Appearances DO matter (esp. when you're Greek)

Are there any Delta Zetas among my few loyal readers? My sorority has made national news this month in this NY Times article and on CNN in a little newspiece, Paula Zahn interview, and panel discussion. The chapter at DePauw University had been having trouble with recruitment, and so some of the national officers came in and conducted a "membership review". They interviewed each women in the chapter and then sent letters to 23 of them "recommending [them] for alumna status". As the news spins it, the 23 women that got the boot included all the overweight women and 3 of the 4 minorities. Six more women who were not asked to leave left in protest. Then Nationals held a recruitment event hosted by just the slender pretty women (they imported more slender pretty woman from another chapter), while the rest waited upstairs. So the e-mails from my chapter have been flying, with most of my sisters saying the NY Times and CNN spun it the wrong way, and that nationals hasn't had a chance to explain their side. But - and I'm sorry DZs, if you're reading this, for my brutally honest opinion - I have no problem believing our national officers judged their own sisters based on their appearances. Our national president sent a message stating that "we are offended at suggestions that decisions made at DePauw were related in any way to our members' races and nationalities" and that "All members of Delta Zeta shall be chosen for moral, social and intellectual worth. Membership shall not be denied because of race, color, religion, national origin or handicap". Yeah, but fellow DZs please notice that our constitution does not list "appearance" or "image" among race, color, religion, etc. And it DOES state that members shall be chosen for...SOCIAL...worth. Hence, according to our constitution, it's okay to kick out the fat ugly, or socially awkward women. And I think Nationals did, because they were desperate to boost numbers because if the chapter at DePauw closed, the University says they couldn't guarantee it would be allowed back. And who wants to join a sorority with a bunch of fat, ugly, socially awkward women? This is GREEK life...yes, it's about philanthropy, scholarship, sisterhood, and all that crap, but most of the women who rush want to join the fun, hot, popular houses. That's just the way it is. I know, I'm cynical, but really. My chapter (Alpha Rho) had trouble recruiting women - we were always lower than the other houses during my time there. The reason? Every sorority has a stereotype(s) and ours were the fat sorority, the nerd sorority, and the reject sorority. APs if you're reading this you know I love you dearly, but you also know I'm being realistic here. If parading the pretty girls meant higher recruitment numbers and not losing the DePauw chapter, well then, what else was Nationals supposed to do?

Moving on... I LOVE Krispy Kreme doughnuts and I want to know why the hell they would make a whole wheat doughnut. It's a DOUGHNUT! It's KRISPY KREME! Don't try to make it healthy! Whole wheat has no place in doughtnuts. And "health-conscious consumers" should be nowhere near a Krispy Kreme (shorter line and more hot doughnuts for me!)

Moving on again...A friend had an extra ticket to last Wednesday's Illini game (thank you Don!), so I got to see the chief's last performance. To the people who were crying: I love tradition too, and it's true I don't understand yours, but tears? I wish stuff like that was all I had to cry about now. Anyway, it was still fun to be there, and here are a couple pics. The second pic is after the chief performed, when many fans took off their orange to wear black in protest.

Blizzard!

On the bus ride to work I found out that U of I classes were canceled - and I just heard on NPR, anecdotally, that's the 1st time they've done that since 1978!! Evidently, state offices are closed, too, because I am now here at work all by myself. Isn't this GOES IR image of the storm beautiful? OK, Shari just showed up, and now I'm feeling motivated. I'd better stop blogging and get some work done!

Lovie Smith Becomes First African-American Coach To Lose Super Bowl

...a headline from "The Onion" that made me crack up. Read the article here. I also liked this: White House Quietly Retracts Entire State Of The Union Address and this: Touring Raffi Refuses To Play 'Shake My Sillies Out'. Did anyone else watch Raffi videos as a child? Maybe I know him just cuz my mom's a preschool teacher.

I just came across this on The Onion's site, too (hee hee!):



Hey Kate and Andrew and anyone else who has attempted to comment in vain: I changed my settings so that ANYONE can post a comment on my blog. I don't want to discriminate against non-Blogger account people.

I feel like posting a random picture, but I haven't taken or drawn any in a while, so here is an award-winning photo of a copepod taken by my friend and Ph.D. committee member Dr. Robert Moeller. Robert if you're reading this I hope you don't mind:



Isn't it beautiful? Doesn't it make you wish you studied zooplankton like I do?

More random musings: my friends and (certain) family members are fantastic. A very sincere thank you to all of you who have listened to me rant, cry, curse, and cry some more.

Bon Anniversaire a moi!

Today is my birthday! The big 2-8. I went searching on the internet to see which famous people share my bday, and I hadn't heard of most of them. These were the ones I knew:

• Lisa Marie Presley
• Clark Gable
• Boris Yeltsin
• Langston Hughes

After my birthday, the most notable event that's occurred on Feb 1 in recent history is Janet Jackson's nipple incident. Ha ha, kidding. Well, that really did happen on Feb. 1 (2004), but on a more serious note the most memorable event is probably the Columbia Shuttle explosion (Feb. 1, 2003). On a happier note, Canada introduced their Civil Marriage Act on Feb 1, 2005. Ooh, I just found something else. Besides being Groundhog Eve, Feb 1 is National Porridge Day in parts of Northern England (so I guess it's not really "national"). Isn't Wikipedia great?