The Auto

I like to think of myself as a country fella'. Ever since I was born, I've grown up definitely as a southerner.
I started growing up in the small, quiet town of Wake Forest. Wake Forest was about as small as it got for a rural town (this was before the local economic boom created tons of new businesses and targets/wal-marts). I lived in an old, wooden house that had a large backyard and endless woods, where I could just go outside and fool around in the creek for a while and not have to worry about the things in life (sounds serious for an 8 year old!). The only urban experiences I really had were taking occasional trips to the malls in Raleigh, or maybe a trip to disney world every couple of years. I had a very strong, southern accent as a child. Also, my grandparents had/still have a very large farm that has been handed down for many generations. They used to have both sheep and cows, but we had to sell the sheep because my grandparents are mid-80s and my cousin isn't there anymore to help around the farm. It's way out in the country and it's wonderful. Like I mentioned in class, my great-great-great grandfather was a civil war cavalry soldier. That side of the family (my mom's side) is rich in southern culture. We used to have an old plantation house that was built in the early 1800s that was owned by my great-great grandparents and we have a lot of "southern" family heirlooms that have past down from that generation. A lot of the stuff were religious items, such as old hymnals and an old-fashioned, self-peddled organ (that still works!). And speaking of religion, my family has been Baptists ever since we can remember. However, we're moderates and the battle between fundamental and moderate Baptists is something that is almost characteristic of the south.

Response to Confederates

I found the piece from Confederates in the Attic extremely entertaining. Horwitz's way of describing his experience is phenomenal, specifically by discovering, bit by bit, what the Confederate organizations are about. At the beginning of the chapter, Horwitz first compares the preconceived notion of the Confederate members by James Conner, to the first experience Horwitz has with the members. Conner seems to be skeptical of the group, solely because he is black. However, to the surprise of Horwitz, and to the audience as well, the first encounter with the Confederate members of the UDC is without word of hardly any prejudice towards black or yankee folks. At once, the typical stereotype of those who take pride in their Confederate heritage is dismissed as the group explains how they are in the group only because they are proud of their Confederate history. My favorite part of the book was that specific moment, because for a few seconds, Horwitz allows the audience to see the Confederate group in a different light than normal. Then, in a brilliant move by Horwitz, he gradually unveils the hidden prejudices that the group had, in fact, possessed the whole entire time. Just the way that Horwitz decides to show the UDC in a different manner and then gradually paint it back into it's stereotypical pictures made the reading thrilling!

Event 2: Men's Crew Early Budget/Position Meeting

The student organization meeting that I attended this evening was a preliminary meeting that precedes a larger, officer-elect meeting that will follow in a couple weeks. The purpose of the meeting tonight was to discuss the budget for next year's race season and to discuss any other sorts of business pertaining to the novice men's crew team. Unlike the women's crew team, the men's crew team is not funded by the university. The budget meetings therefore have to be extremely precise, as each member must pay dues of 6 payments of $150 during the course of the seaons (which is both the fall and spring semester). The meeting covered how much money needed to be spent on what products in order to have a successful race season. Further, the meeting discussed how the officers for next year's race season would be elected and what responsibilities they will have.
The meeting greatly contributed to my experience as a university student. Although I had been a part of the crew team for the fall semester, I was completely unaware of where my money went, specifically. I understood that I had to pay funds to be on the team, yet did not know the complexity of keeping the budget straight and keeping the team out of debt. As a university student, and also as a student athlete, it's important to be exposed to all aspects of the university, both publicly and behind the scenes. The meeting opened my eyes to see how hard university faculty and volunteers work in order to keep an organization going. The language of the meeting was completely formal and informative. The audience was only those who were a part of the budget/executive committee, and therefore had to be knowledgeable about the way a budget works. It was an insider vs. insider dialogue.

Observation 3

The third observation of sorority sisters was carried out on the P2P bus from 1-2. From 1 until 2, I sat on the bus and watched how the atmosphere of the P2P bus influenced the way in which the girls acted.

The sorority girls were extremely loud on the bus. However, they interacted with everyone on the bus. As soon as the girls stepped on the bus, most of them started to communicate with the first person they saw. The girls were especially friendly with the bus driver by always talking to him while the bus was moving. When familiar songs came on the radio, all the girls would start singing at the top of their lungs and danced around the bus. Some girls danced on other random people, creating an awkward situation, but showing that the P2P was a comfortable place to be one's self, or openly act wildly. Further, the sorority sisters did not hold back from talking with strangers on the bus and telling party stories to fellow students. The sorority girls openly interacted with all those who rode the bus and did not shy away from any sort of actions or vocabulary. The P2P space changed the behavior of the sorority girls and contrasted to the behavior seen in the Agora.

Observation 2

The second observation took place at the UNC vs. Duke baseball game. In order see a different side of the sorority girls, I actually went to the baseball with a couple of sorority friends and sat with them during some of the game. It was a very open atmosphere with a variety of other microcultures, and it would be interesting to observe how the sisters interacted with others during the baseball game.

During the game, the sorority girls were very communicative with everyone around them. The amount of time spent talking with others outside the Greek community, for example other spectators, was greater than group talk solely within the group. The sisters were not limited to who they spoke with, but easily interacted with others around them by cheering, talking and joking with fellow students. Further, some small talk was observed throughout the ball game, but it was minimal and dealt with grades in classes and attractive college boys. The sorority sisters were very warm as I met some of them for the first time (some of the sisters were friends of a friend). Although I was not a Greek, the girls did not shun me from any of their conversations. In an atmosphere that is open and exciting, such as the baseball game, the sorority girls' behavior changed compared to the behavior exhibited in the cafeteria.

Microculture Observation

Today I sat in the Agora for about an hour, watching sorority sisters come in and out of the cafeteria to eat lunch. Although I do not know many of them on a personal level, I am familiar with a large majority of the girls (mostly because of eavesdropping of conversations, watching pre-gamers before mixers and being out in the hall with groups of them before mixers). During the hour span that was spent watching the sisters, it was noticeable that no "outsiders" joined the tables or even stop to talk with the sisters. Throughout the entire hour, the sisters exhibited the same type of behavior time and time again. All the girls would come into the cafeteria together and sit together in one huge bunch. After everyone ate, the sisters also left together and left no one behind. Their conversations were noisy and full of laughter. Only once, a friend of mine walked by a group of girls and he actually stopped and chatted for a couple seconds with one of the girls. For at least a couple of seconds, the invisible barrier that separates Greeks from non-Greeks seemed to collapse as opposites talked to each other. However, that was the only circumstance which slightly disproved my hypothesis.

Revised Hypothesis

Sorority sisters are a large, but isolated part of the university community that limit themselves to associating only with those of the same microculture. Because sisters are constantly connecting and interacting with those of the same microculture, they unknowingly push away the rest of the UNC student community.

Feeder 2.2

Greek life is an exciting and integral part of college life. In particular, sorority sisters make up a large number of the undergraduate students at UNC-Chapel Hill. Sorority members seem to isolate themselves in their own worlds every day. It seems that all members only associate themselves with other sorority members or sometimes with fraternity brothers, but never associate themselves with those not a part of Greek life. In the Agora sorority members are rarely seen sitting with a different group of friends. They sit at the same table at the same time with the same girls every day. Occasionally, on a Tuesday or Thursday evening, the sorority members host a mixer where they party throughout the night, but only with those who are invited. Those that are invited are usually fraternity brothers or other sorority sisters. Through living in Granville Towers, I have been exposed to the behaviors of sorority girls every day. Furthermore, many of my friends on campus are sorority members. The microculture piques my interest because I have never had any experiences with sorority sisters, whether just by association or attending parties. The microculture piques my interest because I am an extrovert and it is difficult for me to understand why some people limit themselves to one particular group of friends. I find it enjoyable to study a microculture that exhibits traits opposite of mine.My hypothesis is that sorority sisters are a large, but isolated part of the university community that limit themselves to associating only with those of the same microculture. Studying the behavior of sorority sisters may answer the question of why they choose to be around other sisters. They are important in keeping the UNC community close as fellow students, but socializing only in the same microculture is a disservice to the community of students. Possibly, after studying the microculture, one will be able to find a solution in bringing sorority sisters into the whole student community.