[23013] in APO-L
Re: [APO-L] Proposal Question: B-02-035 & B-02-036: Raise Initiate Fee
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Rich Quodomine)
Wed Oct 23 01:46:59 2002
Date: Wed, 23 Oct 2002 01:46:56 -0400
Reply-To: Rich Quodomine <aposatan@HOTMAIL.COM>
From: Rich Quodomine <aposatan@HOTMAIL.COM>
To: APO-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
OK, here is the rub, from where I sit in Clifton Park, NY:
1. What we value in our fraternity, our brotherhood, is priceless. What
perspective brothers may value is different.
2. Chuck Brace mentioned a payment plan. Well, if it were $10 a month for
the first year, could we not all make that? Most "poor" students work ...
and they'd probably have no objection, presented that way. Put another way:
It's 2 cases of cheap beer they'll have to give up per month. If APO isn't
worth 48 Piel's, then we might as well pack our frat ball and go home.
3. Yes, I know I am rare in that I am a legacy who did not have fundamental
financial difficulties, but if we value the chapter as our building block,
and money is an object, what is the best way we can build finances? Is $100
a stumbling block compared to $30? Have we ever asked our perspectives?
4. Let's assume for the moment that we do raise the barrier and that this
excludes poorer brothers - what is a better mix of AAMDs or other fees
needed in order to keep brothers and boost finances?
5. When does the national organization or chapter need money? Is it not wise
to set up a weekly or back-loaded dues pick up? FOr example, in scouting, we
collect dues weekly. WOuld that be fair to have the chapter collect dues
weekly, set them aside for expenses and national fees, and go from there?
Would this make things more palatable?
6. Many fraternities and sororities charge on the upwards of $500 per
semester - even expensive APO chapters are less than 1/3 of this. Therefore,
have we ever considered asking our brothers what the value of their APO time
is, in $? (Yes, we all think it's priceless - but let's be real. If the
average brother stays 18 months, we can't all think that way)
The end result is that we need to put a $ tag on the value of APO, and then
use that as a market price. We are not immune to capitalism, and however we
mix the money, AAMDs, dues, whatever, we need to be cognizant of our strive
to promote membership for all. It won't help our cause if we have a smaller
fraternity of wealthy do-gooders, nor a fraternity which cannot pay its own
expenses. I don't know the answer, but I think it is premature to vote. I
think the finances of this fraternity vis a vis the AAMDs needs a little
further explanation and study before such a change in the fraternity is
brought about.
All the best,
Rich
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