Week 10 Post

Hello Brothers!
For our last Exec blog of the term, I thought I’d end on a positive/inspirational note, and share a video that my favorite time-wasting website, stumbleupon, gave me one day.
I think it has a good overall message, and whether or not you can buy into inspirational speakers, I think it’s especially pertinent for our graduating Brothers. I think this was a wonderful year for APO Exec, and thank you to everyone who shared it with me. I look forward to seeing some of my Brothers again next year, and I congratulate and wish luck to the departing Brothers, who will no doubt go on to inspire other people through their service and their careers.

Some questions to keep in mind:

1. How do you think service inspires others? How does inspiration play a role in retention?
2. How were you inspired to join APO (or stay in APO)?
3. How have you been inspired by your Brothers in your time within APO so far?

Week Six: Motivating People!

Hello!

This week I thought we could discuss how to motivate our brothers to be more involved and intrinsically motivated to step up and help Exec. members out more, in the case of, for example, Potluck.

I found an article on a website called “Change Factory”, which provides an interesting view of motivation (which is perhaps different from the way many of us tend to see motivation). While I realize that this article specifically speaks to motivating employees in a work environment, I believe we can still apply it towards our organization, feel free to disagree, of course. Please read:

http://www.changefactory.com.au/articles/change-management/managing-change-motivating-people/

While reading (and afterwards), please consider the following questions:

1) In your opinion, can people be motivated? Or must they only motivate themselves?
2) What are some of the needs which members of groups, such as ours, desire to be met?
3) Are we meeting these needs? How can we assess this?

You guys are amazing, I’ve loved working with all of you this year!

In Love, Leadership, Friendship, and Service,

Rachel

Week 4

Hello Exec!

Continuing along the lines of Daniel’s entry last week about leadership, I thought I’d tackle our third cardinal principle: friendship.

Video 1

Video 2

Questions to consider:

Who of you were attracted to the friendship aspect of APO in addition to its service, and perhaps joined as a way to meet new people?

Do you believe that our fellowship events follow the algorithm and help us to bond with each other at a deeper level?

I think it is safe to assume that friendship is an extremely important aspect of all of our lives. If you would like, please share a special moment of friendship that you have experienced through your involvement with APO.

Thank you friends!!

In Leadership, Friendship, and Service,

Katharine

Spring ’11 week three holla atcha boiiiii

http://www.wbaltv.com/r/27401410/detail.html

Hey all,
This blog is about leadership and more specifically LeaderShape. It talks about how Baltimore’s LeaderShape program operates and what impact it has on the students.

My questions are:

1. Do leadership camps such as LeaderShape actually make an impact?

2. For those who haven’t been, what draws you to go to these kinds of camps?

3. Does LeaderShape, despite it’s good work, create an exclusive community?

Week 9 Article

The article for this week deals with incorporating community service into academics, like a more focused version of what we consider service learning.

http://www.newsrecord.org/mobile/living/spotlight/pay-it-forward-1.2479732

Some questions to consider:

1. What do you think about having classes that include service as part of the learning process?

2. One of the classes, “Diversity and Health,” did service that was specifically related to what they were learning in the class. Would students be more inclined to do service and feel passionate about it if the service relates to their academic or professional life? Or is the service important to them because it’s a part of their grade?

3. Would having service as a part of classes result in students continuing to do community service after they graduate? Why?

I hope everyone has an awesome weekend!

LFS,
Ashley Q

Week 7

Hello Exec, and Happy Valentine’s Day!!

 

Article

 

Questions to Consider:

Why is it that most people seem to need the motivation of a national holiday to perform community service rather than making it a consistent lifestyle habit?

What do you think the long term benefit of this type of community service will be? It is an ongoing yet minimal form of service, if the school does not continue the program over the summer or next school year, what will that teach the students about commitment to projects, and to people?

Do you think that by promoting simple and fun types of service such as this in schools, students will become more likely to reach out to the community and become involved in service outside of mandatory commitments?

In Love, Leadership, Friendship, and Service,

Katharine

APO week 6 blog post

Hey everyone! for this weeks blog post, I thought it would be cool to talk about one of the organizations that we work closely with, Committed Partners for Youth,Big brother/big sister. This is their informational video, that talks about the work that they do, and the impact they have on  our community.

Questions:

1. Do you think people our age understand the impact that we can have on a child’s life?

2. What does a support system like this do for our community?

3. Why do you think with a campus of over 20,000 people, there is still a waiting list of over 80 kids looking for mentors? Does that say something about the culture of our campus and helping people? or is it a lack of knowledge combined with a lack of outreach by CPFYBBS?

Remeber, our project in two weeks at the truffle shuffle is with Committed Partners for Youth, Big Brother/Big Sister. If you haven’t already, you should sign up!

 

In Leadership, Friendship, and Service,

 

Colin

Week 4 Winter ’11 Blog…Hollaaaa

Hey Guys,
Here’s the link: http://www.oregonlive.com/west-linn/index.ssf/2010/07/former_west_linn_mayors_community_service_sentence_benefits_rescue_dogs.html

1. Is community service even really a punishment?

2. What does it say about people to do community service voluntarily?

3. What does it say about community service?

In LFS,
DBI

Week 6 Article Update!

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Good day fellow executive members,

I have compiled an article which contains significant interest not only to those who commit themselves to service here in America but in other parts of the

world as well. Though it may be a bit more exotic and out of the ordinary considering it’s a service opportunity abroad, I thought it was peculiar how colleges

viewed it as free-entry tickets to America’s elite institutions. Some believe these programs require students to work more than what they signed up for. What

do you think? A journey for self fulfillment or a road towards exploitation? I report, you decide.

A list of thought-provoking questions:

1) Do you see this experience (volunteering abroad) having any negative consequences?

2) Do you believe that the American students are being exploited for cheap labor? Irony rearing its ugly face?..

3) Due to the rigorous and intense pace of similar programs, do those whom wish to add another achievement to their record willing to go this far? Or will the

passionate stand out more?

4) To those traveling abroad and enlisted in the spring break programs announced throughout our chapter meetings, what do you think of this article? Opinions?

A link to the article of interest:

http://voice.paly.net/node/20775

In L,F,S

-Atli L. (Omega)
Webmaster
APO-Zeta Psi
UO

Giving back to the community

I hope you all are enjoying your weekend after the very first week of the new year. Time to kickoff 2011 with a new article, woot woot!

The article chosen for discussion, (for the next executive meeting), reveals the path a college student chose after his studies during his undergraduate career. But why Atli is this story important, you ask? Here’s why. Considering the fact that we all must graduate one day, some will finish early while others will struggle to get those few remaining credits, I wonder if students such as myself and others in the fraternity will still devote a fraction of their time to the community through acts of service once we enter the “real world.” If you look into any of our widely known media outlets you will notice that community service is gaining the reputation as a form of punishment to those who don’t abide by the law. Another instance is the explosion of service only when devastating natural events hit the community such as hurricane Katrina and the Haiti earthquake. After the hype dies down however, one never really hear about the status of these communities and if they still need assistance, as if the service only follows what’s on today’s agenda and today’s problem. The point which I lay out is simple. In the real world when we are advancing towards a more stable adulthood, after college, is there any motivation for us to give back without expecting that pat on the back?

Somehow my article came off as way to serious after I reread it. So here’s a joke for the day or night depending on when you’re reading this.

Q. What did the carpet say to the floor?

A. “You go ahead I’ll cover you”

Questions of extreme pondering:

1) Should companies be more invested in giving back to the community through service, by being there physically? (Usually companies do fundraisers or simply donate a cheque to an organization).

2) Why do high schools and colleges emphasize the importance of service yet we don’t hear much of this need to help out the community as we become professionals?

3) Do you believe the status of the economy has affected the turnout of volunteers after college?

4) Will I continue to serve the community after my time here at the University of Oregon and Alpha Phi Omega?

A link to the article for Week 2:

http://citizensvoice.com/arts-living/king-s-grad-turns-to-community-service-after-college-1.1059964

Atli Locklear
Omega
APO
UO

Week 3 Article: Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service

Summer Service

1. First Lady Michelle Obama talks abut the importance of service and serving over the summer. Do you think it is important for the government and people in power/celebrities to promote community service?

2. What do you think the long-term positive effects of this program will be?

3. How can we as APO continue service over summer? Is this important and something we should strive for?

Winter 11 Week Five Service Blog!

Hey guys! Sorry for the delay on this!

-Service Article Link-

Questions/ Things to Consider:

Last week, Daniel’s article touched upon community service’s function as a form of punishment. This week, it is presented almost as a leisure activity. How might we explain the dualistic approach we as a nation have towards volunteering?

Voluntourism has been shown in this article mostly in a negative light, however Dunford (the article’s author) concedes at the end that proper research and careful planning can provide positive results. With this understanding, do you think that voluntourism is something that should be encouraged? Would you go on a “Voluntourism” trip?

What lessons can we take from this article that could influence our approach to volunteering in Alpha Phi Omega?

Thanks everyone! See you tomorrow!

In L,F,S,

Lindsay