And the Annual Anti-Greek articles begin....
 

:: sigh:: this was an editorial in our school paper this morning. I swear, every few weeks there is a "greeks suck!" article in our paper. I fully support the fact that people can(and should) voice their opinions, but honestly. The arguements are always the same- "The sorority girls wear short skirts! Frat boys wear pink shirts! All they do is party! Down with the greek system!" Does this happen like this anywhere else??

Greek System Wears Out Welcome

I dont even like to get involved with this type of discussion. It just shows how ignorant (or jealous) some people are. How do you think it would fly if somone wrote an artical bashing everyone that wasent in the greek system? If they enjoy sterotyping greeks then ask them how they would feel if the same was done to them. I could think of a million rebutels in this little sterotype game but im not going to mention any because i am more tactfull and mature than the people that wrote this artical.

Someone can be against the Greek system and not be jealous. Someone can question the importance of Greek life on campus for reasons other than "not getting a bid," having been "burned by a fraternity guy," or any of the other inane things we tend to say to those who don't agree with our way of life.

At least she sounds coherent and intelligent, which is more than I can say about the above poster.

Not sure what the point of the article is either, just her personal opinion about why greeks are so bad? I don' t know about you all but I really don't care about her personal opinion.

I went to UGA and was unaware that greek vs. non-greek promoted such 'tension' on campus. Fairly typical of the Red and Black though, some things never change.

Maybe it's just me, but my kneejerk reaction when I see an article like this is, "Look who didn't get a bid!" I'm not saying that's always the case, but it's the first thing that comes to mind.

Was anyone else able to understand what she was talking about with the volunteerism aspect of greek life?

Not that it matters. I have a feeling that the greek system at UGA will be there long after Ms. Ferguson is gone.

Well, I think in this case it's more someone who didn't enjoy her sorority experience, since she claims to be a former member.

I just really can't believe she's nitpicking SERVICE. And then talking about stereotyping and how the Greek system isn't diverse.

I'm sorry, but I think she sounds anything BUT intelligent.

Speechpath, as you know, I too attended UGA and I didn't recognize that "tension" either! I didn't become Greek until after I graduated, so I certainly don't have any hatred for the Greek system. I don't understand why some people can't see GLOs for what they are: a means for people to get together behind a common purpose - whatever that might be at any given time. Greeks don't run UGA any more than the SGA does. LOL! This girl does come off as jealous or angry about something other than what she's saying.

I hope she checked her facts on the required volunteer hours.
Most fraternities at Iowa State have required hour levels per semester in the range of 8 to 15. The actual amount put in by the guys I know from various chapters is around 50 to 70 per semester (I'm sure the all-greek average at ISU is around 30hrs per semester)

This sounds like she's newly "enlightened" and writing this to get a pat on the head from her diverse, enlightened new friends (who of course, would not have talked to her if she was still Greek). Yawn.

I thought it was cool that the lady from the American Cancer Society basically told her to STFU.

What a fucking moron.....plain and simple...

I really don't get why we harp on these kinds of editorials. Yes people don't like Greeks, we've established that fact and hopefully people here realize that no one can please everyone all the time.

Personally, to me it smacks of a "I have 8 inches of space to fill so I'll write about something that I know will stir people up." Her basis for getting rid of the Greek system to promote diversity is because they require members to perform community service, with a small blurb about drinking. Pretty weak argument.

The author is a [former?] sorority member who in an article a while ago admitted her pride in being a sorority member. Sounds like something happened to change her mind since then, which happens all the time, but I wish that she would let other make up their own minds to decide if being Greek is for them or not.

That's the article I was referring to. I say "former?" because it's not clear if she is still a member or if she has deactivated. I would guess the latter, but I don't know for sure.

Stan, I dont think I need to quote you as you pretty well said it all!

The news or press as we all know is to the positive is little as it is not newsworthy. Just and only the bad.:(

But, I wish there was some way that ALL of the Money and Hours that are put in are compared to any other Group!

While My Chapter has several Events each school year, the Main One Is "The Great North American Food Drive", the largest in the world.

Oh, out shadows the US Postal Service!:)

God, this type of press is well___________ what can I say!

This weekend, I gave a check for the Food Drive worth 800 lbs and feel it is well worth it not only for My Chapter, but For My Fraternity!:cool:

We are Greek Letter Organizations and I am Damn Proud of that fact!

That's what she wrote a year and a half ago. And now she's ripping on sororities and fraternities for doing service and only doing it to compete with others?

Oh I'm so tempted to go throw this back in her face.

ETA: Oh wait, someone already did it for me. You go, girl!

Me, too. :p Maybe I'm just b*tchy that way, but in my experience, that's usually the case about half the time.

I think she was trying to say that we can't call our volunteer hours "volunteer hours" because we're required to do them, therefore we're really not volunteering at all. Which is a mouthful to say. Next she'll be writing articles about how professors shouldn't make students do homework since students are paying them and therefore they shouldn't ask students to do things they don't want to do. :cool:

She states she's a "former" member of one such sorority, who knows if that's true or not, I suppose it is and she's just angry about something now and trying to get back at her chapter for whatever petty reason she has. Her article has no real support for her statement... I mean she starts out saying that greeks are "forced" into service, then talks about segragation but never says what one has to do with another, and has no support about how greeks promote segragation... poorly written. Last time I checked even socials were mandatory at my chapter... didn't have to go to all of them... but they were a part of being in good standing.

Are we reading the same artical?

Or maybe you lack comprehension skills.

No, I have comprehension skills.

You, however, certainly lack spelling, grammar, and syntax skills.

My favorite thing about college-age editorial writers:
They think they have original ideas and opinions that people actually care about.

I say this because I was once a college-age journalist, and not out of an attempt to offend anyone aspiring to be a writer. And after reading many a college newspaper, it is shocking how tired and overdone the content is, particularly op-ed, and how editorial advisers, year after year, allow the same poor writing and tired overdone story pitches to come to a printed piece.

Best advice for a college journalist: READ. Read a lot. And listen.

And then, maybe you write.

This college-age journalist agrees.