STUDENT REMAINS IN COMA

Stanford bans fraternity following accident

A Stanford University senior lies in a coma with serious head injuries at
Stanford University Hospital after an alcohol related incident that has
prompted the university to ban his fraternity house from the campus.

The student, Michael Howard, 21, plunged from the two-story balcony of his
Phi Delta Theta fraternity house about 2:30 a.m. Saturday, landing on his
face. The fall crushed the bones around his eye sockets and caused internal
bleeding in his brain, said his father, Bruce Howard of Maine, who is
keeping a 'round-the-clock vigil outside his room. Unconscious, the
economics student apparently wasn't discovered until the following morning.

Howard remains in intensive care and is still unconscious after a craniotomy
was performed by physicians to remove blood clots and reduce swelling in his
brain, his father said. Bruce Howard would not comment on how the university
has handled the incident.

In recent years, the university has struggled to come up with ways to
monitor fraternity drinking, clamping down on parties that get out of
control and imposing new rules requiring party permits.

On Thursday, University President Gerhard Casper announced that Phi Delta
Theta would lose its house on campus. The house had already been on
probation for problems with alcohol and had a record of problems, university
officials said.

Last spring, during rush week, two pledges to the same fraternity got in a
scuffle in an incident that also involved alcohol. One fell on a bottle and
lacerated his face, according to students at a neighboring fraternity.
During rush week, no alcohol is allowed.

On the evening when Howard fell, a university investigation found, alcohol
was served at the house, in violation of a university ban on alcohol at its
events.

``This is indeed a tragic situation for the student, his family, the
fraternity and the entire Stanford community,'' said Vice Provost for
Student Affairs James Montoya.

Jackson Wagener, the president of Phi Delta Theta, said, ``We are just
praying for him and hoping he gets better. Right now, the house is not our
concern. It's with our friend in the hospital.''

As a campus official hovered next to him, Wagener said Howard's fraternity
brothers haven't been allowed to visit him but wouldn't elaborate further.

Stanford fraternities have been involved in a number of serious accidents
over the years. A decade ago, in one infamous incident, a drunk fraternity
member walked into Lake Lagunita on campus and drowned.

Checked-by: Rolf Ernst