Sex, drugs are themes of bid night

The ill effects of excess alcohol and drug use on sexual performance were continually emphasized by the guest speaker at the Interfraternity Council's bid signing meeting last night. Seeking to appeal to a crowd of about 340 rowdy young men, alcohol and drug awareness consultant Jeff Dansikle tried to promote safe alcohol and drug consumption by appealing to the future pledges' concerns for their sexuality. As the rushees flooded into Meyerson B-1, two IFC members stood by the doorway handing everyone a true or false sex quiz. The meeting commenced with a brief introduction by IFC Rush Vice President Morris Massel. He was followed by Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs Director Tricia Phaup, who approached the podium to mild whistling and hooting. Phaup asked the audience about their motives in joining a fraternity and requested that they stand up if she stated one of their reasons, including living in a chapter house and making friends. Few men hesitated to rise when Phaup asked if they were joining for social reasons and much of the room stood up howling and whistling when she asked if they were signing bids to meet women. Then OFSA Assistant Director Eric Newman walked on stage, reading the opening passage of Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities to begin his speech on the responsibilities of brotherhood and the high caliber of greek men. He also said that 70 percent of the businessmen in the "Fortune 500" and 24 presidents, including President-elect Clinton and Vice president-elect Al Gore who were members of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, were in greek societies. Newman was followed by Dansikle, a University graduate who was not involved in the greek system. Throughout his speech, he stressed the correlation between over-consumption of alcohol and its adverse effects on sexual intercourse. He also said that the media sells the public "a bill of goods" in their packaging of alcohol, that an intoxicated person's consent to sex is legally invalid and that alcohol hinders a person's "ability for intimacy." But Dansikle's scare tactics aimed at their virility did little to subdue the chuckling crowd. Following Dansikle, two undergraduate counselors of the Drug and Alcohol Resource Team hosted a game of "Jeopardy" which included such categories as beer slogans and first aid myths. Phaup then ended the program by challenging the future brothers to "end the animal house image," which was met by laughter and muffled protests in the audience. After the nearly two-hour presentation, the rushees signed their bids. About 340 of an estimated 450 bids were accepted last night. OFSA officials said they expected more students to accept bids tomorrow. "We're definitely showing growth in the system," Massel said, claiming the turnout was the "largest we've had in the past few years." Many new pledges said they thought the long meeting covered information which they already considered to be common knowledge. "It was meant well," said Wharton freshman J.J. Erlichman, a pledge of the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity. "No one's really going to abide by this." College freshman Jordan Katz, another Sigma Alpha Mu pledge, said "It needs to be done, but practically speaking, it's useless." Other students said they felt the program perpetuated the common stereotype of greek men as beer-guzzling, women-chasing guys by focusing primarily on alcohol and sex. "They put together the program thinking everyone joins to have sex with random women and drink large quantities of beer." said College junior Geoff Baker, a Pi Lambda Phi pledge. And most new pledges acknowledged that they would be involved in hazing in the future. "It's an essential part of becoming a brother in any house." said College freshman Brent Petroff, a Phi Gamma Delta pledge. Petroff said he eagerly anticipates his hazing activities, believing that "I'll have better pride in myself after going through it."