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(01/24/91 10:00am)
The many women participating in the hectic sorority rush are not the only students looking at the Greek system this semester. Eight fraternities have chosen to have a spring rush to attract more members. Representatives for the fraternities gave several reasons for adding a second rush season this year, but all said they hope to supplement their fall rush with new pledges. According to Wharton sophomore Bruce Forman, Interfraternity Council vice-president for rush and Greek Week, the eight fraternities having the extra rush period are Sigma Nu, Phi Kappa Sigma, Acacia, Delta Upsilon, Kappa Alpha Society, Phi Kappa Psi, Pi Lamda Phi, and Sigma Phi Epsilon. Rush can begin anytime after January 18, and it must end by March 8, Forman said. A ninth fraternity, Delta Tau Delta, whose bid to re-form on campus was approved just last week by the IFC, cannot begin its rush until after March 8. The IFC and DTD alumni agreed to impose the restriction so DTD "will not compete with other fraternities on campus," said Forman. According to Eric Newman, Assistant Director of the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs, spring rush is a "chapter decision made by groups that feel that they did not get enough people in the fall." Forman said some other schools require fraternities to have a spring rush so students have a chance to give houses a "new look" in their second semester. Newman said during this process the houses still have to comply with rush rules. But they will not need rush monitors because spring rush is a less structured process. Forman said that it would be impossible to monitor every instance a single rush entered a house since spring rush is "very informal" with very few large planned events. Forman added that there have been no problems with this system in the past. Although each of the houses is seeking to increase membership, their ends and means differ. Phi Kap President Mike McGeehan said his house is conducting spring rush because "we are in the process of trying to diversify our fraternity." McGeehan, a College junior, said Phi Kap is trying to break their stereotype of being "strictly football." Wharton junior Amit Patel, president of KA, said his fraternity is holding a spring rush because it needs to "keep increasing membership since we are fairly new." Patel said there has been a lot of change in the Greek system since the fall, including "the new BYOB policy which has made fraternities stronger" and which will attract new men to the system. Acacia is encouraged to hold a spring rush by its national organization, said College junior Brian Baxt, president-elect of Acacia. However, Baxt said that its rush is only open "to people we already know" such as brothers' friends, and students who rushed in the fall. This type of informal rush is also being carried out by DU, according to President Bob Hall. A large senior class graduating out of the fraternity forced the fraternity to have a spring rush to "bolster our underclasses," said Hall. This same problem faces Sigma Nu, said Wendell Van Sickle, president of the house, who hopes to attract 15 more pledges in order "to repopulate the house."
(01/21/91 10:00am)
Over 650 undergraduate women passed through each of the eight sorority houses during Saturday's Open House, the first event in the organizations' week-long rush. Both sorority sisters and rush counselors called the rushes "nervous." Each sorority house hosted groups of 50 students for twenty-five minutes each. About half of the houses started each group's visit with a song, according to Panhellenic Council Vice-President for Rush Jenny Gonell. At all houses the sorority members and rushes mingle in order to become acquainted, Gonell said last week. According to College freshman Kirsten Bartok, as a rush walked into each house, a sorority member would take the rush around to introduce her to other members of the sorority. But College freshman Elizabeth Wells said that in her "long and hectic" day she had only met about five sisters in each house. Alpha Phi member Sue Scheps said this year's rush process is not hampered by the number of rushes, the largest rush group in recent memory. Scheps, a College sophomore, said that it is "not any harder at all" to choose a new pledge class. Last week, Panhel President Anita Hseuh said that pledge classes will be made bigger to accomodate the unusually large number of rushes, but noted that this may raise another set of problems. "The ideal size for a pledge class is not 50 people," Hseuh, an Engineering senior, said. College junior Chris Bremble, a Delta Upsilon brother who watched the rush groups pass in front of his Walnut Street house, said that the shortness of sorority rush presents some problems that fraternities, with a six-week rush, do not face. "I sympathize with the sororities sometimes because it [rush] does not give them a fair time to meet the rushes," Bremble said. Each group is divided up into Rho Chi, or rush counselor, groups which were assigned at random at the orientation meetings last week. According to Gonell, today and tomorrow will be "round one" of the rush process during which rushes will continue to visit each house that they are invited back to. During "round two" on Thursday, rushes can visit up to four of the sororities to which they are invited. The last round will be on Saturday when rushes can visit at most two sororities. Sororities will then extend bids on Sunday. Gonell said that during each successive round the rushes' visits to the houses grow longer, culminating in a one hour visit during the last round.
(01/18/91 10:00am)
The Interfraternity Council voted to approve the return of Delta Tau Delta fraternity, absent from campus since 1972, at its first meeting of the year last night. The IFC endorsement joins Greek Alumni Council and Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs recommendations to allow DTD to start forming a chapter. The IFC approval was the final hurdle for the new fraternity, which can now begin recruiting. No students are involved in the new fraternity yet. The move to bring the fraternity back to campus was initiated by local alumni and the fraternity's national office. David Wagner, vice president of the Eastern Division of DTD, presented his organization's plan for the fraternity to the IFC last night. He said he hoped to make the fraternity an alternative to other Greek houses. He said it would be for "people who said 'no' to you [other fraternity groups[" because of established house traditions or a distaste for the Greek system. Wagner said that DTD would begin publicizing its effort in the middle of March. After representatives gather the names of interested students, DTD will begin a week of recruitment. First, local alumni will come to the University to answer students' questions. In the latter half of that week, representatives from DTD's national office in Indianapolis will interview them and extend bids, said Wagner. He also added that a DTD chapter from either Villanova or Lehigh would pledge this class while local alumni advised. The group would not immediately become a chapter, said Wagner, but would first be an "interest group" and later a "colony." He added that the colony would then be made a chapter after they have equaled the average number of fraternity members in a house at the University. According to Eric Newman, OFSA's assistant director, the average number of fraternities' members is 55. Newman also told the IFC that DTD has been "courting the University for two years," and that the IFC "has no problem with them coming on." This endorsement was apparently enough for the IFC to vote to allow DTD on campus by an overwhelming majority. There was only one vote against and two abstentions out of about 25 votes. DTD has a long history at the University, beginning in 1897. Wagner said it thrived for over seventy years, producing many distinguished alumni including John Alexander, "the voice of Franklin Field." The fraternity declined after 1967, when its house, now the Craig Sweeten Alumni Center, suffered a severe fire. The debt and other problems cause by the fire led to the disbandment of the fraternity in 1972. Wagner assured the IFC that DTD is not going to reclaim its old house. "We are not looking for a piece of Locust Walk," he said. DTD's policies include a pledging process, a ban on hazing, and a rule forbidding the serving of alcohol if minors are in the fraternity house. According to College junior and IFC president Jim Rettew, there was another fraternity interested in coming to campus, but it did not apply. Rettew said he is "excited" about the addition of DTD because it is "good that we are getting bigger and better."
(01/17/91 10:00am)
While no one knows what war with Iraq will bring, Darryl Northington is content not to find out. Northington, an officer with the University Police Department, is a reserve senior airman in the United States Air National Guard stationed at the Willow Grove Naval Base. As with many reservists, he is presently on alert status, waiting to find out whether he will become personally involved in Operation Desert Storm. Alert status normally means 72 hours prior notice before moving out but, Northington says, if war breaks out, he may get even less time to prepare. Northington is a jet-engine mechanic and spends his time in the National Guard working on A-10 anti-tank aircraft. The University Police Department has already lost one officer to the army. Officer Martin Turofski was supposed to graduate from the Police Academy on January 30th, but when he received his orders to report for duty, his graduation plans were postponed. There are also many University graduate students who are members of reserve forces. Jess Posey, a first-year Wharton graduate student and a resident advisor in Community House, joined the naval reserves in September last year after graduating the U.S. Naval Academy and serving eight years in the Navy. Posey said that since he is a ship engineer, it is doubtful that he will be called up "unless the actual ship is activated." Another Wharton MBA student, Brent Cavan, said he will probably not get called up for active duty either because he is primarily trained in the type of woodland and city fighting found in Europe. Air Force Academy graduate and Wharton graduate student Matt Johnson is technically in the inactive reserves since he left acctive duty in September of 1989. Like his classmates, Johnson described his chances of being called up "pretty slim." Even though there is no imminent chance of these men being called up, they are all watching the situation closely since they have ex-classmates and friends stationed in the Persian Gulf. In addition, Johnson is President of the Veterans Club at Wharton which has already sent care packages to two men who were supposed to be members of their class but were called up to active duty. All three reservists have much confidence in the troops stationed in the Arabian desert. Cavan said that Saddam Hussein is "in for a rude surprise", and "he will not know what hit him." Johnson added, "you will not see a waning resolve of American troops." Each of these graduate students has observed what Posey described as "intelligent commentary" on both sides of the issue at the University. Cavan said that he hopes this type of dialogue continues and that there will be no resurgence of "abhorrent" attacks on soldiers as seen during the Vietnam War. The reservists were not able to give their own opinions on the war because in their earliest days of training they are told not to give their feelings on military action to the press. This policy also applies to ROTC students, many of who refused to comment on the conflict last night because of the orders they received. But Midshipman Commander Doug Pfeifle, battalion commander of the Naval ROTC unit at the University and a Wharton senior, was given permission to give his own personal opinions on the conflict and information about the ROTC unit's status. Pfeifle said that the midshipmen "are not allowed to answer any policy questions" because as part of the Department of Defense their "job is not to dictate policy but to act when asked." ROTC members will not be called to active duty because they are considered civilians until they accept commissions from the Navy upon graduation. Pfeifle added that the general feeling among the ROTC ranks is "one of empathy" because the training they have had makes them feel like the soldiers' peers. In addition, Pfeifle said that he is personally concerned about the situation because of the people he knows serving in the Gulf, and that ROTC "will be giving them all the support we can give them." University Police Officer and active reservist Northington also was willing to support the war effort. He said he believes President Bush's choice to fight might have been the only one. "We have to quell this threat," he said. "If he is not stopped now, it could get much worse. If he can muster large support from the Arabs, it could get to be an even bigger problem." However, Northington still hopes that fighting will be limited. "War, in general, is not constructive," he added. "It's destructive and foolish."
(01/16/91 10:00am)
More than 300 women queued outside the main door of Houston Hall last night, anxiously waiting to attend the first of two sorority rush orientation meetings being held in Bodek Lounge. Last semester more than 650 women registered for rush, a 10 percent increase over last year. College freshman Deborah Algazy, just one of the hopefuls who came to last night's meeting, said that sorority rush will be enjoyable even if she does not receive a bid. "Rush is a good way to meet new people," Algazy said. "Even if I don't pledge, it will still be fun." As they walked into the meeting, each rush was given a sorority rush manual which contained short descriptions of each house and a schedule of rush events. Then the women split up into 40 Rho Chi groups, Panhellenic Council Vice President for Rush Jenny Gonell said. A Rho Chi, or rush counselor, is a sorority member who disaffiliates herself from her house in order to advise rushes. One Rho Chi, who asked to have her name withheld in order to keep her sorority affiliation unknown, said her job is much like that of a guidance counselor. Rho Chis "take them around to the different houses, answer their questions [and tell them] what happens if they are cut," she said. Before entering the meeting, many women said they were anxious to meet new people, and College freshman Mandee Heller was anxious to start what she thinks is a "good part of the college experience." However some rushes were apprehensive about the process and the number of rushes. "The odds aren't exactly for you [in receiving a bid]," said College freshman Sherry Novick. Since so many women are rushing this year, each sorority will accept 50 women in to their pledge class, Panhellenic President Anita Hsueh, an Engineering senior, said. Other women said they had problems with the relatively short rush time -- only one week. "I don't think we have enough time to see how each house is really like," said Wharton freshman Ryniee Auh. But many Panhel members tried to allay many rushes' fears. Panhel Treasurer Allison Abell said that since every rush must visit each house, they are given "a forced eye-opening." The sorority rush officially begins this Saturday when each rush must go on carefully-regulated visits to all eight sorority houses. The schedule continues with additional rounds of mandatory trips with later rounds on an invite-only basis.
(11/21/90 10:00am)
Two nights ago, four University students climbed into a car -- aptly named "Felicity" -- and brought Thanksgiving baskets to 15 needy West Philadelphia families. The students, all Alpha Kappa Alpha sisters, distributed baskets filled with turkey, stuffing, macaroni and cheese, rolls and about 20 cans of food yesterday evening as part of the sorority's second annual "Operation Turkey Day." College senior Leslie Collins, civic committee co-chairperson of AKA, said that the sorority "chose big families with kids who might otherwise feel left out or ostracized if they did not have a nice Thanksgiving." AKA collected $500 and 425 cans of food for the baskets by trick-or-treating on Halloween. "I like doing this better than just giving money," College senior and AKA president Simone Frier said. "I feel I'm helping real people." Collins said AKA will donate the rest of the money and cans to a soup kitchen sponsored by the University City Hospitality Coalition, and will use some of the money to buy supplies for a Thanksgiving luncheon for the mentally ill sponsored by St. Agnes church.
(10/31/90 10:00am)
Recounting his personal experiences from the Holocaust, Israeli writer Aharon Applefield intrigued nearly 100 students with anecdotes about his ordeals at a speech Monday night. Applefield, a prolific Jewish author, detailed his assimilated upbringing in the Austro-Hungarian Empire explaining how the Holocaust affected his life. "The sudden Holocaust thrust us into the depths of suffering," Applefield said. He said that the pain of the Holocaust was harshest for assimilated Jews in Europe citing not only physical torture, but destruction of their beliefs. Two years after the Russians liberated Eastern Europe from Nazi control, Applefield emigrated to Israel where he and his peers tried to ignore their experiences. Applefield said that he sees many similarities between pre-Holocaust European Jewry and current American Jewry. "History is repeating itself in such a banal way," he said. "But let's hope it repeats in a good form." Applefield said that today the Jewish soul no longer exists, which he called a "vicious victory for Hitler." The author added that he always had a desire to express his feelings so he turned to literature, "to open the darkness and callousness in me . . . to say something of my experience." After the speech Chaim Potok, a Jewish writer and Philadelphia resident, said that "there is a tendency on the part of Israelis to see the American world in black and white." Despite his difference of opinion, Potok said that he found Applefield's narration "very profound and moving". College and Wharton junior Rachel Schuldiner, who organized the speech, said that she also found the speech moving but said that Applefield "hedged a lot of questions."
(09/19/90 9:00am)
While tensions in the Persian Gulf Crisis continue to escalate, a discussion held on campus Monday night sparked bitter debates and protests. Hecklers continually disrupted the two-hour forum at the Christian Association, originally planned as a question-and-answer session on the Persian Gulf Crisis, and demanded that their opinions be heard. Three of the approximately 60 audience members, who identified themselves as followers of radical politician Lyndon LaRouche, called the forum a sham saying that the group coordinating the event -- Act for Peace in the Middle East -- had biased the forum. In one of the evening's heated exchanges, Therese Mallory, who announced her solidarity with LaRouche, blasted panel members' views claiming that British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher wants to use the hydrogen bomb on Iraq. She went on to add that President Bush's call for a "new order" in the world will result in a "series of colonial wars to grab land and wage war in the Third World and kill black and brown people." Before the disruptions, panel members called for U.S. troops to withdraw from Saudi Arabia with one attacking what she sees as a double standard of U.S. Middle Eastern policy. "[The United States] deals with the Middle East with considerable racism," said Palestinian advocate Judith Chomsky, a member of the National Lawyers' Guild. She added that the Bush administration should apply the "principle of self-determination," which it gives to the Kuwaitis, to the Palestinians as well, by supporting international pressure to remove Israeli troops from the Occupied Territories. Another forum member, Marie Bloom -- a leader of Act For Peace in the Middle East -- advocated a different policy of dealing with the Gulf Crisis. She suggested to audience members that they start a letter-writing campaign adding they can also join weekly vigils in front of City Hall to support bringing U.S. troops home. After the discussion, forum organizer and moderator Lori Anne Salem, said that although the forum was originally planned for a peaceful discussion, she said that overall, "it was a good night." One University student at the forum, College freshman Paul Skeith, said he was not prepared for such loud protest. He added that the hecklers should not have used the discussion as a place for "their propaganda."
