Saturday, August 29, 2015

My Thoughts on Comments

The Huffington Post's article concerning the Oklahoma SAE racism incident had comments that I evaluated in order to better understand the public's opinion and response to this news. Some of these comments were far more credible than others. All the comment snapshots come from the article that discusses the heightened scrutiny of the fraternity's chapters at other college campuses.

The Credible









This comment relates Jan's personal experience of racism in Greek Life alumni. It is frightening to see her express her discomfort over the fact that the same racism she experienced personally was still in existence "50 years later." She fears this kind of racism as is apparent in her actions to leave a sorority alumnae meeting after overhearing racially negative conversation.

She seems to have racially sensitive values, and thus she cannot accept such low values which would allow a person to view blacks as inferior. From her personal experience, her attendance at the University of Missouri and her apparently sound moral compass she held higher credibility than most others in this comment thread.
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Sharon's comment clarifies the truth that it was solely the specific OU chapter that was responsible for this act. She reasonably helped me to remember that not all of SAE is accountable for this incident. There are likely very respected and successful chapters throughout the US.

She explicitly states the wish for Greek Life to go away. Her argument shows how strongly she holds the belief that Greek Systems do hold elitist values. She logically and clearly connects her sentences.

She believably illustrates that if the wrong people hold leadership positions in an organization, the organization can begin to revolve around hatred and exclusion. With such credibility, it made me wish that something like this would never happen to my fraternity.
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The Incredible
Anthony's comment clearly expresses a fantasy where he believes that fraternities have "outlived" themselves. How long is a fraternity supposed to live? I feel that it has to do with the belief systems in place and with the social compassion that these fraternities show.

Lupica believes that  fraternities serve no usefulness and I completely disagree. My fraternity brothers are all about my success and they back me in all my academic endeavors. This has established a great environment for my college years. I am encouraged and inspired by my brothers to continue to work hard at school while building respect through heart-filled social interactions.

Because of such a shallow comment, I find Anthony to be very incredible. He is making generalities that are not backed up by fact. Some fraternities have started in the 21st century. How could they ever have "outlived" their days if they were built in a modern day society?

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Denis' social anxiety with SAE men is apparent. He clearly states it in his sweeping comment that is so rude and cynical. He clearly has a close-minded belief that every SAE member is a rich punk. He has fallen into the exact behavior that got SAE expelled from OU.

He holds a very similar, excluding and racist belief system like that of the men who started this racist chant at OU. He holds little value for those men in the SAE fraternity who might be innocent and respected for their character. This is apparent from his appalling response to this article.

I know good-hearted SAE gentlemen who are committed to helping their community and are highly focused in their academic pursuits. Because of this, I find absolutely no credibility in Denis' comment. He has done nothing to research the rest of the SAE fraternity and what it truly stands for.

It is sad to watch people involved in a fraternity that are not committed to the true vision and belief system of the organization. They mar the name of every honest fraternity man.





2 comments:

  1. I would have to agree with you on who you say is a credible commenter as those comments are generally well reasoned and I would even have to agree with those that you think are incredible commenters. However, I believe you have to prove that by addressing their logical errors that mostly stem from hasty generalizations. For the record, I do agree with the commenters who think that Greek life should end as there have been more than enough controversies regarding sororities and fraternities such as the Alpha Phi incident in the south, Missoula, the Yale consent chant, etc. There are plenty of other ways to succeed academically. Really, greek life is simply there to facilitate a certain social life. I would love to hear from you Nic as it's obvious you don't agree with me. Thank's so much for the awesome write up, I hope I haven't been TOO offensive(:

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  2. I agree completely with your analyzation of credible and non-credible sources. I would have done the exact same categorization as you did. Your two credible sources use experience and relevant information to back up their claims. this type of action is essential in composing a powerful debate comment. Along with supportive claims, they come off as less close-minded, which indirectly appears more credible. Both non-credible sources display a close-minded nature. Their hatred is evident and reduces their credibility. When someone's emotions over-play their thought process, they are vulnerable to being non-credible. I support your rankings and justifications. Also interesting topic. I kind of forgot this even happened, but good for you for using it.

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