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Show ADDRESSING FRATS' BAD BEHAVIOR F raternities on college campuses are often sterotyped as groups of straight, white males interested in shallow masculinity, campus social status, hard alcohol and sexually aggressive behavior. With such social labeling coming from the promotion and endorsement of misogyny, a sentiment that in this day and age should be absent from college and university campuses. Most women and men today are coming down on the bad-boy frat house paradigm, making a point that there is a growing unacceptance of the typical bad behavior displayed by many fraternities, and universities need to pay more attention and stop passively enabling frats' behavior. Historically, American colleges and universities have abided by the in loco parentis doctrine, which generated a sort of parental obligation that advanced schools had for their undergraduates. However, according to The Atlantic's Caitlin Flanagan in her documented findings after a yearlong investigation of Greek houses, this tradition has changed in recent years. The 1960s posed a turning point, a new era and a new way of existing within a university: no dorm mothers, no demerit systems and no curfews. The way kids saw it, she wrote, if they were old enough to die in Vietnam, they didn't need a major institution overseeing their decisions and behavior. Colleges began regarding their students as adults rather than dependents still in need of an upbringing. Such a social revolution, combined with a newfound propensity for hard drugs, freer sex and the passing of the Minimum Drinking Age Act that encouraged alcoholic practice within private residences, created the basis from which today's fraternities were built. Modern fraternities are generally built based on exclusion, gaining the appeal of students seeking social acceptance in college through the notion that members are the "real men" on campus. And while athletic ability, muscle mass and an aptitude for consuming massive quantities of alcohol are good indicators to most young college men, nothing seems to say "I'm the man" more to his frat buddies than harassing and degrading women for sport. During Yale's 2010 academic school year, as reported by Fox News, Delta Kappa Epsilon members marched through the New Haven campus, chanting about women in the context of necrophilia. Before that, in 2008, members of Zeta Psi of Yale were forced to apologize after pictures surfaced on Facebook showing twelve pledges posing in front of the women's center with a sign reading, "We Love Yale Sluts." Fraternities have been around for over 200 years, but according to Nicholas Syrett, an assistant professor of history at the University of Northern Colorado and the author of The Company He Keeps: A History of White College Fraternities, they seem to have grown in feminine hostility over the past 100 years. According to Syrett, the 20th century brought problems with college protests against coeducation. In the 1960s, a California fraternity even sponsored "Hate Women Week" on its college campus. Syrett goes on to report that "over the past 30 years, psychologists, anthropologists, sociologists and educators have continued to document alarming trends in pressure to have sex among fraternity men, coerce it from unwilling women through the use of alcohol and report it afterward to the assembled brotherhood" The idea of gathering groups of like-minded individuals within colleges and universities to form supportive communities is not the problem. The problem comes from what too many of these groups end up supporting and intensifying through the formation of fraternities. Until colleges choose not to tolerate the shameless frat behavior associated with their campuses, many fraternities will continue their bad behavior. Colleges and universities must work harder to step in and ensure that such degrading and irresponsible behavior does not occur. Many say colleges choose not to interfere because frats reduce housing costs so significantly that risking shutdown isn't worth the potential financial losses.To me, it is disheartening that American academic institutions supposedly committed to educating young adults for life after college would look away from such damaging behavior for the sake of saving money. SABINA MASUD f someone asked you what your primary sexual organ was, chances are you would automatically think of your genitalia and leave it at that. However, there's another organ that can affect sexual prowess (or lack thereof, in this case) that may come as a surprise: your eyes. Viewing pornography so much that it becomes an addiction has become a reality for a multitude of men and women, and although many believe that substance abuse is the only addiction that can alter an individual both mentally and physically, porn addiction has the same dangerous effects on the brain and psyche as many drugs. Frequent and excessive exposure to pornography can change the chemistry of your brain and alters how individuals react to the world around them, leaving many addicts unable to participate in healthy relationships. It's time to treat porn addiction with the same urgency and concern as society gives to substance abuse. consistent exposure, the reward center will stop being triggered by the same, now mundane, pornographic images. An individual will need to look at something more perverse in order to receive the same rush of dopamine, which is why many porn addicts may cross over to child pornography, an industry that generates $3 billion annually. In a recent study done by German researchers, experts found that men who watched an average of four hours of porn per week actually had a smaller amount of gray matter in an area of the brain that controls motivation and reward processing. The MRI scans also showed less activity for regular porn consumers in the left putamen, which usually automatically responds to sexual images. Lastly, those who watch pornography on a weekly basis had a weaker connection between the striatum and prefrontal cortex, suggesting they might have a harder time with good decisionmaking than those who do not regularly consume porn. It would be easy to ignore the physical evidence that porn alters the chemistry of the brain if this change did not manifest in real life. But pornography addiction affects individuals on more than one level. Because those ad- 14 { THECHRONY I NEWS I OPINION I ARTS I SPORTS I THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23 2014 } _ Dal 1 ILUT A H IC I L N: r CHRONICLE INVITE YOU AND A GUEST TO A SPECIAL ADVANCE SCREENING MiCHAEL KEATON ZACH GALiFiANAKiS E DWARD NORTON ANDREA RiSEBOROUGH A M Y RYAN E M M A STONE N A0Mi WATTS BiRDMAN (THE UNEXPECTED VIRTUE OF IGNORANCE) letters@chronicle.utah.edu Porn usage comparable to substance abuse Whether or not the word pornography still elicits the same hushed giggles reminiscent of 7th grade locker room chats for you, the truth is it has become absolutely normal in our modern society. The porn industry generates $13 billion each year in the U.S. and, as if the issue needed any more relevance to U students, Utah ranks as number one in online porn subscriptions in the entire nation. Revenue from porn sales is larger than the combined revenue for basketball, football and baseball franchises in the country. In addition, 64% of male college-aged students and 18% of female college-aged students use porn at least once a week. The exposure starts as young as 12 for men, and once an individual starts needing porn to satisfy themselves sexually, the addiction only grows. These figures may not come as a surprise, since many of us have been exposed to pornography at one time or another, whether one admits it or not. However, it is the way that pornography can affect an individual's mind that is especially worrisome. Viewing porn creates a dopamine rush identical to the rush one might get from substance abuse.This rush gives the individual a feeling of immense pleasure and lights up the reward center in the brain. After IFEARrH1.1613111 dicted to porn will stop being pleasured by anything that is not 2-D and catered to their-to put it gently-unique tastes, healthy relationships are usually first affected. Addicts are unable to sustain interest and pleasure during intercourse after a long history of sexual self-gratification because that other person might have their own desires, judgements and opinions, things a computer screen does not have. In the U.S., 56 percent of divorce cases involved one party being addicted to viewing pornographic images online. On another note, porn addicts are also more likely to engage in activities such as drug abuse and inappropriate behavior, another factor that undoubtedly affects an individual and those around them. The solution to this problem, eradicating the regular usage of porn, is definitely a lofty goal. However, it must be noted that as the porn industry grows, so does the number of unhappy, sexually incompetent and guilty people. Porn addiction should be regarded as just as destructive as substance abuse. If we stop dismissing the problems excessive consumption of pornography can cause, society as a whole will be one step closer to regaining real life pleasure and mending broken relationships. letters@chronicle.utah.edu "MICHAEL KEATON SOARS IN ALEJANDRO G. INARRITU'S BRILLIANTLY DIRECTED DARK COMEDY." "A TRIUMPH ON EVERY CREATIVE LEVEL' FETTRUTCRUCC.VARIATT FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES mo REGENCY ENTERPRISES Rum. NEW REGENCY/ IA PRODUCTIONS/ LE GRISBI wommNpr TA AIEJANDRO GJNARRriu nu. "BIRDMAN" --X ANTONIO SAN CHI2 = ALBERT NISH! DOUGLAS CRISE STEPHEN MIRITIONE, .17..KERN THOMPSON EM MAN UEL LUBEZNI,.. ANC =CHRISTOPHER WOODROW MOLLY CONNERS SARAH E. JOHNSON ALEIANDRO G. INARRITU JOHN USHER ARNON MILCILAN JAMES W, SNOTCHDOPOLE R _„, II •• ALEJANDRO G. INARRITU NICOlA5 °Igo BONE ALEXANDER DINEIARIS. IR. J. ARMANDO BO ALEJANDRO G. NARRFu •- - um, BIRDMANTHEMOVIE.COM MONDAY, OCTOBER 27 AT 7:00PM VISIT FOXSEARCHLIGHTSCREENINGS.COM AND ENTER THE CODE: DUCSALTLAKE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR COMPLIMENTARY PASSES! THIS FILM HAS BEEN RATED R. Sponsors and their dependents are not eligible to receive a prize. Supplies are limited. Passes received through this promotion do not guarantee a seat at the theater. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis, except for members of the reviewing press. Theater is overbooked to ensure a full house. No admittance once screening has begun. All federal, state and local regulations apply. A recipient of prizes assumes any and all risks related to use of prize, and accepts any restrictions required by prize provider. Fox Searchlight, Allied-THA, Daily Utah Chronicle and their affiliates accept no responsibility or liability in connection with any loss or accident incurred in connection with use of prizes. Prizes cannot be exchanged, transferred or redeemed for cash, in whole or in part. Not responsible if, for any reason, winner is unable to use his/her prize in whole or in part. Not responsible for lost, delayed or misdirected entries. All federal, state and local taxes are the responsibility of the winner. Void where prohibited by law. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. NO PHONE CALLS! IN SELECT THEATERS OCTOBER 31 TRANSIT TROUBLES t seems like every other day I get another email in my Umail inbox from Commuter Services informing me, yet again, that parking is nearly non-exsistent and providing yet another reminder that my overpriced parking permit is worth pennies on the dollar. I should've known that this semester would be a parking nightmare when all my former "E" permit parking lots magically transformed into "U" lots over summer semester, leaving my garage as my only reliable parking space. This is why, when I read about the problems with UTA and the accusations of incompetence combined with outrageous salaries and bonuses, I don't point my finger at those lazy fat-cat executives. Quite frankly, the problem is as much my fault as it is theirs. Part of the justification in purchasing my house was that a TRAX station was just across the street, and I fantasized about how much I would use it to get around. I told myself I would take TRAX downtown and to Bees and Jazz games and save money by leaving my car in the garage. The next fairy tale I believed was that I would take TRAX to the U and not get suckered into buying a useless parking permit. Nearly 15 months after moving into my new house, I finally made the five minute walk over to the TRAX station and used public transportation to get to the airport. After only 15 minutes I remembered why I'm one of thousands of people in the Salt Lake area who have access to TRAX and yet refuse to use it. It simply takes too long to get anywhere. What normally is a 20 minute ride to the airport from my house in a car took nearly an hour and twenty minutes on TRAX. While I detest the parking situation at the U and the fact that I pay for parking spaces that get closer and closer to Foothill Blvd., it only takes me 20 minutes to drive to the U, while TRAX takes over an hour. The problem for me isn't proximity to a station or a bus stop, and it's not necessarily money; it's an issue of time, and the public transportation sucks the life right out of the clock. Some have no other choice but to take public transportation, but others have the choice and still choose to clog the freeways and parking lots at the U. The reality is that those who have no choice but to rely on public transportation don't generate enough revenue to cover the exorbitant costs that UTA is hemorrhaging every year. UTA needs people like me who have access to public transportation but refuse to take it because of time constraints and the alluring availability of a car to use MAX and increase ridership. But I won't, and neither will the many U students who so stealthily steal my precious parking spaces on campus before I arrive. This is the condundrum between UTA and valued potential riders like me. However, there is hope on the horizon, if one is willing to look hard enough. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, the Utah Transit Riders Union is petitioning legislators to raise sales taxes on transit to 1 cent per dollar, which would represent almost a 45 percent increase. In return, it's asking UTA to increase routes and availability, including more late night options that would allow bar-hopping college students to use public transportation to get home on a Saturday night instead of relying on a designated driver or an overpriced Uber taxi. In the article, David Kailas, a senior adviser to UTA, said that cities such as Denver and Minneapolis have nearly double the ridership of UTA because they have more frequent routes. To match this means to match the same amount of taxes those cities levy on transit, and this is how the UTA ridership condundrum can reach a resolution. Like everything in life, it just requires a little more green and a bit more cooperation for everyone to get on board and ride UTA — which would mean, perhaps, I can get my parking spaces back. letters@chronicle.utah.edu 15 |