Greek speak from the Buckeye State
This article ("Greek Organizations need to take some responsibility" by Chris D'Amore, which ran in the Nov. 30, 2005 issue of The Signal) was brought to my attention via a public message board, and though I go to a different university in a completely different state, I was incredibly appalled by the accusations Mr. D'Amore posed. The basis for this article? One instance.
As both a member of the Greek community at my university as well as a member of other non-Greek organizations, I feel that I should inform the students at the College of a different, broader point of view.
First of all, fraternities and sororites are not like clubs you join in college. I have friends in various student organizations which I am a part of and I have my sisters.
The two tend to blend together fairly often, as one of the benefits of joining a Greek letter organization is meeting people from completely different walks of life and introducing them to mine.
In clubs where there is an already established similarity, it is a "given" (if you will) that members talk about their similar interest(s) and leave, possibly forming friendships outside of the organization through their own will.
I am in no way insulting clubs. I love them. I join them, but I know that I can come and go as I please as well and after college, whatever friendships I have may progress.
In my sisterhood I know that I have loyal friends (I actually call them family) for life. I wonder how many of Mr. D'Amore's friends in the groups he is a part of consider him family.
Mr. D'Amore also explained that Greek letter organizations should be responsible for every person that attends their parties.
If Mr. D'Amore could prove that he himself has been at a non-Greek party where everybody was accounted for, I would whole-heartedly agree with him. Unfortunately, I think it is safe to assume that this is not the case.
Also, it is not the council of any group of organizations to "babysit" members. Matters like the one Mr. D'Amore spoke of in his article are generally handled by the unversity or the national governing body of the organization.
Quite frankly, I would rather "get a slap on the wrist" from a peer than have the university or a national governing body put my sorority on some form of probation for misconduct.
Thank you for your time, and I wish Mr. D'Amore the best of luck in the expanding of his point of view.
Nikki Hroncich,
Kent State University
Man-bashing is the new black
Something terrible has happened in American marketing. Sexual discrimination is running rampant, with one gender being continually portrayed as the weaker, dumber, more inept sex. That's right, I'm talking about men.
Has anyone been paying attention to TV commercials lately? It's surprising how many ridicule and put down men.
Remember the one from a couple of years ago in which the husband had to do the grocery shopping? But he couldn't be trusted with a traditional list, no. His wife had to use the digital camera and printer to make color prints of the exact products she needed, since the guy was clearly too inept to handle this task.
Or my personal favorite, which is airing currently -- a husband and wife are fighting over the remote. Then they pause and look at each other understandingly - only to have the woman ELBOW THE MAN IN THE FACE. She then smugly assumes control of the remote.
Is this a continuation of the same nonsense that allows girls to wear "Boys are stupid - throw rocks at them" shirts? What would happen if I wore a shirt that said, "Punch girls in the head"?
My argument is that were these roles reversed, there would be a huge outcry from women's rights groups. And rightly so; you simply cannot advertise violence against women. But why is it acceptable and encouraged to show these same things with men being belittled?
Not all examples display full-blown violence, of course, but ridiculing men is still a theme. Differences between the sexes have always been an interesting and engaging topic, and have been used in advertising for years, often quite tastefully.
But I contend that the media has gone from poking fun to flat-out man-bashing. Next time your show takes a break, keep that mute off and watch a set of commercials, and see whether you can justify what you see.
AJ Richards
ACLU only supports its own views
In response to Khushbu Patel's letter in the Sept. 20 issue of The Signal, I would like to pose a few questions to her and the ACLU. Where were you when chalk vaginas appeared all over campus during the spring production of "The Vagina Monologues"? Where were you when Signal cartoons openly mocked Jesus Christ and his message?
Those events are incongruent with what I stand for and I felt offended by them, but for some reason the ACLU was silent on those issues.
Or is it, however, that you agree with the political and social message that underlies these endeavors, and therefore chose not to question it because you felt comfortable with it?
Let's call a spade a spade. The ACLU is not about protecting Americans' rights; it's about protecting their worldview of secularism that you hold to be true.
In case you don't know by now, your political/religious agenda and worldview does not and should not take precedence over anyone else's.
As far as the Student Government Association (SGA) goes, to point fingers at us and say we should be ashamed of ourselves is just plain ridiculous.
The SGA is an umbrella organization that oversees, and supports, all of our school's clubs and missions. Why can't the SGA support both secular and religious events?
If the SGA can put its name on a production like "The Vagina Monologues," why can't we put our name on an event sponsored by Jewish Student Union, New Jersey Christian Fellowship or Catholic Campus Ministries?
The SGA, in my opinion, should co-sponsor more religious-based events around campus, and I would vote in strong favor of it if given the chance to this year.
Steve Link,
SGA VP of Academic Affairs
