UNIVERSITY OF OREGON FRATERNITY GOES DRY

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) -- Trying to shake an image more associated with
"Animal House" than academics, new members of the University of
Oregon's Delta Sigma Phi fraternity are going "dry."

Three other university fraternities have agreed to ban use of alcohol
within five years, and another plans to launch a dry chapter in a
couple of weeks. Some sororities, which already prohibit alcohol, are
doing their part by pledging to party only with dry
fraternities.

The university has also decided to implement new dorm policies in
hopes of keeping a lid on student alcohol abuse.

Dorm residents are now prohibited from possessing even empty alcohol
containers. And noticeable intoxication, such as staggering, is
prohibited in the dorms.

Students who are written up will be charged $10 to recover enforcement
costs and required to attend a class on drinking issues.

Dorms drew attention because they attract mostly freshmen, who are
both new to campus and usually too young to drink legally.

Both university officials and Eugene police have intensified efforts
to curb alcohol abuse since two campus-area parties erupted into riots
last October. Police used tear gas on each occasion to break up crowds
of about 300 people after officers were showered with beer bottles,
rocks and other objects.

"We're not happy with what happened here last fall in the slightest,"
university President Dave Frohnmayer said in a recent interview. "We
will crack the whip to whatever degree necessary."

But the reforms may have only a moderate effect on college
drinking.

Supporters of the lose-the-booze effort say it's part of a greater
plan to restore the Greeks' relevance and respect as houses struggle
with low grades, declining membership and high liability insurance
rates.

At the university, where Greeks account for about 10 percent of
students, fraternity membership fell by 25 percent in just three
years, from 820 in fall 1994 to 619 in fall 1997. Sorority membership
fell 8 percent during that time, from 849 to 780.

Rena Adelstein, spokeswoman for the university's Panhellenic Council,
which oversees sororities, said "if this (drinking ban) doesn't
happen, basically the Greek system is going to die in about five years."

Checked-by: Patrick Henry