Penn State is attempting to re-establish its relationship with the Greek community, by taking back legal liabilities that were removed since the 1980s.

As of right now, legal responsibilities lie with the individual fraternities, and Tuesday night, the Interfraternity Council (IFC) and Vicky Triponey, the vice president of student affairs, went to the State College Borough Council meeting to discuss this reconciliation between the greeks and Penn State.

First, both of these groups need the borough council's OK to have Penn State take back the legal responsibilities of the fraternities and sororities.

Most of the council members questioned why they should allow this initiative to go through, because the fraternities are located in the borough, and ostensibly, the fraternities' misbehavior is a borough problem.

It's easy to feel for the council members when they say that they want to keep the fraternities responsible for their actions, rather than having the university mediating their behavior.

Yet, the IFC has claimed it has made efforts to curb stereotypical behavior of the Greek community, such as requiring alcohol and sexual assault awareness classes. But it seems to make sense that Penn State should be able to come in and have some judiciary power with how the fraternities are handled. Why were the fraternities disassociated from the university in the first place?

The reason that fraternities are in the borough is clear; there's a university right down the street. What this situation comes down to is the continued division among the Borough Council in fighting for the interests of their constituents who are townspeople, and those who are students. If Penn State would have more control over the fraternities that are off-campus, then Penn State would be able to hold more over the fraternities' heads. And this would probably be a good thing, because the members of the fraternities are students, and Penn State is the institution they are attending.

Fraternities do not just exist out of thin air, and they aren't just reckless party houses that happen to be in the middle of Centre County. The burden of the fraternities should fall on the university.

As of right now, it seems that the borough has something against the fraternities. And this shows a lack of respect for their collegiate neighbors. The fraternities also have a lack of respect for the borough, and its area residents, by having parties late at night, and trash lining the sidewalks. Some simple respect on both sides of this equation is needed, and a relationship with the university could help to foster this environment.