TL20071011-01 "Oct. 11, 2007 www.thetowerlight.com The Towerlight Published by and for the students of Towson and Baltimore -- twice-weekly Thursday Now on TheTowerlight.com: View a slideshow of the QSU Drag Show and read an extended story on the Homecoming court... Alcohol use TU�s unofficial fight song lands five sororities on probation Bid Day drinking leads to sanctions They violated the �no drinking� [rule] during formal recruitment. We substantiated there was drinking on the field....And that is against their policy as it relates to recruitment. Patrick Daniel Director of student activities �ola o dr d al recr File Photo/Patrick Smith/The Towerlight The TIGER Marching Band performs at Johnny Unitas Stadium during Homecoming 2006. During basketball season, the tuba players perform a dance during the SportsCenter theme. See GREEK, page10 HOMECOMING 2007 See THEME, page 14 SportsCenter theme energizes; is celebrated by band, team, fans Quarterback Sean Schaefer is on pace to break state passing records Sports, page 24 Rope course built in Glen Woods News, page 8 Kiel McLaughlin Sports Editor Instead of calling for the Fight Song when the Tigers need inspira-tion, the crowd cries for a more familiar melody. One with even simpler lyrics than �Fight on Towson Tigers.� It begins with a whisper, a softly played tune as the TIGER Marching Band and student section crouch down. Drum major Sean Frampton presses one finger to his lips and insists that the band play even softer. The percussionists abandon their cymbals in favor of the rims of their drums in order to reach the desired effect. And after finally build-ing the suspense long enough, the band erupts. �DA DA DA� DA DA DA� �It�s euphoric,� junior marketing major and T-Unit member Ben Wolfram said. �It�s like an out-of-body experi-ence that you just get caught up in with everybody cheering.� Leaping up and waving arms from side to side frantically, the student section, spearheaded by the diehards of T-Unit, cheers and sings along to ESPN�s SportsCenter theme music. According to T-Unit, the reason the song is cru-cial to the fan experi-ence is because it gets the crowd on their feet. �It gets everybody to stand up,� former Marching Band mem-ber and URG treasur-er Corinne DeRoberts said. �It�s so exciting to see everyone here get up, and once the song is over they stay on their feet. It gets the entire crowd up, not just the T-Unit, and it makes everything so much better.� The growing number of students at Towson sporting events, and their response to the SportsCenter theme, spurred the Marching Band to develop the song fur-ther and play it more often. First adapted by former drum major Scott Engel prior to the 2003 fall semester, the song had a humble beginning. Initially it didn�t include the dance routine or much energy, but the theme, also known by band members as �the sauce,� has developed naturally. �It evolved during the 2004-05 sea-sons and once the band members realized there was such an appeal to the song, it grew,� TIGER Marching Band direc-tor John Miliauskas said. �There is no one person that created the dance. You can�t plan those things. It just happens, and they played off one another to get to Sharon Leff Editor in Chief Eight Panhellenic sororities were sanctioned and five are on social probation after the University discovered alcohol was involved in recruitment activities related to Bid Day, held Sept. 16. On Bid Day, pledges rush toward their new sorority on Burdick Field. New pledges are often cheered and tackled. Alpha Omicron Pi, Alpha Phi, Phi Mu, Phi Sigma Sigma and Zeta Tau Alpha are on social probation. �They violated the �no drinking� [rule] during formal recruit-ment. We substantiated there was drinking on the field. There was drinking prior to the event. And that is against their policy as it relates to recruitment,� Patrick Daniel, director of student activities, said. Formal recruitment is supposed to be a �dry� recruitment. Daniel said the University learned of the infractions because numerous injuries were reported and there were pictures on Facebook. There were also conversa-tions with members and individual judicial confer-ences with the eight sorori-ties and the Panhellenic Association. Daniel said the eight sororities affiliated with the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) and the Panhellenic Association, which serves as the council for those eight sororities, were found responsible of judicial charges. The social probation will last until Spring Break 2008. �They cannot tailgate. They can�t participate in Homecoming events. They can�t have events with other chapters. That includes fraternities and other student organizations. [There will be] no formals, semiformals, no date parties or crush par-ties, no socials,� he said. Whether there was also underage drinking at Bid Day is still under investigation, Daniel said. Individual sorority members are going through the judicial process. "
