Monday, April 21, 2014

Period 7 Blog Post- Due 4/25

http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/02/the-dark-power-of-fraternities/357580/
Consider the author's tone, structure of the article, validity of evidence, persuasive techniques, and your personal reaction.  
2. Please add an intelligent comment (minimum 5 sentences) in response to the linked articles from The Atlantic.  Be sure to use a minimum of one quote in your response.
3. Optional: Comment on a classmates post in a second post (minimum 3 sentences)
*Use only your first name, last initial and class period.

8 comments:

  1. George Hartlin P.7
    College fraternities have existed since the 1800's due to the need to rebel against the guidance of a school administration. Fraternities have evolved since into an even darker way of sticking it to the administrators. Now they require many who want to join to do ridiculous and most dangerous tasks in order to prove their worthiness to the exclusive groups leaders and members. "From the very beginning, fraternities were loathed by the grown-ups running colleges, who tried to banish them." Many people within the colleges administration try to fight the fraternities by punishing those within them, but, this is to no avail in many cases fraternities continue to flourish with new meat. Now those who try to gain admittance to these private clubs have begun to see the same problems as the administration to themselves. This has resulted in many lawsuits. "Lawsuits against fraternities are becoming a growing matter of public interest, in part because they record such lurid events, some of them ludicrous, many more of them horrendous." Now these become public to the world which in turn has evolved the fraternity from jokers to horrendously sick individuals in the eye of the public. Overall the whole article seemed very interesting in how in the past century the fraternity has evolved so much. i really see the fraternity as a way of expression but, this article sheds light on the darker unknown truth of the college fraternity experience.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think that fraternities should be allowed by colleges an universities because they serve a good purpose and don't have to many down sides. I feel like the good purpose is that it helps students form bonds and brotherhoods. Many people think that fraternities are just about party groups that hang out and just get hammered together. I mean they do, do stupid things but everyone does stupid things so you can't just say fraternities are bad examples. But it could be true that some fraternities can be about party groups, but others are focused on things related to academic and financial success. These people study together, work together and complete all their goals so they can accomplish and finish what they want to. I feel like fraternities bring a lot of fun to students lives and it can also bring in comfort into a lot of college students lives by letting be surrounded by other classmates and they could also benefit to make a lot of friends. I don't think that it would be completely unfair to ban fraternities from colleges and universities. If there could be sororities at university, then there should be fraternities.
    karisma patel
    period 7

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jonathan B
    P7

    I feel that college fraternities should not be allowed on college campuses. I say this because many accidents happen at frat houses, the cause of alcohol being consumed by some students that can't handle it. " In September, a student suffered serious injuries after falling off the roof of the Alpha Tau Omega house at the University of Idaho, and two days later a Washington State student fell three stories from a window at Phi Kappa Tau. In November, a 19-year-old suffered critical head injuries when he fell backwards off a second-floor balcony at the Washington State Lambda Chi Alpha house, necessitating the surgical removal of part of his skull." These accidents are terrible, and most likely caused by alcohol consumption in fraternity houses. Now the people who were injured have to deal with those injuries for the rest of their life. Not to mention some fraternities have certain "rituals" to become part of the group. Some of those tasks are humiliating and could cause harm to others and themselves.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Stephanie Durso Period:7

    I believe that fraternities should be on campuses. Yes there are many cases in which horrific accidents occurred, but there are many other cases that show the good. The good in brotherhood . Having a support system while also growing into adults together. Like a family. People to look out and support each other. "When arguments are made in their favor, they are arguments in defense of a foundational experience for millions of American young men, and of a system that helped build American higher education as we know it. Fraternities also provide their members with matchless leadership training." We always hear about the bad in everything. We focus on the bad more than the good. Many like to focus on fraternities gone wrong, but what about the others. For many they have a good experience. Making friends and memories that will last a life time. Learning and maturing more than they ever could. So when people say should we have fraternities anymore I say without a doubt yes.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Conor Duffy
    Period: 7
    I believe that fraternities should be on campus because it shows a freedom of speech and choice. Each fraternity has an ideal belief which they believe is the right thing to do. Some beliefs are troublesome, but some are also good. The formation of “College fraternities—by which term of art I refer to the formerly all-white, now nominally integrated men’s “general” or “social” fraternities, and not the several other types of fraternities on American campuses (religious, ethnic, academic)—are as old, almost, as the republic. In a sense, they are older: they emanated in part from the Freemasons.” For some students, it’s a chance to be more social or show expression. It helps you be more ‘involved’. Students grow up into adults in their own way. It’s a choice which some students part take in. good or bad, they believe in what they partake in the fraternity.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Having been around over a hundred years, college fraternities are a great tradition that colleges and universities hold. Some can be inappropriate, yes, but the majority of fraternities are there to give the young men a group of friends that do activities that help the greater good in order to further benefit the fraternity. Each of the fraternities has something they believe in and its members promote that. The Greek lettered names are the same for most colleges; so if one college's frat is inappropriate and is solely about partying, the name isn't brought up frequently because there are so many more with the same name dong good activities. Not allowing them on campus would be unfair to those fraternities that do good for the community.

    Tyler M.
    Period 7

    ReplyDelete
  7. I believe that fraternities should not be allowed at colleges. I think they're a good addition to a college if it’s a family type, very close knit group of friends but most of the time this isn’t the case. In some instances they are linked to fatal accidents. In the article The Dark Power of Fraternities, it mentions how, "In September, a student suffered serious injuries after falling off the roof of the Alpha Tau Omega house at the University of Idaho, and two days later a Washington State student fell three stories from a window at Phi Kappa Tau. In November, a 19-year-old suffered critical head injuries when he fell backwards off a second-floor balcony at the Washington State Lambda Chi Alpha house, necessitating the surgical removal of part of his skull." This is becoming a huge issue in colleges across the country. The leading causes in these “accidents” are alcohol. The mix of all these people and alcohol result in spur of the moment “accidents” or decisions because people aren’t thinking. Hazing is when people are forced to do humiliating tasks as part of a program of rigorous physical training and initiation. This is what the Fraternity leaders force new members to do in order to show that they are fit for the fraternity. It has also has always had a very dark history that have been linked to many deaths in colleges all around the country. The article states, “They also have a long, dark history of violence against their own members and visitors to their houses, which makes them in many respects at odds with the core mission of college itself.” It actually now has no relation to college anymore. Fraternities were originally made to allow freshman and new members to feel welcome and part of a family or friends. I do not think fraternities should be allowed if they are defeating the core purpose of them in college and linked to many tragedies.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I believe that college fraternities The Dark Powers of Fraternities, it mentions how"In September, a student suffered serious injuries after falling off the roof of the Alpha Tau Omega house at the University of Idaho, and two days later a Washington State student fell three stories from a window at Phi Kappa Tau. In November, a 19-year-old suffered critical head injuries when he fell backwards off a second-floor balcony at the Washington State Lambda Chi Alpha house, necessitating the surgical removal of part of his skull." This is becoming a huge issue in colleges across the country. The leading cause of these accidents are kids drinking alcohol and getting their minds messed up. To me fraternities should not be allowed because of the tragedies that they cause.

    ReplyDelete