[NU Sports] Soccer cats hazing -- blown out of proportion

[Jonathan Hodges]

The "Willie" hazing incident occurred last fall (2005) and was covered
in the Daily, but the news did not spread outside of the university.
What happened with that incident is that some students were
"kidnapped" from near an ATM on campus that is located on University
Ave. (between dormitories and the sorority quads).  Another student
saw this and contacted the university police who canvased the area
(targeting mostly the nearby Greek residences) looking for the
responsible group (since it was determined that this was probably a
hazing incident).

The mascot program was found to be the culprit and was essentially
disbanded and all members were required to re-apply (this was also
covered in the Daily earlier this year).  Recently the program seemed
to be troubled with a shortage of members and the missing of some
events along with the hazing incident.  It seems as though the
athletic department took the chance to reign in the program and
rightly so.

It is also interesting that student groups (particularly Greek
organizations) routinely get caught in hazing incidents, yet these
scandals never make it past the school newspaper.  And while there
have been some high profile incidents invoking lawsuits and the like,
they are mostly shrugged off as kids being kids and everyone knows
that it is widespread.

It is interesting to think that NU or the athletics programs are
somehow immune to this - especially in the light of the high school
hazing incident from the nearby Glenbrook HS recently - which happened
to be much worse, apparently (i.e. pig intestines thrown at the
"initiates").  The fact is that this most recent incident at NU did
not end in tragedy and did not threaten the safety of those involved
and IS being blown way out of proportion.  The press should spend more
time covering hazing deaths due to alcohol and outrageous stunts that
occur every year but are mostly overlooked.

Jonathan


On 5/18/06, cherron604 at aol.com <cherron604 at aol.com> wrote:
> I may just be confused today, but I seem to see 3 'theses' emerging, explaining why NU seems to have more embarrassing incidents come to light than similar institutions:
>
> - The 'tear-down mentality' media like to target NU (because it is rich/private/prestigious) more than other institutions (is this mostly a Private/Public dispute ?)
>
> - The large number of prominent alums in the media subject us to greater scrutiny (higher expectations ?  greater self-examination ?)
>
> - (Related) The large number of prominent media alumni cause a backlash from non-NU media types, who see it as an opportunity to bash their Medill colleagues/nemeses ?
>
> Or is the initial assumption (These things happen equally everywhere) 100% valid ?
>
> Also noted in this morning's Sun-Times that the University has recently had to discipline the Men's swim team as well as the 'Willie' mascots for hazing violations:
>
> http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-nu18.html
>
> Chuck Herron   Tech '85
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Roy Lamberton <rstetson at capps-assoc.com>
> To: 'Tom Maycock' <tkmaycock at yahoo.com>; nwu-sports at tssi.com
> Sent: Thu, 18 May 2006 12:09:12 -0400
> Subject: RE: [NU Sports] Soccer cats hazing -- blown out of proportion
>
>
> Following on the heels of the events at Duke, anything done by a large private
> institution will be waved about like the old proverbial "bloody shirt."
>
> Trust me, every time a hazing incident comes up for the next 5 years, this will
> be mentioned. If you don't agree, check out all the stories about flip-flops
> that still pop up on Google about once a month.
>
> NU has had the gambling scandal, and Rashidi, flip-flops and this bogus hazing
> issue - during that time, we've won how many Big 10 titles? Graduated how many
> students? Produced how many NFL players? It all doesn't count to the tear it
> down at all costs media types [including the ones at the Daily]
>
> Grrrrr
>
> rsl
>
> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> Roy S. Lamberton - Senior Associate
> Computer Applications & Support Associates
> and Publisher of Purple Reign,
> The Scout.com Northwestern University Site
> (http://www.purplewildcats.com)
> AIM Handle: CoachRoy74
> ======== Go Cats -  Beat 'em All ===========
> Every time I think I've got this Computer
> Biz handled
>             -- There's another upgrade.
> ============================================
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com
> > [mailto:nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com] On Behalf Of Tom Maycock
> > Sent: Thursday, May 18, 2006 12:02 PM
> > To: nwu-sports at tssi.com
> > Subject: Re: [NU Sports] Soccer cats hazing -- blown out of proportion
> >
> >
> > --- "mlinhardt at netzero.net" <mlinhardt at netzero.net> wrote:
> > > Am I the only one who thinks this story is getting blown out of
> > > proportion?
> >
> > Nope, I'm with you.
> >
> > Although I'd  be in the "no tolerance for hazing whatsoever"
> > camp, I don't get why this is such a big story.
> >
> > Some folks did something stupid (hazing), then did something
> > equally as stupid, by posting photo evidence on the net. They
> > should be punished, but not vilified. And the university
> > certainly shouldn't take heat for it.
> >
> > Tom
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> >
>
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-- 
Jonathan W. Hodges
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