“snitches get stitches”

In an online article titled Hazing Accusations Against a Sorority,  a New York Times author, Tamar Lewin describes two separate situations in which the same sorority is punished for hazining across the nation. In both situations women of Sigma Gamma Rho were accused of hazing using paddles. In one case, a pledge at Rutgers University reported having been hit over 200 times over a span of seven days. After going to the hospital for treatment of multiple welts and bruises six memebers of the sorority were arrested and charged with aggravated hazing. In another case at San Jose State, a young woman filed a law suit which claimed that she and other pledges had been hit multiple times with wooden paddles and spoons and were pushed against a wall and told that "snithces get stitches."  One memeber of SGR reasoned that the hazing was supposed to be "so you could feel what your ancestors went through in slavery, so you will respect what you came from." Four of the sorority members have been sentenced to 90 days in county jail and two years of probation and have been barred from any further involvement in the sorority. The sorority was also suspended for eight years from the college.

It's certainly scary to think that hazing really does happen today and that there are cases across the country that are so real and so damaging to the female pledges involved. Having had such a rewarding new member period myself, I could never imagine in a million years having to deal with either physical or emotional hazing. Reading this story was quite upsetting. It also reminds me however of how lucky I am to be part of my sorority with such great girls surrounding me and looking out for me. Reading this article has definitely inspired me be more alert and cautious of any hazing that may occur here at The Ohio State University. Although it's a potentially tricky situation dealing with minimizing hazing in other sororities and frateritites on campus, I can most definitly start within my own chapter to publicize the negative effects and results of hazing within our communitiy. I feel that awareness is the first jey step to stompin gout hazing.

Wandering far from home

Being in college, I have sadly witnessed my fair share of drunken messes walking up and down high street or various other streets off campus. Heck, there are even girls and boys in my dorm who come back drunk out of their minds after a long night. Am I a bystander for not helping them home or helping them get back to their dorm rooms safely? I don't know. Maybe that is my responsibility, maybe it's not.
One particular situation that took place recently was at my sororities nacho night last week. My job was to stand in front of our house and let people know about our fundraiser. As our event came to a close, my sisters and I noticed a girl stumbling up the sidewalk towards us by herself. As she came up to us, I asked her if she was ok. She said yes, obviously she was fine (she was wasted out of her mind). Then she proceeded to ask where 12th avenue was. I pointed south because we were on 15th at the time and told her it was three blocks in the direction from which she just came. She begged to differ though. She was convinced that it was the way she was headed. After a few minutes of telling her otherwise she started going off about how she'd been walking this way for an hour and how she was going the wrong way all along. I knew she needed help getting back home and told her I'd walk her back but she insisted that she would be fine.
Later that night (and to this day, in fact), I wondered if she ever made it back ok or not. I still regret not walking her back and wish I would've gone with her or at least followed behind her until she made it back (is that creepy?!). All I know is that if I were in that type of situation, I surely hope someone would have the decency to help me home; and hope to God that it was a good person.
At the end of the day, it's in the past and there's nothing I can do about it now. I have learned from that situation however and know how the guilt of letting that girl wander off by herself to drunkenly find her way home has impacted me. I hope that next time I will be a better individual and peer and help someone who is so clearly in need.

When thinking about the meaning of the word oath, the first thing that comes to mind is the word promise. But when I look up the actual definition, I find that a more accurate description is "a formally affirmed statement or promise accepted as an equivalent of an appeal to a deity or to a revered person or thing (dictionary.com)."  Considering this statement, an oath is something to be taken much more seriously than a promise. Just as I took an oath to my religious faith through confirmation and to my sorority and its purposes in initiation, people take oaths everyday to the law in courtrooms. Does this mean that a courtroom is always a truthful and just place? Does this mean that individuals always stay true to their religious faith or their sorority/fraternity? Sadly, the answer is no. Why is this? Could it possibly be because others like myself consider oaths to be simple promises to someone or something. People make promises that they can't keep everyday, so is this where we stray? Is the line between our oath and something far less important beginning to fade? I think it's time that we reconsider and refocus our attention back on our initiations and what we vowed to stand for and be from that day forward for the good of our sorority/fraternity and our sisters/brothers.

citizenship within the fraternity/sorority community

Being a younger member in my sorority and a new addition to the sorority/fraternity community, I don't think that I've seen as many displayed acts of citizenship as the next person. Don't get me wrong, I've made many attempts to be a more involved member of this community. I've attended a number of roundtables, and have participated in other sorority and fraternity's philanthropy events. I have also gone to fraternal futures and something of value and have simply been active within my chapter. I believe that everything that I've done so far are signs of a successful future in sorority and fraternity life. Going off of this, I feel that I have displayed a fair amount of citizenship by working to be active within the community as a whole as well as in my chapter. Citizenship within fraternal life, to me, means being involved to the best of an individuals ability. Whether that involvement is limited to one's chapter or broadened to the general community, taking initiative says something for an individual.
On a larger scope, Alpha Gamma Delta, along with many other sororities and fraternities, take many initiatives to become more involved on campus and within the Columbus community. Through our many service and philanthrophy events and efforts we are showing our overwhelming support for area charities as well as national ones. I feel that although this is one of the largest ways that the Ohio State fraternal community shows citizenship, there are many other examples as well. Our support as a community for each other as well as our individual involvement in various other orgs and initiatives on campus are indeed a tremendous display of citizenship.

Class Assignment

I really enjoyed doing the interactive class assignment last week. It was interesting to see each person's reaction to the project as our group made calls or interviewed individuals face-to-face. Having that kind of opportunity to so closely compare the creeds and values of each sorority or fraternity on campus was quite interesting. For the most part, each group had very similar values and concentrations within their house. Even still. each sorority and fraternity on the campus of OSU is very unique, having their own values, focuses and goals. Being aware of our similarities but most importantly our differnces is what will allow us to make the most of our experiences here. This assignment was certainly a good start to helping us as members of this very greek community to work on being more interactive and encourage us to start working more closely together.

You & Starbucks: It's bigger than coffee

Being on a college campus, I have noticed the popularity of starbucks coffee more than ever before. Whether on the oval or in my 8:30am math lecture, I see their product everywhere. Fortunately, I am able to notice more than just a venti cup of coffee. Starbucks serves more than espresso and coffee cake; they serve an ehtical, local and global community. When visiting their website, http://www.starbucks.com/, one may mistake the popular coffee chain for a community service campaign. (Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining!) The first thing that a person sees centered on their website are words such as "volunteer" and "community" in large, bold print. The company claims that together the customer and Starbucks are "bigger than coffee." It's inspiring and quite refreshing to see that a company of this size is working to send a greater message in today's economy. Although this has become a common theme amoung a handful of companies today, it's nice to see Starbucks taking such a personal approach. They work to encourage the public to become more involved citizens by volunteering in their community and have made a larger effort to ensure that their products are natural and environmentally friendly. Starbucks advertises their message in their stores, online and even on their products so that their customers and ultimately the general public are able to see the efforts that they are making to increase the human experience. Service in the local and global community is most definitely the major organizational value that Starbucks is working to promote.

What are your personal core values, and what do they mean to you?

Very fitting to this week's blog assignment, I just got out of a values based leadership conference called Something of Value through PHA. Starting off this morning I was half excited to be getting more involved but half dreading the fact that I was probably going to be hearing the same old information that's said at every other conference. To my surprise, I had a very positive and enlightening experience. The opening speaker started off the morning by reading aloud each sorority's mission. Hearing her read off all of them together like that really made me realize how similar each chapter really is. We all have a common goal of standing for something greater than ourselves and working to uphold respectable values. Shortly after, we listed off values that we each strive to possess such as honesty, respect, responsibility, accountability and positivity. Many of these values were ones that I share in and work to uphold in my daily life. It was very enlightening to know that I not only share common values with my sisters but with other women within PHA as well. We all have more in common than we may think!