March 1963 Omegaphone
From the President
The past presidents have left me in a very desirable position. The social calendar is excellent; the past officers did their jobs well, and the house is filled to capacity.
Our major problem at present is scholarship. The fraternity members are under pressure to keep the house average at or above a 2.35 every term or we are penalized. This past term our house average was a 2.384. The term system has increased the difficulty of getting good grades so we are forced to study harder and longer. If we fail to make the prescribed marks or better we are penalized. These penalties become worse for each consecutive term we do not make it.
With the advent of the term system the fraternities have been forced to change. We are slowly finding the ways we must change. A student has more demanded of him under the term system and this leaves him with less time to participate in activities.
John D. Swift '64
The major changes can be seen in the pledging program and study time. Pledging is accentuating studies and putting less emphasis on the usual harassing. We have had a mature pledging program for some time now and it has paid off both in quantity and quality of membership. The demands of both the university and the fraternity require the pledge to do his work well for both. As always, we want a mature, intelligent, social Theta Chi graduating from Penn State.
The future of Omega chapter is bright. The actives will try to keep it this way by rushing a high caliber of man and by our combined efforts, working toward our common aims.
Our goals for 1963 are better scholarship, a hard rush to keep the house full, and the maintaining of a good standing with the administration and the student body in all the many facets of our operation, We shall be working with these aims in mind.
Fraternally,
JOHN D. SWIFT, President
Alumni Notes
Marriages: Bob Sorisio, '61 . Bob Dean, '61 . . . Bob Dockstader, '62 ... John V. Coleman, '61 ... Alex Gregal, '54 . . . Ed Walker, '60 . . . Planning weddings for the summer are Neal Rhoads, '62 and Jim Stalder, '62.... Look for Jim Stalder or Keith Straley (both '62) the next time you have an audit. . . . Both are working for Price Waterhouse. . . . Keith in Baltimore and Jim in Pittsburgh... Sometimes when the house is cold Gift tells us about the Grun brothers (William A. and Frederick H., '47) coming down to breakfast in their BVD's. . . Tom Eyerly, '58 and Vince Trotta, '57, both walked in on Jam Sessions within the last couple months. . . Vince is teaching in Lewistown and Tom's still down in Springfield. . . . Neal Rhoads is in the Air Force down at Seymour-Johnson AFB in North Carolina. . . . Charley Schug's down South, too, at Fort Benning, Georgia. . . The Navy has its share of Omega men including Bill (Ralf) Kimmel, '61 on board the USS STICKLE (DDR888) out of Norfolk and Ian Ramsey, '61 on board a troop transport homeported in San Diego. . . Last word on Mike Lazorchak, '61 was that he was in Paris. . . Bob Zedelis, '62 is in Med School down in , . New President of the New York Chapter, Penn State Alumni Corporation: Bob Urban, '56. . . . Karen Kendell, daughter of Frank A., '33 brings word of her father and Pedro Scralles, Jr., '22 from Puerto Rico . . . she's a fresh-man here at State.... Speaking of Breakfast before, remem-ber one of the brothers about the late 1940's who used to have hot-buttered rum instead of the usual fare?... graduated: Matt Soccio and Wally Bilger (rumor has it he got married tbe same day), . . . John Zerby, '61 got his Master's degree this past graduation. . Chuck (Stompy) Avampato graduates (he hopes) in J une. . . Mrs. Goschke's address; 330 3rd Street, Beaver, Pa, . New Chapter advisor is Jackson Horner, '53 . He's a successful coach at State College High. , . Jay Livziey, '57 is quite a hit as a coach at Danville High School ... got a big writeup in one of the Philadelphia newspapers for his four-year winning record ... his football teams posted 5-3-2 records in 1959 and 1960 . . . 1961 they went 8-3 and in 1962 they were undefeated . . in addition to their 11 regular wins they won two league titles to rank as the No. 1 team in the Lower Anthracite and Susquehanna Valley areas. . . The actives were thinking of publishing a directory but the cost would have been too high. If you'd like to know where any-body is, drop us a line or better yet, stop back sometime. . Founder's Day will be celebrated on Saturday, April 20th because of Easter. . . Try to make it back if you can. . Was this addressed right? If not please send us your correct address and we'll forward it to National when we're done or send it to Brother Chapman and he'll keep us posted. . , . After April please forward mail direct to the house instead of the Post Office Box ... It's 523 South Allen Street, State College, Pennsylvania. . . National Headquarters in Trenton is 436 Broad Street Bank Building, Trenton 8, New Jersey. Are you in this picture?
Bits and Pieces
Socially, the house ranks as one of the top on campus. Now more than ever our parties and socials are sought by a tre-mendous number of freshmen and other fraternity men. Although Spring just came recently, "Spring Fever" has been in the air for some time: About twelve of the brothers are now pinned. Many of the other brothers are active on campus, too—John Barie is President of the student chapter of A.I.A. and Dave Heitzenroder is Director of Public Rela-tions for the Undergraduate Student Government. Fran Conte is still Party Chairman of the University Party and we have many members of student Councils, hat societies and other activities. Varsity Sports also draw their Theta Chi's. Dan Cam played varsity basketball and, if his ankle heals, will play varsity tennis along with Joe Simmonetta, Bill Charron once again is playing lacross, Recent house improvements have included repainting and paneling the card room, repainting all the woodwork in the house, and repainting the party room.
Through all of these things we have not forsaken scholastics. As was mentioned before, the house average last term was a 2.384. Joe Wells and Ken McCarthy both made over a 3.7 and Pete Lake still has the second highest average in the College of Mineral Industries.
A New Mother for Omega
After nine years as Omega's Housemother, Mrs. Hazel Gosehke was forced to resign early in the Fall because of poor health. Mom was ably succeeded by Mrs. Rodriguez who most of you met at Homecoming but she, too, had to leave for health reasons. Early in November our present Housemother, Mrs. Lucille Lloyd, joined us. Mom Lloyd, who hails from Dormont, Pennsylvania, brings a wealth of experience with her. She has two sons who were Phi Gams at Pitt and a nephew who was President of Delta Sig here at State in 1959. In the short time she's been here she has become very much a part of the house. We feel very fortunate to have her and feel sure that she will have a long and pleasant stay.
Emanuel 'Giffy' Gifford
Giffy Message
Well, it's time again to greet you. and to inform you that I am anticipating seeing a large turnout, on Founder's Day.
Last year for some unknown reason the attendance was very small, and I was somewhat disappointed, but this is another year, maybe a better year, for those who were unable to attend last year. So try to arrange to visit Omega this Founder's Day. I am always glad to see you and to greet you, and to serve you in the same capacity, as I have done in the previous years.
Years have passed and birthdays may come and go, but the warm memories of your undergrad days, are as fresh as yesterday, and that I do hold and cherish these dearly. Naturally, I am still enjoying the wonderful blessings of good health, therefore I remain the same old "Giff," with the same old spaghetti, every Saturday afternoon.
The system at the University has changed. We now have quarters, instead of semesters, and our Pledge classes are closer together, so they graduate faster, and spend less time at the fraternity. Therefore, if you stay away a year, without visiting us on Founder's Day, you can clearly see that a whole class of brothers can graduate without you even meeting them, or knowing they were brothers of Theta Chi. Therefore it is imperative that you lend us your presence and support by attending Founder's Day, in order that you may be brought up to date, on all that happens at Omega, both good and bad.
My philosophy of life is very simple. To some it may be a little exaggerated. Therefore youth is not a time of life. It is a state of mind. It is not a matter of ripe cheeks, red lips, and supple knees: it is a temper of the will—a quality of the imagination—a vigor of the emotions. Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years—people grow old only by deserting their ideals. Years wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, doubt, self-distrust, fear, and despair—these are the long, long years that bow the heart and turn the greening spirit back to dust. Whether 60 or 16, there is in every human being's heart the lure of wonder, the undaunted challenge of events, the unfailing child-like appetite for what next, and the joy of the game of living. We are as young as our self-confidence, as old as our fear; as young as our desire, as old as our despair.
So come and visit. You may pick up some of the pieces that were left of your youth, that may motivate you to a new life. Wishing you the very best of luck, happiness and success, may God bless your families.
Your most obedient servant!!!
"GIFF"
Winter Rush
Thanks to the hard work and effort by the men of Omega, our winter rush was very successful. With only one-half the rushing period over, we are very proud of the 11 men in the new pledge class. These men exemplify the high caliber of Theta Chi. There is a wide diversification among the new pledges ranging from the geographical area of their homes to their interests and hobbies. Two of the class were on the Dean's list and several others are active in student government. We feel that these pledges will be a beneficial addition to our chapter. These men showed their academic ability by having a pledge class average of 2.5. We hope to increase the number of the pledge class during the Spring term.
New Initiates
We are very proud to announce that the following men are newly initiated Brothers of Theta Chi: Keith Evens, Mike Passaro, Brian Andrews and Al Campbell. We extend to these men our warmest congratulations.
Our Library
During the past term, a program was begun to improve the library. To date, it has been very successful. Over a hundred new volumes were added. The trophy wall was enhanced by mahogany paneling, and a combination desk for pledges on phone duty and vanity for dates was built. Further, the entire card room was repainted. In the future, we hope to start a paperback library, update the reference section, and further increase the number of books. Donations of your unwanted volumes would be sincerely appreciated.
Sports
We are presently standing ninth in intramurals among 54 fraternities. Our largest point gainer so far has been basketball. The team ended the season with an 8-1 slate, the loss coming from TKE who went on to lose in the semifinals.
We have had entrants in all sports so far this year, and placed well in Tennis, Golf, Touch Football, and Paddleball.
We had two men in the semifinals in tennis, Bill Charron and Joe Sirnmonetta. Bill Charron also participated in the quarter finals in paddleball. Ken McCarthy took a third place in golf-medal. Our swimming team lost to always powerful Sigma Phi, last years' champions. The meet was decided in the last race and a second made the difference, It was unfortunate that we drew Sigma Phi so early in the tournament because it was single elimination. We probably could have piled up some valuable points had we met some of the weaker teams.
We are looking forward to volleyball which will begin March 29. As you probably know we were champs last year and have only lost one man from the team and have picked up a few new men with much potential.
We are also anticipating the start of wrestling, tennis doubles, and soccer; sports we feel we are strong in.
Looking ahead to next year, we expect to do very well. There are only six seniors graduating so most of our teams will be unaffected. We have also acquired some good athletes through rush that will help us quite a lot.
Thank you to all those brothers that shared their news.
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