Aurthur Portnoy was chosen as this weeks spotlight because of his outstanding commitment not only to the Florida Greek Community, but the larger UF community as well. Arthur is currently a third year Recreation and Event Management major with a minor in Business. He is also serving as the Alpha Epsilon Pi President, Gator Growl Tech Director, and he is the Technical Productions Supervisor at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.

On top of his current commitments Arthur has served as a member of the Florida Cicerones, AEPi Vice President, and House Manager. He also served as a member of Preview Staff and Gator Growl Assistant Tech Director in 2005.

Arthur says, "Being a Florida Greek means redefining what is standard and taking that standard and setting it higher. Being a Florida Greek means working to make our community better not just suggesting ideas. It also means that every day we can work to improve something whether its in our Greek, university, or local community."

The Greeks and Homophobia panel on Tuesday, October 10, 2006 will highlight the experiences of collegiate students who identify as Gay and Greek. These students will have the opportunity to talk about how their affiliation with a Greek-lettered organization and their sexual orientation impacted his/her undergraduate experiences. In addition, participants will have the opportunity to learn a little more about the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual community and how this community and the Greek community inter-relate.

If you'd like more information please or have any questions please contact Charlene Liu at chacha12@ufl.edu.

In Tallahassee, five Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity brothers are being tried in the first major test of a new Florida law that makes hazing a felony punishable by up to five years in prison if it results in serious bodily injury or death.

In his opening statement, Assistant State Attorney Frank Allman said, "They beat Marcus Jones with canes so severely he needed surgery to remove a blood clot from his buttocks and also they punched him wearing boxing gloves to the point he temporarily lost hearing."

Jones and his father have retained civil attorneys. Chuck Hobbs the attorney for the defendants believes their motive for seeking criminal charges was financial, although no lawsuit has been filed yet.

Information courtesy of the Gainesville Sun Local & State

Don't forget to get started on the Community Service Project Form. It is due on Friday, December 1 to the Office of Sorority and Fraternity Affairs.

Please direct all questions to Lisa Kendall at ljk@ufl.edu.

If you would like to update your organizations database, the president should contact Tamara Johnson in the Center for Student Involvement. Tamara can be reached at tamaraj@union.ufl.edu.

Greeks for Life took place this past Sunday on Flavet field. With more than 350 participants from eleven chapters the event was a huge success. Greeks for Life was co-sponsored by the four Greek Council's and the Homecoming Committee.

The goal of the event was to encourage students to donate blood at the LifeSouth Bloodmobiles. Students also joined in the fun by participating in relay races, water balloon tosses, and of course tug-o-war to earn spirit points for the homecoming week. The event concluded with some UF trivia and a dance off competition.

Congratulations to all of the participants. Special recognition to Phi Mu and Alpha Gamma Rho for being the overall winners for sororities and fraternities.

Officer Training sessions provide organization officers and members with detailed information on how to be successful within their organization. The Center for Student Involvement strongly encourages officers to participate in as many training sessions as possible to maximize their contributions to their organizations. (Non-officers are also welcome to attend.) The training sessions will be offered on Tuesdays Period 5 (11:45-12:35) and Wednesdays Period 8 (3:00-3:55) in the Reitz Union.

To sign up for training sessions, please e-mail KelliR@union.ufl.edu with:

• Organization name
• Names and e-mails of the officers/members who will be in attendance
• Dates of the sessions you would like to attend

Please sign up at least 24 hours before the scheduled training session.