'Liquor before beer, you're in the clear'

 (2) Citation
Kathleen Ragsdale, Jeremy R. Porter, Rahel Mathews, Allyn White, Cheryl Gore-Felton, & Elizabeth L. McGarvey. ' "Liquor before beer, you're in the clear": binge drinking and other risk behaviors among fraternity/sorority members and their non-Greek peers.' Journal of Substance Use, (2012) Web 323-339

 (3) Summary
The bulk of this article is analyzing the behaviorism of Greek affiliated college students versus their none Greek affiliated counterparts. In General, Greek affiliation is associated with high risk behaviors such as binge drinking, driving under the influence, physical fighting, and unprotected sex.

 (4) Authors
For this particular example I do not think individualistic authors are of much importance. What does make this a reliable and accurate source for information is the fact that it is a scholarly article. Not only do these several authors use a scientific approach in discerning the behaviorism of college students, but their citation of several others work regarding the same material reaffirms the soundness of the article.

(5) Key Terms
Greek-affiliated: Individuals who are members of Greek organizations such as fraternities or sororities. These Greek-affiliated individuals are found to be more likely to participate risky behavior.
High Risk Behavior: Behavior, mostly spawned from binge drinking, that puts the individual at risk of academic, physical or emotional injury. These include declining grades, less attention to school, physical violence such as fights, drunken injuries, DUIs, unprotected sex, rape, and unwanted sex.


(6) Quotes
"Although alcohol use among college undergraduates has seen a slight decline in the past decade, high-risk drinking - such as binge drinking and frequent binging - is on the increase, especially among fraternity and sorority members (335).

-This quote indicates the proliferation of drinking culture via Greek life. 

"..we found that 25% of fraternity bingers[binge drinkers] experienced an alcohol related injury as compared to 22% of non-Greek makes. 31% of fraternity bingers engaged in alcohol-related physical fights compared to only 8% of non-Greek males" (329) 

-Being a fraternity member and a binge drinker exposes the individual to much more harm than non Greek affiliated males who also binge drink. This indicates there is some connection between being a member of a fraternity and risky, drunken behavior. This offers support that fraternities promote binge drinking and other behaviors that are stereotypically "college".

"Males are over two and a halftimes more likely to DUI, as are those students that belong to Greek organizations.(344)" 

-Driving while intoxicated is something that most people agree is horrible. It would seem then that fraternities and sororities promote these risky and sometimes deadly behaviors.

(7) Value

I believe this article holds much value for the topic I am researching. In regards to how Greek organizations shape an individual and what ethics they inspire, it is important to have a good understanding of how people within these organizations behave as they are a direct result of said ethics. By understanding the behaviorisms of members of Greek organizations one can come to understand the set of values these organizations reinforce.  

Who joins Greek organizations, Socialites or Wannabes?

The privatization of higher education is producing a divergence in the student body of colleges. With increasing prices, students reigning from upper class or more well-off families find themselves much better prepared for both college life, and life after college than their average, middle class peers. In the work of Elizabeth Armstrong and Laura Hamilton, Paying for The Party goes on to describe the means by which this inequality develops. The elitist "socialites" tend to not only have a better time in college than their "wannabe" peers, but they are also better prepared for the real world after college. With more money at their disposal college is much less of a struggle for the socialites. Furthermore, their sociability pays dividends in the long run compared to the social networks the wannabes build in college. 

There seems to be a parallel between these socioeconomic factors and Greek letter organizations. The Fraternity or Sorority is based around an idea of mutual development. Being active in a Greek organization builds leadership skills, interpersonal networks, and allows social outlets to flourish. These are much the same outlets that allow the socialites to flourish in college. My question is; are greek organizations a means to which the average student can tanscend the inquality developed by privatized education, or do they further perpetuate this cycle by facilitating the socialite class.

As portrayed in Paying for The Party, these "pathways" develop because of economic inequality. More economic mobility equates more social mobility which pays dividends in the long run. In joining a Greek organization there is a large monetary commitment. Moreover, to be given the opportunity to join a Fraternity or Sorority one must be selected as a fitting candidate, and then, only after weeks of proving your worth (i.e. pledging) are you initiated into the organization. The selectivity of this process appears to play heavily into the inequality developed by privatized colleges. The same students who fall into the socialite class, with more money and more social connections are seemingly more prepared to join a Greek letter society. Through offering social connections which can lead to jobs and internships and social outlets such as parties and formals, members of Greek letter societies share many of the perks the socialite class of student experience. However, through selectivity and monetary contributions, the socialite class is also the most prepared to join a fraternity or sorority. Because of this, Greek letter societies and the privatization of school are intrinsically tied. Fraternities and Sororities perpetuate the same type of inequality that developed through the privatization of school. Although not their goal, the opportunities that Greek societies offer are, for the most part, only accessible to the socialites who are exposed to these opportunities anyway.

Fraternities: Facilitating personal growth, or intolerence?

I joined a Fraternity for one reason; brotherhood. I wanted to become the best version of myself in an environment in which others strive for the same goal. However, many view fraternities as organizations of drunken debauchery whereas it's members conform to the ideal of mindless euphoria. 

It can be argued that Greek letter societies promote intolerance, social conformity, and elitist up-on-the-pedestal behavior. By what means to organizations designed to build the bonds of friendship and personal growth destroy the culture and ethics of the individual? Furthermore, do fraternities promote mindless self indulgence at the cost of scholarship?

I would like to explore the socioeconomic background and future of fraternity brothers. Do fraternities, through selectivity, monetary contributions and hazing weed out individuals of lacking socioeconomic status, or do they level the playing field by providing social integration and leadership opportunities that the socialite class already has access too? To use the terminology of Armstrong & Hamilton; do these societies perpetuate the elitist class of socialites, or uplift the struggling class of wannabes?

From my personal experience, the role of the Greek letter society is to bring out the best in its members and to promote growth on the individual level. How and why are these societies considered culturally disfunctional and to what extent are these stereotypical viewpoints of greek life true?

These are but a few questions that I will seek to answer over the course of the semester. 

Greek Life: Perpetuating Inequality or Serving the Common Man?

I would like to explore the role of Fraternities and Sororities; what they do right, wrong, the stigmas surrounding them, and whether they play a role in building college students up, or tearing them down.
In the context of socioeconomic "pathways" that college students fall into, I would like to explore weather Greek organizations perpetuate an "elitist" culture (Through selectivity and monetary commitments), or help the average student by promoting personal exploration and growth. Moreover I would like to examine hazing vs non-hazing Fraternities in this context, as well as social and professional Fraternities and their pros and cons.