I am writing this letter in the hopes that many of you will put away your poison pens for a while and concentrate your efforts on more important things.

This greek vs. non-greek fight has become irritating and should not have been started in the first place.

Allow me to point out to my fellow greeks that it is not the responsibility of non-greek students to go out of their way to find out what we do or how we live.

Perception is reality, ladies and gentlemen. That is a cold, hard fact.

You cannot blame non-greeks for holding a poor opinion of us when they only see things that reinforce the stereotypes they have gotten from their parents or the media.

We all do philanthropic activities, but when was the last time anyone approached a residence hall floor or other campus organization to do a philanthropy together? I think it is great that our young members have so much pride in our system that they would write to the Daily in its defense.

If you truly love the greek system that much, then I would encourage you to spend those efforts and those energies improving it.

Make it into a place where we don’t have to go out of our way for others to see the value and benefits of membership.

Put some of that energy into ridding the system of those who exemplify and perpetuate the stereotypes. We know who they are, and their time has passed.

Iowa State’s greek system is ahead of others, but judging by the Daily’s opinion page, we still have a long way to go before that will mean anything.

I would like to make just one last point. I cannot begin to stress enough that the fight between the greek system and the residence halls must end. It is a fight no one can win.

We must begin to realize that it is not us and them; it’s all of us together.

The residence halls and the greek system offer the most involvement opportunities on this campus, yet fewer students are utilizing them every year.

Cooperation at this stage can only be mutually beneficial. I encourage discussion to begin on this topic.

Chris Moe

Senior

Business