“Four out of five students participating in college sports are submitted to hazing,” said Hank Nuwer of Indiana University-Purdue University.

Nuwer, along with Jane Meyer, associate director of athletics for the University of Iowa, and Charles Eberly, counselor of Eastern’s chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon, participated Monday in a national teleconference on hazing.

Hazing by definition is a ritual that a newcomer must submit to to be involved in an organization.

Issues discussed at the teleconference included the definition of hazing, key elements, existing laws and measures that have been proposed.

Eberly said the damage of hazing can cause post-traumatic stress syndrome.

Despite the number of anti-hazing laws, it still happens and people still die in some cases.

“There are 42 laws currently existing prohibiting hazing,” Nuwer said. “However there has been at least one death per year from 1970 to 2001.”

Hazing is common on many college campuses.

“Eighty percent of college students polled have reported being involved in hazing behavior on their campuses,” Meyer said. “Of that 80 percent, 42 percent of those students reported being involved in hazing in high school, mainly surrounding sports.”

Hazing is prevalent at the college level in sports as well as the Greek system. Eberly suggested as part of the solution for all college campuses to have a hotline to call where the incidents can be reported anonymously and then be investigated.

Joe Bell, president of Sigma Phi Epsilon, and Stefanie Bolling, vice president of recruitment and retention for the Panhellenic Council, also took place in the teleconference.

Bell discussed another part of the solution for hazing, a plan already implemented at Sigma Phi Epsilon called the Balanced Man Project. This project takes members through a four-year program of character development.