It was a beautiful day today. Not a cloud in the sky. Hard to believe it's mid-February. I was walking through the "quad" at school. A big grassy area lined with trees between the library and student union building. Some students were tossing a football around, others were sitting on a blanket reading. Music was blaring from the stereo speakers next to a fraternity's information table. As I walked though the quad en route to my car parked 5 blocks away, a couple thoughts crossed my mind. (1) How come I don't remember such a scene at SFU? and (2) what is the point of a frat or sorority if there's no frat or sorority housing at SF State?

In answer to number 1, well... we had no grass. The area between the AQ and business building was designed by Arthur Erickson to be the gathering place for students. Anyone who attended SFU knows full well that students march right through that area to get to the bookstore, library or other end of the university. Why? Let's see, it was usually cold and rainy outside and being surrounded by concrete rarely makes people feel the urge to stop, congregate, and engage some scholarly discussion. SF State is by no means a good-looking school. Stanford is what you call a beautiful school. But that patch of grass outside the student union building at SFSU seems to make school feel more like a place to maybe stick around just a little longer.

As for number 2, I have no idea the answer to that one. What the hell is the point of a sorority or fraternity? The mission statements I've seen from the groups at SFSU are pretty vague if not meaningless. Even those Greek groups at bigger schools with houses for people to live in. What do they offer other than a place to stay and instant network of friends to party with (to the exclusion of other students)? I don't get it.