[547] in APO News
9/15/93 Chapter Meeting Minutes
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Harry Tsai)
Sun Sep 19 01:33:33 1993
To: apo-minutes@mit.edu
Date: Sun, 19 Sep 93 01:32:50 EDT
From: Harry Tsai <hftsai@mit.edu>
Minutes of Chapter Meeting (September 15, 1993)
Administrative notes:
Start: 7:13pm; End: 9:30pm. Present: John Curtis, Kate Curtis, John
Hollywood, Ping Huang, Rachel Caileff, Dave Cho, Ann Yen, Amy Hsu, Ezra
Erb, Kevin Dahm, Harry Tsai, Bridget Spitznagel, Larry Labell, Elizabeth
(Emmy) Yow, Gilbert Leung, Albert Hsu, Jeff Keller, Joe Kay, Joe Kuchta
Officers' reports:
SVP's report:
Ping: We've had seven service projects already, and there are more coming
up. This Saturday, we're going to Camp Resolute. I need more PC's to sign
up. I've already done four projects myself, which is four more than I
wanted to... For Saturday, I still need a main PC, transport PC, and a
manpower PC for Saturday.
Some thank you's: Kate for being Book Exchange PC, Jerry for being Book
Exchange Treasurer, Dave for Reg Day PC, and Bert for PC'ing the project to
Sojourner House.
MVP's report:
Bridget: We've had a bunch of Open Meetings and Projects. We had people at
all of the Open Meetings, but the first Open Project was a miss. Anyway,
we seem to have lots of people now.
In case you hadn't noticed, Pledge Ceremonies have been moved back a week.
The last Open Meeting will be on the 21st, and the Pledge Ceremonies will
be on the 27th, 28th, and 30th. Also, the project on the 25th will be more
or less open.
Thanks for bringing people to Open Meetings and for otherwise directing
people to me.
We're going to propose a voting policy later. It's the same one that we
had last term.
AVP's report:
Harry: I have a Requisition Authorization form. I need the appropriate
people to sign it.
Ezra: Do we have a place for Initiation yet?
Harry: Not yet.
Treasurer's report:
Gilbert: I want to change the Chapter Weekend meal prices from $1
breakfast, $2 lunch, and $3 dinner to $2, $3, and $4 dollars, respectively.
The prices have been that way forever, and we're starting to lose money.
We'll take care of this at the next Chapter Meeting.
The Coke machine is dead, and I'm getting tired of trying to get in touch
with the people at Coke. Does anyone else want to be Coke Chair?
I haven't finished compiling everyone's debts yet, but you should know
roughly what you owe. Check the debt list, anyway.
Pay your debts!
Fellowship Chair's report:
Ezra: We may have to move the Open Fellowship Event out of Talbot. We only
have one active brother at East Campus now, and I haven't been able to get
in touch with her. I'm also looking for a Steak Fry PC. Rachel has
already volunteered to cook the steaks. I'm working with Tracy Vogler to
put together a guide for Steak Fry PC's, so you'll have plenty of help.
Do people want to see food at Chapter Meetings? If so, what kind?
[General assent. Proposals for chocolate, sugar, liquids, and various
other foodstuffs...]
Okay, I think I know what I need to do...
APOcEd's report:
Amy: The APOcrypha has been delayed due to technical difficulties. The new
deadline is next Tuesday evening.
ASC's report:
I just ordered a new batch of supplies. If you need anything, ask me now
so that I can train the new ASC.
Historian's report:
Ann: I've been getting lots of pictures. Other than that, nothing to report.
PubDir's report:
Amy: Nothing to report.
Kate: We need more drop poster receipts.
President's report:
Kevin: Our cart disappeared a few months back. I'm looking into replacing
it. Does anyone have any advice regarding place, cost, etc.?
Brian Dunkel left. (He actually disappeared around the same time as the
cart. Hmm... :) We need a new Coke Chair. If you want the job, talk
to me very soon.
The Coke machine is currently not functioning. Please remember to pay when
you take sodas from the fridge. We are working on a more permanent
solution to the problem. Again, any advice or help would be appreciated.
We've received the first mailing about Regionals. They're happening
December 28-30. Costs are: $23 registration, $25 banquet, and $50 per room
per night. It'll be in Schenectady, New York. If you want to go, plan
accordingly. We should be getting registration materials in a few weeks.
Larry: Conclave is coming up at UConn, which is only about two hours away.
I think the theme is ``Where the Wild Things Are.'' It's happening
November 6-8. More info will be coming shortly.
Al: As a new brother, I have to ask, ``What is Conclave?''
Larry: It's a meeting of the entire section. Or in our case, of the two
sections we've split into: 95 and 96.
Ping: There fourteen schools in all.
Al: How many of us usually go?
Larry: I've seen as few as four and as many as twenty.
Committee reports:
Book Exchange
Kate: Book Exchange happened. Thanks to everyone who worked. We brought
in $12,014. Thanks to Jerry for doing the money; thanks to Dave for giving
advice.
Kevin: Thanks to everyone who helped clean up just now.
Dave: Book Exchange procedure, especially that concerning money, should be
discussed sometime. There are lots of standard procedures which are
getting dropped.
New Sectional Rep
Larry: This is Elizabeth Yow. She graduated from William and Mary, and
she's just moved up to Boston. She's going to become your ``co-sectional
rep.'' Steve Wadlow says he hasn't been able to spend as much time with
the chapter as he really wants to. So, if you like Emmy, let me know.
Otherwise, just send her back or something. :)
Ezra: What, exactly, is a sectional rep supposed to do?
Larry: They should really be called sectional liaisons. I don't have time
to visit all the chapters in the section, so each one has a sectional rep
to that makes sure we're all communicating.
Business:
Kevin: On October 7, 1990, this standing policy was passed: all standing
policies of AXcoAPO will automatically expire after three years. This
policy will be read at the first Chapter Meeting of each term. There are
also a bunch of other standing policies from that time, and they're all
expiring now. We need to renew them by next Chapter Meeting, so I'll post
them in the office this week. Briefly, these are the policies:
No one should use our tax exemption for personal gain.
Candidates running for an office should leave the room during the
discussion for that election.
People providing transportation for APO events will be reimbursed.
Main motions for a Chapter Meeting will be posted by 8pm on the
previous Saturday.
Major projects (earning more than $500) have separate accounts.
Funds from these projects can't be used until the chapter's books
are closed.
Alternate titles for chapter officers
We have someone who was a brother at Georgia Tech and is now a student here
at MIT. Her name is Jeanie Krause.
Dave: Move to make her a brother.
Bridget: White ballot. [passed]
Ping: The MVP and AVP should inform her and take care of the appropriate
paperwork.
Voting Policy
Bridget: Here's the Voting Policy. I didn't see any reason to change it.
Ezra: Weren't we going to firm up the end-of-term stuff?
Kevin: It was decided that that was a part of the Pledge Policy. We're
just talking about voting now.
[Bridget reads Voting Policy]
Dave: I'm still confused. How does this compare to last term's policy?
Bridget: It's the same. We just had it in the same document as the
end-of-term stuff. I'm separating them.
Dave: Wait. The voting policy doesn't need to be renewed. It continues
until we say otherwise.
Kevin: That's right... The voting policy stays until overturned.
Ping: We should still separate the pledge policy. We might also want to
add an explicit notice such that future MVP's don't think that they have to
get it renewed. Friendly amendment: append ``This voting policy will
remain in effect until overturned.'' [accepted]
Vote: many-0-1 [passed]
Junior Officer Elections
Kevin: First, descriptions!
ASC
Kevin: The Administrative Support Chair is in charge of the office. You
take care of making sure we have enough supplies. When people discover
we're running out of something, they leave a message on the board for the
ASC. You go requisition them from Lab Supplies. I can do some
hand-holding and lead you through the process.
You're also in charge of the Steak Fry Auction. You get stuff by taking
donations and by picking up the stuff which has been in the office so long,
it might as well belong to the chapter. All I had to last year was send
one message to apo-news, and stuff rolled in over the next few weeks.
The position isn't a big time sink, but you do need to drop by the office
every couple of days.
Ezra: The ASC is also responsible for cleaning the office. Specifically, I
mean the comics on the coffee table.
Ping: And you have a unique opportunity. You can gain a place of honor if
you ever manage to get the couches cleaned. ASC's have been trying to do
that for years.
Dave: Before we go any farther, I'd like to dispel a myth. Everyone seems
to think that the ASC is fully responsible for cleaning the office. Now
we're all big kids here; the ASC should just have to do remind people to
clean up after themselves. Remember, the ASC is *not* your mother.
Historian
Ann: You take lots of pictures. And we even have a Chapter Camera now!
I'd just suggest that you remember to bring the camera to all the chapter
events. It sure beats always depending on a past Historian [in this case,
Ping] to bring one. And since you have the camera, you get to stay out of
all the pictures!
Ezra: The Historian should also procure pictures for the Steak Fry Auction.
PubDir
Amy: The PubDir changes the IC board often enough that the paper doesn't
turn yellow. :) You also take care of the drop poster supplies---make sure
we have paint and paper, keep an eye on the check-outs, that sort of
thing...
Rachel: I've also discovered that Silkscreening is officially a part of
Publicity. I can help out with that part.
Bridget: By the way, the IC Board should be changed soon, at least the
Current Events part. The events are getting kind of stale...
Nominations
Bridget: Albert for ASC. [declined]
Ezra: John Hollywood for Historian. [declined]
Kate: John, Albert, are you interested in running for *any* of the
offices? If you don't say anything, we're just going to run through all of
them. :)
John: I was planning to nominate myself for ASC.
Al: I was just noticing that none of my pledge brothers are here. What are
the provisions on nominating someone who isn't here?
Ping: You can phone them. We'll accept the nomination as long as you can
convince us that they've accepted with the full understanding of what
they're getting into.
Ezra: I nominate Rachel for everything.
Rachel: Well, I don't want to be Historian. Hmm... I might as well do
PubDir since I'm already Silkscreen Chair. Maybe I'll figure out exactly
how I'm supposed to be involved in Publicity.
Al: Can more than one person be elected to a particular office?
Dave: That was tried a while back. It was like Prohibition: they enacted
it, then dropped it soon after.
Ping: Ann for PubDir. [declined]
Ezra: Dave for everything.
Dave: What? The point is that you get *responsible* people for these
offices...
[Al goes to phone the rest of his pledge class. After much deliberation
and consulting of the bylaws, a plan begins to form...]
Dave: Move to table this matter until the end of the meeting. [white ballot]
[ Kate goes to retrieve Ping from the phone-calling so that we can get on
with the rest of the agenda.]
SVP Business
This part is pretty informal. I want to conduct a few straw polls.
City Year Registration
What do people think? Should we do it?
Kate: It's okay, but some other project would probably be more useful.
Rachel: I was underimpressed at the last one. It seemed that they had
missed a lot of details---like starting registration before sunrise without
setting up any lights...
Ezra: I agree with Kate. It's fun and amusing. But it's also
disorganized, and we don't have any real APO connections with them any
more. I don't like the project because you don't get a sense of
completion.
Dave: Blah, blah, various political reasons I haven't received updates on,
blah, blah... [Yes, those were his exact words. ---Ed.]
Ping: I'd like to call a straw poll. For your information, an alternate
project *is* available on that day. Now, just to remind you...
pros: They're disorganized and need as much as help as they can get.
They expose a lot of people to service.
cons: It's really early in the morning, and it's short.
How many think we should do this project? [No one]
Larry: Could we go to both City Year and a regular day project?
Ping: No, not really. It doesn't work out. However, Yale has invited us
to go on *his* City Year project.
Rachel: How well does City Year do on their actual projects? How are the
organization, supplies, etc.?
Dave: Well, you have to understand some things about City Year... One,
it's supposed to get people into community service. Two, it's a huge
fund-raiser. These two forces are in conflict. Almost all of the people
there are volunteers who aren't used to our level of involvement. I was
discouraged when I PC'ed one of their projects. Even on our own projects,
people are often surprised that we get so much done so quickly. That will
definitely be a problem with City Year.
Supplies tend to limited. There's only so much that you can get donated.
There are also a lot of people there. The actual situation depends on the
specific project.
Ezra: If we want another project after registration, we should do it
ourselves. There's too much bureaucracy in City Year.
Dave: If we get a PC that's not someone like Yale or mrn, we'll have
another problem. They do go through training, but it's geared mainly
towards fund-raising. Doing both registration and a project would also be
really taxing. We still have Steak Fry that evening, too.
Let me add a caveat---these opinions are all a few years old. I have no
idea what's happened in the meantime.
Kate: I think we would be happier with our own project. And doing both
registration and a project is too much.
Ping: Okay, I think I've heard everything I need to.
PSC: City Days 2
Last year, City Days were held at the end of R/O. On City Day 1, Cambridge
schoolchildren came here to MIT. On City Day 2, lots of freshmen and a few
upperclassmen went out into Boston.
cons: People aren't as motivated.
Expectations aren't terribly accurate.
pros: We might get some recognition.
We'd like to provide a good public service experience for people.
It looks like they're organizing pretty well this year. I thought they'd
only go to schools, but as I call around for APO, I find agencies that have
already heard from City Days. The actual date for City Day 2 is October 2.
Dave: How many pledges did we get from City Days last year?
Kate: One. Amy: Two.
Ping: We have several choices:
1. We could just have our own project that day.
2. We could show up and just go as normal people.
3. We could offer to PC $n$ projects for them.
Kate: It couldn't hurt to be recognized. Even if we did our own project,
we could get it in the book.
Dave: Last year, we had so many brothers PC'ing that we got thinned out and
things kind of broke down.
Kevin: Now, nothing we do is going to prevent individuals from
participating in this, right?
Ping: That's right. They'll just have to choose if we, as a group, decide
not to do it.
Ezra: I think that we should take over a project.
Ping: Straw poll: should we have anything to do with City Days at all?
[many] Okay.
This Term's Projects
What kinds of projects do people want to do?
I have a few projects lined up that are different from the sorts of things
we've been doing lately.
There will be a Halloween Children's Fair on October 30th on George's
Island. There are several things we could do there: run tables, dress up
and scare children, run first aid and fix up boo-boos, whatever...
The Shelter for Battered Women also has something we could do. It won't be
a site project, since they have a secret location. They want us to put up
flyers all over the city. What do people think?
Harry: I like it; it would be a neat way to see the city.
Ezra: I don't think the project would give you any sense of accomplishment.
Amy: How cold will it be?
Ping: It'll probably be in early October. I'll remember to keep the
weather in mind.
Now, how do we all feel about doing more ``people projects?''
Ezra: I like construction and destruction better.
Kate: But a lot of people like people projects.
Bridget: We need less painting.
Ping: That's already taken care of.
Kate: I think the real problem is that the composition of our service
program isn't changing as fast as our brotherhood.
Al: I think all of the new brothers are interested in people projects.
Rachel: What exactly are you classifying as ``people projects?''
Ping: Serving lunch, versus just setting up for one; the Children's Fair;
visiting retirements homes instead of painting them.
Rachel: We should try to get more; I haven't noticed that many lately.
Ping: There haven't been any lately.
Amy: Projects with kids are really good. I was at City Days I, and it was
a lot of fun.
Dave: The chapter actually used to do lots of people projects with
hospitals and other places. That all collapsed during the big liability
flap.
Junior Officer Elections
Al: I move to table the elections until the next Chapter Meeting.
Ezra: Check the bylaws.
Kevin: We have, and there's no reason on God's Green Earth why we can't do
this. The only thing we can't do is have elections out of order.
Would the current junior officers be able to hold up another two weeks? I
can appoint subs if you need them.
[Short discussion ensues. Everyone agrees to put off elections.]
Kevin: All right, they're tabled.
Dave: Wait, we have to reconsider them first.
[Sudden flurry of activity. It went something like this:
``We've already reconsidered it by bringing up the issue.''
``Table!''
``White ballot!''
**Bang**]
Kate: Is someone going to do something about getting candidates?
Al and Kevin: I am.
Dave: Everyone, talk to your little brothers.
Al: Talk to your pledge brothers, too.
Vote to table elections: 10-0-3 [tabled]
Chairman of the Advisory Committee, report of:
Joe [returning from a late-running golf match]: Nothing to report.
Announcements
Ping: I still need a transport and main PC. And everyone should sign up,
whether you're coming or not.
Ezra: Talbot has been given up. The Open Fellowship Event is now in
Fassett, Friday at 7pm. There'll be lots of food, brothers, and Play-Doh.
Come talk to prospectives.
Gilbert: If you want to be active, pay your $8 dues. If you're undecided,
talk to me.
Kate: Remember, you need to clear your debts first.
[Someone asks what being ``active'' means.]
Gilbert: You get in the national database---yeah, big deal... You also get
to vote.
Kate: You must explicitly tell us you want to be active; otherwise, we'll
just assume you're not. You can still vote until next week, but after
that, you need to pay for this term.
Al: I'd like to encourage everyone to talk about APO around campus and
recruit new members. I got some prospectives the other day by talking to
them in the lounge.
Larry: By the way, dues are due at Nationals by November 15.
Bridget: If you want to be a big brother, sign up on the sheet in the
office.
Kevin: I'm planning CPPC for October 23, right after the (as-yet
undetermined) project that day. I picked it because it's the most open
weekend in the term. We should have an early project, then eat lunch, then
talk about the chapter for however long people want to. I will be
compiling a list of topics; if there's anything you want to discuss, send
it to me.
CPPC is meant to be like an informal Chapter Meeting. We'll talk about
more general ideas instead of concrete plans.
PFTGOTO
Bridget: [6].003 sucks.
Ping: 18.03 sucks.
Kate: TA'ing 1.00 sucks...No, really, thanks for helping out with Book
Exchange. People should start spending lunches and early evenings in the
office so books can be picked up.
Amy: I like *my* classes.
Harry: I think some of mine are pretty neat, too.
Dave: Yay, Reg Day.
Ping: Um, could we have a report?
Dave: Yay, Reg Day.
Ping: Okay, I'll be looking for it in the Apoc. ;)
Ezra: Thanks to Dave for PC'ing Steak Fry.
Kevin: Thanks to Al for arranging the expedition to the Red Sox game. It
was great.
Gilbert: Thanks to Kate for training me.
