<p>“I’ve been in that house, and believe me it is pretty gross. It is nothing like the MIT frat house that I was familiar with in the mid 70s. Nevertheless, I did not observe anything that was more dangerous than the average private house. (I even used the bathrooms several times, which some mothers I know will not do. )”</p>
<p>I hear ya, sis. S’s house is just plain gross. It annoys me to no end that they live like this. The irony is - they were in a not-so-good physical house that was part of a section of the university that the university tore down. So they were moved into a house in the main fraternity quads, which are maybe 90-100 years old. These houses have beautiful “bones” - arched doorways, wood paneling and so forth. I was looking forward to see how they’d do it up! And they trashed it up. Given that the sororities in the sorority quad look like out of House Beautiful, you would <em>think</em> that the guys would catch on that they’d get more girls if they cleaned up the place. </p>
<p>Sorority house are (ostensibly, but usually actually, fairly) dry. Boys aren’t allowed upstairs. That’s why they’re nice, and clean, and why frat houses, though gorgeous on the outside, are disgusting on the inside. Boys. Alcohol. Letting anyone upstairs. </p>
<p>You can get an umbrella liability policy for roughly $300 per one million of coverage. It’s sole purpose is to protect your assets from liability claims. </p>
<p>frats/sororities and the type of people they attract bother me. that said you do not have to go GREEK to be an idiot.
if the student is over 18, it is the parents choice to fund a defense in a civil suit. if their assets are properly structured and the kids has no assets of great value in their own name (also properly structured if they do) the student should be lawsuit immune. no lawyer (also greedy self serving shark and probably a former frat/sorority member themselves) is going to waste their time and money to pursue a case that will not yeild them any $$$.</p>
<p>If the student is over 18 but still a dependent of the parents there is no protection given to the parents and they assume the liability of the students actions. </p>
<p>Do you realize that there is no single “type” of person who joins Greek organizations? Do you realize that you are stereotyping very diverse groups of people? Do you think that you could get away with making similar generalizations about church-goers, or football players, or people who choose to attend Big 10 schools, or whatever?Don’t you think it is the duty of decent people to attempt to fight against the human tendency to stereotype others? Do you realize how rude you are being to many people here? </p>
<p>There has been a lot of negative publicity in the last couple of years about the Greek system at Dartmouth. This is a piece written by a senior woman of color that I think is great. Would that more people had her maturity and perspective:</p>
<p>From a previous post: "Should the students entering those burned-out frat buildings also have inspected the sprinkler system before taking off their coats? "</p>
<p>The caption in the pictures of the burned houses imply that they were unsafe because they had no sprinkler systems. However, the picture on the left of the house at WPI DID HAVE A SPRINKLER SYSTEM in it. 16 people all escaped from the house with only minor injuries according to the article about the fire in the Boston Globe. From the picture, obviously the outside of the house had no sprinkler system!!!</p>
<p>When an author plays fast and loose with items like this, you wonder where else in the article the truth was bent a little to conform to her desire to make her point?</p>
<p>"
Given that the sororities in the sorority quad look like out of House Beautiful, you would <em>think</em> that the guys would catch on that they’d get more girls if they cleaned up the place.</p>
<p>Is it all that surprising that the sorority houses are much nicer and cleaner than the fraternity houses?"</p>
<p>No, ucb, of course it’s not surprising that the sorority houses are nicer and cleaner (duh). What is surprising is that ostensibly smart guys don’t realize that girls are more attracted by nice and clean surroundings, or that they don’t see the payoff of keeping the house neat and clean would be attracting more girls. </p>
<p>When I was in school, the Sigma Chi house was remodeled - the headquarters wanted to make it some kind of showpiece. We jokingly called it a country club, it was done right - really taking advantage of a lovely old home with good “bones” in terms of paneling, carvings, high ceilings, etc. And girls were impressed. And they flocked there. It’s just such a “duh” to me that it amazes me that S’s house - indeed none of the houses - have figured this out. You’d think anything to attract girls would make it to the top of the list. </p>
I have an expat colleague whose kid grew up overseas and was used to having maid, cook, driver, etc. This kid went back to his native Canada to go to college. </p>
<p>When the parents went at the end of the school year to help the kid pack his dorm room, the stench in the room nearly knocked them over as they walked into the room. Turns out that the kid did not change his sheets the ENTIRE school year. He just wasn’t aware that it was something that you have to do.</p>
<p>The mother consoled herself knowing that no girl ever slept in that bed.</p>
<p>I haven’t read the whole thread…but…your assets and liability insurance can be at risk if your kid is insured by you, and is the cause of an automobile accident too. </p>
<p>Some young adult men still get some kicks out of seeing parents and female friends/dates react with revolt and disgust at the unsanitary living conditions in their dorms or frat houses. Saw many of these frat houses in the Boston area.* They had no hesitation sharing and laughing it up with other male friends/acquaintances who they perceived at first glance as a “one of the boys”. </p>
<p>This glee is furthered by the fact most still had no problems attracting dates or having them come/subjecting them to what could be a rat heaven/biohazard site. In fact, this factor only added to their gleeful pride. </p>
<ul>
<li>To be fair, the ones which weren’t gross tended to be immaculate and would be quite welcoming to any guests, especially parents and women. Coincidentally or not, they were mostly affiliated with MIT.<br></li>
</ul>
<p>Oh please. These guys aren’t gross because they want to “get some kicks” or get a rise out of parents. No one thinks like that unless they are 12 years old. They’re just lazy. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, is not just the boys. I have to say I was shocked when I saw signs in a ladies dorm bathroom advising that used tp is not to be thrown on the floor. I assume there’s a reason those signs are there.</p>
<p>Now THAT is gross! The bathrooms in S’s house were actually clean, if decrepit, because the college had people clean them regularly. The building itself had lovely rooms, and it always bothered me to see how it was mistreated. Apparently they had a “house man” who was supposed to organize maintenance, but apparently no one really did. At the MIT frat I mentioned above, they wer very well organized and had a full week of work party to do maintenance projects before the school year started. Maybe it was the engineer mentality. :)</p>
<p>It may surprise you that there are plenty of male young adults…even 19+ year olds who maintain gross dorms/frat houses for reasons beyond “they’re just lazy”. </p>
<p>I’ve heard it from the fraternity members themselves as they were laughing with glee at how they’ve disgusted and “grossed out” their girlfriends and parents. Could understand their mindset as a male who was just a few years older than them at the time. </p>
<p>It’s a similar dynamic as to why Burger King thought their ad lampooning Helen Reddy’s “I am woman, hear me roar” song would appeal to their perceived main demographic, 12-34 year old males:</p>
<p>Lots of international students from places where the plumbing gets easily clogged up by toilet paper? (In such places, it is common to see small waste bins next to the toilet.)</p>
<p>I’ve seen male dorms and frat houses in the Boston area where urinals/toilet bowls were literally smashed and vandalized and garbage bins in kitchen areas piled so high full of disposed food items that rats were literally grouping together to try getting at them. </p>
<p>I don’t know who is actually protected by the coverage, but my son’s fraternity’s national requires every member to pay $200 a year for liability coverage. They never provided me with a policy - I have no idea if it actually covers the family, or just the national and the chapter. </p>
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