IFC joins local chamber of commerce

Some really cool news today from The University of Colorado - Boulder. Their IFC is looking to strengthen relationships with their community – particularly the local business community – so the IFC joined the Boulder Chamber of Commerce.

From The Colorado Daily:

Since splitting from the University in 2005, CU-Boulder fraternities and the corresponding Interfraternity Council (IFC) that unites them have been working hard to re-establish relationships with various segments of the community that are no longer available to them through the university. As of Wednesday, Feb. 23, an important bridge was constructed between them and the larger community.

“Since we are not affiliated with the University anymore, we were just looking for an alternate route to legitimizing ourselves as an organization within the community,” said Benjamin Finn, IFC Vice President of External Affairs and key coordinator in leading the IFC to teaming up with the Chamber. “For us, it's a precursor to future potential business ties and relationships.”

What a tremendous idea. Of course, the challenge now will be putting the membership to work for their organization by having officers or their advisor attend meetings, turning out people to chamber-sponsored events, and demonstrating a sincerity to skeptical business owners who have a negative impression of fraternities.

I think this would be a fantastic idea for any student government, fraternity/sorority community, or other student organization looking to build its positive profile in their local community. Your chamber of commerce is made up of all the small business owners in your area. Often, some larger companies are involved also.

Chamber memberships usually cost a few hundred dollars, but getting involved could pay off in improved relationships with area businesses. Imagine how much easier it would be to go out and find sponsorships for events if you could walk in and speak to a business owner who knows you in a positive capacity from chamber meetings. I'm sure that this could also help with job searches for the IFC officers who go to chamber events and network with business owners.

The mistake would be to join, and then never attend or do anything with the chamber. Then, it's just a waste of money, because membership in a chamber alone doesn't do much for anyone. Involvement is KEY.

CU IFC Advisor Marc Stine tells me that the membership cost only $.36 per member. I'm excited to see how this investment pays off for them in the coming year or two. Done right, they could get a lot out of it.

To find out more about your local chamber of commerce, just Google your town (or nearest city name) and "chamber of commerce." See if they have a rate for non-profit organizations when you inquire about membership.

Bye, bye, phone trees! Text message systems have arrived

Have you heard about text messaging systems? New idea to me, but I love it. I think it's something that will be wonderful for athletic teams, programming boards, Greek chapters, and any other student organization that has a need to get out the word about events quickly to all their members or interested students.

Meeting canceled? Reminders about tonight's event in the Student Center? Practice time changed? In the old days, we had to jump on the phone and call everyone. Now, you can just log in, type up a quick message, push a button, and everyone gets the instantaneous update. Ain't technology grand?

The system I've been reading about online is The Gin System. I have no idea how much it costs, but they have a whole section dedicated to student organizations (I'm guessing that student organizations are ideal customers for this sort of service). If you know about other companies offering this service, shoot me an email.

Drinking in letters

Sorority women typically do not drink while wearing their letters. You'll never seen a member of a historically Black Greek organization doing it either. But at some schools, fraternity men use and abuse alcohol regularly and proudly while wearing their letters. It bugs me.

When I was in school at Indiana, we didn't do it. It felt wrong to us. I distinctly remember sitting in Jeff Lewis' room one afternoon watching television and drinking a couple of beers. A brother joined us, and he was wearing a t-shirt from one of our events. Before he even picked up the beer bottle, he took his shirt off, turned it inside out and put it back on. Even in the privacy of our rooms, it was that automatic and absolute. It wasn't cool to drink with your letters on. If he had accidentally sipped the beer while wearing those letters, we would have expected an apology. No joke.

Some schools take it even further. The last time I visited Eastern Illinois University, they had just passed a Greek community-wide ban on smoking cigarettes in your letters. I don't know if they still have that rule, or if it's ever been enforced.

Some would argue that drinking and smoking are legal activities if the user is of age, so it should not be a problem to wear your letters while doing it. And, I suppose it's a valid point. It's never crossed my mind to protest my fraternity's alumni wearing regalia in the hotel bar while having drinks at convention, for example.

As I've gotten older and spent more time around groups other than my own, I've come to appreciate the way some groups protect the sanctity of their letters and their image. Perhaps it's purely symbolic and hollow, but I wish that my brothers would protect our letters the way my Kappa Alpha Psi friends protect theirs.

I still flinch when I see pictures like one one on this posting (from one of my fraternity's chapters in California). The guy in the picture didn't mean any harm, and I'm sure he's a wonderful, contributing member of my fraterity. But, I wonder if those brothers would think it was cool to get drunk and stupid wearing a picture of their mom, their sister, or Jesus on their shirt? Would that be cool?

This summer, I am planning to start the argument at my convention – should it be OK for brothers to wear letters while drinking and partying? Some chapters will surely fight for their right to wear their letters whenever and however they please.

When you respect something enough to keep it safe, it becomes more valuable to you. Even if the protection is symbolic, it makes an impression on your mind and heart. I'd like to see my brothers value their letters a lot more, and perhaps if we can get more brothers to feel the same way, I won't see any more pictures like this one published for the rest of the world to see.

Let's talk about the newspaper reporter's job

I was a journalism major in college, and I have lots of cool experiences from my years writing for the college newspaper and from several internships as a reporter, copy editor, and photographer.

One of my favorite moments came when a county commissioner didn't like a story I wrote about a monthly commissioners' meeting. He called me up and said to me, "Your job is to come to the meetings and just report the facts of what happened."

I told him, "No, actually, my job is to stay awake during your dull meetings and try to find a single interesting morsel that I can magically spin into 8 column inches so that my publisher can sell some newspapers. And frankly, you're really making me earn my money."

Yeah, I was 2o at the time. I wasn't taking shit from any dumb-ass Southern Maryland county commissioner. I was Dustin Hoffman in "All the President's Men" and I was tired of people wasting my time and talents. As my boyfriend Anderson Cooper would say, I was "keeping them honest" even if I had to dig for something – anything – interesting.

But, there's a good lesson here for all of you student leaders. It's not the job of a newspaper reporter to show up and be your stenographer. It's not the job of the reporter to write about the facts as you would like to present them. If you would like your version of the facts translated directly to the public, publish your own newspaper, or join the Chinese Communist Party.

The job of the newspaper reporter is to sort through the nonsense and the bullshit and find something worthy of the reader's time and interest the next day. That's a hard job. If you don't believe me, watch a half hour of C-SPAN then an hour of ABC Nightly News and tell me that Charles Gibson and his team aren't earning their paychecks.

I remember covering the student government for the college newspaper 20 years ago. Their meeting was so damn dull, I wrote my story that night about what people wore to the meeting. At least it was interesting. My editors loved it, but the student government officers were furious at me. I told them to quit being boring and do something worth writing about. They called my editor and asked her to send someone else to cover them, and she told them to go screw themselves. And, she told them they needed to start dressing a little better.

It was the 80's, but still...

So, take note, dear student leader. If you want press coverage, do something interesting and different. We, the journalists of the world, are not here to make you look good or spread the positive word about your efforts. We're here to cull through the garbage and find something that doesn't stink of rot. Being a newspaper reporter is a lot like trolling yard sales – it's mostly junk out there, but occasionally you come across something cool.

The sooner you understand and accept that, the sooner you'll be able to develop a relationship with your student newspaper that benefits everyone.

A good room is hard to find

We get a lot of cancellations in the Spring. It's not that people no longer want speakers, it's that they often book a speaker for a date without securing an adequate room. As much as we try to remind people to make sure they have a room before requesting a contract from us, people still do it.

If you have any meetings or events coming up this Spring, get those rooms reserved immediately! Reserve for your Greek Week, reserve for your big meeting, reserve for your big annual reception. Lock in your date way, way, way in advance because rooms get snatched up early this time of year. If you don't reserve now, you will end up having your event outside on the sidewalk!

If you are a new officer of a student organization, this should be a high priority. Get on it now. Look at your programming calendar for the next six to nine months, and make sure you have your locations secure. Take a few moments and make sure you know your college's policy on room reservations. How soon can you reserve rooms for your Fall 2008? Mark that date in your calendar or set some sort of other alarm so you can be the first one to snatch the choice room for your event.

This is one of the most common mistakes made by new officers. They aren't thinking far enough in advance and they don't know the policies for securing rooms.

If you're receiving this suggestion too late, and all the good rooms are reserved, it's time to get creative. What about dining halls, large lounges in residence halls, large foyer areas in your student union? What about athletic facilities? I swear, I did a program once on a racquetball court.

Another interesting fraternity t-shirt choice

I think I could do nothing but entries about entertaining fraternity t-shirts, and I'd have material every day for this blog. Here's one I saw at Mount Union College in Ohio this weekend.

Seems the SAE's were promoting their theme of "True Gentlemen" as part of their recruitment efforts. So another fraternity thought it would be funny to make fun of them with their recruitment t-shirts.

I asked Jesse, the very friendly kid wearing this shirt, whether men and women on campus got the joke. He said he didn't know. I asked him if the shirt was popular with his brothers, and he said yes, because it made fun of the other fraternity. While they were trying to mock the SAEs, my bet is that they ended up helping them.

I find this stuff endlessly entertaining. This was the first time I could remember a fraternity making fun of a positive message put out by a different fraternity. Nothing inherently wrong or shocking here, just interesting.

I had a wonderful visit to Mount Union, by the way. Thanks to all the great students and advisors I met there, especially Kate Carnel, the greek advisor, who is doing some really wonderful things there in the frigid tundra of Northeastern Ohio.

But we need them to keep the house

I have long been of the unpopular opinion that fraternity and sorority houses are more of a detriment to our organizations than an asset. At least three times in the last two weeks, students have told me that they have members who have terrible grades or bad behavior, and as much as they'd like to suspend these men and send them on their way, they cannot. They need the bodies living in the house.

So, they tolerate men with grades below a 2.0. They tolerate the men who are risk management nightmares. They tolerate the idiots who haze new members. It's a vicious cycle: they cannot get rid of the existing losers because they need people to fill the house, and they can't recruit new members because they have bad grades and bad reputations. Respect for their property declines, and the appearance of their house declines.

I say purge the losers, take the short term financial hit, and get things moving the right direction. It's a hard to do, but it's necessary to turn around a losing cycle. Talk to your housing corporation, and ask them to become your ally in the turnaround. If your house is owned or managed by your university, make an appointment to discuss the problem with them. Enroll your chapter advisor to help make your case. Talk your brothers into accepting a short-term rent increase to make up the financial shortfall, or cut back on some of your social activities for a semester to save some money. Move in some unaffiliated friends (who aren't going to cause problems) for a few months if you have to.

If you are about to begin the lease-signing process for next year, take a stand now and do NOT let men or women with insufficient grades sign leases.

The only true answer to this problem is to recruit like crazy. If you have more members who are meeting standards, you will have more members available to fill the house. With more good members recruited, you will have an easier time enforcing your standards and shedding members who fall below them in the future.

Why I've decided to join Sig Ep

OK, I just love this rush theme. If you know me, you know where my mind is on this one.

If you join, do you get to dominate? Or, do you get dominated? Guess I'll know by whether they put this on the front or the back of their t-shirts.

The way I see it, everybody wins either way.

Have a great weekend. I'm off to Ohio where I hear it's snowing.

Congrats to AKA sisters on 100 years

A big and heartfelt congrats to the women of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. as they celebrate their 100th year. The women of AKA will be gathering in Washington D.C. -- site of their founding -- for their celebratory convention July 11-18, 2008.

Some famous AKA's are there in the pic. Gotta love you some Gladys Knight!

If you know a sister, wish her well on the next century.

Old dogs getting tired of the puppies?

Why do upperclassmen get bored and drift away from your organization?

Only underclassman providing leadership? Juniors and seniors who just don't come around? When they do show up, they seem bored and disconnected from your organization?

This isn't really a complicated problem, although it's the source of a lot of frustration for some student leaders. There's a simple explanation.

The organization suited their needs when they were freshmen and sophomores, but now their needs and interests have shifted, and your organization hasn't grown with them. Perhaps when they joined they were looking to make friends and find a way to get involved. Well now, two years later, they have a network of friends and they've grown bored with the available leadership positions. So, they are moving on to other things.

Fraternity example. Perhaps when your brother joined freshman year, he was looking for a place to party, meet girls, and hang out. Well now, two years later, he has a steady girlfriend, he's turned 21 and prefers to drink and hang out with friends in bars. When he's around the fraternity, he doesn't see it meeting any of his needs, so he checks out. All he sees is an organization full of immature guys obsessed with partying, and he doesn't really fit in anymore.

Worked then, doesn't work now. Bye bye.

Ask yourself this question: what does my organization offer to members who are in different stages of their college careers? Are we only offering benefits for a certain age or maturity group?

Your organization should have different activities that appeal to different types of members. Sure, your sorority might have socials, recruitment events, and Greek Week contests that appeal to the young members. But, it can also have weekend trips, alumni career networking events, and special dinners for older members. Family events with children will be attractive to alumnae in their family years. When you are planning all of your organization's activities over the course of the semester or year, you need to make sure that there are activities that appeal to different generations of members.

What is your residence life association doing for the seniors who don't like large, loud activities? Can your club sports organization have small gatherings that target smaller groups? What can your professional organization do to help juniors and seniors make graduate school connections and secure assistantships?

Bottom line: if you are only focused on events where you are expecting 100 percent attendance – from people of all ages and interests – you are going to have some motivation issues. I recommend you think of smaller, more "niche" programming, and help your disconnected members feel more catered to. Bring them together, ask them to brainstorm the type of events or activities that would appeal to them, find them the funding, get them integrally involved in the planning, and let them enjoy events that directly appeal to them.

Hey, we all love puppies. But every now and then, it's nice to hang with the old dogs.

MGCA announces new magazine project

You're going to be hearing the letters MGCA more than usual in the coming year as the rapidly expanding organization launches a new quarterly magazine. Not a newsletter mind you, but a real, slick, fancy magazine. If you've ever seen NACA's Programming magazine, it will probably look something like that. They are calling it Connections.

It's a big endeavor (I'd love to see the business plan on it, actually), and they are busy seeking advertisers and content providers.

From their announcement letter:

This is sure to be a must-have publication for fraternity/sorority offices and students everywhere! Our target audience is BOTH fraternity/sorority professionals and those elected student leaders who are the primary decision makers on their respective campuses. Each issue of Connections will provide readers with well written articles by leaders within the fraternity/sorority industry.

Ads are due this month. Not sure if they are full on content for the first issue. But, if you are interested in doing something with the new magazine, call Mark Koepsell at 970-372-1174 or email him at mark@mgca.org.

Statement regarding respect for women

I spoke this weekend to the Greek leaders from Ramapo College, and I especially enjoyed a half-hour or so I spent with their Interfraternity Council. The men of their IFC are very concerned about stereotypes that exist about them, particularly surrounding issues of respect for women. They were upset that sorority women said (during a retreat brainstorming activity about image and public relations) they often feel mistreated by some of the men in the fraternity community, or that they believe that fraternity men are generally distrustful when it comes to their behavior toward women.

Obviously, the men in the room were leaders of their fraternity community. The cream of the crop, perhaps. This stereotype was incredibly insulting to them, but they acknowledged that the behavior of some fraternity men on their campus had created and reinforced this image.

Over the next half hour, we discussed some strategies for making progress to improve that dominant impression of their men. We talked about the importance of holding brothers accountable when they behave badly toward women. We talked about safety at social functions. We also talked about the importance of guarding against alcohol abuse by women at the parties so that abusive situations were minimized.

But, they wanted to do something immediately to address the issue. I suggested that they create a "Statement Regarding Respect for Women." I recommended that they bring all the men from their Greek councils (IFC, multicultural, and historically Black fraternities) and design a statement, cooperatively. I recommended that the statement begin with the line:

"We, the affiliated men of Ramapo College, affirm our commitment to the belief that the safest place for a woman on our campus should be in the presence of a fraternity man."

Then, build from there, I told them. List the kinds of behaviors that would not be tolerated. Talk about the specific things you are going to start doing to improve the problem. Make sure to address it at an individual as well as a community level.

I told them that once they designed this statement, they needed to make it public. But more importantly, they needed to be sure they were holding their brothers accountable to it. The level of buy-in from the average member would absolutely determine whether or not the statement had any teeth or was simply an empty PR move. I also told them that they should ask the sorority women on campus to help hold them accountable to the statement and let them know where specific improvements could be made.

The fraternity men at Ramapo were especially upset because they thought that the sorority women were helping to promote the negative image instead of standing up for their fraternity friends. I suggested to them that by taking some deliberate steps in a positive direction, they could enlist the sorority women as advocates. When women start telling other women that things are changing for the better, then perhaps the stereotype will be weakened or disappear over time.

Is your fraternity community suffering from this same negative image regarding men's behavior toward women on your campus? If so, recognizing it as a problem is the first step to addressing it. I challenge you to write your own "Statement Regarding Respect for Women." Go ahead and use the same first line – I think it's a pretty good one.

Thoughts on Sober Ride Programs

There has been some discussion this week on a higher ed discussion board about sober ride programs -- the pro's and con's. Thought I would share a few thoughts. From 1991-1994, I worked for the BACCHUS Peer Education Network, and I dealt with several campuses and Greek communities who were either running or deciding to run one of these programs. Recently, some leaders at the University of Colorado brought the idea up to me. So, I know that this is still a popular idea, and I have a few thoughts to share.

Sober ride programs are pretty wide-spread. The idea being that on weekend nights (and any other common partying nights at a particular campus), you can call a certain number, and someone will come and give you a sober ride home. These programs are run by volunteers who either use their own cars or use university vehicles.

The students who get excited about these programs have good intentions. They are providing safe rides home, and they feel like they are both saving lives by discouraging impaired driving and possibly preventing sexual assault situations by getting young, intoxicated women home safely.

There are a heap of pretty significant negatives though. The big one, as usual, is liability. You've got the potential for vehicle crashes, alcohol poisonings, and such. You also usually get puke all over the vehicles, and that's not a lot of fun to clean out at 3 a.m. Usually these programs start with a bevy of volunteers, but eventually the novelty wears off, and it's hard to get people to sign up with a good and willing attitude.

There is also the potential for people to use your sober ride program as a personal taxi service. Some people believe that these programs actually encourage people to over-indulge. (I don't agree with that. It's the same argument that those against condom distribution make about the motivation to have sex. But, whatever).

There are also expenses: the cell phone, the gas, the parking, training for the volunteers, etc. Plus, you have to make sure you always have a man and a woman in the sober ride vehicle, because you can't have a lone guy driving drunk women home. There is always the possibility of abuse by the volunteers who are supposed to be helping.

My conclusion over these years has been that sober ride programs are a giant pain in the ass. They are incredibly high maintenance and the use of them declines significantly over a short period of time. I think there's a better way to do it.

One Greek community (I wish I could remember which one... it's been too many years to remember) did a variation of the program that I thought was brilliant. They contracted with a local cab company and worked with them to create "Greek Taxi Vouchers." These were distributed liberally to Greek members and these vouchers were good for a one-way ride from the bar district to any one of the Greek houses (no other routing). This particular Greek community negotiated a flat rate with the cab company (let's say $4 per coupon the cab company collected), and the Greek Councils settled up with the cab company at the end of each month.

Sounds expensive, but it wasn't actually. As I remember it, their total bill was under $300 a month, which was significantly less expensive than administering a sober ride program. Best of all, they had none of the liability. The cab company's was responsible, just as they would be for any other passenger.

The only negative I remember was that students weren't dependably tipping the cab drivers, so the Greek community threw in some extra money to be distributed to the cab drivers later on.

A student government could do the same thing by allowing students to simply show an ID to the cab driver and sign a voucher.

Providing sober rides is a wonderful idea, but with a little creativity, you can find a better way to do it.

Grade reports are coming out

Remember the joy of bringing home a great report card?

One of the rituals of January for fraternity and sorority communities is the appearance of the Fall grade reports. Some chapters stay virtually the same, some rise, some fall. Some are grinning like the kid in the picture, and some are not.

We (meaning advisor types) all carefully look at where the "all men's" or "all women's" averages fall in comparison to the chapter and council scores.

In case you're new to this, dear student leader, here's what you don't want: you don't want your chapter to be below the all men's or women's average. If it does, it means that your members, on average, are doing more poorly than the rest of campus, and it means you need to get busy emphasizing academic performance in your members whose priorities are out of whack. It also means that you need to immediately begin recruiting new members with better grades.

You also don't want your "all fraternity average" to be below your "all men's average" (or all sorority lower than all women's). Why? Because that indicates that your community is either recruiting from the lower end of the academic brain pool or that when a young man or woman joins your Greek community, he or she gets dumber.

This isn't a good thing, because the faculty pay close attention to these numbers. They begin thinking that Greeks are more likely to be academic under-performers, and they treat you that way. It means you don't wear your letters when you go to office hours because you don't want to be labeled a dumb-ass Greek when you walk in the door.

It's also important to pay attention to the new member class grade averages. The quickest way to spot a hazing chapter is to note the gap between the active member GPA ranking and the new member class ranking. If a particular fraternity ranks third among fraternities for GPA, but their new member class ranks 10th, something is going on. Maybe it's not hazing, but at the very least, that chapter's new member program is too intense and distracting, and it's killing the academic standard of its new members. That's not OK.

If your academic ranking depresses you, there are some things you can do:

First, look at everyone below a 2.0 for the past semester AND who have a cumulative GPA that is lower than your chapter's standard (whatever that is). These folks can't hold any offices. They need to be focusing on grades. They also need to be warned that if they don't bring things up this semester, they will be removed from active membership. It's that simple.

Second, take a highlighter and draw lines to mark the top third, middle third, and bottom third of your academic performers. Post it. Then, work on the middle third. They are the ones most likely to make changes and boost their GPAs.

Third, next chapter meeting, buy a box of those "Hello, My Name Is..." nametags. But instead of names, put everyone's GPA on the nametags and challenge people to wear them during the meeting. That will really piss some people off. When people won't wear their GPA's ask them, "Why not?" I'm all for a little shame. Tell them that GPA's will also be listed on all future nametags at recruitment events as well.

Fourth. If your new member GPA isn't equal or higher than your active GPA, call an immediate meeting of your new member and recruitment committees (you have those, right?) and make some radical changes to fix this. Begin by reducing the amount of time new members have to spend at activities. They need more time to be students, and less time to be fraternity members. Set higher standards for recruitment, assign big brothers/sisters only to those members with higher than average GPAs. You get the idea.

Fifth. If you're the Greek Advisor on campus, take out an ad in the student newspaper and publish the grades of the chapters on campus. Let everyone see who cares and who doesn't. Oh, and tell your chapter leaders that starting in 2009, this report will be made available to all men and women joining fraternities and sororities. Really, nothing works better to boost grades than positive peer pressure.

Fraternity men and women are supposed to represent something better. If your Greek grade reports don't reflect that, then you've got a problem.

If your Greek grades were good this past semester: CONGRATS! Thanks for making Greek Life something worth respecting at your campus.

If your personal grades were awesome, THANK YOU for making the rest of us look good.

And now the shameless plug. If your Greek community is really seeing a downturn in scholarship and you think a good speaker might help, check out Mark Hartley. His program, SNAFU: Greeks and Grades, has been getting great reviews for our agency. I think very highly of Mark and his program, and recommend that you give it a look.

What interest rate are you paying on your credit card?

Yes, I know this doesn't have much to do with student leadership, but the sad fact is that way too many student leaders are doing great things for their campus organizations and are quietly running up huge balances on their credit cards. With so many demands on your time, thinking about the financial hole you are digging takes a back seat to a quick meal charged at midnight to your Visa.

OK, so the average American has $9,900 in credit card debt right now, according to Bankrate.com. The average interest rate people are paying right now is around 14.5%. If you have more than this amount in credit card debt, or if you are paying a higher interest rate, you are on the wrong side of the average and you need to do something about it. Now.

First thing you need to do is to call the customer service number on the back of your credit card, find out what interest rate you are paying, and ask for a lower one. Tell them that you are going to move your balance to a card with a lower interest rate unless they can lower yours. If you have very good credit (a score of 700 or better) you should be closer to 10%.

If this doesn't work (and frequently, it doesn't), then start shopping for a credit card that has a lower interest rate, apply for it, and move your balances there. Right now, American Express is marketing a card (I think it's called the "clear card") that has a 2.9% interest rate for a year on any balances transferred. (Of course, if you're late on a payment, they boost the interest rate to 25%, so be very careful for these important details).

Sadly, credit cards are a reality for many students, but there's no reason to be passive about it. If you are still using that very first credit card you got with the terrible interest rate, it's time to switch. Also, if you are carrying balances on several cards, consolidate into one card, and make larger payments each month to one card issuer. This should allow you to earn a lower interest rate.

Some other basic credit card advice:

Don't carry your credit card around with you. Leave it at home in a safe place. When the credit card is not within easy reach, it tends to get used for fewer stupid, impulsive purchases. If you must carry a card, carry a debit card so that you aren't running up debt.

Never allow yourself to charge anything under $20. If you don't have cash for these tiny purchases, you shouldn't be making them.

Don't save your credit card information on any websites. They all give you the option of storing your credit card for your next online visit. Don't do it. Those extra minutes having to enter in your card information might be what gives you time to question the necessity of the purchase.

Always make your payments on time. This is the easiest way to keep your credit score at a good place. This might not be important to you now, but when you're trying to buy that condo or get that new car loan in a couple of years, it's going to make a huge difference.

Never get a cash advance from a credit card. Those interest rates are horrible. It's just stupid. You might as well be going to one of those paycheck advance places. Total rip off.

Those minimum payments you see on your bill are your ENEMY. You should always pay at least TRIPLE that amount. No kidding. Sorry if that depresses you. Triple, triple, triple.

Whenever you charge something, get the receipt, and post it in your room. Put it on a bulletin board, tape it to your bed's headboard. Seeing those receipts add up will slow down your spending.

Beware credit counseling services. They really should be a last resort for people who are in deep, deep trouble. If you use one, make sure it's a HUD certified agency. And remember, if you go down that road, you cannot change your mind. If you have a rich uncle who can bail you out and set you on a repayment plan, that's a much better way to go, even if it's a bit embarrassing.

And, to conclude, here's the very best tip I can give you. Only spend paper money. No credit cards, only paper. And then, save all the change you accumulate each day. You will save about $30 a month this way, and put it into an account somewhere. You're never too young to get a basic mutual fund, and $30 monthly deposits will add up nicely. More tips at ChoosetoSave.org.

Lessons about motivation from Obama's Iowa victory

Last night in Iowa, record numbers showed up to participate in one of our country's most unique democratic rituals. Democrats and Republicans blew away previous participation records at the Iowa caucuses by nearly 50-percent.

In the case of the Democrats, they decisively chose Barack Obama. While Huckabee's win on the Republican side is probably attributable to the turnout of evangelical Christians, the credit for Obama's Iowa victory is due to an unheard-of number of "young voters under 30" who showed up in overwhelming numbers. For many, it was the first time they've ever participated.

So, are there lessons about motivating young people in Obama's victory? Definitely. I think we'll be seeing more stories about this in the coming weeks. Three critical things pushed Iowa's younger voters (many college students) to rally: the appeal of change, a competitive field, and peer excitement.

Young people, in general, like change. They embrace ever-changing technology, they live in a different place every year, they change their loyalties and their peer groups much faster than their parents. To us old folks, your young lives seem chaotic and tumultuous, but the change seems normal to you. Change is fun and cool. Stability is boring and unappealing. The chance to propel a Black or female candidate into a viable candidacy has been motivating Iowa's young people for quite a while.

Most of the pundits are saying that Obama better positioned himself as the Democrat candidate representing change, and that likely appealed to younger voters who are drawn to an opportunity to shake things up. Although her gender probably played to her advantage with younger voters early on, Hillary Clinton didn't do a good job of playing herself as the change candidate, and that probably hurt her with young voters. On the Republican side, the appeal of "change" has been playing out in the remarkable fundraising totals of candidate Ron Paul.

Second... Students love a competition, and by all measures, this year's Democratic and Republican primaries have been one hell of a contest. Front-runner status changes constantly. Absolutely no one knew who was going to win on the Democratic side two days ago.

Competition energizes college students -- we see that constantly with competitive charity fund-raisers on college campuses. The fact that no one knew who would win definitely got students jazzed. Every student probably felt that his or her attendance could make a difference, and they were probably grabbing their friends and pulling them along to the caucuses. Had someone been leading in either party by 10-15 percentage points in the polls, you would not have seen the same young voter turnout.

Third, there was a lot of excitement on college campuses throughout Iowa surrounding the caucuses this year. It's all they've been hearing about for a year or more. If their peers had been apathetic about the contests, then many students would have been less interested, and turnout would have been disappointing. But, when your peers are constantly talking about the contests and there is massive peer pressure and excitement to get out and participate, momentum builds. You want to be where your friends are. It was literally UNCOOL not to get out and have your voice be heard last night.

We will only see this phenomenon in Iowa this year -- the intensity is just not the same in other primary competitions. Iowa gave us one hell of a case study in college student motivation and the lessons are these...

Students like something new and different that represents a change of mindset or norm. Students enjoy something competitive, where their effort has a discernible impact on the outcome. And, students take their cue from the excitement of their peer group. Give them something new and different, make it exciting with an uncertain outcome, and get the buzz going hard.

Do those things, and you can make amazing things happen. Just ask Barack Obama.

Music at your events

One of the best ways to set an upbeat tone at your events is to have a little music playing as people come into the room. I travel with a CD of current hits (half the stuff I don't even know) that I play at a healthy volume before I speak. It just puts energy into the room. I want people talking loud and jamming to tunes before I come on stage.

Think about this for your next event or meeting. What if people came to the next chapter meeting and tunes were playing? Would it change the energy of the meeting? What if there was music playing for a half hour before your student government meeting? What about your next staff meeting. Let's see how your vice president responds to Soulja Boy.

I am consistently amazed at how many higher ed conference planners totally forget about this simple strategy for motivating the crowds. If you go to a NACA conference, they understand the importance of cranking the tunes in the room before a program. Greek conferences, some yes, some no. Frankly, I think there should be fun music playing over the sound system before every keynote speaker.

One little caution – be careful that the music isn't too crazy. Funny story... Kelly Jo Karnes is a friend of mine, a Greek Advisor type, and part of the leadership team for the MGCA conference in Chicago. I will always remember her vetoing the music selection that was playing as they were preparing to open the doors for my keynote. The tech guys were playing Kanye West's "Golddigger." I had heard the song, thought it was fun and catchy, but I had never listened to the words. Kelly Jo shouted to them, "Unless you have the edited version of that song, turn it off!"

I just love that Kelly Jo knew the words to "Golddigger." So cool, that woman.

And, I'm glad she was paying attention. Not sure if a song with the "n-word" would have been a great way to warm the crowd up prior to my speech. Maybe they would have loved it. In any case, better safe than sorry when choosing your songs. The clean version of a song is always a better way to go.

What are your three things?

Being a student leader is stressful, and sometimes, you become so engulfed in the work that you can forget to take care of yourself. Here's a tip that can really help keep you personally motivated.

It's important to always have a few things you are looking forward to and to remind yourself of these things constantly.

Let me give you an example to which we can all relate. If that paper is killing you this week, it's helpful to know that something fun is happening this weekend. It helps you push pass the stress and focus on something fun waiting for you on the other side.

Same thing with your student leadership term. When things are driving you crazy (meetings, annoying members, budget issues, whatever), it's nice to be able to think about something coming up that will be fun, personally rewarding, just for you.

I recommend that you ALWAYS have a small list of three things that you are PERSONALLY looking forward to. Post it in your room or bathroom mirror. Keep it in your planner. List it on your profile page, whatever. Put it somewhere where you will see it every day. Do not list things that have to do with your organization – that's cheating. Make them entirely personal.

I always ask my interns to do this. I see little Post-It Notes on their bulletin boards. Things they list include seeing friends from out of town, going for a visit somewhere, a friend's wedding, going skiing or hiking, a sporting event, dates (what's a date?), a concert. And when you've done one of the three things, put something new on the list. Always have three.

Don't make them general ("Going hiking"), make them specific ("Going hiking on Saturday the 10th with Kevin").

And, here's the key, if you can't think of three things that you are personally looking forward to, you've got a bigger problem. You need to take some time and come up with some. Be kinder to yourself. This one little tip will help your personal motivation tremendously if you do it and stick to it.

Is a student leader's GPA that important?

I graduated from undergrad with a 2.7 GPA. Not very stellar. But, like many of you, I always heard that having a resume full of leadership accomplishments was more important. Well, it's been 20 years now, and I think I was wrong.

I should have cared a lot more about my grades. I sincerely wish I had graduated with at least a 3.0. Working 30 or more hours a week didn't help, but the truth is that I put fraternity and relaxing way ahead of my academic requirements.

I've regretted that many times. When I decided a decade later to go to grad school, they didn't give a damn about my IFC position. Mostly, it bugs me that I didn't TRY HARDER.

I had an email exchange this week with our speaker, Michael Poll, who does a program called "Straight A's Won't Get You the Job." That's him pictured. I wanted his opinion... is a student leader's GPA that important?

"If you're applying for grad, medical, or any other professional school, you must have a least a 3.0 or better," he said. "Otherwise, probably not as important depending on your field. Having said that though, it might raise red flags if you have below a 3.0."

What about the very active student leader who has lots on the activities resume, but has a terrible GPA?

"All is not lost," Michael said. "But you will need to be prepared with a confident, non-cocky answer when your GPA comes up in the interview." Be ready with a portfolio of other items that show your proficiency, he said. Be ready to show them what you can accomplish. You don't have to have saved the world, but it's important to show your practical skills and what you've accomplished with them. If you can do that, he said, your GPA won't be the most important thing.

"You need to stay focused on your academic and professional goals, however," Michael said. "Just because you were a member of this, president of that, coordinator of another thing means squat if you haven't mastered the skills required to do the work in your chosen field after college. Engage and learn from practicum experiences, volunteer opportunities, internships, campus life commitments, etc. Then, be prepared to talk about them and make them relevant."

For the student leader closing in on graduation, is it worthwhile to focus on bumping up that GPA a few tenths of a point?

If you are trying to get into grad school, then yes, Michael said. But, if grad school isn't an issue, then focus on developing work related skills such as public speaking, project management, and facilitating work groups and meetings. Again, build a portfolio that demonstrates your talents and the results you generated.

Michael has a book called How to Make $1,000,000 After Graduation that you might find interesting. Read about it at his website here.

My conclusion on this is that GPA isn't the make or break for a person's future success. But, it sure is nice to graduate with a student leader resume full of cool experiences AND a grade point average above a 3.0.

I've hired a number of people in my career, and I know that I definitely prefer applicants with something above a 3.0. I don't like hiring people who didn't do at least as well as I did.