Penn State Fraternity fines members for not volunteering

[honeychile]

Okay, I believe in charities as one of the pillars of the Greek Society. I understand that Thon is HUGE at PSU.

BUT!! When someone supposedly smart enough to get into a college runs out into the street to beg money from people parked at lights, I question their sanity. I have never, and will never give money to anyone silly enough to risk their lives to go canning. I know that's an unpopular view, but it's one I've heard expressed by other people, too.

As for SAE fining their members for not canning, I would suggest this: Set a figure that each member needs to collect towards THON, and make it high. Let the member decide if he is stupid enough to go canning, or if he wants to raise it another way. I would also reward any brother who raises double that figure somehow.

This isn't an original idea, as this is what we did for charity. We would assess each sister $150 towards the charity, and at Pitt, each Greek was also expected to give blood within 60 days. Knowing that you can donate blood every 57 days (if healthy), and that some sisters will also go above & beyond to raise money, we had what we called "The Double Dippers" - those who gave blood twice or raised over $300 towards charity. The sister who was able to raise the most money was, of course, rewarded, too.

Just an idea or two.