6 U. Michigan Greek Houses Suspended As Ski Resort Damage Estimates Top $100,000

Six national fraternity and sorority organizations have suspended their chapters at the University of Michigan because of vandalism that their members committed at two ski resorts last weekend. The national fraternity Sigma Alpha Mu was the first to act. It was followed by the Pi Kappa Alpha and Chi Psi fraternities and the Sigma Delta Tau, Alpha Phi, and Delta Gamma sororities. The university says that members of the Greek letter groups caused tens of thousands of dollars in damages to rented rooms at Treetops Resort and Boyne Highlands in Michigan's northern Lower Peninsula on Jan. 16-17. Here's what the damage reportedly looked like: Before the cleanup at @TreetopsMich. Cleaners say looked like an earthquake after @umich frat left. #um #uofm #frat pic.twitter.com/amydmOFKNd — Alyssa Gambla (@AlyssaGambla) January 21, 2015 As The Huffington Post notes, the total damage caused by the six houses is likely more than $100,000. Treetops has reported between $85,000 and $100,000 worth of damage, and Boyne Highlands has reported around $20,000 in damages. University spokesman Rick Fitzgerald has said that the fraternity and sorority members engaged in excessive drinking and says the damage they inflicted is "an affront" to thousands of "respectful, hard-working students." The manager of Treetops Resort told student newspaper The Michigan Daily that he plans to press charges against individual fraternity members over the incident. In a statement, the university confirmed that there is a state police investigation that may lead to criminal charges.SEE ALSO: U. Michigan Frat Accused Of Causing $50,000 In Damage To Hotel 'Embarrassed And Ashamed' Of Behavior SEE ALSO: University Of Michigan Frats Allegedly Trashed 2 Ski Resorts Join the conversation about this story »

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Greek markets slide on fears of clash with creditors

Greek borrowing costs jumped and a dive in bank stocks dragged down the Athens bourse on Tuesday, after weekend elections resulted in an anti-bailout government that looks set on a collision course with the country's creditors. Yields of three-year government bonds rose above 14 percent. This was up four percentage points since Sunday's vote although down from 16 percent at the beginning of the ...

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Greece's Coalition of the Unwilling

More cautionary news for the eurozone emerged from Greece on Monday as it became clearer that new Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras meant what he ...

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Greece to the troika: 'You don'____t own us!'

While it is true that Greece is a small country of 10 million people that represents a mere 2.5 percent of Europe's economy, the election could have big ...

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FTSE falls on weak US data but Centrica and utilities climb

Investors look for safe havens as American worries and Greek concerns hit marketsAfter taking the Greek election more or less in their stride immediately following the weekend vote, markets suddenly turned sharply lower as the mood changed.Concerns about the financial implications of the latest tensions in the eurozone hit the banking sector, while worries about the state of the US economy also re-emerged to hit investor optimism ahead of this week’s Federal Reserve meeting. With poor US durable goods figures and disappointing results from a range of American household names - including Microsoft, Pfizer, Procter & Gamble and Caterpillar - Wall Street plunged more than 360 points in early trading and was still down nearly 350 by the time London closed. Germany’s Dax dropped aorund 1.7% and France’s Cac closed down 1.3%. So the rally insipired by last week’s quantitative easing announcement from the European Central Bank has well and truly run out of steam.We think margin tailwinds in the UK and North America are overlooked and are now more relevant than the impact of lower oil and gas prices upstream. We increase our target price to 310p (from 290p) and upgrade our earnings per share for 2015 by 9%, but reduce 2016 and 2017 by around 3%-5%.Results are due 19 February, and we expect management to lay out its remedial plans for the upstream. The last two periods where gas prices fell for a sustained period (2006-07 and 2008-10), Centrica outperformed the FTSE100 by around 23%, albeit with a circa six-month lag.It’s not often that Carpetright can say that “Full year expectations are unchanged”, but today’s third quarter update (13 weeks to January 24) is boringly in-line and so new chief executive Wilf Walsh still hasn’t issued a profit warning yet. UK like for like sales growth has edged up from the first half level of 6.5% to the heady levels of 7.5% (versus +1.9% in the third quarter last year) and even Europe is up a bit. Gross margins are down, but by no more than expected and the issue is how much of Carpetright’s improved trading is down to the market and how much to “more effective promotional activity”. Continue reading...

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Greek government says to halt Piraeus port sale

The new Greek government led by the left-wing Syriza party will halt the sale of a majority stake in the port of Piraeus, Greece's biggest, begun by the previous government, the deputy minister in charge of shipping said on Tuesday. "We will not sell a majority stake in Piraeus port," Thodoris Dritsas told Reuters. Greece had shortlisted China's Cosco Group and four other suitors as potential ...

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Greek Air Force orders F-16 Block 50 “on the ground”, while media speculate

 Greek General Stab has reportedly ordered a large part of the country’s F-16 fleet Block 50 to remain “on the ground” after the tragic accident in Los Llanos air base in Albacete, Spain, on Monday.  According to Greek media, the General Stab gave the order on Monday night, just hours […]

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