Student Organization

This meeting that I'm writing about iswhere the entire Greek community at Carolina met in order to hear several speakers and representatives of the IFC. This meeting did take place many weeks ago but I found it quite interesting and something that many would like to hear about. The theme of organization of the Greeks and IFC was hazing. Hazing for anyone that doesn't know ia where somone is abused verbally, physically, and emotionally by another person in order to gain respect or entry into some group, typically a fraternity or maybe a sports team. In the meetings two vidoes were shown. The first one was about a young man that was forced to consume massive amounts of liqour before it could come home. Once he was brought back to the fraternity house he passed out and people preceded to write and draw all over him. After he hadn't woken up for hours and it was noticed that he wasn't breathing and the paramedics were called. In the time before the ambulance got their, the fraternity brothers tried to erase the markings on his body to save their skin. He eventually died. The second video described a young man who was a freshmen at MIT trying to fit in. He went to a party with some people and drank a large amount of alcohol after never having any for his entire life. He basically just wanted to fit in so he drank but soon he passed out and the others dismissed it and laid him on a couch with no supervision. Eventually he died on that couch and the boys that supplied alcohol and held the party were sued for a million dollars and kicked out of school. These two stories really hit me and several others about the severe consequences of fraternity life and hazing.

The meeting hopefully helped the Greeks took take lessons from the videos and the admonition from the IFC. Hazing is certainly a practice that is out the door. No longer can students be abused so severely because it can kill their grades, social life, and even take away a life. Hazing can be performed in other sense in that Greeks must hve their pledges learn the history of their fraternities and do less severe acts like maybe just driving and cleaning. The speakers all taught us these new ideas for pledges. This meeting too taught how fragile human life can be and that everyone needs to always be on alert at parties or when alcohol is involved. A death destroys one life but also a family's, friends', and those that are responsible. The speakers did well in teaching and informing that hazing cannot continue to be so severe and dangerous. Things in Greek life and even any party night must be dealt with more carefullyand responsibly.

My Autobiography

I from where I consider the deep south. I from Greenville, North Carolina where East Carolina University is located. Although my hometown is quite southern, it is nothing like Kinston, North Carolina where I attended high school. I travelled a total of one hour there every week day. At my high school, the guys competed in how cool each one's trucks were or who had the loudest exhaust. Although I wasn't quite the same as the other guys I went to school with I still consider myself quite southern. I have been joked numerous times for deep southern accent. I'm one of people that really enjoys a simple day whether it be fishing or hanging with some friends. Every Saturday or Sunday I'll be tailgating or watching football. Being from the South to my life has revolved around sports. I played both basketball and football and as a young kid I played baseball. Although I loved sports it still seemed as though you had to play sports to be socially accepted. But besides the basics, the concept of my southern past, ancestors , and Confederate relations also help to show my southern side. Being from the South, family life is important. My family and I always ate dinner together and did activities together. Even though I am completly against my relatives for fighting to keep African Americans in chains, I still support and remember what they did. They are family in not just blood but a southern sense. If I had been alive during that time i cannot argue that I would have certainly fought for the Confederacy. And that all comes down to the fact that in the South you have your family's and friends' backs. You put yourself second in my opinion when it comes to Southeren living. I dont't agree with the Conderate fight to have kept slavery, but I do support their past beliefs fight against a governement that was telling them how to live. My southern nature comes out in both the little things, like having a love for big trucks, and the bigs things, like remembering fallen Confederate soldiers and the hardship the South endured after the Civil War.

Response to Confederates in the Attic

The article was incredibly interesting to me, especially being from the south and not knowing just how extreme some people still are about the Confederacy and Civil War. I found it quite admirable just how dedicated these southerners were to honoring and remembering their fallen family members. I also found it interesting that all of these white southerners were unified in their response about why we fought the Civil War, which was not to uphold the unjust practice of slavery but to fight a government that was attempting to dictate the South's way of life. They were and still angry about the government telling them how to live their lives when they had no concept of what the South was like and what it was all about. i found it quite interesting too the points about how the South has received a raw deal since the Civil War and the fact that the South lost so much more in the Civil War than the North, which is completely true in my opinion. I was firmly in support of these notions. Yet at times these dedicated southerners seemed to obsessive. Yes, the Civil War and Southern style of living is and always will be extremely important but the war is over and has been time for years now for us to grow and expand of it. Things had to change and they did and still people cling to past in my opinion to avoid dealing with their own present problems. When the trip was made in the article to the Martin Luther King Jr. celebration, I discovered just how conflicted we are in the South still to this day. I believe it is right to remember and even glorify our Confederate leaders and troops. Yet we cannot be offensive and disrespect others. African-Americans should be discriminated when they see statues of men that fought against their freedom. They shouldn't be reminded of the terrible past their ancestors had. White southerners need to accept Appomattox as the end of the Confederacy and the Civil War, yet still remembering and honoring one's family must always be done yet it must be done so in a discrete manner. I'm sorry to believe though that there will always be a debate concerning this issue because both sides are right. Finding the balance between the two feelings will be near impossible yet it would be greatly beneficial.

Observation # Away from the Nightlife

I my last observations took place at both the Granville Towers cafeteria and the basketball court at Woolen Gym. At the cafeteria I went with my pledge brothers only. Yes, we did all sit together but that didn't stop some our friends from our suites and back home from eating with us. This to me shows that certainly fratenity guys do hang out mostly with their brothers but they do limit it to just them. Also in my opinion I really see little difference with a fraternity guys hanging out together just like a close group of friends would do. In the cafeteria no one really sat alone, therefore everyone does have their own exclusive groups but most just like my fraternity brothers don't just limit their social connections to an inner group. The second observations took place at the basketball court. Yes, again I went with just my fraternity brothers but once we got there we met up with several other random guys who we played with. We made several new friends. We mixed up teams and pretty much let everyone play with each other as long as teams were fair. We all had a fun time, joked together, got a little mad when we messed up, and got real tired all together. So what I am getting at is that just because some one is a Greek or not doesn't mean they're not similar. People especially those in a fraternity are inclined to meet new people because in the end isn't that what the purpose of a fraternity is, which is to meet new people and friends when you get to college. Behavior between the non-Greeks and Greeks at both the court and the cafeteria seemed nearly the same by fact that they all associated together and that every person has their own characteristics apart from everyone else. A fraternity is no different than a close group of friends not a group of men molded into the same person as the common belief is.

Observation #12 Greek life at the Bar

I was able to do some observing both Thursday night and Friday afternoon on Greek life. For first time I observed the fraternity guys from a view that was one where I wasn't an employee but instead just a another member of the group. Unfortunately neither of the two days the turnout was not outstanding so I was limited in how much I could see but i did notice a few things. One thing that I gathered was that the fraternity guys did certainly hang out with a wide range of people but at variuos point they would always make a poin to gather and meet back up with their fraternity brothers. They would always come together and leave together. In more depth I listened in on some conversations. It was mostly talk about the upcoming brackets and NCAA tournament. Some was about cocktails and events to come later in the semester. Similar phrases and jokes were said by members of the corresponding fraternities. I would say some and relate some but many wouldn't be approriate or make sense to the reader. Dress was of course similar but that in my opinion has little to do with Greek life. The Greeks also seemed to be the center of the party, they knew the most people and were the most social. At times some were well-behaved other times they were the ones on tables or chunking a bottle against the road. I want to observe a fraternity this weekend late a night to make better judgement concerning my hypothesis reagarding Greek life affecting the behavior and social life of poeple.

Observation #1 At the bar

Tuesday night I observed the people that walked into the bar at Pantana Bob's. It was one of the busiest nights I've ever worked there not to mention it was St. Patrick's day so everyone was a little more loud, rowdy, and excited than usual. I did fairly well though to monitor the actions and ways of the fraternity and sorority girls that I've met or know of. To be honest most would think a fraternity guy would be the loudest and most wild but I found this to be very untrue. The fraternity guys acted in good measure early. The rudest ones at the door were all ones I wasn't familar and by looking at them i didn't believe they were part of a fraternity. As the night when on the Greeks changed their manners a little. I caught one I know dancing on the tables which although funny I had to get him down. Then while outside one of my closer friends threw a bottle across the street making a mess and causing a minor commotion. Besides some yelling or foul language ( the regular for many who go to the bar), the fraternity guys kept it quite in check. In regards to my hypothesis though I noitced a lot. My hypothesis is that Greeks, in particular fraternity guys, all seem to have similar mannerisms, personalities, and styles. I found this to true in some cases and false in others. The fraternity guys I saw wore the polo shrits and sperrys but honestly just about everyone in Chapel Hill dresses like that now. The fraternity ones atitudes varied greatly. Some I saw would come and talk to me and ask how I was. They were polite and nice. Others would barely say hey and just stick their arms out for a wrist band as if they had some entitlement or something. Basically some but certainly not all fraternity guys are arrogant and most to a degree have some cockiness. But at the end of the day are they really different overall. The only real thing that fraternity guys seemed to have a in common that night was that they were all Greek besides that they demonstrated different characteristics.

Hypothesis 2.2

Fraternities are some of most exclusive groups that can found around a college campus. These fraternities are consisted of groups of brothers from all over the state and country that in their time at school become a tightly-knit group. All at some point will live with each other at the fraternity house. During the nights, these ones expose just how exclusive a fraternity can be. They all hang out mainly in their small groups and the sororities commonly associated with them. Most of this takes place without these brothers even knowing that they are residing in their own small community somewhat apart from the rest of the world. As one would expect too, these members or brothers spend so much time together that they begin to imitate one another. They begin to act their others in the fraternity until the house as a whole develops a unified or common lifestyle, personality, and attitude. This belief can supported best by observing the nightlife of these people at the bars.
I work at a bar, Pantana Bobs, every Tuesday and Friday night. Also I am a member of the fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta at UNC-Chapel Hill. By both being apart and observing the nightlife in college, I’ve noticed several parallels and regularities in Greek fraternity life. Certain fraternities will go to certain bars and at certain times of the night. Members of a specific fraternity will act and behave in comparable ways at bars whether it is the way they talk, how carefree they are, how violent they can be, how rude they can be, how playful they are, and in several other ways. Don’t be misled though that these common characteristics of these people are always negative. Besides this point, fraternities are a vital part of campus life and are partly responsible for molding young people into the adults they will be for the rest of their lives. My hypothesis is that fraternity members interact in exclusive groups and therefore behave similarly compared to their brothers in their daily lifestyles specifically in the nightlife setting at bars.

Disruptive #1

For my disruptive a space observation I choose to apply to my job from my first observation. Every tuesday and friday nights I see tons of underage students just like me trying to get into the bar and also several more that actually are of age. But this blog is about disrupting both over and underage ones. To disrupt this space I took my regular postion at the door outside with one of my friends Steven who was working with me. When someone would come regradless whether we thought they were of age or not we would pass the id back and forth between each other making facial expressions that seemed to show our disapproval with the id. Most of the time we would just do this with ones that we figured were of the age of 21. It was crazy how so offended some people got. They found it ridiculous to even have to show their id let alone once we began having a little fun with it some got quite angry. For some that reacted like this we sent them off. Ones that had fakes seemed to get the madest and defensive in attempts I guess to furhter sell us on the fact that they were of the age. Besides passing the id along the line of doormen we would ask for cover charge when their wasn't one just to see what happened. Quickly though we would tell them there wasnt. Other things we did was jokingly quiz them on their ids. Are u a donor? Whats your complete address at home? Yeah all this seems like it would be part of the job and at times it is, but by acting in a manner that seemed as if we didnt believe them or not or even pulling practical pranks it invoked some crazy responses and made the night a lot better.