'Seven years of college down the drain'
The University of Utah has poor timing when it comes to an new effort to revive its dying frat culture. Most people figure the so-called Greek system deserves to pass into the mists of history after the recent death of a Utah State University freshman of alcohol poisoning following a pledging prank.But the U is paying Jay Wilgus to restore the U.'s declining fraternity system, without, he hopes, its "Animal House" heritage.
We're trying to create a dynamic, vibrant community where we build tomorrow's leaders from today's undergraduates. We want students spending time together. We know that increases the likelihood of graduating and increases their GPAs.
3 Comments:
What the hell? Spending time together binge drinking increases GPA's and helps make future leaders?
As a U professor might say on a term paper: please provide a reference.
What a fricking waste of taxpayer money: hiring someone to increase Greek activities.
This blog entry is chock full of propaganda. The headline “Seven years of college down the drain” and the accompanying picture of John Belushi are both from the well-known college party film “Animal House”, in which binge drinking and petty larceny are prevalent, to say the least. Framing an article about real students on a real college campus so strongly suggests that the blog author counts himself among the many “people” he cites as holding the opinion that the “so-called Greek system” should be abolished. Further evidence of his rhetorical slant is the “straw man” defense of the fraternity system presented. The U of U administrator cited offered no substance or citation for his supposed facts on the merits of fraternities, and serves as an easy target for an opposition argument. In essence this blog entry is completely one-sided on the issue, whilst simultaneously appearing to the unobservant to be presenting both sides of the argument.
The initial framing, with the “college down the drain” anecdote and John Belushi, would presumably lead one to assume the previous theory; that the blog author considers himself as one of the many that feel that the Greek system within the U should be abolished. Nothing but notions of irresponsibility and immaturity are connoted from the John Belushi image and “college down the drain” anecdote; that does not necessarily mean, however, that the author is himself prescribed to this sort of stereotyping. The recent death of the Utah State student, for example, is only noted in passing. If the author really wanted to exaggerate and pronounce his “anti-Greek” mentality, he would surely focus more on the recent death, either including grisly details or general statistics recorded across the country. He, instead, offers an obvious contradiction to the previously presumed notion: he ends with a concrete quote from Jay Wilgus, a young U. administrator hired last year to work under the dean of students. This quote frames the advancement of the Greek system in a creative and beneficial light, serving to lighten and lessen the severity of such a proposition. While some would assume the use of John Belushi and immature anecdotes would place the writer in an “anti-Greek” position, his final quote from Wilgus discredits this idea. He is propagating the benefits of this system, and only using the John Belushi image to depict what it shouldn’t be.
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