The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 18, 1900, Page 1

ALTYPICAL CLLEGE Room:- - RECEPTION HALL SF _PHI DELTA PARLORS AND [ LIARD ROOM OF ABETA THETA PlLHOUSE. LIFE AT W MuSIC Room OF KAPRA ALPHA % THETA FRA‘FE.RNIT/ dowii i o HALL or EPSILoN E:,:I.A KAPRA, f TUDE at all times. Not only is it inter- Q) esting to the college man. but to .' the student of human nature ‘as well. In it and conditions of ated. Here the hap- found hand in hand . quiet, deep student; here the s son assoclates as carelessly the poor fcllow working his way All exist on a_common basis; This is ideal col- with through. no distinctlon is drawn. lege life. At Princeton, Yale and gome other col- leges this ideal can be realized through the dormitories where all the students live. In the majority of universities, how- ever, there are three subdivisions of student life; those who are dependent upon themselves, those who live at home or in boarding houses, and those who live in club or fraternity houses. The per- centage of students who are dependent in part or entirelv upon themselves is larger at the University of California than in any other college in the United States. Fully 400 students; men and women alike, graduate from college by “working at odd-jobs. At Berkeley there are no dormitories and FRANERNITY IT life 1s a topic Interesting, \ PARLOR aNnG ErNITY HoUsE.. S the {deal college life exists only in the clubs and fraternitles. The - distinctién between the clubs and fraternitles is that the fraternities are established Institu- tlons—usually . Greek letter secret socie- tles. They are represented in a number of colleges and have a common bend. The ciubs exist only while the members are in college. They are organized for two rea- sons—that- the members, usualdy not more than a dozen, may live more cheaply, and that something may be derived from the association. y» Some of the fraternities have been cs- tablished sixty or seventy years, and but few have sprung into existence in the past twenty years. Many of the fraterni- ties are represented in fifty or sixty col- leges, while the more conservative do not extend into more than a dozen. The fra- ternity, like the Masonic order, may have 1epresentatives of the various generations of a family. Usually a son becomes a member of his father's fraternity, though there are many exceptions to this rule. The regulitions of some universities d> not permit fraternitics or secrct socletics of any kind. Princeton is the most prom- inent college that has an edict against this, but on acount of the splend!d dor- close: together. e are no dormitories the fra- ternities form a nucleus for the life of :he college. . The ciubs and the fraternities are the two extremes..-The manner of living, the men and the environments are often ¢r- tirely opposite. In one of the clubs the Nving of its members is on a most sclen- tific, economical basis. There are six members who rent a small cottage within a few blocks of the university. The mem- bers do their own cooking, washing an1 house-cleaning, and thereby reduce the living expenses to the minimum. They average not more than $10 each a month. All take turns a2t the various de- tails of work. One will act as cook for a month, another washes the dishes, an. other attends to the buying, and so on, each shariug the burdens with his com- panions. As these men have no ome to call upon for money they work at odd jobs about the university at 25 cents an hour. Théy attend college regularly and are often among the best students and very popular with their classmates. There have been Instances where one of these club men was a leader In class politics or in athletics. Of course the members of other clubs are better off and live in the same manner as the average student. As an instance of the other extreme, the members of “the fraternities are often compelled to pay $40 to 350 a month for lv- ing expenses. The majority of fraterni- ties, however, are managed on a basis as low as the best boarding" houses, averag- ing about $30. Each fraternity employs from one to three servants, according to the size of the house and the number of bers. A manager, one of the mem- is elected annually, who takes entire charge.of the finances. He buys the pro- visions, hires the servants and attends to regulating the monthiy bills. Four of the fraternities at the Univer- sity of California—Zeta Psi, Beta Theta Pi, Phi Deita Theta, and Deita Kappa Epsilon—own thelr own houses, which havé been bought by the fraternities’ alumni bonded jnto a corporation. A rental is paid to the corporation, which is used for repairs and improvements. The active members run the house to suit themselves and at an expense as large as their pockets will permit. They have a complete orgamization, which is responsible to itself only. ch fraternity, and there are fourteen, averages a membership of about twenty, ten of whom are resident members—that is, live In the house—and on these largely depends the support of the fraternity. One of the most interesting features of fraternity lfe is the rivairy which ex- ists. At the opening of the fall term, when the freshmen enter, there is always a struggie for the best and most availdble men. Often a very good man will be in- vited to become a member of several or- ganizations. Then It is that the fight becomes interesting. Each fraternity will present facts which it thinks will influ- ence the candidate to join. As each fraternity Is characteristic of & certain type of man, the fortunate fresh- men jolns the crowd which he thinks most congenial or has the mos$t Influence on him. This is called “rushing,” and is one of the most exciting seasons of the college year to the fraternity man. The success of his chapter depends largely upon the numper and caliber of men it Continued on Paga Threa