Or murders.
"MIT mourns death of graduate student" by Matt Rocheleau | Globe Correspondent September 05, 2014
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus is mourning the death of a 26-year-old graduate student.
Austin Travis, 26, studied chemistry and was a member of a lab that takes a “cross-disciplinary approach to exploring protein structure, function and design,” L. Rafael Reif, MIT president, wrote in an e-mail to the university community Friday.
Travis lived off campus in a Cambridge apartment and was a native of Pleasantville, N.Y., Reif said. “Our hearts go out to his family and friends in their sorrow.”
MIT has not released details on the death.
Cambridge police said a 26-year-old man, whom they declined to identify, was pronounced dead in his Forest Street apartment shortly after his girlfriend called authorities just after 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Police spokesman Jeremy Warnick said a hazardous materials team was called and found one or more substances that have not yet been identified. The case is under investigation, Warnick said.
Related(?): Madden's Mission Goes Up in Smoke
Charles Wood of East Wareham said that Travis was planning to marry Wood’s daughter.
Wood said they had been a couple for about two years, lived together in the Forest Street apartment, and were scheduled to wed in about a year.
“It’s a very sad situation,” he said by phone Friday. “This was a young man who had a lot to look forward to.’’
Wood said Travis was finishing up studies to obtain a doctorate. He also said Travis was a triathlete.
He said Travis and his daughter liked to travel and were planning a trip to Germany soon.
“This was a kid who loved life,” he said. “He always had a smile on his face and he and my daughter were tremendous together.”
Reif wrote that MIT mental health services department and other support staff are available for students and others affected by the loss.
--more--"
And going back to the beginning of the week:
"MIT fraternity suspended after woman falls from window; Woman injured in fall at party" by Matt Rocheleau | Globe Correspondent September 02, 2014
An MIT fraternity that hosted a party Sunday night in which a woman was injured in a fall from a third-story window has been suspended pending an investigation, the group’s international organization said Tuesday, as partygoers shared more details about the incident.
The suspension bars Lambda Chi Alpha from meeting or hosting and participating in activities until the inquiry is complete, said Tad Lichtenauer, a spokesman for the organization that oversees individual chapters.
In the wake of the fall at the fraternity’s house on Bay State Road, Boston officials said they hope to meet soon with MIT representatives to discuss the “proper use” of all the college’s fraternities in the city. Municipal officials are investigating whether the fraternity violated city rules that prohibit the property from hosting gatherings of 50 or more people.
The woman, who is a student but not affiliated with MIT, fell from the window around 11:30 p.m. Sunday, authorities said. She was taken to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, said McKenzie Ridings, spokeswoman for the Boston Public Health Commission.
Officials have not disclosed the extent of her injuries, nor said how she fell.
Emmanuel College freshman Brooke Ames said Tuesday she was at the party with friends and saw the woman dancing. The woman then tried to lean back but instead tumbled out of the open window, which did not have a screen, Ames said.
When Ames and her friends ran down to check on her and alerted others to call 911, they realized the woman had landed on a one-story garage attached to the building.
MIT officials said they are investigating, but declined to release a report by campus police or to comment further Tuesday. Boston Police referred questions to MIT Police.
The City of Boston’s Inspectional Services Department is also investigating the matter, according to spokeswoman Lisa Timberlake. She said city inspectors walked through the property Tuesday morning and found no violations.
They do that every year.
However, the department plans to investigate whether the fraternity had more than 50 people at the house Sunday night, which would be a violation of city rules because the property does not have a permit necessary to host larger gatherings, Timberlake said.
Multiple members of the fraternity declined to comment Tuesday.
The “rush schedule” page on the fraternity’s website said a party was scheduled to start at 10 p.m. Sunday night.
The site also said the fraternity “has become widely known in the Boston college scene for our great parties” regularly drawing students from area colleges.
Nothing wrong with going clubbing.
Ames said she and her friends had arrived at the fraternity at about 11 p.m. and waited in line for about 20 minutes to get in. She estimated there were about 100 people at the party. Ames said she and her friends were not drinking and did not notice any others who were drinking.
“It was supposed to be a dry party,” Ames said.
Last October, several weeks after an MIT student fell four stories through a skylight at a party at MIT’s Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity in Kenmore Square, city officials announced a ban on large gatherings at residences in the city occupied by MIT fraternities, sororities, or independent living groups.
What are they really doing at M.I.T., huh?
At a meeting in January, city officials said the student groups could apply for “assembly use” permits in order to host large gatherings again, according to Timberlake.
As of Tuesday, no applications had been submitted for any of the student organizations’ properties, Timberlake said.
--more--"
"Boston, MIT officials meet over fraternity concerns" by Matt Rocheleau | Globe Correspondent September 03, 2014
MIT officials on Wednesday reaffirmed a year-old ban on large parties at university-affiliated fraternities, sororities, and living groups, three days after a woman was injured in a fall from a fraternity house window during a party.
The college took the step amid concern that the party, hosted by the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity on Bay State Road, violated rules that ban gatherings of 50 or more.
The rules apply to 26 fraternities, six sororities, and six living groups located in Boston, Cambridge, and Brookline, according to an e-mail sent to the student organizations by Henry Humphreys, MIT’s senior associate dean for student life, and Robert Ferrara, interim director of the college’s Office of Fraternities, Sororities, and Independent Living Groups.
Student groups in Boston must obtain city-issued permits to host larger gatherings.
In the meantime, “MIT will continue to work with [Boston’s Inspectional Services Department] to explore options for social events,” in housing operated by the off-campus student groups, the e-mail said. University staff will work with the groups to find alternate space they can use on campus.
Boston officials met Wednesday with MIT representatives to discuss the city’s “ongoing concerns” about parties and other large gatherings, said Melina Schuler, a spokeswoman for Mayor Martin J. Walsh.
The meeting came after the woman was injured Sunday night at about 11:30 p.m. The e-mail from MIT officials Wednesday said the woman is recovering.
Authorities have not said how she fell.
--more--"
At least they are accepting bit coin.
NEXT DAY UPDATE:
"Oft-assailed fraternities focus on responsibility; Organizations rebuilding their reputations" by Matt Rocheleau | Globe Correspondent September 08, 2014
College fraternities — their reputations tarnished by episodes of sexual violence, hazing, and dangerous, even deadly, partying — are taking new steps aimed at curbing the destructive behavior, and repairing a battered public image.
Although fraternities have faced criticism for decades, the spotlight has never been harsher amid heightened awareness of the most serious and prevalent social issues affecting college campuses, particularly concern around sexual assaults and binge drinking. College administrators say fraternities’ efforts appear to be more concerted and serious than in the past.
*****************
At MIT, the Interfraternity Council spent the past school year working with administrators to overhaul the fraternities’ training program about safe partying....
Aren't a lot of these kids under the legal drinking age of 21?
Why no furor? Just a right of passage, huh?
Fraternities are also seeking to bolster their public image with more community service and philanthropy....
Last week, MIT suspended a fraternity pending an investigation after a woman fell from a window during a party, and banned large parties at all Greek houses.
In just the past two years, BU suspended three fraternities and a sorority due to cases of reported misconduct, including two cases of hazing, repeatedly hosting wild parties, and an incident last spring where a student died from apparent accidental alcohol poisoning after he allegedly attended a fraternity party. Hazing at another BU fraternity prompted criminal charges and led to the chapter being closed.
I know I could go find the links, but why f***ing bother? I'm tired of writing about the same things year after year when nothing ever changes.
Despite struggles and setbacks among fraternities, administrators at area colleges credited the groups for making strides toward improving their image....
That's for what this page one piece of public relations is meant.
--more--"
It really is not surprising to see an elitist pre$$ try to rehabilitate eliti$t in$titutions.
Also see: Enrollment at UMass system surges 30 percent over past decade
Brandeis facing federal probe for handling of sexual assault
Wesleyan student falls from frat house window
Some kids never learn.
