Students rushing for fraternities this week will no longer need to visit every chapter, but the change could present a challenge to smaller houses.

Doug Constantiner, rush chairman for Sigma Alpha Epsilon, said he preferred the mandatory visits because it gave the fraternity chapters the chance to meet all the rushees, and the rushees were able to weigh all their options.

“”Now that it’s not mandatory, we are not getting to meet as many guys as we would have before,”” Constantiner said. “”People will still come by because we are near campus, but it puts the chapters that are farther away from campus at a disadvantage.””

Prior to this year, rushees had stamp cards that they would take to each chapter to prove they had visited all prospective fraternities, said Steve Travis, vice president of membership for the Interfraternity Council.

However, the stamp cards are optional this year in order to make rush more informal, Travis said.

“”It is a disadvantage,”” said Pablo MuÇñoz, an accounting senior and member of Tau Kappa Epsilon. “”At the same time, I have faith in my guys to pull in a good class.””

A new rush handout with a map, the week’s schedule and a flyer from each chapter should help educate students on their options.

However, Travis said he also wanted a transportation system for rushees to help get them to chapters that are farther from campus.

“”It would have been nice to have had a system to help the freshmen get to the chapters that are not considered on ‘the row,'”” Travis said. “”However, the chapters north of campus do have fantastic recruitment numbers, so I suppose it was not as big of a problem as I thought.””

Michael Arce, a biology freshman, said he determined which chapters to visit by asking his friends.

“”They said go to each one for at least two minutes, to just get a feel for each house so you don’t make a rush decision,”” Arce said.

Without the requirement, many rushees may not want to go to all of the houses participating in rush, but the IFC has introduced a new incentive. Men who visit every house this year will be entered into a drawing to win an iPod donated by Best Buy, Travis said.

Harold Scheidel, an aerospace engineering freshman, said although he has an iPod, he plans to visit all the chapters.

Despite a historic perception that identifies fraternities with hazing, UA chapters have had very few complaints about hazing, said Veda Kowalski, associate dean of students.

“”I would expect it to stay the same for this fall,”” Kowalski said.

Travis said hazing is not a big problem for UA fraternities, with a 24-hour hazing hotline set-up.

“”We have found hazing more prevalent in clubs and organizations rather than in fraternities and sororities,”” Travis said.

At least 450 students have expressed interest in going through recruitment. Travis said he hopes that the numbers will be closer to 600 students this week.

Any students with information about hazing should call 626-HAZE.