Fraternity use better than no use

Six fraternities are now on campus without housing, and this does not include the cultural greek-letter organizations. Some of the returning chapters have old houses, appropriated by IU, while others are starting fresh and have no tradition of a house on this campus.\nMost, if not all, of these fraternities have looked into moving into an on-campus house, but IU has consistently refused to allot any of its houses for further habitation by greeks while at the same time letting a good many of them sit dilapidated and unoccupied.\nWe feel that while this does not represent any anti-greek attitude on the University's part, it does reveal that land is being used irresponsibly. IU is hard-pressed for space as it is, and simply letting University-owned property sit unused is a waste of land and resources. If IU does not want to let greek organizations occupy the property, then at least fill the space with some obscure academic department starved for space -- like the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology on Park Avenue or the Department of Polish Studies on Atwater Avenue.\nWith both fraternities and academic departments eager for campus space, IU can no longer afford to shilly-shally on this matter: either begin letting greek organizations inhabit campus houses or refuse to allow any more campus edifices to become greek houses. Not taking a stance is a bit like holding out a carrot in front of the horse -- it promises the possibility of housing while never actually granting it.\nIf IU does refuse further greek housing on campus, it needs to start filling those buildings immediately with academic departments and other University-related personnel that urgently needs space. This way the property would be used, IU will at least appear to be actively solving the space problem and any rumors of IU being anti-greek will be dispelled, since it is necessity, not preference, behind the decision.\nIf IU is unwilling to commit a property to a certain use permanently, a solution also exists: lease the property to a fraternity for a period of five years or so. It would give the fraternity a house to use -- even if temporarily -- which is a major convenience for greek organizations. It also allows the University to buy some time and either prepare to fill the space with a department when the lease runs out or allow continued habitation by the fraternity.\nWhichever path IU takes (even one not suggested here), it ensures that at least IU's property is being utilized. The University cannot afford to talk about using properties well when some are not even being used at all. Any use outside of terrorist training would be better than that.\nIn recent years, IU has been notorious for throwing away money earned from tuition and taxes on unexpired contracts, useless programs and the like. It should not add to the absurdity and make real estate yet another wasted asset. IU might not be a business, but running itself like one would certainly increase its effectiveness and perhaps avoid any more possible tuition hikes.