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COMMENTARY FEBRUARY 10, 2006 - Page 8 Letters to the Editor , :~i~;~:;~~~~~l~i~~ACDQ tied "Drinking Clubs Flourish hospital, a luggage drive for view" that the real name of the in Fall," in which the author foster children, and every year group is CCG or Caring for APO Offers Thanks for Toys "exposes" new underground we go caroling at assisted Iiv- the Community Group. Did drinking groups found on ing homes. You can imagine he just decide to ignore this? To the McDaniel College Community: campus. In the article Rob our surprise, when not only We were not asked about any On behalf of the Alpha Epsilon Lambda Chapter of Alpha Goeke names Chi Chi Gamma are we a "drinking club," but alleged alcohol activities, nor Phi Omega, we would like to extend our wannest thanks to as one of these new under- we supposedly do not partid- about alleged hazing. We do all of the students and faculty who donated a toy or cash to ground drinking groups. As a pate in community service not have big drinking parties our Toys For Tots Drive on December 7, 2005. With your "member" of Chi Chi Gamma either. and we do not haze. We don't generous help, we collected 151 toys and $140 to donate to I'd like to say that this infer- We are just five girl- even rush. the Frederick and Westminster Toys For Tots Program. You mation is entirely inaccurate friends who thought would be How Rob inferred are an asset to our community and after this year's success as we are not a drinking funny to convert the letters of from his interview that we are we hope to collect even more toys for next year's holiday organization, underground or our organization into Greek a dangerous underground season. otherwise. and that we are letters-therefore, Caring for drinking organization that is deeply upset at the way this the Community Group- detrimental to the school rep' Sincerely, article maligns our reputa- CCG-becomes Chi Chi utation, [ do not know, but [ Katie Saris tiona. We are, in reality, five Gamma. It's just an inside sincerely hope that this was President, Alpha Phi Omega friends who met freshman joke. We're sorry if writing simply a case of irresponsible year and have come really our letters on the field-some- journalism and not a case of close over the years. In our thing we thought showed libel. We do understand that Don't Forget to Proof Data Too sophomore year, we formed school spirit-and, yes, maybe the McDaniel Free Press is a To Whom it May Concern: an affinity Caring for the a little bit a fun on the behalf learning environment and it is Community Group so we of real Greek organizations- better that he made this mis- Call me a math nerd, call me bored. Call me someone who could live in the same suite. caused all of this commotion, take in college; maybe if he is regularly interprets data. Amanda Rose is quoted in the but we had no idea that there informed of his error and the Iwas checking out the final issue of the fall semester's Free article stating that these were other "Greek" possible consequences of such Press last night and Icame upon the graph entitled Westminster underground drinking groups organizations of a more sinis- an error, in the future he will Gas Prices. Fascinating data at first glance, but then I thought "do none of the community ter nature doing the same be sure to get all the facts wait a minute what is being compared (jill Stone compiled the service that actual Greek thing. We certainly didn't before writing an article. data and Emily Biondo created it graphically)? Something is organizations do and they know that we would get The allegations in this missing. It is easy to see the range of gas prices between Sheetz, provide nothing positive to lumped in with these groups article are serious and the WaWa, etc. However is this compared from one issue of the the College." Caring for the in a newspaper article read by manner in which Chi Chi Free Press to the current issue? Is it comparing regular gas to Community Group is a service the entire campus. If Rob Gamma was mentioned could high test? (that's easy - if that is the intent, the data is wrong!). organization on campus and Goeke had mentioned the real lead to future problems with In short, at present, this is an example of a graph that needs though we have not increased topic of his article during his the administration-problems Hxtn'. I actually often use such graphs (with missing OT inap- the members of out: organiza- interview and asked some we do not deserve. Rob ...£!'.£Q£iatedat~.,as problems for students (elementary and mid- lion (organizing events for direct questions, we would Goeke did not just a11ege that dle scfiOOi)to exam me and fix. more than just the five of us have had no problem telling we were an underground As a 30-year faculty member who lives in the world of math- would be a nightmare ...ir's him the same things that are drinking group, he named us ematics education, this will be a topic/ problem for my first class hard enough with just five dif- mentioned in this letter. as one, and that is not accept- in the Spring in my course on the Teaching of Elementary ferent schedules) we have vol- When he called, he able. We as "CCG," better School Mathematics. Teachers, of course, help to prepare their unteered around Maryland made no mention of the true known as CCG or Caring for students to create and interpret data. and have represented nature of his article and, the Community Group, would Thanks for your continuing work for McDaniel. I always McDaniel College in a very instead, we were led to believe deeply appreciate a retraction read the Free positive manner. Some of the it was simply on different and maybe even an apology Press and look forward to your slant on things. And, I might activities we have participated school organizations. What I for the way our group was suggest that just as paragraphs need proofing, data sets demand in are a walk-end-Roll-athon find appalling is that when he represented in the article-on the same careful editing. All the best. . for SMA (Spinal Muscular did ask whether we had any a small campus, news like this Atrophy), ZooBoo and the traditions he was given the could be highly detrimental to Francis (Skip) Fennell Chinese New Year celebration answer, "We go caroling at old our reputations. Professor of Education at the Baltimore Zoo, The folks homes every Christmas" Sincerely, and McDaniel Jubilee, and Relay and yet he still lumped us in Dixie Clough President-Elect