[19300] in APO-L
Re: Responding to Hawkeye
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (hawkeye@ECST.CSUCHICO.EDU)
Wed Oct 7 11:36:58 1998
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1998 08:36:18 -0700
Reply-To: hawkeye@ECST.CSUCHICO.EDU
From: hawkeye@ECST.CSUCHICO.EDU
To: APO-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
In-Reply-To: <19981006223711.3855.qmail@www0d.netaddress.usa.net> from "Jesse
Bridges" at Oct 6, 98 06:37:11 pm
*lotsa stuff edited for space*
Henry did a marvelous job in his reply, so I won't repeat those areas that
he covered.
> (I said: )
> I was wondering when this debate would get going again, and after reading=
> the
> Fall '98 T&T, and the determination of the National Board, I knew it woul=
> dn't
> be long. Traditions are a great thing, until they become an obstacle to
> progress.
> (Jesse replied: )
> You see, this statement should read "traditions are great to some people.=
> We speak of this fraternity as though every aspect of it is meant for peo=
> ple
> on a different planet, non-humans, prehistoric carvings. If we jettison
> ahead, without a thinking that a foundation is important, we might want t=
> o
> shorten our history, and change the founding date, set the stage for a ne=
> w
> beginning, have new founders, recreate it's history, reformulate it's
> purpose, create a new organization without really recreating a new
> organization.
> How about it?
> At this point if we don't lend value to (history and traditions) then wha=
> t use
> is it for. Why is it in our manuals and in our rituals. Why is it that =
> when
> people create something with their souls, other people feel it has an
> expiration date.
(My rebuttal:)
The history and foundation of this Fraternity cannot be changed, nor do I
want to see it changed. The founders formed a Fraternity because they were
men, and the idea of a co-ed group was probably not even thinkable in the
20's. And, there were few women attending college at that time. But if it
were to be founded now, it's quite possible that we could've begun as a co-ed
Fraternity. If tradition was so important, then why do we have a Toast Song
(they didn't have one when they started), why has the ritual been changed
(more than once), why has the service pin been redesigned, and why are there
now female Brothers? Few things in this Fraternity have not been changed,
modified, or simply dropped since 1929, yet some people always use the
arguement of "it's tradition" to hold onto something that there is no other
reason to keep.
> (I said: )
> So far in the 2 years I've seen this debate rage, I have yet to see a
> rational, logical arguement in favor of allowing the all-male chapters to=
> remain, as it is always based on emotion and tradition. =
>
> (Jesse Replied: )
> Emotion and Tradition is not logical? Please! Then what you are saying i=
> s the
> passion which created this organization is not logical. =
(My response:)
Passion is rarely logical as it is a very strong emotion. The reasons for
starting this Fraternity were very logical, but passion was not one of them.
*****************************************************************************
Hawkeye APhiO Life Member #15299 | Co-Founder Chaos Corps (tm)
hawkeye@steroid.ecst.csuchico.edu | Alumnus-Cal State,Chico -- Eta Psi Turkeys
AKA Staff Officer Chuzat Ma'az, Security Officer, California Sector, KIDC
Rule #1-If it feels good-do it!! Rule #2- Honor and Friendship above all else
Rule #3-"The ends justify the means."(Machiavelli) Rule #4-Leave no witnesses.
Rule #5-Life is a game, Volleyball is SERIOUS!
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Eta Psi Homepage: http://www.csuchico.edu/apo
