FRAT PLEADS GUILTY TO ALCOHOL CHARGES

BATON ROUGE, La., Aug. 31 (UPI) -- A Louisiana State University
fraternity has pleaded guilty to charges that its members and officers
bought alcoholic beverages for underage drinkers.

Sigma Alpha Epsilon officials entered the plea today in a Baton Rouge
court. The charges stemmed from last fall's binge-drinking death of an
LSU student.

The fraternity, which faced 86 charges of buying alcohol for minors,
was ordered off the LSU campus for a three-year period following the
death of 20-year-old Benjamin Wynne of Mandeville.

Wynne died last year of acute alcohol poisoning on fraternity bid
night after consuming six times the amount of alcohol to be declared
legally drunk. He was one of a half-dozen students taken to hospitals
on bid night, but the only one who didn't survive the night of
partying. All but one of the other students were treated and released.
The court suspended a $8,600 fine against SAE and required it to
donate the same amount to alcohol awareness and treatment programs.
The fraternity must still pay half the cost of the investigation,
which amounts to $14,000.

LSU fraternities closed out their rush week last night with university
officials and campus police on patrol. This year, bids went out on
Sunday night when bars are closed.

School officials wandered the campus Sunday night, stopping in at
fraternity houses to check on students. LSU officials said they were
attempting to get students to become aware of a responsibility for
looking out for the welfare of fellow students.

Meanwhile, a Nov. 4 trial date has been set for Murphy's Bar, the
Baton Rouge lounge accused of selling liquor to underage drinkers,
including Wynne, last year. The minimum age for consuming alcohol in
Louisiana is 21.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry