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Where Are All of the IT Fraternities?
SteakandcheeseUm asks: "Upon meandering around the net today, I was displeased to find that there seems to be a lack of professional academic fraternities that are dedicated to Information Technology or Computer Forensics students. Has anyone here ever come upon a group that does such a thing? Would anyone be interested in joining if one were to be founded?"
...the unemployment line.
*rimshot*
Thanks, I'll be here all week
"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground." - Thomas Jefferson
This?
I hope you die painfully and alone.
ACM
:)
Unless you meant fraternities that are in the Greek system, in which case I have no idea. Fraternities are about social networking and getting drunk at wild parties, not coding and playing HL2.
US businesses that currently accept chip and PIN/signature
What about your local LUG? Those tend to be fairly IT-centric.
Chi Sigma Iota and Upsilon Pi Epsilon.
/ is the root of
AITP? My college seems to push for everyone to join this.
--- "End Of Line" - MCP
...Lambda Lambda Labmda?
/usr/games/fortune
If you want progressive generations referring to peers as "maddog", "barfy" or "booger", in the future go for it. I've always thought that this type of unimaginative, buddy-building naming was pretty useless. Apparently it's a character-building experience though.
Actually, I think the reason this guy is posting the question is because he wants to stay out of the unemployment line. Frat members are known to give fellow members preference when hiring (for no good reason other than tradition). The submitter is probably one of the millions of average Joes who went into CS in the dot-com era thinking it was the road to riches. Now that jobs are hard to come by, this guy needs every unfair advantage he can get to land a job.
Before you mod me as flamebait I ask you, why other reason would a geek want to join a frat? And don't say because of all those hot IT sorority chicks...
For those of you who don't get the joke, read up on it
Mods, use your mighty geek powers and promote me to +5 Informative! I'm doing it anonymously so I'm not technically a whore! Do it! Do it!
/dev/Phi
I would join something... but I'm already in the IEEE Computer society and some canadian clubs aswell. (CIPS and a few others)
while(1) { fork(); };
not really a frat, but it's a community thing :)
well, if you don't get access to sexy CS sorority chicks then it's a pretty poor replacement for a CS frat.
Also known as HKN is a mix between a co-ed social fraternity and a student organization for Electrical and Computer Engineers. One must pledge to join, must be at least a Junior, and must be above a certain class rank. The organization has been around for over 100 years. My chapter (Beta Chapter at Purdue), was an underground society for a period of time. We run the lounge and snackbar in the EE building at Purdue, perform community service, have get togethers most fridays, have professionals come in and speak to us. It is quite an active organization, found at most top engineering schools. Remember, HKN, "The Nice Guys".
-- the computer doesn't want any beer, no matter how much you think it does. NEVER, EVER feed your computer beer.
Sorry but if you think frat's are about anything other than getting drunk and fucking sorority whores, you've got another thing coming. At least that's the way it is in my town. :\
Joseph?
That great fraternal organization I(ota) Eta Pi? Or how about the great Tappa Tappa Kegga? Oh wait, even better, the great engineer fraternity of Nu Rho Delta (NRD)?
"No beer until you finish your tequila!" -Leela's Dad
It's hard for me to imagine a 'geek frat'... they're for people with spare time, an appetite for socializing and (often) alcohol, and a future need for business contacts. I dunno about anyone else, but regardless of where I am in life now, in college I couldn't have managed any of that even if I had the inclination and a snail's chance in hell of getting into one.
Frats are, as I said, good for making friends you'll need for business contacts in your adult life. But the IT world doesn't really work that way - geeks aren't in competition with one another like MBAs tend to be. Frats are also good for providing an us-vs-them structure that keeps the rowdier students distracted from rebelling against the administration, but geeks are in college to learn rather than to burn things down.
And let's face it, a geek frat would be exactly like a geek dorm - everyone would stay in their rooms clicking 'reload' on Slashdot or coding. There's just no point.
Perfectly Normal Industries
Robot House?
Sigma Lambda Alpha Sigma Eta Delta Omega Theta???
how long until
My uncle was a triangle, the only greek frat at University of Cincinnati without a greek name. They were an all engineering fraternity, but he dropped out of it because he couldn't get enough time in to study.
or how about getting drunk enough to think you're hanging out with decent people?
Is it just me? I thought that frats were exclusivfely anti-IT. Back in the day when I was in college, the whole idea of an IT, a.k.a. 'Geek' frat was just against everything the comp.sci kids stood for. We stood for individuality, not conformity. We made fun of the frat people to no end. And we never felt we had to be part of a bigger group just to have a party and get wasted and/or lucky (yes, on the rare occasion, it did happen!!!)
;)
Today however, there are enough professional associations around if you want to feel part of a bigger community... get your MCSE if you like... then you'll be unique, just like everybody else
Now what I want to discuss, is how come there aren't any IT-centric unions? IT folk tend to work long hours and we don't necessarily get paid for it either, as my former boss said, "it's expected that you put in 60-80 hours a week and get paid for 40". That was one of the reasons that he's now my 'former' boss. But I digress...
Any ideas? Anyone???
Not a frat, in that it's co-ed and doesn't paddle incoming members, but Computer Science House at Rochester Institute of Technology is a house full of geeks: http://www.csh.rit.edu/
All the fraternities at my college were geeks.
Geeks already have many fraternities.
Here, we call this one Slashdot. There are other, smaller, close-knit fraternities all over the place as well that massquerade as Linux/BSD user groups, mailing lists, IRC channels, web forums, and newsgroups.
(Point being that geeks are no less capable of socilization, organization, and banding together for a cause, they just prefer to do so through primarily electronic means. There are also cons that are sorta like ad-hoc fraternities, when you think about it.)
What would you call that a HURD?
Fraternity, fraternity, we don't need no stinking fraternities! That's what Star Trek conventions are for!
Now what I want to discuss, is how come there aren't any IT-centric unions? IT folk tend to work long hours and we don't necessarily get paid for it either, as my former boss said, "it's expected that you put in 60-80 hours a week and get paid for 40".
You don't nescessarily need a union for that. Check what your local labo(u)r laws can do for you.
---
"I can't complain, but sometimes still do..." Joe Walsh
As the title says: You're not interesetd, trust me.
I almost ended up greek but ended up not following through with it...between the insane cost of dues, and the jumping through other people's hoops for no reason other than to "fit in" it just wasn't worth it.
Most of em were great guys, and it was a fun house (but it did kill my grades while I was there.) but I just couldn't see myself there for a lifetime.
Especially because I am switching majors and hopefully never studying computer science again after this year.
i am a nerd and have found myself very at home in a fraternity, despite me being the only technologically inclined brother. why did i join? drinking and friends, you got it.
but here at tulane we do haev a geek fraternity, delta tau delta. during rush week i stopped by for lunch and witnessed an arguement between two brothers. the dispute climaxed with one brother shaking his calculator at the other. if thats not a geek fraternity, i dont know what is.
"he who shouts the loudest gets shot at first..."
Sigma Phi Delta - International Social Fraternity of Engineers - founded Arpil 11, 1924.
We've been around for some time now. Open to all engineers and computer scientists, and occaisional students of other sciences, upon approval by National.
I was a member of Alpha chapter, at Univ. of Sothern California, in Los Angeles - you might recognize us from the #1 spot in the BCS. Fight on!
We have chapters in Canada, as well, and we recently got a chapter in Bangladesh! I enjoyed my time at the house, and encourage you to look into our fraternity. Even if there isn't one at your University, we are always looking to expand the brotherhood, so you could start a new chapter yourself! (Can you tell I was Rush Chariman?)
-bZj
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It hurts the whole greek system for everyone to think that Fraternities are like those worthless frats.
The bad fraternal organizations (frats) serve a very distinct purpose to you dude. They weed out the easy, shallow, and emotionally troubled women leaving the quality gentlemens' organizations with the cream of the crop, so to speak.
Plus, if all else fails, you could just head over there on a Saturday night if you've got a bad case of blueballs.
"No beer until you finish your tequila!" -Leela's Dad
http://www.forensicfocus.com/ Another community (this time based around computer forensics). Not sure if you could call it a "fraternity" as such but certainly there are a fair number of students (and those planning to become students). Jamie
Does anybody have any ideas on fighting for your rights while still maintaining a relatively good relationship with your employer?
I have no problem with a rare meeting that for whatever reason has to be done after-hours... But when you're told that it's a matter of company survival that you attend this unpaid after-hours meeting, on a boat no less, only to find out after you've cast off that the whole thing was just to announce a new HR drive to get more hires, I think they've crossed the line.
Sorry I am not logged in right now, but I forget my password and wanted to pass this along before I lost the link. Also in Canada here, Manitoba specifically, and as per a court ruling at the end of last week, companies can be sued for overtime wages. In other words, the Manitoba Labour Board is actually ENFORCING the laws if an individual comes to them with a legitimate grievance. Here is a link to the news story: http://www.canada.com/winnipeg/story.html?id=8d28b c2d-9765-4177-953b-c67d99499aba
To summarize: A woman worked for a company here in Manitoba (Nygard International) and worked tons of overtime work to make her deadlines. Her contract stated that she would be on salary and receive a fixed paycheque, however the Manitoba Labour Board stated that a statement such as that cannot be upheld in Manitoba with the labour laws, and that Nygard was responsible for compensation, to the tune of $10,000 - $11,000 Canadian.
Bear in mind, though, that this was not all overtime pay. Some of this was for wages lost, since Nygard decided, when she left, to not pay her last paycheck, keep her holiday pay, etc (this is from an interview I saw on television with her and her attorney on Global TV last evening). Looks like the employees are finally getting some recognition at least!
Frat frat frat.
it really isnt safe for geeks to join frats.
KARMA POLICE ARREST THIS MAN HE TALKS IN MATHS- radiohead
There are a lot of comments about what a "Frat" is - a bunch of beer-guzzling pig-headed college students is the typical one. But it's a stereotype, and like many stereotypes it has a kernel of truth, but is also wrong in many ways. Having been in one, and almost quitting at a later point in disgust, I've seen both sides of the coin.
The concept behind a Fraternity is just what the name implies - Brotherhood. It's a group of guys that are in the group to support each other through the trials of college (or life in general), and they usually have a founding principal, charter, or ideal that they follow. Some are based on religions, others on more generic creeds, but they usually have a goal or such they are supposed to strive for - Academics, moral character, philanthropy, etc.
Where this all falls apart is the fact that most college students don't quite get it, and they aren't there long enough (4 years) to really learn. They see a group of guys who think like them as drinking buddies, and pay lip service to the charter or ideals as an excuse to party and name-drop. Some of the ideas do still carry through - the idea of Brotherhood carries on as contacts and buddies in the "real world" post-graduation.
A lot of the more negative aspects of "Frats" (as opposed to Fraternities) are offshoots of the idea of brotherhood. Hazing, name-calling, etc. is supposed to make you feel closer to these guys, as you did the same thing they did when they joined - you now have a common experience. The "elitism" factor of "making you cut it to join us" is not in the charter of any group on paper - it's added by the local groups on the side as a way to boost their self esteem.
There are Fraternities out there that aren't the stereotype. Sadly, they are few and far between, at least when I was in college. I joined a Fraternity that did not encourage drinking, and had a decent GPA. The selling point for me was when a visiting girl told me she was safer sleeping at the house, under the brother's protection, than sleeping in her own dorm room.
Sadly, groups like these have to struggle to attract new members, because most incoming kids look for the beer & chicks they expect from stereotypes. In our case, we were looking at becoming financially insolvent unless we got 12 new members one year, and we didn't. We did a second recruitment drive (which nearly killed our grades), and took in 12 new members, but several of them were lacking in character - they were just warm bodies to pay the rent. In retrospect, it was like a bad reality TV show. Within a year, there was no brotherhood left, and the Fraternity collapsed.
That all being said, like any other stereotype (including geeks, nerds, race, and so on), dig a bit before you assume all Frats are drunk meatheads. You may be plesantly surprised what you find. Having seen Animal House before I went to Cornell (Which was 50% Greek while I was there), I was determined not to join... and I did despite my preconceived notions. I have no regrets, I learned a LOT about life by doing so, and I highly recommend at least a thorough looking by any college student.
Just don't live up to the stereotypes, and look behind the curtains that most of them put up to fool you.
frat hard; frat often
www.fratty.net