[2563] in APO News
Apocrypha #5
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Jeffrey Scott Poore)
Thu May 1 11:24:22 1997
To: apoc-dist@MIT.EDU
From: Jeffrey Scott Poore <jeffreypu@MIT.EDU>
Reply-To: jefreypu@MIT.EDU
Date: Thu, 01 May 1997 11:15:37 EDT
Sorry about the delay here. I got a little tied up and so issues 5 and
6 didn't come out over email on time, although they did in paper
form. I will email them separately.
APOcrypha
Volume 86, Issue 5
Tuesday, April 8, 1997
Spring 1997
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter from the Editor
Hello again, and welcome to issue 5 of the apoc. Isn't that cool? 5
issues so far this term, and I am still going for my goal of at least
9 this term. I am even thinking of doing a special editon for the last
apoc, containing articles from before with newly added special effects
and new words and phrases added in. It should be fun, so keep an eye
open for it. :)
Until then, please submit articles!
YiLFS,
Jeffrey
------------------------------------------------------------------------
What is an Active?: Yet Another How To Guide =)
Well, everyone who's been around me knows that I enjoy pontificating
given an opportunity. =) So, what an active is depends on what kind
of definition you're looking for. There's the bylaws definition,
which is concerned with whether or not you've paid your dues and
debts. There's the PTRM definition, which asks how many projects,
fellowship events, and meetings you've been to. I'd like to look at
these two definitions and the reasons behind each of them. Then, I'd
like to share with you my own personal method for deciding if I am
``active'' at any given time.
Bylaws or ``Paper'' Actives
A bylaws active is someone who fulfills the following definition:
Active Membership. An active member shall be a student at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology who has been initiated into
membership and has fulfilled all personal financial obligations to the
Chapter. Active members shall be able to vote and hold office.
(AXcoAPO Bylaws, Article I, Section 3)
The reasons for using this definition for who can vote rather than
another are mostly logistical. It is undesireable to mandate a
schedule of ``activity'' which would indicate how many events, or
hours, or other units of measure in each field must be completed by
each meeting in the term. Each brother will have different schedules
of hosage which will tend to interfere with meeting such a rigorous
schedule. Even were this not the case, it is inconvenient to ask
brothers and the president to keep track of each brother's progress on
this schedule. However, it is relatively easy to keep track of who
does and does not owe the Chapter money. Thus, the president and
treasurer can jointly determine who is active at any given time.
Simply being a ``paper'' active is not enough to sustain the Chapter.
A Chapter of 30 ``paper''-only actives never accomplishes service, nor
necessarily even conducts maintenance-type business. A ``paper''
active does not need to go to meetings, projects, or fellowship
events. A ``paper'' active is nothing more than a mark on a sheet.
This is not to say that we should not value brothers who can not, for
whatever reason, regularly participate in our activities. If we
didn't value all of our brothers, we would not have elevated them.
This is, however, a warning that mistaking ``paper'' activity for
``real'' activity can be fatal to a Chapter.
PTRM Actives
Having discussed the deficiencies of the bylaws definition of
activity, let's look at the definition for use at PTRM:
Alpha Phi Omega -- Alpha Chi Chapter
Spring 1997 Brotherhood Expectations
The expectations of an active brother in the Alpha Chi chapter of Alpha Phi
Omega this term are:
Attend at least six service projects.
Attend at least two fellowship events, including one of the major
fellowship events (Steak Fry, Pledge Article Meal, Semi-Formal Formal).
Attend at least two-thirds of the chapter meetings.
Learn, teach, or practice a Chapter Skill.
Chair (PC) or sub-PC a service project or fellowship event, or hold a
chapter leadership position.
Attend ceremonies.
Meet one third of the pledges.
Attend the Pledge Term Review Meeting.
In addition, active brothers are encouraged to:
Be Big Brothers.
Write articles for the chapter newsletter. (the Apocrypha)
Attend specialized committee meetings (ServComm, Fincomm, MomComm,...)
Interact with brothers from other chapters.
Meet all the pledges.
This document presents what the Chapter as a whole has agreed defines
an active member for the purposes of voting on pledge elevation. How
good is this definition for general use during the term? First, let's
look at each section and what it's for.
Attend at least six service projects.
Attend at least two fellowship events, including one of the
major fellowship events (Steak Fry, Pledge Article Meal,
Semi-Formal Formal).
These expectations are here to ensure that brothers participate
``sufficiently'' in our activities to have a good basis for judging
the participation of the pledges. These numbers represent a
``reasonable'' fraction of the events we conduct every term. The
numbers themselves have varied over time, as the Chapter's opinion of
``reasonable'' has changed. However, the value of these items is in
their intent. Part of it is to ensure that brothers are competent to
make informed decisions at PTRM. The more important part, to me, is
that they give brothers a set of guidelines which they can use as
encouragement to participate in our activities. While brothers should
participate simply because they enjoy it, some need extra
encouragement to participate more fully, or in a more diverse spectrum
of activities. Thus, these expectations give brothers a list, if you
will, of the minimum responsibilities to which we commit every term in
APO.
Attend at least two-thirds of the chapter meetings.
Our service projects and fellowship events are not the sole venue in
which brothers interact. At our meetings, we decide the business of
the Chapter: What are our long-term plans? How much should be spent
on a given event or program? What issues are important to us as a
Chapter in National, Regional, Sectional, and Chapter legislation and
procedure? These issues, as well as many others are decided at
Chapter meetings. Information is disseminated. Opinions are
solicited. Issues are aired. General day-to-day maintenance is often
dealt with. Policies are renewed. While these may not be the main
focus of why any of us joined APO, they are necessary to maintain our
programs of Leadership, Friendship, and Service. We must all take an
``active'' role in dealing with these issues. Come to every meeting
you can make, even if it is only part of the meeting. Keep informed;
keep the Chapter informed. We, the Brotherhood, must be the ones to
take care of these issues: they won't take care of themselves.
Attend ceremonies.
Attending ceremonies helps achieve two goals. First, it makes a show
of the Chapter's intent to ourselves and to the pledges, to support
our programs; support the pledges in their progress towards
brotherhood; to support APO on a larger level and wider scope.
Second, it ensures that people are present to participate in and
witness the important events of our Chapter: pledging, initiation,
installation. These events help to bind us closer as a functioning
family of brothers and pledges. They help define our roles in the
Chapter.
Learn, teach, or practice a Chapter Skill.
Chapter skills help ensure that we can provide service in areas that
the Chapter has defined as requiring special training.
CPR/Safety/First Aid
Printing
Silkscreening
Treasury
Leadership
Power Tools
These are a few of the skills which the Chapter has so designated in
the past, and many could be added to that list in the future. All of
these require knowledge not ordinarily resident in individuals. This
is not to say that people cannot know how to do these things without
our training -- many can do these things who have never been
associated with APO at all. However, these are skills which the
Chapter requires for achievement of our goals of Service. Thus, we
have certain standards which we must maintain to permit these skills
to be of use to others. A mediocre printer will do a mediocre job.
However, a printer who takes pride in doing his job will do his best
to achieve excellence in execution of his responsibilities. Take
pride in all of your activities, and you will achieve more than you
thought possible.
Chair (PC) or sub-PC a service project or fellowship event, or
hold a chapter leadership position.
Without leadership, no organization can function. In this respect,
APO is no different from any other organization. We must have
officers to manage the general business of the Chapter. They help
maintain the momentum of the Chapter between meetings; implement
policy legislated by the Chapter; plan our programs of LFS. PCs plan,
run, and follow up on our events. They are crucial to the smooth
function of our programs. No matter how many people go a on a given
project, without a leader, they will generally be less effective.
Meet one third of the pledges.
Attend the Pledge Term Review Meeting.
These two expectations jointly act to provide for a smooth process of
introducing new brothers into the Chapter. By getting to know the
pledges, ideally all of them, a brother is well prepared to interact
with them as individuals, and as members of the Chapter. These
``introductions'' have led to so many friendships and other
relationships that AXcoAPO has a web stretching across the country and
around the world. The fact that someone is a brother, even from
another Chapter, tends to color our view of them. In general, the
effect is good. =) This effect, however, gives us a responsibility to
elevate brothers who exemplify the three principles of APO, and
question the right of those who do not. We are a group of people who
pledge ourselves to a certain code and certain goals. We must be sure
that those who will serve with us believe in these ``intangibles''.
These things are the essence of what distinguishes APO from any other
fraternity or service group.
Be Big Brothers.
Write articles for the chapter newsletter. (the Apocrypha) Attend
specialized committee meetings (ServComm, Fincomm, MomComm,...)
Interact with brothers from other chapters. Meet all the pledges.
These recommendations, though not essential enough to Chapter function
as those things termed ``expectations'', still serve to enhance our
ability to serve others. As big brothers, we can help teach the
pledges about APO in a more personal way than through pledge meetings
or general inclusion in activities. We can be there to answer the
so-called ``dumb'' questions we were reluctant to ask in public as
pledges; to help them along the road to brotherhood.
Contributing to the APOcrypha and attending committee meetings help to
provide a constant stream of ideas and exchange of opinions in the
Chapter. Not everyone will like your opinion, or even want to hear it
every time. God knows I have experience with this. =) However, these
things help us to know one another better; to recognize one another's
concerns. They help to keep the Chapter's programs vital and
representative of the goals of the individuals who make up the
Chapter. If you want to see something happen, don't moan and
complain: go to the right committee meeting, or the officer if you
can't make it to the meetings, and voice your opinion! Telling us
what you want to see is good and suggesting methods to achieve your
goal is even more so.
Interacting with members of other Chapters helps provide a stream of
new ideas into the Chapter, as does the induction of pledges. Another
Chapter may have a different or even innovative method of dealing with
certain goals, or even have goals we haven't even thought of. It also
acts to form bonds among the Chapters of the Section, Region, and
Nation, and in some instances, internationally! These bonds are what
will help in achieving the goals set forth by Frank Reed Horton all
those years ago: to ``help bring about more nearly,, that standard of
manhood and international understanding and Friendship that will lead
to a better world in which to live, and in which to make a living, and
a life.''
Finally, the brother's signature is his bond that he has fulfilled the
spirit of these expectations. This brings us to the issue of how
activity is judged. In our initiation, we recognize that the task of
fulfillment is the responsibility of the individual brother, alone.
Only you can decide if you have truly served inside and outside of APO
to the best of your ability. This is one of the major reasons why we
must be so selective of our members. We, as a fraternity, do not
question others' commitment to APO. Each of us pledges to adhere to
our oath and the principles of APO. No one prods us to observe our
promises. Thus, we must do our best to ensure that our brothers are
true in their interest in APO before they become members of our
society. After we are brothers, it is our own responsibility to guide
our progress. This is the heart of my philosophy on active membership
in APO.
YiLFS,
Charely Hamilton
Disclaimer: This is pure opinion. You have been warned. An active
member of APO, whether a brother or a pledge, is someone who strives
with all of their effort to advance the goals and organization of APO.
He spends free time thinking of how to better achieve our programs of
LFS. He is true to his pledge as a brother or pledge in APO. He
gives actively to promoting Leadership, Friendship, and Service in APO
and in the community. An active can be found in the APO office at
random hours: selling drop poster paper; printing press jobs;
maintaining equipment; socializing with friends; planning programs or
activities. An active can be found on the street or in their
residence, leading others and bringing people together. Actives
strive not just to meet the requirements set before them, but to
exceed them; to set the standard higher. Aim at the stars. You may
not reach them, but you will fly farther than if you had aimed lower.
If you aim at nothing, you will surely hit it.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jeffrey's Random Impressions of LFS
So I was thinking myself on the subject of Leadership, Friendship and
Service. One thing that occurred to me is that before I leave MIT I
will have three APO shirts that will each have one of our cardinal
principles on it. I already have a shirt that has Service on it, with
the number 1 on it, cause service is the first reason that we are in
this fraternity anyway. If we just wanted leadership and friendship,
there are many fine organizations that specialize in leadership, and
friendship usually comes as an added bonus.
My second shirt will say Leadership, and I don't even remember which
number I put on it, because I actually asked someone else to give me a
number. Thinking on this, I just think of although a leader guides a
group, its just as important that he look to the people he is guiding
for the ideas as well. Just because you are put in the leadership
position doesn't mean that what you decide is correct or that the
group you are leading will necessarily do it. Instead, you are there
to help give the group direction. The group will probably follow your
direction, but you should also look to see what they want as well,
which will help you to guide them.
Finally, I will be getting a shirt with Friendship on it. And
friendship is actually more than a bonus in our fraternity. Its almost
the bond that holds us together and keeps us doing our service and
leadership. Without this friendship, you would just come do community
service for a while, but then you would go off and do something else
somewhere else. I much prefer that the people I do service with are my
friends and people I care about a lot. This makes for a more well
balanced group.
I only wish that some of the other groups I had been involved in had
principles as strong as ours, for I think that Alpha Phi Omega is one
of the finest organizations that I have ever been honored to be a part
of.
YiLFS,
Jeffrey
------------------------------------------------------------------------
RPI Sectionals
Ingrid, Richard, Lizzie, Ira, Brian, Ryan, Sparky, and me (Jill) all
traveled to RPI in beautiful, ``sunny'' Troy New York for 88/89
sectionals and it was a lot of fun. Actually.....it wasn't
sunny...although the theme of the conference was ``spring break:
service in the sun''. It was mildly raining or snowing all weekend
long, but that didn't matter very much. My car, containing me,
Sparky, Richard, and Ingrid, got a late start but we managed to get
into town by 8 pm. We then ate dinner at this cool pub that made
their own beers, root beer and cream soda. We all realized we were of
age so one of us got some beer. Then the rest of us decided to have
soda ;).
There was a dance the first night, and an apo ``singled out''. None
of us got picked, though ;(.
There were a lot of cool people at sectionals, and it was a lot of fun
to meet the brothers from RPI. They understood all our nerd jokes.
``And thank you for the carrots....'' was actually said at the
invocation before the banquet on Saturday night. Saturday afternoon's
main project was at the Regional Food bank. There were about 8 or so
large vats of frozen carrots, measuring about 5 feet high and four
feet square. Our job was to scoop the carrots into bags so that they
could be given out to people. Four cups went into a bag, so after a
while my group got bored and started counting in French, Spanish, and
binary. My group took the longest, but after two hours all the
carrots (and some ears of corn too) were packed into bags, and I will
probably never see that many carrots again in my life! :)
Additionally, there were cool workshops that morning. The first one I
attended was about running a successful rush. Ideas that were brought
up were: scheduling things to allow time for publicity, going door to
door to talk to people with a good cross section of the chapter
(people only join groups with people that are like them...ie, you need
girls to rush girls, especially at MIT), making people stay longer at
the initial events (the longer they stay, better chance they'll
return) and coupling food with service is excellent. Remember our
successful picnic in the park with ultimate last year after the food
bank project? Other events that were listed were a pasta dinner,
movie night, show-n-tell (to get perspectives to meet brothers),
``meet the brothers night'', a human slide show, a scavenger hunt,
info tables, and of course, open projects. Publicity ideas that we
came up with were using the radio, banners, newspaper, posters, and
making some sort of ``door hanger'' for people to use with our name
and information on it. At RPI, APO puts out an info card that has
every campus related number that one would need. RPI helps to pay for
the cost of printing it. For example, my freshman year, Technique
(the yearbook club) gave out a piece of paper at activities midway
with lots of Boston related numbers on it - take out, movie theaters,
cab companies, and so on, and I still have it.
During the workshop, they also stressed how important it is to
shake off apathy and for the entire chapter to help with rush. After
all, if we love our chapter, we don't want it to die. One suggestion
was to have a pre-term ``get psyched for rush'' party. Additionally, we
were urged to ask for section help if we needed it, and to ask for help
earlier rather than later.
Overall, the weekend was a lot of fun, since I spent hours
hanging out with other brothers from different chapters (okay, mostly
RPI) and meeting new people and making new friends is what sectionals is
all about. I hope everyone that goes to conclave has as good a time!
Yours in Leadership, Service and Friendship,
Jill Pelavin
(ps-- sour food is at the printers, and it WILL be ready for steak
fry!! yay!!)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recpetion for Graduating Brothers
There are several Alpha Chi actives who are graduating this spring, so
the Alpha Chi Alumni Association will be hosting a reception for the
graduating brothers, their families, and their friends. This reception
has not yet been scheduled; I am waiting for word on the "Senior Week"
activities so that I can schedule the reception for the best likely
attendance. The likely schedule is a weekday evening during the week of
June 2--5. (Commencement is June 6th.)
If you would like to assist with preparations for this reception,
contact John Kohl: jtkohl@mit.edu or 617-643-0215.
==John
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Minutes of Chapter Meeting 3/19/97
Administrative notes:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Start: 7:11pm; End: 7:50pm. Present:Alexis, Elaine, Oscar, Melissa,
Ari, Ingrid, Charley, Cathy, Joe Kuchta, Dave, Grant, Emily, Lizzie,
Michael, Richard.
Officers' reports:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SVP (Lizzie): Oh? Sorry. Uh, let's see. Project this Saturday,
Boston Urban Gardens, needs a PC. Big Screw and Carnival
are coming; bug people to come and give ideas.
MVP (Michael): Everything proceeding well. Pledge meeting tomor-
row at 6pm in office,lasting 45-60 minutes.Lizzie is presenting
"How To PC a Project".
AVP (Jill): Not present-but report post meeting: Sour Food will be
done by Steak Fry,as I just handed it to graphic arts, minutes
are going out, things seem to be going well.
Treasurer (Cathy): You must be active by April 5 to vote on pledges.
Pay your debts by then.
FC (Charley): Upcoming Events- - Dinner trip to Mary's this Satur-
day (3/22) PC: Jeff
Steak Fry (4/5) PC: Susama
- Bubble Wrap Study Break (4/17) PC: Falling
- Semi-Formal/Formal (5/3) PC: Ari
- I-Banquet (5/16) PC: Ingrid
- Museum of Science Trip has been moved to after Spring Break.
How do people feel about the following dates-
April 13, April 19, May 11 I will pick one and announce it later.
I am planning several other study breaks during the term. Current dates
are- April 13 (post-Screw setup)
April 28, May 11, some time during Finals Week
-I am planning to have people get together/submit a survey and let me
know how active they think they were, why; how active they wanted to
be, why;and what factors influence these data some time before the end
of the term. People have commented that there is a large amount of
flake-age and much apathy in attendace. I want to know why so it can
be resolved. Recent Accomplishment s-
- Pizza & Shakespeare happened last Friday. Thanks to all who came.
People I talked to said they had fun.
- BB/LB Study Break happened. People seemed to enjoy themselves.
The passing of the candle was less successful than I had hoped, but it
partially achieved the goal. However, Michael informs me there is only
one pledge with a big brother, so the study break didn't achieve its overall
purpose well. also, SIPB is having a trip this Saturday to the Museum
of Science.
APOcEd (Jeffrey): Not here. Jeff said there should be APOCs to-
morrow.
ASC (Lauren): Nothing to report.
PubDir (David): sold a drop poster on Saturday. ;)
Historian (Brian): Nothing to report.
Advisory Comm. Chair (Joe): nothing to report
President (Alexis): If you want to go to Conclave, you can still
register with a $10 late fee, but need to talk to me now.
Committee reports:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Carnival: : Moving forward as planned. Get people to hold booths;
deadline is Friday.
Service Committee: :Meeting on Monday didn't happen. Resched-
uled for Tuesday after Spring Break, April 1, at 7:30pm in office.
Membership Committee: nothing to report Finance Committee:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ nothing to report
Archives Committee: Tell Brian if you're interested in meeting, and
we'll try to set up a meeting after Spring Break.
Conclave Committee: See New Business.
Old Business:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
none
New Business:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Conclave:Do we want to make a bid to host Conclave? Cathy: : I
don't think we have enough information to decide whether we
can do this or not.
Alexis: : We need to schedule activities, reserve rooms, plan for ac-
commodations . We have reserved rooms already for the weekend
of November 14. We also need a chair to manage Conclave.
Cathy: : *describes what Conclave is since most people don't know*
Typically 75-200 people in Boston area come. No response yet
from BU as to whether they can help with sleeping accomoda-
tions. We have not asked can help.
Alexis: : Typically have workshops, service projects, business meeting,
entertainment, and a banquet on Saturday night. Vote: Yes, do
more research: 6 No, drop it: 2 Abstain: 3
Cathy: : There will be a Conclave meeting at 12 noon on Friday in
the office; come and give ideas.
Cathy: : We need to vote on Conclave delegates.Nominees:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Ingrid: : Hi. I'm a junior. I've been to one conclave, and was a voting
delegate. I'd like to do it again. I was also a voting delegate at
Nationals which was fun.
dave: Hi. I'm a freshmen. I've never been to a conclave. I'd like to be
a voting delegate. Eat cookies.
Emily: : Hi. I'm a second-term senior. I've never been to a conclave.
I'd like to be a voting delegate.
Cathy: : Hi. I'm a second-term senior non-graduating MEng stu-
dent. I've been to 3 conclaves and been a voting delegate at 2 of
them. You might want to givesomeone else a chance, but I'd still
like to be a delegate. Discussion on candidates is closed.Voting:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Congrats to Emily and David.
Announcements:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lizzie: Boston Urban Gardeners this weekend. Go!
Cathy: I want to have a silkscreening training run on April 19. It will
be better than the last.
Oscar>: Carnival meeting Tuesday after Spring Break at 9pm in office,
after ServeCom.
Cathy: ConclaveCom Friday at noon in office.
Lizzie: ServeCom Tuesday after Spring Break. Don't make me talk to
myself.
PFTGOTO:
~~~~~~~
Ingrid: Toxicology SUCKS! Don't ever take 1.81J.
David: Fed Ex misdelivered my package.
Emily: Brian Sniffen is my little!
Lizzie: Dropping a class makes life easier.
Ingrid: Toxicology still SUCKS.
David: 33Meg of ram makes a happy donut.
Ari: I'm still astounded by stupidity of forwarding chain-letters.
Oscar>: I'm going to California for Spring Break.
Alexis: I'm going to Seattle for Spring Break.
Charley: I'm going to Orange County for Spring Break.
Ingrid: I'm going to the Harvard Medical Library for Spring Break.
Toxicology SUCKS.
Lizzie: I get to be the poster girl for Civil Engineering. Nobody looks
good in goggles.
David: I'm going to Santa Clara County for Spring Break.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
YiLFS,
Jeffrey
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ APO is sponsoring an on-campus carnival. Register +
+ your student activity/living group by sending mail +
+ to carnival@mit.edu or visit the Carnival homepage +
+ at http://web.mit.edu/orod/www/Carnival/ +
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Jeffrey Scott Poore Home Phone: (617)225-8868
500 Memorial Drive #518 APO Office: (617)253-3788
Cambridge, MA 02139 My Pager #: (617)675-7258
jefreypu@mit.edu http://the-dark-side.mit.edu/
Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Brother and Editor of the Newsletter of the Alpha Chi
Chapter of Alpha Phi Omega, the National Service Fraternity
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
