Another Reason to Hate Fraternities

If you live in Baltimore, it's pretty much impossible to have missed the news of a party at a Johns Hopkins fraternity (Sigma Chi) that had pretty offensive racial stereotypes. Apparently JHU has suspended the fraternity now.

Today a coworker asked me about my opinion on the issue because JHU is my alma mater. Here's what I told him:

It doesn't surprise me a bit that something like this could happen at Hopkins. It's not that the students are bad people, it's that they have absolutely no communication with the local community in general. Why? They're all middle to upper-middle class kids from the suburbs thrust into a lower-middle class to low class neighborhood. Then you add to it that Baltimore is an incredibly dangerous city and these kids have never lived in a city before…students are very wary of any part of town that is at all working-class or poor. So you have a situation where the prevailing local culture is very different from the culture that the students grew up in. So occasionally someone will suggest having a party themed after local culture. The problem is that Baltimore (and the area near Hopkins) is predominantly African-American. So when they set out to lampoon local culture, it ends up having very racial overtones.

Rereading it now, I still think that it's the best description I've come up with yet to describe the interaction between JHU and Baltimore. I can't say that it's the first time I've heard of a "ghetto" themed party at JHU. I had some friends once propose such a party, but when I thought about it I told them "Hey, I know you don't mean it, but that party could come off with a pretty racist vibe." They thought about it, then changed the party theme to "crazy hat" party.

My argument is that sometimes the students don't realize the harm they might be doing. Now, please note that I do not believe that this fraternity made an innocent mistake. I am describing the subtly racist attitude that I have noticed among many JHU undergraduates and where I believe it originates.

It really blows my mind that you had a bunch of students plan this party and no one stepped up and said "Hey guys, this might be a bad idea." Although, it's not all that surprising when you consider that this was a fraternity party. Fraternities act as positive feedback mechanisms for insensitivity. Which is probably why that party went from accidentally having racial overtones to being nothing but negative stereotypes of African Americans.

So what do I think about having the university ban this fraternity? Go for it. However, I would much prefer that JHU (and other universities) revise their policies of supporting Greek life. Fraternities and, to a lesser extent, sororities simply do not add value to the collegiate experience. Modern fraternities exist to promote underage drinking and promulgate misogynistic behavior. Ban them all and watch your community relations improve.

Surprise!

Well, just to taunt me for last night, in the news today we learn that Baltimore is the 12th most dangerous city in America.

The police commissioner was on the television news saying that they "Know what the problem is and what's driving these statistics and are working to reduce them." Unfortunately, despite the fact that they know what the problems are, they aren't sharing that knowledge with the general public. This comes despite the fact that the police commissioner also stated that the police "Know what they needed to do." A cynical person might be suspicious of these claims without some sort of evidence to back it up.

Fuck Baltimore

Well, I suppose that it was bound to happen sooner or later. I live in Baltimore. I've lived here for almost six years. Tonight I was held up at gunpoint for the first time. Not in my neighborhood, but near an area where I used to live (West Side of Downtown).

It was just past midnight (Sunday night). My roommates and I were leaving a friend's birthday party. We are just reaching the car (parked in front of 701 W. Pratt St.), one guy is opening it up. I see a guy on a bike riding along on the sidewalk. Right as I am opening the door to the car, he pulls up, leans his bike against the wall and starts to reach into his back waistband. As soon as I saw him reaching into his back waistband I was like "Oh fuck, are you serious?" Yeah, it was a gun. Revolver. Small caliber, possibly even .22 caliber. I had my wallet out in a flash. All he wanted was cash, thankfully. I had about $24. My one roommate had about $40. My other roommate was in the car and didn't at first realize what was going on. The guy actually pointed the gun at him and yelled at him to turn the car off. He only had $6 in cash. The guy was pretty pissed about this, but my roommate in the car threw out the wallet, so the guy could see that he wasn't hiding anything. He patted me down (I offered my change and cell phone) and my other roommate who was outside the car. Then he told us to "roll out" and got back on his bike.

It sucks, I've definitely been in that situation a hundred times before and will probably be in it many times more. It's nighttime, there's an African-American man in dark clothing (in this case a hood) approaching (in this case on bicycle). It flashes through your mind "should I be concerned?" and then you think "no, you're being paranoid and maybe racist." Then, this time, he fucking pulls a gun on you and takes your money.

I think that might actually be the last straw for me. Next summer I'm probably moving. It will be time to reevaluate city living versus the suburbs. I have to be honest, I never want this to happen to me again. I absolutely want to do everything in my power to make sure this never happens to my girlfriend or anyone important to me. If I have to move to the suburbs to make that happen, then I suppose it's a small price to pay.

PS - Baltimore Police were very professional about it. Although they did spend a little time, not quite out of ear shot, trying to decide if they could stick this one on another jurisdiction.

Business Traveling

Recently I've noticed a pattern in my behavior; I keep traveling to Connecticut. I think I need some sort of frequent Connecticut card. So for every time I travel to Connecticut, I'd get some number of points. After I reached a large number of points, I could trade them in for some sort of Connecticut reward or Connecticut gift certificate.

My Favorite Character is Earl

Recently I rented Disc 1 of Season 1 of My Name is Earl from Blockbuster*. It's rekindled my love for that show. For the uninitiated, I'll give a quick overview. You start with a chronic theif and all-around ne'er-do-well named Earl. Suddenly he realizes that he has to start over and make everything right in his life to repair his karma, a concept introduced to him by Carson Daly. So obviously, he writes down all the bad things he has done and starts to set them right (including such feats as "Faked my own death to avoid breaking up with a girl").

What really makes the show great is even as they lampoon low-class America, they do it with love. Earl and his even more simple brother Randy live out of a seedy motel, where they make friends with the maid, Catalina (who, of course, has dubious immigration status). Earl's scheming ex-wife Joy lives in a trailer with Darnell (AKA "crabman" from the crabshack).

I had a friend from high school who, after graduation, started doing construction. For awhile he was living out of a motel and dressed strikingly similar to Earl. He drank at a bar like the crabshack. He drove around in an old car. He certainly didn't steal, but he definitely inhabited a world similar to Earl's.

I suppose that's one of the reasons why I like "My Name is Earl." It's a funny show, absolutely, but it also reminds me of my friend. He could have easily become a successful businessman or gone into almost any line of work. However, he was content with his life, he didn't want the stress of running his own business or a changing jobs. It's impressive that you can have a major network comedy based around a guy that lives out of a seedy motel without feeling like we're supposed to look down on people in that circustance. I would think that it'd be tough for someone in the position to create a TV show to understand someone in the position to drive an El Camino and eat vending machine donuts for breakfast. Bravo Greg Garcia (and, of course, the entire cast is excellent).

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* Quick aside: How did we survive before Blockbuster.com? Or Netflix, since they're essentially the same thing. My roommates and I pay $18 per month and in return, I have a reason to live another day (namely, a new DVD of The Wire might come in the mail).

Prosper.com Starts Rating Groups

Prosper.com has finally started rating their borrowing groups! Up until this point, I'd pretty much viewed the groups as useless - being the member of a group seemed offer no advantage to a borrower. For anyone that doesn't know, groups receive a small portion of each payment that a borrower makes. The group leader either keeps that small portion (ideally to compensate for the amount of time they spend screening new members and keeping track of current loans) or shares it with the group. What this amounts to is a higher effective interest rate for the borrower.

Now that Prosper is rating groups, being the member of a group actually adds some information that is not available from a regular credit report. Basically, ratings are based on a comparison of the group's default rate against Experian historical default rates. Groups are rated from 1 to 5 stars, more stars = fewer defaults. This extra information might justify the extra expense of being a group member (I'm still not convinced about it). However, I do have to admit, I'm certainly going to be browsing the established, 5-star groups for my next loan.

Comcast Ruins My Friday Afternoon

How, you might ask, can Comcast frustrate you on a Friday afternoon when you are not even a Comcast customer? It might seem natural to assume that poor customer service can only happen to you if you are a customer, it seems Comcast has reached a new level. Like a gangster spraying bullets from an automatic weapon, Comcast has hit an innocent bystander with their terrible customer relations.

This evening I had nearly completed my evening commute. I pulled into the alley behind my house to park my car, when lo and behold, a Comcast Authorized Contractor!



I'm going to take a moment and make some observations here:

1. This alley is a one-way street
2. There a bunch of empty parking spaces behind
   a) the house they are servicing
   b) other nearby houses
3. The contractor is actually getting something out of the car right now
4. It would take surprisingly little effort to move that vehicle and let me pass

Guess what the Comcast Authorized Contractor decided to do? How about insist that I back out of the alley, drive around the block, then drive back up the alley (the wrong direction on a one-way street) to reach my parking space. In his defense, he did offer to let me wait 15 minutes for him to finish his work, then he would move the car.

Has Comcast already forgotten about that guy that made a YouTube video of a Comcast technician falling asleep on his couch? I would have thought that Comcast would have made the point to their technicians and contractors that Comcast is judged by their behavior. I guess I would have been wrong.

Support Public Radio

Today was the last day of the local NPR station's fall pledge drive. I've finally joined WYPR, I suppose it's the responsible thing to do since I listen so frequently. Also, the member card that will get you 2-for-1 meals at Baltimore restaurants didn't hurt.

Best Local Bar

Idlehour.

Located at the corner of Fort Ave. and William St.

If you don't think that a bar with music that is not so loud as to preclude conversation and without television is a good idea, then you should go to MaGerk's instead. Also, they have original art for sale. Oh, and if that weren't enough, they have Resurrection (from Brewer's Art) on tap.

Go there.

Dangerously Delicious Pies

There's been a recent addition to my neighborhood that I absolutely have to support: Dangerously Delicious Pies. They are such a recent addition, in fact, that they do not even list their current location on their website.

Why do I support such an institution in Federal Hill?

1. Their pies are ridiculously good
2. Their coffee is reasonably priced and pretty good
3. The proprietor started making pies when "rock and roll wasn't paying the bills anymore"
4. The combination of items 1 thru 3 IN ONE STORE.

One thing that I've always found annoying about Federal Hill is that there is no coffee shop open after 8 PM. No place where you can go sit and read The City Paper and relax with a cup of coffee. Finally, someone opens a place to fill that void...and it happens to be a tattoo-ed semi-retired rock-and-roll drummer who bakes pies. Isn't that the American dream?

Anyway, if you live in the area, you should give them a try. Apparently there's some sort of grand opening party this Saturday with pie and rock and roll. The store is located near Blue Agave on Light Street...I guess that makes it the 1000 block of Light Street.