Well, Summer is gone, but the fun is about to begin! I hope everyone had a great, relaxing summer and is excited to start a busy (VERY busy) new semester! I know I am. I just wanted to give a brief synopsis of what I did this summer before we got to the real good stuff (stuff - I like this word).
WORK... That just about sums up what I did this summer. This was my first summer out ``in the real world''. Man do I wish I had my summer vacation back. Anyway, besides work (as a Spanish Service Representative) I got the pleasure of helping to fix up my apartment that was supposed to be ready in June when I moved in. Well, not only was it not ready, but I didn't even have a bathroom!! So here we are approaching Labor Day and we finally have a bathroom and kitchen; we are still working on the dining room. Thank goodness I have the patience of a Saint and a generous landlord.
I did find some time to enjoy myself and went down to Long Island (was that an ``EEK!'' I heard?). Visited some relatives and friends over the Fourth of July. As for the Fraternity, I went to a Region meeting down in Reading, PA. (I got a little lost, but that's another story), and I went to the Section Resource Weekend. Had a good time there and learned lots on how to be an effective Section Chair! Hope it helps!
Anyways, I look forward to a FUN and productive semester with you all and I hope to visit each of your before Sectionals. Also, you should see a lot of new faces as we have been busy recruiting Section Staff.
Well, choi gang! I'll keep in touch!
That's right folks! Brockport has FINALLY gotten school approval and they are well on their way to rechartering on their campus. There will be a petitioning ceremony at Brockport on October 5th. I hope every chapter is represented at this milestone in Brockport's history.
The group has been very busy this summer preparing for this fall semester. They have been busily building their bylaws and pledge programs. The groups main focus this semester is going to be membership, membership, membership! They have a goal of having 23 new petitioners by the end of the semester. Rumor has it that a certain staff member (B*on*ie) has agreed to give the group a catered pizza party if they reach the goal!
They are currently looking for some rush ideas! So PLEASE all current VPMs get ahold of Brockport to help them out!
Again, the tentative date for the Petitioning ceremony is going to be October 5. Hope to see you all there!p
``However dark the prospects, however intractable the opposition, however devious and mendacious the diplomacy of our opponents, we ourselves have to carry so clear and intense a picture of our common humanity that we see the brother beneath the enemy and snatch at every opportunity to break through to his reason and his conscience, and, indeed, his enlightened self-interest''.
-Adlai E. Stevenson
It's time to start thinking about who your voting delegates are going to be for the 1996 National Convention in Phoenix Arizona. These two people should be those who you think can best represent the chapter and the chapter's views on the legislative floor. They don't need to be gurus at Robert's Rules, they just need a drive and motivation for long days and a genuine interest in the future direction of the Fraternity.
Another issue the voting delegates need to think about is whether they would like to serve on a committee at the convention. These Brothers will sift through the proposed legislation which has been divided up into ``interest areas'' and bring all relevant legislation to the floor. These individuals must have a strong desire to do this and be willing to spend extra time at the convention in meetings sometimes into long hours of the night. Most people who serve on a committee find this to be one of the most rewarding experiences in their APO careers.
If you know anyone or you yourself would like to be on a committee, contact me as soon as possible as we need to submit our recommendations as soon as possible.
Well, the National Office has made filling out the Annual Charter Reaffirmation a little easier starting this year. Most of the work will be done for you.
Early in September each chapter will receive their reaffirmation form. There is a new look to the form in that the chapter, school, section, and region are already filled out on the first page. You will be responsible for filling in the chapter officer information and the Advisory Chair information along with e-mail addresses for the President, Advisor, and the chapter. Big deal you say? Well, there is more!
As you turn the page, you will find that the Advisor page is already full of names. The form will have every advisor you have recruited and sent paperwork in for the past 10 years. Now for some of you, that will be quite a few. Anyways, just cross off the names of the people who really aren't advisors anymore, don't have an interest, or are deceased (you get the picture). Now, just because you don't know a name, don't just go and cross it off. This is an opportunity for you guys to track down the advisors and get their interest!
The final page (or two, three) has all the active brothers in your chapter that were on your last years' AAMD in addition to the new Brothers you acquired this past year. This is where it might get a little tricky. Again, you need to cross those Brothers off who aren't active this year and they will be wiped from the mailing list. You will also need to add names of people who aren't on the list. Chances are that if their name isn't on the list, paperwork and dues haven't been sent to the National Office. Make sure these people have a shingle or you might get a nasty-gram from the big N.O. saying you need to pay activation fees (maybe even pledging) for this Brother.
Also, take note that we do realize that there are some career Brothers out there who just can't get themselves out of school. Please just mark them as a ``Level 4'' in the college class area.
Hopefully, this will make life easier if not this year, then next. DON'T FORGET... AAMDs are DUE in the National Office by November 15th. Please don't forget as you don't want to jeopardize your vote of the National Convention in Phoenix.
``No organization can depend on genius; the supply is always scarce and unreliable. It is the test of an organization to make ordinary human beings perform better than they seem capable of, to bring out whatever strength there is in its members, and to use each man's strength to help all the others perform. The purpose of an organization is to enable common men to do uncommon things.'' -Peter F. Drucke
By now everyone should have received the information and registration packet for the Section 88 Sectionals in Albany October 18-20th. The theme of their Sectionals is Service in the Psychedelic Concrete Jungle. Anyone who has been to Albany knows the meaning behind it all. Anyways, it looks like they have everything organized and looks like it is going to be a blast.
Section 89 Sectionals in Buffalo this year is coming along great also. You should all be receiving your registration packets soon. ``No Frills, Just Service'' is the them this year and it looks like everyone is going to have a great time.
There is going to be a ton of workshops this year focusing on leadership development and there is going to be a Friendship Development Workshop as well.
Hope to see as many Brothers at each conference as possible.
Of course, not too far into the future is the joint Sectionals at RPI in the Spring!
PAPERWORK MUST BE IN THE NATIONAL OFFICE BY NOVEMBER 15, 1996.
Our Section goal is to have 70% of all chapter AAMDs in by October 1st and 100% by Sectionals.
Please!! Don't forget that all chapters must be in good standing with the National Fraternity in order to vote at the National Convention. This includes AAMDs, pledge paperwork, new brother activations, and Fraternity merchandise.
Each chapter should check with the Office to make sure they do not carry a balance at the store!
Yup folx... It's that time of year again and in Section 89 we have what is known as a S.L.E.D.! SLED is short for Section Leadership Expansion Day. This year's SLED is being hosted by Cornell on Saturday September 28th.
Similar to a CPW, the SLED is a day of intensive small and large group sessions focusing on topics which will hopefully help chapter operations run more smoothly.
The difference is that EVERYONE is invited to the SLED and all members are encouraged; especially those interested in holding a leadership position in their chapters.. Please remember to invite your advisors!
Topics this semester will include ethics (hmm) and how to develop and plan a workshop. In addition, there will be a preview of proposed legislation for the convention in Phoenix.
Of course, the most difficult part of the conference is coming up with a ``game'' to play at the end of the event!
Last semester there were over 60 Brothers and Pledges at the SLED. So please mark your calendars now! Full details will be headed your way shortly. We do want to start the workshops promptly at 10:30 and will conclude in the late afternoon.
If you have any workshop ideas or have something you would like to have discussed, please contact me as soon as possible so we can fit this into the schedule.
Hope to see everyone there ready for some fun leadership!
Well, the Section Picnic slated for July had to be cancelled due to a very nasty tempered Hurricane Bertha.
Now, as we were making our decision, we knew that if we kept the picnic on it would pour like the dickens and if we cancelled it then it would be blue skies.
Well, as luck would have it, it poured during the morning and cleared up later in the afternoon. Who knew?!
It turns out there were about 30 Brothers who were camping there anyways and they had a spaghetti fest. Glad they had fun anyways!
Anyways, hopefully, we can have a winter sledding expedition during the winter break!
It's that time of year again when each chapter should start thinking about whether or not they would like to bid for the Fall `97 Sectionals.
If we stay with our newly adopted rotation, Section 89 will host its own Sectional conference in the Fall directly following a joint 88/89 Conference in the Spring (this year at RPI).
If your chapter is interested in putting together a bid for Sectionals, please contact me as soon as possible so I can get you a NEWLY revised conference planning guide so you can see if this is something your chapter would like to do.
Don't forget, bidding for the conference occurs at this Fall's conference (Buffalo). Bidding has been known to be intense, so the more organized your bid the better chance you will have. I'm sure everyone will have a great presentation.
Convention Legislation can be host to some very controvertial and extremely confusng topics. However, it doesn't have to be this way with a little preparation and organization.
All amendments must be in the National Office by September 29th. The Office will compile the legislation and send it out to each of the chapters. At this point, each chapter should elect or appoint their voting delagates who should become ``more than familiar'' with the legislation.
With the next step, every chapter must make a decision. There are two schools of thought. One side believes the chapter will go through the legislation and mandate what their voting delagates with vote on the issues. The other side believes the voting delagates can make up their own minds or they wouldn't be voting delagates.
We'd like to see a middle ground occurr in the chapters where the chapters express their concerns over the issues and give a reccommendation to the delagates, however, realizing that what comes to the convention floor can change drastically, give the delagates room to sway their vote if necesary.
Once the legislation gets to convention it is broken down into final committees who sift through the legislation and decide which will get to the floor during regular session. This does not mean your amendmant is dead... you can bring it up during the general session at the end.
Assuming your legislation has made it out of committee. it will then be dicussed (some topics more than others) and voted on. What the delagates decide determines life or death for the amendment.
+----------------------------------------------------------------+ | Section 89 News | | | | The Section 89 News is published for Section 89 to provide | | communication from the Section Chair about upcoming events, | | important announcements, and amusement. Please send articles, | | news of events, or other comments to: | | | | David Gates | | Section 89 Chair | | 256 Pennsylvania Street | | Buffalo, NY 14201 | | | | 716 883-1907 (H) 716 847-0009 (W) | | gates@cgicafe.com | | | | | | The Section 89 News is also available on the WWW: | | www.apo89.org | +----------------------------------------------------------------+