[lifesaver]

I knew it was possible for people to talk out their A$$, but I never knew people could type out their A$$....

I appreciate the passion that everyone has for the fraternity, but to some of the undergrads posting on here, ya'll need a HELLA reality check.

FIRST, you all need to understand that LIFE IS NOT FAIR. Its not. I didnt set up the world, I just operate in it. As soon as ya leave college, youre going to understand that the world is ANYTHING but fair. SO dotn expect that because one Zeta gets away with something, so should yours. Theres so many more factors that go into it, one of which is money. If youre a big chapter and bringing in lots of cash to HQ they're gonna be more lenaiant on ya. (BTW, its 2004, can we PLEASE quit calling it 'nationals'? People want credibility and they cant be bothered to use the proper terminology thats been around since the 40's. People love the fraternity, but dont respect it enough to use the right terms, but thats another thread.)

In 1995 I saw an undergrad of UT -Austin tell Bob Lundon that they didnt run an AM program, they ran a pledge program, and what was he gonna do about it? Ya know what, Bob Backed down. Why? Cause Alpha-Mu alumni are in the top 3 of donors to HQ. Yeah, its not right, but its just the way the world works. Youre adults, you have 2 choices: understand the reality of it, or cry and whine about it...and still have nothing change and have other adults not take you seriously because you 'just dont get it yet' that the world works that way. Your choice.

Secondly, I'd prefer that all fraternity staff hve terminal degrees in the field that they work in, but COME ON! You OBVIOUSLY HAVE NO UNDERSTANDING of the reality of the situation. PLEASE, do some investigating of the reality of the business world, especially the non-profit world before you get all wound up about stuff. Ya know why we dont have someone with an MBA in this position, or a doctorate in that position?

BECAUSE WE CANT AFFORD IT.

Ya'll need to understand a few things. Staff at HQ dosent make crap for pay. They dont do what they do for money, 'cause its not there. They do it becasue they love the fraternity. I am STUNNED that some people are FOOLISH enough to believe that its simply a 'hiring preference'. Dear god. If it was that simple.

As Earp mentioned, ya dont need a degree in somethign to do the job. A BA isnt anything anymore but a prereq. Look at all your graduated friends. How many of them are actually using their degree? My friends and brothers guess is about 50%.

We get the people who are willing to do it for that little compensation. If we were going after the education and experience we ideally wanted, we'd have to expect to pay 35-40% more. You gonna pony that cash up?

We cant afford to pay that, because we almost went bankrupt a few years back. (I am looking at the financials right now) From 98 to 03 Tom Helmbock was spending approx 1.7 MILLION more a year than what we were bringing in. Thats one of the reasons why hes not around anymore. Being one of the youngest international big fraternities, we dont have the cash reserves that the Sigma Chi's and the SAE's have. Were almost 100 years old, but were still the new kids on the block.

The reason Helmbock is gone is because the GHZ is kick ass and they had enough of his nonsense. Ted Grosnickle (Grand High Alpha) is an industry leader in non-profit management, and it was under his leadership that they cut costs, eliminated Helmbock and SAVED OUR SHIP. We all owe them a debt we can never repay. You new people owe them your letters. And they dont get paid....

The other reason we dont have the money is because you undergrads arent getting off your asses and recruiting. When I was an undergraduate in FY 1996, we recruited 4,356 new members. In FY 04, ya'll only recruited 3,723 new members. Might not seem like a lot, but thats the primary source of revenue for HQ. Thats 600 people, but not just semesterly dues, but initiation and association fees. You also consider the matriculation over 4 years for those 600 individuals, thats a lot of cash. So it works out like this: Ya want better qualified staff at HQ? Get off your ass and go recruit.

Last time I checked, ELC's took home about 10K a year in cash. While their meals and lodging are taken care of and figured into their benefits package, how many of us could live on 10K a year?

Could you?

I am friends with people on staff and they bust ass for little cash. I'd never work there. I make more in my own line of business. So while its OK to hold them accountable, we need to be grateful for the job they do for the love of the fraternity.

I have a solution: Have Initiation fees jump to $350 per person, association fees jump to $200 and semesterly dues go to about $200 a person. Then we could have the pie in the sky and everything we ever dreamed of!

You wanna pay for that? The undergrads I advise dont. So be realistic, ya get what ya pay for. And we could pay for more if we just recruited.

Love how some people who've been in the org about 6 minutes are somehow experts on Lambda Chi's organizational management. I've been in 12 years and still have a hella lot to learn. WE ALL DO.

In ZAX,
lifesaver
'another opinionated High Pi...'

PS: Ya'll sound like a damned sorority instead of a fraternity.