[chideltjen]

I didn't realize Jordan lived so close to my hometown... anyway... this was in my paper yesterday.

I missed the last ten minutes or so of the episode so i am going by what you all are saying. damn... i don't have cable at my new apartment... anyone know when this show is ending?

PS: It's kinda long... sorry.



Quite a rush for Livermore woman on MTV's `Sorority Life'
By Susan Young - STAFF WRITER


This is the story of a popular high school girl from Livermore who graduated in 1999 and became a student at the University of California, Davis.

Jordan - no last name by request - managed to avoid the whole sorority scene until her junior year, when she felt compelled to rush the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi sorority.

It was just a coincidence that at the exact same time, MTV was rushing the house.

Able to act independently because it is not a national organization, the 4-year-old Jewish sorority had no higher authority to answer to and agreed to accept an undisclosed amount of money for allowing the producers of ``Sorority Life'' to tape their rush process last spring.

The show follows six pledges, including Jordan, and six sorority sisters. Since it premiered on June 24, viewers have been eagerly tuning in to ``Sorority Life,'' which airs at 10:30 tonight and every Monday on MTV. Jordan has become a focal point of the show, with her outspoken ways. Even when she's not voicing her opinion, the eye-catching young woman posts her every thought on her expressive face.

In the first episode, the sorority sisters appeared a bit perturbed by the fact that many of the pledges seem to be more along the lines of tall Nordic blondes eager for screen time than serious Sigma sorority material. Much was made of the fact that non-Jewish people rushed the sorority.

In fact, the Sigma sisters issued a statement on the MTV experience, in which they said they think of themselves as a cultural rather than a religious sorority. However, ``Many people, including our own sisters, are uneasy about the overwhelming number of non-Jews who are pledging,'' wrote Sigma sister Mara, who rushed with Jordan.


Here is Jordan's story.


How did you hear about the sorority?


It's not that well known on campus, so everyone knew about it from the MTV crew coming to film there. But I probably would have been interested in it anyway because it's a small sorority and I thought it would be a friendly one.


But according to what is happening in the show thus far, it doesn't seem like a very friendly environment for you. Is it hard to watch?


I think it's very hard to watch. I watched a (recent) episode last night and a few things were taken out of context and at the time it didn't seem like that, or feel like that. But overall, I'm surprised at how accurate it does portray things.

It's really painful to watch most of the time. But then again, I'm learning so much. When it first aired, it was really cool. ... I can't believe all I went through and then to see it all play out again is very hard. I had no idea the things people were saying behind my back.

Like the things Amanda was saying. We were friends before all this and I couldn't believe it. I don't speak to Amanda any more. And all the other girls, well, it's just hard to watch them.


There was controversy that a lot of people rushing weren't Jewish. Are you Jewish?


It was just Mara and me (who are Jewish). Well, she's definitely Jewish and I consider myself to be Jewish, although I'm not really religious. My background is that my grandparents were Jewish and that was always there. Religion never played a big role in my family. I guess I consider myself Jewish, just a non-practicing Jew.


Before MTV rolled into town, Sigma didn't have a pledge house. MTV provide a pretty nice home for the pledges, although it was only rented for the time in which the series was taping. What do you think about that, and the overall manipulation of MTV?


Well, I understand why they needed to have us all in one house, because it made it easier for them to tape us and the sorority couldn't afford that. And they gave us some cars so we could get around a little bit better. But I objected to the rules, like no drinking in the house and no boys in the house after 11 p.m.; that seemed to be instituted by MTV just so we would go out drinking at the bars and hanging out with boys outside of the house.

I think it would have been much safer for us to be drinking in the house than drinking in a bar. A lot of times, the producers would be at the bar, buying us drinks, but not on camera. That didn't seem right.


Are you recognized now because of your appearance on ``Sorority Life''?


I get recognized everywhere I go. People are honking at me in cars so much that I think we are going to get in an accident. I go to Stoneridge mall (in Pleasanton) and kids want my autograph. At baseball games, I've signed arms and legs and it's really cool. People are really into the show.

I've been touched by things people say to me like ``You come across as a strong person'' and girls will ask me about how I do my hair and make-up. It's cool.


Of course, you know about MTV's signature reality show ``Real World,'' but did you ever imagine you would be one of those people?


I remember having a conversation with Amanda before we joined. We ran into some people from ``Real World'' when we were in Las Vegas and they were telling us stuff they had to go through and I thought I could never do that. I'm a very private person and to put myself on camera didn't seem like something I ever wanted to do.

It took a bit of convincing, but my friends told me this would be an experience and I thought, ``Well, why not? Maybe I'll learn something from this or someone else can learn something from me.'' It was a great experience and I would do it all again.


So, have you decided to change your career path because of this experience?


``I'm a political science major and I'm thinking law school. But I feel like I can do anything now. This has been a really empowering experience. It's a natural thing to think you can do (acting) too after this. I don't know what I'm going to do, but I'm not going to just sit back after this. I'm going to use it every way I can, I'm just not sure how right now.

Writing a book about the experience would be amazing. I'm still coming back to school in the fall and I'm going to graduate, but I'm not sure what's going to happen after that. I can't talk about it right now, but there will be a lot of questions you'll want to ask after the last episode airs (next month).''