As formal fraternity and sorority recruitment kicks off this week, Panhellenic Council Executive Vice President Kirsten Fleming hopes to minimize the influence of informal tier systems on potential new members.

Tier systems posted on Web sites like collegeacb.com and the now-defunct juicycampus.com rank fraternities and sororities based on often-untrue rumors, Fleming (senior-hotel, restaurant and institutional management) said.

All posts are anonymous, and such entries often bear headlines such as "Freshmen -- all the info you need for rush" and "Freshmen pay attention."

"For some girls that are able to find this Web site, this might be the only information they're receiving," Fleming said.

Kara Zinger, vice president for communications for the Panhellenic Council (PHC), said she hopes the posts will not affect the recruitment process.

Pi Chis, PHC sorority members who act as recruitment counselors for potential new members, are trained to counteract gossip and rumors that circulate during the process, she said.

"Experiences should dictate where they want to go, not something they read on a Web site," Zinger, a member of the Collegian's business division, said.

Interfraternity Council (IFC) President Luke Pierce said he believes rating Web sites do not negatively affect greek life or the recruitment process.

"First of all, it's a joke," Pierce (senior-economics) said. "Second of all, it affects sororities more than fraternities."

But Mark Mixon, president of Sigma Nu fraternity, said he thinks collegeacb.com has the potential to discourage students from joining the greek system entirely. He said the Web site "undermines the basic concept of greek life."

Mixon (senior-energy, business and finance) said it seems that a small minority of the greek community is controlling the perception of greek life through the tier system.

"There's nothing good about this tier system," he said. "It's essentially a caste system. The impression that I get is that if you're not in one of these top tiers based on an arbitrary social ranking, there's just this stigma."

Jessica Blaier (freshman-forensic chemistry) said she is entering the recruitment process with an open mind. She said she attended the information sessions and has never heard of collegeacb.com, juicycampus.com or the tier system.

Wearing the IFC recruitment T-shirt, Mackenzie Neumaier (freshman-premedicine) said he has also never heard of the tier system or fraternity and sorority rankings.

"I just want to explore," he said. "I don't have any in mind."

Peter Frank, a sophomore at Wesleyan University who owns and operates collegeacb.com, did not return calls for comment by press time Monday. The Web site's mission statement defines the site as "a place to vent, rant, and talk to college peers in an environment free from social constraints and about subjects that might otherwise be taboo."