Newspapers / Mars Hill University Student … / Oct. 19, 1989, edition 1 / Page 2
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Page 2 Thursday, October ijsday, Editorial On Brotherly Bonding Ken Gahagan Staff Writer It has long been the tradition, on this campus and many others, to have a pledge season for potential members in a fraternity or sorority. The whole idea behind the pledge season is to educate the new members or pledges as to what ideals are held by the fraternity or sorority, as well as to provide a bonding experience between the brothers or sisters and the pledges. All of this is well and good. However, the idea of pledge season has been misinterpreted and misconstrued to allow all sorts of activities which may be of dubious value. Many of these actions are against the law. It is often difficult to define hazing. Is it detrimental to the health or mental well-being of a pledge to sing “You Are My Sunshine” at each dorm on men’s hill at 6:30 in the morn ing? Probably not, but what does it ac complish? The action annoys anyone who is trying to sleep at that time. It may be embarrassing to the pledges who have to “perform” at that time of the morning, and what is the value? If some one wants to learn to sing, let them take singing lessons. (Some of the people in that particular group could have definitely used a lesson or two.) It seems to me that the pledge season should be a time when the brothers in the fraternity try to win the respect of the pledges, not the other way around. Ideally, of course, the fraternity or sorority will have such a reputation that the pledges will want to be a part of the fraternity or sorority anyway, but how does pledge season help the goal of encouraging the pledges to continue the pledge season? I have seen pledge season from both sides both as a pledge and as a brother, so I do know that of which I speak. Pledge season is a time for people to have fun. Pledge season should be a time when you have some activities to break the monotony of the academic year. But pledge season is neither sup posed to be a time when you are regularly harassed or embarrassed, nor is it a time for an organization on cam pus to expect all the rest of the campus to tolerate unsolicited invasions of their privacy. I know of one pledge class who tolerated the tyrannical tendencies of the brothers ail through pledge season, and when pledge season was over, all they wanted to do was beat the life out of two of the brothers. How did the pledge season help promote brotherly love in this instance? What is the pur pose in having a pledge season like that? There are, believe it or not, people on this campus who are not a part of a Greek organization, and do not wish to be a part of one. Should they have to put up with pledges singing in the cafeteria? Should people who are sleeping peace fully in their beds at 6:30 a.m. tolerate being rudely awakened by a group of pledges singing the world’s only atonal version of “You Are My Sunshine?” The answer is a firm no. The fraternities on this campus need to rethink their pledge seasons so that they conform more to what they are sup posed to be in the first place. Pledge seasons should be unobtrusive, they should educate, and they should mold the members into a group. Let’s face it. A group has no identity without individuals, but an individual can have an identity without the group, therefore the pledge season should consist of activities in which the pledges and the brothers or sisters work together. The pledge season should not be purely the burden of the pledges. It should be a fifty-fifty effort on the part of the brothers and the pledges meeting halfway so that each member of the group gets to know all of the others. Fraternities and sororities are by nature cliquish, but they cannot survive if they are subdivided into little cliques within themselves which can be caused by traumatic pledge seasons. Correction n the last issue of the Hilltop, an error was made in he Founder’s Day story. The author of From These Stones was incorrectly stated as James McLeod and should have been John A. McLeod. The editors send Dut our deepest apologies for this error to his wife, who lives in Mars Hill. Jones to Speak at MHC Tammy Condrey of Western Australia in Perth. Dr. Donald G. Jones. Professor of Social Ethics at Drew University in New Jersey, will be visiting MHC the week of October 30 lecturing to several groups across the campus. Dr. Jones is a author of several books and articles, and has had numerous On Monday, October 30, he duct a seminar for the faculty c. we ,n whol topic “Ethical Issues in Higher E. I was tion” and to the scholars that nig^ q J “Ethical Issues in Abortion.” .„ . On Tuesday he will speak in and lectures and papers published. He received a B.A. de gree from Augus- tana Col lege and Master of Divinity and Ph.D. from Drew University. He has served in the U.S. Navy, owned a small busi ness, been a Methodist minister, a Minister of Education, a Teacher of American History, a Training and Development Instructor at Allied Signal Corporation conducting Business Ethics Seminars, a visiting professor at University of Texas and Rice University and a visiting professor at the University . . been ^®^!n give ® ° S othe Work rume ‘That a M.Ss? Ha ^^‘^"j? Wh O" 'Cwho' "esdSptent Siiyuntd with Religii Amei class dlscitu( currer suesri Saui Ameriest W religio He end hi96 pi with What lectUai” toe Wedn^l botto night, nd ail I will brt of t the f^ening i Hill Baptist Church at 6:00 on the t Fash of “Relationship Between Religionking t Ethics.” The other will be in the S^inage and Ethical Issues in Business clasishion I “Current Issues in Business Ethics.'ig a h An warm welcome is extended t(^nd re Jones as he arrives at Mars Hill. The r ans, a Hilltop Staff 3 pron rare o Jhion 1 Co-editors Tammy Condrey and Becky Hobfessc Sports Editor Phii Strijdent Staff Writers Melanie Childers, Duane Partin, Lisa Ramsey, St^ The i Toney, Frank Powell. Machelle Cathey. Michele M%ages lin, David Smith, Ken Gahagan, Stacey Stifler, Andidingv Deaton, Wendy Greer, Jennifer Enich, Marion War^uturi: Diude Administrative Assistant/Distribution Manager Gina StevVbm stc Cartoonist Michael Houst stuc Advisor John Campb^termi The Hilltop is the official student newspaper of Mars Hill College. The opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the administration, faculty or staff of the college, nor do they necessarily reflect those of the Hilltop staff. Writ ten response to any item appearing in the Hilltop is invited and should be directed to the editors. The Hilltop P.O. Box 1148-C Mars Hill College Mars Hill, NC 28754 (704) 689-1419 Printing by Groves Printing Asheville, North Carolina srtain udes lirstyh inwa: )mme )W w id cl eetin( immi
Mars Hill University Student Newspaper
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Oct. 19, 1989, edition 1
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