Several members of Oregon State University’s Acacia fraternity won’t be taking a road trip toward a warm beach or a ski resort during spring break, but rather to southern Indiana. They plan to drive U-Haul trucks filled with donated items 2,330 miles to tornado-ravaged Henryville, Ind., and spend a week contributing labor to the town’s cleanup effort.

“Our motto is ‘human service.’ It’s ingrained in our minds to help out when something like this happens,” said Joel Zeni, a forest and civil engineering major and coordinator of Acacia’s donation drive.

Parts of Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Alabama and Georgia were ravaged by a series of tornadoes and strong storms March 2 and 3. Several rural towns, such as Henryville, were hit hardest. At least 41 people are confirmed dead due to the storms’ damage.

After learning of the destruction, members of OSU’s Acacia chapter contacted their national office, located in Indianapolis, to find out how to help. The national office directed them to Henryville.

Before they leave, the fraternity is looking for donations of plastic tarps, trash bags, paper products such as toilet paper, tissues and paper towels, toiletry items, dog and cat food and yard tools. They’re stashing the collected items in a room in the fraternity house, located at Northwest 29th Street and Van Buren Avenue, until they leave March 23.

How many fraternity members going to Henryville depends on how many donations are collected and how many U-Haul trucks they need, but 15 members have so far agreed to go on the trip. Those who go will stay at Acacia chapters at five campuses along the way, and stay until the end of spring break, March 30. They’ll work with United Way on clean up and repair projects.

Acacia is OSU’s only Greek chapter currently working to support the recent tornado victims, but the university’s 37 other social, multicultural and academic fraternities and sororities also conduct philanthropic work with significant results.

Bob Kerr, coordinator of OSU’s Greek life office, said Greeks contributed 22,000 hours of community service and raised more than $125,000 in charitable donations last year. All chapters aim to raise $150,000 in total donations this school year.

“This is pretty remarkable work,” Kerr said.

Some of the money raised goes to the fraternity or sorority’s national fundraiser while some stays with local organizations. For example, OSU’s Kappa Delta sorority chapter raised more than $35,000 this year with Mock Rock, an annual lip-syncing competition held March 1 that drew participation from 30 different fraternities and sororities. It’s one of the largest Greek philanthropies at OSU.

While 20 percent of their funds go to Prevent Child Abuse America, the sorority has donated the remaining total — more than $28,000 this year — to Benton and Linn counties’ Center Against Rape and Domestic Violence, said Tori Lynch, this year’s Mock Rock co-chair. CARDV uses the funds to support its Plain Talk violence prevention classroom program for children grades kindergarten through sixth and their parents.

OSU’s Acacia chapter doesn’t work with one particular charity — in the past they’ve raised money for St. Vincent de Paul, St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital and the American Red Cross, amongst others — and the members are looking forward to directing their efforts to help rebuild Henryville, a place no one in the house has ever been.

“It will be good for us to see the devastation, and maybe help someone through it,” Zeni said.

To donate items to Acacia’s drive, contact Zeni at zenij@onid.orst.edu.

Contact Gazette-Times reporter Gail Cole at 541-758-9510 or gail.cole@gazettetimes.com.

Source: http://www.gazettetimes.com/news/local/fraternity-offers-help-after-the-storm/article_8942640c-6bd4-11e1-81a0-001871e3ce6c.html#ixzz1ovlIp7xv

Fred Thompson, a freshman defensive tackle for OSU’s football team, collapsed at Dixon Recreation Center while playing a pickup game of basketball. Upon being rushed to Good Samaritan Hospital, he was pronounced dead. Theoccurance sparked campus-wide grieving and left many wondering how to continue his legacy.

Members of the Greek community bonded together to organize and plan a concert by rap artist Too $hort.

The fraternity Theta Chi, as well as sororities Alpha Phi, Alpha Chi Omega and Kappa Kappa Gamma are responsible for putting on the show.

With help from Cora Wilcots, Thompson’s mother, concert proceeds will go directly to his family to help to start the Fred Thompson Five-Star Youth Center in his hometown of Richmond, Calif.

Matt Makarowsky, head director of the concert said, “We’d like to give 100 percent of the proceeds from the benefit concert to the youth center. As of right now, 1,700 people say they are attending, which would turn out to be about an $11,000 profit to go straight to starting the foundation.”

In terms of her motivation for beginning the youth center, Wilcots explained that her home was typically the gathering spot for Thompson and his friends. He had a passion for music, dance and sports. Wilcots said her vision for the center is a place where his friends “can get together and do all the things he loved to do.” She added, “I want to be able to give young youth, young men and young women, the opportunity to do activities that they love and to pursue college at the same time.”

Wilcots elaborated on how much of an impact Thompson had on his community. He worked hard to get to OSU when he was in high school, devoting much of his effort to athletics, spending time with his friends or studying.

“Everyone around him — his friends, the kids in the neighborhood, saw how hard he was working to get where he wanted to go. Everyone around him saw that,” she said.

When Thompson passed, Wilcots explained how the support from the OSU community had been overwhelming, with many students, players and coaches reaching out to her to offer their support. “What people don’t realize is that Fred was my only child. He was my best friend. He was never away from me until he went to Oregon State. He was my protector. A big part of me is gone, but I know I have to move on,” she said.

At Thompson’s memorial service, Head Football Coach Mike Riley affirmed the role Thompson played in the community. “We all knew he had physical talents, but he had way, way more to offer than that. He was a caring soul and a truly wonderful man,” Riley said.

The concert itself will take place tonight at the Benton County fairgrounds, where doors will open at 7 p.m. Ticketsareavailable online for $15, $20 in the Memorial Union Quad and $25 at the door.

The show will feature opening acts from Cali Kidd, T-Walk, D. Worthy, Lalaboy, Oxymoron, Blaze and Jove and DJ Cloud N9ne.

Why Too $hort?

Makarowsky was enthusiastic about Too $hort’s entertainment value, calling him experienced and well-known. “He has been in the game longer than I’ve been alive; his 19th album comes out at the end of [February],” he said.

Another reason for the selection was that “Oregon State has such a strong community that comes from the Bay Area. We have a ton of people flying up just for the concert who were friends and family of Fred, and who know who Too $hortis, just to try and help out,” Makarowsky said.

Martin Forde, staff reporter

737-2231 news@dailybarometer.com

Full source: http://www.dailybarometer.com/tonight-s-too-hort-concert-aims-to-continue-thompson-s-legacy-1.2814389#.T15HK4Egeh1

Out of all the Greek houses on campus, the most successful to date has been the Kappa Delta sorority, with their well-known “Mock Rock” event. Last year, the house raised $31,947 toward prevention of child abuse, with this year’s goal aiming toward more than $35,000.

Mock Rock is a weeklong event that aims at participation from all members of the OSU Greek life chapters. There are different events, spread out throughout the week in the middle of the Memorial Union quad, with a point system to determine which Greek house can accumulate the most points; the house with the most points overall at the end of the week claims the win.

“Houses can donate money in their name by dropping checks, buying Mock Rock shirts, buying performance tickets, purchasing Mary Kay products from our sale and buying Papa’s Pizza,” said Tori Lynch, head of philanthropy for Kappa Delta.

The competition culminates on Thursday, March 1, at LaSells Stewart Center with the actual Mock Rock event. Lynch explains that “each house performs their well-practiced dance or skit on stage. We encourage them to showcase their talent, incorporate our 90′s theme and be extremely entertaining.”

“People get really pumped up about it and cheer each other on. Everyone is really supportive, and you see some really funny acts too,” said Britnee Gillson, president of Kappa Delta. The competition for the top spot is fierce, and Lynch said it’s “such a fun event that has great bragging rights,” with the competition serving as “a way for each chapter to show off their skill to the rest of Greek life.” Many houses take the event extremely seriously, practicing well before the start of winter term.

Another main focus of the event is involvement from the OSU community, not just those in Greek life. “We open up Mock Rock to any organization that would like to participate,” said Melissa Walter, vice president of public relations. “We have gotten a few UGC houses involved on campus and hope more organizations will join in as well.”

The local Girl Scout troop in Corvallis will also be at the event, watching the festivities and selling their cookies. Gillsonsaid, “We’d love for people to get a feel for what we’re doing, and how we’re trying to help the community.”

However, the event is not all fun and games, but also serves to address two very serious issues in Corvallis and on a national level. None of the proceeds earned go to the house, but “80 percent of what we make goes to Center Against Rape and Domestic Violence here in Corvallis, and 20 percent goes to our national philanthropy Prevent Child Abuse America,” Walter said.

The money which stays in Corvallis goes toward a program known as “Plain Talk,” said Lynch, “an educational program that works with children from Kindergarten to sixth grade, and teaches them the importance of feeling safe, confident and having the ability to make choices.”

This event only continues to highlight the characterization of Greek life as not just a social organization, but as an organization which has its roots in the community, and strives to support the greater Corvallis area. “Everyone can kind of relate to it and enjoy it, even if they’re not directly participating,” Gillson said.

Martin Forde, staff reporter

737-2231 news@dailybarometer.com

Link to original article: http://www.dailybarometer.com/this-year-s-mock-rock-event-sure-to-entertain-1.2775161#.TzWa6cXUOHg

Bob Kerr, coordinator of Greek life at OSU, attributes this recent growth to several factors. “Students are looking for academic support and a place to make a big university feel smaller and more inviting,” said Kerr. “As more students experience the benefits of Greek life, they naturally attract other students as well.”

Another noteworthy change the Greek community has undergone is the way it markets itself towards incoming students, said Will Later, IFC President. Many students recall the memorable “G” campaign during Connect week, where members of the Greek community wore t-shirts with a large “G” on the front. They allowed the meaning of this letter to spread by word of mouth throughout the student body, which according to Later, led to “so much more awareness about Greek life [causing a] 30 percent increase from last year’s recruitment.”

At a large school like OSU, composed of 20,621 undergraduates alone, many students can feel overwhelmed, and look towards Greek life as a group they can instantly identify and connect with. Jose Manriquez, chairman of the Unified Greek Council agreed, saying, “More and more people are beginning to find a home away from home within the Greek Community. Each organization is like a second family, you may have your ups and downs, but there will always be someone there to support you.”

Kate Burr, President of the Panhellenic Council shares a similar viewpoint. “Oregon State is a growing university and it can be easy to get lost and feel out of touch.” Greek life, she said, gives “a sense of welcome and a home away from home type feeling.” Burr believes some of the other attractions are the rigorous academic standards many houses have in place, and also the philanthropic programs that benefit the greater Corvallis area.

This significant increase in students involved in Greek life will have several ramifications, both immediately and in the near future. Kerr said, “Greek life will continue to grow parallel to the university’s growth.”

With OSU attempting to expand to 30,000 students, we can only expect that the Greek system will continue its progression. To accommodate the current growth, and also make room for more members, “the Panhellenic Council recently approved the addition of two more chapters to our campus in the upcoming years,” Burr said.

Manriquez said this rise in numbers will be extremely beneficial to the Greek life community. As the quantity of members goes up, inevitably the quality will as well, “Meaning that if there are more people coming in to the Greek community, then there are also more visionaries and leaders as well,” Manriquez said.

“Having such an improvement in numbers leads to an improvement in quality of members,” Later said.

Martin Forde, staff reporter

737-2231 news@dailybarometer.com

“Not only do we show our support for the Beavers wearing orange and black, we also wear yellow LiveSTRONG shirts carrying the name of our sponsors who have donated resources to the run.  One-hundred percent of proceeds are directly donated to LiveSTRONGthrough their Grassroots Fundraising program,” said participant Justin Langley. Last year’s event raised nearly $4,000 in donations and the men of Phi Gamma Delta hope to double that number this year.

“During the relay the runners, which are generally members of the FIJI fraternity, run in one mile increments from the away school to the home school for the Civil War Game. Each member of the relay is expected to earn sponsorships and we also have business sponsorships. These business sponsorships include a portion of the money spent at Pita Pit next Monday, Nov. 21. There will also be a coin drive at the Memorial Union Quad on Tuesday [Nov.] 22,” Barringersaid.

While the event is a true testament to the fundraising power of a few, it is also a physical challenge for participants.

“I prepare for the relay with sleeping well, stretching and eating healthy on the days before the relay. Make sure that everything is in place and that we have enough people there. Also, making sure that transportation is set up for everyone so we all make it back. The organization of the race is the biggest part in preparation and usually runs very smoothly,” said event organizer Jimmy McDowell.The physical challenge can be made even more difficult with the sometimes-unexpected variables of poor weather, traffic and planning for adverse safety situations.

Currently the relay is not open to the public, but that doesn’t mean that Beavers and Ducks can’t come out to support the runners.

The race is not open to public teams because of difficulties in organization and because it is a fraternity philanthropy. The community is, however, encouraged to be involved. Even after running for more than five hours, the men of Phi Gamma Delta plan to do exactly what any Beaver fan would do.

“When we finish running and getting pictures at the home stadium we either stick around to watch the game or go home and watch on it TV,” Langley said.

Camille Jacobson-Ingram, staff reporter

737-2231 news@dailybarometer.com

Source: http://www.dailybarometer.com/fraternity-members-will-run-to-eugene-for-civil-war-1.2714739#.TtRbMLIk67s

Oregon State Univeristy Greek houses are making efforts to give back to the community. The Daily Barometer’s Tony Santilli sat down with two chapter presidents, Kristin O’Leary of Delta Delta Delta and Martha Ngo of Delta Phi Omega, to speak with them about their philanthropic plans.

Delta Delta Delta is having a pancake breakfast fundraiser this Sunday in the Memorial Union ballroom from 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Admission and all-you-can-eat breakfast will cost $7, and the funds will go to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.

Q: Is there a correlation between OSU’s Dad’s weekend and your fundraiser?

A: Yes, because we are encouraging everybody to bring their dads.  We are putting on a pancake breakfast for St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, and all Tri Delta sororities nationally fundraise for St. Jude’s Research Hospital; we have a goal to raise $15 million in five years. We decided instead of having a big Greek pageant or an all-Greek event, we wanted to open it up to the community because St. Jude is such a good cause and everyone should have the opportunity help them.

Q: How will Tri Delta be making the pancake breakfast more successful than years before?

A: We have been trying to tweak it to be something different and we usually just hold the event in our house, but it didn’t get a lot of publicity. I know the Greek system can be sort of exclusive and if you’re not in a fraternity/sorority you might not feel comfortable coming to a sorority house for breakfast, so we really wanted to have a bigger event raising money for St. Jude. Last year, we were able to raise just under $30,000 for St .Jude.

Q: Why is Tri Delta putting on this event?

A: We are putting this event on because we all really care about the children at St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. We want the OSU community to feel involved with the Greek community and we want it to be less exclusive so that everyone can help. Our fundraiser shows hard efforts that sororities and all other Greek houses put into their philanthropy. I personally have put in around 45 hours the past term just for this event. I got all the food donated; I didn’t have to pay for any of the food. We have about 117 girls in the house, and the goal of our sorority is to build a perpetual bond of friendship, but more than that, we like to be involved and help the community.

Delta Phi Omega is a relatively new multicultural sorority, led by Ngo. Their fundraiser, Literacy through Unity Week, will fundraise for CARE, which helps low-income women in rural areas. The event will will be held Feb. 3-9.

Q: What are some struggles with having a smaller and newer sorority when trying to promote a cause?

A: We have been established here for almost six years and there are currently 40 girls in our sorority, but active is nine, so we’re pretty small. For the Greek Life part, we deal with the stereotypes of being in a sorority and that we party, etc., so for us to hold community service, it brings a good light to Greeks at OSU and OSU itself. We don’t get acknowledgement very much because we are quiet, but with events like these, we really get our name out there and people get to know us more on a personal level if they show up to events.

Q: What will be taking place during Delta Phi Omega’s Week of Literacy through Unity?

A: Our goal is to build awareness of children’s literacy in education for this fundraiser, which ties into our philanthropy because we help educate the girls in those areas, and we are really big on the education part for children. There will be a dry kickoff party Feb. 3. We are currently working on the kinks of the whole week, but there is going to be a date night auction and a field day, which will be at McAlexendar Field House; tentatively Feb. 6. There will also be volunteer work with local preschools.

Q: What do you want people to know about your sorority and your awareness week?

A: We are a multicultural sorority so we encompass everyone’s background, so we are a little bit different and we’re un-housed. We just recently received our chapter status last January. I think that attendance is a big help and [so is] showing up to hang out with us or learn more about the struggles of children and education around the world. We accept donations of every kind, such as monetary donations or even helping out with supplies, but we really just want to see people.

As exemplified by Tri Delta and Delta Phi Omega, OSU Greek Life is aiming for a higher level of community outreach.

Reference: http://www.dailybarometer.com/sororities-planning-philanthropy-events-to-benefit-literacy-children-s-hospital-1.2703477

Tony Santilli, staff reporter

737-2231 news@dailybarometer.com

“The G Campaign is designed to show the Oregon State (University) community, and specifically incoming students, the great things that our Greek system does,” said Nick Hart, the Inter-Fraternity Council Vice-President of Recruitment Marketing, when describing the purpose and goals of the campaign. “More of a long-term goal of the G Campaign is to increase relations between the University and Greek Life, and how outsiders view our organization.”

In order to accomplish its desired goals, the G Campaign took on a multi-faceted approach to promoting Greek Life through a mixture of community outreach, collaboration with the university, event organizing and the ambiguous use of the letter “G.”

Making secrecy a key component of the campaign and ensuring dissociation from the negative stereotypes that people most often think toward Greek life, the campaign strove to portray the Greek community in a positive light through their actions, rather than blatant recruitment.

The letter “G” was touted as a symbol on shirts and sidewalks by the community to mask their identity as members went about trying to improve their image. Members were given explicit instructions not to reveal their allegiances to specific Greek houses or even to the Greek system for the duration of the campaign.

Despite the Greek community’s attempt to rebuild its image behind concealment, many people made the logical association between the group’s symbol and name.  After being confronted with questions regarding the true purpose of the G Campaign’s connection to Greek Life, multiple sorority members refused to reveal the link out of caution of destroying the community’s united front.

Giving back to the community through philanthropy was an equally important aspect of the G Campaign.

According to Hart, community service has always been a staple of the Greek community. “Last year alone, the OSU’s Greek community logged over 60,000 hours of community service and raised over $200,000 for charity,” he said.

At the start of Connect Week, over 700 Greek Life members showed up at the dorms Sept. 18, to help move potential new recruits into the buildings. During the process, members were forbidden to advocate for Greek society and instead relied on their hospitality to speak for them.

Katelyn Sawyer, a freshman who moved into the dorms that Sunday  said, “I thought it was really helpful that they helped us move in.”

University Housing and Dining Services helped coordinated the move-in effort with the Greek volunteers so that the operation went smoother this year than in those past.

About past efforts Hart commented, “In years past, volunteer efforts have been completely unorganized.”

Assigning specific Greek houses to specific dorms was one tactic used to improve efficiency.

To further promote the positive side of Greek Life, the community teamed up with the Memorial Union Program Council to promote a Battle of the DJs in the Memorial Union Quad on Monday Sept. 19. Hart, who himself is a disc jockey, came up with the idea for the event because it was low cost, yet gave students something fun to enjoy in a safe and sober environment.

The Greek community revealed themselves as the initiators of the G Campaign when sorority members wore their Greek shirts at the New Student Walk. After this event the fraternities and sororities were given the green light to start individual advertisement and recruitment.

Along with UHDS and the MUPC, the Greek community also worked with New Student Programs and Family Outreach to participate in the New Student Fair, where an inflatable obstacle course was made available, and with OSU Printing and Mailing to get promotional materials about the G Campaign spread throughout campus.

Hart and his fellow Greek leadership cohorts hope to maintain such a relationship with university entities they worked with during the campaign.

The idea for the G Campaign was shown to Hart and his female counterpart Eden Pearson, Vice-President of PanHellenic Recruitment, when they went to the Association of Fraternal Leadership & Values conference last year in the spring.

“The G Campaign was first used, I think, at the University of Nebraska around two years ago,” Pearson said.

Originally when the idea for the G Campaign was brought to the Inter-Fraternity Council to vote on, the board turned down the idea with an overwhelming majority. On the second try, Hart was able to convince the council that the campaign had merit by citing the recruitment record of another school that used the campaign.

Other schools that have used campaigns similar to the G Campaign have seen significant spikes in recruitment as well.

“A university who had put this program into place and had raised recruitment numbers from the usual 500 to 1,300 in one year,” Hart said about the possible jump in recruitment that the Greek community could see. “Through the G Campaign, we can boost fraternity recruitment 30 to 40 percent.”

The G Campaign is meant to appeal academically inclined students that otherwise would not typically be interested in joining Greek Life. This type of student is also the kind that will hopefully do the most to dispel the negative stereotypes associated with Greek Life.

In response to criticism that the G Campaign was only a thinly veiled attempt to cover up the negative aspects of Greek Life, Hart said, “Throughout CONNECT Week, fraternities were not allowed to host organized events after 9 p.m., or have more than 100 guests within their chapter houses at any time. And at no time are fraternities allowed to drink with recruits.”

The official message proclaimed by Oregon State University’s Greek community says, “The Greek experience on the OSU campus places emphasis on academic achievement, community building, community service, service learning and preparing the Greek students for leadership roles following graduation.”

Alex Hilborn, staff reporter

737-2231, news@dailybarometer.com

Corvallis Fire Department Fire Prevention Officer, Jim Patton, gave a live example of a burning room to demonstrate not only how fast a fire can spread, but also how easily they start.

“The ultimate goal of this seminar is to increase awareness, and educate the importance of fire prevention measures,” Patton said. “The live burning gives quite a wake-up call.”

The two rooms, furnished by donated materials from Goodwill, were burned in a donated trailer. The left room was equipped with a proper sprinkler and fire alarm, while the right room had neither.

The smoke alarm activated after only a second, and 25 seconds later the alarm activated the sprinklers. In less than five minutes the right room became completely engulfed in flames and reached a temperature of 1,200 degrees⁰Farenheit.

“The demonstration was the most important thing. It shows exactly what’ll happen in a room fire,” said Jordan Guess, the recruitment chair of Delta Upsilon.

After 17 years at the Corvallis Fire Department, Patton is experienced in giving training sessions like this one.

Patton, along with his fellow Fire Department volunteers, came to OSU for the sole purpose of not only making Greek leaders more aware of the fire hazards in their houses, but also to show them how to prevent and vanquish a fire.

“I’m from California, so I have experience with fires,” said assistant house manager of Alpha Kai Omega Laura Feldman about the academy. “This session has been very useful.”

The three-hour academy, divided equally into lecture and practice, covered basic fire safety preventative measures and gave live examples of past campus fires and occasionally called for student participation.

“I’d recommend this session to any Greek house,” said Chris Denison, member of ACACIA house.

Upon finishing the lecture portion of the academy, students received the opportunity to participate in hands-on practice, useful in case of a fire.

The demonstrations required students to adorn themselves in firefighter suits while being timed, practice using the fire extinguisher and move through a trailer where smoke was activated.

After calling a dispatched fire truck to put out the fire, students were allowed to wander in to observe the damage more closely.

According to Patton, the day was a huge success.

“The ultimate goal and intent of this academy was that the students understand fire safety and importance,” he said.

Patton hopes the leaders of OSU’s Greek society will take what they’ve learned and not only apply it to their houses, but enforce fire safety drills and practices as well.

“The most important thing today was prevention,” said Natalie Gibney, house manager of Chi Omega.

Fraternity members agreed that the academy was not only useful, but also a necessary reality check since one of the houses, Tau Kappa Epsilon, experienced a fire less than two months ago.

“We’re reminded of how serious it is,” said Tyler West, president of DU, who felt strongly about the Fire Academy’s relevance due to the fact that his fraternity suffered a similar disaster.

According to Patton, the most common cause of fires in any living quarters is negligence.

“You could leave a candle unattended for three seconds, and it could get knocked over, or a couch gets too close to a bonfire,” Patton said.

Due to strict policies the university has regarding candles and certain electrical items in resident halls and Greek housing, most local fires occur off campus.

“Because off-campus housing doesn’t have the safety code requirements, 80 percent of fires occur off campus,” Patton said.

Lora Sauermann, photographer and volunteer at the Fire Department, took pictures for the event.

“I’ve seen three fires since I became a volunteer,” Sauermann said. “Only one was on campus.”

For more information about fire prevention safety, please visit the Corvallis Fire Department website.

Amanda Antell, staff reporter

737-2231 news@dailybarometer.com

[Gazette-times] About 100 sorority and fraternity members from Oregon State University crawled through smoke, doused flames with fire extinguishers and learned what it feels like to wear more than 40 pounds of firefighting gear Wednesday during the sixth annual Greek Fire Academy.

Organized by the Corvallis Fire Department, the academy is designed to teach fire safety practices. The lecture portion of the academy was held at the LaSells Stewart Center; the fire demonstration was in Reser Stadium’s parking lot.

Representatives from OSU’s Greek houses and co-ops who attended the event walked away with a new understanding of the dangers of fire, and how to react in emergencies.

“We’ve probably got quite a bit of stuff to do,” said Kevin Dixon, 25, a resident of Antioch House, a Christian fraternity. “I need to make sure the sprinklers aren’t blocked by anything. I’d rather have my stuff wet than burned.”

Dixon had just witnessed a live fire demonstration that showed the benefits of having working fire alarms and sprinklers: The left side of a trailer was equipped with the fire safety devices; the right side of the trailer was not. As a direct consequence, a fire started in the specially equipped trailer scorched everything inside in no time; the left side was equipped with sprinklers, which quenched the flames within seconds.

Many participants said the most eye-opening event involved crawling through a 16-foot, smoky trailer. Greek members were instructed to stay low to the ground, where they could still find oxygen, and save a teddy bear before finding the trailer’s exit in the haze.

“College kids may think it’s silly, but it’s actually going through and seeing how it would be if (they were in) a fire,” said volunteer firefighter Nick Haney.

Haney told students that inhaling one or two deep breaths of smoke could be deadly.

“I’m trying to be realistic as far as what they’re going to see,” he said.

Sarah Finnerty, president of the cooperative house named The Courtyard, said she appreciated getting a glimpse into the realities of being caught in a burning building.

“It was kind of scary because that actually could happen,” Finnerty said.

Fire Prevention Officer Jim Patton said that is exactly why the department hosts the event.

Emily Gillespie can be reached at 541-758-9548 or emily.gillespie

@gazettetimes.com.