Student found dead in KA House

[mrydel]

Just got an email about this. A sophmore. No foul play expected.

[SMUguy]

Thoughts are with his family.

[CalallenStang]

I saw an ambulance and a fire truck there this afternoon. I think they had just gotten to the scene as I saw a paramedic going from the ambulance to the door at a hurried pace.

It really threw me for a loop because it was at the former KA house (the KAs were kicked off of campus last year) and I don't know what that house is used for anymore.

Anyone have more details?

[jtstang]

First guess: drugs.

[Eye In the Sky]

Don't mean to sound insensitive, but I have a feeling the autopsy and toxicology results will be fairly predictable. Not a good way to start the semester 3 days into it and 5 days after Rush.

[smu diamond m]

KA isn't there anymore... Pay attention. They got kicked off campus, as stated above.

[Eye In the Sky]

Doesn't mean the kid wasn't involved in the greek system. Well aware that they aren't there anymore but thanks for the reminder.

[ShakeAndBake]

As a current student familiar with the house, I can say that the house is used for housing students much like a regular dorm. The student was not involved in the greek system and to make a claim that drugs were involved is beyond irrational. Please wait for the facts before you begin passing judgement about a student whose family and friends are hurting right now.

[smu diamond m]

A much appreciated post from a new guy

[PonyKai]

It's the SMU house and it houses regular old SMU students. KA's and the Greek System have no business being brought into the discussion here.

[mrydel]

Take it up with the Daily Campus. They reported it as the KA House.

[Eddie P]

Well, the DMN was pretty awful in their mentioning of KA in thier story about it. They disabled the comments on their website as it got pretty heated and profane. You can still read the story and give your opinion on whether it was shock journalism or truly pertinent info about the young man who died.

That being said, the longest paragraph in the story was about how and why the KA's got kicked off the campus. I found that completely irrelevant to the story. It's a former frat house so readers will wonder why it's a "former" house. Okay, explain that with brevity. "House was formerly occupied by the KA fraternity who were removed for numerous violations of the code, etc etc" Thats it. A whole paragraph explaining the specific violations was over the top. I dont know that you couldnt have gotten away with just mentioning that the former fraternity was removed for violations, like a few others over the past several years. Regardless, I hate the headline and it screams "Another kid killed by fraternity hi-jinks!"

We recently had a overly provocative article about a large office complex I handle that was written with a very "enquirer" like headline. Needless to say, after a few phone calls with the DMN and some other suggested courses of action, that story changed very quickly along with that provocative headline.

I expect this trend to continue as the DMN and others crumble away and attempt to use more "gotcha" headlines and stories to postpone the inevitable.

[PonyKai]

Well, the DMN was pretty awful in their mentioning of KA in thier story about it. They disabled the comments on their website as it got pretty heated and profane. You can still read the story and give your opinion on whether it was shock journalism or truly pertinent info about the young man who died.

That being said, the longest paragraph in the story was about how and why the KA's got kicked off the campus. I found that completely irrelevant to the story. It's a former frat house so readers will wonder why it's a "former" house. Okay, explain that with brevity. "House was formerly occupied by the KA fraternity who were removed for numerous violations of the code, etc etc" Thats it. A whole paragraph explaining the specific violations was over the top. I dont know that you couldnt have gotten away with just mentioning that the former fraternity was removed for violations, like a few others over the past several years. Regardless, I hate the headline and it screams "Another kid killed by fraternity hi-jinks!"

We recently had a overly provocative article about a large office complex I handle that was written with a very "enquirer" like headline. Needless to say, after a few phone calls with the DMN and some other suggested courses of action, that story changed very quickly along with that provocative headline.

I expect this trend to continue as the DMN and others crumble away and attempt to use more "gotcha" headlines and stories to postpone the inevitable.

Exactly.

[smupony94]

SMU police: Student's death being investigated as a homicide 10:12 AM CT

10:36 AM CST on Monday, January 25, 2010

By JANA J. MARTIN / The Dallas Morning News

The death of a Southern Methodist University sophomore whose body was found Friday is being investigated as a homicide, according to the SMU police department’s Web site.

The university released no other details.
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Link: SMU Police

SMU student found dead in former fraternity house

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Blog: Crime

Joseph Hunter Green, a 21-year-old from Florida, was pronounced dead at 12:36 p.m. on Friday in his room at what was formerly the Kappa Alpha fraternity house.

SMU officials initially said no foul play was suspected. It was not immediately clear what made authorities decide to investigate the death as a homicide.

Kappa Alpha was suspended from the SMU campus last year and cannot reorganize until the 2011-12 school year.

SMU cited repeated violations of rules against serving alcohol to minors and of a new rule requiring campus organizations to notify the university before having an off-campus party. An unregistered party prompted university officials to kick the chapter off campus because it already was in trouble for previous infractions.

The house is now home to about 20 students, many of whom are on waiting lists for residence hall assignments, university officials said.

[EastStang]

Thoughts to his family and friends. Much too young to die.