Despite high number of pledges, interest in greek organizations declining
 

Despite high number of pledges, interest in greek organizations declining
By: Zach Pluhacek
Issue date: 9/1/06 Section: News
The Daily Nebraskan

This year's enrollment jump has not only caused overcrowding in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln residence halls. Campus greek organizations are also witnessing some of their largest pledge numbers in years.

The number of sorority pledges increased by 21 from last year to a total of 501 - the highest total since 2002. The number of new fraternity members, an estimated 450, is the highest pledge class in at least six years.

Still, university officials say interest in greek organizations has dwindled during the past decade.

In fraternities, where negative stereotypes worry many parents and students, members are seeing century-long legacies slowly slipping away.

Click on link above to read more of the article.

Sounds like the reporter had an assignment, "Go write something about the greeks," and turned in a mess. And whoever wrote the lead and the hed had an agenda. One of the last sentences, ""I know of other schools where it's almost a constant state of stress and struggle between the greek system and the university," Zatechka said, "and that's not the way it is here," contradicts the initial premise.

Loved his last name!

Maybe the Animal House was over played, but it did show a point!:D

The article says there's declining interest in GLO's despite citing evidence to the contrary and not telling us why that evidence doesn't prove otherwise?

I'm so confused. The headline of this article contradicted itself and the rest of the article is a run on of quotes that have nothing to do with the transitions.

The person writing the article and the editor both need a refresher course in journalism.

"The person writing the article and the editor both need a refresher course in journalism."

Unfortunately, I believe they reflect EXACTLY what is being taught to student journalists today. Athletes, heterosexual males, fraternities...they're all bad. This is the template that they embrace and that shapes their world view. To be fair I suppose - hate to be fair about things I care about - most of the students who go into journalism are already pre-disposed to think this way, already inclined to be influenced by the "activists".

The truth is that greek membership declined in the 1990s from the boom of the 1980s, and jumped back up strongly again beginning about seven years ago. It's just not true that "interest hs dwindled" in the last decade; just the opposite is true.

Here's what probably happened. The original writer turned in a finished piece, minus the third and fourth paragraphs. An editor added those paragraphs to "provide balance". When it's positive about any of the "bad" groups and people, the activists insist it's necessary to "provide balance". I'll bet you anything those two paragraphs were added after the fact.

Once in awhile you see a thread with stidents asking how to overcome a hostile student newspaper. They make the mistake of thinking that reason matters. The people who write for the campus papers are not in fraternities and sororities, and are likely to be opposed politically to everything greeks support. The best way to deal with them is to accept the reality of incompatible differences, and either assign your own members to apply for positions at the paper, or unite the greek community in a campaign to put the paper out of business by starving them of advertising revenues. I saw the later done successfully on my own campus.

Down from my soapbox now.

Exactly. Can we say "Agenda"?