The new Tau Epsilon Phi fraternity house
received its roof
recently but work
still needs to be
done in order to
finish the house
before the August
1st deadline.
(Photos/Ben Bussard)
Sigma Nu’s new fraternity house
(foreground) still
has some roofing
and landscaping
concerns while the
Pi Kappa Alpha house
(background left) is
nearing its completion.
By Ben Bussard
ATHENS, Ga—Distress overcomes those who live in four fraternity houses forced to relocate off campus.
Tau Epsilon Phi, Sigma Nu, Pi Kappa Alpha, and Phi Delta Theta are the fraternities that will be changing addresses—joining the Alpha Epsilon Pi and Kappa Sigma houses on River Road.
According to the Greek Advisor to Housing Management, Andrew Rasmussen, the move was encouraged by the University in an effort to utilize the property that the fraternity houses currently occupy in a more beneficial manner for the University.
“The University realized how valuable that property is,” Rasmussen said, “So they decided to tear down those houses to make room for classrooms and academic buildings.”
The property in discussion, located on the corner of Baxter Street and Lumpkin Street, is directly across the street from the Miller Learning Center and will serve as an ideal spot for other academic buildings that would contribute for more to the student body than a few fraternity houses.
One of the fraternity houses that isn’t moving is the Sigma Chi house which is located next door to the Phi Delta Theta house.
Members of the fraternities being forced to move have raised some discrepancies over the Sigma Chi house remaining on campus.
“The Sigma Chi house has a 100-year property contract that gives them a kind of immunity,” Rasmussen said, “It was signed less than 10 years ago, so they’re going to be there for awhile.”
Even with that explanation, members of the fraternities whose houses are moving feel somewhat taken advantage of.
Lenny Bluestein, a senior advertising major from Alpharetta and member of the Tau Epsilon Phi fraternity, is definitely frustrated that his fraternity is losing its prime location next to Sanford Stadium.
“It sucks, man. I mean we are less than five minutes away from Sanford and the rest of campus,” Bluestein said, “Now we have to find a way to get to class and tailgating will be completely different.”
Bluestein isn’t the only one frustrated by the change of residence.
Fellow Tau Epsilon Phi brother and junior business major from Macon, Josh Sandberg, expressed similar disgust with the forced move.
“I’m going to have to pay to park on campus somewhere now,” Sandberg said, “And it was nice to be so close to the MLC because I need to spend as much time there as possible and now I’ll be less likely to make it there.”
Construction is set to be completed before the beginning of the fall semester and the fraternity houses on the corner of Baxter and Lumpkin have already been vacated.
All dissention aside, the University’s decision to place academic buildings on the fraternity houses’ property is the right one to make.
“As the Greek advisor, I need to make sure that the best interests of the fraternities are preserved,” Rasmussen said, “But using the property for school purposes is definitely the better use for the area.”
ATHENS, Ga—Distress overcomes those who live in four fraternity houses forced to relocate off campus.
Tau Epsilon Phi, Sigma Nu, Pi Kappa Alpha, and Phi Delta Theta are the fraternities that will be changing addresses—joining the Alpha Epsilon Pi and Kappa Sigma houses on River Road.
According to the Greek Advisor to Housing Management, Andrew Rasmussen, the move was encouraged by the University in an effort to utilize the property that the fraternity houses currently occupy in a more beneficial manner for the University.
“The University realized how valuable that property is,” Rasmussen said, “So they decided to tear down those houses to make room for classrooms and academic buildings.”
The property in discussion, located on the corner of Baxter Street and Lumpkin Street, is directly across the street from the Miller Learning Center and will serve as an ideal spot for other academic buildings that would contribute for more to the student body than a few fraternity houses.
One of the fraternity houses that isn’t moving is the Sigma Chi house which is located next door to the Phi Delta Theta house.
Members of the fraternities being forced to move have raised some discrepancies over the Sigma Chi house remaining on campus.
“The Sigma Chi house has a 100-year property contract that gives them a kind of immunity,” Rasmussen said, “It was signed less than 10 years ago, so they’re going to be there for awhile.”
Even with that explanation, members of the fraternities whose houses are moving feel somewhat taken advantage of.
Lenny Bluestein, a senior advertising major from Alpharetta and member of the Tau Epsilon Phi fraternity, is definitely frustrated that his fraternity is losing its prime location next to Sanford Stadium.
“It sucks, man. I mean we are less than five minutes away from Sanford and the rest of campus,” Bluestein said, “Now we have to find a way to get to class and tailgating will be completely different.”
Bluestein isn’t the only one frustrated by the change of residence.
Fellow Tau Epsilon Phi brother and junior business major from Macon, Josh Sandberg, expressed similar disgust with the forced move.
“I’m going to have to pay to park on campus somewhere now,” Sandberg said, “And it was nice to be so close to the MLC because I need to spend as much time there as possible and now I’ll be less likely to make it there.”
Construction is set to be completed before the beginning of the fall semester and the fraternity houses on the corner of Baxter and Lumpkin have already been vacated.
All dissention aside, the University’s decision to place academic buildings on the fraternity houses’ property is the right one to make.
“As the Greek advisor, I need to make sure that the best interests of the fraternities are preserved,” Rasmussen said, “But using the property for school purposes is definitely the better use for the area.”
EDITED: Imann Gad
Ben, Imann:
ReplyDeleteThis story does a good job pointing out the concerns some fraternities have over being forced to move and providing the university's explanation for why it's being done. I can see why the fraternities are upset, but isn't this River Road location less than a mile from the MLC? Can't you see the stadium from the top floors of those new houses?
Your lead feels a little melodramatic for the circumstances, but it might work if your quotes from the complaining fraternities came right behind it. As it is, a reader has to get more than halfway through the story to come across any distress. You always want to follow your lead with several paragraphs that reinforce it. It's the focal point of the story, not a preview of the second half.
You also need to avoid editorializing about the university's decision. It's not your place to say, as you do in the penultimate paragraph, whether the decision to move those houses was the right one. If you've done your job, the reader can reach his or her own conclusion based on the information you've provided. This kind of opinionated language is something editors have to be trained to catch and excise from stories.
Also, make sure your quotes are punctuated correctly. If you put the attribution in the middle of a quote, and the sentence continues after the attribution, you use a comma and then a lowercase letter to start the second part of the quote. If one sentence ends after the attribution and a new one begins, you need a period after the attribution and a capital letter to start the second part.
So in the following quote, there should be a period after "Bluestein said."
“It sucks, man. I mean we are less than five minutes away from Sanford and the rest of campus,” Bluestein said, “Now we have to find a way to get to class and tailgating will be completely different.”
Good job getting some pictures. You could include some of the construction schedule information in the story.