T H E
PHOENIX
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VOLUME I ovember 8, 1914 U""IABER 2 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
A BUSINESS BASIS A business administratio.n means efficiency, solidarity, econo my and reputation. By proper management, Alpha Sigma Alpha can be made a power locally, nationally, Helle.ncially and socially .in a very short time. It has a Ritual that should make a powerful appearl to every initiate. Standing, as it does for worth while things, there is no reason why Alpha Sigma Alpha should not become a strong sorority, provided it is run on a business basis. High ideals, .tho the prime essential in an organization of this kind, are not enough. Hopes and amlttions, no matter how good will not be realized, unless they are supplemented by hard work, well thought out, any more than seeds will blossom into flowers without the right kind of intelligent care. ~o be successful, a sorority must be managed well like any business. Chapter and National Body alike must know what efficiency means and how to attain it. The backbone of any sorority is its National Income. This comes from two sources, ll) Initiation Fees and (2) Annual Dues. The amounts received from these two sauces used to differ greatly in the different organizations, but the passage of the years has brought it about that there is now marked similarity in the per capita amounts received • . As a rule, the larger fraternity does not tax its membership so heavily as does the smaller, having a larger number to call on and no great expenses relatively. Generally speaking, the fraternities have a larger per capita tax than the sororities. The latter differ somewhat both in the matter of National Initiation Fees and in that of Annual Dues. 5 is considered a very reasonable amount to ask from each initiate as a National Initiation Fee and also as a yearly tax during undergraduate days. In this way the National receives i25 from an initiate during her four years' college course. '!he fact that Alpha Sigma Alpha is built upon the olan of FOUR has made it seem eminently appropriate to place the National Initiation Fee at $4 and the Annual Dues at $4 the latter to include the subscription to the "PHOENIX". A Convention decision to make the National Initiation Fee i4 would not, in any way, take away the chapters' right to ma~e their own fee much higher than that. There is no collegiate sorority that permits anything less than $10. Some put their minimum at a uch higher figure. Sou.ld our coming Convention vote for a National Initiation Fee of ~4 and a minimum chapter Fee of ilO, each initiate would be taxed ®10, and of this amount :jp6 would remain with the chapter, while $4 would go into the National Treasury to be dewoted to such purposes as the Convention may decide in the matter of ap portionment. What these purposes should be in the case of Alpha Sigma Alpha is a matter for serious discussion. In the early history of the sorority system, the different organizations were in the habit of considering themselv es merely good time affairs. ~ith such idea in view they spent t heir incomes carelessly and without thought of the future, but the strong, well-established orders are being managed today very differently from what they were even ten years ago. All of them are pilllig up endowments by keeping inviolate a certain amount of each initiation fee. They are endowing the sorority as a whole, and they are endowing the magazine. The latter ambition is accomnlished by a life subscri ption of $25. Upon t he deat h of t he "Lifer"
the i nterest is no long er used to send out a magazine, but can be turned into a fund for the improvome r1 t of the magazine. Suc h an arrangement will of course, bring it to pass that the magazine can be distributed free of ' oharge. Pi Beta Phi requires every initiate to become a Life Subscriber. Such a goal is one that Alpha Sigma Alpha may also hold before itself, but up to the present the sorority has not made the kind of a~颅 peal that would inspire in its initiates the desire to con路t ribute ;jp25 fo 1路 a Life Subscription. ~here is no telling, however, what wonders the "PHOENIX" may work. He was a bird of marvelous powers in anoient times. Here's hoping that his mantle ,may descend upon our magazine! Still, while waiting for his magic to work, we do want to lay something of a foundation for Alpha Sigma Alpha in the beginning of an endowment. It is for this reason that the Central Office has suggested the following dis9ostion of a $4 National Initiat i on Fee,-11 ~ational Endowment, ~ 1 Publication ~dowment, $1 Membership Certi f icate, Handbook. ~he special problem before the Convention, should it rS:ify such suggestion, is whether the ruling should go into effect at once 路 and apply to those already pledged or initiated this year so far, or whether it s hall apply only to those pledged after Convention. Not knowing local conditions in any case, the Central Office has no recommendations to make whatsoever on this ~ oint. Every ASA will naturally feel that it is most desirable to establish the beginning of the Endowment Fund at once, but whether it is possible to make that ruling ap )ly to those pledged so far t his year is a question to be ca refully considered by the delegates from ever y one of the five chapters. ~he question of the Annual Dues and their appo rtionment is, however, an entirely different _matter. Without such an income the sorority is powerless to carry out a single lan, so it is to be hoped that t he Convention will arrange for an immeaiate realization of a National Treas ury, so that the Council may make plans and so that th.e "PliOENIX" may ap pear regularly. The Central Office has already made one suggestion regarding the possible Annual Dues of iP4-~l " PHOEN IX" Subscription, ~ 1 Convention Expenses, 1!>2 Running Expenses. By "Running Expenses" the Cen tral Of fice means stationery, stamps, and the necessary outl~ incidental to advancing the interests of Alpha Sigma Alpha along many lL~es. Just what these activities will be, time will reveal, but the production of typewritten Rituals and Rotospeed copies of the Constitution may be mentioned as among t he i~p erative things. ~hen, too, there is the need for the card catalogue system, in order that we may start right in kee ping our membership records in perfect s ha.pe from the very start not only in the cas e of the Central Office, but for every chapter. The publication of a weekly "PHOENIX" will make it possible for every subscriber to know just where every penny goes. !lhe $1 set aside for "Convention Exp enses" is to be devoted to paying the railroad fares of delegates t o and from Convention, or as large a pro ortion of such railroad far es as funds will warrant. Many frater nities and sororities leave it to t he chapters to pay their delegates' travelling expenses. Such an arrangement may mean that a small chapter may have to raise a large sum to send its delegate many miles, while a large chapter may be near the Convention City and under pr a ctically no expense. The per capita tax suggested it t he only fair way, since it makes the burden fall equally on eve r y member, at the same time relieving a small chapter of any undue strain.
!i
COUNCIL
~ OW .i!-"'R S
The nowers to be given to t he Council are .no t me ntioned i ~ t he draft of t he Co nstitution submitted, nor are the d uties of the Councillors specified. The Central Office be l ieves that the s e are matters that can be safely le f t to the Council to work out t hr o actual experience. A year will show quite conclusively what kind of work had better be atte mpted by
t he indivi dual members of t he inco ming Council and what t hey w uld deem it wise to recommend to t heir success ors. Tne Central Off ice therefore suggests t he simplest kind of wording of duties, as for inst a~ce,' Sec . l . It shall be the duty of the ~ational President to presi de at t he National Convention to see that all officers perform the i r duties faithfully, to hold the power of final decisi on on all dis puted points, and to have a general supervision of the work of the sorority. Sec . 2. It shall be the duty, of the National Secretary to keep the records of the National Convention and of the Council, and to attend to the general correspondence of the sorority . Sec . 3. It shall be the duty of the National Treasurer to receive all National Dues and Fees, top~ out money only by order , of the National President, and to keep a strict account of all receipts and expenditures. Sec.4. It s hall be the duty of the National Historian t o gat her material for a history to be published whenever the National Convention shall so decide. She shall keep an accurate hi s torical account of the sorority as a whole and of each chapter. She shall also have charge of the National Card Catalogue.
~he Central Office is not entirely satis f ied wit h any flower as yet suggested, so trusts that the chapters will discuss this matter quite seriously. The flower of old ASA--the American Beaut y Rose--is too expens ive and too difficult to get, so it would not seem wise t o cons ider it as the sorority flower, even tho its blooms are often 4 inc hes across and its st em 4 feet long! Since ASA was founded in November, and since it is to be reorga nized during that same month, it would seem quite a _propriate for the s or ority to adopt some distinctively fall flower, like the Chrysant hemum. There is an advantage to be found i n t he choice of t his flower, viz. the fact that there is no other sorority that has adopted it. Again, since May is Hermes' month , something distinctive to t hat season mig ht be chosen. There is the anemone, the name meaning 'wind flower'. ~ he Central Office suggests that eac h chapter a ppoint a committee to look up the language of ~owers, with a view to arriving at some eminently satisfactory decision.
CHAPTER LEITERS Virginia State Normal School We sometimes wonder if every one of our dear girls reali ze just how muc h joy, happiness, and enthusiasm exist in our hearts over re ally writing for the " PHOENIX". All nine of our girls press on faithfully each day, that we may attain the s plendid goal set for us by the Cent r al Office. When problems arise, and when we feel that we need advice, we are proud to know that our Faculty Advisor is ready to hel p us. r he s i s ter of one of our old girls is a supervisor in our training school here. We always have her at our entertainments, as she s eems to take gre a t i nt erest in us, and her influence means much to our group . This year we are trying a new method of rush i ng. e have pl anned t his out i n the form of a chart, every girl having her own i nd ivi dual one. Each girl is held responsible for a certain rushee at a certain ti me. For instance, one girl has charge of her durin g t he aftern oon, so mebo dy else f or prayers, another for gym. It was di fficult to arrange a sc hedul~ fo r eac h girl so as to have no conflicts, but t he pl an has worke d splend l dly in kee ping every one of our rushees with some ASA all t he time. An add i tional advan tage i s t he opport un ity gi ven to t he new girls to b e~ om e a cquai n t ed with t he group . The chart is made out ea ch we ek . If a g1rl
neglects her d u~, .she is dealt with pro m tly, and punishmen t i s usually severe. Hight now we are busy raisi ng a sum of money to give to an organization in our school called '~h e Normal eague'. Our Pres i dent t hinks this league is worthy of our interest. N.e always give $10 every year and increase t he sum, according to our abilities. Doing t h ings for such a good cause keeps us in close touch with the faculty, and increases t eir res pect for our organ ization. Selma Batten. Miami University Pi Tau is very glad to announce that its rus ning season is now over and that it is free to devote more time to plans for t he Conven tion . As yet we have been unable to make absolutely definite plans. But Fri&ay and Saturday, November 27 and 28, will be given over to it. In order to be here for the Business Session on Friday morning, we fee.l t hat t he dele gates should arrive some time Thursday. There ar e two trains coming into Oxford, one arriving at 4.56 P.M., the other at 8.36 P. M. 路 Pi Tau was unfortunate in not returning more than four girls in September, but our hard work has secured for us sight s plendid pledges. We have four patronesses, one a faculty member, the other three wives of professors. Dean Hamilton is our Faculty Adviser. ! he Pledge Service which we used tonight for 路 the first time, was most impressive. We believe t hat any who come to Convention for the first time and see it will be particularly .well pleased with this Service. Lou Leedom. Kirksville State Normal School There were ten girls who returned to school from out of town and there are six town girls in school. We are not allowed to give bids until November 26th, the last day of the first quarter, so I can not tell you about our pledges until after tha t date. Before a g irl oan be asked to join she must pas s three requirements, (1) being in school 3 months, (2) make good grades in 3 subjects requiring pre paration, (3) be a graduate of a four year high school. Students come and go so muc h that we have to have an initiation every qua rter but the first. We have 13 patronesses and a f a culty adviser, this last being a member of Kappa Kappa Ga~a. Our chapter was f ounded on Christmas Eve, 1 899, and got its State Charter in 1905. We have t he n ames of 220 girls on our rolls . Elva Doyle. lF
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"If y our envir onment is not what you like , us e your will and strength t o change it. If it is possible, as often happens, to make a c hange, learn to use it for t he conquests of t he soul. No sur r ounding conditions can cheat the strong man of a victory, any more t ha n t hey can excuse the weak man's defeat. It is not es sential that we s h ould have favoring circumstances. The essential. t hi ng is that \'1 6 s houl d be stronger than the conditions of our lot. The man wbo in the least works and overco'mes is in the way that leads to tha t real humanity whic h may be trusted an~vhere. Let us think no more of our environment as an excuse, but let us rather use it as an opportunity of tes ting and increasing strengt h." "Say you will win, if wi n y ou woul d . A fir m resolve your cause will aid. For well'tis known and unders tood The will of man has empires s way ed."