Women's Groups Threaten Formal Protest Of Fraternity Striptease Acts

Women's groups at the University of Pennsylvania early this month threatened formal protest against the presence of strippers at fraternity rush functions.

Fraternities claim that the strippers are necessary to attract freshmen, but women's groups think "it's pretty pathetic that they can't find anything better to do," Women's Alliance Coordinator Constance Natalis told The Daily Pennsylvanian.

At Zeta Beta Tau (ZBT), one of the two fraternities involved, the striptease act involved "disgusting and degrading" sexual acts, one freshman told The Daily Pennsylvanian. One student member of the audience reportedly added a little spice to the event when he got up on stage and "interacted" with the two strippers, the paper reported.

Since the rush is now dry, alternate forms of entertainment, such as striptease acts, have become more important to fraternities trying to attract freshmen.

Although fraternity members said that alcohol-free rush makes the presence of strippers more justifiable, women's groups claim that the fraternities are using dry rush as an excuse.

The director of the school's Women's Center, Elena DiLapi, said the actions may increase incidents of sexual harassment on campus, by influencing the way the men attending the striptease acts treat all women.

The Penn Women's Alliance said fraternities may schedule a formal protest, and DiLapi has said she will pursue complaints women bring to her about the performances. MIT

Student Injured After Falling From Window in Drunken Brawl

An MIT student was injured last Saturday after he was pushed from a second-story window in a drunken brawl.

The student, whose name has not been released, spent the night under observation at the MIT infirmary, according to an article this week in The Tech. The school's Office of the Dean of Student Affairs is investigating the incident, the paper reported.

The student was pushed through the window of Baker House, a student dormitory, during a confrontation with a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity early Saturday morning, according to The Tech. The incident followed on the heels of a drinking contest at a private Oktoberfest party.

The fight developed when a drunk senior made advances to a freshman girl by repeatedly asking her for a date. The girl contacted her boyfriend, a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, who entered Baker House with a friend. When a third fraternity member who had a previous disagreement with the Baker resident arrived, a fight broke out.

During the fight, the Baker resident was punched so hard that he fell backwards through the window. Baker House hopes to ban the fraternity brother who delivered the punch from its premises.

The woman will not file sexual harrassment charges against the senior, nor will the injured senior press charges against the fraternity member who attacked him. WHEATON COLLEGE

School Will Divest of All Companies Doing Business in South Africa

Wheaton College, in Norton, Mass., will divest of all holdings in companies doing business in South Africa by the end of 1988, the chairman of the college's Board of Trustees announced last Saturday.

At an October 24 board meeting, Chairman Winston R. Hindle announced that Wheaton be selling just under $2 million of its $37.2 million porttolio over the next 14 months.

The college will advise its financial managers to sell the stocks, worth 6.4 percent of Wheaton's endowment, and reinvest the money so that the school does not suffer a net loss in its portfolio, said Vice President of Finance and Operations Donald Scott. For sale are stocks in seven or eight companies, including DuPont, Hewlett-Packard, ControlData, and Tenneco, Scott said.

For the past three years, Wheaton has monitored its South African investments in accordance with the Sullivan principles, Scott said.

But after the originator of the standards, Leon H. Sullivan of Philadelphia, announced last May that his principles had failed to bring about significant policy changes in the apartheid nation and encouraged total divestment, Wheaton re-evaluated its stand on divestment, Scott said.

Hindle said the college's action "represents an expression of social conscience...over the repressive nature of apartheid in South Africa." COLUMBIA

School Will Earn Big Bucks by Letting Company Use Methods Developed by Prof

Columbia University expects to earn millions of dollars by licensing a corporation to use genetic engineering methods developed by a professor at the school's College of Physicians and Surgeons, The Columbia Spectator reported last week.

Genentech, Inc. will use a Columbia-patented method developed by Professor of Biochemistry and Pathology Richard Axel and colleagues to develop a drug that could help sufferers of heart attacks, The Spectator reported.

The drug, called tissue plasminogen activator, dissolves blood clots that cause heart attacks, said Vice Provost Kathleen Mullinix.

Mullinix refused to state the exact amounts the university and the researchers would receive for the license. She said, however, that Genentech had made an immediate cash payment for the right to use the drug, and would also pay royalty fees.

Industry experts estimate that the drug will produce sales between $300 million and $1 billion annually.