Take the opportunity and place your vote.

Below is a link to the 2010 USG Presidential Candidate Debate held at THH last Wednesday as well as the links to all the candidates platforms, which are also listed below.

2010 USG Presidential Candidate Debate: http://www.atvn.org/index.php/news/story/021010_candidatedebate/

Jonathan Munoz-Proulx & Ryan Walsh: http://www.jmpwalsh.com/home.html

Dylan Dann & Addison McCaleb: http://www.connectyousc.com/intro/

Andrew Matson & Juan Orjuela: http://www.itsaboutyou2010.com/

Chris Cheng & Nehi Ogbevoen: http://votechrisnehi.com/

How to vote: http://usg.usc.edu/evote/

Rock the Vote!

By Alexandra Tilsley · Daily Trojan

Posted January 24, 2010

Despite the uncharacteristically wet weather and the cancellation of the second evening of Welcome Back Nights, the Interfraternity Council gave out a record number of bids this spring.

The recruitment period began on Monday, Jan. 18, and bids were given out Saturday. Though spring recruitment typically yields less new members than fall recruitment, 293 bids were given this spring, up from 290 last spring, according to Parker Adams, IFC’s vice president for external relations.

“I’m really excited with how recruitment went this week,” said Eric Ronan, president of IFC. “All the fraternities did a great job of obeying the rules of recruitment and moratorium.”

Though last week was plagued by rain and cold weather, Ronan said he does not think this affected the recruitment numbers.

“Rain might have made it difficult for fraternities who were planning events outside, but I don’t think rain’s going to stop anybody from going Greek,” he said.

Nick Stubberfield, president of Phi Delta Theta fraternity, said though the rain did not deter those intent on joining a fraternity, it may have kept away people who were unsure whether or not the wanted to go Greek.

“It cut down on guys that might have been in-between, but it didn’t stop guys that were definitely going to rush,” he said.

Marcello Dubaz, president of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, echoed Stubberfield’s sentiment.

“The rain could have affected it, especially early on,” he said. “People who would have come … they may not have come out.”

Recruitment numbers might also have been impacted by the cancellation of the second of two Welcome Back Nights, though Ronan said this effect was likely negligible.

“It would not necessarily have had an effect,” he said. “Welcome Back Nights is just supposed to be an event for everybody to have a good time and fraternities to celebrate the beginning of the semester with their fellow brothers.”

Still, Ryan Blakemore, president of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, said he thought it could have made a difference in people’s decision to participate in recruitment.

“I do think it hurt their [the non-Greeks] view on the Greek system,” he said.

Greg Turk, president of Kappa Sigma fraternity, said the cancellation might have had a slight impact, but nothing noticeable.

Even with these two obstacles, IFC offered three more bids than last spring and 48 more bids than spring 2008. This trend, Ronan said, is the result of an improved recruiting process.

“The fraternities do a better and better job each year of recruiting,” Ronan said. “After every year, I think they really learn from the whole process and have just done a great job marketing and selling themselves to potential rushees.”

The number of bids offered could still increase, as the fraternities will hold a secondary rush on Jan. 27 at The Lab Gastropub.

The secondary rush period, Ronan said, is a chance for potential members who were not offered a bid to the house they wanted, or not offered a bid at all, to explore the other options and potentially get a bid to a different chapter. This is the second semester that IFC will hold a secondary recruitment period.

“It’s a great opportunity for the fraternities to increase their numbers and get guys who they didn’t necessarily get to meet,” Ronan said. “If we can increase our [recruitment numbers] by even one, that would be great.”

Natalie Chau contributed to this report.

Despite the rain, all 23 IFC chapters gave out 293 bids at the conclusion of recruitment

Los Angeles, California – The Interfraternity Council, which is comprised of 1,687 undergraduates, held their bi-annual recruitment period last week. Recruitment started Monday January 18th, and came to a conclusion on bid night Saturday January 23rd.

All week fraternities held entertaining events for potential new members such as laser tag, billiards, attending comedy shows, and much more. These events are put on by every fraternity so that potential new members can meet members of specific fraternities in a fun setting in order to better get to know brothers of a house and potentially decide whether or not to join the Greek community.

Although the number of bids given in Spring recruitment are never as high as Fall recruitment, the number of bids given in the Spring have risen from 245 in 08’ to 290 in 09’. During this past week over 600 undergraduate men attended the events, and 293 bids were given. Though this is a small increase from last year, there is still a secondary recruitment period that will be held this Wednesday, January 27th at the Lab Gastropub from 4:30 to 7:00. This secondary recruitment period is held so that fraternities can potentially add to their new pledge classes and, undergraduates who are still interested in joining the greek community have another opportunity to do so.

Despite the rain, the number of bids given this Spring increased. On whether the rain affected recruitment, IFC Vice President of Recruitment Alex Bozzo stated, “The rain certainly played a factor in the sense that some houses had to reschedule their events, but I don’t think a little rain would prevent anyone interested in greek life from coming out. Overall it was still a very successful week and I'm proud to see our greek community grow.” Bozzo, a Junior political science major, is the residing officer over recruitment.

If you are interested in attending secondary recruitment this Wednesday, please contact Alex Bozzo at abozzo@usc.edu, or visit www.usc.greekrecruitment.com.

The decision was voted on and passed by the Interfraternity Council Chapter Presidents

LOS ANGELES – On the night of January 12th, 2010, the Interfraternity Council (IFC) passed a new resolution for the governing principles on the Welcome Week Policy for the Spring 2010 Semester at the University of Southern California at the bi-weekly General Assembly, a meeting between the IFC Fraternity Chapter Presidents and the IFC Executive Board. These new policies will go in full effect on the night of January 13th, 2010. The resolution removed a clause that restricted non-Greeks from attending the any activities occurring on the Fraternity Row during the nights of January 13th and 14th. The primary reason for this change was the inability of IFC to enforce the previous rule that restricted non-Greeks from participating in fraternity activities during the nights of “Welcome Back Week” because of the difficulty for IFC and the fraternity chapter risk members to identify someone who is not a member of the Greek community from someone who is a member. Additionally, this was done in an attempt to improve relations within the Greek community as well as relations between Greeks and those not affiliated with a Greek life at the University. The new resolution for the Welcome Week Policy is published below:

IFC WELCOME WEEK POLICY

January 12, 2010

Section 1: No hard alcohol is to be served in member chapter houses on Wednesday, January 13, and Thursday, January 14.

Subsection 1: This includes common rooms and private rooms.

Subsection 2: Kegs are not permitted.

Section 2: Moratorium, as described in IFC By-Laws Addendum II, will begin Friday, January 13 at 5:00 p.m. Moratorium will be lifted on Saturday, January 23 at 5:00 p.m.

Section 3: All preexisting IFC recruitment policies, as stated in IFC By-Laws Addendum II, are in effect.

Section 1: There shall be a moratorium on alcohol in the individual houses of member chapters beginning on a day to be determined by the IFC Executive Board and extending until the official closing of rush.

Subsection 1: The moratorium covers any sponsored events by alumni or parent groups, exchanges, open or invite parties of any kind, whether on or off-campus grounds.

Subsection 2: Any event that may create a spectacle of any sort involving a chapter or a residence must be cleared with the IFC President and the IFC Vice-President of Rush at least seven (7) days prior to the event.

Section 2: Women may not be present in the individual houses or on the properties of member chapters during the hours that the IFC Executive Board specifies as open rush.

Subsection 1: No fraternity may bus or coordinate transportation for women to any of their recruitment events throughout moratorium.

Subsection 2: No fraternity may provide alcohol or make alcohol accessible to women at any of their recruitment events throughout moratorium.

Section 3: The IFC Executive Board will be required to present detailed information of official recruitment schedules to member chapters no later than a week prior to fraternity forum.

Subsection 1: The IFC Vice-President Rush will hold a meeting with all member chapters’ rush chairmen to discuss rush policies and expectations at least one week before rush starts.

Section 4: No chapter or member of any IFC member fraternity may schedule an event, hinder, or otherwise discourage rushee attendance at IFC sponsored events listed on the IFC rush calendar.

Subsection 1: Every fraternity must register their rush events with IFC by submitting a list to the Vice-President of Rush. Once this list has been submitted, fraternities must notify the Vice-President of Rush at least twelve (12) hours prior to any additional activities that are not listed on the schedule.

Section 5: No member of any member chapter may offer a rushee any type of alcoholic beverage at any location throughout the rush period.

Subsection 1: No fraternity may host a rush event at an establishment whose primary purpose is the selling and distributing of alcohol. (No venue where over 50% of the profit come from sales of alcohol, specifically bars.)

Section 6: All chapters are responsible for the conduct of guests during their recruitment events throughout moratorium.

Subsection 1: All guests to fraternity events must abide by the moratorium policies outlined in Addendum II, Article II of the IFC By-Laws.

Section 7: Advertisements during moratorium and rush or at any time when the purpose of the advertisement is to compel interest in joining the advertised fraternity must be in good taste. Pictures containing alcohol or drugs will not be permitted.

Subsection 1: Rush advertisements cannot promote illegal rush activities, unlawful campus policies, degrade other Chapters, conflict with IFC rush events, or negatively represent aspects of the greek community which will be determined at the discretion of the IFCJB.

Section 8: The Bid Process

Subsection 1: Member chapters may not offer nor promise a bid to a rushee prior to the official bid time established by the Executive Board.

Subsection 2: Member fraternities shall be required to explain the bid process to potential new members before extending a bid. A bid is defined as, “An invitation to become a pledge/associate member at one particular fraternity.” Member fraternities must describe the options that a rushee has when offered a bid: ACCEPT– Become a pledge/associate member of that particular fraternity. HOLD – Allow yourself more time to make a decision. DECLINE – Refuse the bid and continue the rush process. Indicate that a rushee may only accept one bid.

Subsection 4: Acceptance of a bid is defined by the signature of the rushee on IFC bid sheet, which must be submitted to the IFC at the conclusion of each night of bidding. The list will be distributed to all fraternities within one week of the conclusion of the formal rush period. Once a bid sheet has been signed, no other fraternity may extend a bid or continue rushing that individual.

Subsection 5: Continuous open bidding will be permitted for all. When a man accepts an invitation to join a fraternity, the Vice-President of Rush must be notified in writing within 48 hours of the offering.

Subsection 6: For a period of 21 days, commencing on the last day of IFC rush, any man offered an invitation to join by a fraternity must be registered to rush by the Vice-President of Rush. A fraternity will be levied a fine of $50 for (a) offering an invitation of membership to an unregistered man, or (b) allowing an unregistered man to take part in any member education activities.

Section 9: Fraternities will not be permitted to close rush prematurely. All member fraternities must remain open for the duration of the rush period defined by the IFC Executive Board.

Section 10: An official pledge/associate class roster must be submitted to the IFC Vice-President of Rush no later than 12 o’clock noon on the day following the conclusion of rush.

Section 11: The IFC Executive Board or any Executive Officer of a member chapter may make complaints of rush violations against another member chapter.

Subsection 1: Complaints must be filed on an official complaint form and presented to the IFC Executive Vice-President of Judicial Affairs before bid night.

Subsection 2: Refer to Addendum I (IFC Judicial Board) for clarification of the judicial process.

Subsection 3: In order for an investigation of an alleged rush violation to be launched, the complaining party must submit their name and telephone number to ensure the legitimacy of the charges. This will ensure testimony at the meeting of the Judicial Board. In addition, IFC Officers have the right to investigate complaints at their own discretion.

Section 12: Throughout moratorium the IFC Executive Board will monitor every chapter in order to ensure that recruitment policies are followed.

Subsection 1: The IFC Executive Board will conduct a walk-thru through each fraternity house as many times as they deem sufficient

Subsection 2: The IFC will randomly visit each fraternity’s rush event throughout the week. Each house is subject to as many inspections as the IFC Executive Board deems sufficient throughout rush in order to ensure recruitment policies are being followed by each chapter. All visits to fraternity events will be assigned on a random basis and will not be chosen until immediately before departure to the respective events.

Subsection 3: Any violations noted by the IFC Executive Board will be sent as a report immediately to the Executive Vice-President of Judicial Affairs.