Greek Leaders Research Articles

Sopocles’ Ajax: A Tragedy of Deception

Greek tragedy is a tragedy of fate that brings the downfall of the central figure. Greek playwrights were masters of storytelling and tried to bring purgation of human emotions. Man is indeed responsible for his prosperity and downfall, but no one can deny the role of destiny in man’s life. Sophocles was one of the greatest Greek Playwrights who produced considerable tragedies in Greek literature. Sophocles’ plays were performed on the stage during the ancient time. His most horrible tragedy is Oedipus Rex in which Sophocles presents the cruelty of destiny that brings Oedipus’s downfall. Ajax is a tragedy of the central character Ajax who is presented as a noble warrior in the play but his rivalry with Odysseus for the armour of Achilles invites his downfall. In Ajax, Athena, a Greek goddess is presented as a villain in the play. Athena blurs the vision of Ajax and makes him believe that he has killed his rival Odysseus and Greek leaders but later on, he comes to know that he has killed the innocent cattle under the influence of Athena’s false vision. When Ajax comes to know about his sin, he commits suicide at the end of the play. Athena’s deception brings downfall to Ajax.

The Greek Fire: American-Ottoman Relations and Democratic Fervor in the Age of Revolutions by Maureen Connors Santelli

Reviewed by: The Greek Fire: American-Ottoman Relations and Democratic Fervor in the Age of Revolutions by Maureen Connors Santelli Ada Dialla (bio) Maureen Connors Santelli, The Greek Fire: American-Ottoman Relations and Democratic Fervor in the Age of Revolutions. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2020. Pp. 250. Hardcover $44.95. The famous Greek leader Petrobeis Mavromihalis, upon the start of the Greek Revolution in the Peloponnese, sent to the Americans a document titled “Declaration to the Americans by the Kalamata Messinian Senate and the Field Marshal Petros Mavromihalis” (March 1821). In the document, the political affinity between Greeks and Americans was stressed. Despite the geographical distance, wrote Mavromihalis, the revolutionaries regarded the Americans as familiar; they regarded them as friends and fellow citizens, philanthropists, brave and with the Bible in hand. With this “Declaration,” Mavromihalis hoped to provoke the philhellenic sentiments of the Americans. Regarding European Philhellenism, most researchers agree that the phil-hellenic discourse included—and was based on—three main pillars: (a) religion, namely Christian religion, which in those days witnessed various changes in Europe as a vehicle for reshaping society, with Christianity associated with civilization and Europe/the West identified with Christian civilization; (b) antiquity, with Greek antiquity as the cradle of civilization (actually of European civilization, which was then seen as global); and (c) humanitarianism. When the Greek Revolution erupted, politicians, intellectuals, and public figures—everyone who could speak, write, and comment on what was happening among the Orthodox Greeks of the Ottoman Empire—had no difficulty in associating the uprising with the discourse on slavery and in empathizing with the Christian populations ruled by the Sublime Porte, seeing them as having been enslaved by the Sultan and as victims of various barbarities. From the first moment, language was mobilized which was intended to evoke humanitarian sentiments. Words and phrases such as “extermination,” “annihilation,” “effusion of blood,” “massacres,” and “slavery” were in common use. Elsewhere, Philhellenism, as a movement for supporting the revolutionaries, expressed itself in poems, art, [End Page 494] articles, fiery speeches, fundraising, the creation of various active committees and societies, and so on. But what was the reception in the United States of the Greek-speaking Orthodox Christian revolutionaries, subjects of the Sultan? This is a little-known and seldom-discussed subject: one of the few exceptions is an extended chapter titled “Americans and Greeks” in Gary Bass’s 2008 book Freedom’s Battle: The Origins of Humanitarian Intervention. And this gap in the literature is what Maureen Connors Santelli has come to address. The philhellenic movement in the United States and elsewhere developed mainly in the wake of the Chios massacre of April 1822. In the US, the philhellenic movement had reached a peak by 1824, with the press referring to the “Greek Fire,” a phrase that alluded to Byzantine liquid fire but that also underscored how the philhellenic movement was spreading like fire across the whole of the United States. This book examines American philhellenism at two levels: (a) as a movement of support for the Greek insurgents; and (b) as an issue internal to American society, linked with discussions of the need for social and political reforms, especially regarding the questions of slavery and the emancipation of women. Santelli’s study thus connects, in an original manner, issues of foreign policy with burning internal questions. It examines Philhellenism, within a global framework and in terms of the interrelationship and overall movement of ideas, as a model for popular political action. In the United States, Philhellenism raised important questions of collective identity—a result of Americans’ comparison of themselves to European societies across the Atlantic, including with respect to stereotypes regarding the Ottomans—and of the political affinities between Americans and Greeks. The author begins her presentation by bringing to the fore the history and context of the period immediately prior to the Greek Revolution and shedding light on the little-known subject of US-Ottoman relations. The United States was not yet a great power. Its presence in the Mediterranean, though conspicuous, was not a result of diplomatic missions or international trade agreements. As the author explains in an initial chapter titled “Americans, Greeks, and Ottomans before 1821,” the...

Gifted Greek: The Enigma of Andreas Papandreou

Gifted Greek: The Enigma of Andreas Papandreou

Greek Views of the 2015 Bailout Agreement: A Matter of Power Asymmetries or Socialisation?

ABSTRACT In July 2015, after intense negotiations with its creditors, Greece received a bailout in exchange for fiscal restraint. The coalition government at that time, led by the left-wing SYRIZA party, elected on the basis of an anti-austerity platform, eventually accepted the prevalent austerity frames of the creditors. Through the aid of Q-method, an analysis of Greek opinion leaders’ views of the negotiation highlights that this outcome can be explained in two different ways. The first posits that the ideological overtones that ruling SYRIZA injected in its negotiation strategy exhibited a lack of socialisation and undermined Greece’s already weak bargaining position. The second focuses on the institutional status quo bias in the Eurogroup in Germany’s favour, which discourages any change in the Eurozone. These two views may have partly been influenced by questions of political accountability.

Joint ESH excellence centers' national meeting on renal sympathetic denervation: A Greek experts’ survey

ObjectiveThe efficacy of renal sympathetic denervation (RDN) has been affirmed by a number of recent clinical studies, despite controversies in this field over the last five years. Therefore, it is of paramount importance that hypertension experts debate the merits of RDN by revealing and expressing their personal beliefs and perspectives regarding this procedure. MethodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted among Greek leaders of the Hypertension Excellence Centers with the use of a closed-type questionnaire specifically designed to elicit information and evaluate the respondent's views and perspectives about RDN efficacy, safety and ideal target patient population. ResultsA total of 36 participants completed the survey. Based on the results, RDN was considered efficient (91.7%) and safe (94.5%), while the overwhelming majority of the participants felt confident in the long-term efficacy (88.9%) of the intervention and that it lacks reliable predictors of blood pressure response (94.5%). Patients with resistant (91.7%), ultra-resistant (94.4%), and uncontrolled hypertension (80.6%) were suggested as ideal candidates for RDN. Establishing a close co-operation between interventionalists and hypertension experts was considered essential to ensure the efficacy (97.2%) as well as the safety (97.3%) of the procedure. ConclusionThe vast majority of Greek hypertension experts surveyed were convinced of the efficacy and safety of RDN based on the preponderance of available scientific and clinical data. Identification of the ideal patient group remains controversial. Respondents generally agreed on the necessity of building close collaborative relationships between interventionalists and hypertension experts in order to improve RDN clinical outcome.

Helen of Troy’s Drug Therapy: Odyssey 4.219–34 | “There’s Magic in the Web of It”: Othello’s Hankerchief and Helen of Troy’s Drug

At the beginning of Book 4 of the Odyssey, Telemachus, accompanied by Nestor’s son, Peisistratus, has arrived at the palace of the Greek leader Menelaus at Sparta. Telemachus is in search of information about his missing father, Odysseus. The earlier books of the Odyssey, except for indirect references and the introductory few lines, do not depict the ordeals of the hero Odysseus, but primarily deal with his son, Telemachus, only an infant when Odysseus left for the Trojan War. By now Odysseus has been gone for approximately twenty years, and Homer depicts Telemachus as grieving, depressed, weeping, insecure, anxious, and confused. Athena, appearing to Telemachus in Book 1, encourages him to travel, seeking knowledge about his father. Guided by Athena, Telemachus first lands in Pylos, where the wise hero and counselor Nestor sends Telemachus to Menelaus and Helen at Sparta, so that Telemachus can learn the truth about his father.

Amazons in the History of Troy

The Trojan War is one of the key events of the Greek mythology. There are many studies on the historical background of the Trojan War legends. The german archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann definitively made a point to the discussion about the reality of the existence of Troy when found the ruins of the city in 1871. Ancient authors, especially Homer, named the Amazons, led by Queen Penthesilea, among numerous participants of the ten-year Trojan War. The Amazons horse cavalry came to the aid of the besieged Trojans. The Trojan forces headed by the armed horsewomen opposed the Greeks in a battle, which almost ended up with the victory of Trojans. However, the intervention of the Greek hero Achilles and Ajax led to one of the most tragic events of the War. In this battle Achilles killed the Queen of the Amazons. Tearing off her helmet, Achilles was struck by the extraordinary beauty of the warrior woman and fell in love with her. Therefore, the battle was ended. Archaeological discoveries indirectly confirmed a number of events fully described in narrative sources. The fact of the campaign of Greek leaders with their troops against the Trojans is quite plausible. At the same time, the question of the reality of the Amasons participation in the Trojan War, as before, remains open. However, it is possible that future archaeological discoveries will give an answer to this question as well.

Igglesis Nikos, The Revolution of Grexit: The Plan

Abstract. On July 5, 2015, Greece held a referendum for deciding on the blackmailing proposal submitted by the Institutions of the Eurogroup on 25th of June 2015. On the threshold of the credit suffocation, the Greek people did not relent and they expressed through their vote (a percentage of 61, 31% and 3.558.450 votes) their objection; one more “NO” in their history, similar to this of 28th October of 1940. However, the Greek leaders flinched to express this “NO” using tangible policies even if the short term consequences would be painful. Instead, the foreign partners, allies and friends to Greece “which belongs to the West”, still follow a strict austerity policy which has resulted in poverty of the majority of the Greek people, and in the stagflation. Igglesis Nikos, in his book “The Revolution of GREXIT: The Plan”, makes an attempt to present in a detailed way what the Greek people decided…an alternative and sustainable solution. Keywords. Grexit. JEL. A10.

Holding out for a better deal: Brinkmanship in the Greek bailout negotiations

Greece and its creditors concluded negotiations over a third bailout by signing a Memorandum of Understanding on 19 August 2015. The dominant view among most economic policy analysts and commentators seems to be that the actions of the Greek government in the months before the deal had been erratic and lacked coordination. In this paper we argue instead that the decisions of the Greek leaders, including asking the voters to reject the earlier terms demanded by the creditors in a referendum, can be rationally explained by the logic of brinkmanship. We develop a game-theoretic model to show that the actions of the Greek government are consistent with a strategy aimed at getting a better bailout deal.

Turkey and India: From Distant Acquaintances to Partners in World Politics and Trade

Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Vol. XL, No.1 Fall 2016 Turkey and India: From Distant Acquaintances to Partners in World Politics and Trade Michael B. Bishku* William Hale in his comprehensive work Turkish Foreign Policy, 1774-2000 has only one mention of India and it is not in regard to bilateral relations: In the post- [Second World] war world, and faced with the classic choice between alliance and non-alignment, Turkey was almost bound to take the first option. In effect, it was in the same position as most of the medium and small powers of Western Europe, which preferred defensive alliance with the United States to active non-alignment. Unlike say, India, it was in the middle of a zone of intense rivalry between the superpowers , and if unaided, it could not expect to hold off a direct attack by the Warsaw Pact for more than a limited time—especially, if as expected, this was launched against the straits [i.e. Bosporus and Dardanelles].1 Indeed, security was of prime interest to Turkey given common borders with the Soviet Union and the Soviet bloc. However, this statement alludes to one important reason for the more distant nature of Turkish-Indian relations during the Cold War. In addition, Turkey and India were overwhelmingly concerned about two respective issues—1) the political situation regarding Cyprus and 2) land and political disputes with Pakistan, especially over Kashmir. The ethnic Greek leader and later President of Cyprus from 1960-1977, Archbishop Makarios, was an influential figure in the Non-Aligned Movement, while Pakistan was a member of two Western alliances, one of which together with Turkey—the Baghdad Pact, later 80 *Michael B. Bishku is a Professor of History at Augusta University in Georgia. He is a former President of both the American Council for the Study of Islamic Societies and the Association of Third World Studies and an advisory editor for Oxford Bibliographies Online for Islamic Studies. He has published numerous academic articles on the history and politics of the Islamic World and on connections between the Middle East and other regions of the world. 1 William Hale, Turkish Foreign Policy, 1774-2000 (London: Frank Cass, 2000), pp. 325-326. 81 known as the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO)—and many Pakistani leaders shared a secular Muslim identity with their Turkish counterparts. Both Turkey and India were (and still are) regional powers, but the former has had more immediate threats historically to its territorial integrity. The Republic of Turkey was established in 1923 out of the ashes of the Ottoman Empire and its founder Kemal Atatürk saw his country’s future in being associated with Europe and its culture; also, with the exception of Iran its Middle Eastern neighbors were under the control of either Britain or France, with whom (as well as with the Soviet Union) it had good working relations. During the interwar years, Fascist Italy’s interests in the Balkans and Mediterranean Sea presented the greatest security threat and during the Second World War neutrality and Germany overextending itself in its invasion of the Soviet Union provided some sense of protection. India, on the other hand, received its independence from Britain in 1947 with a partition that provided it with greater resources than Pakistan, had no border with the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China was in no position to present a military challenge until the early 1960s. Later, the post-Cold War era offered both Turkey and India more flexibility regarding foreign relations, while India liberalized its economic policies. However, it was not until Turkey’s Justice and Development (AK) Party came to power in 2002 when that country began to pay greater attention to Asian (and African) countries outside the Middle East. At the same time, both Turkey and India have dealt with their relations and common areas of interest separate from the respective problems associated with either Cyprus or Pakistan. This article examines Turkish-Indian relations since the beginning of the Cold War, a subject that only has been given attention in recent years. Indeed, Prithvi Ram Mudiam’s work India and the Middle East published in 1994 makes...

A Critical-Realist Account of the Greek Crisis

We try to explain the origins and the dynamics of the sovereign debt crisis in Greece, in the context of critical realist economics. The origins of the Greek crisis are discovered in the global credit crisis of 2007 and are rooted in the institutional design of the Eurozone and the fiscal and institutional weaknesses of the Greek economy. We explore the period from the outbreak of the crisis in late 2009 until the return of the Greek government to bond markets in April 2014. We discuss the dynamics of the crisis as outcomes of the choices made by Greek and European citizens, Greek and European political leaders, international policy makers and capital market participants. Our analysis demonstrates how important actors set the mechanism of the crisis in motion, either by reproducing or by transforming the structures which underlie Greek and European political economies.

Historical Biography for Translational Medicine: An Important Genre for Translational Science

Historical Biography for Translational Medicine: An Important Genre for Translational Science

Xenophon the Socratic Prince: The Argument of the Anabasis of Cyrus by Eric Buzzetti

BOOK REVIEWS 379 Salisbury uses Galla Placidia as a focal point to explore the massive political, religious, and cultural shift that the Roman Empire underwent during this transitional period in Rome’s history. The result is a prosopological history of the Roman Empire from the time of Theodosius to the fall of the Western Empire with a strong emphasis on the development of church doctrine as it affected Late Antique law and culture. The language of the book lacks the precise diction of high scholarship, but the resulting exoteric text is pleasantly accessible. It makes this book an ideal text to supplement the standard Peter Brown textbooks for an undergraduate class on the Late Antique, especially one with a women’s studies emphasis. KRISHNI BURNS University of Akron, kburns1@uakron.edu * * * * * Xenophon the Socratic Prince: The Argument of the Anabasis of Cyrus. By ERIC BUZZETTI. New York: Pallgrave Macmillan, 2014. Pp. xviii + 337. Hardcover, $110.00. ISBN 978-1-137-33330-8. In this book Eric Buzzetti proposes a Straussian reading of Xenophon’s Anabasis. Followinga line of approach familiar from Christopher Nadon’s interpretation of the Cyropaedia,14 Buzzetti argues that the Anabasis reflects a critique of the political life. But he goes even further than Nadon by suggesting that this work ultimately invites its readers to consider the philosophical life of Socrates as an alternative to politics. Buzzetti sees the Anabasis as a philosophical logos and an introduction to philosophyin the form of awar memoir (1–7; 295–300). The book is divided into seven chapters (devoted respectively to the seven books of the Anabasis) and is structured around three models of leaders: the Godlike king (represented by Cyrus the Younger, chapter 1); the Pious King (represented by the Spartan general Klearchos, chapter 2); and the Socratic King (represented by Xenophon the character, chapters 3–7). It also contains three 14 Christopher Nadon, Xenophon. The Socratic Prince, Berkeley, 2001. 380 BOOK REVIEWS appendices and a short bibliography (121–126). Buzzetti’s main assertion, which he unfolds in a linear analysis (often intermingled with too much paraphrasing) throughout his book, is that Cyrus, Klearchos, and Xenophon endeavor but fail to reconcile the noble with the good, or, more specifically, morality with advantage . Consequently, according to Buzzetti, readers who will perceive this failurewill be led to consider “the success embodied bySocrates” (299). Buzzetti offers numerous interesting analyses: he views Cyrus’ death as a “cautionary tale” against his recklessness (68–72) and he offers a nuanced analysis of the obituaries of the Greek generals (104–108). He rightly stresses the occasional blurring of boundaries between Greeks and barbarians (152, 222), he underlines the problems posed by the greediness and lack of order of the soldiers (188) and he illuminates the complexity of motives that underlies Xenophon’s decision to found a colony in Asia (211–217). Buzzetti also presents subtle analyses of the speeches of Greek leaders (especially of Klearchos, and Xenophon, 96–103, 132–137, 277–289). Τhe main problem posed by this study is methodological. Buzzetti follows and expands on the methodological principles set by Leo Strauss.15 Like Strauss, he treats Xenophon asa philosopher who insinuates “the truth” between the lines (the title of the Anabasis is also interpreted “philosophically”, as an “ascent” to the noble, to leadership, an interpretation, however, not corroborated by the text itself). This esoteric writing is justified by fear of persecution (Buzzetti goes so far as to compare ancient Athens with “the contemporary Islamic world”, 8). However , this idea would have made sense only if Buzzetti could prove that this work was written soon after Xenophon left Athens (around 401 BCE); fear of persecution would have seemed then perhaps a plausible political stance. But the evidence about the date of composition does not point towards this direction.16 Furthermore, Buzzetti’s contention about the Anabasis being pervaded by a tension between philosophy and politics (113, 201, 228, 299) and his conception of Socrates as an advocate of the “philosophical life” disregards the fact that the Xenophontic Socrates is a political figure par excellence who embodies a peculiar combination of philosophy with politics, rather than a disjunction 15 The starting point for Buzzetti’s...

School leadership in Europe

The literature on school leadership has been dominated by academics from the USA, the UK and Australia. More recently, there has been an increase in publications from Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and other English-speaking countries. However, articles from other countries are less frequent, although there has been a significant increase in submissions to EMAL from Asia in recent years. Language issues inevitably contribute to the limited contributions from authors whose first language is not English. It is gratifying, therefore, to be able to compile this special themed issue of EMAL, focusing on school leadership in Europe. The nine articles, from seven countries, make a significant contribution to our understanding of leadership across this continent. The first article, by Tonje Constance Oterkill and Sigrun Ertesvag, discusses transformational and transactional leadership in Norwegian schools. These models are often linked (see Miller and Miller, 2001) and the authors utilise well-established instruments to develop a measure of these twin models, drawing on data from more than 1000 teachers in 45 schools involved in a school development initiative related to student behaviour. The authors conclude that measuring aspects of these models may be important in identifying a school’s capacity to implement a school-based intervention. The next two articles examine aspects of the principal’s role in Greek schools. In the first such article, Vasiliki Brinia considers the role of the principal’s emotional intelligence in leadership. The author surveyed a random sample of teachers and principals, from primary schools in Athens, and received 301 teacher replies and 36 from principals. The author notes differences in responses from principals and teachers, because of the former’s high self-esteem, and the latter’s scepticism, leading to the tentative conclusion that emotional intelligence may be evident in these principals. The second article on Greece, by Akrivoula Geraki, compares the roles and skills of secondary school principals, through a survey of 124 such principals, with an impressive 97% response rate. The author notes the challenges of balancing competing leadership roles, including managerial and instructional leadership, and argues that principals should adopt people-oriented transformational roles rather than the task-oriented roles typical of contemporary Greek leaders. School leadership in Cypriot intercultural schools is the subject of the next article, by Christina Hajisoteriou. She interviewed heads of 20 primary schools with high concentrations of immigrant children. Drawing on Zemblyas and Iasonos (2010), she distinguishes between conservative multiculturalism, linked to transactional leadership, and pluralist multiculturalism, which suggests a transformational approach. She found examples of both approaches within her sample and concludes that developing communities of practice will enable schools to share good practice. The next two articles provide rare insights into school leadership in Iceland. The first of these, by Steinunn Larusdottir, discusses the relationship between leadership and market values in this small state. The author traces educational reform since 1995, a process that led to a market orientation, linked to increased financial responsibility, expanded accountability and firmer supervision. Educational Management Administration & Leadership 2014, Vol. 42(4S) 3–4 a The Author(s) 2014 Reprints and permission: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1741143214525724 emal.sagepub.com

Attempting to Revise the Treaty of Lausanne: Greek Foreign Policy and Italy during the Pangalos Dictatorship, 1925–1926

In June 1925, General Theodoros Pangalos imposed his dictatorship on Greece. During his 14-month rule, he set as one of his basic foreign policy goals the revision of the territorial settlement imposed on Greece and Turkey by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne. Wanting to secure Eastern Thrace and possibly even part of Western Asia Minor for Greece, Pangalos sought the backing of at least one Great Power with interests in the region, in this case Italy, as its dictator, Benito Mussolini, remained equally hostile and aggressive toward Turkey. Pangalos tried to reach an understanding with Mussolini concerning the possibility of joint Greco–Italian action against Turkey. The first signs of closer co-operation came in early July 1925 when the Italian under-secretary of foreign affairs, Dino Grandi, visited Athens for discussions with Pangalos. However, a more important initiative involved the official visit of two Greek ministers—Loukas Kanakaris-Roufos, the foreign minister, and Anastasios Tavoularis, the transport minister—to Rome in early March 1926. They met with Mussolini who, because of British pressure, now seemed reluctant about Pangalos’ ambitious plans for joint action against Turkey. The Greek leader’s hopes to revise Lausanne ended.

Evaluating the delivery performance of public spending programs from an efficiency perspective

There is increasing recognition that performance evaluation of national as well as foreign public economic development programs should emphasize on their implementation rather than focus solely on their outcomes. This paper presents a framework for comparing the delivery or administrative efficiency of public spending programs at local level, based on a novel application of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). It is focused on the European Union context and specifically on the Greek LEADER operational program. The results of this application indicate that DEA, in contrast to traditional performance metrics, is an insightful tool in revealing administrative inefficiencies in program delivery by capturing the operational and scale components of performance while taking into account the complex mix of tasks and interventions carried out by its operators. The proposed technique may be easily integrated into a program evaluation scheme and may be utilized as a tool to support rational decision-making and program improvement.

Educational Leaders and Teachers’ Motivation for Engagement in Innovative Programmes. The Case of Greece

The Greek educational policy, prescribes the co-operation of educators with managers and leaders in education, who may influence the level of school improvement and the level of the teachers’ professional development. Innovative programmes in education form part of teachers’ professional development. Greek schools have shown a steady commitment in integrating innovative programmes into their educational practice and usually have avant-garde leaders, who seek for the appropriate motivation to inspire their teaching personnel. The main purpose of the study is to identify weather Greek leaders in secondary education influence the notion of teachers in incorporating innovative programmes in education. The study draws theoretically from the motivation theories, as motivations are the factors that affect them in covering extensive ground in the field of work. Understanding them may offer much in behaviour understanding, job efficiency, and through it, self-satisfaction. Data was gathered through questionnaires and interviews conducted with teachers and leaders. The main research finding is that leaders in education, especially principals, influence most of the participant educators in the research. The national policy may assist the development of innovative activities by supporting leaders and equipping them with the necessary knowledge of how to exploit motivations for the best outcome in the school community.

A plea to Greek leaders: keep and defend the value of health

A plea to Greek leaders: keep and defend the value of health

LEADING REFORM AMIDST TRANSBOUNDARY CRISES: LESSONS FROM GREECE

Applying a leadership–task perspective within the context of the Greek sovereign debt crisis (2009–12), the study finds that the imperatives of short‐term crisis management conflict with the ability of Greek leaders to effectively implement long‐term reforms. Electoral gains, crisis duration, centralized decision‐making, and the degree of external actor involvement explain the choice between credible response and effective recovery. Despite beneficial effects, the activation of external stakeholders ultimately weakens the impetus for reform. The study has implications for political leadership and EU crisis management.

Fraternity and Sorority Leaders and Members: A Comparison of Alcohol Use, Attitudes, and Policy Awareness

Background: Studies have documented that members of college fraternities and sororities (i.e., Greeks) drink more heavily and experience more alcohol-related consequences than other students. Few studies have examined the role of Greek leaders in the socialization of Greek members. Objectives: The present study investigated how alcohol-related attitudes and behaviors among Greek leaders differ from the attitudes and behaviors of members. Methods: At a single university, two anonymous surveys were conducted in 2006 and 2007 (N = 726 and 757, respectively) at fraternity and sorority chapter meetings. All individuals present at the meetings were invited to participate. One-way analyses of covariance (ANCOVAs), controlling for age and sex, were conducted to examine the effect of leadership status on alcohol-related attitudes and behaviors. Zero-inflated negative binomial regression was used to analyze the effect of leadership status on alcohol-impaired driving. Results: Few differences were found between Greek leaders and members. In both years, leaders perceived alcohol control policies as stricter than did members. Notably, leaders and members did not significantly differ in reports of alcohol use or consequences. Conclusion: With this additional study, the literature suggests that alcohol-related attitude and behavioral differences between Greek leaders and members may be highly variable across college and university campuses. Scientific Significance: The socialization process among Greek leaders and members warrants further investigation. The current findings suggest that future research should examine the roles that campus climate and on-campus initiatives may play in the Greek socialization process.