Draft

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Draft

Intro:              Sigma Kappa is a Panhellenic sorority that was established at Arizona State in just this last spring of 2012. As a new sorority, we are establishing our reputation this semester and therefore are involved in tons of activities and have lots of rules to follow. My argument is that this sorority entering Arizona State is beneficial for the women who have joined and the parts of the community they have become involved in. To prove my argument, I will show that the active members have benefitted from joining last spring when we were established at ASU and also that us new members are benefitting by observing the things the sisters do together on campus like study hours, lunch on the fratio, sisterhood time at Adelphi and the member meetings.  I will show that Sigma Kappa impacts the community surrounding positively with our involvement at Clare Bridge and the Alzheimer’s walk. My criteria for this project will be the grades of the girls in the sorority, the impact we have on the community, such as the amount of money we fundraise for the Alzheimer’s walk and our monthly involvement with Clare Bridge. I will also use information from my sources to help evaluate. For example, the scholarly article states that the more girls there are in a sorority, the more the school feels a need to get involved, which can be greatly beneficial for the sororities. Basically, my goal is to prove that each different thing our sorority is a part of does something positive for either our sisters or the community.

Five women founded Sigma Kappa November 9, 1874 at Colby College: Mary Caffrey Low Carver, Elizabeth Gorham Hoag, Ida Mabel Fuller Pierce, Louise Helen Coburn, and Frances Elliot Mann Hall. Sigma Kappa is involved in five philanthropies: Sigma Kappa Foundation, Inherit the Earth, Gerontology studies, Main Sea Coast Mission, and Alzheimer’s disease research. At ASU, we are mainly involved with Alzheimer’s research. We participate in the walk in November and we visit a nursing home that has residents with Alzheimer’s and dementia. Along with our philanthropies, Sigma Kappa participates in the philanthropies of the other sororities as well as those of the fraternities. Sigma Kappa has formal meetings for the active members and promise meetings for the new members to teach them about Sigma Kappa. New member promise meetings are held in the Schwada building. Promise meetings are held until initiation when new members become active. At formal meetings the sisters vote on being involved in fraternities or other sorority’s events as well as organizing everything inside our own sorority. At both meetings business attire is mandatory. Sigma Kappa participates in Panhellenic study hours so that the sisters can maintain good grades. Sisters must maintain a GPA of 2.5 to stay active in the sorority, if a sister does not, she is put on probation and cannot participate in events. In addition to this punishment, there are awards for good grades. If a sister gets an A on anything (a paper, test, project, etc.) it goes in the Book of A’s and she gets put in a drawing for an award. Also, if a sister has a 3.0 GPA or above she does not have to attend study hours. These study hours are held in Hayden or Sigma Kappa’s chapter room at Adelphi. All of the Panhellenic sororities have a “house” inside Adelphi Commons 1 since there is no sorority row at ASU. Having Adelphi brings all the sororities close together and each sorority having a chapter room gives them a place to have private sisterhood time. During sisterhood time at Adelphi, the sisters watch movies and craft together, just enjoying eachothers time. Sigma Kappa has sisterhood lunches at ASU twice a week on the MU patio, which has been deemed the “Fratio” because lots of the sororities and fraternities conjugate there.

My mapped objects are the fratio, our Adelphi complex, Clare Bridge nursing home, and the two locations of our study hours. Each of these objects fulfills the criteria of being beneficial to either the ladies of Sigma Kappa or to the surrounding community we are involved with. The fratio benefits the ladies of Sigma Kappa because it is a place for us to conjugate so we can study together and not have to eat alone. Also, since we are new on campus, it is important for us to establish a good reputation among other sororities, and them seeing all of us come together for lunch on the fratio at least weekly really shows how much we care about our sisters. Adelphi is also beneficial for the ladies in the sorority. Some of the girls in Sigma Kappa live there. They all get to spend that extra time together that not all of the girls get. Also, the chapter room is majorly beneficial. That room is where anything important that is not a formal meeting takes place. We had big and little reveal in the chapter room. Big land little reveal is important because a little gets a big to mentor them through the initiation process.  We also have office hours in chapter so we can make up any meetings we weren’t able to attend. Along with office hours we hold study hours in the chapter room so Sigma Kappas can raise or maintain their grades. Study hours are also held at Hayden library. Study hours are very effective in motivating girls to do well and get good enough grades to not have to attend them. Clare Bridge is the nursing home we visit monthly to interact with elderly that have Alzheimer’s or dementia. Going here is a benefit for the community we are a part of because they are located near us. Going there monthly is beneficial to them because many of the residents do not have visitors and the staff enjoy having us around to entertain the elderly for a couple hours a month.  Our meetings are beneficial to our sisters because they educate the new members on the history and everything having to do with Sigma Kappa and they also give us a say in the different events we participate in as we do a lot of voting and putting together activities in meetings.

(numbers go with pictures on chart, pictures subject to change)

1.     These photos are of the fratio. The fratio is where the sisters go for sister luncheons. At sister luncheons we come together to eat lunch so that we are able to spend more time together. We study on the fratio during our luncheons as well. It’s really important to get as many sisters together as we can during the luncheon to show ASU our dedication as a new sorority. We chant a ton of our songs on the fratio, especially during events like recruitment week and greek week. During these events, the fratio is flooding with sisters from all sororities trying to show our pride and get girls interested in becoming new members. The days of the week we eat lunch on the fratio we are always told to wear a Sigma Kappa shirt. The more girls that support us the better since our name is so new to ASU. Being a part of the sisterhood lunches on the fratio is good because people walking by associate these girls with dedication to their sisterhood and help Sigma Kappa in establishing a name as a respectable sorority. Our events on the fratio are beneficial for the surrounding ASU sorority and fraternity community. All of the sororities conjugate there often and as Panhellenic sororities call it, spending time together at events, like having lunches on the fratio all the time, is “Pan-Love” where showing that all the sororities are involved with each other gives a good name to each individual sorority and the Panhellenic sororities as a whole.

2.     These are photos of the nursing home and its residents. Once a month a limited amount of sorority sisters visit Clare Bridge home to interact with the residents. The residents either have Alzheimer’s or dementia. Sigma Kappa girls play bingo, craft, and talk with the residents. While we play bingo and craft with the residents, we interact by telling them certain things we do as sisters and in college and just try to find something to talk about with the patients that might trigger them to want to talk. Interacting with the elderly patients really brightens their days since they do not receive many visitors. Also, the care-givers really appreciate the company of the sister too. Although the residents have memory diseases, seeing them feel the joy while the Sigma Kappa sisters visit really makes a difference to the residents and the staff. We try to take away some of the mundaneness that occur in doing the same day-to-day routine. With the female residents, sisters paint nails and get their hair done. The sisters try to make each resident feel special while we are there. The sisters go through a discussion of things to talk about or things not to talk about before we enter the home as to not make the residents upset or uncomfortable. Interacting with the patients also has an impact when the residents have family visiting. The families that do visit while we are there express their gratitude that the sisters are able to interact with their family members when those families cannot come visit. Along with volunteering at the home we are also involved in our Alzheimer’s research philanthropy by participating in the Alzheimer’s walk. We all come together and have a Sigma Kappa team and get as many family and friends as we can to donate and even participate with us.

3.     These are photos of Adelphi. Adelphi commons is where all the sororities have “houses” since there are no real houses at ASU.  At Adelphi the sisters of Sigma Kappa bake together in the kitchen above the chapter room for all sorts of events. We have study hours, sisterhood nights, meeting make up, and even big and little reveal in the chapter room. Other than the chapter room, there is a patio where girls hangout. Along with the patio and chapter room that are for socializing, there are dorm room for the Sigma Kappas who actually live at Adelphi. Adelphi is beneficial for the sister because we meet there before every event to carpool and take pictures to remember all the events we attend. At Adelphi sisters can get ready for events together and make sure everyone will be on time by meeting there before events that we attend. Adelphi is beneficial to the Greek community because ASU does not have a sorority row. So, Adelphi brings the sorority community together.

4.     These are photos of Sigma Kappa study hours. Study hours are incredibly beneficial to the girls of Sigma Kappa. If the girls have below a 3.0 they have to attend study hours. If a sister does not want to attend study hours, she is even more motivated to achieve that 3.0 on her own time. Study hours are held at Hayden library and in the Adelphi chapter room. Participating in the study groups is especially helpful to the sisters because if a sister is taking a class that another sister has before she gains a tutor. Also if two sisters are taking the same class, they can study together. This is very motivating and beneficial because helping each other is a great way for the sisters to be a part of the sorority. Studying with a group of sisters keeps the girls motivated to keep studying, which is especially beneficial for the girls who need to improve their grades. When our average GPA as a sorority improves, we gain more respect from not only the greek community but the ASU community as a whole. So, therefore, our sisters are very strongly encouraged to attend study hours, even if they have above a 3.0. If they do, they can help sisters that need help and just be able to spend a few extra hours with sisters.

WORKS CITED

Sororities, A Psychiatric Appraisal. Smith, Jackson A. 603 pages. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease.

The Sorority Handbook. Martin Ida Shaw. 182 pages.

www.sigmakappa.org

Research Sources: Sigma Kappa Sorority

My topic is Sigma Kappa Sorority. I chose this topic because I am a new member and I think doing my map of them will help me learn more about them and where they go around campus and what they do. I will evaluate Sigma Kappa by going to all the places that the sorority gets together and seeing whether the things they do are beneficial to the girls in the sorority and to ASU. I will go to the classroom where we have our new member meetings, to the MU patio where our sisters frequently eat lunch together, to the apartment complex, Adelphi where a good amount of the sorority sisters live, to the chapter room where we have sisterhood nights, to a corner in Hayden and the Adelphi commons where our active sisters host study hours, and to the Claire Bridge Nursing Home where we volunteer. The Claire Bridge Nursing Home is an Alzheimer’s elderly home. Sigma Kappa volunteers there because one of our philanthropies is Alzheimer’s research. I will also by looking into how women that were in sororities in college compare to women that weren’t in older life.

            I’ll look at how older women that were in sororities are still effected positively by sororities by going to the Sigma Kappa website and looking into the alumni information. That will be one of my sources. Sigmakappa.org will be a very helpful source to inform me. I learned all about the history of my sorority. I also learned all about the philanthropies and also how the alumni can still remain involved after they leave college because the sorority really does not end once you leave college, it is lifelong sisterhood.

            The scholarly article, “Sororities, A Psychiatric Appraisal” written by Jackson A. Smith, MD., is 603 pages and in a journal called The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. This source will be helpful with my topic because it explains the effects of a sorority on girls that are the topic I want to evaluate. I learned that the more women there are in a sorority the more women not in a sorority feel the need to conform and join a sorority.

            The third source I’m using is a book called The Sorority Handbook written by Ida Shaw Martin, it is 182 pages and has sections for different types of sororities. Within those sections, it holds different details about all the different sororities. This topic interests me so much because being new to a sorority, this book was very informative and helpful in understanding reasons why different sororities have the different traditions and things that they do with their sisterhoods. I learned from this book traditions about other sororities, because being  new member in my sorority, the active members do not really tell us about the other Panhellenic sororities.

           

           

Evaluation: Slammed

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I just recently finished a novel entitled Slammed by Colleen Hoover in 2012. This young adult romance novel is a New York Times Bestseller. This novel is about a young girl named Layken who must grow up immediately and become the rock for her family when her father dies. She must now balance school, a job, and keeping her mom and younger brother emotionally stable, all while trying to maintain her emotional stability. Her world is full of confusion when Will Cooper enters. Once she finds out that their lives are strangely similar, he brings hope back to her life. Unfortunately, shortly after they realize they are basically soul-mates, they are stopped dead in their tracks. They must decide between staying together, sneaking around, and ending what they share based on the secret that tears them apart.

The criteria for writing a young adult romance novel is keeping the interest of a young adult, having a useful lesson at the end of the novel, all while maintaining the accuracy of a young-adult lifestyle. I think Colleen Hoover did a wonderful job of completing the criteria. The heart-stopping pace of this novel makes a reader not want to put it down. “If you're in a reading slump, and you want to try something genuinely unique, unlike anything else out there-here's your book...I honestly don't want to tell you any more. And when you hit that point at about 20% or so that makes you go,"OMFG!"-that's your departure point, right there. Strap in and put your tray in the upright position” says Tammara Webber, author of New York Times best-seller, EASY. This author reassures that there is no putting this novel down once you get to that one crucial piece of information dropped on you. Every young adult reader that enjoys a good romance novel will undoubtedly get emotionally attached to the emotional rollercoaster of Layken’s life. The emotional attachment Hoover creates with the characters is what keeps the reader well interested and makes them not able to put the book down. The heart-wrenching way Hoover does this in Slammed makes the novel that much more enjoyable. Hoover also conveys some important life lessons throughout the novel. Readers realize that no matter what obstacles you come across in life, if it is meant to be the obstacles become miniscule. Through Layken’s life, she learns that sometimes life gets in the way of wants. Obstacles that make her just want to give up get dealt with and the novel ends on a happy note. This novel is definitely accurate to the lifestyle of a young adult. There’s the pressure of doing what is right versus what you’re heart says is right, a normal pressure for a young adult. Overall I think the novel’s place on the New York Times Bestsellers is very well deserved.