EKU hazing trial rescheduled

This from H-L:

RICHMOND, Ky. --The trial for three men charged in an alleged hazing incident at an Eastern Kentucky University fraternity has been delayed.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that the trial was rescheduled until Jan. 5 for 21-year-old Thomas Barnes, 22-year-old Gabriel M. McLaren and 32-year-old Alonzo C. McGill....

Prosecutors ordered to provide more details in EKU hazing case

This from H-L:

RICHMOND — A judge has given prosecutors until next week to provide defense attorneys with more information about the alleged hazing of an Eastern Kentucky University student.

The order was issued after attorneys for EKU students Thomas Barnes and Gabriel M. McLaren and alumnus Alonzo C. McGill said during a hearing in Madison County District Court Thursday morning that prosecutors had provided them with very little of the information they had requested.

The attorneys had previously requested a list of names and contact information for the other men who allegedly hazed EKU student Brent Whiteside while he sought admission into EKU’s chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. The attorneys also requested Whiteside’s spring 2008 class schedule.

“It seems to me that the victim isn’t being forthcoming,” said Baechtold, who represents McLaren...

(Photos form H-L: above left - Brent whiteside; Above right - Attorney Jim Baechtold, Alonzo McGill and Gabriel McLaren ; right - Thomas Barnes.)

Horrific football hazing case shakes NM town

This from Teacher Magazine:

LAS VEGAS, N.M. (AP) — It was shocking enough when six high school football players were accused of sodomizing six younger teammates with a broomstick during training camp. But the scandal was raised to a whole new level when the coaches were accused of turning a blind eye to the hazing.

Since then, Robertson High's head football coach and all five assistants have resigned, and prosecutors are considering charges against adults and youngsters alike.

The incident has turned student against student in the town of 14,000, and subjected some of the school's athletes to lewd taunts from spectators...

...The scandal unfolded at a four-day, mid-August preseason training camp in the mountains west of Las Vegas, a predominantly Hispanic, once-booming Old West town 60 miles from Santa Fe, now known for its stately Victorian homes.

According to state police reports, a group of juniors assaulted several younger teammates over two days, holding the victims down while a broomstick was forced into their rectums over their athletic shorts...

Hazing popular, survey finds

Over half of students responding said it had happened to them

The study, released this week, didn't limit its focus to the usual suspects - fraternities, sororities and varsity sports teams. Those are still the biggest offenders, with nearly three-quarters of members reporting hazing. But the study also found hazing in club sports (64%), performing arts organizations (56%) and even academic clubs (28%).

Types of hazing activities ranged from benign to extreme. The four most common were drinking games, singing or chanting in public, associating with specific people and not others, and drinking large amounts of alcohol to the point of passing out.

...Researchers Elizabeth Allan and Mary Madden of the University of Maine's College of Education and Human Development surveyed some 11,000 students at 53 college campuses in 2007. An online survey asked students to indicate what kind of campus organizations they were involved in and then asked whether they had participated in 30 activities that the researchers defined as hazing...

This from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

EKU Frat Suspended For Alleged Hazing

Officials at Eastern Kentucky University have suspended a fraternity while they investigate a claim that hazing sent a student to the hospital.

They say they received a complaint from Brent Whiteside's family that he was injured during the hazing. He is in stable condition at Central Baptist Hospital. Whiteside is a junior at EKU, and sources tell us he's a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity.

Kappa Alpha Psi has been suspended by both its national chapter and EKU pending the outcome of the investigation...

This from MSNBC.