Professional fraternities like Alpha Kappa Psi and Alpha Chi Sigma, provide an opportunity for Cornell students to combine their motivations for socializing and advancing their future careers into one pursuit. Alpha Chi Sigma, the chemistry fraternity, had 18 new pledges this semester where the typical pledge class includes seven to 10 students.

Students who want to join Alpha Chi Sigma are expected to have a social life in addition to a strong knowledge of chemistry.

“We don’t just want someone who wants to study all the time,” said Emily Majusiak ’09, the organization’s vice-master alchemist.

Slope Media Group is an incredibly impressive student organization for a number of reasons. Run entirely by students, in just a few years Slope has built itself up from nothing but a few kids with a big dream to a few kids with a functional multi-media platform, with which you can not only learn how to edit online video, broadcast live radio shows and publish a magazine, but go on to use these skills to say whatever you want to whoever’s listening (or reading… or watching).

For students who crave hands-on media experience and a forum to share their opinions and creativity with the Cornell Community, Slope Media Group offers one of a kind opportunities. Unfortunately, sometimes students have the forum but just don’t have anything to say.

Hoards of students returned to Ithaca in waves last Monday, a full week before the scheduled start of classes, in order to rush sororities and fraternities. While sorority rush is strictly dry and confined to the daytime, men rushing the Greek system are encouraged to attend late-night beer-soaked parties at prospective houses.

The Inter Fraternity Council points to statistics suggesting that evening events are only of secondary importance to students who consider joining a house; the fraternities themselves, however, continue to lavish outlandish sums of money on rush week parties, and it is not uncommon, as a result, for a house’s rush budget to run in the tens of thousands of dollars.

As the spring semester at Cornell begins, annual recruitment week has come to a close. The rush class this year was comprised of a record number of freshmen, sophomores and transfers including 719 potential fraternity members. New members received bids to the Panhellenic Association’s 11 chapters and the Interfraternity Council’s 41 chapters.

The recruitment process was very different for boys and girls. The potential sorority members spent their days meeting sisters in each house and taking house tours.Behind the eight ball: Doug Kuts ’09 plays pool at a fraternity’s rush event on Wednesday

In an attempt to protect the prosperity of the fraternity and the safety of its members, the alumni board of Psi Upsilon decided to shut down the fraternity until the board deems it fit. Though the members of the campus fraternity have been deactivated, the chapter maintains its official recognition in the eyes of the University.

“While Cornell University still recognizes Psi Upsilon as an active fraternity on campus, the alumni have de-activated all of its members,” said Travis Apgar, associate dean of students for fraternity and sorority affairs, in light of the recent events.

Mike Bergelson ’95, alumni president of the chapter, explained the alumni’s decision to temporarily suspend the fraternity.

After a mass meeting of Cornell students on Oct. 17, 1901, the University decided to eliminate fraternity hazing for good. An article in The New York Times reported, “rushees attended by personal injuries have been frequent, and students have been taken by force to gatherings where they were made the sport of the throng. [Cornell] President Schurman regards the latter practice as interfering with the rights of the students, and says that the practice must be stopped.”