Greek IDs are a topic that has come up previously, and the general student body elicited the same response at that time. Unfortunately, the fraternity and sorority community has become stereotyped as an elitist community, but this is in fact not the case. As members of values-based organizations, greek men and women group together in a close-knit community. Greeks IDs are an easy way to identify people of that community.

Two main issues have been brought up in a Collegian editorial as well as several letters to the editor. First, greek IDs are for elitist purposes. Steve DiOrio put it so well in saying that we are exclusive (as opposed to elitist), and that is OK. Our exclusivity comes due to the fact that we need to protect our organizations, our houses and ourselves by limiting our risk. On Wednesday, at the Source Investigation Project presentation, State College Police Chief Tom King and Sgt. Dana Leonard commended the greeks for their most recent efforts at curbing their risk at social functions. The second issue is that greeks do not deserve any special treatment for their membership in their organization. I recall a lesson I was taught early in life, that if you don't ask, the answer is always no. We are just asking if businesses are interested in mutually-benefiting agreements where they get increased business and the greek students get discounts. This is something I would encourage other groups to do, and I have seen this from many other groups.

I have full confidence in the steps the greek community is taking to limit risk. Greek IDs are one of the avenues, and the main reason we are pursuing them is for the risk management aspect. If we can utilize them in other ways such as discounts and whatever else we dream up, then we likely will. But the true reason for greek IDs is indeed for the safety and security of our social functions.

The bottom line is that the greek community is being responsible and should be commended for this.