TauGear

In secondary school through college, wrestler Bill Closson was always a champion - once a state champion and twice an All-American.

Today, Closson, a graduate student at NIU, is working toward a long-term goal - to teach the blind and visually impaired. ...

Closson earned his bachelor's degree from Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, where he served as community service chairman in his fraternity, Alpha Tau Omega, and worked with the Boys and Girls Club. From this positive experience, Closson said he decided he wanted to continue working with kids. ...

Accidents happen. But within the past 12 years, four accidents have been eerily similar, involving a fraternity, alcohol and a long fall to the ground. The most recent was Friday, when Ryan Carroll, 19, fell 20 feet from a fire escape, injuring his head. On Monday, University of Nebraska-Lincoln police found alcohol to have been a factor in the fall, said Capt. Carl Oestmann.

Oestmann said Carroll had been drinking at an off-campus location before losing his balance on a fire escape at Alpha Tau Omega fraternity...

Late Friday night, Ryan Carroll, 19, fell 20 feet off a fire escape on the south side of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity at 1433 R St., injuring his head. ...

University police were called to the medical emergency at about 11:20 p.m. on Friday, said Capt. Carl Oestmann. Oestmann said it appeared Carroll wandered onto the escape and, according to people at the fraternity, accidentally fell off. "Right now we think it was an accident," he said. ...

A University of Nebraska-Lincoln fraternity member who fell from a balcony Friday night was released from a Lincoln hospital Sunday. Ryan Carroll, 19, of suburban Chicago, apparently fell from a third-floor fire escape at the Alpha Tau Omega house, according to police. ...

A 19-year-old student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln suffered head injuries in a three-story fall from a fraternity house Friday night. Ryan Carroll, originally from the Chicago suburb of Naperville, Ill., was listed in serious condition at BryanLGH Medical Center West on Saturday evening.

About 11:20 p.m. Friday, Carroll reportedly was leaning over a fire escape railing between the second and third floors of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity house when he fell, said Capt. Carl Oestmann of the campus police. ...

A proposed Mississippi House Bill would allow the State Fire Marshall's office to inspect all sorority and fraternity houses located on state property. ...

According to the State Chief Fire Marshall, Millard D. Mackey, the new regulations are a direct re-action to the fatal fire, that engulfed the Alpha Tau Omega house on the Ole Miss campus Aug. 27. ...

The day she meant to leave Sri Lanka, College sophomore Reena Panjwani awoke early to the sounds of screams and loud crashes coming from outside the newly-built beach house where she was living. Her first thought, she said, was that a friend's pet elephant had escaped and was charging people. But her mother had seen the upsurge in the Indian Ocean and yelled, "Run." ...

Members of the Student Government Association, the Residence Hall Association, the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity, the Hindu Student Council, the Student Academic and Athletic Center, the Indian Cultural Exchange and the Pakistani Student Association have also pitched in. ...

Volunteers from Alpha Tau Omega fraternity surrendered their hair ---- and a bit of their pride -- Sunday to raise money for the American Cancer Society.

Their "Cuts for the Cure" fund-raiser, which is in its second year, involved eight volunteers from Alpha Tau Omega allowing their hair to be cut in any fashion by the highest bidder. ...

... In observance of Arbor Day, the University dedicated a live oak tree in Free Speech Alley Friday to the memory of Patrick F. Taylor, the father of the TOPS program who died last November. ...

"To think that this humble man - who hitchhiked to LSU with only change in his pocket - was able to do so much for the people of Louisiana is mind-blowing," said Fred Dent, Taylor's life-long friend and Alpha Tau Omega fraternity brother. "I am glad to see the University has preserved his memory with such a beautiful tree."

The Gautier Men's Club hosted its 27th annual carnival ball Jan. 15 at the B.E. "Mac" McGinty Civic Center. The theme of the ball was "Star Spangled Mardi Gras."...

His majesty Danny Slade was born in Hattiesburg, Miss., and moved to Pascagoula in 1978. He has been a resident of Gautier for 20 years. Slade graduated from Purvis High School and attended the University of Southern Mississippi, majoring in construction technology and is a member of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. ...

The Alpha Tau Omega fraternity house was bulldozed over winter break, and plans are in place to have the brothers in a new house by early 2006. ...

Work is finishing up at the site this week, and investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives hope to officially close the case in the coming weeks, making the findings available for the public, according to a source within the bureau's disclosure office in Washington, D.C. ...

Graham Miller, an ATO and senior marketing major from Holly Springs, watched some of the demolition work over the break and said it was hard to let go, but the work needed to be done. "I was sad to see it go. There were a lot of memories in that house. But at the same time, it was gratifying to see the thing come down..."

... Thomas Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," is merely fiction, but for a fraternity at WTAMU, the water part is painfully true.

A broken pipe in the Alpha Tau Omega building caused more than $30,000 in damage during intercession. ...

"We had all been gone for the break," ATO President Mario Briseno said. "We came back on Sunday and found what had happened." ...

When I came to the big city of Fargo when I was younger, my family and I would drive by this great campus we call NDSU [web/tickets/eBay]...

When I think of who will be in my wedding, the answer is my brothers from Alpha Tau Omega. When I think of my best friends, with whom I've shared the best and worst times with and who gave me the greatest memories of my college life, the answer is always my brothers. ...

Fraternity parties are not for everyone. With a large Greek presence on Penn's campus, there is a division between those students who enjoy going to fraternity parties and those who do not. ...

College junior Matthew Valenti, a member of Alpha Tau Omega, said that some students want the fraternity brother "to pull some strings to get into a party."

Mule said, "If you're standing at the door [letting students into the party], you become everyone's best friend."

A former member of the University chapter of Alpha Tau Omega is suing the fraternity for $25 million after belly-flopping into a homemade pool and breaking his neck at an ATO party. ...

"His injuries were horrific, tragic and unnecessary," said Ewbank. "But here's a man who drank to excess and made the stupidest mistake of his life and now wants $25 million for it."

While most students were enjoying the final days of winter break, Marietta College officials had their hands full with the second flood to hit the College this academic year. ...

By Saturday, Jan. 8, 18 inches of water had made its way onto the first floor of the Pioneer House, the Arts and Humanities House, and the Alpha Tau Omega House.

This February, it's going to be a little harder to gain a coveted dancer spot on the floor of Rec Hall. The Thon registration cost has increased from $900 to $1,100 per couple. Logically, we can say the increase can only help, because a higher fee will mean more money for the Four Diamonds Fund. And who can say more money for cancer research is bad? But what does the increase do to the accessibility of Thon to individual students and small student organizations? ...

Last year, for the ninth year in a row, Alpha Tau Omega fraternity and Zeta Tau Alpha sorority took first place for the most money raised by a greek organization with $257,999.81. ...

A former University of Texas fraternity member is seeking $25 million in a lawsuit against the fraternity after being paralyzed following a belly-flop into a wading pool built by his fellow members for a party.

Wesley Holloway, 20, is suing the fraternity for negligence, claiming that Alpha Tau Omega built an unlicensed pool that lacked proper design, lighting, warning signs and other things required under city ordinances, according to the lawsuit. ...

Fraternity enrollment at Ball State has been on a steady decline for more than 10 years partly because of recruitment, the director of Student Organizations and Activities said. Fraternity enrollment has decreased because the chapters are not actively seeking members and the men who come do not always meet the chapter's standards, Lynda Wiley said. ...

"We have lost chapters and that definitely has an impact," Wiley said. Ball State has lost five fraternities since 2002. Alpha Tau Omega, Beta Theta Pi and Delta Chi closed because they defaulted on their mortgage loans; Theta Xi closed because of hazing; and Lambda Chi Alpha closed because it did not meet the national chapter's requirements. ...

Editor's note: The membership and number of fraternity houses have steadily decreased at Ball State in the last five years. This Daily News series focuses on the three main reasons for the decline: academics, finances and enrollment.

After losing three out of five fraternities with mortgage loans guaranteed by Ball State, the university has become concerned with how fraternities are succeeding financially, Lynda Wiley, director of student organizations and activities, said. ...

Ball State has lost Alpha Tau Omega, Delta Chi and Beta Theta Pi because they defaulted on their house loans. ...

School work is often the last thing on a fraternity member's mind because there are many opportunities to do other things during the typical week, Ben Mong, a former Zeta Beta Tau brother, said.

So many distractions can reflect poorly on a fraternities' academic standing, he said.

"A majority of the groups are struggling to maintain a solid grade point average," Lynda Wiley, director of student organizations and activities, said. ...

Construction is expected to begin in August on the Alpha Tau Omega house where three fraternity brothers died in a fire last year at the University of Mississippi, fraternity officials said. ...

"I think it puts a lot of the guys at ease. It's a place that meant so much, but driving by seeing it gave a lot of grief. I guess it caused a lot of bad memories," said James Story, president of ATO's Beta Psi chapter at Ole Miss. "The fact that it's down now gives us some hope for rebuilding, not only for our house but also for our fraternity as a whole." ...

Trying to cope with the pain of Jason's loss, his friends decided to launch a web site dedicated to his memory. The site is called "Memories of Jason" and can be found at http://www.memoriesofjason.com. ...

The closure of Ball State University's chapter of Lambda Chi Alpha marks the fifth fraternity to cease operation at Ball State in less than three years. ...

Since 2002, Ball State has lost five of its fraternities. Three of the organizations - Alpha Tau Omega, Delta Chi and Beta Theta Pi - were closed by the university because they could not pay their mortgage payments on loans co-signed by Ball State. ...

David Harman's grown-up life was the fulfillment of a childhood dream: to work in a career you love. When the 51-year-old Windermere resident died Dec. 28 of cancer, he had attained every man's dream job.

"He got to grow up and play in the dirt with big toys," said Kathy Harman, describing her husband's 33-year career in golf course design and construction. ...

He entered Hillsdale College, a private school in Michigan, where he joined Alpha Tau Omega fraternity and continued to work summers and after graduation with Nicklaus. ...

He also was an avid Orlando Magic fan and a lifelong alumni supporter of Hillsdale College. In 2002 he received its Alumni Achievement Award. He was also the alumni president of Beta Kappa Chapter of Alpha Tau Omega at Hillsdale. ...

Donations can be made in his memory to the David S. Harman Alpha Tau Omega Scholarship Fund, 33 E. College, Hillsdale, MI 49242