Increasing dues and shrinking recruitment numbers are some of the ways the UW Greek community may be affected by the lagging economy, fraternity and sorority adviser Ed Mirecki said.

“Everyone is affected when the economy isn’t doing so hot,” Mirecki said. “We’re not in a crisis situation. If we don’t have a successful recruitment year, then we could be in trouble.”

According to Sara Lawrence, president of the Panhellenic Association, sorority members will not be sure of the number of interested recruits until the end of the semester.

“We haven’t noticed anything out of the ordinary,” Lawrence said. “It depends on the specific sorority.”

Of the 43 Greek organizations on campus, there are 32 fraternities and 11 sororities with memberships ranging from nine members to 150 members.

Dan Bergrin, president of the Interfraternity Council, said the one difference he has noted is that the Greek Community received a smaller financial contribution from the Associated Students of Madison, UW’s student government.

“I think that’s more a result of the Madison budget crisis,” Bergrin said. “Most of the major increases in dues are tied to property taxes and housing costs. Otherwise it pretty much stays the same.”

Leanne Metzker, UW junior and member of the Delta Gamma sorority, says the problems sororities are facing may be in response to MTV’s reality show “Sorority Life.”

“It really gave us a bad reputation. It’s nothing like what we are,” Metzker said. “We have really been trying to regain our reputation by working to make the Greek community more unified.”

Metzker, who has been a member of Delta Gamma for two and a half years, said she will deactivate from the sorority partly because of a $500 increase in dues.

“We used to have everything like T-shirts and social events included. Now the dues are going up and the things included are going down,” Metzker said. “I don’t know where the money is going or who has it, but we are paying too much.”

Mirecki said that although they may receive help from alumni boards, most of the finances for Greek organizations are student led.

“Typically the women seem to be more organized and serious about their responsibilities than the men,” Mirecki said. “They usually have better support from alumni.”

With so many organizations on campus, students need to make wise decisions on how they spend their time and money, Mirecki said.

“Nothing is free anymore. Nobody is happy when costs go up,” Mirecki said. “Students today need to be smart consumers.”