The Michigan Daily/New Student Edition - Thursday, September 5, 1991- Pagb 5
SORORITIES, FRATERNITIES DEAL WITH PARTYbeREPUTATION
\~\ Greeks long for better image
t
e
Second-year grad student Vinod Subramaniam stretches to make a
grab in a game of catch on the Diag.
DICTIONARY
Continued from page 3
ever's Available, with a minor in
Early Croatian Literature, solely
to avoid the dreaded Eight
O'Clock. And don't expect any
sympathy from the Golden Girl
typists - they don't care if you've
filled any of the prerequisites for
500-level post-Asiatic Weaponry
Design as long as they don't have to
waitlist you. (see WAITLIST) And
remember, as your schedule warns,
"The Regents reserve the right to
raise tuition and assign you over-
lapping discussion periods and
house you in a converted quintet on
North Campus because, hey -
power corrupts." verb: crisping, ad-
jective: crispy
I.M. BUILDING: noun; one of
three main athletic centers on campus
along with the Central Campus Recre-
ation Building (CCRB) and the NCRB
on North Campus. Located south of
central campus, this older facility,
housing five basketball courts and
smattering of nautilus and stair-
masterage, has essentially become a
Hall of Fame for spirited Intramu-
ralists sending the real spandex-
clad workout fanatics over to the
CCRB, commonly referred to as
the "Crib" or "CiCerb." This hub
of humidity on campus has been the
sight of many a sweaty scuffle over
S tairmaster space. verb: I'ming
(cribbing), adjective: I'merative
(cribbish)
JAMES (AS IN D U D E R-
STADT): noun; University president.
The Dude, Dudemeister, Dudarama.
Serving his fourth year as king of
the campus, Jimmy has success-
fully overseen four tuition hikes,
three athletic directors, two phases
of the Michigan Mandate - pledge
of allegiance to Michigan Mandate
- and one big, gun toting campus
police force. verb: dudeing, adjective:
dudevacious
KRAFT MACARONI AND
CHEESE: noun; life-sustaining nour-
ishment in off-campus housing. Sorry
to disappoint those of you fantasiz-
ing about Life After Cafeterias,
but after a few weeks of this and
Ramen Pride Noodles, you will
fondly reminisce about chunky
jello and Cheerios. superlative: the
cheesiest
LOST STUDENT I.D. CARDS:
noun:; the second worst thing that can
happen to you (see EIGHT OCLOCKS).
These plastic cards featuring your
ugly mug are essential to Univer-
sity survival. Without them, you
can't eat, register for classes, use
any University facility, or success-
fully argue that you exist in Intro
to Philosophy. Your friends will
be instructed to not return your
phone calls, and if caught by the
newly deputized security force,
you will be shot on sight. So don't
lose it.
MEAN: noun: the "average"
grade. Also the reason why you
might not want to loan your notes
to even the coolest of classmates,
this form of mathematic oppres-
sion ensures that a few will always
fail, most will get a B-, a few will
triumph, and even the most selfless
idealist will metamorphose into a
greedy, scheming, republican style
slime bag. verb: meaning, adjective:
mean
NORTH CAMPUS: noun; remote
semi-autonomous region half-way be-
tween Central Campus and East Lans-
ing Unanimously the last choice on
all incoming housing ballots, the
Siberia of the University is the na-
tive habitat for many rare, misun-
derstood life forms: engineers, mu-
sicians, artists, and married cou-
ples. Living campus-life vicari-
ously, connected to civilization
only by the umbilical cord of Uni-
versity bussing, Burslcyites soon
realize the horrifying Tragedy of
See DICTIONARY, Page 11
by Melissa Peerless
Daily Staff Reporter
Very intoxicated, extremely
muscular, wealthy, elitist males
with only one mission - the eter-
nal search for the ultimate party.
The quest is constant, with each
weekend (or weekday, for that mat-
ter) bash wreaking more havoc on
their disgustingly filthy abode. Ev-
ery morning the sun greets the
dwelling to find innocent young
women sneaking home in shame and
a healthy dose of hangovers galore.
Or is it more like this?
Enthusiastic, bubbly women ded-
icated to academic excellence and
philanthropy. Strong bonds of
friendship that always remain fast
and firm. A clean, spacious domicile
in which to live surrounded by
friends with ample quiet places to
study. Opportunities to make the
world a better place by helping oth-
ers each and every day.
Of course, neither of these de-
scriptions accurately portrays the
Greek System. The real Greek expe-
rience lies somewhere in between.
And although they agree on little
else, both gung-ho fraternity and
sorority members and those who
consider the Greek system a waste
of time and money concur that the
decision whether or not to join the
system should be an individual
choice.
"Many students come to school
with preconceived notions about the
Greek system," said Mary Beth
Seiler, the advisor of the Panhel-
lenic Association (Panhel), the cen-
tral coordinating body of sororities.
"Throughrthe media or movies or
other sources, they see skewed views
of thersystem. Everyone owestit to
him or herself to at least start to go
through rush."
Rush is the process by which men
or women choose which fraternity
or sorority they will join.
Sorority rush takes place during
the fall semester each year. Women
participating attend four sets of
parties, visiting fewer houses each
time.
For first sets, they visit all 20
houses which are members of Pan-
hel. As the parties progress, houses
trim the number of invitations they
issue and rushees lessen the number
they accept. Through this process,
rushees end up with the house that
they will join.
Although this process is very
competitive, Seiler said that last
year, 700 of 1000 women who began
rush were issued bids to join a soror-
ity. She added that this figure in-
cludes women who voluntarily
drop out of rush.
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Sigma Chi members invite only their closest friends to their "Derby Days" charity fundraiser. They must bq
very popular indeed.
Fraternity rush is somewhat dif-
ferent. Men rush at the beginning of
either the first or second semester.
Rushees may visit as many of the
University's 41 fraternities as they
wish. During the week-long rush
process, the rushees themselves
choose which houses they will con-
tinue to visit. By the end of the
week, they narrow their choices to
one or two houses.
The Interfraternity Council
(IFC), the governing body of the
fraternities, does not release per-
centages of rushees who complete
rush and join houses.
The fraternities and sororities
which are not part of IFC and Pan-
hel belong to the Black Greek Asso-
ciation (BGA).
"The BGA is different from the
other fraternities and sororities on
campus," said Kobie Douglass, an
Engineering junior and member of
the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity in
the BGA. "We are more service-ori-
ented than they are, and you must
have a minimum GPA to pledge.
They put more emphasis on partying
and social events."
However, Katy Kendall, the
1991 president of Panhel, said her
organization is working to make
changes in the image and purpose of
sororities on the whole.
"Sororities have always been a
wonderful opportunity to make
great friends and meet people, but
the system is changing to become
something even more and better,"
Kendall said.
Kendall said that Panhel is try-
ing to plan more programing con-
cerning women's healthaissues,
safety, life after college, and per-
sonal management.
"Addressing sororities is a great
way to reach a large number of
women all at the same time," she
added. "It's a great forum in which
to present useful information to
improve everyone's lives."
The IFC is also trying to imple-
ment some positive changes in the
fraternity system.
"The IFC has made some major
changes in the past year," IFC offi-
cer Sunil Trivedi said. "Starting last
fall we had a dry rush, which means
that no alcohol may be served'dur-
ing rush. It really takes the edpha-
sis off of drinking from the begin-
ning."
Trivedi also said that the'IFC
passed a rule banning open admis-
sion to parties. This means that: all
guests must be on a guest list or
present an invitation.
Despite these moves to becpme
more socially active and responsi-
ble, what Greeks still consider the
biggest benefit of belonging to fra-
ternities and sororities is good
friendships. .
"When they say sisterhood, thiey
really mean it, "said Rebecca (ook,
a member of the Delta Zeta soroity
and an LSA sophomore."I im6;edi-
ately felt comfortable with my sis-
ters.It's like my new family. they
are there for me and I am there for
them."
Sean Cassidy, an Engineering ju-
nior and a member of Chi Phi-fra-
ternity, agreed with Cook.
"I know that I will be close
See GREEKS, Pag 11
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