foot, according to Robert Sanchez, the police officer on the scene.
Although only one person reported actually seeing a gun, police
ordered everyone at the party to leave in case the intruders
returned.
Members of the BETA house filed a report but police were not
optimistic about catching the alleged intruders.
"According to our reports, there were approximately three to
five guys involved," Sanchez said. "We didn’t get a very good
description. (BETA members) aren’t sure that they would recognize
them (the alleged aggressors) if they saw them again."
Party attendees Sam Yermian, a second-year biology major and
Zack Seal, a third-year sociology major, believe the brawl on the
front lawn of the BETA house was a result of an earlier fight that
had occurred in the fraternity bar room.
"Around midnight, some guys who had snuck in on the side near
the alcohol, pulled out a knife and were playing with it. One of
the BETA guys tried to take it away and the guy playing with it
pulled the knife on him. Security came and kicked both of them
out," Seal said.
Other witnesses at the party also saw the knife pulled on the
BETA member.
No arrests have been made, however police believe the alleged
trespassers were not UCLA affiliated.
Thursday’s fight raised concerns about fraternities and
violence. Although in this particular case the trespassers were
clearly non-fraternity related, the fight provoked questions about
the role fraternities play.
"Typical" is how Officer Sanchez described complaints concerning
fraternities and fighting. He said university police regularly get
phone calls complaining about fraternity-related violence, but
added that these tend to be relatively minor complaints.
However, in a study done for the 1994 edition of the Journal of
College Student Development, researchers Genie O.Lenihan and
Melanie E. Rawlins found that in a "nationwide survey of 60,000
drinking college students, fraternity men were three times more
likely to commit violence than their non-fraternal
counterparts."
And according to a study started in 1983, the Department of
Justice statistics office reports, "more legal action is brought
against fraternities than any other school-related student or
faculty organizations in the United States (including
campus-related military organizations)."
Although Capt. Cueba doesn’t feel comfortable speculating on
fraternity-related violence at UCLA, he maintained that the
Department of Justice statistics are too high.
"I wouldn’t venture a guess on those kinds of numbers but we
don’t receive a large number of calls concerning fraternities,"
Cueba said.
However, he said that when alcohol is involved, violence tends
to increase.
Cueba also agreed that there is usually "a lot" of alcohol
involved at fraternity parties.
"Alcohol … fraternities, they are all kind of are
intertwined," Cueba said.