We try to avoid going overboard on fines and I think it worked pretty well. The only ones I ever had to deal with (as an officer) were people who got fined for not cleaning the house and missing initiation. We tried to be reasonable, pretty much if you told us ahead of time that you couldn't be there you were excused.

ALL of our fines were in our bylaws and voted on by our members. We never randomly pulled fines out of the air.

The only things we got fined for were major events and Chapter every week. The rest was based on a point system. We actually rewarded, each week, the sisters with the most points...which was cool. You got points if you worked, were involved in other campus orgs, went to another Chapter's event or philanthropy, helped a sister out, etc. It was a pretty decent system. If your points were too low you couldn't attend socials, and eventually could get booted.

Fine Mania
 

allow me to clarify...

And i dont have a problem with some things on the list

BUT some others are totally extreme!!!

and not worth a 20 dollar fine!!!

I was a founding sister of the chapter -- and CENSORSHIP was never our goal!!

We cannot say these things at any function...

"A function being any
place, any where, anytime when the following things are present... a
conversation about anything involving the sorority, any sorority event--required,
optional or gathering of sisters and anytime letters, signature
books or any paraphernalia is present"


i was reading about the various fines...
Are they only for Attendance issues
my sorority fines for missing events without letting the chair know ahead of time.

BUT NOW we have this "Zero Tolerance list"

this is a list of things WE CANT EVEN TALK ABOUT

i think its crazy and is not what this sorority was founded on
It totally violates my principles -- but anyway the sisters were railroaded into passing it -- Sadly, I was not at that meeting
but anyway here is the list

I REALLY need some feedback!!! ASAP

Alcohol--beer or liquor Parties
> Drugs
> Sex
> Profanity-- d*mn, f ***, sh*t, b*tch, b*st*rd, *ss, h*ll, mf, gd
> Any negative connotations
> any gossip
> vulgar talk
> tobacco/smoking
> backstabbing
:eek:

When can you not talk about this stuff? You mean at meetings? We always had quarter "cuss fines" then because they could get heated so it was an easy way to make money. And how can you vote on a mixer if you're not allowed to talk about parties? :confused:

My chapter does not fine; however, they do threaten to fine us if we do not go to this event or that event. Why they threaten to fine us if they never, ever do, I do not know. A little silly, I think. Nobody takes them seriously. They either need to begin to fine individuals, as the officers say they will do, or just not say they are going to fine individuals.

Re: Fine Mania
 

I too am confused about when/where this is implimented. If it is at functions like meetings or recruitments, it is extreme but understandable. I am the VP-R for my chapter and sometimes I wish I could fine people who continually have to be reminded to censor their language or discussion topics.

Re: Fine Mania
 

I don't think it's approriet to discuss those sorts of things during active meeting. However if someone has a problem with the amount of people smoking at bid day (for example) then it should be brought up.
A little side note: we had a thing that on certain occassions it was 3B night...no talking about Boys, Booze or Bucks. Mainly it was to avoid things that wouldn't allow for us to bond with our sisters (like on initiation night or bid day). So a sister would get a stern look if she were at one of those occassions and kept talking about how she had to leave to see her boyfriend. Or how much drinking she did the night before...stuff like that.

DONT DO THE TIME. DONT DO THE FINE!

If you have rules, enforce them!:p

If not no one cares!

this gives the Chapter money to do what ever with!:D

one more dumb question about this:

Are "standing rules" enforceable?

or must they be in the by-laws?

Why?
 

approaches the soapbox...
Okay, coming from a chapter of Alpha Xi Delta that doesn't fine and works on a merit system, I really don't understand the need for fining. Okay, I understand the "idea" behind it, but we accomplish the same thing with our merit system. If you miss merit one month, your on probation. If you miss it 2 months, your membership is suspended. It's that simple! Yes there are some things that no one shows up at, but sometimes a guilt trip from the sister in charge works better than any amount of money and creates a lot less resentment!

retreats to the corner, leaving the soapbox free.

Lyon, can you further explain your merit system? What counts as a merit?

My chapter is too "fine happy". But, when fined, it is a lot of money. There is a $25 fine for missing initiation; there must be a REALLY good reason for you to miss this event. We have also included in our bylaws that all sisters must attend our annual fundraising event unless you have class at the time the event is held. Missing this is another $25 fine. Recruitment can get expensive if missed. You pay for each rush party you miss....not each day. That could be up to nine parties in one day! Also, you must pay a fine for missing a recruitment workshop.

the merit system
 

Sure! it sounds complicated, but is actually pretty simple. Each event/function is assigned a certain amount of points ranging from 10 to 100, depending on importance. Regular events such as weekly lunch in letters and quillable are worth 25 points. More important events such as convocations, dinners, and chapter meetings are worth 100 points. Special events such as Rush have a seperate merit which means that one month has 2 merits to make and if you miss both then suspension ocurrs.

Each member is required to make so much merit-usually 85% of the point total (except seniors who are only mercifully required to make 75%).

Merit points can be decided by a council and approved by exec or left to the discretion of the recording secretary.

We usually offer bonus merit to help sisters who can't attend a function, yet were not excused from the merit.

What constitutes an excuse? VERIFIBLE illness, school business, work (unless you have had time to request off). Homework, or studying for a test is NOT excusable unless it is a study group.

does this make sense? I hope I made it clear, if not let me know and I'll try again!:D