[6989] in APO-L
Re: Alcorn State and Region V.
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Randy Finder)
Wed Oct 20 15:45:09 1993
Date: Wed, 20 Oct 1993 14:00:00 EDT
Reply-To: Randy Finder <NARAHT@drycas.club.CC.CMU.EDU>
From: Randy Finder <NARAHT@drycas.club.cc.cmu.edu>
To: Multiple recipients of list APO-L <APO-L%PURCCVM.BITNET@mitvma.mit.edu>
>Okay, this is where I let that old anti-system pessimism show through.
>I was disappointed to learn that the American legal system and
>government are a lot less fair than they look from the outside. The
>incident at Alcorn State simply supports my feelings. (Not that I'm
>feeling anti-american; I'm just frustrated in general.)
The National office is looking into how to much more active in getting
rid of "zombie" (my term) chapters. We can sue them for copyright
violations, and depending on how the group represents itself, fraud.
>>Anthony Dorazio <adorazio@MAGNUS.ACS.OHIO-STATE.EDU> writes:
>>> I do not recall our beloved Nat'l President telling US not to send anything
>>> (although he probably did),...
>Actually, I'm quite sure that Jerry DID tell US not to send anything
>with Alpha Phi Omega's name on it. The best policy is to check with
>Nationals before sending anything. (Their phone number is on the order
>form that we use to get pins and stuff.) Could someone on the net
>please enlighten everyone as to exactly what we can do? I know letters
>are coming to the individual chapters, but "snail mail" may not get
>there quick enough. Is there anyone who really shouldn't send regrets?
Hold off on the cards. Hopefully there will be a time when things like that
can be sent, after the legal situation is settled. Jerry and the other National
officers DO think that it is a tragedy, but as much as your condolences
might help the family, the fact is that these condolences are very dangerous
because they could be used to show a relationship between Alpha Phi Omega,
National Service Fraternity and the group on Alcorn's campus that contributed
to his death.
Though it is difficult to find in the tragedy, remember one thing about this,
if it had happened at an active chapter, the National Fraternity would
be in even worse legal shape.
>> but it is true that he was finding it hard not to
>> himself. IMHBCO, I do feel for them, but they screwed up big time.... howeve
r
>,
>> -if they decided to sue us for damages (a real threat, I assume), you can bet
>> there should be a countersuit...
> [Deleted ranting that I agree with about problems with getting
to a countersuit]
I think that you are confused about who would be suing us, I think the
only people likely to sue the National Fraternity are the dead pledge's
family. The family (and/or pledge) may not neccesarily done anything to
the fraternity. If he was the driver of one of the two cars, he might not
have done anything more illegal than speeding or accessory to theft.
The group at Alcorn was killed by the Alcorn Administration as soon
as most of the facts are known. I'd be willing to bet that any money
currently in group funds would be pretty easy for the pledge's family
to sue for and win. The individual members of the group and of course
the man who killed the pledge are likely to get sued. The problem is that
neither of them have "deep pockets". The two places to sue that have "deeper
pockets" (APO/Nationals aren't that deep but sure would be deeper than
a college students) are Alcorn State University and Alpha Phi Omega Nationals.
Who in this situation are we likely to sue? The only people who have
"Deep Pockets" that we might sue are the Alcorn Administration (which
is a state school, so we would be going against the state of Mississippi)
who as I understand it was still in talks with APO National about removing
the group using our letters at Alcorn. We would probablyhave to prove
that they were negligent in not moving faster to remove the group. (IMHO)
the only other people possible would be the Newspaper that broke the story,
and we would have to prove that they libelled the National Fraternity.
We would have to prove that not only did they clearly lie about APO/National's
connection to the Alcorn group, but that they did so on purpose. If they
print the letter from the National Office saying that this group was not
using our name legally, and mention that it was a local group in any
subsequent articles, they would be difficult to sue.
>> after all, this little "event" smeared the
>> hell out of the APO name... but I am just ranting here.
> [Re-Commence Ranting]
>Honestly, I agree, and the more I think about it, the less sympathy I
>feel. What bozo would go and steal a bench from someone's porch? Not
>to be harsh, but these guys got burned trying to play with fire. I
>hope they can learn from their mistake. I really hope that they don't
>get famous as the "poor unfortunate victims" - they were commiting a
>crime!
Remember that other things that are considerrred hazing are also other
crimes. Painting the Statue in the middle of Campus is Vandalism.
Getting another group's composite is Theft. Kidnapping is just that.
> I'm sorry if I sound harsh, and I know how strong the pressure
>can be when you want to be accepted by the group. Every person is
>responsible for saying Yes or No individually. Lead by Example, right?
>Alpha Phi Omega is made up of people who weren't satisfied with the
>everyday; I hope that our brothers can think for themselves.
> [end ranting]
If you don't think about what you are doing, you are leading anyone
including yourself.
>>
>> Our beloved president also said he heard the news from APO-L... he's relly
>> listening, everyone! I think that is a proud testimony on the state of our
>> fraternity.
>>
>> Now if we could only get him on APOSOC-L....
>
>I have to agree with that one. Not only is APO-L a fine example of the
>fraternity, it is also an excellent example of proper net-etiquitte;
>we haven't had flame wars or even much inflammatory posting for a long
>time. I'm proud to be part of this newsgroup.
Jerry has been getting info off of APO-L for quite some time. Between
3 members of the board of Directors, a half dozen sectional chairs,
and a dozen or more other staff, if something does come up, the National
Office and Jerry will hear about it.
Mailing lists tend to be calmer than newsgroups in general. Kappa (CMU) and
I think Alpha Chi (MIT) get it as a newsgroup, but most don't. I am also
proud of APO-L.
As for getting on the Mailing lists... APO-L is probably a good idea,
but not neccessarily a very great need right now. As for APOSOC-L,
how do I put this nicely, he doesn't have enough time to really keep
up with APOSOC-L as a regular.
>> td3
>Jeff "Reds" Brown
Randy Finder
Section 84(DC&MD) staff
Kappa Chapter Alumnus
naraht@drycas.club.cc.cmu.edu
