Greek community must do more to raise awareness

The Greek community should go jump off a cliff.

Ric Romero here to report on the news Greeks should be more aware of their decisions.

More at 11.

Ignorance is a sad, disappointing trait. Without knowing all the measures and actions taken for these tragedies, the state news has no business writing a biased, uninformed article. So much for objective journalism! The Greek Community IS taking legitimate measures, measures that the State News is obviously unaware or ignorant to. The leaders of the Greek Community have given their statements and plans, and would appreciate the respect from the MSU community to individuals still grieving over these loses. As for the partying, give me a break MSU. Every single one of you partied this weekend, greek or not, and just because a fraternity did have a party does not mean the Greek community isn’t taking drastic measures. Take a walk down Gunson, MAC, Spartan, or Cedar Village and the social life will not end, whether a student has recently died in the community or not, greek or not. Many students and houses didn’t have parties, and I’m sure if we were to compare parties, greek or not, the greek would lose. Bottom line, a journalist’s job is to get the facts, objectively, and the State News obviously fails in this section of accreditation. Thanks a lot!

I agree one hundred percent. I think it is unprofessional and rude to write an article about an MSU based community who did lose members and friends, but have done anything and everything to take preventative actions. If the State News wants to write an article about the Greek Community everyday about this topic, fine, but make sure you have gathered ALL of the correct information.

It’s articles like this that prevent the rest of the student body from listening to the Greek Community. Maybe steps to facilitate a “dry weekend” would occur if students actually took Greeks serious and didn’t say things like “go jump off a cliff.” Preventative measures have been taken and always will be taken. These deaths are a tragedy and have opened many Greeks’ eyes in regards to the consequences of excessive drinking.

Raise awareness? Who DOESN’T know that drinking to excess can be harmful to one’s health? Or that it can be fatal? Everybody knows this. Some folks simply choose, as is their right to do, to drink to excess. They are accepting the possible consequences of their actions. There is no need to further regulate or micromanage things. If someone wants to drink to excess and die, that’s their choice.

could the article say “Greek Community” a couple more times? Jeeze I feel like a 10 year old wrote this. Try some new proper nouns…

11 TIMES.

I’m not part of the Greek community whatsoever, but I have to say that this article is rather unfair to the Greek community. First of all, while the deaths that have happened at MSU were truly tragic neither occurred because of a Greek party. One went to the bar while the other was at a Red Wings game. Yes, both students were Greek but these deaths could have happened whether the students were Greek or not. Barring students from partying is not going to “raise awareness” about alcohol-related tragedies. This article relegates the role of the Greek community to that of a “partying authority” when in actuality the function of the Greek community goes far beyond this.

The article also assumes that the average student doesn’t know how to “party responsibly.” Just because there are a lot of frat parties going on in any given weekend, this does not mean that all of these people are necessarily partying irresponsibly. The article makes a false correlation between the number of frat parties on campus and alcohol-related deaths.

While I completely support the possible implementation of a ‘dry weekend’ or other related measures, the State News should not condone solely the Greek community for a problem that pervades the entire student body. While it does mention that the Greek community is not the only part of the student body that could use a wake-up call, saying that the Greek community hasn’t done enough in regards to awareness and regulation demonstrates a very narrow, condescending perspective. A better, more thorough article about the necessity of more awareness (in regards to partying safely) would cover the entire student population in its critique.

To Lauren:

You do realize that objective reporting doesn’t really apply when it’s an opinion article?

This article was brought to my attention earlier tonight and I am enraged by what the State News has to say about a community I am part of. Both deaths were friends of friends and impacted me, my house, and all the other houses very deeply and not for one second should anyone assume we are not taking these events lightly. There is no value to human life and when it’s lost there is nothing that can replace it. It was a hard few months for the greek system as a whole. Having said that, I could not be more impressed with the way I have seen my peers respond- candlelight vigils, phone calls, messages, etc. to make sure those affected feel our love and support. In terms of raising awareness about major issues- in the combined three years I have been here we have donated over half a million dollars to the American Cancer Society, have walked for breast cancer, have participated in events to raise money for domestic violence safe houses on campus, donated clothes, food, toys, etc. to those in need, held mandatory orientation sessions each semester for new members concerning drugs and alcohol…the list could go on for hours. Agreeing with those above, please gather correct information before taking it to the press.I am now even more proud to wear my letters and much less likely to pick up a copy of this distasteful newspaper. I encourage those at the state news to be more focused on what’s really important rather than ranting on a group that shouldn’t be judged by the stereotype so many outside of our community have tried to push on us.

To those who contributed to this editorial:
It is incredibly sad that the State News, and those of you who contributed to this article, have limited yourselves to a view that completely alienates an entire community at MSU, whom you obviously don’t even know. Like the article said, there are a few thousand Greeks on this campus and I doubt that you have talked to many of them. What happened to Ryan and Brian is truly a tragedy, and while such events could have happened to anyone on this campus, or any college campus, we are in fact taking the necessary steps to insure that we are even safer than before. However, we were safe even before these events took place, and probably much safer than most of the non-greek party scenes on this campus. However, none of you are willing to take the time to see that. You would rather write an article that belittles an entire group of people who you know nothing about. You don’t know what steps we are taking to make sure our houses are safer for both the Greek community members, as well as the other students on this campus who take advantage of our social events.
I am disgusted that you all would write an article that implies we would rather dishonor the lives of both of these individuals and begin a semester completely based on parties, alcohol, and irresponsible decisions.
A question for you: did any of you go out this weekend or any weekend since these incidents occurred? Did any of you drink while you were out? Brian and Ryan made a choice, a choice that many of the students on this campus make, to drink. As a community we cannot control the actions of others, all we can do is educate our members and hope that they will make the right choices. As a community and as individual houses, we do look out for each other, that is what a brotherhood and sisterhood is all about. We do what we can, and sometimes we can’t always be there to protect the ones we love. The same goes for the friends of other non-greek students on this campus who have died due to the destructive decisions they make.
We are a small group on campus compared to the size of the student body, and that makes us an easy target. Unfortunately these incidents cloud the great things that the Greek community accomplishes every year and it is even further unfortunate that the student body looks at us as the drunken partiers of this campus. Next time you go to the bar, go to a party, or have a beer at a hockey game, just remember you are doing the same things that a majority of Greeks also do, it all comes down to the choices we make.

Dear State News Editorial Board,

No one can take you seriously when you fail to capitalize Greek twelve times (by my count – perhaps I missed one or two because I was tired of counting…) in your article. Perhaps you are making some sort of statement by failing to capitalize Greek, but your publication just ends up looking ignorant and unprofessional, which is embarrassing considering we have such a highly acclaimed journalism program. Please make a better effort. Also, kudos to the commenters above who point out that these terrible tragedies (1) did not occur within the jurisdiction of PC/IFC social policy, thus making it difficult to prevent such sad losses from occurring, and (2) are part of a larger problem at MSU, not simply a Greek issue. Of course, I fully support, as the majority of Greeks do, any effort to curb unhealthy and unsafe behavior choices by any MSU student – Greek or otherwise. Your publication has a long history of writing misinformed pieces about the Greek community. This is a great opportunity to dissolve that reputation and to start to utilize your journalistic abilities to report higher quality news and opinion pieces about the Greeks, whether they are critical in tone or supportive.

Thanks,
Julia Lyskawa

Yep…AGAIN U PROVE THAT U ARE A MEDIOCRE NEWSPAPER WITH INCOMPETENT EDITORS AND PERSONAL!

SO WE ARE GETTING OUR MONEY BACK….WAY TO LOOSE COUPLE (IF NOT A FEW) THOUSAND $$$….

YEA AND BTW…ALL THE GDI`S SUCK!

Ok, let me start off by saying, I know that every single student has at least attended one frat party at some point in their college career. And if, you were not a curious freshmen at some point, ANY student on campus could have found themselves in similar situations! We lost two members of our community! If the MSU student body wants to segregate the greek community and say WE DIDNT DO ANYTHING! Well, WHAT DID THE MSU STUDENT BODY DO? Nothing, It is the first week of school and Pan Hel and the IFC have just had their first meeting of the semester, with their new eboard. This was not something taken lightly by anyone in the greek community and everyone still mourns the death of their fellow greek members. For students and STAFF writers to continuously bash the greek community is ridiculous. Both of the boys were members of the greek community IN ADDITION to the MSU STUDENT BODY! What has the msu student body done to help the situations.
IN response to the comments about how all greeks do is party, the msu greek community puts on greek week every year which is a sober week where money is raised for different foundations. The amount of money that the greek community raises in one week is almost 10 times the amount the entire msu campus does. “And we are only a couple thousand”

I cannot believe the comment that Jose just left. You obviously know nothing and just speak based on stereotypes. I am a proud member of the MSU Greek system and I am going to tackle each statement you made.

Students do not join the Greek system to buy friends; we do it to get the most out of our college experience. I guarantee you I have done more good, not only for myself, but the whole university by being in a fraternity than you have done in your entire life. Last year the almost 2,000 student Greek system raised $250,000 for relay for life. The All-MSU relay for life, which doesn’t include the Greeks, managed to only raise a little over $70,000. We conduct Safe Halloween which provides a haven for area children to celebrate Halloween in a fun and safe atmosphere. These are only two examples of the good things we do.

And also about your ‘pay for friends’ comment, I guess the Freemasons, Knights of Columbus, and every other adult fraternal order should be disbanded because they are just paying for friends. Greek Life is about being a part of something bigger than yourself and camaraderie.

Every assertion you made is just a stereotype that is untrue and is perpetuated by people like you. And how dare you make an assertion of rape, when that is completely untrue. I actually think you “misremembered” and mistook it for your last weekend escapades. All you are doing is spreading hate and making yourself look like an ignorant ass.

I would like to point out that these are the first alcohol related deaths in the Greek Community in the past 20 years.

How many students have died because of alcohol related deaths in the past 20 years?

I’ve tried to look up the statistics, but I’m 100% sure that it is more than two, as there was at least one this fall, and there is Brad, too, who took 21 shots at Harpers on his 21st birthday back earlier this decade. Each student gets a mailing from the organization that his parents founded after his death.

Raise awareness campus wide, people, not just in the Greek Community.

And being Greek, I’ll be honest – the hardest partiers I know aren’t Greek.

And let me also say that The State News is quite the joke. I’m not sure if this is on everyone’s page but on the top of my page is advertisement for Go Greek Women’s Recruitment. Way to go State News by putting the advertisement of a client on a page that is bashing the client. That is something you learn in ADV 205 never to do. Got to love the bright minds at the State News Ad department.

am i the only one who finds it ironic that both of the greeks that passed away last semester were not participating in open social events? AKA parties? one happened on a brother’s/dates excursion to a wing’s game, and the other happened on the individual’s own accord.

tragic as it may be, last semester a man died on gunson the same day a student was rushed to the ER from a football game. both non-greeks.

quit generalizing all the greeks. go do actual reporting instead of stupid biased crap like this article.

I find it quite interesting that the State News spends so much of its time attacking the Greek Community. The Greek Community includes some of the most involved students on campus. Not to mention a large amount of students who support each other and decisions made within the community. If the Greek Community discontinues the credibility of the State News, the State News will have to publish articles about their own budget problems.

I am never reading your DUMB “newspaper” again….

Way to agitate 5 thousand students…

Hope someone takes you to court!!!

To condescending article:

Yes one of the individuals that left too early did go to a red wings game but the other did NOT go to a bar. Again he did NOT go to the bar. Maybe you should know what you are talking about before you go posting things online. And to the State News: if you are really so ignorant to think that the Greek community has done next to nothing in light of these tragic events; then I question how you still have a job. Allthough I am not surprised by the lack of truth in this article because it did come from the State News which has published numerous articles with very minimal information. At least minimal CORRECT information. So please do the MSU community and yourselves a favor by gathering all of the information before you publish anything else and save yourself from being embarrassed again.

You know what’s fun? Whining about X causing Y, when it had nothing to do with X in the first place.

Look, people like to go out and drink and have a good time. Most people do it responsibly. One person made some stupid choices that had NOTHING to do with the Greek system and died for it. Another one died in a tragic accident, again, having only a tangential relationship to the Greek system.

The State News editorial board is a joke, and should be ashamed of jumping on a tragedy like this to score cheap points.

By the way, still having fun taking our tuition money but rolling around in those nice OFF CAMPUS digs? Independent voice my ass.

I’d just like to point out here that as a member of the Greek system, as well as a journalism major, The State News has found themselves in some trouble.

What your opinion writer wrote is slander on the Greek System and in response to someone up above, they could absolutely be taken to court. It doesn’t take much to see that this one article, on top of the MANY that have previously been written, has caused “severe emotional distress”. I’m sure that everyone at The State News has taken their news and law class and should have been able to spot slander before it hit the printers.

This article is a disgrace to the integrity of your paper, and as all journalist know, you are only as good as your integrity. Once accepted into the School of Journalism you are required to report no biased information, and before someone jumps down my throat about this being and OpEd piece, where are the facts? from reading the comments above and the article itself, they are nowhere to be found.

Sloppy journalism is what I would call this article and now as an entire CAMPUS and not just the Greek system we need to look to The State News to address the horrible mess they have created. Ryan and Brian do not deserve to be remembered this way, as Greeks’ we remember them in all their glory and we think back on all the amazing times with them. I sincerely hope that The State News thinks strongly about their actions now and in the future because of this article.

“Greek Community” = Slap three greek letters on the front of a large house. Get over yourselves. You’re a bunch of kids partying together and living in a big houses during college. Once in a while, you raise some money for charity to make yourselves feel better about the fact that you’re basically Heidis and Spencers. Yawn.