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VOLUME I
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PHOENIX
-- . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . January . . . . 8,. .1915 .... .......... NUMBER 10
THE PRESIDENT'S INAUGURAL (Continued)
is not a new one, but was in use very generally a quarter of a century ago . The guard pin, however. was found to be a great nuisance because it was al~ays~gettin~ caught in the clothing or scratching the'hands. At the tLme 1t was 1n vogue, it was customary for all women to wear ornate jewelry, and the guard pin was supposed ·to serve as a protection in case the fastening became loosened. When the safety catch was in- ' vent ed, there was no longer the need for the gua.rd pin. Since that time., moreover, ~raternity badges ha~e become much simpler. It was not an · ID;l".lSual th1ng for th! old-ti~e. fratern:i.t;v badge, large and heavily sett Wl th j ewe+.s~ to cost 1n the v1.c1.n ~ t;v o:f $.50. Nowa.d!lys the ave rage -price is under $10. It used to be the l}'U.~tm.a i;o wea:r baig!3s in conspicuous places, on coat ~ollars_, in the ha:i.r often~ but today good taste demands the sm~ll b~dge 1.nconspicuously wo: :·.a on the bodice only, a little above the wa1st l1ne on the left. ThR on"J.y sorority jewel:t<y permiss~ble on an outer wrap is the recogn:tt:lo11 p:l.n. In sugge·s ting a Graduate E.to.'blem ~ "the Cent:y·aJ. Off:1.ce was thihking B?lely of some geometr:J.cal figu:r.e ·that might br- used to symbolize con: t1nued loyalty on· the part of tho ex· .s,;hola. memht:t:r, an ~m'blem that could be worked into the thought dom:i.nat1.:.ng ·r.he ctr.adua~~e Degree, for it was the purpose of the "Central Office to ur.:tte Olitj :.:;u~Jh, just as soon as certain ideas had been crystallized and. the soro:d.ty had "taken on an assured character. The regular symbol of frit:.ndship is the circle,but the Central Office thought· that perhaps the ~quare o.&. the Cube might serve the ASA purpose better. This is a matt0r that will have to wait for some time now, as it is.\ffa r greater :i.mpo:r.tance that the organization should be perfected in all its parts. Tb.(~ pa:t"iod of waiting wj.ll give time for thought. and will also f'u~n:i. sb ilpportuni ty to the me~ber ship generally to send in ideas and suggef!t:i or:~s to the Central Off1ce upon this point. While touching upon the subject of the badge,it is well perhaps to emphasize the fact that badges may not be pu:r.(.~hased except thro the Nat11nal Secretary. The s · ·eweler has recej · ed~is inst uctions ~ on that point from the Central Qf:fj oe, 1n a0cox-darwe with Convention rul ~ng, and will not therefore fill any orders th~t do uot ~ome thro the proper channel. To some members this may seem a .rather autocratic way of doing things, but all the best fraternities an.d sorori ti~~ now have an offic5-al jeweler and where possible, a co -r:~. · t · pin .. It is necessary as a PY:otection to th~ sorority to have every pin num'ber ed and in that way _ Iecorded. Tliere are cases on record where girls have purchased soror:t t y Pins of an unscrupulous jeweler, using them a~ an introduction to_prom: inent chapters. Such girls have been IDlown to take up reside~ce 1n a ~hapter house.thro which they got to know college_people. T~e17 purpo~e :i.:a. such cases is sometimes an immoral one while :t.n others l t lS for the fun they get out of it,or the free board for a mo~th, or th~ things that they cab steal before disappearin.g. Men use tne fratern1.ty badge to 'touch' the wealth~ - members for a larger or a smaller sum. Tho~e ~h.o live by their wits, or who have a morbid desire to get 'on the lns ~ d~'~ an organi~ation,or who may be simply try~ng to. work up a newspape~ ar- _ ticle on the excesses of fraternity people, w· .Ll frequently stop. at _ nothing to gain their €nds.so 1.t has become nenessary f n r Re llen1.c orrl :cs
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t~ p~otect t~emselves a~u· ~hat: meL b~;;x·8 in every po~sible way. one means of se.fe&Uardl.nf? the soc1etl.t;S l.S b;; :.""e ::o:.ste r"lng every badge. A lost pin,. $han. ts ~lways a numbered badge a~d ~ an be very easily traced to its ' owner~ ~lle upon the subject of t~e ~adge, it might be well to state that_ l.t 1s CJTStomary in many fraternities a~d sororities for the organizations to buy back all badges of members who are,for any reason; expelled from membership. An official jeweler and a fixed price make such a matter ver.y easy of adjustment. In some fraternities it has come to be the cust·om to have the relatives o-f deceased members' turn over the badges. unless buried with the member. These are used at installation ttme, or in other ways and at other times when it is convenient for the organization to have a supply of pins on hand.
FINANCE
The fraternity system has been tn existence so long that it has been found possible to reach many decisions regarding the amount necess~ ry for carrying _on the business organization and the ·uses to whioh these receipts shall be put. Initiation fees differ greatly;running all the way from 0 t 100. Practically all sororities of the moment have a - · ruling tba he nitiation fee may be never less than $10. In some oases the whole $10 is paid into the National Treasury, in others half or twothirds. There is no sorority of c·o nsequence that does not require that$5 be paid into the National Treasury from every initiation fee. In some cases these receipts from such source go into general expenses, and in -others a certain proportion is put into some sort of endowment fund. The ASA method is to place half the national initiation fee in Endowment and half in the purchase of things for the initiate. The initiate receives in each case a MembeTship Certificate and a Handbook. It will not be possible for the Council to issue certificates this school year,because it will be necessary for the National Officers to decide on the form to · be used. !'hen, too, the original outlay for certificates is considerabl_~, and the sorority must wait until there is some available money in the Treasury. This. like· Mother Hubbard's closet, is absolutely bare. There · been a National T eas the old ASA. Your President has met all e na ional expenses of the sororfty \ ~date gut ~§ her own pur8e. Some to do this otherwise the sorority ~ou never have been put into shape, and it would have been absolutely impossible to launch any of the ideas that have b~en ;ut in:o operation. Your President asks no t~anks for this. She is 1n the habJ.t 1 of doing this all the time. for there~always some need of this sort of : th1ng in Hellas. She is always very glad to do anything that \7111 ad·vanoc the sorority cause, but her capital for investment in such purpos~s · is limited and unless the investment ~s returned for use at other tll1les, there w~uld have to be an end to all her enterprises in Rellas. Believing that ASA had a brillia:qt fJJty;re be_fore j t, provi~ed cer·· tain ideas could be swung out, your President, who was only an 1~t~rest ed onlooker at the time, trie~ to do what she could toward ?rgan~.z~.n_? ~e sorority on . a profession~l basis. When she ~ound the g1.rls of.. ~.ne , different groups responding 1n whole-souled fash1on to such sugges t.:-t.nns as were made, she was glad to help further by submitting a Ritual ,ann .&: .,Q_onstitnt~ on. All thts she did wi tbot;~ a thought of. retu~, for sh~ / .s a:J.v1ays dol.ng things of that sort for cafferent sororl. ties,. always. ~F' J.ng enerousl of her time and strength to sorority officers ana comm:L ""Gt_e8~ au re 0 come to her for advice. During the year just past she has entertained in her he)me, or held conference ~i th, the N~nal Offi<_<e:cs } 6 s · • Some o~ these made the tr1p to Boston_from the e lenic Congress, held in New York City dur1ng October, /) other purpose than to consult her as to best methods of handling V
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problems. 14ost of the n t~. om 1 so:cori ty ofi'icors 11· ve !or only a fe\·t ycurs, uhile t he cx-;1cric:nce of ~v~u~r~P.A.rJ,Jil...._..~~i;M:;;i~i.....l.~~ pgut 27. The sorority s ystem an ~ r rhnt it rnuy Ci cvelop into has become Ultli her nn absorbins interest. ~ e ing quite nlono in the ~orld,through ~ving lost every one connected \71th her by ties oi blood, she fills he r~ days nith uork ior sororities. She tries to let no ap ~c cl go unans~ercd and as the~e are many such ell the ttmc, her days ~re full to ovcrilon1n fhc np~enl mnde by the girls o! ASA she endeavored to meet in what seem fo4 to bcr the very best wa7. She i'clt that a ncckly publication nas i mporntlvc. so she installeC the ~otospced at $30 and started publishing the PBOENU at Ql peJ' »ate of 100 run. !'his !1guro is smaller than the 1 Botospccd CGDpaDy suggests as a fair charge, but your President has no t 'go.De tDto the venture nitb the idea of making money, and !1gured cost a 'the lOtTcst possible. !'he present nuob~r of the PHOENIX brings the pub\lished sheets up to to for the mnsaztnc. In addition to this there wrr (! 4 otbcr sbccts, two in the 'form of a. letter explaining about the l?BOElTI I ond tbo 'Ro,ospecd, and tuo gt•tng the legend of 11cm c • A thrc'" of tl. l · cbapto:rs bo:vc sent $'.50 aplcco os their contribution t ari th purchn ( 1of the Rotospecd, you caa ver.1 cnstly c t ~t c t h e co ~ t t b cqu1pmcn ad the publtcatloas to date. the one thing that has br gti 011r P r ~ si d . limcliaht so strongly is her authorehlp of " co _()~'l"iehted i1l 1905 and no11 in i t'J fifth ·.'d t date publication 81 its kind. Ther e ~ 11 r o! An': rican College Fnt natttcs" , bu i : ~a-: n --v ~ r b.~: n 1 .: 3u r: d of \cn"Jr t'han fL:· : t in 18'19. Ita suth e tttoa ~ !a 3 the "Handbook" itJ dl' e to th ~ ~·act t ha price an.::. thr. l'f4 i::; no at "~"<:iiF. to mckc tion o~ ;rour Pre ~ 1d · -nt t ·~ t, rn t ll co 1eh ..11.: Bationol ? "ll enio Con~rr ~ . vun~u l •• b:r that bod7. It ~~ n a rul ! -i ... h o1 oncy is r cc c·ivc .. :fror-1 i_.Jly soror1 t y thro t h bllll bo U 3w" o ly t o the ~e vc.n tc.ge 01: h · 3 r.l·~''(.:y 3 b~ ·n J n " , an .. a.l 'thout;h ah~ 1 ,s. .. orori ty tt t r.n7 iD • '7hP, th-~ :1 t b ot~sht ··aa.nc.bco!·s" ot. ~1w has roost o turally r#l t ob lig ... 0 do he c.kc sncb hel n po ibl (~ in ··nv scn so for H 11 ~ . The- -or c ·~ of' t Bandboo~t" in t l1c · nb t c.ntinl b 1
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NATIOUAL DUES
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Just as ~SA has a smaller national initiation fee than is considered at all practical by those who have mad e a close study of the fraternity sys~em, so it has ~esser annual dues. It has been proved that a fraternlty, or a soror1.ty for that matter, can not be run as it ought to be run these days, unless there is an average income of $100 from each active ·!)cha:pter on the roll. As chapters average about 20 members each, accord1ng to statistics, it is the very simpl·e st ari throetic to figure out that each active member must contribute $$ per year. Different organizations· apportion this $5 ~er member in rather different ways, but ~he average way i~ to assign $1 to the magazine, ·$1 to Running Expenses, $1 to Convent1.on Expenses, $1 to Development $1 to Inspection. The $1 assigned to the Magazine never does meet the necessary outlay, unless supplemented by many additional subscriptions from alumnae members. ~hat is why it is impossible for a small sorority to have a really c_redl. table magazine. ASA canl'lnot publish its PHOENIX without alumnae aid, but it can, by means of a magazj.ne such as ours, ~igure much more closely than can be done with a quarterly. The PHOENIX plan enables us to use every dollar received and yet to stop expense the moment that the amount appropriated is used. By Running Expenses we mea~ the amount that must be paid out for stationery, sta::aps, telegr·ams and offic& equipment. Just as soon as we know our acti·v-e membership we ~an calculate the sum that we may 1.:.s in t h i s way. Any .ASA can figure this out qui to as well as can the Centt·el Office or the Na·tional Treasurer. Convention Expenses :lnoludo the r atlroad fares of the DelegateH and such inctdent1.1ls as may be a5.dJ.t :i.or a i.J.·q • necessary. Under the head of DeJ egates must c..ome, o:t ~ourse, t h€ < :1-c.:._ .•;..~ 1 o Vlnen j,t gats ·near to E:lonvention timo ~ - it is eas;.ly poss:i.ble t,) ~''J .. Tl ~ u};; railr·o ad :tares to a given point from certain other g"l7en po~ .ntsan a. i; t:; £"ee ho ther the amount on hana will oove:t: th ... es't.imate. 'l'h ~ r-c :i. ~ (~ 1--C' ~lE:'.~.l iJ.ity· t o interpret the $1 assigned to De·velopment as ayail able fo~ C:cu?eiLt·on purposes, but the ~ise sorority would ~ot do thet, save in a ~ ew0rcncy, because it is foolish to pay money to a railroad ~orporetjon th.a.t ought to go into Growth. The $1 set aside for the use of trips of I u ·pection is a source of income that does not exist in .Acll., so it will be impos sible for the sorority to havt> visits from any nat~. on a l offj.cer!J, unless there are those on the Council, the Cabinet or the President· ~ taff who are ready to meet all of their own expe.nses~ With things as they are at present, with everybody knowing ju~ a· much as eve·r ybody else about everything that goes on in the sorority: the r e is not the need that there is in the case of other organizat l om1 . Our system of Fpculty Adyisers. moreover, makes i t possible to h av ~ a pe r son of e erience ri ht on the ground all the time, .Jeadlr to can s 1 r1 c ·r pro em fr·om a Sl. es and 1.n a pos1 J.on o know all the intricaci es oi a problem as would not be possible in the case of an outsider. Therehould not, then, arise any question that could not be ANSWERED by soma one right on the ground. The only need for an Ins ector, that the Cent~ Office can see, is some one to look over the books of the chapter and see whether everything is being earned out according to ASA regulat :i.ons and i deals. The letters that have come in from the different chhp~e rs d the different Officers have convinced the Central Office that every chapter and every official is making every offort to do things in just the best way. · Tho Central Office did have a terrible . time teaching the PHOE!~X how to say "Merry Christmas" at the right time, but he lea:ned how t o so.y omething else i n just one minute a.nd he was piping up on lt every hour. It is ''Happy New Yea!'" and "The Best On~ Ever 11 •