Newsroom: (541) 346-5511
Room 300, Erb Memorial Union
PO. Box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403
E-mail: editor@dailyemerald.com
Online Edition:
www.dailyemerald.com
Thursday, May 30,2002
Editor in Chief:
Jessica Blanchard
Managing Editor:
Jeremy Lang
Editorial Editor:
Julie Lauderbaugh
Assistant Editorial Editor:
Jacquelyn Lewis
Point/Counterpoint
Shaken but not stirred: Frats go dry
Decision improves living conditions
Guest Commentary
Anne
Leavitt
Ihe University’s greek chapters have his
torically been a good residential choice
JL for University students who would like
to live in a well-appointed house near cam
pus as a member of a social or fraternal organi
zation. In recent years, the quality and vitality
of these living organizations has declined.
Membership, resources and image have suf
fered. An emphasis on alcohol consumption
has replaced legacies of community service
and leadership in some chapter houses. High
risk behaviors accompanying this “partying”
have resulted in increased citations for con
duct code and ordinance violations.
The behavior of a few chapters is hurting
the reputation of all. Some chapters have
closed their doors. Others are struggling to im
prove their image, repair their facilities and
recruit new “live-in” members. Some have
elected to become alcohol and illegal-drug
free as a way to strengthen and reinvigorate
their chapters. These chapters are beginning
to focus again on offering opportunities for
fraternity, leadership, philanthropy, scholar
ship and an attractive living environment.
National research indicates that alcohol
free living organizations are cleaner, safer,
and provide a better study environment.
There seems to be less risk of hazing in
chapters where alcohol is not permitted in
the facility. There’s reduced peer pressure
to drink, less property damage and less risk
of being the defendant of a lawsuit. Nation
ally, 20 percent of today’s college fraternity
men are in alcohol-free housing organiza
tions and more than 30 colleges and univer
sities have asked greek chapters to keep al
cohol out of their facilities. These chapters
are reporting improved public image and
community relations. Alumni and parents
seem more willing to support and make fi
nancial contributions toward the house.
Grade point averages for residents of “dry”
chapter houses are going up; the chapters
and their members report that they are earn
ing more awards and receiving more posi
tive community recognition.
Concerns about the decline in member
ship and in the quality and quantity of chap
ter houses have prompted University Presi
dent Dave Frohnmayer to request that
University’s greek chapters renew their em
phasis on the beliefs upon which they were
originally founded. The president’s an
nouncement that next fall the University will
endorse and support only those chapters
whose houses are substance free does not
“take alcohol away” from members. The or
ganizations can still hold events with alcohol
at different locations, where those who are at
least 21 years of age may choose to drink.
The new expectation won’t eliminate col
lege-age drinking, nor will it solve the chal
lenges of reducing high-risk behaviors that
often accompany illegal or excessive alcohol
consumption. The new endorsement stan
dard does “level the playing field” in that it
expects all affiliated chapter houses, not just
the 14 who have currently elected to be alco
hol-free, to maintain living facilities in which
alcohol and illegal drugs are not present.
With a large number of students expected
at the University next fall and in the future,
the University urgently needs additional
group living facilities that offer students the
opportunity for more than just safe, afford
able housing. University’s alcohol-free greek
chapters will be a welcome addition to the
residence halls as alternative group-living
organizations suitable for incoming stu
dents. As homes that will offer a healthier
environment for living, studying and learn
ing, these chapters will hopefully be an ideal
location for students to live while pursuing
their undergraduate studies in Eugene.
Anne Leavitt is the associate vice president
for student affairs and dean of students.
Ban will aggravate alcohol problem
Staff Commentary
Jacquelyn
Lewis
I’m not involved with the greek system,
but I realize the effects of University
President Dave Frohnmayer’s decision to
implement alcohol-free housing for fraterni
ties and sororities will extend far beyond
greek houses. The ramifications of this mis
guided decision will negatively affect both
students and community members.
The new standards for greek houses,
which will go into effect this fall for all fra
ternities and sororities that receive school
services, were approved by Frohnmayer on
May 17. Among these is the controversial
new rule requiring chapters to have alco
hol- and illegal drug-free housing.
While Frohnmayer claims the new regu
lations are necessary to “fix” the greek sys
tem’s social policy ills and reduce reckless
underage drinking in fraternity houses,
they only appear beneficial to the greek
system and the University. The alcohol ban
will merely serve to gloss over existing
problems and even create new ones.
Are supporters of the ban really naive
enough to believe this will alleviate under
age drinking and related behavior in frater
nity houses? Perhaps they lack the fore
sight to see that larger parties will simply
move off campus, triggering a fresh flood of
problems, including public intoxication
and drunk driving. Instead of keeping alco
hol consumption inside the fraternity
houses, we introduce it into the communi
ty and put more people in danger.
It is common knowledge that the more
you tell someone — especially a young
person — not to do a certain thing, the
more he or she wants to do it. The alco
hol ban will likely do the opposite of
what it’s meant to, especially since
Frohnmayer didn’t involve students in
his decision at all. With the new ban, fra
ternity houses will play host to covert
back-room parties where the drinking is
even more “outrageous” than before. It’s
doubtful the administration will be able
to enforce its new rule, unless it plans on
performing extensive daily searches of
every greek house.
Besides the possible difficulties of en
forcing the alcohol ban and other new reg
ulations, there is also the problem of how
to implement the new rules in the first
place. The administration simply sent In
terfraternity and Panhellenic leaders let
ters notifying them of the changes and
deadlines for written agreements, but so far
it hasn’t provided any guidelines to put the
standards into action. It seems strange that
administrators would be so involved in the
decision-making process but not in the ac
tual implementation of the regulations.
Aside from all the other issues surround
ing the ban, the administration’s sudden
concern for greek chapters’ sobriety seems
strange since the “problem” has existed for
years. The system has traditionally been
host to parties where alcohol is present, so
why push for stricter regulations now?
Most college students, in the greek system
or not, attend the occasional party, and a
few students — gasp! —- even become in
toxicated once in a while. No rule or regu
lation is going to stop this from happening.
Consuming alcohol is not necessarily
dangerous or immoral. The problem does
not lie with students drinking alcohol; it’s
about the few who do it irresponsibly. This
is not to say the greek system isn’t notori
ous for catering to these individuals, but
perhaps more programs on consuming al
cohol responsibly would be a better alter
native to administrators slapping down a
list of “no-nos.”
E-mail assistant editorial editor Jacquelyn Lewis
at jacquelynlewis@dailyemerald.com. Her opinions
do not necessarily reflect those of the Emerald.
Letter to the editor
Citizens can not give up
privacy rights
America is under attack, but
you can forget about Osama bin
Laden this time. The real terror
ists are the fascists in the Bush
administration. The video that
was presented on Thursday in
Willamette Hall, entitled “The
Truth and Lies of 9-11,” gave sub
stantial evidence that demon
strates President George W. Bush
knew beforehand of the horrify
ing attacks on the World Trade
Center and the Pentagon and did
nothing to help prevent them.
The U.S. government has since
been engaged in a propaganda
campaign to elicit blind support
from Americans for the “War on
Terrorism,” which is much more
than dismantling al-Qaida.
Indeed, there is much more to 9
11 than is presented in the mass
media. To begin, a vast amount of
oil reserves exist in South Asia
surrounding Afghanistan, and the
United States has had an interest
in obtaining control of these re
serves; it is now very convenient
that we have a “reason” to attack
the area, but where’s bin Laden? In
addition to this war, a different
kind of war is being waged here in
America. It is the attack on our civ
il liberties. Our constitution is be
ing eaten away with the pretext of
national security and patriotism.
Here’s my message in this let
ter: We need to start a revolution.
This may sound like a stretch,
but the revolution I propose is
simply an all-out effort to organ
ize people to fight for our rights
as citizens and change from being
apathetic to being active. Spread
the word.
Victor Wold
sophomore
sociology
Letters to the Editor
and Guest Commentaries Policy
Letters to the editor and guest commentaries are encouraged. Letters are limited
to 250 words and guest commentaries to 550 words. Please include contact
information. The Emerafd reserves the right to editfor space, grammar and style.
A