The Machine

CarolinaDG · #1 10-30-2002, 11:59 PM

Sorry, y'all, I've done a huge search after someone mentioned this, and nothing came up....

What exactly is The Machine? All I could find was information about how The Machine block votes in student elections, and how none of the sororities would accept a black woman because of The Machine, but what exactly is it? Who's involved? I'm confused!

Tom Earp · #2 10-31-2002, 12:07 AM

A Machine Vote is when the Majority of people decied how to vote or not against someone. It is an understanding of how all will vote one way or the other!

To me, it takes away the individual right of a member to vote!

CarolinaDG · #3 10-31-2002, 12:33 AM

Is this, like, certain GLO's that do this or who?

Cluey · #4 10-31-2002, 12:43 AM

Ahh, The Machine...

The Machine is behind the scenes. You wouldn't actually know who is a member unless you yourself were a member.

It's located at the Univ of Alabama, though each SEC school has a type of organization like it (I believe it is called the Grid-Iron at UGA). They supposedly control the school and have connections throughout the administration to do basically whatever they want, which they usually mask in a bit of southern honor.

I was just trying to explain to one of my students the other day what the machine was. He says his dad's friend can make sure he gets in.... definite machiner.

Kevlar281 · #5 10-31-2002, 01:43 PM

At U of H they’re referred to as slates. Not exactly all-powerful but most have the ability to organize enough to push through/block the majority of IFC votes. I also know some fraternities refer to the black ball cast box as The Machine; maybe an offshoot of the machine hype.

BSUPhiSig'92 · #6 10-31-2002, 01:54 PM

The Machine is the nickname given to Theta Nu Epsilon at the University of Alabama. The Machine is believed to have controlled the outcome of every Student Government election at U of A, and is even supposed to have a major influence in state politics. It is comprised of representatives from the different chapters at the University. Theta Nu Epsilon is actually on many different campuses nationwide, but the role it plays and the influence it has varies greatly. Some places it is a big political thing, others it is a society that performs pranks, and on some it is a sort of "Greek Booster" group. The one thing in common with all of these is that membership is secretive, and the group is not university recognized. Membership is usually made up of representatives of different IFC chapters, though some members are not Greek. They have a website at www.tne.org.

Jhawkalum · #7 10-31-2002, 02:13 PM

Esquire magazine wrote a huge expose in 1984 or 1985 about Alabama's "Machine" and how it basically runs the student government.

Part of the article included a very sad story about how one African-American student was a strong candidate for student body president. This young man's father also happened to run a pizza place in Tuscaloosa. "Machine" supporters and other greeks told everyone to stop going and ordering from the pizza shop because an African-American had the nerve to run for office. The pizza shop eventually went out of business and the student could no longer afford to go to college.

I was an editor of my college's newspaper and I corresponded with some members of the Crimson & White -- the Alabama student newspaper. Members of one of KU's student body coalitions had stolen thousands of newspapers from the printer after seeing an unfavorable article written about one of their candidates. From what I understand the Machine is alive and well at Alabama.

After doing a little investigating, I learned that KU had a version of Theta Nu Epsilon called "Grapevine" which from what I understood was a secret group of greeks who sought to have control of the KU student government -- who knows if they are still around. Frankly, I think student governments on most campuses are a joke -- they are the same people from high school who campaigned for homecoming queen.

FuzzieAlum · #8 10-31-2002, 04:02 PM

OK ... I don't get this. While Greeks are a big deal at these schools, they certainly aren't the majority of the student body. So how hard would it be for the GDIs to say, screw this, we're sick on this un-democratic politicking, and run their own candidate with a strong campaign? It would seem to me they can only run things if they're not running anything important enough for anyone else to care about.

Jhawkalum · #9 10-31-2002, 04:28 PM

Actually, at my school a couple of guys came up with a new student coaliton in response to the foolishness of student government -- the party was called Resume Builders. They were a joke but they had 35 students who ran under their coalition whose mascot was a big drunk bunny, they actually had a guy in a bunny suit campaigning with them. They made a mockery of a debate by having pizzas delivered during the arguments, had a kiss-a-builder fundraiser, and believed the most pressing issue on campus was getting beer in the stadium. It was great and really put things in perspective. Here's some articles:

http://www.kansan.com/arch/2000sprin...lders3-10.html

CarolinaDG · #10 10-31-2002, 08:40 PM

I went to the Theta Nu Epsilon site and saw that USC actually has one of the first chapters founded, but I've never heard of it and didn't find anything when I searched our website. Is this something that's kept very secret at most schools, or do people at these schools know it exists?

hoosier · #11 10-31-2002, 08:58 PM

Alabama's Machine may be the longest running/best known, and the secret to their success was secrecy, political skills, maybe a little money from alumni, and organization.

If almost all of Alabama's Greeks can vote for the Machine's candidates, they win.

And if an outstanding dedicated non-Machine candidate runs, he might find he's also opposed by several attractive non-Machine-ites, and the non-Greek vote is split - Machine wins.

And if the non-Machine guy happens to win, he faces a student govt. already filled with Machine allies, and few real changes are possible.

At UGa, it is said that the (Gridiron?) machine Student Body Pres. is promised a seat in the state legislature as soon as he gets a law degree.

OnePlus69Is70 · #12 10-31-2002, 09:01 PM

Here it's the Fifth Column- though the Greeks have nothing to do with it. It's run by the various ethnic groups (Black Student Union, Asian Student Union, etc.) and the crazy left-wing political groups (Radical Student Union and the like). They basically sit in charge of the student government and make sure the money and priveledges get directed towards their groups. It's gotten so bad no one even bothers running for the Senate anymore- only 47 people ran for 120 seats. I'd say the gov't was a big joke if they didn't have a $2 million budget to play with.

I'd love to get some influence in the gov't, but no one in my house has the time or the patience to deal with all the crap involved. The only Greeks who get into it are the SigEps, there's a couple of them in there (although I dunno- there's a rumor they ran for dorm seats in the Senate specifically so they wouldn't have to move into their house).

Optimist Prime · #13 11-01-2002, 12:47 AM

That is the situation in my congresional district. The republicans are so entrenched there, that the democrats aren't even nominating a candidate.

Sigma Sage · #14 11-01-2002, 08:37 AM

Actually at Georgia it is called the Horsemen

OnePlus69Is70 · #15 11-01-2002, 10:41 AM

Optimus, it's the opposite here- the Libertarians are fielding more candidates than the Republicans, it's sad. One party rule isn't good, no matter which party it is.