NOTHING SECRET ABOUT PROBATION. The Northern Star characterizes some proper disciplinary measures as a "lockdown."

Larry Bolles, director of NIU's Judicial Office, said if the downward trend continues, a campus without Greek organizations could be a realistic future. Bolles did say, however, that he has seen vast improvements this semester.

"Everybody did what they wanted to do," Bolles said of years past. "People don't change easy. It's like trying to change a culture, and that's what you have on Greek Row - drinking, partying; they're doing what Greeks do. It's like a battleship: Battleships don't turn like a little boat. A battleship is a big thing that turns slow."

Eight fraternities were placed on suspension last fall for violations of NIU policy ranging from physical and sexual assault to more minor alcohol-related offenses.

Bolles described many fraternities as "train wrecks" that could have ended in derailed chapters, but the university began implementing rigorous policies and judicial action in attempts to prevent it from happening.

It's called putting the adults back in charge.

Since Bolles took over [from University Programming and Activities]last spring, nine Greek-letter organizations have had sanctions placed against them.

"They felt like they were being bombarded, and they went everywhere complaining to everyone about what was happening," Bolles said of the Greek organizations under judicial sanctions. "Finally, somebody came to me and said, 'Dr. Bolles, why are you doing this?'"

"I said, 'I'm treating you like everyone else. For the first time in your life, you all are starting to feel like the average student feels on this campus: You smoke dope, you fight, you beat up somebody, you sexually assault somebody - you're starting to feel exactly what [any other offender] felt.' They assume that their chapter is here for life just because they have a house and they pay rent."

It's also called maintaining standards.

National organizations worried about the future of their NIU chapters petitioned Bolles to find what they could do to turn things around. Bolles said he wanted to have alumni members in their 50s and 60s serve as in-house advisers.

Bolles chose the age range because, in the past, national organizations sent advisers who had graduated five to 10 years ago that still had a degree of camaraderie with fraternity members. What Bolles wanted were successful individuals who could instill discipline.

"I said, 'I want your time,'" Bolles said. "'You're a member of this chapter, and you were made in DeKalb. What I want you to do - I'm going to show you all the dirt - I want you to go there, and within the next 90 days, I want you to show me some significant differences in that chapter, because if you can't make a difference - I tried, it hasn't worked.'"

With their NIU chapters in jeopardy of Bolles "putting a lock on the door," all 11 organizations with deferred suspensions sent individuals to frequently keep tabs on their fraternities.

These individuals, who ranged from lawyers to successful businessmen, pushed their fraternities to do more community service than was required. However, in filtering out so-called "troublemakers" from the fraternities, the advisers often slashed fraternity enrollments by more than half, Bolles said.

"They walked people out of the houses and met with people and said, 'That's not what we want,'" Bolles said. "If they didn't change, they were out."

Mr Bolles reports progress, but he's had a busy time. (Keep following the links to find out how busy.)