06 Nov 11.indd

Nation & World
6
Nation & World In Brief
Keg party leads to suspension of UConn fraternity
STORRS, Conn. (AP) – The
University of Connecticut suspended a fraternity for five years and is
evicting members from its on-campus house in the wake of an offcampus keg party in September.
Under the sanctions, the Chi Phi
fraternity, which has about 30 members, will be not be allowed to “recolonizeʼʼ until 2009, said John Saddlemire, the schoolʼs vice president
for student affairs.
Members of the fraternity will be
relocated from their house in Husky
Village to other on-campus housing,
Saddlemire said.
“Itʼs a strong sanction, but itʼs
certainly appropriate,ʼʼ he said.
Eight people, including four fraternity members, were arrested after
a Sept. 25 party at an off-campus
house rented by Chi Phi. The charges included distribution of alcohol
without a permit, sale of alcoholic
beverages to minors and narcotics
violations.
The four fraternity members
were suspended from school for
one or two semesters and sentenced to two yearsʼ probation and
20 hours of community service.
About 100 people attended the
party that included a live band and
14 kegs of beer, said state Police
Sgt. Sean Cox, Mansfieldʼs resident state trooper.
The fraternity, which has had a
chapter at UConn since 1956, was
informed of the suspension after a
hearing last month, said Dan Murphy, the chapterʼs president. The
fraternityʼs letter of appeal was rejected, but members have scheduled
a Tuesday meeting with university
officials in hope of getting the sanctions reduced, Murphy said.
“Chi Phi is not UConnʼs Animal
House,ʼʼ Murphy said. “Weʼre not
big partiers. This was a one-time
event. The one time we messed up is
the time the university and the town
began cracking down.ʼʼ
Saddlemire said the university
has made it clear to all student organizations that it will not tolerate the
sale of alcohol to minors, the sale of
drugs or assaults of any kind.
Murphy said the fraternity chapter will disband instead of continuing
as an unsanctioned organization, but
members plan to form an alcoholawareness group to educate other
student groups about the dangers of
allowing alcohol at parties.
“None of the guys who are
members now will be here in five
years,ʼʼ he said. “For us, itʼs all
over.ʼʼ
Ex-Blue sentenced in murder-for-hire scheme
EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP)
– Former St. Louis Blues forward
Mike Danton was sentenced Monday to seven and a half years in
prison for a failed murder-for-hire
plot to kill his agent.
Danton, 24, remained silent as
U.S. District Judge William Stiehl
read the sentence. Asked by the
judge if he wanted to speak, Danton declined.
“I do not believe in over 18 years
on the bench I have been faced with
a case as bizarre as this one,ʼʼ Stiehl
said, noting that Danton chose a 19
year old and a police dispatcher as
his would-be helpers in the murder
plot.
“The exact reasons you felt you
needed to engage in a murder plot
remain a mystery to me,” he said.
Meanwhile, Dantonʼs hockey career is in jeopardy. No parole exists
in the federal system, and Stiehl has
noted Danton may not be allowed to
return to the United States after completing his sentence.
“Throughout this whole thing,
we havenʼt been thinking about
hockey,” Haar said. “I donʼt even
know if thatʼs ever going to be a
possibility in any form.ʼʼ
Dantonʼs contract with the
Blues expired after the 2003-04
season, and prosecutors and the
FBI have said they wonʼt oppose
Dantonʼs effort to transfer to a
prison in his native Canada.
Danton pleaded guilty July 16 to
murder conspiracy charges. Prosecutors have said the intended victim
was David Frost, Dantonʼs agent
and his longtime Canadian youth
hockey coach. A federal jury Sept.
20 acquitted Katie Wolfmeyer, 19,
of Florissant, of charges that she
helped Danton in the plot.
Dantonʼs attorney apologized on
behalf of Danton to his Blues teammates and the organization, fans,
friends and the court “for the pain
and disappointment he has caused.”
“His aspiration now is to return
to Canada and put his life back together again,ʼʼ Haar said.
Danton faced up to 10 years in
prison, and prosecutors had argued
for a strong sentence because they
said Danton encouraged Wolfmeyer to deceive authorities.
Wolfmeyer said her life is returning to normal. She is busy playing college volleyball as she attends
St. Louis Community College.
Thursday, November 11, 2004
Problem in Fallujah reignites
Thousands of residents
flee city for safety as
offensive rages on
NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq (AP)
– The skies over Fallujah have lit up
from the flashes of air and artillery
barrages as U.S. and Iraqi forces
continue an offensive to seize key
insurgent strongholds in a city that
became the major sanctuary for Islamic extremists who fought Marines to a standstill last April.
Heavy firing continued into
the predawn hours Tuesday, and
residents reached by satellite telephone reported the constant drone
of American warplanes overhead.
A U.S. military spokesman estimated that 42 insurgents were killed
across the city in bombardment and
skirmishes before the main assault
began Monday. Two Marines died
when their bulldozer flipped over
into the Euphrates near Fallujah.
In the northwestern area of the
city, U.S. troops advanced slowly
after dusk on the Jolan neighborhood, a warren of alleyways where
Sunni militants have dug in. Artillery, tanks and warplanes pounded
the districtʼs northern edge, softening the defenses and trying to
set off any bombs or boobytraps
planted by the militants.
U.S. troops cut off electricity to
the city. Residents said they were
without running water and were
worried about food shortages because most shops in the city have
been closed for two days.
Masked insurgents roamed
Fallujah streets throughout the
day. One group of four fighters,
wire photo
An Iraqi man prepares graves for seven others killed by an air
strike Monday in Fallujah, Iraq. U.S. forces stormed into the
western outskirts of Fallujah early Monday.
two of them draped with belts
of ammunition, moved through
narrow passageways, firing on
U.S. forces with small arms and
mortars.
As night fell, a civilian living in
the center of Fallujah said hundreds
of houses had been destroyed.
“Every minute, hundreds of
bombs and shells are exploding,ʼʼ
Fadril al-Badrani said in an interview. “The north of the city is in
flames. I can also see fire and smoke
... Fallujah has become like hell.ʼʼ
The top U.S. commander in Iraq,
Gen. George Casey, said 10,000
to 15,000 U.S. troops, along with
a smaller number of Iraqi forces,
were encircling the city.
“One part of the country cannot
remain under the rule of assassins ...
and the remnants of Saddam Husseinʼs regime,ʼʼ Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld said.
About 3,000 insurgents were barricaded in Fallujah, U.S. commanders have estimated. U.S. military
officials said they think 20 percent
of Fallujahʼs fighters are foreigners
believed to be followers of Jordanian
militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Casey said 50 to 70 percent of
the cityʼs 200,000 residents have
fled. The numbers are in dispute,
however, with some putting the
population at 300,000.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, who gave the green light for
the offensive, also announced an
around-the-clock curfew in Fallujah and another nearby insurgent
stronghold, Ramadi.
“The people of Fallujah have
been taken hostage ... and you
need to free them from their grip,ʼʼ
he told Iraqi soldiers who swarmed
around him during a visit to the
main U.S. base outside Fallujah.
“May they go to hell!ʼʼ the soldiers shouted, and Allawi replied:
“To hell they will go.”
Iraqi Defense Minister Hazem
Shaalan al-Khuzaei told Al-Arabiya television that he expected the
resistance to crumble quickly.
“God willing, it will not be
long,” he said. “It will take a very
short period of time.ʼʼ He added
that the insurgents might use the
civilians as human shields.
Ashcroft announces resignation
WASHINGTON (AP) – President George
W. Bush calls the speculation about who will
be in his second-term cabinet a “great Washington sport,ʼʼ but even he says there will be
new faces in the White House.
Attorney General John Ashcroft announced
his resignation Tuesday. Others expected to
leave include Secretary of State Colin Powell,
Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy
Thompson and Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta.
“In the Cabinet, there will be some changes,ʼʼ said Bush, who says heʼs made no decisions yet and will ponder personnel changes
this weekend at the Camp David presidential
retreat.
Alberto Gonzalez, a White House legal
counsel, was announced Wednesday as the
presidentʼs choice to replace Ashcroft.
Commerce Secretary Don Evans also announced his resignation Tuesday. Like Ashcroft,
Evans will remain at his post until January.
Ashcroft, a former Missouri governor and
senator, is described as exhausted from leading
the Justice Department in fighting the domestic
war on terrorism since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Stress was a factor in Ashcroftʼs health
problems earlier this year, which resulted in
removal of his gall bladder.
The president had his 27th cabinet meeting
of his presidency Thursday – possibly the last
of his first term.
“I fully understand weʼre about to head into
the period of intense speculation as to who is
going to stay and whoʼs not going to stay,ʼʼ Bush
said. “Itʼs a great Washington sport to be talking
about whoʼs going to leave and who the replacements may be and handicapping, you know, my
way of thinking.ʼʼ
Secretary of State Colin Powell, dubbed the
dove among hawks in the Bush administration, was widely expected to be the first out the
door, but he recently signaled he might stay a
while if Bush asked him to do so.
National security adviser Condoleezza
Rice, who has talked about returning to academic life in California, has been mentioned
as a possible replacement for Powell.
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld
has not offered clues about his future, but
Rumsfeld aides now say they expect him to
remain in the job for the start of Bushʼs second term.
Aides to deputy defense secretary Paul
Wolfowitz say he is likely to leave his job,
and that he might be interested in taking
Riceʼs place if she leaves.