The Torch, April 29, 1994

              Computer Engineering plans for '94-'95 iFour quit women's BB
- Page 31 - Page 6m - Sports, Page 20
Volume 86
Issue 27
Friday
April 29,1994
Field work
Civil Engineering students take advantage of a warm spring day to practice their surveying
VU police catch card thief
Valparaiso woman arrested for thefts at law school
By Paul Cook
Editor-in-Chief
Valparaiso city police
apprehended the woman respon-sible
for a rash of wallet and
credit card thefts at VU's law
school last Thursday.
Kimberly Stanley-Banaski,
24, of Valparaiso, was arrested
after city police, VUPD, Hobart
and Portage police traced her to
a Days Inn in Portage.
VUPD Chief Ed Lloyd
said Stanley-Banaski, who was
on probation for a similar case a
year ago, confessed to stealing
credit cards and wallets from
unattended backpacks and purses
at the law school in late February
and early March.
Throughout the semester,
thefts also have been reported at
the Union and Moellering
Library, but Stanley-Banaski
has not claimed responsibility.
She has committed so
many thefts that she does not
remember where she committed
all of them, said Lloyd.
"We [VUPD] are confident
it was her because since we
nailed her there have been no
problems on campus anywhere,"
he said.
Charges will be filed
against her by the university, as
well as by Valparaiso, Portage
and Hobart police, where she has
committed similar crimes, he
said.
Stanley-Banaski charged
more than $1,000 on credit cards
stolen from VU alone.
"She bought clothing, two
pairs of Oakley sunglasses for
$265, food, liquor, a ship in a
bottle — some imperative things
to have," Lloyd said.
Stanley-Banaski also tried
to get a motel room using a
stolen credit card.
"She just couldn't help her-self,"
said VUPD Sgt. Becky
Walkowiak, who worked on the
case. "She said it was easy at
the law school, just like they
were waiting for her to walk in."
"She has a problem," said
Walkowiak, who spent more
than a week staking out the law
school.
She posed as a law student
and left a marked bookbag and
money in the open while she pre-tended
to study.
"You have no idea how
boring a surveillance stakeout is,
sitting in the law school, watch-ing
people come and go for eight
hours on end," Lloyd said.
Officer Carey Bonzani,
who served as backup, said a
woman who did not look like a
student peered around a book-shelf
at him and looked at the
bait money but did not take it.
"She matched, a general
description by victims, who had
seen her around when their wal-lets
were taken," Lloyd said.
Walkowiak and Bonzani
took city police photos of
women with prior records of
credit card theft to businesses
where the stolen credit cards had
been used.
A first suspect turned out to
be a false lead, but on their sec-ond
try, they got a match.
"She initially lived in an
apartment close to campus," said
Lloyd. "After obtaining a war-rant,
we found she had left that
apartment, and the hunt was on."
Stanley-Banaski is being
held for one count of class D
felony theft and a second charge
of credit card fraud.
Bonzani said what was dis-turbing
was how easy the thefts
had been for Stanley-Banaski.
"Maybe [this case] will
make them think down at the law
school," Bonzani said.
Accused returns
Phi Psis indicted after expelled student
returns to campus for Spring Weekend
By Ellen Girard
and Paul Cook
News Editor/Editor-in-Chief
This fall's acquaintance
rape adjudication sparked new
controversy when the accused
man attended a party at the Phi
Kappa Psi house Thursday night.
Senior Laura Carlson, who
was at a registered party at the
Phi Psi house, called Student
Affairs vice president Daryll
Hersemann to complain about
the accused's presence.
"They were very uncom-fortable
because it was a party
and they were invited. They felt
threatened," Carlson said.
Phi Psi President Matt
Stanczak said the accused, a for-mer
Phi Psi, came back for a sur-prise
visit Thursday night.
"We had no idea he was
coming," Stanczak said.
Hersemann said he con-sulted
VUPD Chief Ed Lloyd
and Dean of Men Robert
Schroer after receiving the call,
but no action was taken until the
following morning.
"Dean Schroer had been in
the Phi Psi house earlier that
evening, but he didn't know any-thing
about the fellow being
there," said Hersemann.
A source close to the
alleged victim said the woman
was, notified of the accused's
presence on Friday through a
member of the fraternity.
"She has a feeling of
betrayal," said the source, who
asked to remain anonymous.
Other women called
authorities Friday morning.
"I received a multitude of
phone calls from some very dis-gruntled
women," said Lloyd.
Friday morning, Schroer
told Stanczak the accused's pres-ence
was a problem, because the
woman involved in the case is
still on campus, said Hersemann.
"Schroer thought he had
adequately expressed his con-cern
over what a problematic sit-uation
it was, and not letting him
back in the house," he said.
Hersemann said Lloyd also
located the man at an off-cam-pus
apartment and warned him
he would be arrested if he came
on campus. The accused told
Lloyd he felt he had the right to
be at the Phi Psi house.
"The bottom line is he was
not allowed on any campus
property owned or operated by
the university," said Lloyd.
Schroer went to various
fraternity houses Friday, telling
them not to admit the accused.
"It seemed prudent to give
advice and warning to the other
fraternities," Schroer said.
. Several fraternity members
said Schroer gave the accused's
name when he made his rounds.
This would violate the Buckley
Amendment, which forbids uni-versities
to release names in
campus judiciary proceedings.
"I heard him say [the
accused's name]," said Shaun
Yokas, of Pi Kappa Alpha.
Hersemann said he could
not say whether Schroer had
released the name.
"Schroer said he'd talked
to so many students that some of
those conversations had become
blurred in his mind," Hersemann
said.
Friday evening, the Phi
Psis voted to allow the accused
to be in their house.
"We thought the situation
had been dealt with, and then we
found out they had taken this
house vote," Hersemann said.
Hersemann then contacted
Phi Psi alumni president Erik
Sampson and asked him to speak
with the fraternity, but after sev-eral
phone calls, Sampson said
the fraternity would not ask the
accused to leave.
"I said if I didn't get coop-eration
in this matter, I would
bring charges against the frater-nity,"
Hersemann said.
He said he sent a letter
Friday night outlining his
charges against the fraternity.
Hersemann received no
further word that evening from
Sampson or Stanczak, but
Stanczak called Hersemann the
next morning to tell him the
accused had left the area.
"I said 'thank you for the
information,' then I followed
through with setting up a hear-ing,"
Hersemann said.
Phi Psis were charged with
violating a policy found on page
20 of the Student Handbook:
"As recognized social organiza-tions,
fraternities are responsible
to the university."
A hearing before university
Judicial Board determined that
the Phi Psi house is under uni-versity
jurisdiction. The frater-nity
was put on severe discipli-nary
probation — if the accused
is seen on the property again,
Phi Psis will lose their charter.
"There was a lack of com-munication,
I believe, between
the fraternity and administra-tion,"
said Stanczak. "Exactly
whose fault that is, I don't know,
but I will say we weren't well
informed."