Back In Action: Hello Oneonta and a Preview of Recruitment Week!

You may be wondering why I am up so late. In the Aiello/Kavarnos house, we have experienced many wonderful changes. On Christmas Eve, my baby brother Luke was born. He's adorable, however lately he hasn't been dealing well with jaundice. Jaundice is a condition where your liver isn't functioning properly and your skin has a yellowish tint. It was to be expected because my other brothers and I all had jaundice when we were infants but Luke hasn't been taking to it well. He was hospitalized for two days and then released before New Year's. However, we went to take him for a check-up and the doctor was concerned because his skin still was tinted yellow and we had to go to the hospital for a blood test and his levels were somewhat high, but not drastic enough for him to be hospitalized again. Yesterday afternoon, we had his blood tested and it looks as if everything is going to be alright. And of course, with a newborn brings crying and wake ups throughout the night and the house never seems to settle haha. So I'm up and I realized: hey, I haven't updated this in a while!

Some people ask me, how do I see myself in my baby brothers' lives? My parents are divorced, and they got remarried to other people. From my parents' marriage I have two brothers, Raymond (19) and Michael (15). From my dad and stepmom, I have two brothers, Daniel (4) and Mark (19 months). And finally from my mom and my stepdad, I have two brothers, Ethan (21 months) and of course, Luke. Yep, I'm the oldest. And yes, I have always wanted a sister....but it looks like that will never happen. And I also hate the word "half-brother." Regardless of the parentage- they are my brothers and I will always be there for them. Sometimes the age difference gets tough on me, I am missing so much of their lives and I do get homesick for them. But my parents are great about putting pictures online and putting videos on YouTube. But I have to accept that I have to live my life for me. One day, they'll understand why it had to be this way.

So yeah- has anyone seen the weather that we're in for once classes start? I know that I am not looking forward to walking in Arctic-type wind. I'm glad that the snowstorm happened yesterday instead of the window when everyone arrives back to campus.

But with a new semester comes Recruitment Week! For those who are confused, Rush and Recruitment are the same thing, however the Inter-Greek Council prefers using the word "recruitment" because "rush" has negative connotations. From now until the end of this post, I will navigate through Oneonta Greek Life.

First things first, one may wonder what is the difference between recognized Greek Life and unrecognized Greek Life. I know I have written about this before, but I feel that it's important to bring it up again, especially to those unfamiliar with Oneonta Greek Life. At SUNY Oneonta, there are 6 recognized sororities with 1 seeking recognition and 3 recognized fraternities. These orgs are:

Sororities
-Sigma Gamma Phi aka Arethusa
-Pi Delta Chi aka PiChi
-Sigma Sigma Sigma aka TriSig
-Phi Sigma Sigma aka PhiSig
-Sigma Delta Tau aka SDT or SigDelt
-Mu Sigma Upsilon aka MSU
-Chi Upsilon Sigma aka Cus is seeking recognition from the college

Fraternities
-Chi Phi
-Phi Kappa Psi aka PhiPsi
-Phi Beta Sigma

The big, and obvious difference between Recognized and Unrecognized is that some orgs are recognized by the college and some are not. To me, I believe that Recognized Greek Life has so much to offer to Oneonta students. First thing is first: One must have a 2.5 GPA or above to participate in Recongized Recruitment. Starting in Fall 2009, all members of Recognized Greek Life must have a 2.5 GPA or above. If a brother or a sister does not have the required GPA, they will be inactive through the school and will not be able to participate fully with their org so they can focus on their schoolwork. Because of these strict scholastic guidelines, I really believe that Recognized Greek Life has students' scholastic interests at heart. Also, if you have above a 3.2 GPA, you will be invited to join the Order of Omega Greek National Honor Society.

Recognized Organizations also participate heavily in Community Service. At least every week out of the month, a Recognized Greek Organization is helping their community out. My sorority plays bingo at Robynwood Nursing Home every week, Phi Sig held a Kidney Walk, PiChi held a Charity Denim Event, Chi Phi always hosts Blood Drives, Tri Sig does a Rocking for Robbie concert, Phi Beta Sigma hosted a Night Out for the Homeless, MSU hosted a "Wear Blue" event benefiting Ovarian Cancer, SDT supports the Prevent Child Abuse charity, and Phi Psi does Bowl-a-thons benefiting a Philanthropy, and that is only the tip of the iceberg. We always participate in Relay for Life, Habitat for Humanity, and there is an upcoming Greek 5k for Charity! As a former community service chair for my sorority, I can truly say that Comm Service is what I love most about Greek Life and I'm so glad that we place such an emphasis on giving back.

Also, you can always count on putting the fact that you were involved in a recognized fraternity or sorority on your resume. In this economy, it is so important that you have something extra to make you stand out from the crowd, and placing your fraternity or sorority involvement is a great way to do that, especially if you held an executive board position. For example, I don't know how much it mattered on my Phonathon application, but I'm sure putting down that I was the Public Relations Chair for my sorority definately helped my application. If I was in a unrecognized organization, I wouldn't be able to list that because employers trace back to see if the Greek Org was recognized or unrecognized, and usually they will trash applications from applicants who list their involvement in an unrecognized org on a resume. And honestly- your involvement can help you out in the most unexpected ways in the workplace. At Phonathon, occasionally I will find out that an Oneonta alumna used to be in my sorority and I love getting though phone calls and finding out what Sigma Gamma Phi used to be in the past.

Also, Recognized Greek Life participates in great campus programs like LEAD and many programs are LEAD certified, so who knows, you can walk out with LEAD honors when you graduate because you participate in Greek Life! And Greek Week is so much fun, we get to do the Greek Olympics (I got to participate in the Pie Eating Contest and DizzyBat...but we won't go there haha), Greek Talent Show, and we had a great Greek Banquet.

Also- the most important thing is that recognized Greek Life adheres to a 100% no hazing policy. You have full confidence that if anyone reports a hazing case to Angie Eichler pertaining to recognized Greek Life, the matter will be investigated immediately and the group will be charged with a Class D or E felony, and will get stripped of their recognition. I can look you in the eye and tell you that I earned my letters without being hazed physically or mentally. I know what the pain is like, when I was at Hartwick, one of my best friends was hazed and one day she was crying to me because they kept her out at all hours of the night and her grades were slipping and I knew that I was never going to let that happen to me, which is a big reason why I went recognized.

Another question is what's the difference between local and national? Oneonta has two local recognized Greek orgs: my sorority, Sigma Gamma Phi, and Pi Delta Chi. Everyone else is a National Organization which means that they have chapters nationwide and report to a national headquarters. Local orgs don't have a national office and they can either only have one chapter, such as PiChi, or have regional chapters, like Sigma Gamma Phi. We have chapters in SUNY Potsdam, SUNY Fredonia, and SUNY Geneseo. As one who is interested in recruitment, you may ask yourself: do I want to be in a sorority that only has one chapter, a few regional chapters, or many chapters across the country? To me, I don't feel like I missed out on the sorority experience by not being in a national organization. My sorority meets up with our other chapters and even though I LOVE my sisters in Potsdam (I still smile from the memories of our reunion), what really matters is how well you fit in with the chapter you're interested in joining, and in the end, I didn't focus on what was national and what was local, I focused on if I could really see these girls having my back in the end. Also, local orgs tend to have lower dues than nationals.

Which brings me to another point. If you have read this blog, you know that I am very concerned with the economy. It is true that joining a fraternity or sorority costs money. One misunderstanding is that "we pay to have our friends." That is ridiculous. Because fraternities and sororities are selective organizations we are not able to receive money for the SA for our budgets. Because of that, we have to pay dues. My dues go to sister retreat events, recruitment shirts, new member education materials, community service budget, social event budget, recruitement events budget, our savings account, alumni weekend budget, to the Inter Greek Council budget, and so much more. For those worried about not being able to afford a sorority or fraternity: do not worry. I know for my sorority, we have payment plans. There is no shame to have a payment plan, for as long as I've been in the sorority, I've been on a payment plan. I'm pretty sure other fraternities and sororities have that option as well, especially during these times. Talk the matter over with the treasurer of the org you want to join, and they will give you the truth about the dues.

Also- joining a recognized, greek org will not take over your life. I am busier as the training director of WONY than I am with my sorority. Not because we don't have a ton of events, it's just that my office hours and Phonathon tend to conflict with a lot of them. If you can't make an event because of work, another club, or homework, your potential sisters will understand. In fact, I'm so busy with WONY that I had to step down as a Greek Peer Advocate for this semester. You can choose how involved you want to be.

Finally, before I post the schedule of recruitment events- if you are interested in recruitment, come into it with an open mind and an open heart. Don't worry about not fitting into the typical sorority stereotype...trust me, I am FAR from that and people have a hard time believing that I'm a sorority sister because I don't fit the stereotype. Have fun, and most importantly, find the girls (or guys) that you can really see having your back. Honestly- I don't regret it. I can't imagine what life would be like without being in a sorority. Because without it, I wouldn't have met my some of my best friends. On my radio show, my co-host Chris O'Dea is my sorority sister. Sometimes our sorority advisor, Christine Edwards, phones in during our show and it's always hilarious when she does. (shameless plug: Listen to Indie, Sex, and Rock n Roll on Mondays from 1opm to Midnight on WONY 90.9FM or listen to us via webcast on http://organizations.oneonta.edu/WONY/) I would encourage going to Meet the Greeks, but if you feel rushed timewise during it, I don't blame you. I will tell you right now that I'm more of a one on one person and I hate talking in a noisy Hunt Ballroom. Personally, I enjoy going to Sorority Round Robins and Philanthropy Night because I feel that I can really get a chance to talk to the girls in a quiet room. I really hope to meet you, if you've been reading this blog, and prepare for a fun week =D

IGC Recruitment Events:
Wednesday, Jan. 14th: Meet the Greeks, Hunt Ballroom, 4PM
Saturday, Jan 17th: Sorority Round Robins, Hunt Union, 2PM (my favorite event!)
Monday, Jan 19th: Fraternity Poker, Hunt Union, 8PM (just in case guys read this blog)
Tuesday, Jan 20th: Philanthropy Night, Hunt Union, 8PM (my other favorite event!)
Wednesday, Jan 21st: Sorority Preference Night and Fraternity Informationals, Hunt Union, 8PM (this is invitation only)
Friday, Jan 23rd: BID DAY!!!!! (the BEST day you will ever have!) Hunt Union, around 4PM


keep it real!

1...2...3...Don't Cut SUNY!

As my body temperature is slowly returning back to normal, I am getting ready to go outside again to try to rally students to contact their legislators and Governor Paterson that SUNY cannot take another hit.

You may be wondering what I am talking about. I planned a rally on campus for students to voice their opposition against the SUNY tuition increase. Although I understand that tuition must increase somehow, I do not see why we must increase tuition next semester by approximately $500. The Student Assembly, comprised of SUNY students all across the state, voiced their opinion on the issue and said that if tuition is to be raised, then we should raise it according to the Higher Education Price Index scale....and if we did that the figure would be around $80. I don't understand why the Governor and the SUNY presidents inflated the figure, but according to HEPI, if we all paid around $80 next semester, the school would be just fine.

Take your pick. Those who work to pay to school- would you rather shell out $80 or $500 extra next semester. Those whose parents have been scrimping and saving just so they can put you through school- what figure do you think they would rather pay? And for those of you on financial aid (myself included), I'm pretty sure you are wondering if you will be receiving the same aid next semester.

It is IMPORTANT to raise your voice. Although it is your choice to participate in government or not, this is something that affects us all, and if you are like the students who said to me that they're not interested in writing to the Governor or Legislature to show their opposition to these absurd increases...I don't have anything to say. If we all participated in showing our opposition against this- we could make a difference.

It's time to go outside again. I'm not stopping until 11:30AM. As much as I would love to stay out all day and bring a voice to my fellow students, unfortunately I have a doctor's appointment after this.

SUNY Admissions and the Economic Situation

One thing I have noticed in many major and local newspapers is that they have been reporting about how SUNYs have been forced to become more selective because of the current economic situation. So many students of many different academic backgrounds are applying to SUNYs, and respectively, the schools will accept the best of the best. I know for a fact that if I was to apply to Oneonta now with my high school grades...I don't even know if I would have got in. Of course, this is great for our school system, we have many talented people coming over to our schools...

however, it's scary when you don't know if you're the one who will make the cut. Applying to grad school isn't that far away for me. You may recall in an earlier post of mine that I was planning to go to law school...I still don't know if I want to or not. So I'm looking at MPA (Master of Public Administration) programs, and for a long time, I have been eyeing SUNY Albany's program because it is one of the best programs in the country and last year when I called up the Admissions office, they assured me that as long as I had 3.2 and a good score on the GREs, I should be fine...

When I went to the graduate fair this year and visited their table, they told me that their median GPA for the program is a 3.6. My jaw dropped when I heard that, how could they increase their selectivity so fast? And then I remembered the phrase "it's the economy, stupid."

Now even though I do consider myself to be a good student, what worries me is that I'm going to be competing against people who are applying with 4.0s and of course they'll take those people over me. To me, there isn't a better situation that studying for my MPA in Albany. It's the state capital, one really can't ask for more connections and exciting internships in that city. I know that so far, it looks like I should be good for Binghamton because they accept 3.2 as a median GPA but still...I know that the MPA experience in Binghamton would never amount to the experience I would have if I was accepted at Albany.

Ohh you have to love these little dilemmas.

Protests, LEAD, Juicy Campus, Unrecognized Orgs, and the whole shebang

I'm pretty sure you all are aware of the campus protest on Tuesday, and I still can't get over how proud I am of the campus stepping up and conducting the counter-protest. I applaud Robin Nussbaum for making the counter-protest such a success because I know that with all of the confusion, her guidance was needed. If you don't know who Robin Nussbaum is, she is the LEAD coordinator and I believe she is also the head of the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center. She is a really nice person and is always there if you need to talk about anything.

However, a lot of people have said that this is probably the last time that they'll see a protest in Oneonta, and I have to say they are wrong. Before the protest in the quad, my friends and I were already making plans to hold a protest on November 18th to show Governor Paterson that he cannot make anymore cuts to the SUNY budget. Over the past year I have been involved in a facebook group called "Don't Hold SUNY's Money Hostage" and I have to say that Chelle Carr and Jackie Agostino are doing a wonderful job at spreading awareness about the cuts to the students, but the thing is, students on campus aren't taking the initiative to educate the campus about what is happening.

Here's the deal: Governor Paterson is going to cut more money out of the state budget on November 18th from 10AM-11AM. It is unclear whether or not he will cut the SUNY budget, but we have to show that the students care about their campus enough that they will not tolerate anymore cuts to the SUNY budget. You should care about this because not only will tuition rise, it will be harder to attract new faculty to the campus if the campus cannot provide positions and a good salary to them. Current faculty may not be able to retire when they would like to if we are cut again. It will be harder to renovate buildings to keep us on the cutting edge and it will be harder to attract an intelligent student body, clubs, as well as the Inter-Greek Council, will lose more money to name a few vague reasons. If you want to talk about it more in detail with me, comment and we'll talk. I'm planning to hold it at 9:20 on November 18th in the quad because the facebook group is organizing a Fax Blitz, in which students will send faxes from their computers (you do not need a fax machine to participate) and tell Paterson to not cut money from the budget. And I hope you all realize that this doesn't only affect SUNY Oneonta, it affects EVERY SUNY in the system. Seniors, I highly encourage you to take action, especially if you are planning to attend a SUNY graduate school. I will post more information, as well as how to participate in the fax blitz as the days get closer.

Another cool thing about recognized Greek Life is that we also encourage you to participate in the LEAD program. The LEAD program fosters leadership on campus, it encourages participation in clubs and it also brings great programs to campus. The LEAD program is broken into three pyramids and the way to complete a pyramid is to participate in clubs, become an e-board member of a club, and attend the fantastic programs and workshops. If you complete a LEAD pyramid, the school recognizes you for it and you could put that recognition on your resume. A lot of the Greek Peer Advocate programs are LEAD-certified. To find out more information about the LEAD program, visit http://lead.oneonta.edu

However, the latest talk on campus is that Oneonta has a JuicyCampus website. I personally wish we never got one because there is nothing on the page but slander about students. I think that you are a coward if you just gossip on a website. If you feel so comfortable about gossiping on an anonymous website, I would love to see you say the slander to that person's face. I also feel that the website is dangerous because there are A LOT of posts about Greek Life....however looking through the posts, the majority of the Greek Life posts are about unrecognized organizations. I think it's dangerous because people who are interested in joining a fraternity or sorority could see these posts and base Greek Life on it, when they don't know that these posts aren't talking about recognized orgs.

If I had it my way- I personally would love to see the school completely ban unrecognized Greek organizations and I know other schools have done it. I do not believe unrecognized organizations benefit campus life at all- in fact they are the reason why Greek Life gets such a bad rep. I was sitting in a professor's office this semester, and one of the kids from my class comes in, all dressed in a certain color and he is holding onto an object, with the unrecognized organization's letters branded on it, for dear life. My professor, who was part of a recognized fraternity when he was in undergrad, asked if someone is telling him to hold that object. And the kid said yes. Later the kid and I were talking and he was wondering if he'd ever make it through the process and I felt bad for him because he was obviously getting hazed. Why does the school let this go on? These students in unrecognized organizations can never put the fact that they were involved in these orgs on their resume. What's the use of being an e-board member of an unrecognized organization if you can never put it down on your resume? These unrecognized orgs can never reserve a room on campus to conduct any type of activity. The unrecognized orgs, to my knowledge, cannot access your grades and tell you that maybe its best that you become inactive for a semester to focus on your schoolwork. They can never set up a table in the quad. They cannot make any connections with faculty and staff through their organizations and no reputable philanthropy would ever have their name affiliated with an unrecognized organization. Also, unrecognized organizations completely bring down the school. I remember when I was at Hartwick, pledges of an unrecognized organization couldn't take the hazing anymore and reported the organization to the police in 2006. Hartwick faced so much negative press because of it and the story was even mentioned in the NY Post and on NBC4 in NYC. In the summer of 2006, because of what happened to that unrecognized organization, Hartwick was considering banning Greek Life all together so the school would never have to face the negative press ever again. Thankfully, Hartwick decided not to take any action on recognized Greek Life. So what's the point? I don't see any point to it. And to anyone interested in Greek Life, I really hope that you don't see any point to unrecognized Greek Life.