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.