Under the Microscope ( extra blog )

To the naked eye many things go unseen. Whether cells, atoms, electrons, nuerons, protons, ultra-violet light, ext, ext, all of these remain overlooked. Not to mention that these microscopic "anomalies" are fundamental aspects of normal life.  These things exists everywhere whether we acknowledge them or not. (I think this brings up a good point that people notice only what they want to notice and choose to ignore or overlook the other aspects.) Without certain equipment these remain invisible, but once something like a microscope is used it is basically impossible to ignore what is in front of your eyes.


I believe this is a perfect metaphor for the greek community. There are many aspects that match up exquisitely. 

First of all, in a broad general view of greek life, a lot of things go unseen. Greek life for most people are like cells and atoms. Everything about fraternal community would be unknown if not for magnifying certain aspects. Everything about greek life are "fundamental" to its identity much like atoms are fundamental in life. These aspects make up the greek community in its entirety whether they are acknowledged or not. However, once certain aspects were exposed thats now all people can see. Of course I am talking about alcohol, hazing, wild sex,..... basically anything negative has been put on a slide and is now under examination. The problem with this scrutinization is the microscope has been focused too much.  Now other aspects of fraternal life are being kept under the radar (service to name one).  And now with the magnifying lens being dialed in so far its hard to retract. 


With so much focus on the negatives, how are we as a community supposed to dial back the lens of the outside world? That is the question I want to be posed because I am sick of this microscope.


Another thing that has been bothering me is how the lens is only focused on the greek community when the college community is basically doing the same thing. 

But, since there isn't a magnifying lens (i.e. greek tv shows or movies) on "regular" college life, these things sneak their way past observers. Everyone one in college "rages." Almost everyone has sex. But if you ask who the drinkers and "partiers" are Fraternal life is the number one answer. How is that fair especially since the lens is focused on the rowdy fraternities and not the ones that are benefiting Ohio State community... I have no idea.. This has just been on my mind lately and I wanted to find out and discuss this issue.


Signing out,
Coz

Rivalry Run: A Community Based Around Service

One of the most profound acts of community service I have ever been a part of is Rivalry Run. Not just for what I helped give to the Stephanie Spielman Fund, but also what it gave back and taught to me.

First of all, I have never been part of such a strong group effort to contribute to society. Everyone of my brothers helped contribute in some way to this goal of raising money for breast cancer. Now I will admit in the scheme of things I really didn't do that much. All I did was coordinate schedules with Andrew Garcia. We got together and used the money that was given to me for printing by the Fisher College of Business and printed off letters for all of our graduate brothers. Then we found a time that worked with most of our chapter and had a group of about 15 or so brothers sign, seal, and stamp the letters to be sent off in the mail. I have never seen a group work so efficiently to accomplish a goal in such a short period of time. It taught me a lot about how a small group can really accomplish so much if they are all driven by a common goal and excited to make a difference. In two sessions of about 20 minutes each we got letters sent to all of our graduate brothers which is over 700.

Another thing Rivalry Run taught me is how beneficial our chapter can be when it is energetic. Coming from a crazy spring into an intense RR fall, all of our brothers accomplished so much. It goes to show how much we are lacking when we are apathetic (i.e. in the worst of all seasons.... winter). Our chapter can be contributing, not only to itself, but to the community as a whole if we just pushed ourselves all year around. It actually blows my mind thinking of all that we could accomplish. WE want to be the best chapter on campus, I believe keeping people energetic is definitely the way to do this. Yes I know... quite difficult but I'm sure that we can find a way :).

All in all I have found the need to do more community service, even if it is something small. Why waste free time playing smash when I could be out making a difference.

Coz

Fraternal Change and the Barriers it Faces

Everyone seems to agree that there is a negative stigma placed on the greek community. Actually I would go as far as saying its a greek identity. It is what the greek community thrives on. A majority of recruitment is based on this stigma because this is the only greek community is portrayed. When someone goes to college and decides to join a fraternity or sorority, their thought process normally involves fulfilling these stereotypes.

The first stereotype, which is probably the biggest, is "boozing hard."  Greek life is overwhelmed with the idea that everyone in its community drinks all the time and that most of those drinks are probably bonged. Most fraternities recruit based on these facts. "Hey if you are interested in _________ come to our party this weekend should be a great time and tons of free alcohol." I was solicited at least 3 different occasions with that opening line. Even though this identity is, for the most part, true this is the stereotype that pisses me off the most. Don't worry little birds i'll tell you why. Is there any other place that is known for "partying hard?" Ya its called college. Does that make everyone in college who bashes fraternities for raging hypocrites..... I think so. Now I'm not saying that all of college drinks insane amounts but there is a definite majority. I don't know how many parties I have been at where someone finishes a beer bong or takes multiple shots and then mocks a fraternity for doing the same thing.

This annoyance does bring up a point I wanted to make. Once you acquire a stigma, it is way harder to break that stigma than it was obtaining it. All news or press that the greek community receives revolves around its defects and not its positives. A fraternity can do asmuch community service or activities that benefit others as it likes but the only mention it will get in a newspaper is about a wild party it threw where a kid died. Or how about a formal where there is a line to have sex in the bathroom. Every fraternity and sorority are not like this, but, as one of my brothers stated very well, one bad apple is enough to ruin the whole bunch. 

After that little rant, another stereotype that plagues the greek community is hazing. Every movie or tv show that I have seen since the 1970s based around or featuring some aspect of fraternity life has involved hazing. Naked running, forced alcohol consumption, inflicting physical pain, and social abuse are just some of the "hazing" that apparently occurs within every fraternity. I remember when i had to run a naked mile while chugging beer......... It really bonded me to my chapter.... Just wanted to let everyone know :) (sarcasm people). Honestly, I do like the "intention" behind hazing. The classic point that it builds brotherhood. But hazing doesn't even accomplish this. There are plenty of other ways in which fraternities and sororities can achieve this goal.

The last thing that I believe hinders the fraternal movement is actually not related to stereotypes. It is the "individualistic" nature of the greek community. I'm not saying that everyone single person looks out for themselves, but chapters as wholes look out for "themselves." I think it stems from the fact that you join a chapter cause you think its the best chapter for yourself. This tends to form negative opinions of other chapters in your mind. So every chapter thinks its the best and it definitely shows in the greek community. This detracts from the community working as a whole and forming a uniting front. All that happens is bashing and that negates from the positive fraternal movement most fraternities are seeking.

Anyways its late I'm hitting the hay.

Cozzzzzzz

Collaboration - Its a dance thing

Hello blogthers,

It was interesting for me when thinking of an event that required a lot of collaboration. Many events came to mind, some were of a time when I had to lead a group and others were when I was being led. But before I get into the actual event I would like to discuss some ideas about collaboration I had the other night.

First, collaboration isn't about being the "perfect" group. A lot of people have this general preconception that collaboration entails a group that agrees on every topic brought up; a group that has no quarrels or conflicts; a group that is bound to "group think." I believe that in true collaborations it is quite the opposite. In order for an idea to reach its full potential, there have to be disagreements and struggles for these positively affect the decision process. How can you make an informed decision with only one side of an issue? I believe it should be and is impossible to do so with only one side.

This leads me to my next point of diversity. A diverse group had much more potential than a group that is similar. This should be pretty self explanatory, but I'll dive into this a little further. (Just realized this blog is reading more as a paper than a blog... my apologies ha but I guess that's cause I'm on a little rant.) Now I'm not talking about diversity in terms of ethnic groups, but diversity in terms of different backgrounds and thought processes (so yes diverse ethnicities would most likely fulfill this definition.)

Anyways, now that I explained my two little thoughts I can go into my collaboration.

Dance team baby. Fiji dance team. One of my favorite experiences of college and presumably my most challenging. Now for a little background. Last year Fiji decided to enter the Greek Week Variety Show for the first time. This show involves fraternities and sororities who compete in a dance off. Fraternities against fraternities and sororities against sororities. So when Fiji decided we were going to enter we decided we wanted to go for it all.

Ron Holgado ( presumably the best dancer in Fiji other than perhaps thee Ray Sharp ) decided he was going to assemble a group of dance leaders. The leaders he chose were himself ( of course ), Tony Gallenstein, Ray Sharp, and I. For the record I suck at dancing haha. Together we decided we would go with a Michael Jackson tribute for our dance theme. Ron and Ray handled the "bad" group, and Tony and I handle the "good" group. Our dance leaders all had very different intentions about what our final dance was going to look like. But, I believe that all of these diverse ideas ended up benefiting our dance as a whole. We incorporated bits and pieces from everyone's ideas and then passed it down to any Fiji who volunteered to perform in the show. Now collaboration was required by the dance leaders. Even more collaboration was required in teaching and syncing everyone's movements. I have no idea if this is true, but I would assume part of the definition of dance is a group collaboration. Anyways, all of the trials and errors ended up making our dance the best and how do I know this? Because we won first place!!!!

I learned a lot about dealing with others through this collaboration. How to motivate others to share your enthusiasm, working with people from all different skill levels to form a succinct coercive outcome, and how to manage a group of individuals towards a greater good (us winning of course ha.)

Here the amazing results,

Anyways hope you enjoyed that little shpeal.

Signing out,
Oz

Citizenship

Hello everyone,

For today's topic, I'll be covering citizenship. Well, to start off I have never really thought about what it means to be a good citizen. I would say that one always grows up believing a good citizen is someone who  acts in accordance with any kind of law. Whether it be your city's, parent's, or neighbor's law, as a kid that is what you grow up following ( or not following ). If you abide by these "rules" then you are seen as a good citizen of your city.

I would say that as people grow older, its not just about following rules. I would say a majority of people I know follow these rules, but I wouldn't consider them a great citizen. On the contrary, I would consider them, as one brother so eloquently put it, leeches. To "just live" in a town or city that gives its citizens so many benefits, well thats just parasitic in theory and practice. Now I do understand that American society  is based around an individualistic nature and that anything you can get for free is considered great on a  benefit to cost analysis. However, I believe in order to be an outstanding citizen you have to be active in helping your community

Another topic of consideration is how broad the term citizenship is to be applied. One can be a model citizen their family but not to their city, to their city and not their state, and to their state but not their country. All of these different communities have different requirements for citizenship. So when we are discussing what it means to be a model citizen, one has to consider the broad spectrum that the word can be applied to.

All of these things also go into how you act as a citizen. In the book it discusses that one must be empathetic in nature in ore to be a good citizen. To be able to understand others situations. Not just being openminded, but actually relate to others. This for me is probably the most difficult. Most people, especially growing up in the sheltered suburbs, cant relate to those in dire situations. But, as a model citizen that is what we are "called" to do.

On top of all of this, the last bit of citizenship I believe applies is not just being active yourself, but getting others to be active in your community as well. This shows how citizenship applies to being a leader. No matter how much you do in your community, if you can get others to join your plight you must be doing it in passionate way. This to me is key.

Anyways, I believe all of these different factors go into citizenship and define what it means to be a good citizen.

Loggin off,
Chris