Page 26 - Phoenix1999-2000

Thursday, October 21, 1999 - Page 2 NEWS The future of the Greek The Race for RAINN . system Continued/rom page J have the mentality that the smaller their orga- MAUSSA MORIN At the end of September Knight mailed vertise the race across Maryland, Pennsyl- StaffWrjrer nization, the better," said Betsy Chimock, 45 letters to all major campus organizations vania, Virginia and the District of Colum- Greek adviser. "Unfortunately this type of notifying them of the race and requesting bia, and continue to seek volunteers. At WMC, students are.given the unique thinking hinders recruitment." volunteers. So far, Phi Sigma Sigma, Phi Knight, who hopes the race will continue opportunity to join a Greek organization. Recruiting new members is a problem that Kappa Sigma, and the Women's Issues to grow each year she is at WMC, has a posi- In recent years the number of students who many organizations face each semester. Group have volunteered their services. tive outlook on her first endeavor. actually pledge 'a fraternity or sorority has National Greek organizations usually have Presently, Knight and volunteers are in "Even if we only raise $500," she said, decreased. more support and direction than local chap- the process of designing the race day t-shirts "that's still $500 that they didn't have be- This trend has been seen at many col- ters because of their national headquarters. and pamphlets and finalizing the letters fore." leges across the nation. And at WMC, the This fall, the two organizations that re- which will be sent to major corporations re- numbers show that it has taken its toll on cruited the most new members were Alpha questing donations. Registration/or the Race/or RAINN is many Greek organizations. Nu Omega, which recruited II new members, Over the next seven months, they will $JOuntilApril I, $15 after.Tovolunteer con- For example, from fall 1996 to date, Al- and Phi Kappa Sigma, which recruited five work to secure both monetary donations and tact Stephanie Knight. pha Nu Omega sorority's chapter total new members. the donation of food and other products for Weekly meetings are held Tuesdays at dropped from 46 to 20 active members. Phi All other Greek organizations recruited at use the day of the race, register runners, ad- 9:30 pm in Daniel MacLea. Delta Theta fraternity's chapter total least two new members. dropped from 32 to 14 active members. ''This campus has the potential to be 40 to The Phoenix would like to amend a story in an article entitled "Mark There are four sororities and five frater- 50 percent Greek," said Chimock. "But this nities on campus. potential is hindered because there are chap- Honeycutt takes over WMC's Writing Center" in the September 30 The sororities are Alpha Nu Omega, Phi ters that don't do much to get their name edition. Honeycutt played in the Peach Bowl, not the Rose Bowl. Alpha Mu, Phi Mu, and Phi Sigma Sigma. known." The fraternities are Alpha Gamma Tau, But Chimock admits that this semester Gamma Beta Chi, Phi Delta Theta, Phi more than previous ones, different chapters Kappa Sigma, and Sigma Phi Epsilon. are planning programs to get their names ~~E FLCI.& Currently, with a student population of spread around campus. almost 1,500 students, WMChas 189 Greek For example, Phi Kappa Sigma, Phi Mu, students, about 13 percent. and Phi Sigl!!_a Sigma are all sponsoring an ~ ~O During the spring semester of 1999, event during the upcoming Alcohol Aware- there were 226 Greeks. ness Week scheduled for October 17-23. c:» The spring semester usually sees a larger Chimock also cited one example of all the WHEN: October 2"- and 2S lIro ~ number of new members because second sororities eatinglunch together in Glar every WHERE: Ensor Lounge semester freshmen are allowed to join a fra- other week to help create unity and spread ternity or sorority. their names. TIME: 11 a_OJ. - 1 p.Ol- The number of Greeks in the spring se- "The more [the organization's] name is mester of 1999 increased by IS members WHO: All students and Faculty from the fall semester of 1998. "On this campus, some organizations Continued on page 4 COST: $4.50 NOTTHEFLV Students question .. Continued from page J around the stadium since the prospects of rade," said Jeremiah Kelly, the junior class ing the flatbeds would be an inconvenience. progress of the road work. He said that the having a homecoming parade were slim. president. "Not having parade would disap- "It was ajudgment call on my part," he said. work was to continue despite the parade "At first they understood," said Rytter, point the Alumni a lot," said Kelly. Concerning the tractors, Rytter referred route, but he holds that as of July, the pa- "but the next thing I knew there's a parade Although the SGA members understood to a problem at last year's parade. rade would have been inhibited, accord- happening." Rytter to have vetoed the homecoming parade, Citing an accident which involved a trac- ing to information he received from the Apparently, members of the SGA were Rytter believes there may have been a misun- tor, a flatbed, and an antique car, Rytter ex- town. not satisfied and refused to abandon the idea derstanding. "I never said 'you're not having plained that Finch's. as of December, was Ethan Seidel, vice-president of Admin- of a traditional homecoming parade. a parade this year," he said. hesitant to lend the $50,000 tractors to WMC istration and Finance, also looked into the SGA executives began looking into Ryner also felt that it was unfair of the again. road permit affair via the State Highway ways to get around the obstacles presented SGA to "go behind [his] back" without keep-- He also noted that no one seems to know Administration and found that plans to re- to them, said the SGA members. ing him informed of their actions, since he who was involved in the accident and that construct main street were to start in Au- "Somehow we were going to have a was so directly concerned. Alumni Affairs was not even aware of the gust, and that originally, the road work parade," said Matt Berger, junior class rep- "From a personal level, I would have liked accident until Finch's called two months af- would have "tom up" the road around the resentative, saying that the school has lost them to have come up and talked to me about ter the parade asking what the college was time of homecoming. a lot of its traditions in years past. what they were doing," he said. going to do about the damaged tractor. "[We're] concerned about having a Problems arose when SGA members When questioned about the misinforma- Although the office asked organizations, good homecoming," said Ryttcr, who ex- began looking into Ryner's reasons for of- tion Rytter had given the SGAconcerning the including the SGA, for help in paying for plained Alumni Affairs' plans for central- fering parade substitutes to the SGA. When college's inability to acquire flatbeds, he th; damage, Alumni Affairs, with some help izing the homecoming activities. Mike Blundin, vice-president of the SGA, claimed to have spoken to the owner of from Dean of Student Affairs Phil Sayre, paid Changing the parade to a banner com- called Baugher's, he found that there were Baugher's, Margorie Baugher. for the tractor, said Rytter. petition around the field was another way no problems in getting the flatbeds, and He called her "apprehensive" about giv- Keith Gosuch, Finch's Agriculture Ser- to bring the homecoming events into one Baugher's would donate them as usual. ing the flatbeds to WMC because of some vices Manager, confirmed the company's main area, said Rytter. It also appeared to the SGA members damage done to one flatbed last year and be- hesitance in giving the tractors to WMC as And although Ryner said that the idea that Finch's would have no problems in cause the pumpkin harvest would complicate of December, but the company was not dis- was not the best viable option, he said that loaning WMC the tractors, said the SGA Baugher's annual contribution. couraged enough to stop donating the trac- he went to the SGA in the beginning of members. However, an employee who wishes only tors. the semester for more creative ideas. More questions arose when Bergerap- to go by Scott, told The Phoenix that there As for the road permit situation, misin- According to Ryner, Alumni Affairs plied to city hall for a road permit to have had never been any plans to deny WMC the formation among county and state road de- has been as active as possible in planning the parade. flatbeds and that the pumpkin harvest would partments seems to have complicated plan- the parade. Katrina Tucker, an employee at city not prevent Baugher's from giving WMC the ning the parade. He also noted that time constraints hin- hall, told him that minor utility work would equipment. Supposedly, road workers, who will be dered the office's involvement in the pa- be happening around the time of Both Margorie and her husband Alan, who working on Saturday because they are be- rade. homecoming, but it was not serious enough works with her, have told The Phoenix that hind schedule, will try to keep traffic and "I feel like we did all we could to put to stop the parade from happening, said they have never had any plans to deny WMC other utility related problems that might in- this thing together," said Ryner. Berger. the flatbeds. terfere with the parade under control, but Currently, a student-run homecoming Because of these inconsistencies, the Rytter said that he understood that WMC there are bound to be complications, said parade is planned for the Saturday, Octo- SGA began to doubt Alumni Affairs' devo- could obtain the flatbeds, but he also said that Rytter. ber 23, at noon. The parade will include tion to the project. the owner had insinuated that the donation Rytter claims to have called the on-sight floats from campus organizations, includ- "Somebody doesn't want to have a pa- would be difficult. Rytterdecided that acquir- supervisor two weeks ago to check up on the ing the homecoming court.