[18553] in APO-L
Re: Exec Meetings and "Tea and Crumpets"
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Tanstaafl)
Wed Apr 8 16:07:32 1998
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1998 15:51:49 -0400
Reply-To: Tanstaafl <bro6754@DUNCAN.CUP.EDU>
From: Tanstaafl <bro6754@DUNCAN.CUP.EDU>
To: APO-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
Dear Brothers,
Exec meetings are a good thing for us I believe. My chapter has
been rather disorganized for several years and recently we started
having exec meetings again, our agenda is hammered out at this meeting
and then the brothers meetings go much smoother because everyone has
time to organize what they need to say and what needs to be voted on
and what have you. For those chapters who can get away without them
I commend you. I am going to try and institute exect meetings at some
other time than immediately before the regular brothers meeting, this
is recommended in the President's handbook and I think I understand
why. The other topic that was attached to this one was called
"tea and crumpets," which is an unusual way to discuss alcohol policies.
Any chapter that would openly admit they use their funds for purchase
of such items is acting foolish, as this would probably not go over well
at the national level. Risk management policies are a hot item these
days as recent media attention has been again focused on social
fraternities and it is easy for the general public to lump us in with
them no matter what distinctions we try to make. I think great effort
needs to be made to seperate social functions from booze. Holding a
non-alcoholic social for the brothers and then inviting those who
are of age for a "post-social" at the bar is probably acceptable. Those
brothers/pledges who are not legal to drink often feel left out or
in the dust by such strategies. This is why it is such a double edged
sword: people do not want to leave undearage brothers out of a party,
but they are breaking the law when they do not. That is why it is so
important to figure out how your chapter is going to handle this
situation ahead of time. The best solution is like sex: total abstenence
is the only sure way to protect yourself, but this isn't much fun for
some people. Cover your ass is the only approach that makes sense.
Somehow I suspect no matter what we say here or what policy each chapter
comes up with, underage drinking is still going to occur, and just like
anything else, you have to find safe ways to watch over the situation
and make sure that nobody gets hurt or too drunk to drive or what-not.
If my honesty gets me in trouble, I'm sorry. I have been to plenty of
"post-social" situations where alcohol was readily available, but I
pledged when I was 25, so I never had a problem with the law. What can
I say, each chapter has to make up their own mind about how they are
going to handle this situation and in some cases, take their chances.
Now that I am chapter president, I think I begin to see that I have a
much larger responsibility than I have had in the past to come up with
a solution that works for everyone, except there doesn't appear to be
one. To borrow another English term: "quite a sticky wicket..."
Jeffrey
