With the campus all a flurry and recruitment finally here, one cannot help but hear “Be More, Be Greek.” Although this does not literally mean Greek as in baklava and Greek gods, it is the world of sisterhood and philanthropy.

Every female student is given the opportunity to go through Recruitment at Marietta College. There are upperclassmen that disaffiliate from their chapter to help women through the recruitment process called Rho Gammas. Their job is to be unbiased and to answer questions and help women make the choice that is best for them.

There are three sororities on campus including Alpha Xi Delta, Chi Omega and Sigma Kappa. Recruitment for sororities will be held the week of September 6 through 10. Although Greek life is not for everyone, it is definitely an important aspect of college to try. As an incoming freshman, Greek life allows women to meet other freshmen women and also upperclassmen.

Recruitment for women involves different themed nights where potential new members are given an inside look at each sorority in hopes that they find one they feel they belong with. It begins with Monday and Tuesday being open houses and gives interested women a chance to visit each house.

Wednesday is chapter day. This is when each house explains what is unique to their chapter at Marietta College. Wednesday is also a chance for women to begin making a decision as to which house they feel most at home in.

Thursday night is a very special night for affiliated women and interested women. Thursday is Preference Night. This is when women are given an inside look at sisterhood and are invited to follow their heart to whichever house they liked the best. Following Preference Night women sign a card agreeing to accept a bid from whichever houses they write down. However, there is no obligation to join a sorority or fraternity if one chooses to go through Recruitment.

Friday is the final and most exciting day because the interested women receive their bids and are welcomed home into their respective houses. Most of the Greek community comes to witness Bid Day outside of Andrews Hall. Each sorority house is filled with excitement as they anxiously await their new girls and also to welcome their Rho Gammas back.

“Sorority life offers so much from lifelong friendships, leadership development, community service, social activities and more,” says Kelly Querry ’11, Panhellenic Vice President of Recruitment. “The sorority life is a home away from home for many young women and it is a place to grow and mature.”

Although each house has its own character, they all have similar standards they must maintain. Every house has a required GPA that must be upheld, philanthropies they support by doing community service and raising money and some houses have study hours. Along with this, there is a lot of Greek involvement on campus. Greeks hold many leadership positions on campus including roles on many Executive Boards.

Each sorority has its own house with a housemother that serves as a live-in R.A.

Some of the benefits of Greek life include lifelong connections. Being a part of a national organization opens doors for employment and also provides alumni chapters all over the country that are there to help you if you move somewhere new. The idea is if you move someplace new you will have sisters there to take you to a dinner and tell you all the best places to go. Greek life also provides many chances to practice leadership. A good number of U.S. Presidents have been affiliated with fraternities.

“To incoming freshmen: at least try out Rush and Recruitment; some of our most involved Greek leaders on campus would tell you they never planned on going Greek when they came to Marietta College,” said Ryan Nolen’12 . “At least give it a try, you could end up with some of the greatest friendships and opportunities during your four year run here at Marietta.”

Marietta City Police are searching for a white man, approximately 30 years of age for an alleged armed robbery of Walgreens at the corner of Third and Greene streets. The suspect was last seen on foot near Vogue-Swift Cleaners, located on Third Street, at about 8:30 this morning (Aug. 12).

The suspect is armed with a gun and/or knife and considered dangerous. Do not approach this man. He was last seen wearing blue jeans and a dark green long-sleeved shirt.

If you see anyone matching this description please go to a safe place and call 911.

If or when the suspect is caught, the College will send out an additional notification.

Students were alerted via text, e-mail, and phone around 9 a.m.

UPDATE 10:18 a.m. – Students have reported that the campus has been placed on lock down while police continue the search for this morning’s robbery suspect.

UPDATE 11 a.m. – The Marietta Times and WTAP are confirming that it was the Salvation Army that was robbed, not the Walgreens.

UPDATE 12 p.m. – Marietta College’s lock down has been rescinded.  Marietta City Police have called off the active search for the robbery suspect.

Stay tuned to Writing on the Mall for the latest.

In brief, here’s the entire list of changes and hires:

• The Office of Residence Life is now the Office of the Dean of Students
• Bruce Peterson is now the Dean of Students, and is the go-to if Dr. Pastoor (VP of Student Life) is not around
• Ellen Campbell is now the Assistant Dean of Students
• Leslie Yetter was hired as an Assistant Dean of Students
• Amanda Mullen was hired as a Residence Hall Director, and will work with Yetter
• Erica Knuckles was hired as a Residence Hall Director, and will work with Campbell
• Jason Gepperth was hired as a Residence Hall Director, and will work with Campbell
• Jacob Tidwell was hired as Assistant Director of Student Activities and Greek Life
• Linda See is now working on the Marietta College Parent & Family Organization, no longer responsible for housing coordination
• Chief of Police will be named soon

Obviously, the biggest news is that they found the replacement for the Assistant Director of Student Activities and Greek Life position.  Tidwell is an Eastern Carolina University graduate who has been working for the school.  According to his Facebook profile, he is a brother of Beta Theta Pi, and serves as their chapter advisor.  He has a BS in Business Administration and his MBA.  Tidwell replaces Allison Toney, who resigned in June to take a position at the University of South Carolina.

The new Residence hall Director hires were needed after Tara Kurilchick and Ricky Ciccone departed.  Amanda, Erica, and Jason all have the Masters in Higher Education, and in Leslie’s case, previous Residence Hall Director experience.  The e-mail did not list who was going to be in charge of each Residence Hall for the coming year, but we are working to obtain that information.

The Chief of Police remains MC’s only major hole left to fill.  Dr. Pastoor said that all three candidates have been to Marietta for interviews, and that a decision should be made soon.

Keep with Writing on the Mall as we work through all of these new people.  We are working to try to get them all to introduce themselves through here.

Blockbuster Adds Games To

While the company that used to be a behemoth in the rental industry flirts with bankruptcy and tries to compete with Netflix, it is trying to differentiate itself.  Blockbuster By Mail, their DVD rentals at home program, announced today that games would also be included.  So users can rent movies, games, and TV series at their home via the mailbox.  $9 a month will get you 1 DVD or vide game at a time, with plans going up to $17 a month for 3 DVD’s or games at a time.  The Total Access plans are only worthwhile if there is a Blockbuster in the area (the nearest stores are in Belpre and Parkersburg)…which there isn’t.

If you’ve been tempted by this deal, consider the major points between Blockbuster and Netflix.  Sure, you get to rent games with Blockbuster.  But at the same price point ($9) you could stream movies to your computer, XBOX 360, Wii, Playstation, and eventually, mobile phones.  Online streaming is separate with Blockbuster, and costs vary from rental to outright purchase (but offers streaming to computers, mobile phones, and TV’s).  So the question is, which do you value more?  Online movie streaming, or Video Game Rentals?

Netflix Gets More Online Movies

Speaking about the whole online streaming universe, Netflix announced today that it’s increasing their streaming library in a huge way.  New movies from Paramount, MGM, and Lionsgate will be able to be streamed online 90 days after their DVD release, starting September 1st.

This also means that their back catalogues will also be available, starting that same day.  According to the press release, this could mean nearly 3,000 new movies available for streaming via Netflix.  Like I mentioned earlier, $9 will get you one DVD at a time, and unlimited movie and tv streaming.

Hulu Plus Coming

Most students don’t have TiVo’s or DVR’s on campus, and with busy lives away from the TV, yet great shows on every day, it’s hard to keep up.  Hulu fixes that problem, for the most part, but if you were looking for more, it’s here.

Hulu Plus gives you access to previous seasons of shows, and unlocks a back catalogue of many other shows not available to the typical Hulu user.  It also allows you to stream Hulu Plus content to your TV, Playstation 3, iPhone, and iPad (supposedly more devices are coming soon, including the XBOX 360).  Costs $10 a month, but is currently in a limited preview, so you have to apply for the privilege to use the service at the moment.

Even with the monthly payment, you’ll still be forced to watch ads during the shows.  And don’t worry, free Hulu will still be around.

The closure of DU Field means that Flag Football games will have to be moved.  Our guess is that almost all games will be played near Don Drumm Stadium this year, but there is a chance that Parsons Field could also be used.  Parsons Field is being listed as the alternate for those looking to enjoy wide-open flat spaces on campus.  Another alternative would be to use the Kremer Green in front of the Legacy Library.  While smaller, the area is well suited to just laying out or playing cornhole (oops, I mean Corn Toss, lol).

The Higher Education Opportunity Act goes into effect July 1st, and contains many different things (thanks to Disruptive Library Technology Jester for the breakdown of the law).  One part that is important to students is that there are new textbook disclosure rules to help make class selections and book purchasing decisions a bit easier.

According to the law, colleges are now required to show what books and materials are required and/or recommended for each course at the time of scheduling.  Back when you scheduled, you should have noticed a book icon listed for each class.  Clicking on the icon will tell you what is required for the course, the price, and the ISBN.  Not all classes have books listed, so you may see “To Be Determined” and “No Required Materials” notes instead.  Textbook bundles must also be sold separately, with bundled and non-bundled options listed – including pricing breakdowns.

Ed. Note – According to a rep from the National Association of College Stores, which commented on the article, books are allowed to be bundled still.  Writing on the Mall apologizes for the error.  Here’s what they said:

Under the law, institutions do not have to sell or list textbook bundles seperatly. Publishers need to disclose such information to faculty, but faculty are free to continue to adopt bundles as required. Publishers do not have to offer unbundled for any package they determine as “integrated”.

Another change is that publishers are required to tell professors more information about books they may use for classes.  Professors will now know how much the book costs, what revisions have been made to the book, and other editions of the book in different formats (including their prices).

HEOA also asks for book options to be publicized better by the institution, including renting textbooks, buying used books, and digital textbooks.

Like I mentioned earlier, Marietta College has already adopted the new requirements in its online scheduling system.

Follett Higher Education Group, the company that owns the Marietta College Bookstore, has been advertising it’s own book rental program called Rent-A-Text.  Follett is trying to compete with Chegg (A person favorite!), a popular book rental service that has been around for a few years.  Half.com and Amazon are other great choices for used textbooks.