The Interfraternity Council voted unanimously last night to lift most of the restrictions it had imposed on fraternity social events over the past several weeks due to H1N1 concerns. The Council decided to remove its ban on large, open parties but reaffirmed mandatory safety precautions and the prohibition of drinking games.Members of the square table: Interfraternity Council members meet at Willard Straight Hall yesterday where they voted to lift the ban on open parties.

The IFC vote comes after a week of slowed flu-related activity at Gannett Health Services, which had been swamped with calls and visits over the past few weeks.

Having been to two Inter-Fraternity Council meetings thus far in the fall semester, I find myself shocked at the ways in which the IFC takes action, conducts meetings and — most importantly — at how little expressed dissent there is to the current state of this very powerful council.

Late Sunday, as dusk descended upon Ithaca, bringing grey skies and the first whisper of an autumn chill, a moribund message appeared on the screen of our computer: “Sorry, we could not access the web page www.CornellSun.com because we cannot find the server.” Shriek — VILLAINOUS chaos ensued around us! What is the meaning in all of this — “can’t find the server”?! Has the newsroom been subjected to a VILLAINOUS Orwellian experiment, with twisted intentions to make us sleep-deprived editors face certain social, intellectual and mental doom? What would happen without technology? What could ensue besides pure catastrophe? Needless to say, it was dirty and messy and forced us to almost shut down operations across the board. Well, not quite ...

To the Editor:

Re: “IFC Halts Frat Parties Amid Swine Flu Worries,” News, Sept. 10

We commend the student leaders of the Inter-Fraternity Council for their reasonable response to the current challenging health situation. By calling for a pause on large parties, they are educating their classmates about public-health precautions as well as practical steps that can be taken to reduce the risk of further spreading flu. Asking fellow students not to hold parties, even for a short time, is a significant step. Acting in support of one another's well-being is part of being a caring community. We urge others to take similar actions to promote the health of their friends, classmates and colleagues.

Susan Murphy, Vice President for Student and Academic Services

In a special meeting on Saturday, the Interfraternity Council passed a set of resolutions that may fundamentally change the processes of recruitment, pledging and open parties. With a quorum of just over half the chapter presidents, five main changes were voted into effect, the sixth being tabled until tomorrow’s meeting. Most changes will go into effect next semester.

“These are things that are long overdue,” said Eddie Rooker ’10, IFC president. “They are problems we’ve had in the past, especially with new member education. We are a self-governing system, so we have to tackle the problems.”

As part of an ongoing effort to increase the safety of open fraternity parties, the Interfraternity Council passed two resolutions at the beginning of the semester that further regulate how fraternities operate their social events. As a result of this legislation, all fraternities can only hire security companies that are licensed and bonded by the State of New York. Furthermore, fraternities must clearly mark the party’s sober monitors.

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

The InterFraternity Council voted at their weekly meeting last night to make the Sigma Pi fraternity an associate member of the IFC — a decision that will be recognized by the University.

The IFC also decided that the fraternity can vote in the council and that it will be up for review in a year. Additionally, the fraternity will be allowed to hold rush in January, though it will be required to be dry.

The decision comes about a year after the fraternity had to send four freshmen, two of whom required life-sustaining medical treatment, to Cayuga Medical Center due to excessive alcohol consumption at a Thanksgiving dinner in November. The incident caused Sigma Pi to lose its official University recognition and IFC membership.

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.”