Club Status

[Aurelia 0]

We were never a very large club, our membership was ... select ... rather than copious, but since spring 2006 even those die-hards have left [graduated, transferred, married, or out of school for other reasons]. Thus our club has become non-functional due to lack of membership. We had been having trouble finding members to fill necessary officer positions last year anyway.

There are still a couple of us around town, whether in school or not. So if you want to contact us about the club or just to chat you can e-mail me and I'll see what I can arrange. As the former secretary I'll keep the club's papers for a few years, but the website will no longer be maintained as the domain is Purdue property [and I have no idea how to do that anyway, it was Nick's job].

~Amanda Carlson [A.K.A Aurelia]

[Ed from OC 0]

We were never a very large club, our membership was ... select ... rather than copious, but since spring 2006 even those die-hards have left [graduated, transferred, married, or out of school for other reasons]. Thus our club has become non-functional due to lack of membership. We had been having trouble finding members to fill necessary officer positions last year anyway.

Some things never change. That's how things went with a campus Objectivist club I was involved with in the early 90s. It seemed every year there was a large rotation of people. I think part of it was people were interested in Objectivism for a while, but then moved on to their next interest. Too bad for them.

[Aurelia 0]

Some things never change. That's how things went with a campus Objectivist club I was involved with in the early 90s. It seemed every year there was a large rotation of people. I think part of it was people were interested in Objectivism for a while, but then moved on to their next interest. Too bad for them.

This is also how the club ended at the last university I attended [Arizona State University]. Objectivists, especially those in college, are difficult to collect; they keep running off doing their own things!

[taylor 0]

Indiana University does not have a club right now but there's a good amount of us scattered around here. If you're up for doing anything combined this semester (perhaps in Indianapolis to make it easier for both sides) then I would be up for helping. I used to be the president of the Miami of Ohio club. I guess IU and Purdue are supposed to be rivals but I'm just here for grad school so I never picked that up .

-Taylor

[Aurelia 0]

Sorry I hadn't replied sooner.

I'm always tickled to meet other Objectivists and I'm only really familiar with the inside of the Indy airport. So, I'd love to come, but I can't speak for any other people hiding out here. I'll see who I can round up. Were you thinking of making it a regular thing? I'm not in school this year so my schedule is more flexible than most, but still ... iffy. As long as I get a couple weeks notice I can take the time off work. How's October 14, I'm assuming the weekend is best for students?

I'm not much into us-against-them school spirit thing either. But don't come to Purdue wearing IU gear, unless you fancy taking your life in your hands.

~Amanda [A.K.A. Aurelia]

[PhilO 0]

Indiana University does not have a club right now but there's a good amount of us scattered around here. If you're up for doing anything combined this semester (perhaps in Indianapolis to make it easier for both sides) then I would be up for helping.

Indianapolis could make sense for a number of reasons.

-- It's more or less centrally located between Purdue and IU Bloomington, but also for other Indiana schools.

-- IUPUI is in Indianapolis and would probably be a logical place to hold meetings. It also has a very large enrollment and clearly some of those students will be interested in attending. That would then represent a meeting of at least 3 large schools, possibly more if it were advertised (University of Indianapolis, Butler, Indiana State University, Ball State, etc.)

-- It seems probable that either IU Bloomington or Purdue students could request meeting rooms in Indianapolis, but that should be checked.

-- There are probably non-student Objectivists in Indianapolis who would be interested in attending and perhaps assisting, further increasing the size and interest level.

-- I suspect that larger groups tend to be more self-sustaining. There's a greater motivation to go when you know people will be there, and a greater probability of continuation as people leave school, given the larger pool of attendees.

-- One of the side benefits of a larger group would be that it would be easier (financially, coordination, etc.) to get good speakers to give presentations.

-- For those interested, local intellectual activism would be much more effective in Indianapolis, since it's the largest city and has the major businesses and businessmen in the state.

-- I am in Indianapolis. Not to be selfish or anything but it would be interesting to have some smart Objectivists around once in awhile for intellectual discussions. Also, I would be a in better position to assist with arrangements if meetings were held in Indy.

The chief downside would be the need for non-Indianapolis students to spend 60-90 minutes each way for travel time.

Phil

[Betsy Speicher 0]

Indianapolis could make sense for a number of reasons.

If you would like me to mention this in the CyberNet, let me know including some e-mail addresses, web sites, etc. where people can get more information and make contact. Just send me a PM or write to betsy@speicher.com.

[Aurelia 0]

That sounds wonderful, Phil. As far as advertising to students, not only could we use the club structures already there, but Facebook makes contacting any students possible. Non-students might be more difficult.

Before we start anything though, I'd like to be very clear in what objective you and Taylor have in mind. I was thinking just a small social gathering, coffee or something, but I'm game for more if that's what you have in mind. Do you envision a lecture, a regular moderated discussion, a one-time social event, a regular social event, or some mixture of these?

-- It seems probable that either IU Bloomington or Purdue students could request meeting rooms in Indianapolis, but that should be checked.

I'm not sure what you mean by this. What meeting rooms could students request? If you mean that Purdue and IU have satelite schools there who's resources we might be able to borrow... I don't know about IU but purdue only grants such resources to clubs, which we lack.

The chief downside would be the need for non-Indianapolis students to spend 60-90 minutes each way for travel time.

I'm up for making the trip once or twice a month. I might even be able to drive a few people.

[PhilO 0]

Before we start anything though, I'd like to be very clear in what objective you and Taylor have in mind. I was thinking just a small social gathering, coffee or something, but I'm game for more if that's what you have in mind. Do you envision a lecture, a regular moderated discussion, a one-time social event, a regular social event, or some mixture of these?

A one time semi-social event sounds logical to me. I say semi-social because it would be an opportunity for people to express an interest in making it a longer term ongoing arrangement - then, if so, making some concrete plans. As I mentioned, I suspect that there's greater motivation to maintain such an arrangement if it statistically results in larger meetings.

I'm not sure what you mean by this. What meeting rooms could students request? If you mean that Purdue and IU have satelite schools there who's resources we might be able to borrow... I don't know about IU but purdue only grants such resources to clubs, which we lack.

All the student clubs that I've known about, including the previous incarnations at Purdue, have been able to arrange free (I thought) rooms for meetings from, I guess, a pool of rooms that are available for clubs. I'm not sure what you mean by "which we lack"? I would think that any Purdue (IU, etc.) student can initiate club formation with just a few interested people, giving them formal status. I wasn't aware that any fees to the university were involved.

My thought was that, since IUPUI gives equivalent credit for either Purdue or IU depending on the class, that it may be the case that IU Bloomington or Purdue students could request a meeting room somewhere at IUPUI, perhaps in the library (which is very large), particularly if they represent a formally organized club. I'll see if I can track down that information.

I'm up for making the trip once or twice a month. I might even be able to drive a few people.

A couple of times per month sounds like a nice level.

[PhilO 0]

If you would like me to mention this in the CyberNet, let me know including some e-mail addresses, web sites, etc. where people can get more information and make contact. Just send me a PM or write to betsy@speicher.com.

That would be great, Betsy. I'll give you the details after we get this figured out.

[Aurelia 0]

A one time semi-social event sounds logical to me. I say semi-social because it would be an opportunity for people to express an interest in making it a longer term ongoing arrangement - then, if so, making some concrete plans. As I mentioned, I suspect that there's greater motivation to maintain such an arrangement if it statistically results in larger meetings.

I like that too. It's better if people feel there isn't any large commitmant before they know they want to come regularly, and it'll also save us the hassle of making the arrangements if no one decides they want to continue.

All the student clubs that I've known about, including the previous incarnations at Purdue, have been able to arrange free (I thought) rooms for meetings from, I guess, a pool of rooms that are available for clubs. I'm not sure what you mean by "which we lack"? I would think that any Purdue (IU, etc.) student can initiate club formation with just a few interested people, giving them formal status. I wasn't aware that any fees to the university were involved.

The reason Purdue no longer has an Objectivist club is because there is only one person left who is 1) a registered student, 2) in good standing and 3) willing to be an officer. By university regulations we need two. As far as I know that situation hasn't changed over the summer. I think our club is still in the registers, it's probably in a sort of haitus status. So we wouldn't have to restart it completely, and if I remember correctly it'll probably keep that stauts until next semester. I'll talk to Coire and see if we can find the officers to restart the club; not to maintain it here, we don't have the numbers to accomplish that. Just to give us offical club status so we can have access to university resources for the larger club.

Even so, I'm hesitent to want to use university facilities. In my experience in coordinating these meetings, the location matters to the tone of the meeting. We tried a couple different locations for our meetings here. When they were held in classrooms the participants were shy and unwillingly to speak when not directly spoken to. We eventually moved our meetings to the student union lounges and the meetings went much better and more openly. I think the classrooms felt too much like school. I don't know about a library, I've never seen it.

[taylor 0]

I agree on the use of university facilities. At the Miami of Ohio club we also switched to lounge meetings; as the president I felt like I was lecturing to the classroom and fielding questions which should not be how it works. People were much more engaged on couches.

A small social gathering sounds great. Any idea what this would consist of? Like a certain location in Indy or restaurant?

-Taylor

I like that too. It's better if people feel there isn't any large commitmant before they know they want to come regularly, and it'll also save us the hassle of making the arrangements if no one decides they want to continue.

The reason Purdue no longer has an Objectivist club is because there is only one person left who is 1) a registered student, 2) in good standing and 3) willing to be an officer. By university regulations we need two. As far as I know that situation hasn't changed over the summer. I think our club is still in the registers, it's probably in a sort of haitus status. So we wouldn't have to restart it completely, and if I remember correctly it'll probably keep that stauts until next semester. I'll talk to Coire and see if we can find the officers to restart the club; not to maintain it here, we don't have the numbers to accomplish that. Just to give us offical club status so we can have access to university resources for the larger club.

Even so, I'm hesitent to want to use university facilities. In my experience in coordinating these meetings, the location matters to the tone of the meeting. We tried a couple different locations for our meetings here. When they were held in classrooms the participants were shy and unwillingly to speak when not directly spoken to. We eventually moved our meetings to the student union lounges and the meetings went much better and more openly. I think the classrooms felt too much like school. I don't know about a library, I've never seen it.

[Guest Aaron Michael Morales]

Did anything ever become of an Indiana club, for students or otherwise? Just curious. I'm roughly an hour outside Indianapolis and would certainly be up for a gatthering of some sort. I noticed these are all postings from last year, so perhaps this is no longer something even being considered. However, if it has become a regular thing, let me know. I'd be happy to come join the conversation.

Aaron

[PhilO 0]

Did anything ever become of an Indiana club, for students or otherwise? Just curious. I'm roughly an hour outside Indianapolis and would certainly be up for a gatthering of some sort. I noticed these are all postings from last year, so perhaps this is no longer something even being considered. However, if it has become a regular thing, let me know. I'd be happy to come join the conversation.

Amanda and I coordinated one meeting in Indianapolis, since I'm close by, but there have not been followup meetings. I suspect that there could be more interest if they were more broadly and persistently advertised, especially in the universities/colleges, but it's not really something I'm motivated to do on a long term basis, currently.