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.

Breast Cancer Research Table in Mills!

Phi Psi and Sigma Gamma Phi will be tabling on the first floor of Mills and will be collecting donations to support Breast Cancer research on Wednesday and Thursday from 11-3. No matter if it's a penny or a dollar, we will appreciate any amount that you can donate!

One thing I have noticed in my three and a half years of college is that there is always a kid who texts during class, no matter where you go. I have to admit, I am not married to my cell phone in any way, shape or form, but what I can never understand is why people feel the need to text during class? It is so rude. You are basically insulting your professor's intelligence if you text in class. Would you dare text message a person in front of your boss? Would you do that in grad school? I don't think so. Is the world going to stop if you put your phone away for 50 minutes and focus on the class?

haha sorry about the rant, but I had to get that off of my chest.

Congratulations to the new sisters of Sigma Gamma Phi- Arethusa! ...and I'll talk about some more Greek Life myths

Last night, we welcomed Michelle, Ashley, Kat, and Christina into our sorority. I am so proud of them and I cannot wait to see what they will bring to our sorority as sisters. I was so happy to see them out in their letters today. I remember my first day having letters, and it was surreal. The feeling cannot be described. You just feel so welcomed and you know that you are involved in something special.

Today was our GPA program. I talked about GPA in one of my posts last month, but just in case you don't know, GPA stands for Greek Peer Advocate which puts on programs to educate Greek Life. Today, my GPA group and I held a program called "Shake Your Money Maker," where we talked about budgeting your money and health insurance. We gave each person fake money that was worth $60 and they had to budget it out between gas, rent, weekend entertainment, and food. At the end of the program we tallied up how much money the Greeks spent at each table and it was surprising to see that people spent over $1,000 at the weekend entertainment station and only $700some dollars at gas and rent. I also talked about health insurance because to those who are graduating, they have to start worrying about health coverage after college. Next week my group will be talking about Interviewing Skills for our GPA program.

Also- if you are eating lunch at Mills, keep an eye out for our breast cancer donation table that we are holding with Phi-Psi! We will be at Mills on Thursday from 11-3 and on Tuesday from 11-3.

I decided to bring out some truth about Greek Life myths. I have chosen my top three favorites...

1. People who join fraternity or sororities pay for their friends

That is absolutely false. Think of it this way- each SA club has a budget. Greek Life is not affiliated with the SA, so we require that each member pays dues in order to support their organization. Each organization budgets out the money their receive from their dues, for example, my dues go to the Community Service Budget, the Inter-Greek Council, the Social Budget, the Rush Budget, the New Member Educator Budget, the Vice-President's Budget, the Alumni Budget, and the President's Budget. If I did not have a budget that was supported by dues, I would not be able to buy supplies for my philanthropy events.
Also, my sorority and Pi Delta Chi are local organizations which means that we do not have national offices...which means our dues are significantly lower than the national organizations on campus because we do not have to pay dues to the national offices. As for my sorority, we offer payment plans (I currently have a payment plan), which makes paying dues easier.

2. If I join Greek Life, it will take over my life

That is absolutely false. Even though one can say that I do have a very active role in my sorority as the Community Service Chair, Parliamentarian, GPA, and Greek Blogger...believe it or not, being the training director of the radio station takes up more of my time than my sorority (approx 9 hours per week). Working at Phonathon takes up more of my time (6 hours per week) than my sorority. I have three sisters who are RAs in Curtis Hall. I have three sisters who are part of OSES. One of my sisters serves on Inter-Greek Council. I know some Greeks on campus who serve on the SA E-Board.

3. If I join a fraternity or sorority, I'm just going to party all the time

Absolutely not. We do have parties, however I also require my sisters to complete 14 hours of community service by the end of the semester. In order to be recruited by a sorority, you must have a GPA above 2.5. In order to stay active in a sorority, you must have a GPA above a 2.5. Recognized Greek Life is nothing like the stereotypes. So even though you get to have fun, you will also get involved in your community and get encouraged to stay on top of your schoolwork.

I also have to mention, Neil Diamond's new album "Home Before Dark" is excellent and I LOVE the new Of Montreal CD "Skeletal Lamping." Same thing goes with the new Senses Fail album and the new Jenny Lewis album...ahhh I love getting free music from WONY.

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.

She offered me her sleeve and told me to blow my nose into it...and I remember thinking "this is love"

You may be wondering where that title came from and what's the purpose of it. It's from Garden State, which is one of my favorite movies in the world. Anytime I watch it, I get so inspired because the message of the movie is to find something real. And I find that the quote I picked out defines the meaning of unconditional love/friendship.

Today marks the end of another break that went by wayyy too fast, and my sorority sister Michelle and I drove back to Oneonta together. Her mom drove to my hometown of Callicoon Center. Never heard of it? That's quite alright, people in Sullivan County, my home county, don't even know where Callicoon Center is. It's a hamlet that has 50 people in it, and when my family moved to the area, the "Children at Play" sign was put up just for us. There's nothing more that I love when I show my friends from college the tour of my town because it literally lasts two seconds because its so small.

I remember growing up that I used to resent growing up in Sullivan County...but ever since I left I have nothing but respect for it. Where I live, it's 20 minutes to get to a major chain supermarket, a half hour to get to a movie theater that plays more than just one movie screen(sorry to knock you Callicoon Theater, but Monticello always had more movies) and a hour to get to a major shopping mall. Once I tell people those facts, they wonder how I made it through life, and when I really think about what they're asking me...that stuff doesn't really matter. I met the most amazing friends there. I am so happy I can say that my friends from high school still have my back, and I'll always have theirs. Even though we did complain about not being near to a more metro area, we did the best that we could. We made Monticello or Honesdale Wal-Mart into a place where anything could be possible. You lived for Diner Nights at the Liberty Diner, even though all you really could afford was a cup of coffee. You felt invincible dancing in the streets while the Callicoon Center Band played and turned the town that has 50 people in it into an entertainment attraction. And nothing felt more liberating than running in a farmer's hay field and then scrambling to get out of there because you saw his truck coming and you were running towards your friend's minivan just so you guys could drive off and not get in trouble for trespassing haha. I probably won't come back to Sullivan County to live, especially if I go to Penn State. The job that I want isn't available in SC. The life I want isn't attainable in SC. I think that's the reason I appreciate home so much because I know that those days are gone and I should just be thankful I was lucky to experience my memories.

Michelle comes from a small town near New Paltz and even though we've known each other for a year, we talked about stuff that we never covered before and the whole trip just flew by. And that's why I'm so happy to be in the sorority because without it, I would have never met her. She lives in Human Ecology, I live in Fitzelle lol...we're both in different res halls and activities, there is no way we would have crossed each other's paths. But another thing I appreciated more than anything was that we were being real to each other and I honestly think that we need more sincerity in the world. There's so many people that you meet that put up fronts but never show you their real self. Maybe they are scared, maybe they are ignorant, but I think that if we do just show people our real, pure selves- life will get so much better. For example, before this semester, I didn't know Lauren, the Pi Chi Blogger. But we met on move in day this year and when we went to the first Greek Ambassodars meeting we got to know each other, and we got to be friends. I would love to see more Greek Unity on this campus rather than just being paired up in groups because we have to be. One thing that I really don't get is that sororities hang with the fraternities, but you never see another sorority hanging with another sorority. It's not a problem of us not liking each other, I think the problem is that none of us know each other. We all have found our niche in our organizations and we stay there. If there is anything I would love to see before I graduate next December, it would be better relations between the sororities.

So I think, to anyone who reads this blog: Your mission is, if you meet a new person, don't be scared, try to get to know them, and let them get to know you. Because you never really know who can be a new friend. And you never know if they will be the ones who will have your back one day.

I dedicate these lyrics to anyone who comes from a small town.

Coffee
-Copeland
There's plenty of time left tonight
I promised I'd have you home before daylight
We do the best we can in a small town
Act like big city kids when the sun goes down
If it's not too late for coffee
I'll be at your place in ten
We'll hit that all night diner
And then we'll see
There's so many things I have to say
I'll stay up all night to hear about your day
We do the best we can in a small town
Act like kids in love when the sun goes down
If it's not too late for coffee
I'll be at your place in ten
We'll hit that all night diner
And then we'll see
There's a love that transcends
All that we've known of ourselves
And I'll wait for it to come
I'll wait for it to come
Well it's got to be strong to touch my heart
Through its shell
And I'll wait for it to come
I'll wait for it to come
If it's not too late for coffee
I'll be at your place in ten
We'll hit that all night diner
And then we'll see
There's a love that transcends
All that we've known of ourselves
And I'll wait for it to come
I'll wait for it to come
Well it's got to be strong to touch my heart
Through its shell
And I'll wait for it to come
I'll wait for it to come down

Living the Hostel Life...well not yet

I know that this entry has nothing to do with Greek Life, but hey, I thought it would be interesting and it could show all those who are interested in Greek Life that you can have a life outside of Greek Life.

I'm the training director for the college radio station, WONY 90.9FM. Every year, the station gets the chance to go to the College Music Journal Festival in NYC. I'm pumped because my badge gives me full access to see my favorite bands, Coheed and Cambria, Broken Social Scene, Minus the Bear, and Saves the Day. However today just threw a huge wrench in our plans. We reserved SA buses but for some reason, someone (not me because I didn't have a hand in this) put down that we were coming back to campus on Friday, when the festival ends on Saturday. So it looks like we are going to try to get the SA to give us a gas card because there is no way we can return on Friday, it would be a waste of the school's money to do so. So we are going to take two cars, but we can't take mine because my car has around 29,920 miles (I'm just guest-imating) on it and I was planning to get my car serviced for the 30,000 checkup in November when I had the money to do that. I don't mind going over the 30,000 miles to go home or doing little trips in Oneonta, but I don't feel comfortable taking a round trip from Oneonta to NYC. That- and I don't trust my car in a parking lot in NYC. It's a 2006 Toyota Rav4 and if I do that, I'm pretty sure I'm just asking for it to be stolen/broken into. And the biggest factor is: I have never driven in NYC before. I am from Upstate NY, I am not used to that kind of traffic and it's not like I can hand the wheel over to someone else because I'm the only one who's insured to drive the car, god forbid anything happens.

Then- the hostel situation. I have never stayed in a hostel before. We are going to have 8 people with us and the rooms fit 10 beds, so we're probably having 2 random people stay in our room. Uhhh again, I don't know how I feel about that. I am hoping that we will have nice people stay with us at least. This trip sounded so exciting at first...spending the week to go to NYC and seeing concerts and meeting other radio stations... and now it just seems that all the logistics aren't working out.