Students start Greek newspaper

Douglas Lipsky, a political science junior, co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Tradition described the bi-weekly newspaper, which premiered March 25, as "a cross between Rolling Stone magazine and USA Today."

Lipsky said he and business junior Sunil Mudholkar first proposed the idea at a fraternity and sorority presidents' retreat during winter break.

"By the response we got from the presidents, we decided to initiate the newspaper," he said.

Mudholkar and Lipsky are members of Pi Kappa Alpha.

"One of the paper's main purposes is to inform those inside the Greek community and educate those outside," Lipsky said.

"Overall, I think it's a good thing," said Kappa Sigma member Josh Bowie after reading the first issue. "We have a large Greek community that hasn't had enough representation in the media."

Bowie, an accounting sophomore, said he liked the cover story, which focused on how students come to terms with the death of a chapter brother or sister.

Still, Bowie said he would like to see more stories illustrating the positive effects of fraternities and sororities.

Articles in The Tradition's first issue covered topics ranging from the effects of alcohol abuse to the tight black pants many young women wear to parties and bars.

Lipsky, whose only previous journalism experience was as editor of his high school's underground newspaper, said he's playing it by ear and learning the hard way.

"Everyone's learning a lot from our first issue now that it's in front of us to look at," he said.

About 7,000 copies of the newspaper are distributed to fraternity and sorority houses, as well as some local businesses and campus administration offices.