It was with disgust that I read the Sunday Daily Item account of what supposedly happened at Delta Theta Sigma. Disgust and unbelief at the over blown half-truths the media used to portray the fraternity as an 'Animal House'.

True there is a tradition when a brother (not a pledge as the television reported) upon being engaged is clad in boxer shorts, tied by the ankles and hoisted up the front yard tree.

Then the other brothers proceed to make good use of the left overs from the fraternity refrigerator. The well-meaning co-ed who reportedly saw vomit being thrown on the brother, obviously has not passed introductory biology. What she saw may have had a close resemblance but was a completely harmless mixture.

Even though it was cold the ritual usually lasts 2-3 minutes after which the groom-to-be is untied, taken to the shower and there he usually gets his revenge by dragging everyone along with him into the shower. After this everyone shakes hands and the ruckus is over.

My question to the "well-meaning media" is; Was the "violated" brother interviewed? If this is at all true he surely would have moved out by now. Has he? No! In fact knowing the tradition, he helped tie the rope on his feet.

Reporting such as this can damage the reputations of many fine fraternities' at all Universities. They are not just party places.

Until I joined a fraternity at Pann State I was lost in the masses. My first Biology class had 1100 students in it! I was not very outgoing and not a "party person".

Delta Theta Sigma gave me the opportunity not only to meet but develop friendships with people with the same backrounds and interests, my grades improved and I became more involved in campus activities.

I did not graduate Magna Cum Laude, I have something much more valuable; over 100 close friends I can call brothers who live throughout the country. Several of them live right here in the Susquehenna Valley and I am never more than an hour away from one whenever I am in the state of Pennsylvania.

Where was the media three summers ago on a Saturday when 20 brothers came from as far as Erie to surprise a local brother by repairing and repainting his barn while another brother lured him away from home for the day.

Ask that brother in western Pennsylvania how he and his wife, who lost their four year old son in an accidental drowning, felt when brothers came from all over the state to help them pick up the pieces of their lives.

Or ask the parents of the deceased brother how they felt when 30 brothers donated blood on a regular basis in an effort to fight his battle with leukemia.

I am not soliciting for merit badges. Those are acts that any decent human being should do, but fraternities offer the vehicle for a mass effort which achieves greater results than any one individual could ever accomplish.

There are many other valuable lessons to be learned from a fraternity and you won't find them between the covers of any books!

I'm writing because if this article had been printed while I was an insignificant freshman, the last thing I would have done or would have my parents allow me to do would be to join this fraternity.

I thank God that didn't happen. I have something more valuable than a diploma from Penn State, I have over 100 close friends I can call Brothers!