It has certainly been awhile UT(4)D, but hello again. It is nice to see you.
Amidst finals, packing, interning, and missing Austin entirely too much, it
seems time has gotten away from me.

That being said, this post may be a little dated, but is something I have
wanted to throw out there for a good while now.

After the death of a Sigma Alpha Epsilon pledge in 2006, the fraternity and
its hazing policies have been under investigation. Eventually, in late April
the fraternity and UT reached an agreement that allows for the organization
to continue to be recognized by the university, yet changes the pledging
process and regulates social activities.

Four members of the fraternity have also been charged with misdemeanor
hazing.

The agreement reached between the university and the fraternity has been
criticized by - well, it has been criticized by me; but hear me out.

The agreement bans hazing. Genius. I am glad that UT has reached an
agreement based on banning hazing when that has been a rule for many years
now.

Ouch, you don’t want to slap anyone’s wrist too hard, now do you?

The charges made against the fraternity members have also been criticized. The
widely accepted notion is that all fraternities haze and that these guys are
being made an example. Well, yes, they are setting an example (another point
reached in the agreement to ‘lead other UT fraternities in making similar
changes’) of what could happen when excessive hazing is involved in social
organizations. Yes, it happens throughout campus, but this organization was
doing especially bad things, things that may or may not be done elsewhere on
campus, and they got caught because someone died.

As I write this, I can’t help but remember the Duke lacrosse case, and the
critics across the country that cried ‘foul play’. They dismissed the ordeal
as an overaggressive prosecutor going after upper class white men – and, by
all accounts, he was. The fundamental difference, however, is that their
case was brought about by heresy.  On these here 40 Acres, though, it is a
situation of facts, which were in fact conceded by the accused parties.  These
young men did something wrong, they
got caught (again, I stress, because someone died), and now, they pay the
price.  Whether or not they were made to be scapegoats is largely
irrelevant.

This is not an example being made out of innocent people. UT should look
over that agreement once more, and strive to set an example themselves. Allowing the
organization to remain on campus because they agreed stop hazing, when they
were well aware of its illegality in the first place? Very noble indeed.

Perhaps they should set an example that demonstrates that hazing of this
magnitude will not be permitted with punishment equal to a bit more than a
‘time out’

Once upon a time, Alanis Morissette sang about ironic things.

It wasn’t anyone we know’s wedding day, but last night, some companions of mine and I visited the Elephant Room, which, if you don’t know, is located in a basement cellar and has live jazz every single night of the week.

We arrived around 10 p.m. We left around 1 a.m. Basically, the world looked like some Will Smith/ I Am Legend shit when we got out. We were buzzed and confused. And it looked like the trees of Austin threw up everywhere.

Which brings me to my next point. We were safe drinking away at a jazz bar in a basement during a “tornado.”

Isn’t it ironic? Don’t you think?

I have posted a picture of some of my apt. damage to our lovely Flickr (let us know if you want to submit yours for display).

Elephant Room: the place to booze during inclement weather.

When my fellow comrades and I began this outrageous concoction of UT pop culture, we decided on the name “UT for Dummies” without thinking that, oh shit, we are violating copyright law.

Thus, we were presented with a choice.

a) We pay the “For Dummies” publishing company money to license the name, and thus have that stupid little triangular man with jagged hair put on our site.

(<–That’s him and the book we should have read)

or, option b) We change the name to something similar and not copyrighted.

Therefore, you have been REDIRECTED to UTdummies.com until our illegal property dies from malnutrition. Doesn’t this site look familiar and legal?

We’ve packed our bags. Spring cleaning is done, and we aren’t getting sued.

Three aggravated robberies in the past three weeks? Yikes. And the fact he keeps going back to the RLM makes me wonder how bad he wants that laser.

According to the descriptions from UTPD, the culprit is about 6 foot, medium build, wearing a black mask, and brandishing a weapon.

In other words, if you see a dude like this walking around, you’ve got him.

Crime has risen on the premises, no doubt. There was not even a record of a robbery or forced burglary on UT campus in 2008 according to the UTPD crime statistics. In 2007, only one forced burglary was reported and no robberies whatsoever.

So what’s the deal? How safe are we really? UT administrators have refused to disclose the number of surveillance cameras on campus or their locations.

With finals coming up, walking home at night is inevitable (except at that point, no student is nothin’ to f with). Walking in groups at this time is especially inconvenient.

Safety is knowing where we can be observed on camera. Some pepper spray wouldn’t kill you either (get it at any bicycle shop–there is one on 24th and Rio Grande and another on 29th and Lamar).

Protect yourself–Zorro is still out there.

At approximately 9:10 this evening, my house - located on 44th and Red River - was broken into.

The weapon: a rock, pictured below.

The act: rock was thrown from backyard, through glass door that was just installed in the back of our house. I came home from studying, walked in the kitchen door, stumbled on the rock and heard a crackling noise. Glass was everywhere, and when I didn’t see my dog, I immediately ran outside and called 911.

The motive: unknown.

Stolen goods: none. Plus I found my dog (THANK GOODNESS), scared shitless, hiding under my bed.

Take this as a warning, and keep an eye out for each other. Austin feels safe. Hyde Park seems like the most friendly neighborhood ever. Please be careful and let us know if you have any information.