\chapter{Membership}

\section{Responsibilities of Members}
\label{duties}

The members of the Board are expected to uphold the policies of the
SIPB, and are responsible for the proper management of its yearly
budget.  This general statement encompasses many actual duties.  SIPB
members are expected to contribute some of their time and abilities
towards furthering the goals of the Board.  This usually entails
attending the weekly meetings (Monday nights at 19:30, one of the few
true universal constants), occasionally devoting irregular stretches of
time (as necessary) to complete vital tasks.  Some members are
responsible for particular aspects of the SIPB's day-to-day existence.

The most basic, day-to-day task of a SIPB member is the assistance of
users of the computer facilities at MIT.  This includes answering
questions, giving programming assistance, performing administrative
tasks, directing users to other sources of information, and geneally
trying to cut through some of the red tape associated with computing at
MIT.  This does not mean that every SIPB member is expected to be a highly
experienced computer hacker, but rather that every member is expected to
know the basic steps of helping a user, including what to do when the
user needs more help than the member can give. 
