Alpha Alpha Line – New Member Presentation

Valentine’s Day Mini-Week

 From 2/11- 2/17, the

Psophisticated Psi chapter

of Sigma Lambda Gamma

National Inc. we will be

hosting a a week of events

in honor of Valentine’s Day.

We have a great week of

events planned and would love if everyone could come out and support us!

All updates and changes will be posted on our twitter (@IU_Gammas) and on

our facebook page (PsophisticatedPsiGammas).  You can always email

slg@indiana.edu for any comments, questions, or concerns.

Dine and Donate

We will be hosting a Dine and Donate tomorrow, Wednesday, Nov 14th from 6- 9pm at Buffalo Wild Wings in order to support the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation! Bring the following flyer with you and present it to your server and 10% of your purchase will be donated to the organization.

Thank you for your support!

Show You Care! Be Aware!

Today is the official start of Breast Cancer Awareness month. In honor of our National philanthropy, Sigma Lambda Gamma National Sorority Inc.’s Psi Chapter is hosting a mini-week that will focus on the empowerment of all women on the topic of Breast Cancer.

Events:

October 1st – Get Loose with the Gammas

6:15pm SRSC Room MS1
Come join us at the SRSC for a zumba class!

Who says that being healthy can’t be fun?October 2nd – Breast Cancer Survivor Talk 6-7pm Hillel
Co-Sponsored by the ladies of Kappa Gamma Delta Sorority
Join us as we hear a breast cancer survivor share her personal story. Light refreshments will be provided.

October 3rd – Awareness Day 12-2 pm
We will be in the in front of Wells Library handing out breast cancer awareness information. Stop by and get a lollipop!

Salsa Under the Stars

Have you ever wanted to learn how to salsa, bachata, merengue, or any other form of Latin dance? Well, here’s your chance…….. for FREE! Join Indiana University Bloomington’s 3 Latina- based sororities for a little Salsa Under the Stars TONIGHT at 7:00pm in the Neal Marshall Quad.

Fall Informational

Come learn about the FASTEST growing Greek-lettered organization in the nation and find out about the opportunities a MULTICULTURAL sorority can provide! We hope to see you there!

Black History Month!

Happy Black History Month to you all! Starting in 1926 as “National Negro Week” by Carter G. Woodson, a week in February was chosen because it was the marked the birthdays of two very influential persons to the Black struggle: Abraham Lincoln and Fredrick Douglas. Although there is controversy, Black History Week has involved into the month you see before you today. Black Student Union (which I am the president of) made a series of events in order to celebrate the month. Here are the events for this month:

-State of the Black Student Union

-Sex, Drugs, Money, and Thugs: A discussion on Hip Hop and Its Implications

-Put a Hump in Ya Back: Move your body to healthy living

-Soul Food Dinner

My favorite event so far has been the Hip Hop event. I know a lot of people try to bad mouth hip hop for its lyrics, images of women, and so on and so forth. But Hip Hop isn’t something that came completely out of left field. Hip Hop is a reflection of American culture and values. Is money and wanting it, the lack of respect for females, gangster culture, and drugs not a part of our society already? Since it is why blame Hip Hop for showing you something you already see every day? Makes no sense to me, and that’s what the speaker touched on in the presentation.
Hope the bloggers reading this can make it out to our last events. They have been good and you wouldn’t want to miss it!

-Vanessa Gee

The Festival of Holi

My parents first came to the United States in 1985 from India to help create a better life for my family.  They wanted us to know our culture while giving us the best opportunity to succeed.  To make sure we knew everything we could about our culture and traditions, we grew up eating Indian food, learning the Hindi language, learning the different stories about the Gods and Goddess, and celebrating the holidays.  One holiday that really sticks out from my past that my family celebrated is Holi.

 

Holi, which falls on March 8^thof this year, comes from the legend of the king Hiranyakashipu and Prahlada. In the legend, Hiranyakashipu is the great king of demons, and he had been granted a boon by Brahma, which made it almost impossible for him to be killed. The boon was due to his long penance, after which he had demanded that he not be killed “during day or night; inside the home or outside, not on earth or in the sky; neither by a man nor an animal; neither by astra nor by shastra”. Consequently, he grew arrogant and attacked the Heavens and the Earth. He demanded that people stop worshipping Gods and start praising him.

 

According to this belief, Hiranyakashipu’s own son, Prahlada, was a devotee of Lord Vishnu. In spite of several threats from Hiranyakashipu, Prahlada continued offering prayers to Lord Vishnu. He was poisoned by Hiranyakashipu, but the poison turned to nectar in his mouth. He was ordered to be trampled by elephants yet remained unharmed. He was put in a room with hungry, poisonous snakes and survived. All of Hiranyakashipu’s attempts to kill his son failed. Finally, he ordered young Prahlada to sit on a pyre on the lap of his demoness sister, Holika, who could not die because she also had a bag of fish balls. And a boon which would prevent fire from burning her. Prahlada readily accepted his father’s orders, and prayed to Vishnu to keep him safe. When the fire started, everyone watched in amazement as Holika burnt to death, while Prahlada survived unharmed, the burning of Holika is celebrated as Holi.

 

Later Lord Vishnu came in the form of a Narasimha (who is half-man and half-lion) and killed Hiranyakashipu at dusk (which was neither day nor night), on the steps of the porch of his house (which was neither inside the house nor outside) by restraining him on his lap (which is neither in the sky nor on the earth) and mauling him with his claws.

There are other legends to Holi, which involve Krishna and Radha, but in all stories Holi shows people the ultimate victory of good over evil and the triumph of a true devotee.  It shows the uniting of all different types of people, from rich to poor, light skin to dark skin.

In India, The day before Holi, a bonfire it lit to represent Holika, Prahlada’s devil minded sister, being burnt.  The next day, Holi, which is the festival of colors, is the main day of the celebrations.  During the celebration, adults and children spray or throw colour on each other and sing songs.  Children pay respect to the elders by sprinkling color at their feet.  This is just a fun time for everyone to let loose, and ignore all social norms.

– #59 Anuradha ‘Sonreir’ Narang

Chapter Philanthropy: Working with CASCI

In 2012, the members of Sigma Lambda Gamma are proud to announce that, for the first time ever in our chapter’s history, we have established a chapter philanthropy. Our chapter reached out far beyond the well-known and well funded organizations and found a wonderful not-for-profit to be connected with. Our new chapter philanthropy is Citizen Advocacy of South-Central Indiana, Inc. (CASCI). To give you more of an idea what CASCI is about, essentially, they facilitate and support one-on-one matches between citizens with disabilities and other members of our community for the purpose of friendship and advocacy.

After a lot of research, the sisters of Sigma Lambda Gamma enlisted to volunteer with CASCI for the first time in the early fall semester at an event entitled “Friend for a Day.” It was an experience that every single member truly enjoyed.  The CASCI staff was really welcoming and they were such a wonderful individuals to work with. After this event, we decided to continue volunteering with CASCI for the long-term. We have continued to volunteer with CASCI at least once a month and we have formed a powerful relationship with this superb organization. Thus, we are proud to call CASCI our Chapter Philanthropy and we hope to continue to develop and work with them for years to come.

As the philanthropist of Sigma Lambda Gamma’s Psi Chapter, I challenge you to go support and help this organization or any others that aren’t well known nor heavily publicized.
You might be surprised that even giving just a little help can really make a huge difference to those in your community!

Best,
#66 Celestine ‘Estrella’ Perez

If you want to learn more about CASCI, please visit:
http://www.casciweb.org/

Chinese New Year! Year of the Dragon

I recently recieved an e-mail spitting knowledge about a holiday I don’t know much about. I decided this would be a great thing to pass on through our sorority’s blog. Enjoy! #CulturalAwareness

– #62 Jessica ‘Aguara’ Rizzi

All about Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year is a holiday that celebrates the beginning of a new year according to the lunar calendar and is considered to be one of the most important holidays for Chinese families.

The holiday is celebrated with big family gatherings, gift giving, the eating of symbolic foods and display of festive decorations–all focused on bringing good luck for the new year and celebrating the coming of Spring.

When Is Chinese New Year?
The start of Chinese New Year changes every year since it is dictated by the lunar calendar. The Gregorian or solar calendar–which is based on the Earth’s movement around the sun and has a fixed number of 365 days a year (366 during a leap year)–is the most widely used calendar system in the world and has been the official calendar used in China since 1912.

But in China the lunar calendar is still used to determine traditional holidays like Chinese New Year. Since the lunar calendar is based on the phases of the moon– which has a shorter cycle than the sun–Chinese New Year is never on the same day each year, but typically falls somewhere between January 21st and February 20^th.

How Long Do Chinese New Year Celebrations Last?
According to Daria Ng, Assistant Curator of Education at the Museum of Chinese in the Americas in New York City, celebrations can actually last up to a month, especially in China.

Originally the celebrations lasted for lengthy amounts of time because China was a very agriculture-based country so farmers took the whole month off to rest since crops couldn’t be planted during the winter. Nowadays most families celebrate the New Year for about two week’s time, says Ng, starting on the first day of the new year and end on the 15^th.

http://holidays.kaboose.com/what-is-chinese-new-year.html