Until last May, many WSU students thought they would never have to experience the consequences of dr*nken driving. But when Tanya Guseva died, the repercussions of dr*nken driving became a reality.

Guseva remained on everyone’s mind Tuesday as more than 300 students watched a simulation of a dr*nken driving accident. Students who thought they would never have to watch police officers and firefighters attempt to pry their friends from a heap of twisted steel were reminded of how a single wrong choice could impact the lives of others.

The event and Sarah Zidaritz’s moving personal account of her friend’s needless death in Tuesday’s Evergreen have made this issue intensely personal for Cougs. Organized by Alpha Omicron Pi, the Panhellenic Council, the Interfraternity Council, local police and fire departments and GIVE, ASWSU’s philanthropic outreach group, the simulation was a quality example of what a community can do when it comes together.

All of the campus organizations involved in the Anti-Dr*nk Driving Awareness Week events should be commended for putting so much effort into a cause that could save lives. The Greek community and ASWSU create events throughout the school year that often fail to inspire or make little impact. However, given the heavy toll dr*nken driving has taken on the WSU community this summer, the simulation proved to be one of the most powerful.

In 2006, 269 people died in accidents caused by dr*nken driving in Washington and more than 15,000 died nationally, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

These statistics are startling, but they do not instill the same sense of loss that WSU students felt this summer. If this week’s events do not act as a deterrent to dr*nken driving, then maybe nothing will.

When a fellow Coug loses their life, our small community feels the impact. The bonds built from attending classes, living and partying together for years are deep and profound.

This week’s events reminded us that Tanya Guseva was not just a statistic. She was a friend. She was a daughter. She was a Coug.

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Liz Boss, a senior communication major involved with public relations for the Panhellenic Council said the time capsule was a way for the Greeks on campus now to share a piece of themselves to the future Greeks.

“This is a good way to document the current events each chapter is going through at the moment,” she said. “It will be great for the students 100 years from now to know what was going on in their chapters today.” Greek members started planning and developing ideas for this week’s events last semester. There are a lot of hard-working people on the committee, and they all have great ideas, Boss said.

“The time capsule idea was developed because we thought about how interesting it would be for us to open something from 100 years ago,” Boss said. “That is how the idea blossomed into a time capsule that every chapter gets to contribute to.” The president of Gamma Phi Beta Sorority, Paige Willkens, a junior communication major, said her chapter is excited to contribute to the capsule.

“We are going to put one of our sorority date dash shirts in to show what designs we like at the moment,” she said. “We are also contributing this month’s edition of our national chapter magazine, which will show the current events going on in our chapter nationally right now.” Willkens said she feels the capsule will be very beneficial because times change so much that, in 100 years, it will be interesting to look back at things going on now.

Peter M. Brown, a junior business and finance major and president of the Delta Upsilon Fraternity, said his chapter was working on finding something meaningful to put into the capsule.

“I think we are going to put a composite picture in because it shows pictures of all the men in our fraternity,” he said. “It will be entertaining for the Delta Upsilon chapter 100 years from now to see what we looked like today.” Each chapter may write a letter, gather photos or place an important item from the chapter house into the time capsule, Boss said.

The box will not be buried like a usual time capsule because the Center for Sorority and Fraternity Life does not want to lose it.

“We are protecting everything in a lock box, which will be kept in the CSFL office, because than the items will not be ruined or lost,” Boss said.

The Centennial Committee is hoping for huge participation from the Greek Community. Boss said that she encourages all of the chapters to become involved in all of the week’s activities.

The 100-year Greek picture started off the festivities with numerous participants from all chapters. The photo was a good time because it had all the Greeks coming together, Brown said.

“It is going to be really cool to look back at that photo of us and think we were there when the Greek community was 100-years- old,” Brown said

Aside from the boarded up windows, the Chi Tau fraternity at Chico State University looked like any other fraternity house. Two stories, white, with pillars and a balcony.

Yet inside, it was anything but ordinary. Describing the basement, Chico Police detective Greg Keeney said, “It’s kind of like the medieval castle dungeon.” The walls were covered with the phrase: “In the basement, no one can hear you scream.” This dungeon would be the scene of a heinous crime. Two pledges were ordered to do calisthenics in raw sewage. The pledges were forced to drink from a five-gallon jug of water, which was filled over and over. Fans blasted freezing air on their drenched bodies.

Covered in urine and vomit, one of the pledges, Matthew Carrington, collapsed from a seizure. He died the next morning of water intoxication, which caused swelling in his brain and lungs.

Hazing is unacceptable and far too commonplace. According to HazingPrevention.org, there were seven deaths linked to hazing-related activities during the last academic year alone. These alarming statistics make this week, National Hazing Prevention Week, an educational necessity for college students across the country.

Hazing can occur anywhere, not just in Greek life. A 1999 study by Alfred University and the NCAA found that about 80 percent of college athletes had been subjected to some form of hazing. Half were required to participate in drinking contests or alcohol-related initiations, and two-thirds were subjected to humiliating hazing rituals.

Alcohol poisoning often occurs in these supposedly harmless drinking games. Chuck Stenzel, one of the martyrs of the anti-hazing movements, was shoved into the trunk of a car during freezing weather with another pledge. He was forced to finish a lethal mix of bourbon, wine and more before being freed. He died of acute alcohol poisoning a couple hours later.

Proponents and defenders of hazing claim it allows members to bond and “puts pledges in their place.” This is absurd. It is entirely possible for members to bond without putting them through extreme trials and suffering. To treat pledges as lesser humans is a demeaning and a violent cycle that must end.

Hazing can be extreme as branding, sodomizing or physically hurting members. Verbal and mental abuse can be just as damaging. With the zero tolerance rules in place, the rule should be: If there is any doubt that it can be construed as hazing, don’t do it. However, zero tolerance doesn’t always mean there will be zero hazing.

WSU and state law ban hazing of any form, but we are not immune. The Sigma Nu chapter here was suspended for three years for hazing activities.

If you are a witness to hazing, I urge you to step out and protect the victims before real tragedy occurs. Anyone who suffered hazing must speak up, otherwise the cycle of abusive behavior will keep going. It must be clear to every organization that hazing is not acceptable. Hazing goes against everything that Greek and athletic organizations claim to aspire to be. Be careful with who you become involved, because the innocent white houses of Greek Row or the damp locker rooms of campus can sometimes have sinister secrets hidden beneath their surface.

When I first moved to Pullman, I worried about how to meet new people. I had a few friends from my high school, but my closest friends were going to other schools. I was worried about not knowing anyone in my classes and unsure about who I would hang out with on the weekends.

I entered sorority recruitment not knowing what to expect, but after my first night at WSU, I quickly made a small group of friends. After that first night, I knew I was going to be just fine.

By the end of recruitment, I walked into a house of at least 100 women and knew they were all my friends. I may have not known everyone’s name, but I knew they would always be there for me. They helped ease my homesickness and made the transition from a big city to a small town easier.

Looking back at my three years at WSU, my greatest memories are with my sorority sisters and other amazing people in the Greek community.

Another wonderful aspect of going Greek is the sense of community. It is more than several big houses arranged in the same area. These people are here to support one another and work together toward a common goal. Each chapter is there to congratulate, mourn and work with one another. Going Greek was one of the best decisions I ever made. Unlike Hollywood’s portrayal of Greek life, it is not all about partying. It gives excellent opportunities to work with the school and the Pullman community.

Having people you know in your classes means having people to study with and work on projects with. It can make your first semester a little easier, or if you are not new to WSU, it can help you succeed.

Also getting involved in the Pullman community can be a very rewarding experience. I had never participated in community service before I joined a sorority. However, it turned out to be a lot more fun than I expected. It also made this small town feel more like my home.

Going Greek not only makes time fly, it also helps you after graduation. It sets you apart from other people who are applying for the same job. Formal recruitment is over, but almost every single sorority and fraternity participate in informal recruitment throughout the year. I encourage everyone who is even a tiny bit interested to check it out. It could make your time at WSU even more worthwhile.

Having parents who not only came to WSU but also were in Greek houses, I feel fortunate to hear stories about their glory days. Of course, times have changed since the late ‘70s, but the effects of this powerful experience are quite the same.

They always tell me about their friends, who they still keep in touch with or functions with other houses. Not a single story ends without them saying, with a look of glorified reverie, “It was the best time of our lives.” Now, 30 years later, I’m making my own memories and feeling the same sense of protection during this newest addition to my life. I want to convince everyone to ignore the stereotypes and believe in the true meaning of being Greek.

What kills me is the fact that all positive influence a Greek system can have on a university is forgotten with the slightest of slip-ups.

We are held under a relentless spotlight created by the media and, frankly, biased non-Greek affiliates. Unfortunately, the spotlight seems to brighten from Thursday through Saturday, dimming slightly during the rest of the week.

I know it sounds crazy, but really, partying is not our priority. We are consistently supporting many organizations, volunteering time, promoting positive public relations for our houses, balancing a full-time college schedule and, on top of all that, trying to have a social life.

Now I challenge any one of those Greek haters to do all that we do and still graduate with a resonating exuberance for the entire experience.

Anyone who thinks a Greek student doesn’t work as hard in school as a non-Greek student is out of his mind. Yes, there may be a few slackers, but overall, should we not hold the rest of the school up to that same standard? For Greek students, there is a minimum GPA to maintain membership, and though it varies from house to house, it is significantly higher than the GPA needed to stay at WSU.

For some inconceivable reason we are viewed as this homogeneous community, not only within our own university but with every Greek-affiliated person in the world. At WSU, we have an incredibly active and diverse Greek following and ever-growing support from our Greek alumni. A Greek system brings a unique quality to the university that many other non-Greek campuses don’t have. A network that extends beyond simply the university, it creates a feeling of unity and pride for a university that can last forever.

The networking and bonds you create throughout your years in the Greek community are unlike anything else. The friendships alone are amazing, not to mention the connections you can make between the vast variety of people in your chapter and in others. These values do not stop within the Greek community either. With all the positive involvement, it resonates throughout the whole university, strengthening our school overall.

The Greek community is an appealing aspect of the college experience and translates into life after college. The Greek system has no age or location barrier. It helps us relate to our alumni and gives an unlimited connection to other Greek schools throughout the country.

WSU’s Greek community began celebrating Greek Week on Sunday. The annual event will last all week.

Greek Week is a series of competitions and contests for fraternities and sororities to compete with and against one another. It’s also a fundraiser. This year, 38 WSU chapters are participating.

“This is really the one time of the year that everyone comes together,” said Marisa Mitchell, a junior communication major and Delta Gamma sorority member. “It’s a competition, but it’s also about celebrating being Greek. It’s a great place to make a lot of new friends.” This year, The charity portion of the event will be split into thirds. One-third will go to the Whitman County Community Action Center, one-third will go to the winning fraternity’s philanthropy, and one-third will go to the winning sorority’s philanthropy.

The CAC is a nonprofit organization that fights to reduce poverty and build strong independent families and a better community.

“With the current economy, a lot of families are in need,” Greek Week Co-Director Angela Harle said. “They are a lot more than just a food bank. It’s really nice because the money stays local.” Last year, Greek Week raised roughly $22,000. Greek Week Co-Director Chrissy Ayers said they hope to top that number this year.

“We’re hoping that new format brings in more donations,” she said. “Since the winning team gets two-thirds of the prize, we hope the incentive will drive people to donate more.” While Greek Week has been an annual fixture at WSU, the focus on philanthropy is more recent.

“It’s really been revamped and reorganized in the last couple years to focus on raising money and promoting the beneficiaries,” Harle said.

Students who are not in the Greek community are welcome to attend and watch any particular event. However, they are not allowed to participate unless a specific house brings them onto its team.

“We encourage all students to go and watch,” said Byron Adams, Greek Week public relations board member. “It’s a really good opportunity for people to see what we’re about.” Each event is judged by members of the local police department, ASWSU and non-Greeks.

Leaders from every WSU Greek chapter attended N-Sid-Sen Camp at Lake Coeur d’Alene this weekend to work together and learn from one another.

The Greek Leadership Academy is a yearly event organized by the Center for Fraternity and Sorority Life.

The chapter president, new member educator and standards/judicial chairmen or chairwoman from each chapter are invited. The chapters pay the fees for the three members to attend, Panhellenic Association Vice President of Public Relations Elizabeth Boss said.

“The retreat is an outstanding opportunity the Greek leaders are provided with,” she said About 130 people went to the retreat including representatives from the Panhellenic Association, Interfraternity Council, National Panhellenic Society and United Greek Council, Boss said.

“The purpose of the Greek retreat is to bring chapter leaders together and work with them on their leadership skills, discuss issues that are prevalent in our community and allow the opportunity for the men and women of different chapters to get to know each other,” Panhellenic President Ali Scott wrote in an e-mail to The Daily Evergreen.

Keynote speakers included Anita Cory, director of the Center for Fraternity and Sorority Life; Samantha Armstrong, assistant director of CFSL; and Milton Lang, associate vice president of Student Life and Development, Scott said.

Boss said she appreciated hearing faculty members’ expectations for the Greek community. The retreat also gave Greek leaders an opportunity to get on the same page.

“The purpose is to build unity among chapters and to help them work together for the bettering of the Greek community, as well as attempt to guide the culture of the community for the upcoming year,” Boss said in an e-mail to The Daily Evergreen. “It’s a really valuable event to help members that have recently entered very important positions make the transition from regular member to president, new member educator or standards/judicial chair.” Brittany Koehler, Panhellenic vice president of Programming and Development, said the three members are key people in each chapter who can take what they learned at the academy and make it resonate through the Greek community.