Sunshine's Blog

What is fact and what is twisted fact? While pursuing to create an argument out of the research I have been doing for this past quarter on the history of Greek life at Santa Clara University and what the student body’s attitude towards Greek life not being affiliated with the school, it is interesting to dive into research pertaining to other institutions Greek life. It is truly difficult at times to determine which portions of these Greek life sources are actually relaying all of the truth. As Kantz points out in her article, “Helping students use textual sources persuasively”, there are pros and cons to every source. This was intriguing because as I have been doing my own research and reading these sources, there are pros and cons to both sides of the conversation I am entering. As being a part of Greek life at SCU, I believe I fall on a bias that Greek life is a pro for college students while plenty of others disagree. The articles I have found so far analyze multiple perspective arguments when it comes to the pros and cons of Greek life such as one’s academic performance and one’s benefit to society. However, as Kantz highlights that students at times interpret these sources to be the truth, in the sense that every detail is included in what they are reading, is something I have definitely run into. For example, I have read one article claiming from a study that Greek life has a lower academic performance than those not, while another claims the exact opposite. These nitty gritty details I must narrow down and figure out which is fact and which is fiction in order to truly enter the conversation of Greek life’s pros and cons effectively.

The 2016/2017 English Premier League Champion has been crowned to Chelsea today after a 1-0 victory of West Brom. Batshuayi scored the games only goal which was enough for Antonio Conte’s Chelsea to win their 6th title. It is impressive that after a long summer prior to coming into Conte’s first season in charge of Chelsea he was busy coaching Italy in the European Championships. His disciplined defense and swift offense that Italy displayed the summer before his arrival was prevalent throughout the season for Chelsea and it paid off.

With the revival of Victor Moses and Marcos Alonso, the three in the back plus two wingbacks became a formation again put to good use since the late 90’s. However, it was tough for other teams to adjust and no one could seem to stop Chelsea this season. They will play Arsenal in the FA cup next week with hopes of making Conte’s first season in charge a double trophy winning one.

For my English CTW class at Santa Clara University, I am currently doing a research project on Greek life. After initial archival research and a survey report, I am now attempting to find articles to make an argumentative essay. So far using the library’s databases, I have had a lot of issues trying to find relevant and convenient articles and sources. I want to continue researching about aspects of Greek life such as if they are truly a benefit to a college students career or a detriment.

I did find one article however that used a longitudinal national dataset to analyze the question above. The article comes from The Journal of College Development written by a few different University professors. One of their most significant findings was that Greek life does not correlate to worse academic performance. This is very interesting as one of the claims against Greek life is that it does not promote intellectual thinking.  I hope to dive in more to articles and research on Greek life.

To end week 35 in the English Premier League, Liverpool host Watford in a crucial match in the race for the top four. Ending up in the top four sees you a place in the Champions League, which is a European tournament for those who finish high enough in their respective leagues.(and the same league I wrote on earlier). For Liverpool, they sit now tied in points with Manchester City while Manchester United sit just one point behind the two of them. Currently, Liverpool and City are third and fourth respectively but that fifth place spot is looming closely in the background. The team that finishes fifth must participate in a Champions league qualifier between the other teams who barely made it in Europe, and is a huge burden on one’s summer schedule.

Other than the huge game this afternoon, league leaders Chelsea dominated Everton 3-0 to extend their lead on Tottenham by four points in the table. Tottenham had a very pivitol win against sixth place Arsenal, who may not see them place in the top four which has not happen in almost ten years. Arsenal’s struggles may see their manager Arsen Wenger sacked if they do not finish in the top four or at least fifth for the play-in place.

While shifting through what seemed like an infinite number of documents, I had no where to begin, just an idea. Within recently becoming a member of Greek life at Santa Clara University I figured it appropriate for me to learn a bit about the history of Greek life. History, is all I could come up. What about the history of Greek life at SCU did I not know about, and what impacts has the history had on Greek life today?

This was me, trying to make sense of the 60 or some odd photos I took while in the archives doing research. Michael Klein, an english professor, proposes a two fold way of thinking about research which he uses the metaphor “hunters” and “gatherers” to describe his method of doing research. “Hunters” are actively looking for something in particular and have a clear understanding of what they are trying to find. Yet, “gatherers” just so happen to stumble upon an artifact that generates the lightbulb to go off in your head.

When it came down to my own process, I was a bit of both. In other words, I had a “hunters” mindset that I wanted to research about Greek life but I had no idea what it was I would stumble across that would spark the topics of engagement in my upcoming research project for my English class.

Today, 4/27/2017, is the second Manchester Derby is set to take place at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England later this afternoon. Although this is the second derby of the English Premier League season, the two sides met earlier this year in the FA cup where United took down City 1-0. However, the first derby of the year played back in September was a 2-1 win for City. Side note, I was actually there at the derby back in September and it was a fantastic match, as my team City won. I digress, but the match later on this afternoon is very crucial in that City sit just one point ahead of United in fourth and fifth place respectively. 

As this fixture is at the Etihad, I predict City to keep most of the possession of the ball, which they do most of the time anyways, which will see a typical Jose Mourinho side park the bus and play on the counter-attack. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, United’s top striker, is set to miss this match due to a knee injury he picked up a week prior which will see him out for the rest of the season. City’s young striker Gabriel Jesus is set to make his return but will most likely start out on the bench as Sergio Aguero has been in brilliant form as of late. My prediction for the match is another 2-1 victory for City.

The end of today brings us to the semi-final matchups for the Champions League, with a Madrid derby of Athletico vs Real and the young French squad Monaco will face Italian superpower Juventus.

The quarter final matches ended up with a 0-0 draw between Juventus and Barcelona which saw Juventus winning the tie 3-0 on aggregate, Monaco defeated favored German side Borussia Dortmund 3-1 on the day and 6-3 on aggregate, Real Madrid defeated a ten man Bayern Munich 4-2 to also win 6-3 on aggregate, and finally Athletico drew to the English champions Leicester City 1-1 but ended up advancing 2-1 on aggregate.

Both Real and Athletico reached the finals last year, with a rematch of the final in the semi’s this year will have Athletico raving for revenge. The other semi final looks very intriguing, with the young french squad facing a veteran Italian squad in Juventus. My predictions for the first leg of the semi-finals must have me leaning for Monaco, as they are so young and talented, out pacing any of their opponents and they beat my team Manchester City in the round of sixteen and have made it this far, I see them winning 2-1 in the first leg. As for the Madrid derby, I honestly have no prediction as to who will be the better side on the day because it is the day that determines who wins since they are both so equally matched. But, since I must make a prediction I foresee a 1-1 draw.

In half an hour, the second legs of the quarter finals of the Champions League takes place with Real Madrid hosting Bayern Munich with a 2-1 lead on aggregate while simultaneously English Champions Leicester City host Athletico Madrid with a 0-1 aggregate deficit.

For those new to soccer or properly called football, in most major tournaments each round consists of two “legs” or two matches each at the respective teams home field to eliminate the home field advantage. The aggregate score mentioned above is the score from the first leg, where if the game ends in a tie, the team with the most away goals wins. So that means Bayern Munich, who’s down 2-1 on aggregate to Real Madrid, need at least 2 goals to win and if they only score one, Real Madrid would take the dub. Both Real and Athletico are teams based in Madrid, Spain and are both in the Spanish Premier division called, “La Liga”, Bayern Munich is based in Munich, Germany participating in the “Bundesliga”, and Leicester City are the reigning English Champions.

It will be mighty difficult for either Bayern or Leicester to come back from their respective deficits, especially Bayern Munich having to play away in the largest stadium in Europe, Real Madrid’s stadium The Bernabeu. However, football is a beautiful game and anything can happen so we shall see. My predictions for todays match will come down to how well Bayern’s fullbacks can maintain Isco and Ronaldo, and the game rests on Jamie Vardy’s shoulders for Leicester City, if he can get one or two good looks on goal the tie might be completely changed. Real vs Bayern: 3-3, Real advances in overtime. Leicester vs Athletico: 1-2, Athletico advances.

Where do I begin? I have no idea to be honest, but within just becoming apart of greek life at this Santa Clara University, it would be truly interesting to dig into the history of greek life at SCU.

Greek life as far as I know, has been a fairly influential part of the social life here at SCU and although this is how it is portrayed and stereotyped throughout the majority of society, not all of greek life is partying and getting laid.

For instance, according to the Fraternity Advisor, 43 out of 50 largest corporations in the US are run by fraternity alumni while every president since 1825, when the first social fraternity was founded, except for two have been a part of a fraternity. So greek life may be portrayed through negative stereotypes, it is evident that those Frat Stars are not just college dropouts but the leaders of this country and of the biggest corporations. Not to mention, that around 7 million dollars are raised annually by greek life across the US. This money is not going to future parties though, all of this money is money raised for philanthropy and that is one characteristic of greek life that I truly resonate with.

With regards to how the readings in class from Tirabassi and Gaillet relate to where I will be going with my research; Gaillet asserts that effective research needs to be personal and within myself being apart of greek life, it is for sure personal. While Tirabassi hits home with cross referencing, in which I hope I can cross reference the archives of greek life at this university compared to other jesuit universities to stumble across significant similarities and differences.

Although I do not have a specific question as to what it is about greek life at SCU that I want to ask, but I do have an interest on the differences between greek life here at SCU and other jesuit universities as well as larger state schools and universities. For example I know that at most large scale schools with greek life, each sorority and fraternity have massive mansions that 40-80 students reside in while here at SCU there is practically none of that, with their being multiple smaller “satellite” houses. So greek life housing is an avenue I am interested in exploring.

Versus

This past winter quarter at Santa Clara University was one of the most significant and moving parts of my life. The mental and physical advancement may seem outrageous to most, as stereotypes and stigmas towards it hinder a greater overarching goal. The goal of promoting boys to men, creating a bond of brotherhood that will last a lifetime.

I had decided to rush the Kappa Sigma Fraternity at Santa Clara University from day one. My now big, introduced me to his fellow brothers the very first moment I stepped onto this campus and I knew then how much apart of my life I wanted this Fraternity to be. Rush itself however did not begin until the second week of winter quarter. I had no trouble deciding which fraternity I was going to rush during rush week, I did not even talk to any other guys in any other fraternity because I knew what my heart was set on AEKDB. Blessed be the day I received my bid, and not knowing how drastically my life would change forever.

Now writing this is day four of being an active member of the Fraternity, no longer a worthless pledge but a brother it’s still surreal. The activities and education we received during the pledge process is something that stigmas around hazing. Kappa Sigma is a non-hazing fraternity and I know that we hold true to that. So what are some of the things I actually did learn and do? Well you’d have to rush to find out yourself, just kidding. From learning how it all started to how to take care of a Brother when they have alcohol poisoning.