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April 3, 2014 | Volume 4, Issue 8 | Los Angeles, CA

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TRADITIONS PAGE 2

GREEK OF THE WEEK page 5 LA WEEKLY HOTSPOT: THE BIGG CHILL page 10 Empty Row For House Philanthropies.

Ben Kraus (left), Ali Espinosa (right)

2 Greek Life traditions

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TRADITIONS This being my first year at USC, I don’t know much about the traditions of what most students participate in every year, but I think

DAVID KARLSBERG Delta Tau Delta

D a v i d i s a s o p h o m o re studying communication.

You may contact him at epiphone504@gmail.com.

im starting to learn.

Recently, I’ve heard students talking about Coachella and other music festivals.

For those who don’t know, Coachella is two weekend music festival, with different headliners every day (Friday through Sunday). Coachella will be the

the date. You can hear lots of talk of Coachella all over campus, and students

weekend of 4/11 and 4/18. Headliners include Outkast, Muse, and Arcade

have been going for years. I hope to discover more traditions like this, Vegas

Fire. People have been talking to each other about what weekends they are free,

and Cabo as I spend more time here at USC, and I hope everyone is staying in

so they can go with all of their friends. People have been buying these tickets

the loop on things that might interest them.

months in advance, as they get more and more expensive as you get closer to

THE ODYSSEY AT USC CREATIVE TEAM Editor in Chief David Karlsberg Delta Tau Delta Writers Jay Juster, Phi Sigma Kappa Kristen Garrett, Alpha Gamma Delta

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The Odyssey is a private entity not associated or governed by The University of Southern California or USC Greek life office. The views and opinions shared in The Odyssey are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of The Odyssey and Olympia Media Group.

Scene on campus

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UP AND COMING APRIL POLICIES Showers aren’t the only things to be expecting on the row this April at SC. In an effort to improve the universities academic standing and reputation a s a p re s t i g i o u s , President Nikias is putting new social and spending policies into place starting this month.

ALYSSA POTEET Pi Beta Phi

Alyssa is a freshman studying Industrial and systems engineering.

You may contact him at alyssapoteet@comcast.net.

First and foremost, USC has created a new policy that will become effective by the end of April to reduce underage drinking. All fraternities will be completely dry of alcohol and monitored by DPS. “Students will be more able to put energy into their academics if they’re less distracted by illegal activities,” stated a USC board of trustee’s member. In addition, DPS will now be enforcing “Greek quiet hours” where from 12am-6am all houses on 28th outside shut off because it implies partying and drinking.

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In addition to regulating Greek drinking, USC feels that frequent male female interaction between students may be distracting from studies. To address this problem, no girls will be allowed into fraternities and no boys will be allowed into sororities past quiet hours starting once the new quiet hour policy takes effect. DPS will be making rounds to enforce this rule. “Studies have shown that sufficient sleep is necessary to promote healthy brain function,” a board member explains.

“It would be irresponsible to allow students to distract themselves from the sleep they need to succeed.” street must have all music audible from the

In accompaniment with the new row policies, punishment will be issued to students found breaking these rules in order to properly enforce them. Houses found breaking policies will be put on social probation for as long as deemed necessary by the university. Individuals not abiding by these guidelines will be punished with potential reprimands consisting of banning from future SC varsity sporting events, loss of scholarships, or lack of other privileges determined at the universities digression based on the severity of each incident. For more sever incidents, USC feels it’s appropriate to punish students for their actions by having them take time to read long articles pertaining to types of social policies that are completely untrue in effort to trick them on April fool’s day, but the board hopes it will never come down to something that ridiculous.

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Scene on campus

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PI SOCIAL 2014

This year ’s Pi Phi Philanthropy is sure to be a huge hit!

This is sure to be a fun philanthropy, as people get the opportunity to “Pie a Pi Phi”

the sorority’s face.

CHRISTI CAMERON info info

On Wednesday, April 2, the women of Pi Beta Phi will be hosting their annual “Pi Social.” This night of eating and dancing will take place from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. at their sorority house and is open to the public The long-held tradition has an All-American theme to it, and like each year before, the Pi Phi house will be decked out from head to toe in red, white, and blue.

This activity will be accompanied by others such as line-dancing, and a pie-eating contest. The line dancing lessons will be taught by freshmen Hannah James and Sam Sommers. A pie-eating contest will also be held, and the entrances fee is ten dollars.

Freshmen Karina Farris says, “I am very excited to experience my first Pi Social.

The older girls in the house have nothing but positive things to say about the event, and I know I will enjoy having a great time while also raising money for a great cause.”

The proceeds from Pi Social will benefit one of Pi Phi’s main causes: literacy. The money raised at this event will go directly to one of Pi Phi’s philanthropies, First Book. This philanthropy is a non-profit organization that supports and encourages children’s literacy.

This event will include an all-you-can-eat barbeque dinner and dessert throughout the entirety of the night.

Many Pi Phi’s will be selling shirts around The Row and on campus in order to advertise their philanthropy. By purchasing a fifteen dollar shirt and wearing it to the event, one will not be charged an entrance fee.

The basis of the philanthropy revolves around the theme of “pie-ing a Pi-Phi.” Guests of the event can pay five dollars to literally throw a pie in any member of

The ladies of Pi Beta Phi are excited to host this event and encourage all members of Greek life to participate.

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MS. GREEK OF THE WEEK

What do you ideally see yourself doing after graduation?: After graduation, I hope to work in marketing in the entertainment industry.

Favorite quote: “You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you’ll discover will be wonderful. What you’ll discover is yourself.” -Alan Alda Do you participate in other organizations or have other jobs on campus?: Marshall Women’s Leadership Board, JEP, Daily Trojan, USG Community Affairs committee Coachella, EDC, or Stagecoach?: Coachella What is your favorite memory as a USC Trojan?: Favorite memory at USC so far was definitely the football game against Stanford this year. It was such an amazing game and I will never forget rushing the field after we won. Going to the tailgates and games and being part of such an intense school spirit always reminds me why I am so proud to be a Trojan.

Proud to be in Tri Delt?: I am proud to be in Tri Delt because the girls in the house are some of the most genuine, intelligent, fun, hardworking, and dedicated people I have ever met. I feel constantly inspired by my sisters and they teach me something new every day.

Izzy Albert has a great story of how she sees Greek life and loves being in Tri Delta.

McKenna wrote this week’s Greek of the Week, about one of her sisters in Tri Delta.

Name: Izzy Albert Sorority: Delta Delta Delta Hometown: Saratoga, CA Major: Business Administration Favorite Movie: Bridesmaids Celebrity crush: John Mayer Song: Party in the USA (lol) What inspires you?: My parents have always inspired me to put my entire heart into everything I do. They are both so hardworking and loving and have always inspired me to be the best person I can be.

What is your favorite thing about being in a sorority?: My favorite thing about being in a sorority is definitely the sisterhood; it is so cool being able to be part of something so close-knit and as soon as I joined, I had an instant family. I have made friendships that I know will last a lifetime and I am so grateful for that!

Greek in one word: Loyalty One thing most people don’t know about you?: I was on a crew team in high school.

6 Greek Life traditions MR. GREEK OF THE WEEK

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This week’s Greek of the Week is an uncensored conversation between Kristen and Garrett from Phi Delt.

This Greek of The Week was interviewed

by Kristen Garrett, and Kristen kept the article very entertaining by reporting everything that was said.

Name: Garrett Weskamp Year: Freshman Major: Neuroscience, minor in musical studies From: Springfield, Missouri House: Phi Delta Theta

it’s own personality that fits each person, which I like, because there’s something for everyone out there pretty much.

And it’s also great to see the houses working t o g e t h e r, l i k e a t philanthropies when you see the sororities doing all the sports activities, and the fraternities competing against one another is cool.

Yeah.

Well, I applied to USC on a whim, not really thinking anything about getting in, I just though it had great academics, it was in a great location. Then I got in and got a good enough scholarship to get to go here, and just make my dreams come true. Just kidding, don’t put that in there. Don’t put the “make my dreams come true.” That’s stupid.

1984. George Orwell.

Yeah because I wanted to get out into the big city. You know, Springfield is pretty rural, country boy making his way as a neuroscientist—

Favorite movie?

School of Rock.

I’m family friends with Joan Cusack.

What?!

Yeah her son is in my sister’s grade, she’s seen me do some improv and shows.

Oh my god.

Favorite food?

Dream job? Neurosurgeon.

Sushi.

What’s your ten-year plan?

Favorite body of water?

This is making you sound like such a romantic, Garrett.

I know. I probably see myself still somewhere on the west coast. Okay, the end.

Okay. So what’s been your favorite part of USC? Okay. Best part about USC? Um… it’s probably got to be all the people that I’ve met. Growing up in Springfield, you’re exposed to really one type of person, and here I’ve been able to meet so many types of people with so many different interests, and it’s been really cool.

Very cool. What’s your favorite thing you’ve done at USC so far?

Let’s see… probably the Catalina yacht cruise that we went on with Phi Delt and DG to Catalina, on a boat. It was fun.

So why did you choose to join Phi Delt, and have you liked it so far?

Well I originally wasn’t planning on joining a house right away, I was planning on spring semester. But then I came out to rush events, met a lot of awesome guys in the house, just really felt like that was the place where I fit in. I didn’t really see that in any of the other houses. I felt like the people in there I see as being some of my closest friends, because they also have some of the same interests as me, like they wanted to work hard, but play hard. God, I sound so stupid! How do people do interviews? How does—I could never be a celebrity. Um, what else is good about Phi Delt… I mean, yeah, essentially why I joined was for the brotherhood, for the friends, my pledge class I was with became some of my best friends, I’m living with them next year.

How has your experience with Greek life as a whole been at USC thus far?

I think it sort of gives every person like, their own little ground—like they each have their own little central location where they can go to find their friends, and each has

Kristen is a freshman studying theatre. You may contact her at garrettk@usc.edu.

Favorite Book?

What’s your dream job?

Okay. Four years, graduate from USC. Go to a med school, don’t really care which one. During med school, I’m going to meet the love of my life. We’re going to get married the day I graduate from med school. It’s going to be some sort of big symbolic thing, I don’t know—my love for both medicine and people—I don’t know. I just came up with that right now, I kind of like it. Or it’s an awful idea. Okay 10 years. How old will I be? 29? Definitely move out of Central Los Angeles, because this place is way too crazy. I’ll probably be a resident by then, not making any money. I’ll be super poor, working so many hours, yet married to the love of my life.

Alpha Gamma Delta

Okay, I want to do—and by want to, I mean I’m making you do—quick fire round.

Ready?

What made you decide to come to USC for college?

So was the fact that it was in LA have anything to do with it?

KRISTEN GARRETT

Probably… What kind of question is this?

It’s an awesome one.

It’s a good one, but like—how about Mississippi River?

If you were to have one piece of reconstructive plastic surgery done, what would you do?

Jesus Christ. Um, a huge jaw. Just like, huge jaw implants. Just so that I could be a model and have a huge overcast on my neck like in all those sexy modeling photos.

Preferably black and white.

Favorite religion?

Pastafarianism. They believe in a Flying Spaghetti Monster.

I love that. I wasn’t going to put that question in, but now I am. Favorite person in Alpha Gamma Delta?

Kristen Garrett!

Yay! Favorite band?

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltson. Small band from my hometown. Hipster!

Just put in parentheses, “He’s a hipster”. (No) Favorite clothing store to shop at?

I like Express.

Favorite quote?

I’d rather… what is it?

Aww. Let the record show he has it on his phone.

I have it on my twitter. And I think it’s on my tinder too, that’s disgusting. Here it is: “I have a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom” –Angus Grossart.

I’m not 100% sure it’s him though, I found it on Google one time.

Lastly, general life advice?

Carpe Diem, seize the day. Make your lives extraordinary.

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Scene on campus

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LA WEEKLY HOTSPOT: THE BIGG CHILL

This week’s Hotspot is a frozen yogurt place with a large variety.

If you’re ever looking for frozen yogurt, look no further. The froyo craze has taken over the city of Los Angeles, with new shops popping up on every corner. The “best” yogurt place may vary due to taste interests- sweet, tart, fruity, or classic. Located on the corner of Westwood and Olympic, “The Bigg Chill” has been serving for over 20 years, and they keep it old school by accepting only cash, no credit cards. The shop maintains a fun 50s inspired look, and the portion sizes are definitely generous.

With the exception of Ghirardelli (Chocolate),

PAULINA ASSAF

Delta Delta Delta Paulina is a freshman that is undecided. You may contact her at passaf@usc.edu.

Vanilla Classic, Peanut Butter and Chill Berry (or Plain Tart), flavors change every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to keep your taste buds interested. The shop offers two no-sugar added carbolite flavors, one low calorie, fat-free “wow cow” flavor, and one dairy free option. Toppings range from fruit to candy to liquid sauces such peanut butter, caramel and marshmallow. The shop is also famous for its delectable vegan cookie dough, but offers the regular batter as well. With 12 flavors to choose from, you’ll end up with a great problem on your hands. In addition to a serving of froyo in a cup or cone, The Bigg Chill sells small and large pies for any occasion or celebration that will serve about 8-12 people. You custom design your pie choosing your favorite flavor and toppings to be seated in a crisp graham cracker pie crust covered in melted chocolate fudge. Finally, the shop also sells a variety of low calorie, gluten free and dairy free cookies, brownies, donuts, crackers, chips, and more snacks to satisfy your sweet tooth without sacrificing your figure. Visit on any weekend evening and the line is sure to be out the door, but it always moves quickly. If you have not yet allowed yourself to taste the best frozen yogurt out there, you should do so as soon as possible- and don’t forget your cash!

Address 10850 W. Olympic Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90064 Phone (310) 475-1070 Website (for daily listed flavors) http://thebiggchill.com/flavors/

Ideas debate & discuss

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THE FRATERNITY ADVANTAGE

According to a poll conducted by the National Center for Educational Statistics, in 2007 colleges enrolled 18.2 million students, which accounted for around 39% of 18- to 24-yearolds in the country.

JAY JUSTER Phi Sigma Kappa

Jay is a junior studying psychology. You may contact him at Juster@usc.edu.

Cornell’s Greek Life shows that around 187,000 of these undergraduate members went Greek throughout 12,000 chapters existing in more than 800 campuses in the United States and Canada.

With 9 millions members nationally, the fraternity men and women of America represent almost 3% of the total population. Assuming half of those people are women, only 1.5% of American men experience the true value and rare opportunity that a fraternity presents. Although academic classes provide worthwhile knowledge of important subjects, nothing compares to the wisdom gained and life-lessons learned from a brotherhood because, within the fraternity house, life becomes the classroom, the teacher, and the subject matter.On a daily basis, I am forced to confront my habits.

Coordinating my life with one roommate is hard enough. Trying to figure out how to appease three other guys sharing my bathroom and thirty other guys sharing my house actually creates a large amount of stress in my day. As a people pleaser, I enjoy considering what makes others happy and doing those things that way even if it’s more inconvenient for me. I find myself throwing clothes into a designated hamper that I would’ve otherwise thrown on the ground and keeping all of my belongings organized. I constantly stop myself in order to slightly correct my decision-making process.I now appreciate how every day consists of a million small decisions that either positively or negatively impact my life. I have to care about everything I do and say. I am learning firsthand, during the longest class of my day (fraternity), both how to act and how to express myself without causing conflict. This skills provides me with a heightened level of awareness and sensitivity throughout my day and a mentality that focuses on how to do even the littlest things right.

In the few months I’ve enjoyed residency in my chapter house, I’ve learned quite well the value of the phrases “Do it right or do it twice,” “The early bird gets the worm,” and “90% of life is just showing up.”I’ve begun to recognize the magnitude of importance that these fraternal relationships have in the grand scheme of my life. Not only will I leave college with a plethora of connections, but I will have a well-honed skill set that many GDIs simply lack because it’s not something that college formally teaches as a subject.

Many people cause unnecessary and excessive conflict merely as a result of poor communication skills. These people are typically blunt, direct, and stubborn. They are clear about what they want and refuse to compromise. The missing aspect that separates a good man from a great man could be labelled leadership, but it encompasses self-control, diplomacy, knowledge of social and system dynamics, assertiveness, and so much more. It boils down to the degree of passion someone has for his goals and how capable he is of expressing those goals to other people in a way that inspires them on an individual basis.

Other statistics demonstrate that involvement in Greek life correlates strongly to obtaining a position of immense power. According to Greek Life Statistics, 43 of the nation’s 50 largest corporations are headed by fraternity men. 85% of Fortune 500 executives, 40 of the 47 U.S. Supreme Court Justices since 1910, 76% of all Congressmen and Senators, and all Presidents and Vice Presidents except two from each category are Greek. The reason is the gradual development of this crucial skill set and the mentality that it presupposes.

Fraternities force a person to determine the best course of action ahead of time.

Not only does the purpose, the why, need crystal clarity, but the actions, the how, need forethought, as well. This applies to responsibilities, chores, and even who I sit next to during meals.As I continue to focus more on what I want, I find myself gravitating toward the people, circumstances, and things that will naturally help me achieve those goals.

Living in the diverse house of Phi Sigma Kappa has provided with such a wealth of knowledge coming from different perspectives. Picking my brothers’ brains when I find that they excel in certain areas that I am lacking in has been the greatest blessing of all. When I openly admit my weaknesses, I don’t have to look past the walls of my own home to find the person who actually embodies the solution. In this class of life, I realize that there are no letter grades, only degrees of happiness.

I can tell when my life is going well because that’s when I experience happiness on the most consistent basis. I narrow down the direction of where I want my life to go and figure out how to make that happen. It gives me a reason to wake up and creates a degree of excitement that spreads contagiously to those around me.

Those aforementioned statistics make total sense to someone living through the fraternity experience. Although it may be tough some days and impossible to live with on others, those few moments where everything clicks and people express their appreciation for my efforts, no matter how small, are the ones I live for and can only truly cherish because I always get to share them with a variety of my closest friends.

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HOW INSTAGRAM IS MAKING US DUMBER

Remember the moment when you finally got that first digital camera?

experimenter would guide him or her to the art piece.

JAY JUSTER

Phi Sigma Kappa The sleek, hand-held device that you knew Jay is a junior studying would revolutionize psychology. You may contact him not only what you at Juster@usc.edu. bring to the table when you hang out with friends, but also how you store all the photos of beautiful scenery, blurry scenery, and, well, just blurs.

If the findings of a recent study published by Fairfield University’s Linda Henkel holds true, then you should really, really appreciate that magic moment because it might just mark the beginning of your slowly decaying memory.

Let me start out by making a psychic prediction... you take photos. I bet that in some way, shape, or form you are contributing to the 300 million photos that are uploaded to Facebook each day. I probably shouldn’t have told you that. Now my prediction seems less mystical.

Anyway, previous research has shown that there are some tangible benefits to snapping these shots. For one, when you see these pictures even 30 years later, you activate memories and trigger a whole range of emotions. In fact, research done by Koustaal et al in 1998 suggests that overtime you retain these memories better as you keep looking back at the same pictures.

But, what exactly are you remembering? The moment artistically captured in the photo? Whatever you were thinking or feeling at the time? The events associated with that photo?

One thing seems for sure: you are not actually remembering what happened at the time you took the photo. For that particular moment, the camera became your eye and the photograph downloaded to your camera rather than your brain.

In the present study, researchers performed two separate experiments where they guided individual undergraduate students through the Bellarmine Museum of Art. During the tour, they gave participants a list of words, which were the titles of various art pieces found around the museum. As the undergrad read the title out loud, the

In the first experiment, participants stood in front of each object for 30 seconds and either took a photo after 20 seconds or simply looked for the entire time. In the second experiment, participants would either observe, photograph the whole object, or zoom in on a specific part of the exhibit.

The results of the first experiment indicated that taking a photograph hurt a person’s ability to recall information about what they took a photo of in basically every way.

They were worse at remembering visual details, the names, and where the art pieces were located in the museum.

This finding aligns with a type of “dismiss and forget” paradigm set up by researchers Golding & MacLeod in 1998. Tell people to forget something and they will. In the same way, tell people to take photographs and their brain will rely on the picture for future recall rather than remembering by itself.

(Photo courtesy of http://www.youtube.com/user/StrikerWolf3.)

To test this idea further, the second experiment followed basically the same guidelines except that now the participants were asked to zoom for half of the pictures they took.

Again, casually taking a photograph of the whole piece of art hurt every part of a person’s memory.

Surprisingly, zooming in on one part of the object actually resulted in comparable memory of the object’s details as just looking. Somehow, taking the time to pinch the screen improves your brain functioning.

So, what does this all mean for you and your life? Should you just remove the camera function from your phone? Or maybe take a picture and then just continue to stare for an extra 20 seconds just in case?

Well, yes and no. The key is to be smart about how you use your camera. If you find yourself taking countless photographs everyday and spending more countless hours deciding which hashtags to use for your Instagram and Facebook posts, you have definitely crossed a line.

The reason you wanted that new-age digital memory-maker in the first place was to be cool and collect priceless moments, remember? So stay cool, hang out with friends, and bust out the camera at the beginning, middle, and end of your night. Capture the progression from sober to tipsy to drunk to toilet. You know you’re doing it wrong when you can’t remember anything even though you didn’t drink any alcohol.

Most importantly, stop taking selfies. Especially at funerals.

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campus Sceneconnections on campus

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Humor lol

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@totalfratmove: Informing the police officer that you’re a Criminal Justice major and everything is under control. #TFM

@totalfratmove: Talking about your former pledge brother who dropped as if he was dead. #TFM

@itsWillyFerrell: A cop stopped me and said “license please” so I offered him a donut and said “I donut have one” and we laughed and laughed and I’m arrested.

@totalsratmove: Giving up unhealthy food for lent: bonafide, or evil genius? #TSM

@totalsratmove: Saying “hashtag” out loud. #TSM

@CollegeTownLife: I think my liver just put in it’s two weeks notice

@CollegeTownLife: If someday we all end up in jail for downloading music illegally, I can only hope they split us up by genre.

@totalsratmove: Talking about Elsa from Frozen as if you know her. #TSTC

@tbhjuststop: here’s to all the kids who have never found their name on anything in a souvenir store

@CollegeTownLife: I hope I did better on my midterms than I did on my bracket

@CollegeTownLife: Let us all have a moment of silence for the girls in the world that are “literally dying right now” because “they just can’t”

@tbhjuststop: people who bite ice cream with their front teeth are on a whole different level @totalfratmove: Taking a personal week after spring break. #TFM @itsWillyFerrell: Mom, Dad, don’t worry, everyone failed that test... @CollegeTownLife: Put some whiskey in my coffee because it’s Ireland somewhere @totalsratmove: Getting anxiety over which size t-shirt to order. #TSM @itsWillyFerrell: That depressing moment when you dip your cookie into milk for too long, it breaks off, and you wonder why bad things happen to good people. @tbhjuststop: I have abs...........olutely nothing

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