Alice Pope exposes hypocrisy of PSAA and Roger Williams

[eloracv]

"Changes passed by the council on Friday will exclude the public –
including PSAA members — from Council meetings; remove established
parliamentary procedure for council meetings in favor of giving the
president full control over the way business is conducted; adding more
president-nominated members to the council to bring the total membership
to more than 100; removing any input on council nominations from the
council itself; and concentrating full control in the Nominating
Committee."

...and why has there never been an audit of this organization?

This post was edited on 4/18 3:43 AM by eloracv

http://www.centredaily.com/2015/04/18/4707175_alice-pope-alumni-association.html?rh=1

 

[PennSt8er]

There is ZERO reason to give any funds to PSAA

I have already dropped my membership. There is ZERO accountability for millions of dollars of revenue. You have to ask yourself, "Why?"

 

[10 Years After]

Re: There is ZERO reason to give any funds to PSAA


To everyone ... IF you are a life member, you shouldn't drop your membership regardless of how sending that message may give you satisfaction. Every time they call looking for continuing financial support, inform them while they will never get it and why, but must continue to service your as a life member.

 

[Achowalogan]

Thanks Alice!

 

[PSU73]

I trust her comments mean we can write-in OUR choices

on next month's ballots.

"Our attempts to resolve these concerns through respectful discussion failed. Now we seek the opportunity to pursue good-faith efforts from inside the association as members of the council.

We believe alumni association voters are more than capable of deciding whether our efforts support the collective interests of our devoted alumni."

 

[PSU_Chicago]

Re: There is ZERO reason to give any funds to PSAA

I am a life member and have already adopted that approach. All PSU gets from us is our NLC contribution.

 

[Fayette_LION]

Exactly

this is what I'll do

 

[bjf1984]

BRAVO Alice!!! ***


nfm

 

[psu1969a]

Re: There is ZERO reason to give any funds to PSAA

If you are a life member, you can not quit. Like your idea about making them send you giving requests.

 

[demlion]

A friend of mine used to for some reason get $$ requests from a particular

political party of which he was not a member and whose members he largely despised. He used to faithfully send them a check every quarter for $1.00. This always generated a slew of mail which cost the sender a lot more than one dollar to send.... Hmmmm. Wonder if they have filters for that sort of thing?

 

[ForesterGump]

Re: There is ZERO reason to give any funds to PSAA

How many people use the AA sponsored credit card, or buy AA sponsored insurance, or go on AA sponsored trips? Those put money into the coffers probably more than dues. They get a cut on all those sponsored things. Also, advertising is a big deal, both in the Penn Stater and on whatever things they have on the web.

 

[debbeidel4alumnicouncil]

The ballots will be out by May 12 but there will be information posted earlier about who is running. Stay tuned because you will see a lot of names that you like. I need all of you to VOTE because I need reinforcements.

 

[B_Levinson]

CALL FOR CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT AGAINST PSAA

Let's file a class action lawsuit against the Penn State Alumni Association due to the issues raised by Alice Pope at http://www.centredaily.com/2015/04/18/4707175/alice-pope-alumni-association.html

"Changes passed by the council on Friday will exclude the public - including PSAA members - from Council meetings; remove established parliamentary procedure for council meetings in favor of giving the president full control over the way business is conducted; adding more president-nominated members to the council to bring the total membership to more than 100; removing any input on council nominations from the council itself; and concentrating full control in the Nominating Committee."

As a dues-paying member (Life Member, I paid the dues up front), I think I have been damaged by this course of action, and that every other dues-paying member has similarly had the value of his or her membership diminished by this internal power grab at the expense of the organization's mission.

 

[Class of 67]

You have my support. Thanks for your efforts.*

*

 

[fairgambit]

Re: There is ZERO reason to give any funds to PSAA

Originally posted by psu1969a:
If you are a life member, you can not quit. Like your idea about making them send you giving requests.

You're right about that. I checked it out and they told me I cannot quit. Oh, you can tell them you're quitting, and you can get them to stop sending you mail, but you will remain on their membership rolls until they find out you have died.

 

[PSU73]

Actually, I think the dollar idea is an interesting one. It would seem it

may be much more effective at sending a message than not sending anything. In this way they know you are out there whereas they might account for no response as you moved, forgot, misplaced, etc.
Plus, I 'd like to see how they acknowledge the "donation".
And, when someone calls, you can simply say I donated.
This post was edited on 4/18 3:03 PM by PSU73

 

[pnnylion]

I dumped the bums back in the 70s.

 

[PSUMATT85]

Re: Actually, I think the dollar idea is an interesting one. It would seem it

I sent a check for $.02

 

[pnnylion]

Don't give them squatchie.

 

[demlion]

Excellent! Did they cash it? Did they acknowledge it?*


*(

 

[demlion]

Like being a Scientologist.**

*(

 

[pnnylion]

That Jacobs is a lifetime member tells you all you need to know.

Fa-lop.

 

[kgilbert78]

Re: There is ZERO reason to give any funds to PSAA

Or to *any* PSU fund. Even THON. Money is fungible. Much as I respect and love THON, the funds they gather ultimately are controlled by this BOT.

 

[kgilbert78]

Re: There is ZERO reason to give any funds to PSAA

Originally posted by fairgambit:

Originally posted by psu1969a:
If you are a life member, you can not quit. Like your idea about making them send you giving requests.

You're right about that. I checked it out and they told me I cannot quit. Oh, you can tell them you're quitting, and you can get them to stop sending you mail, but you will remain on their membership rolls until they find out you have died.

You could tell them that you died.....

 

[kgilbert78]

Re: There is ZERO reason to give any funds to PSAA

I'm wondering if they screwed up somewhere with investing the Life membership moneys (which should be invested to maintain those memberships). This is screaming for an audit.

 

[debbeidel4alumnicouncil]

Re: There is ZERO reason to give any funds to PSAA

The Association's first audit by external auditors is being conducted now and should be finished this summer.

 

[EdH85]

Re: There is ZERO reason to give any funds to PSAA

What firm might that be? Might be interesting to know.

 

[PSU_Chicago]

Re: There is ZERO reason to give any funds to PSAA

What firm might that be? Might be interesting to know.

Dewey, Cheathum & Howe

 

[Tom McAndrew]

Re: There is ZERO reason to give any funds to PSAA

Or to *any* PSU fund. Even THON. Money is fungible. Much as I respect and love THON, the funds they gather ultimately are controlled by this BOT.

I will acknowledge that money is fungible, especially in a huge organization like PSU. That said, I think you're confusing a few things here.

Penn State does claim the THON money with regards to funds raised in reports it issues. However, neither the BOT nor any other group at PSU have any access to THON funds. I've checked this several times, and am satisfied that the info I'm presenting here is 100% accurate.

Tom

 

[kgilbert78]

I will acknowledge that money is fungible, especially in a huge organization like PSU. That said, I think you're confusing a few things here.

Penn State does claim the THON money with regards to funds raised in reports it issues. However, neither the BOT nor any other group at PSU have any access to THON funds. I've checked this several times, and am satisfied that the info I'm presenting here is 100% accurate.

Tom

I respect your opinion on this, but I will note that the BOT can certainly reduce spending for items now covered by THON monies because THON pays for these things, thus freeing up that money for other things they want to spend money on. This is what essentially happens with many state lotteries--the money is supposed to go to things like education (as here in Ohio) or seniors (as in PA)--and it does. But it never ends up being extra money for these things. The money that would have gone to education/seniors if there were no lottery ends up being spent somewhere else and there is little real additional benefit. The budget stays the same. I do realize there are things that would not be funded by Penn State at all were it not for THON and the Four Diamonds Fund and I respect those who continue to support THON. But there are items such as research and facilities that THON monies pay for that Penn State likely would have even if there were no THON. As such, it is with a very heavy heart and much thought that I cannot at this time support THON. I hope that changes in the future. We shall see.

 

[kgilbert78]

On a separate but related topic, did anyone else get a letter from the AA this week asking them to donate in honor of Roger Williams retirement? I'm still trying to decide if "Hell no" or just a simple NO is the best answer..... Or a suggestion that if I give more money maybe he'll leave sooner?

 

[Aoshiro]

On a separate but related topic, did anyone else get a letter from the AA this week asking them to donate in honor of Roger Williams retirement? I'm still trying to decide if "Hell no" or just a simple NO is the best answer..... Or a suggestion that if I give more money maybe he'll leave sooner?

Talk about tone deaf and clueless.

 

[robbrunskill]

Actually, I think the dollar idea is an interesting one. It would seem it

may be much more effective at sending a message than not sending anything. In this way they know you are out there whereas they might account for no response as you moved, forgot, misplaced, etc.
Plus, I 'd like to see how they acknowledge the "donation".
And, when someone calls, you can simply say I donated.
This post was edited on 4/18 3:03 PM by PSU73

sort of like leaving a $.01gratuity for bad service.

 

[kgilbert78]

sort of like leaving a $.01gratuity for bad service.

A number of years ago the Ohio Supreme Court ruled against a local utility who were required to write refund checks. I have one--for $0.01. I never cashed it. I did get others for the same thing that I did cash, for slightly larger amounts.