[20223] in APO-L
Re: Bylaws question
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Joe Timber Chen)
Mon Feb 22 21:55:22 1999
Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 21:55:13 -0500
Reply-To: Joe Timber Chen <jchen1@CSE.BUFFALO.EDU>
From: Joe Timber Chen <jchen1@CSE.BUFFALO.EDU>
To: APO-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
In-Reply-To: <8f68f13a.36d1f5f2@aol.com>
On Mon, 22 Feb 1999, Joseph Rohr ADI-apo wrote:
> Brothers,
> My chapter is considering an Alcohol Policy to expand on the risk
> management policy. If any of your all chapters has such in existance, I would
> like to know about it. Thanks
>
Welcome to the list, fellow brother, fellow Joseph, and fellow
Parliamentary/SAA type person. This semester my chapter is also working on
our own RMP as suggested by the national office. We are pretty much
carrying over many of the clauses but customizing them for our location.
One of the main issues we are also going to be expounding on would be the
alcohol topic so we will be following the thread and welcoming any and all
ideas.
One of the issues we need to deal with, and I'm sure that other chapters
have had to deal with this, would be our proximity to the Canadian border.
Less than 30 minutes away the legal drinking age drops from 21 to 19. We
also now have to factor in that we're in another country (or the 51st
state as we joke sometimes) and things like "obey local provincial,
territorial, etc laws" will be included in our local RMP. I invite John
Grossi's comments on this especially because his section (94) has several
chapters along the Canadian border also, and parts of it has 18 as the
legal drinking age.
One thing to remember though is that the interpretation will vary from
region to region, section to section. You should consider doing what my
chapter members will be doing which is consulting with our group legal
services department, our school's main office to find out what policies
are standing on campus relating to alcohol, and our student affairs
department which deals with fraternities and sororities (although my
chapter is independent of them). Consult with your region director and
section chair since we've seen before that they occasionaly will vary in
their viewpoints and interpretations.
Also take into consideration that although we state alcohol will not be
used in the pledge program, that does not mean we do not occasionaly
indulge. We have chapters that will never wear any symbols relating to the
fraternity if they are going to drink and other chapters that view no
problems with drinking so long as they are of age, even in letters. I've
attended several roundtables and workshops relating to the Risk Management
Policy. I'm sure there are those out there who will agree and disagree
with some of the things I said. Let's all get the ball rolling on this
discussion.
In the end, no matter what, risk management is about making sure we're all
safe as we carry out our programs of service, leadership, and fellowship.
One thing that occurred here during discussions that I would warn to be
careful of is starting to throw out hypothetical situations because you
will not be able to account for everything. Consider what your chapter
does regularly, and work with those issues as we are doing.
--
Yours in Leadership, Friendship, and Service
Joe "Timber" Chen
Epsilon Sigma Chapter
Alpha Phi Omega
State University of New York at Buffalo
