Crossmen have no housing in Madison

[OIC]

I don't even know where to start....OK.....it's a BIG issue. If a corps has a no alcohol policy, which all of them do, then that means EVERYBODY! From the director to the waterboy. The old "Don't do as I do, do as I say" attitude doesn't cut it. All in authotity should abide by the same rules and regulations that they set for their subordinants. It's called LEADERSHIP! And it DOES make a difference. I wouldn't follow one of my instructors if I were out there sweating bullets for them and I knew they got to kick back every night and knock down a cold beer while I was living the life of misery. Leaders like that aren't worth fighting for. Contrarily, if I had an instructor who was willing to share the same hardships as the rest of the corps, I'd lay down in traffic for them.

I'm with ya! ^OO^ 100%. If you are in a leadership role, you should act like a leader. Well said, Piper!

[RCFKING]

After all the boozer bashing, did you find a place for Crossman or just consume yourselves in you own little world again?

If you spent have the time finding Crossman housing that you did kissing each others azz's they would be staying at the Waldorf

RF

[Kyle B]

After all the boozer bashing, did you find a place for Crossman or just consume yourselves in you own little world again?

If you spent have the time finding Crossman housing that you did kissing each others azz's they would be staying at the Waldorf

RF

Who are the Crossman? New corps out there?

Oh yea, ps...the Crossmen have found housing in Whitewater. If you had bothered to check their website or read this thread instead of telling us that we can't talk about what some corps do to housing sites which seemed like a natural progression of the thread if you read the beginning, you would see that.

[decompressed]

Thet's the most twisted aurgument I've ever read.

So you are saying that a Staff member should Never, Never (even on a free day) be allowed to go to a restaurant and have a beer on their own time?

The reality is folks, you wouldn't have drum corps anymore with this policy in place cause nobody would teach. This is the truth and nothing but.

[Rhumbline]

You couldn't possibly be more wrong.

DCI's housing guy, who is responsible for securing housing for all the regionals, the other "major" DCI shows such as Louisville and Battle Creek, and for finals, has been busting his butt since last winter trying to find housing.

Schools are getting more reluctant every year to open their doors for corps to stay overnight. Part of this is due to factors that corps cannot control, such as earlier beginning dates for classes and school systems being more aware of liability issues due to the litigious nature of society.

But part of the problems is the behavior of some corps members and staffs who either don't feel like they have to abide by the rules set by the schools, or just don't care how they behave in schools.

As an example, Saturday in Atlanta, DCI's housing guy got a call from the band director at a school that was housing one of the corps. It seems that the drain in the girl's shower got clogged by hair (maybe some of the members were cutting hair in the shower, I don't know). Anyway, it was not a clogged drain pipe, but a simple problem of hair collecting around the drain. But because none of the girls cared enough about the facility to simply reach down and scoop up the hair, the shower overflowed out of the locker room, into the hallway, down the hallway and into the athletic department offices, soaking boxes of new team uniforms that were sitting on the floor.

That was strike one.

The principal came to the school because of the flooding. First thing he finds is someone smoking on his campus, which was clearly marked as a non-smoking facility.

Strike two.

Then, the principal finds an empty rum bottle in one of the classrooms being used by the corps for staff sleeping.

That's strike three folks, and we're out as far as EVER using that facility again for corps housing.

THAT, my friend, is INEXCUSABLE.

All corps should be forwarded a copy of your post ! It is a graphic description of one reason why housing sites are drying up.. Several longtime hosts have refused corps this year,supposedly for insurance liability reasons, however that could also be a coverup for some other descrepancies in the corps residence code "leave the place cleaner than it was"

It would be a shame to have housing be a major factor in determining a finals site. I doubt if it is the housing coordinators fault. I'm sure he had pulled every string possible! It might be time for staff to get involved in site inspections......

[shostahoosier]

I don't even know where to start....OK.....it's a BIG issue. If a corps has a no alcohol policy, which all of them do, then that means EVERYBODY! From the director to the waterboy. The old "Don't do as I do, do as I say" attitude doesn't cut it. All in authotity should abide by the same rules and regulations that they set for their subordinants. It's called LEADERSHIP! And it DOES make a difference. I wouldn't follow one of my instructors if I were out there sweating bullets for them and I knew they got to kick back every night and knock down a cold beer while I was living the life of misery. Leaders like that aren't worth fighting for. Contrarily, if I had an instructor who was willing to share the same hardships as the rest of the corps, I'd lay down in traffic for them.

Well...a lot of corps allow legal aged members to have a beer on free days...as long as those members realize that they are responsible for being productive at rehearsal the next day.

When I marched, it was no secret that staff members went to bars after shows or drank on their free time. I dont think anyone thought any less of them.

[bluehull]

Hopefully this is not turning into an anti beer thread! The issue here is abuse of facilities by corps . Trashing plumbing and leaving areas dirty and unusable.

There is nothing wrong with adult staff members having a beer away from the corps and housing. After all, they have already spent their time on the field some years prior to the present members. Social time and shop talk over a couple of beers can be productive and relieve some pressure.....

[ssorrell]

Why don't we all stop speculating about what is right or wrong on the issue of drinking on tour...if a corps disallows it, so be it. Conversely, if a corps does not condemn adults drinking on their own time while away from the corps, then who are we to question it?

The issue that arose in this housing fiasco was an adult or adults drinking on school grounds. No matter how you look at that, it is wrong. Even if they had cleaned up their mess and thrown the bottle out somewhere other than the trash can inside the school, the principal could have easily walked in at any time and caught them drinking. If there is a danger of being caught doing something that you shouldn't be doing, then the safe bet is to DON'T DO IT. Now, if the staff goes down the road to a pizza restaurant and orders some brew, if the administration of the corps doesn't have a problem with it, no one else should as it is between the corps and the individuals involved.

It has nothing to do with being a leader and setting an example for the members. Any adult should be able to do as they wish within reasonable limits as set forth by our society and the corps administration that employs them. Corps members are mostly all under age and for the few that are of legal age it is against corps policy, so drinking for them is never an option. Even if they are aware that their staff skips away to a local pub to down a few after hours, what's the problem? They are kids and the staff are adults. When they become adults, they know they'll have such freedoms also.

In my 25 years in and around this activity, I've seen some of the most respected names (directors, designers, etc) in drum corps have a beer or a drink while on tour while they are away from the corps. Do some of you guys think that they are any less a great leader or director because they removed themselves from the corps atmosphere and had a drink? I sure hope not. Are you going to tell them they had no right to have a social drink on their own time?