Blogger Blooper

This week Derek Fox, from Interactive Multi-Media 3683, forgot to find a story for his blogger account.

Having forgot that he needs both a credible story and credible sources he decided that he would try to find a loop-hole in the system to avoid failing completely.

This lack of a story can lead to a serious impact on his grades should he continue the current trend.

"I was looking at Facebook in between studying for my Advertising Research exam and I saw someone's status that said they were writing their blog. It wasn't until then did I realize that it was 10 p.m. on Sunday night, and I had forgot all about writing on my blog," advertising sophomore, Derek Fox said.

This was obviously a last ditch effort on Fox's account. An event like this is very unlikely to occur in the future, however it seems apparent that Fox knows what the "First Five Graphs" are, and can use them effectively.

Local Eatery Gives Back to the Community

JJ's Pizza, at the intersection of Lindsey St. and College Ave. was the home for the first annual JJ's Jam and Boxing Benefit. This benefit raised money for the Children's Miracle Network while providing an opportunity for the community to come out and enjoy.

Saturday May 2, at the corner of Lindsey St. and College Ave., J.J.'s Pizza Stop set forth its first annual boxing tournament to raise funds for the Children's Miracle Network.

The benefit was scheduled as an all day with center-ring boxing matches, courtesy of Conan's Gym, scheduled throughout. However with the heavy overcast and cool winds, the crowds were not all too forth coming.

"Honestly, we put this all together to get the word out about J.J.'s. Originally we were going to donate all of the proceeds to the Bob Stoops Foundation, but because of the boxing ring, Stoops did not want to be involved. All of the proceeds ended up going to the Children's Miracle Network," said Joshua Hinkle, event coordinator.

The Children’s Miracle Network is a non-profit organization that raises funds for more than 170 children’s hospitals around the world. According to their website, donations to Children’s Miracle Network from events such as this fund the medical care, research and education that saves and improves the lives of 17 million children each year.

The heavy misting and 50 degree temperatures were the most obvious causes of the near empty donation buckets, but talks of continuing the event in future years was talked about optimistically by Hinkle.

The event featured Norman-local bands Resident Funk and The Gunship. Also, the National Guard had promised to set up a rock climbing wall and human gyro.

"[The National Guard] never showed up because of the rain," Hinkle said, “It would have been too much of a liability and hastle.”

Along with the festivities, there were drink specials, pizza, burgers, gyros, hot wings and t-shirts for sale, provided by J.J.'s Pizza Stop.

"I have been friends with Jim Brooks (the owner of J.J.'s) for several years. I worked there during my freshman and sophomore year of college, and whenever he has a big event, like game days or boxing bashes he asks me to come and help out. I always do too, because it is fun and a great way to make some extra cash," Hinkle said.

Scott Allen, a J.J.'s Pizza employee took care of contacting the city and filing for the permit. The city of Norman supplied all of the roadblocks, as well as scheduled the Cleveland County Sheriff to make a stop by to make sure all activities were legal and safe.

"If I could change anything about the Boxing Bash it would be the weather, but I would also like to use a different company for the boxing ring. They were very unprofessional, and late. The ring was supposed to be assembled by noon, and it was not completed until 3:30 p.m.," Hinkle said.

As the event was scheduled to at noon, and the boxing ring had yet to set up at that time, Hinkle had to rely on quick thinking to find a solution. With help of the some of the neighboring Lambda Chi Alphas and a few other visitors, the ring was picked up and assembled without a hitch.

"I was offered community service hours by one of my pledge brothers, and free beer if I helped out," said Michael Peery, meteorology sophomore, “I had to go pick up the boxing ring, load it up, bring it to JJ's, and then put it all together. It was more difficult and took longer to do than I thought it would. I would definitely help out again next year though because the profits really do go to a good cause."

Above: Here a few still frames of Owen Hartley and Joey Griffith during their match.

Admission into the boxing tournament was the highest source of donations, at $25 per entry. However, each contestant received a free mudguard.

“As soon as I signed up I ran home an found one of my old athletic cups and put it on,” Owen Hartley, economics junior.

Below: Here is Owen Hartley's personal account of his match during the first annual JJ's Jam and Boxing Benefit.

"I thought that the boxing ring was the best attraction. Simply because after the boxing was finished, everybody left. The bands were a nice addition, but they should have played in a different order. If the weather would have cooperated this event would have had a much better turn out," Hinkle said.

In total there were five matches, consisting of three, three-minute rounds. While Hinkle says that he would have liked more matches, he admits that for a first annual event, this Boxing Bash was a hit.

"The last fight that I stayed for were two of my friends from the army. They were both drunk; during their match, one was wearing cowboy boots and the other wasn't wearing any shoes," said John Green, military studies junior.

Aside from the drink specials that allowed for some rambunctious matches, the event overall proved to provide great time for the some 100 visitors.

"I had a really good time there. It wasn't too crowded, but there were enough people that it didn't seem lame. The band was obnoxiously loud, but the pizza was [really] awesome," Green said.

Above: Owen Hartley boxes against Joey Griffith in the 190 lbs. weight class. There were a total of five boxing matches throughout the day.

Super Six

The Campus Activities Council is moving to prevent the formation of a group who has come to be known as "The Super 6" in homecoming 2009.

The group is a merger of several different fraternities and sororities including Phi Gamma Delta, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Phi Delta Theta, Delta Gamma, Kappa Alpha Theta and Pi Beta Phi.

The Greek bodies originally were teaming up as one group to enter homecoming where they boycott building a float and using the money that would be spent on the float to host a philanthropy.

"It is nothing against CAC or anything like that," said Dan McCarthy, president of Phi Delta Theta. "We just want to use the money to benefit people rather than building a float that you just throw away the next day after months of work."

11th Annual Table Carving

This past Monday, April 6 leaders from across campus gathered in the Clarke-Anderson room of the Memorial Union in both celebration of OU leadership and in commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the Oklahoma Memorial Union.

This meeting kicked off a week long process to memorialize the names of the many leaders on OU's campus by carving them into a wooden table that will be placed in the Clarke-Anderson wing of the Union.

Stemming from a tradition that was started in 1999, now invites the presidents, chairs and captains of many campus organizations and athletic teams to "make their mark" on the university.

"When I first came to be President here at the University of Oklahoma most students didn't even know the chant. Since then I have started the tradition a singing the chant at all university events. Now we look on to continue this tradition as well as the countless others that make OU stand apart," said President David L. Boren.

And the end of the week the table will be stained and varnished to preserved the table for the next century. Over the next 100 years, it is planned for the room to be filled with these annual leadership tables.

President Trophy Winners

Friday April 3, in the Mary and Howard Lester Wing of the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, the annual Presidents Trophy awards were given out among the 13 fraternity, 14 sorority and 7 housing center applicants.

These are awards are given out to commemorate the hard work of each group, as well as gives bragging rites especially for the Greek houses.

Sooner Housing won overall in the University Housing group; the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity won overall in the fraternity division; and the Alpha Gamma Delta sorority won overall in the sorority division.

"When I heard that AGD won I looked over to see what the Theta's reaction was. I was actually surprised: I thought they would be mad that they didn't win, but they seemed really happy to hear that the AGDs won," said Tom Hanks, marketing and communications senior.

Additional recognition awards were given out to group of each division in the areas of Academics, Volunteerism, Multicultural and Campus Activities.

Below: The President's Trophy is presented to the most outstanding Housing Center, Fraternity and Sorority each year.

Above: A member of IFC reads the new proposal to amend the current scholarship section of the IFC constitution.

IFC Member and Scholars Update

At the IFC Congress meeting this past week a new amendment to the the IFC constitution was presented by IFC executive council on behalf of the Vice President of Member Education. This amendment would place greater emphasis on fraternities to focus on grades and scholastic pursuits.

More specifically this new proposition states that any member fraternity that does not maintain at least a chapter semester GPA of 2.5 shall be placed under scholastic probation. This probation would include a revocation of voting rights for the semester following the grade violation and any other stipulations or sanctions as determined by the Interfraternal Judicial Board.

Additionally, this amendment would require chapters would failed to meet a chapter semester GPA of 2.75 to have its scholarship chairman meet with the IFC Vice President of Member Education to discuss reformation of the chapter's scholarship program.

"Statistically guys in fraternities do better in their GPAs than guys who aren't in a house. So we're trying to maintain that," said Yuwei Le, Vice President of Member Education.

The IFC constitution may be amended at the next IFC Congress meeting by a two-thirds majority vote of all member fraternities in good standing.

ATΩ to lease out Kappa Sigma house

This past Wednesday it was announced at the IFC president’s meeting that the Kappa Sigma fraternity would be leasing out its currently vacant house. 

Since then the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity has announced that it will be taking over that lease, and thus taking a spot among the rest of South Greek.

Even with the news of the house being leased released to the public, the current Alpha Tau Omega (ATO) president, James Benson has kept fairly quiet on the matter. 

"Obviously, the chapter's very excited about it and they are happy to be back with a physical presence on campus," said Michael Carter, Alpha Tau Omega Housing Corporation President.

While the contracts have yet to be signed and made official, the ATO's Housing Corporation is confident in the transaction.

In past years the ATOs have held their rush out of sorority houses, such as the Delta Gamma house as recently as this last spring rush.

With the addition of living in a substantial building, (even if it only for a limited time) ATO could see a big jump in the number men they sign this coming fall. Overall, this could potentially fortify ATO as a chapter among the rest of the Greek community, and as an organization at the University of Oklahoma.

“I’m excited for them. I’m friends with one in my Spanish class, and they seem like a bunch of really nice guys,” said Courtney Marino, university college freshman.

The fortune that the ATOs are finding however has been at the expense of the Kappa Sigma fraternity. Although, Kappa Sigma’s departure from the OU campus was a decision made by Kappa Sigma’s national headquarters, and neither the university nor IFC had any influence in the matter.

"I've been house mother for the Kappa Sigs for five years now, and I've really enjoyed it. It was really a surprise, and it was really hard on a lot of the guys," said Brenda Garde, Kappa Sigma house mother.

NewsOK reports that reason from the pulled charter was because “a computer used to make fake Texas driver’s licenses was seized in October 2005 from a member’s room at the Kappa Sigma house, 1100 College Ave. Thirty-six people turned over their fake IDs during an amnesty period.”

By whatever means it happened, this negative event has become a very positive event for the ATOs. Even the Garde thinks that though this is a sad time for the Kappa Sigma house, she knows that there are many positive aspects of this transaction.

"I met about 20 of [the ATOs] when they came and had a tour of the place. They reminded me a lot of the Kappa Sigs, but then fraternity guys are a lot alike I think. But they seem like really great guys," said Garde.

Once the ATOs already called South Greek home, in what is now the Alpha Omicron Pi sorority house, at 1411 Elm Avenue. For whatever reason that Kappa Sigma is now off campus, ATO is certainly benefiting. However, it is a wonder why ATO has not gone on ahead and built their own house.

“Some time last semester I read a story in the Daily that said that Norman passed a law that prevented any more Greek houses from being built,” said Nikkole Zwolenik, public relations sophomore.

According to the city of Norman zoning ordinance, there is some legitimacy to this claim of housing regulation. There is a restriction that has been part of the zoning ordinance since 1954 that was issued to deal with complaints generally revolving around traffic, noise, and parking.

Under the “three unrelated person ordinance,” no more than three people of varying last names can reside in a single-family dwelling. This includes three unrelated persons living together in a quasi-unit quarter.

“I asked my friend who’s a FIJI if that would effect anything with them because they’re rebuilding their house, but apparently it doesn’t. I thought that was why ATO hadn’t built their own house yet,” said Zwolenik.

The city of Norman defines a quasi-unit quarter as a unit of dwelling space that shares common living and kitchen facilities (similar to a fraternity house). However, this specifically excludes sorority or fraternity houses. Fraternity and sorority houses are classified as R-3 residential units, which are exempt from this ordinance.

Whether or not the ATOs build their own house or not, for the next two to five years they will have a secure spot amid the rest of the quickly growing Greek community. 

The ATOs will take over the full lease June 1 and will move in at the beginning of the next fall semester.

Above: Alpha Tau Omega's Housing Corporation President, Michael Carter comments on ATOs current leasing status. Featured is the Kappa Sigma house in which the ATOs will be leasing out for the next couple of years.

IFC Scholarship Program Revised

During fraternity rush it is promoted that men in fraternities statistically fare better overall GPAs than those who choose not to rush. To ensure that houses are maintaing this status quo, IFC's Vice President of Membership Education, Yuwei Le, is revamping the current scholars program.

Currently there are two fraternity houses (Phi Kappa Psi and Phi Kappa Sigma) who are below a 2.5 house-average GPA. This facelift is to ensure that all 17 of OU's fraternity houses meet this 2.5 expectation.

"Guys who are active in their fraternities have a lot to do, but we do better because we are in a house. Most houses have study hours, and require minimum GPAs to stay members," Le said.

With more attention focused on student's grades this year, come fall rush IFC may truly be able to say that everyone of the fraternity houses on campus actively excel in the one area every student at OU is here for: school.

Above: IFC Vice President of Membership Education, Yuwei Le, describes a little of what his position will entail for the coming year.

Suspensions Made Legal by Judicial Board

This week it was announced that IFC's Judicial Board has added a suspension clause to the IFC by-laws. This clause will give more power to IFC's Judicial Board as a general body, over the University's fraternity system as a whole.

The clause will specifically restrict offending houses from participating in rush, intramurals and hosting or participating in social events including, but not limited to: date parties, social mixers, Homecoming, U-Sing, and Scandals.

"I don't like how much control this gives IFC. The way I see it, this could be a door for IFC to become very political," Joe Gerba, electrical engineering junior, said.

Currently, the Judicial Board is still considering adding expulsion proceedings to further establish IFC regulation over individual houses. These measures are being enacted as a means of unifying the fraternal system as a body with IFC at the head, rather than just a random collection of parts.

Above: Owen Hartley, economics and supply chain management junior, explains his concern for the new changes in IFC's judicial control.

Sounds Slides

Changes to Summer Rush Worries Some

This past Wednesday a meeting was held in the Henderson-Tolson Building to determine the future of fraternity rush. This results of this meeting had the potential to change the way fraternity summer rush is done as a whole, and could greatly affect the numbers of guys that sign to each house.

At the top of the agenda for this meeting was to decide whether or not rushees should be allowed to sign bid cards with houses during the summer if they signed up on the IFC rosters prior to June 1.

"Many of the larger and smaller houses were for this decision. However some houses were afraid that early signing could hurt fall rush numbers," IFC Advisor, Kevin Estep said.

To put this change into effect IFC would require 12 out of the 17 fraternity house's rush chairmen to vote in favor of the decision, but in the end this proposition failed.

Additionally, in a meeting held the week prior, a proposition to move fraternity rush up to the first week of school in the fall, and another proposition to begin looking into rushee/house preferences passed, and was confirmed by IFC Congress.

Guests sit, chat and enjoy chile cheese fries at the Alpha Phi sorority house. Thursday, February 26, during their second annual philanthropy, Fries with Phi.

Helping Hearts with Chile Fries

The Alpha Phi sorority celebrated their second annual philanthropy, Fries with Phi Thursday, February 26. The proceeds generated from this event benefitted the Alpha Phi Foundation in partnership with Cardiac Care.

What might seem like a counterintuitive idea - serving greasy french fries in support of cardiac care - has actually proved profitable for the Alpha Phi sorority.

"We were expecting a really big turn out, and we hired a DJ. We haven't totaled up our final profits yet, but I think we had somewhere around 500 people come out," Alpha Phi philanthropy Chair, Amy Keathley said.

Keathley chose not to be recorded, however here is one Fries with Phi guest's opinion:

The IFC Chief Justice has chosen his Associate Justices. Now it is their job to uphold the rules and regulations of IFC.

IFC chooses Associate Justices

Buzz Becker, Christopher Frantze, Ben Graves, Jonathan Nation, Scott Plaster, Eric Smith and Will Webb were recently chosen to be new Associate Justices for the Inter Fraternal Council's Judicial Board. These seven men will assist IFC Chief Justice, Kyle Watson, in all judicial cases regarding the welfare of OU's fraternity houses.

The list of men were chosen from 12 highly qualified applicants by the IFC Executive Board.

"I was thoroughly pleased with not just the number, but also the quality of applicants," Watson said, "This was a very difficult decision for myself and the Executive Board."

Now with their positions, these men will be required to discuss issues facing fraternities as well as interpret the constitution, rules and regulations for clarification to fraternities.

Tom Hanks, member of the Inter Fraternal system, sits reading the Oklahoma Daily. Come one month from now he may be readingt the new IFC Newsletter.

IFC Newsletter hopes to change Greek perceptions

At this week's Inter Fraternal Council congress meeting, plans were released regarding intentions to create an IFC specific newsletter. The reason behind the creation of the newsletter is to promote the many highlights of the Fraternity system, and to usurp the all too numerous negative connotations of "Frats."

The newsletter will feature updates from individual fraternity houses, intramural standings, news from IFC executive members, and even promotions for events - including those for Panhellenic, National Panhellenic, and the Muticultural Greek Council.

"I think this newsletter has a lot of potential to really change the way people look at IFC, and maybe even all of Greek life overall," Kevin Estep, IFC Advisor said.

Currently, IFC is looking for volunteers from the various fraternity houses to help write stories, take pictures and put together this monthly publication.

During the Inter Fraternal Council's official signing, rushees watch a brief video about the dangers of alcohol within the Greek system.

Spring Rush

Fraternities across University of Oklahoma's campus have just gone through spring formal rush. Out of an original 75 rushees, 40 men have now signed with IFC, and added themselves to OU's already 22 percent undergrad Greek Life (as stated in the 2009 Princeton Review).

Spring rush for most houses is often a time when they can sign those freshmen students who chose to wait a semester before signing with house, or for students found out that the house they originally signed with in the fall was just not the best fit for them.

The Inter Fraternal Council's (IFC) Vice President of Recruitment, Michael Nash ran this semester's rush, along with IFC Advisor, Kevin Estep and others on the IFC Executive Council.

"I think it went really well for the spring. I didn't expect a huge turn out, but I our numbers were good," Michael Nash said.

Now Nash and the rest of IFC can start looking toward summer and fall rush seasons, to more effectively sign men into the best house for them.