Dinhternet

I’ve really been trying to hold back my opinion on the recent scandal in Alpha Phi Omega. First, because I’m an SAA, and when I’m chairing the meeting, I honestly try to be as impartial as possible; second, because I feel everyone should get nothing but the facts and come up with their own solution; and finally, although Will O and I are not the greatest of friends (or friends at all anymore, according to Facebook), I don’t have anything against him personally, and I didn’t want this to be about personal feelings or vendettas or witch hunts. That said, after hearing yesterday that Brother Mo W was getting shit from some members of the chapter and even from advisors, I really want to speak my mind.

Will O did wrong, and he should be punished. Some say that others have done worse and gotten away with it. I don’t know of any of these cases, but if someone else in the chapter has committed a felony, I would want to expel him as well.

Some say that the motion passed this time because we strong armed the chapter into submission by implying that we would continually bring this up until the motion went our way. Believe me, that was considered and discussed before the motion was brought up again. If the chapter did feel strongly that Will O should be allowed to remain a brother, then I explained the “Objection to Consideration” motion in my e-mail and anyone could have made it at the meeting, but no one chose to.

Some say that the motion passed this time because Brother Alice C wrote some numbers on the board, and the total was higher than before. I hope that’s not the case. I hope that there’s no magic amount of money in brother’s heads, and a corrupt brother should only be expelled if he takes more than that amount. To me, it doesn’t matter if he emptied out our coffers or if he took a single dollar. The fact is, we pay dues and raise funds to advance the chapter, the fraternity, and our valuable programs of service. We trust our Treasurers to safeguard those funds. Will O violated our trust by taking money without our permission and using it for his own personal gain.

And while I’m on the subject of trusting our Treasurers… some seem to think that Brothers Michelle F and Jessica C are responsible for this scandal. That is ridiculous! First, transfer of office (and the bank account) is a duty that falls equally to outgoing and incoming officers. And second, there is no reason why they should have suspected that Will O was going to take funds for personal gain. They trusted him, as we all did. He, and he alone, is responsible for his actions and his violation of our trust.

Some say everyone who was involved in or even knew about what Will O was doing should be expelled. That is stupid. First, the Treasurers were not responsible, as I said before, and on top of that, they brought this matter to the chapter’s attention. If anything, we should praise them! Second, his housemates may or may not have known what was going on. It would be impossible to prove who knew what, and it would be a foolish witch-hunt to try to find out. Also, none of them would have been involved if not for his first action to pay rent with chapter funds.

Some say that the punishment should fit the crime, or ask if there’s any other way to punish him short of expelling him. Paying back the money doesn’t make things right, because the real crime wasn’t taking our money. It was breaking the solemn trust we had put onto him to act responsibly as our treasurer, and he broke that trust. There is no way for us to now go break a trust with him. As for other punishments, such as a temporary suspension – we have no provision for such a punishment. In fact, all Alpha Phi Omega events (other than our rituals) are supposed to be open to the public, so banning Will O could be considered a violation of that. But technicalities aside, how does a two-, four-, six-month, or “until he pays us back” suspension help restore the trust that was broken? Would you want to entrust him with any ExComm or chair position after this? Do we really want to create a caste system of members? (And yes, I know in a way we do already, but a “pledge” class is unavoidable, and I don’t really agree with the “associate” class, either.)

Maybe if it was a one-time thing when he was really desperate, and he paid it back as soon as he could, I could forgive him. But it was several times spanning several months, down to an ATM withdrawal of $20 because he was “just short on cash that day.” And if he could pay $1000 off his balance within a week of his trial, why couldn’t he have just paid that back before the trial came up?

Maybe if he had shown some remorse, I could forgive him. But he said himself that he does not value membership in our fraternity. When asked about his actions in e-mail form by the investigating committee and in front of the rest of ExComm, he tried to joke it off.

… and that is why I feel we had to expel Will O.

(Part 2 next.)

Yesterday…

Man, my mind can’t take it anymore. Woke up at 5:30 because Peggy S was sick, so I covered her chalking shift. Alice C picked Drew M and me up at 5:45 and we were off. First, dropped Drew M off at Kinko’s. He had to print out flyers for Service Fair. Then we went on campus and met up with Bethany W, Jimmy P, Jane L, Liz S, and Sang D for the project. We split up, and Alice C and I took Liz S and hit up Soc Sci, Young, and Olson. Got caught up there, and Bethany W met up again with us there after her crew finished up their side of campus and she sent them home. After the project, Bethany W and Alice C went to Baker’s Square for breakfast, but I went home to pass out.

Woke up again at 10, which is when my first class started. I thought I could sleep for a bit and get ready for my second class, since the first class’ lectures are recorded and put online anyway, so I could just download it later. Then I got caught up online with service and some other stuff like writing a post for my awesome readers, so I missed the bus that would get to school by 12, too. More online stuff, and Peggy S made dumplings for lunch, which I mooched.

Eventually, I did catch the bus, and went to campus for ServiceComm. Too bad no one showed up for it. I talked to a couple folks informally about what we wanted to do, and asked people what they wanted out of service, but not much came out of it. Sat around for a while eating fun-size Laffy Taffies and reading the lame jokes to each other off the wrappers. Quote comes from one of them.

Yeah, here’s the two jokes on my wrapper: “What do pigs put on their cuts?” “Oinkment.” “Why did the ghost sing off-key?” “Because he left his sheet music at home.” Har-dee-har-har.

Went to Peggy S’s Non-Verbal Communication class after her with that. It’s really interesting stuff. Sandy L’s in that class, too, and the professor always makes Korean references – we think his wife must be Korean – which we check with her for accuracy. I left at the break, though, to go to ExComm, which was just outside, because Peggy S’s class is in the same room as the general meeting. ExComm was pretty smooth, and after that was class time again.

Lecture was pretty cool, we saw some videos today illustrating the different approaches to the treatment of mental illness featuring Carl Rogers and Albert Ellis.

After class, caught the bus home with Peggy S, and ran into Andrew M, Emily T, and Mabel H on it. We all sat in the very back like cool kids. When we got home, drove to Murder Burger for dinner. Two Aggie Annihilators for $10.71 is a great deal, but the food in general is going downhill. The burgers aren’t as tasty, the fries are soggier, and they don’t have that great BBQ sauce they had before. Food coma after that.

Not much went down yesterday. It was a nice cloudy day, not boiling like usual. Slept in until around 10. Read more of Warrior Elite. Went online around noon. Aaron L asked if I wanted Sonic’s. Haven’t been to the place since it opened, so I figured I’d give it a try.

Aaron L came over in a bit with Ian, and we were off. Sonic was still pretty crowded, considering it was around 1:30 by the time we got there. The whole drive-in thing is fancy looking, but it seems counter-productive. They should just have a regular counter/drive-through that other fast food places have.

Anyways, I got an “Island Fire” SuperSonic burger. It’s got two patties, pepper jack cheese, and a habanero sauce. Not as hot as I would have liked, but eh… can’t expect much from white folks. Also got tater-tots and a strawberry limeade. The drink was excellent… it even had bits of strawberry in it.

Stopped by Walmart real fast after that. Mostly just the three of us looking through the toy section. I was tempted. By Mega Bloks. Sounds sad, huh? But these things were pretty cool… There’s the Super Tech Spidey (with web-shooting action) and Super Tech Wolverine (with extending claws). But they have this “removable mask” feature that reveals a grey cyborg face underneath that’s really creepy.

Back to Davis. We chilled at Ian’s for a while. Aaron L and I played Gran Turismo 4 and Grand Theft Auto 3 as Ian cleaned. Then it got around time for Alice C and Nancy W’s BBQ, so Aaron L and I headed to Avalon. (Ian drove himself because he was also picking up Tina.) On the way, we stopped at my place to for me to take some Benadryl, because I was starting to hive again. Then we stopped by Parkside to pick up Thu H, who was wearing pants. Stunned both Aaron L and me.

So yeah… over to Avalon. We were just ten minutes late, so of course were among the first there. BB Diana was there. She’s always surprising me with random trips to Davis now. Had some grub, and Will Oh cooked up, even though he said he wasn’t going to grill this time. It was great. Tried to get Alice C and Nancy W to drink, but they wouldn’t. Had a beer, and I think that’s where everything went downhill. I guess the alcohol interacted with the Benadryl, and I started hiving up much worse than before.

Thanks to everyone for your concern, by the way. Except Aaron L. When I explained my weird theory about how I’m allergic to something in the ARC, since I only hive after going to work out there with Joe M, Aaron L tried to get me to go into the Avalon work-out room. Then he threatened me,

Tried to fight it for a while. It didn’t work. Asked James S to take me home. Took another Benadryl and cold shower. Then I passed out to keep from scratching myself and making it worse.