just when you thought it was safe • • • The first day of Pledge Week and all is well . ... Two unsuspecting pledges stand on the front lawn discussing their days endeavors. Wait! The front lawn? OH. PLEDGE! Too late! Appearing from nowhere. three pledgemasters swarm upon the pledges seizing the opportunity to castigate the bewildered pledges for their latest infraction. "Try not to be so ungrateful pledge. This school spends mega-bucks on the front lawn and here you are killing it. Oh pledge! How could you? Apologize to the grass. NOW! In fact, kiss the grass pledge. Tell it how much you appreciate it "That's right pledge. Now give me your pledge book. 550 merits and only 20 demerits, huh? Too bad pledge. Far too many merits. Let's see, 20 merits for kissing the grass and 500 demerits for killing it. Try and do better next time pledge." As quickly as they had ap· peared the pledgemasters vanished into the shadows that echoed of their laughter. 194· Pledge Week Doubtless, Pledge Week had begun and so had the fun. Despite various changes in the Pledge Week agenda this year, the annual event held during the first week of October proved to be as entertaining as past years. A special committee appOinted by President Ganus last Spring designated a new 17 point policy regulating Pledge Week activities. Many of the new regulations were time restrictions (Le., a pledge may not be required to work more than one and one-half hours per . 24 hours). There were also ex· plicit rules banning "pledging students to steal pledge paraphenalia from other pledges," "requiring a pledge to sit in one's chapel seat," and "pledg ing one pledge to kiss another person." The latter rule proved to be a challenge to the pledgemasters ingenuity, The . common resolve was pledging a pledge to get as close as possible to someone without actually touching him or her. The traditional name for Tuesday of Pledge Week, "Razz night," was replaced by "Orientation night." "What we're trying to remove is the image of this night as being almost like another rough night, which is what it has been for some clubs," said Dean of Men, Eddie Campbell. The student center became the focal point for pledging ac· tivities as frenzied pledges dash about attempting to complete all the requisites of pledging. For observers and pledges alike, fashion proved to be an interesting sideline. An irridescent green double-knit pantsuit, 1970 vintage, was stylishly ac· . ' cented by embrOidered plat· form shoes, cat-rimmed glasses, and a mandarine orange handbag - the ultimate in ladies apparel. Most men, however, preferred the more classic look of a three-piece suit accented with various headgear. Among these, firehats and sticks of dynamite were most prevalent. Despite embarrassing moments, most pledges took advantage of the situation by meeting new people. "The week was helpful in that I was able to meet a lot of peo· pie," said Debbie Benjamin of Chi Lambda Chi. "During Pledge Week when you were goofing around you were more open to talking to strangers." 'The guys in my club gave us a hard time hassling us but later they would stop by and check up on you to see how things were going. They really cared," said Kappa Tau member Paul Richardson. Whether it was kissing the dirt, shooting down imaginary airplanes, or proposing marriage for the fifth time in one day, the attitude of caring enabled pledges to survive the perils of Pledge Week. And then again, there.' s always next year. . . . t:6 - Jennifer Istre, Gwen Crownover
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