ITS students' orientation program turns to brawl

ITS students' orientation program turns to brawl

Ainur R. Sophiaan, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya

A campus orientation program at Surabaya's November 10
Institute of Technology (ITS) turned into chaos as some 400
freshmen and students engaged in a brawl on Tuesday, leaving
dozens injured and another hospitalized.

The incident started at around 10 a.m., when a large number of
the institute's electronic engineering students rushed toward the
department of industrial engineering on the Sukolilo campus,
resulting in a mass fight.

Mechanical engineering students also joined in the clash
between the departments, in which opposing sides hurled stones,
wood and soft drinks bottles at each other, until a police unit
arrived 15 minutes later.

Ricky Wahyudi, chairman of the Industrial Engineering Students
Association, said the fight followed an exchange of harsh words
and shouting, triggered by an earlier quarrel concerning the
alleged sexual harassment of an industrial engineering girl
student.

"We have strived for an amicable settlement since Saturday,
but I don't know why the electronic engineering students attacked
us so suddenly and started hurling objects," Ricky regretted.

At a student executive board meeting following the brawl,
organizers of the freshmen orientation program, who represented
various departments firmly maintained their respective positions
and blamed each other for the melee.

When contacted by The Jakarta Post, ITS third deputy rector
Soemartojo said the incident was beyond his knowledge because the
rectorate had not been involved in the implementation of the
program.

"We will see whether this initiation program causes any
further mishaps, in which case we'll seek the best solution," he
said, when asked whether the student hazing scheme would be
abolished in connection with the mishap.

Touching on the measures to be taken against those involved in
the clash, the deputy rector indicated he would first examine the
case to find out the real cause. "The brawl was spurred by the
feelings of pride for their respective departments," he added.

Student hazing programs in different parts of the country,
believed to be inherited from a Dutch colonial practice, have for
a long time given rise to a serious issue in national education.

With acts of humiliation and physical endurance that often
claim the lives of freshmen, the government has so far taken no
stringent action to put an end to what many experts believe to be
a counter-productive practice.