Two students summoned to Superior Court

By William S. Mauldin

LIZ OLINER/YH Two students received a court summons after Yale Police responded to a noise complaint at their Berkeley entryway A room.

What happened from this point on, however, is far from clear.

A source inside the court clerk's office reported on Wed., Mar. 4 that the two students were arraigned in New Haven Superior Court the previous day on the charge of "illegally inducing minors to procure liquor." While the court record has not been made available to the public because the accused are minors, the clerk's office said that the students' fates have not yet been decided; the two will appear in court again on Mon., Apr. 6.

But one of the students charged tells a different story. According to Coyne, he and Manewal were charged with "possession of alcohol by a minor." When reached last night, Coyne said that he and Manewal appeared in court and received 15 hours of community service. Coyne added that the pair was finished with the Superior
Court proceedings.

In addition to the summons, Berkeley Dean Laurence Winnie said that the matter will be brought before the Yale College Executive Committee (Ex Comm). For this reason, he declined comment on the charges facing the sophomores, maintaining that he was preserving the students' right to confidentiality. Coyne also confirmed, "We just have to meet with the Ex Comm."

Coyne admitted that he is in Delta Kappa Epsilon ([[Delta]]KE) but denied that his roommate, Manewal, is a member of the fraternity. [[Delta]]KE president Ken Gawrelski, TC '99, and [[Delta]]KE pledge Mike Reeves, SY '01, reported, however, that Manewal is in fact a member of the fraternity. Coyne said that he and Manewal do not require the services of a lawyer, and no counsel is listed for them in the court clerk's office.

[[Delta]]KE traditionally sponsors a Feb Club party every night during the month of February. Both Gawrelski and fraternity Vice President Chris Ryan, BR '99, claim that they were not at the party.

Ryan explained that the party was only loosely affiliated with the fraternity. "Each Feb Club party is hosted and paid for by the hosts. This really wasn't a [[Delta]]KE party." Gawrelski, however, said, "We're going to have to be more careful with [[[Delta]]KE's] on-campus parties." When asked about [[Delta]]KE parties in general, he added, "We are careful to make sure there's no underage drinking."

Like Winnie, Dean of Student Affairs Betty Trachtenberg remained silent on the issue. She categorically refused to answer any questions relating to the "Man-O-War Memorial Bash." In response to an inquiry as to why the Yale Police uncharacteristically took action against students at an on-campus party, she responded, "Customs come, customs go."

With an Ex Comm hearing in the works, students are left to wonder why Coyne and Manewal are facing disciplinary and court action for hosting the type of party that happens every weekend at Yale. Ryan admitted, however, "There may have been other things going on [at the party]."

While it is illegal to serve alcohol to underage students, many students confirm that when the police break up on-campus parties where alcohol is being served, they usually just tell everyone to go home. Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow, BK '01, said that when the police arrived at a party in Wright Hall last weekend, they "were pretty laid back. They said, `You can't make it so obvious that there is alcohol here.'"

Justin Milner, SM '99, who lives in Silliman's Beach Club, a notorious party suite, also reported that police are not usually hostile when they come to break up parties. "They ask us who's in charge and tell us they got a complaint," he said. "They're always pretty friendly and very reasonable."

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