The battle of the sexes is on.

This week has been Greek Week 2000 at Saint Louis University. “Battle of the Sexes” is the theme this year, pitting the fraternities against the sororities.

Gabby Zahorsky has been in charge of this year’s Greek Week. Zahorsky, a member of Gamma Phi Beta sorority, serves as the Activities Chair on Panhellenic Council.

With this year’s theme Zahorsky is “hoping to establish a tradition of `Battle of the Sexes.'”

Linda Wardhammer, Associate Director of Student Life, wants to “take what [Gabby] has done and build on it” in future years.

All week, fraternities and sororities compete for points, which can be won in competitions and earned through event participation.

The blue Superman-themed Greek Week shirts have been seen all over campus. T-shirt sales took place prior to Greek Week and Greeks earned a point for each t-shirt purchased. The sorority team earned 228 points for t-shirts, while the fraternity team earned only 68 points.

On Monday night, Greek Week commenced with a scavenger hunt, at 6 p.m. in front of DeMattias Hall. Competing teams followed clues to on- and off-campus landmarks, including the Billiken statue, the dolphin pond, Laclede Street Bar and Grill, and Magnolia’s.

The top-three finishing teams were all fraternities. Members of Beta Theta Pi placed first and each received a $10 gift certificate to Target.

The Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity came in second, winning bags of candy, and Delta Sigma Phi fraternity placed third. Together, these three teams earned 175 points for the men.

Tuesday’s activity was a Crab Soccer Tournament in the quad behind DuBourg Hall. The girls won one game; the guys won three; and the rest were ties. There was also a championship match between the top two teams to win a pizza party.

After a great deal of confusion in this game, officials decided to declare the game a tie. Both teams were awarded fifty points, and the players will share the pizza party.

Doug Durand, a member of Delta Sigma Phi fraternity, played on the fraternity team in the championship game.

Durand said, “I’m not sure if the officials called a fair game, but I still had a fun time playing, and I was glad to see that a lot of people came.”

On Wednesday night, the “Billiken Challenge: Mush 2000” game was held at Billiken Sports Complex at 8 p.m.

The men’s soccer team played the men’s basketball team in a game of mush ball, a goofy version of softball.

Admission was $3 or three cans of food. All the proceeds will be donated to the Salvation Army Soup Kitchen. Points for this event will come from attendance, and points will also be awarded to Greeks who bring signs to rally for the players.

A free barbecue will be held on Thursday evening from 4 p.m. until 6 p.m. in front of DeMattias Hall. At 5 p.m., teams will compete in a Battle of the Sexes Game Show. The fraternity team will be asked questions on girl-oriented topics, and the sorority team will be asked guy-related questions.

Questions will be worth 25 points in the first round and 50 points in the second round. The third round is a 250-point contest in which the girls will dress up guys and the guys will dress as girls.

The third round winners will be determined by which team does a better job masquerading as the opposite sex. A Barbie and Ken doll “trophy” is the prize for the team that wins the game show.

At the end of the barbecue, the champions of Greek Week 2000 will be announced.

The name of the winning team will be engraved on a trophy that will also be used in future years.

As of Wednesday evening before the Billiken Challenge, the guys and girls were neck and neck overall. The fraternities had 547 points, and the sororities were close behind with 511 points.

According to Zahorsky, the overall goal of Greek Week is “to unite the Greek community and have fun in the process.”

Wardhammer praised Zahorsky’s hard work: “Overall, it seems like people are having a good time.”

In addition to fun, the Greek Week activities earn money for charity, through t-shirt sales and the Billiken Challenge.

As Nikki Morton, an Alpha Delta Pi, said, “Charity is the underlying purpose of the week.”