STRAIGHT rejection brings E-mail questions, USG answers

Hateful E-mail part of controversy

The E-mail presented at the charter hearing for STRAIGHT by Duane Gildea, political co-director of the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Student Alliance, has a confusing origin.

The E-mail allegedly was a correspondence between Chris Di Domenico (junior-microbiology) and Jeffrey Drost (computer science and engineering). STRAIGHT Treasurer William Kerr said the two had been members of the organization but were asked to leave when their views conflicted with the nonviolent, passive intentions of STRAIGHT.

Di Domenico denied any involvement with STRAIGHT and said his E-mail account was being used under false pretenses.

According to The Center for Academic Computing Password Policy, "A password is private information. All of the userid (or file) is assumed to be performed by the person assigned to that userid . . . You are responsible for safeguarding passwords for your userids. Passwords must not be shared. It is against policy, and in most cases law, to use another's account or file."

Di Domenico denied that he wrote any such E-mail.

"I deny ever writing any E-mail to the president of STRAIGHT or STRAIGHT. And I was never a member," he said.

Drost could not be reached for comment last night after repeated attempts were made to contact him.

On Feb. 12, Di Domenico allegedly wrote as a part of the E-mail in question: "In any case, even if we don't get approved, we will still be. They may have to charge dues, but I can spring 10 anti-fag bucks per semester."

Gildea received a copy of the E-mail that was sent to the members of STRAIGHT via an unidentified source who packaged a copy of the E-mail in an envelope and slipped it under his door, Gildea said. Although he knows the identity of the messenger, Gildea said he does not know who is sending his source the STRAIGHT E-mail. He will not reveal the name of the messenger in order to protect his source.

Gildea cited the line of the E-mail that made him most uncomfortable: "But yeah, I'll chip in some bucks for things like a trip to NYC to do some serious gay bashing or gay club bombings" read the print-out, which was allegedly written by Drost.

The question of who wrote the E-mail is not the most important factor in this matter, Gildea said.

"I don't really care who wrote it," he said. "My only concern is that someone did."

At first, Darin Loccarini, STRAIGHT president, said the alleged authors of the E-mail were not STRAIGHT members, but when made aware that Kerr had acknowledged that both Di Domenico and Drost were members who were told to leave the organization, Loccarini concurred with Kerr's story.

The two were members of STRAIGHT, Loccarini then said, who had at first complied with the nonviolent mission of the organization. He said the two were asked to leave because their attitudes had turned against STRAIGHT's intent.

"The main thing is these guys acted just like me," he said. "Then all of a sudden they want to bomb and shoot people."

Because of the timing of the E-mail, Loccarini said he believes the E-mail was an attempt to sabotage STRAIGHT's attempt to receive a charter. The court told Loccarini E-mail can't be used as evidence because it can't be proved 100 percent where messages came from, he said.

"I don't plan on dealing with it anymore," Loccarini said. "They probably sacrificed themselves to sabotage the organization."