[1513] in APO News
minutes from Chapter meeting, Tuesday, October 3.
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Karen K Greig)
Mon Oct 9 17:19:48 1995
To: apo-minutes@MIT.EDU
Date: Mon, 09 Oct 1995 17:19:11 EDT
From: Karen K Greig <kgreig@MIT.EDU>
Minutes of Chapter Meeting (Oct. 3, 1995)
Administrative notes:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Start: 7:35 pm; End: 9:20 pm. Present: Kevin, Elaine, Alexis, Jeffrey,
Charley, Richard, Ingrid, Cathy, Harry, Karen, Mike Spitznagel, Emily,
Bob, Jeremy, Sparky, Junko, Chris, Kate, Gilbert, Joe, Glenn
Officers' reports:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SVP (Cathy): Chapter Skills Weekend happened. It was OK. Silkscreen-
ing did not happen but it will be done at a later date TBA. If
you're interested in doing Silkscreening, talk to Laurel. Last
weekend we had a project for the Boston Ballet. We had fun.
Chapter Weekend I is coming up this weekend. Jefrrey is PC.
There is a signup sheet that is going around. Cambridgeport
Children's Center project is coming up next weekend. I need
a PC for that, and for the 21st at National Braille Press, and
for the following weekend at George's Island. Shriner's Hospital
project has been rescheduled to November 10 from 2 to 4:30 pm.
This is a Friday. It is also the weekend of Conclave and there is
no class that Friday. I need PCs desperately.
MVP (Kevin): I have three things 1.) There are pledges who don't
have big brothers yer. If you want to be a big brother, introduce
yourself to the pledges. 2.) Because Pledge Article Meal is
happening at Chapter Weekend, we have time this week for a
Big Brother/Little Brother study break this Thursday at 8:30
in the office. I am supplying ice cream. Pledges without big
brothers are encouraged to come as well as brothers who want
to be big brothers. 3.) Pledge Article Meal is happening at
Chapter Weekend this Saturday evening. The camp is an hour
away. I encourage big brothers and pledges to come. If anyone
is interested in helping cook,...then you're Ingrid.
AVP (Karen): I have updated the phone list. If there's any problem
with it, let me know. A new WUAPO will be coming out shortly,
and I will send out a interdepartmental mailing for it soon.
Treasurer (Jennifer): (Harry speaks) There is no treasurer but we
will have one very soon. Please pay your dues. Kate is currently
doing treasurer stuff.
FC (Jeffrey): Kevin just went through the main upcoming fellowship
events. There is a study break on Thursday...
Cathy: There is also going to be a study break on the Red Line on
October 12. Meet in the office at 7:30. If there is a better day,
please tell me.
FC (Jeffrey): Cathy is also co-PCing Steak Fry
Cathy: Invitations are going out soon.
APOcEd (Chris): not present(until later) Currently I only have the
minutes for the last meetings and articles from Ingrid and Deb-
bie Deutsch. I'm soory, I was going to bring cheescake, but I
couldn't find the recipe. Deadline for next APOc's articles will
be Sunday before next chapter meeting at 7 pm.
ASC (Junko): not present
PubDir (Elaine): not present
Historian (Jeffrey): nothing to report
Advisory Comm. Chair (Joe): nothing to report
President (Harry): nothing to report
Committee reports:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
UMOC
Ingrid: Updated forms are being passed around. There is a
UMOC committee meeting after this meeting. I have PCs for
everything and now will get organized.
CPR
Charley: CPR happened ove Chapter Skills Weekend. There
was 1 pledge, 1 friend of the chapter, and 2 instructors. The
instructors would appreciate more people next time. I have ac-
cepted the position of CPR chair.
Old Business:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
none
New Business:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
First, Reapprove advisors
Andrew Eisenmann - Systems Dean
Bonnie Kellerman - in Archives
Joe Kuchta (who's he?)
Daniel O'Neil - Scout Exec
Robert Rose - professor in mechanical engineering
Warren Seamans - Director of the Museum
David Wiley - Registrar
Yale Zussman (another guy we don't know)
Larry Anderson - new basketball coach from Rust College, MI, not cur-
rently an advisor here.
Richard: I would suggest that someone write up a list of advisors to
put into the APOc and what we can get from them.
Ingrid: Move to vote.
Emily: Second.
All in favor of voting.
Vote to approve advisors: Aye - many, Nay - none, Abstain - none.
Motion passes.
Treasure's Report
Kate: If you want to be active, please tell me, then pay your
debts and pay 8 dollars and 50 cents for dues. Only actives may vote.
Second, UMOC Forms
Kevin: Has anything been changed since last UMOC?
Ingrid: The dates were changes and that's all. Oh, and there are two
typos that will be corrected.
Discussion? No. Move to a vote.
All in favor - 11, All against - 0, Abstain - 3. Motion passes.
Third, Treasurer election
Harry: As some of you know, Jennifer said she can't continue
to be treasurer and wouldn't mind if we elected a new treasurer.
Richard: Can we flip-flop chapter rules and allow ALL brothers to
vote (een those who didn't pay their dues yet?)
Harry: I suppose we can do that, since most people here wouldn't be
allowed to vote.
Nominations: Kate, Alexis.
Alexis is the new treasurer.
Fourth, Service Program
Charley: The original discussion I had was with Yale and some
other brothers considering leadership in the chapter and alter-
ation in the service program. Like an earlier time in the chapter,
we thought that more large projects which required more sub-
PSships would help brothers develop leadership. For example,
building a playground. You might need 10-15 people/sub-PCs
in charge, each one for building a certain structure. More people
then have a leadership opportunity. I porpose we limie discus-
sion to 45 minutes with a possible extension of 15 minutes.
Cathy: As SVP, I have trouble finding PCs as it is. I'm not sure
people are interested in sustaining such a large project.
Charley: The purpose of the this is to foster the willingness to PC.
People can work on a little piece of it during the week, the
month, etc.
Cathy: I like the idea, but I don't see that the chapter is big enough
that it could happen.
Ingrid: I agree with Cathy - I'm not sure we are large enough now.
At first, I was scared to death to PC - but then Grant asked me
to sub-PC for Big Screw. By the way, Cathy, I'll PC George's
Island. People are hosed all the time. If I have things weekly,
things progress. We can do it if by putting things over a large
time span.
Joe: Is there still a Chapter Book? You should look into that for a
section on "How-to-PC."
Charley: Yes, I'm aware of that resource. It's distributed pretty well.
But I still don't think people know the resource exists. If we
establish useful guidelines, it would force people to deal with
the project if it's over an extended period. If we set up, and
spread it out, it'd be easier. Many people aren't sure how to
lead other people. I talked to an Associate Dean who is trying
to set up leadership development workshops on campus. We
could maybe attempt to organize one in cooperation with the
Dean's Office. I'm not interested in setting up a HUGE project.
Maybe we could do one on a smaller scale but which requires
something like 5 project chairs, etc.
Chris: Doesn't our chapter run some joint chapter projects with other
chapters?
Charley: Not often, but sometimes. We could set up an interchapter
project, kind of a second level project after doign one of our
own.
Cathy: I agree with you and I like the idea, But Is still don't think the
chapter can sustain another UMOC, Book Exchange, or Steak
Fry.
Richard: I agree with Charley AND Cathy. I think the chapter can
accomodate more people. I've had many discussions about this,
mainly with Dave Cho.
Charley: If we don't have enough people in the chapter, we could orga-
nize something and then work with other organizations for man-
power. I've been approached by TEP, SAE, etc. If we combined
with them, we could pull it off. Reg Day is not leadership in-
tensive, only paperwork intensive. I was talking to Darlene and
Yale. Steak Fry, Book Exchange used to be SMALL projects.
Gilbert: It looks to me like people are hosed. That's the reason,
NOT lack of leadership. UMOC may be small scale, but Ingrid
has already put a lot of time into it. I think it is important to
generate spirit. Instead of dividing up a project like parts of a
playground, try to find more variety, becuase you might scare
off people who don't like construction or something like that.
Charley: I just wanted to sound the cahpter out. I don't have one
project idea yet. I have heard many peple say that the chapter is
not ready for a big project, but I haven't heard suggestions about
how to prepare the chapter for doing a large project. I want to
give experience at level of leadership that can be a stepping
stone to something else, a way to grow. That addresses how to
ignite chapter spirit.
Glenn: Two points. 1.) Chapter Book and AXcoAPO files. There are
stories in them that will give brothers a feel for what a larger
project used to be. 2.) Start at the scale of a chapter weekend
and distribute leadership there.
Ingrid: I have four points. I wanted to address Gilbert's comments
about PCs being hosed (smile.) I don't know. I PC something
I'm interested in (whether I'm hosed or not.) 2.) Preparing
to do bigger things: that might help. I'm open to suggestions.
I want to do this. 3.) We should brainstorm on other ideas
and work those ideas together. 4.) Debbie Deutsch. She has
a system at work where she puts someone who has done a lot
of things and puts them in charge. And someone who has little
leadership she would put in charge of people with experience,
who know what's going on. That builds self-confidence.
Joe: Charley, Do want to get other chapters involved and maybe talk
at Conclave?
Charley: I don't know whether I can make Conclave. It would be nice
to do it. Glenn's suggestion was good - start with a chapter
weekend. We worked with BU in the past. That may be an
opening step.
Kevin: A large project was tried at WPI. I'm not clear on how to
discuss this issue in abstract without having a definite project
to discuss. At WPI, it came down to what people were excited
about. For example - elections. We had some offices where 1
person ran, others where 4 people did. WPI ended up doing
a huge project on recycling. We ended up punting a weekend
project and doing this instead. We had a recycling chair. A lot
of people cared about recycling. So it was successful. Charley's
idea has merit if he can pull it off.
Sparky: There are a lot of opportunities for a big project inthe next
3 semesters. 1.) There's a regional meeting coming up in Con-
necticut. They are expecting 300 to 400 people. They have
asked some chapters to take over some events to help out. This
is VERY big. 2.) Sectional conferences, also known in this re-
gion as Conclave. They happen every semester. That's a good
size project to undertake. My job is to help bridge chapters
to do things together. After chapters are introduced, I'm a re-
source. There are plenty of opportunities to do things. Look to
the scouting community.
Charley: After talking with Yale about involving scouts, I don't think
that's a good option. He's talked to a scout exec - it would take
a 1-1/2 years to get approval from them, and you'd have to show
up to all their meetings.
Kate: We can talk only so much in the abstract. A chapter weekend
PC doesn't delegate leadership. There seems to be a lack of
passing on leadership information.
Elaine: 1.) I wanted to respond to Debbie Deutsch's comments. I
think what she talked about [clueless guiding clueful, vise versa]
happens, consciously or unconsciously. People learn something
from each different project. 2.) Charley's idea is a good one.
Gather some more concrete information and we can have a dis-
cussion later. And I'm PCing SFF.
Cathy: I agree with Kevin and Kate about the limits of talking in
the abstract, but I will proceed to make two comments in the
abstract. I like the idea about working with other groups a lot.
However, manpower PCs are still difficult to get. We need wither
a larger chapter of we need to restructure the Service Program.
Richard: A few things: 1.) In response to Gilbert's comment about
hosage. By the end of this term, I will have PCed 4 projects.
Ping, when he was SVP, PCed 6 projects. Hosage is not a
factor. It must be a fear of PCing. And the fear is that they
don't have enough clue. 2.) The fellowship chair should have an
AXcoAPO file study break. If you have ideas, it's a good way to
bring the chapter together. 3.) Kevin's comment about WPI's
recycling project, MIT has a long way to go on recycling, but
it would'nt be a good project for APO, because there's a lot of
administration to deal with.
Alan: People are scared to be PCs. Even in a large project at the sub-
PC level, they may still be scared. Look at why people don't
get trained to be PCs. The problem comes down to assigning
PCships. The food PC only knows a few days before and doesn't
know what to do. This will probably fall into the SVP hands.
You need to sit down with the PC. Talk to the PC's big brother.
Photocopy the page about how to PC and give it to them. Fear
is driven by lack of knowledge. Drill it into them that you're
there for them. Attack the problemat the root.
Charley: I hear a call not for a leadership development wrokshop but
a leadership practicum. I think people would enjoy that. Set
up to teach practical PCing. It would be similar to a chapter
skills weekend. We could leave that weekend open and make all
pledges attend.
Emily: A bunch of people have said, deficit in chapter unity and man-
power. I have not known about a single project this semester
because I don't read my email. Phone callings are not that hard.
It is worthwhile to look into other venues of communication.
Gilbert: What happened to small chapter skills lectures in Dave's era?
Only half the brothers and pledges are showing up for meetings.
This also probably falls under the SVP's job. Maybe we should
revive the service committee,
Elaine: We have a chapter skills weekend. PCship is a chapter skill.
We should have a how-to-PC weekend. Good.
Glenn: If the chapter doesn't feel ready for a large project, reorganize
a present large project. Organize it to give more PC leadership
training. Food PC - get a clean up crew. Put one person in
charge of the afternoon, morning, etc. Think it over.
Cathy: About Charley's idea of a practicum. I didn't like LDW - it
was too abstract. I'm not sure a class in practical PCing is as
good an experience as actual PCing. I don't I'd learn much at
it.
Charley: Time's up. My closing remarks: I suggest we have a
practicum, not as a substitute for PCing. We have to take the
clue where it is and move it to where people at least think it
isn't. It would not be LDWesque which is abstract adn includes
card playing, etc. It will help give people the conviction that
they CAN PC.
Announcements:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kevin: Next pledge meeting is, appropriately, a workshop on How to
PC a Project.
Sparky: Point of information: The event that happened in February
technically was NOT an LDW. It was a Leadership-thingamajig.
Go to Conclave - they have trained people to run it. I'm happy
to talk to people about this off-line.
Jeffrey: I need a manpower PC for Chapter Weekend 1.
Cathy: I need a PC fer next weekend at the Cambridgeport Children's
Center. It's at 10am on Saturday (meet at 9 or 9:30 in office) to
2 or 3 pm. [Chris volunteered.] Chapter Weekend 2 in November
is coming up. There is an article coming in the next APOc that
Ingrid wrote that people should read. It basically talks about
people sign up to something and not do it.
Ingrid: UMOC meeting after this meeting in the office.
Charley: Anyone interested in the practicum, talk to me.
PFTGOTO:
~~~~~~~
Richard: Ingrid owes me ice cream.
Ingrid: What?!
Chris: Tosci's for Ingrid and Karen since there was no cheescake.
Kevin: The Red Sox versus Indians game started an hour ago and I'm
not watching it. Aren't you impressed?
Richard: Someone told me something about the OJ trail being over,
but I don't know what he was talking about.
Meeting adjourned to a fellowship circle and toast song at 9:20 PM.
