The Michigan Daily - Monday, September 13, 1993 - 3 Sorori Rush 'mixers' stir excitement on campus e By GREG HOEY . DAILY STAFF REPORTER The endless column ofrushees lines the walk up to the huge, festively deco- rated house. All are neatly groomed, excited and anxiously awaiting to see what lies inside. Some nervously look at their watches while others ask ques- tions about the house or the sorority members inside. Music and energy fill the inside of the house as the sorority sisters prepare to meet the new rushees waiting out- side. Wearing matchingoutfitsandsing- ing songs, the sisters are creating excite- mentsotheirvibrantsparkofsisterhood will rub off on the prospective new sisters waiting outside. The door opens and,like aflood, the sorority sisterspouroutof thehouseand onto the porch and lawn. Clapping and singingsongs aboutsisterhood and their sorority, they line the walk and sur- round the incoming rushees. The two worlds meet, excitemen't fills theairand the column of rushees marches into the house with the festive group of sisters. Thiswas the sceneon Hill Streetand all over campus Friday evening and all day yesterday as "mixers"began for fall sorority Rush. Both first- and second- year female students faced question- able weather conditions while walking from house to house for the 18 "mixer" parties that each rushee attended over the two-day span. Officers of the Panhellenic Associa- tion (Panhel) - the governing board for all sororities on campus -said this year's Rush numbers are up and the "mixers" seem to be running very smoothly. "Rush is going better this year than ever in the past. Our numbers are real strong, and therehaven' tbeen any prob- lems. Everyone seems to be enthusias- tic, which includes (Rush counselors) and rushees alike," said Val Wilde, Panhel publicity director and LSA se- nior. LSA senior Joey Faust, president of Panhel, said, "From what I have seen, Rush is going incredibly well. All the houses are enthusiastic and are cooper- ating really well." "Mixers" are the first of four pro- gressive steps for the month-long soror- ity Rush. Rushees visit all sororities on campus during this step. Second sets - during which rush- ees visit 13 houses -will be Sept. 19- 20. ELIZABETH UIPPMAN/Deily Sorority members emerge from their house in a burst of energy. They welcome rushees with songs and shouts. Third sets will be Sept. 22-23, and rushees will visit six houses. During final desserts on Sept. 27, rushees narrow their choices to three houses. After final desserts, rushees list their top three favorites in order of prefer- ence. Pledging begins Sept.29 at 5 p.m. when rushees receive their bids. "Mixers" parties last 25 minutes each. Independent Rush counselors, called Rho Chis, lead groups ofrushees from house to house on a tight time schedule. Rho Chis are sorority members who disaffiliate from their houses during Rush in order to assist rushees with the often intimidating rush process. Rho Chis are selected by the previous year's Rho Chis. Prospective Rho Chis must hand in an application and go through an extensive interviewing process. "The role of a Rho Chi is to be an unbiased member of the Greek system. We all disaffiliate from our houses and become Rush counselors. We are here to help the rushees with problems and make them feel comfortable," said Sherry, a Rho Chi who would not give her last name. Rho Chis said the purpose of "mix- ers" is to allow the rushees to talk to people and very casually try to get a feel for each house and its personality. "I really wanted to get to know the rushees. The rushees and the Rho Chis have such different views of Rush. It is nice to see them so excited, and to see Rush from adifferentperspective," said Rho Chi Samantha Stallos, a senior nursing student. Sherryadded, "Itisalotmore fun tobe a Rho Chi than to be arushee. Itis nice to visit different houses and become friends with other sorority members." Most rushees called Rush extremely tiring. Many said the cold weatheradded to their discomfort. Many said they rushed to meet people, but some were just curious and wanted to test the waters. Melissa Goist, an LSA sophomore, said, "I waited until this year to Rush, as opposed to rushing last year, so that I could have the chance to meet people other than sorority members before I rushed. I decided to do it this year because I'm trying to see what it is like and what it is all about." Most sorority members felt that al- though Rush was tiring, it strengthened the bonds within the houses and was a lot of fun. "Rush involved a great time com- mitment on both the sides of the house members and the rushees. It brings the whole house together because of the time spent together and Rush is always a lot of fun," said LSA junior Lara Wiskin, a Delta Phi Epsilon member. 'You spend so much time together that everyone gets closer," said LSA senior Nikki Rosenkrantz, amember of Delta Zeta. 'The time commitment hasn't been that bad yet, but the process can be ex- hausting. It will get worse later, butIhave already gone through Rush four times so ELIZABETH LIPPMAN/Daily Sorority members bid a rushee goodbye as she leaves for the next house. I'm used to it," Rosenkrantz said. BothrusheesandmembersofPanhel seem to support the present system. "I like the system because you get to talk one-on-one with the sorority mem- bers. Theymake anefforttocomearound and talk to you," said Amy Adams, a first-year LSA student. Panhel Publicity Director Wilde added, "We are continually looking for ways to fine-tune Rush. There are no more major changes. The fact that ev- eryone must visit every house elimi- nates any bias that could be involved." The only change in Rush this year is the change in cost of$25 registration fee or $20 pre-registration fee. "The cost is $10 less than last year and we are trying to continue to de- crease the cost to make it as low as possible," said Panhel Financial Advi- sor Chrissy Simonte, a Business School senior. Wilde said Rush is less formal than it has been in the past. "It is definitely more acceptable to wear jeans for 'mixers' than in the past. We don't want girls to feel like they have to buy a prom dress for final deserts either. Things should be based on con- versation and not on what they are wear- ing," said Wilde. NASA launches Discovery Shuttle crew prepares to launch communications satellite Lc werYour Electric Bills. CAPECANAVERAL, Fla. (AP)- On its fourth try, Discovery roared away on a satellite-delivery mission yester- day with five astronauts jubilant to be in space at last. "Hey Houston, I gotta tell ya, you've never seen five happier guys up here," commanderFrankCulbertson told Mis- sion Control. "It's been a long time coming." Culbertson and his crew quickly began preparing for their first majorjob in orbit of the earth - releasing an experimental communications satellite. The Advanced Communications Technology Satellite was to be ejected from Discovery eight hours into the flight. An rocket attached to the space shuttle was to propel the satellite from Discovery's 184-mile-high orbit to an altitude of 22,300 miles. Discovery's flighthadbeen delayed five times since mid-July for equipment failures, payload concerns and even a meteor shower. Twoof the three earlier countdowns had been halted in the final 19 seconds. This time - countdown No. 4 - everything worked and Discovery rose promptly at 7:45 a.m. from its seaside launch pad. Two engine pump sensors failed on the way up, but that incident posed no problemfor the mission since identical sensors worked fine, said launch direc- Hey, Houston, I gotta tell ya, you've never seen five happier guys up here. it's been a long time coming. - Commander Frank Culberston Discovery astronaut tor Bob Sieck. If one of those sensors had failed prior to launch, however, it would have meant another aborted launch for the Discovery. A broken fuel-flow sensor caused lastmonth'sengine shutdown three sec- onds before liftoff. It is NASA's 57th shuttle mission and the fifth this year. Besides deploying the communica- tions satellite and an ultraviolet tele- scope, the crew is to conduct a six-hour spacewalk to test tools needed for the Hubble Space Telescope repair mission in December. Thursday's spacewalk by James NewmanandCarl Walz willbeNASA's last before tackling Hubble. Five and possibly seven spacewalks are planned for the telescope repair mission. The communications satellite car- ried up by Discovery, called ACTS, is designed to transmit data 20 times faster than present craft. Project managers said it could, one day, shrink the size of satellite dishes to 1 1/2 feet in diameter, which is much smaller than their current size. Over the next two years, 73 experi- ments are planned by communication companies, broadcasting services, uni- versities, hospitals, the government, scientific organizarions and corpora- tions, and others. The satellite cost $363 million to build and maintain and the attached rocket another $100 million for con- struction and upkeep. The star-scanning ultraviolet tele- scope, to be released Monday, is mounted on a reusable German plat- form along with a spectrograph to study interstellar gas. The astronauts are to retrieve the platform before coming home. Discovery's 10-day mission is due to end with an early-morning landing Sept. 22 at Kennedy Space Center. It would be the first shuttle touchdown in darkness atKennedy, something NASA has tried to avoid in the past because of the increased risk. Walz, mission specialist No. 3, be- came the 300th person to fly in space, NASA said. The100thand200th space voyagers were Russian. t 4 Events mi1 Student aouos Henderson room, 4 p.m. " i y3 .:. ;:. ..1 .:zs t::" ' '. t " ., ..F 1 z.., .. .... :