[17318] in APO-L
Re: Chapter Dues
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Paul Boal)
Fri Oct 3 09:24:33 1997
Date: Fri, 3 Oct 1997 08:27:10 -0500
Reply-To: Paul Boal <peb2@CEC.WUSTL.EDU>
From: Paul Boal <peb2@CEC.WUSTL.EDU>
To: Multiple recipients of list APO-L <APO-L@VM.CC.PURDUE.EDU>
At Alpha Phi Chapter at Washington University in St. Louis, our dues were
$42 per active this _semester_. At just over 120 members, we have an
operating budget of around $6,000 excluding our dues to National. Our
(what I consider) high dues are, no doubt, a result of not receiveing
any money from our student government.
I'm not sure I know how to answer the question "Why do we pay dues?" It
has always seemed obvious to me. To have fellowship events, to support
service projects that have some overhead, to ensure that we have supplies
we need... that's why we give money to the chapter. To keep any
organization running, there has to be some source of income. That's,
unfortunately, the way America works.
If you're asking "Why do we pay dues *to Nationals*?", then there is a
similarly simple answer. Nationals has a large operating budget too.
Mosy of the National staff is voulunteer. However, some people do have to
be paid, because APO is their full-time job. Also, there is a national
office, a national newsletter, national handbooks, national publications,
national conferences, and on... All of this costs money, again
unfortunately.
But it is a privilige to belong to APO. In this sense,
everyone should be proud to pay their dues to both the chapter and the
national organization; everyone should be proud that they're supporting
an organization they believe in.
I don't know if I was any help. Let me know if you'd like to hear
anything else from the top of my soapbox.
--Paul Boal
Treasurer
Alpha Phi Chapter
Washington University, St. Louis
