Chapters boast all the luxuries of home -- and more

Though some people might think all greek houses resemble the pizza box and beer can covered Delta Tau Chi fraternity of "Animal House," chapter houses boast everything from hot tubs to high-tech security. These days, fraternity and sorority houses are trying to attract members with some hidden luxuries students might not even have at home.\nExercise\n Regardless of whether it's 3 p.m. or 3 a.m., members of Alpha Gamma Delta are free to kick-box with Billy Blanks or jump on a treadmill in the sorority's in-house exercise room.\nThe workout room contains two treadmills, elliptical machines, free weights and a Bowflex weight lifting system, Alpha Gamma Delta President Kate Williams said. Members can also pick from the many work out tapes in the room, she said.\n"It is nice to have it right here in the house," Williams said. "You don't have to get out and go all the way to the SRSC, and you can usually talk your roommate or someone in the house into working out with you." \nKate Middleton, a sophomore and member of the Alpha Gamma Delta cycling team, said she uses the workout room at least three or four times a week. Exercise helps her stay healthy and deal with the stress of school and social life, she said. \n"It is great because I can go down there whenever I want and work out for as long as I want," Middleton said. "It really helps with my schedule and my well-being." \nSecurity\nIntruders beware: It's not easy to break into the Alpha Delta Pi or Chi Omega sorority houses. Both sororities employ a fingerprint security system that only lets in sorority members and a few employees. \nThe Alpha Delta Pi sorority installed the system in 1992 when the house was first built, said senior Karla Gilliatt, the sorority's president. Each new sorority member's fingerprints are entered into the system so members -- and members only -- can simply put their finger on the scanner and enter, she said. \n"It definitely helps give us a sense of security because we know that only the people who are supposed to be here will be admitted," Gilliatt said. \nThe president of Chi Omega, senior Jamie McNichols, agreed.\n"The girls feel safer and more secure knowing that random people can't just walk in at night," McNichols said. "It keeps the crazies out." \nAntiques\nUnlike the second-hand, mismatched couches that usually adorn college residences, members of Alpha Tau Omega rest their feet on antique works of art. The fraternity is home to the second largest collection of Romweber Viking Oak furniture in the country, second only to the Indiana Memorial Union, said Kent Miller, the fraternity's alumni board president, in an e-mail. \nEach piece of the furniture is carved from a single tree, said junior Brad Blinn, Alpha Tau Omega president. Except where the leather is connected to the wood, no nails or glue were used to put them together. \n"The Romweber furniture (was) purchased at the start of World War II, and the house was used as an Army recruitment station," Miller said in an e-mail. "And as a gesture of thanks, the U.S. Army allowed the ATO chapter to keep this very valuable, now antique, furniture." \nThe couches were among the five items saved during a fire that destroyed the fraternity house in the 1940s, Blinn said.\n"We would never sell any of them," Blinn said. \nHowever, if the fraternity were to put price tags on the pieces, they would be about $15,000 each, Blinn said. \nThe fraternity also houses other valuable works of art. Blinn said one painting is worth more than $1 million.\nTechnology\nMonday Night Football just got even better for members of the Alpha Epsilon Pi house. \nLast week, the fraternity installed a 105-inch projection screen that is wired to the sound system throughout the house, said sophomore Joshua Philipson. \n"It draws a lot of people to the house, especially the live-out guys who are in different houses," Philipson said. "It is a good way to get people to come over, like to watch Monday Night Football." \nThe fraternity can also show music videos or iTunes graphics during parties, Philipson said. The projection screen is wired into the new sound system, purchased this year, which can play music or television -- SportsCenter is a favorite -- throughout the house, he said. \nAlpha Epsilon Pi also purchased a wireless printer this year, Philipson said. Fraternity members can use the printer from anywhere in the house or on campus, as long as they are connected to the IU wireless network.