Section loses Dutchess County
in Hostile Take Over
At the Fraternity’s recent National Convention, a lot of issues were dealt with. Some were making things we already do official, some were put off requiring future information. No matter what, they were all important for the future workings of our organization. Listed below are some major decisions you should be made aware of.
– One advisor, and only one, can serve as the voting delegate for a Chapter if no Active or Petitioning Members are registered at Convention (or Sectional)
- National Service Week Themes for the next two years are – “Making Safer Homes”, and “Building Stronger Communities”.
- Dutchess County will longer be considered part of Section 97. It was realigned to Region II (Section 88) who can provide better support for the Chapter there
- After a ceremony has been conducted, money collected is now due within 10 business days
- Chapters are expected, if possible, to have a permanent email address
- The National Office/Board will create a privacy policy to protect release of ID information
- The Man-Mile Award is now an official National award. It has been named after John Grossi, former Section 94 Chair. “Man” includes, Brothers, Pledges & Advisors registered at convention.
- The Advisors handbook will be updated, giving more specific info on roles, expectations & possible joining requirements.
- National Board will develop better definitions of Alumni, Active, Associate and all those “gray area” membership levels that Chapters have.
- The next National Convention will be in Louisville, Kentucky, from Dec 27 – 30, 2006.
You can check the National or Convention Websites for other issues that were dealt with.
Brings National Convention to NYC
Now many believe the above could never happen. Well, for the foreseeable future, nothing could be closer to the truth. The fraternity decides on locations for our conventions by geographically dividing the USA into four zones and then
voting on cities in those zones in a clockwise order. So for 2004, we were in the West & for 2006, we will be in the North Cenntral. So for 2008, the event will be in the Northeast. So why should you care since you might have graduated by then? Well the Region is putting together a committee of students to see if there are any possible locations within the Region for a convention, as well as assess if the Brothers in the region can pull it off. So if anyone is interested in joining the committee, please get in touch with your Section Chair or Region Director as soon as possible.
Cornucopia of Opportunities to Participate in LEADS
Since 1925, the fraternity has strived to develop leadership potential in all its Brothers. In the last few years, the fraternity is accomplishing this via workshops based on the concept of Servant Leadership. The APO LEADS program is your chance to learn skills to make you a better leader. Now all Brothers (Actives and Alums) are expected to take Launch to learn basic concepts and philosophy. But Explore, Achieve, Discover, and Serve are also available to advance your proficiencies in leading groups.
Section wide Launch - Sunday, Feb 27, Polytechnic
University,
11 AM sharp – 3 PM
Serve – (there will 5 available over the Summer but
the nearest to NYC is: )
June 3-5, 2005 - Pittsburgh, PA (exact campus is still
tentative)
The SERVE course of APO LEADS is designed to address Chapter Management. This year, the course is replacing the traditional CPW’s that have been offered in past years. Registration and a detailed description of the weekend-long course are already available on the national website, along with price, pre-requisite, and policy information.
From the Desk of the Chair
Welcome back to another fun filled semester in the Big Apple. For some of you, this will be your last few months before finishing your sentence. For the rest, you still have plenty of time to make your experience with count for something. You can accomplish this in many ways:
- wear letters and promote the fraternity on campus
- be the best Big Brother you have ever been
- do a few more service hours than you did last semester
- volunteer to plan a night out for the pledges
- take part in another LEADS workshop.
Only you can make your Active time with Alpha Phi Omega worthwhile. Get out there an accomplish something.
Paul Romain
Section 97 Chair
Scouting the Web
The Region 1 Scouting & Youth Services Web site has been completely revamped. It now boasts an "Interactive Chapter + Council Locator." This handy Flash -- and fully accessible plain-text -- utility will allow you to browse the region, state by state, and easily access information on your local Boy Scouts of America, Girl Scouts of the USA and Camp Fire USA Councils. (Find it at This will be particularly handy if your Chapter would like to find and conduct a service project with your local Scout Council.
In addition to the Locator, the site is also a resource for the following:
-Checklist of project ideas/initiatives to strengthen a
Chapter’s Scouting service program
-A guide to running a Merit Badge University (The
"MBU How-To")
-Document templates useful for running an MBU
-An application and description of the M.R.
Disborough Service to Scouting National Award
-An application to obtain certificates for local Eagle
Scout and Gold Award recipients from the national
office
-Clips of APO & Scouting in the media
Finally, the official newsletter of Region 1 Scouting & Youth Services, "The Mess Kit," will be online by the holidays, with hard copies mailed to your Scouting Advisors. The newsletter will spotlight APO/Scouting service projects, Chapter/Council volunteers and provide updates on national S&YS initiatives. (Issue #1 will feature Phi Epsilon's Girl Scout Weekend at Maine Maritime Academy.)
Adam Ritchie
Region 1 Scouting Coordinator
International Relief 411
If you want to help tsunami, earthquake, or other victims outside the USA, send money, not clothes, food, or any materials. These create what experts often call a second disaster. Relief organizations must pay either to ship or dispose of them. The American Red Cross won’t accept these kinds of donations. It is better to donate money to international relief organizations that provide services, food and medicine. These organizations find it more efficient to buy relief supplies in affected countries, which also helps them economically. It also helps in bypassing corrupt officials in some of the affected locations. InterAction.org, the American Council for Voluntary International Action, lists dozens of organizations (many are faith-based) that conduct international aid.
(Adapted from an article by Seth Borenstein printed 12/29/04 in The Denver Post)
Launch 2005
The Section would like to thank Brothers Dave O’Leary, Ben Kutler and Ping Huang for their efforts in putting on a Launch Workshop for the Section on Feb. 27. The Section would also like to thank Kappa Beta Chapter for hosting the event and making arrangements.
Liberty Cup Challenge
Well, we are halfway through the first annual Liberty Cup Challenge and things could not be more exciting. Currently three out of four of our Chapters are in the running to win this year’s prize. Although the Brothers at Beta Iota are in the lead with more than 200 points, Alpha Gamma Gamma can still catch up to them before the end of the competition. And don’t count Kappa Beta out just yet. The other two Chapters could easily get over confident, allowing this small Chapter to surpass them both. Good luck to all the competitors. (At the time of this printing, any points from service hours are not yet included).
A Gathering in the Village
Can you smell it? … Can you feel it? … That special something in the air that can only mean it is almost time for…Sectional 2005. The Beta Iota chapter at New York University is proud to serve as host for this all-important occasion. This will be a conference for the ages. Whether you’re a Pledge, Brother, Advisor or Alumni, you will get something out of this event. Workshops to cover topics such as better ceremonies, marketing your chapter service ideas take will aide this great city of ours. And if schedules work out, there may even be an EXTRA SPECIAL GUEST from outside the Section. If you have any questions whatsoever, please e-mail Ryan Gee at or check-out the Section website at The Section is looking forward to seeing you!
And now, some essential information:
DATE: Saturday, April 16, from
10 – 6:30 PM (lunch
included)
SIGN-IN: 9:15 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
LOCATION: The Kimmel Center
for University Life,
9th Floor
60 Washington Square So.
(Washington Sq. So.
& LaGuardia Pl)
campus is very assessable by public transportation, and there are plenty of parking garages in the area
REGISTRAION FEES:
EARLY: Postmarked by March 4
$20 per person
REGULAR: Postmarked by March 23
$25 per person
LATE: Postmarked by April 8$27 per person
AT-THE-DOOR: April 16 $28 per person
Section Nickname Contest
Many Brothers don't know, but Section 97 was unofficially known as the “Dirty Dozen”. But now that we lost Dutchess, we are down to 11 counties in the Section. So there will be a contest to pick a new nickname and/or saying for the Section. All Brothers, Pledges, Advisors & Alumni are welcome to participate. All entries are due to the Section Chair by April 1st and their will be an "Ugly Man" style vote at the conference on the 16th (money to go to a local charity). The entries will be listed on the Section website from Apr 4 - 16.
Round-up at the UConn Corral
The Delta Sigma Chapter at the University of Connecticut would like to invite all the brothers in section 97 to saddle up for service!!!! On the weekend of April 1-3rd UConn is hosting the 96/94 sectionals in Vernon Connecticut. Over the course of the weekend there will be 16 workshops on topics such as how to run an effective meeting, charting your chapter’s history, conference planning, a pledge social hour and many more!! Service projects that weekend will take place at the hotel and on the UConn campus; we will be working with the American Cancer Society as well as doing a hunger cleanup and more. There will also be an optional service project to be held Sunday April 3rd. Brothers also have the opportunity to sign up for achieve and launch on Saturday then 2nd as part of the APO leads program. The banquet on the 2nd will be a hoe down on the UConn campus with a country style dinner and a live band. For more information and to download a registration form please check out the conclave website at Just a note registration is due March 7th, and you must make the hotel reservations by the 7th or you will not get the discounted rate for Alpha Phi Omega. Registration is $20 and the hotel is $69 a night (plus tax). Hotel information is on the website and the address to send your registration for the conference is on the website as well. If you have any questions you can email us at . We promise a fun and exciting weekend hope to see a lot of you there and don’t forget to bring your cowboy hats!!!!!!
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