October 1999 Omegaphone
Alumni President Report - Finances, Physical Plant in Good Shape
Abattoir set of Homecoming and Founders Day celebrations has flown by since our last Omegaphone and much has happened in the interim.
Homecoming brought the election of officers for a two-year term. In addition to me as president, serving you will be James M. Stuhltrager ’89 as vice president and John G. Fischer ’91 as secretary; Alan H. Vladimir ’85 has graciously accepted another two-year term as treasurer. Alumni Association finances are in good order, with our mortgage balance of $54,174 at 8.5 percent.
Homecoming 1999 will be celebrated November 6. Elections will be held at that time for five members of the Board of Directors. Anyone interested in a position on the Board or seeking more information about the responsibilities of Board members can contact either me or Jim Stuhltrager. Since ballots will be mailed around October 1, all interested parties should contact either me or Jim as soon as possible. Our current Board members are Jim Stalder ’62, Tim Boyd ’83, Hugh Cadzow ’83, Phil Katchur ’88 and Scott Mayhew ’90. Ex-Officio members include Howard Alter Jr. ’41 and Bill Renton ’46.
As for the physical plant, kitchen repairs were completed at a cost of $60,533.50; the entire loss was covered by insurance with the exception of a $1,000-deductible paid by the Alumni Association. A recent code inspection of the fraternity led to only minor repairs. The inspector took the time to note in his report that Theta Chi in one of few fraternities where the condition of the house and the attitude of the members clearly reflected “house pride.” We are currently obtaining estimates to repair the floor in the pool room. Years of prior water damage has caused much of the floor warp and rot. An insurance inspection pointed to uneven walks and sunken bricks in walkways, patios and steps that must be repaired. Estimates will be obtained for this repair work as well. The undergraduates are taking on a number of improvements projects themselves with some financial assistance from the Alumni Association. Your donations to the capital fund are greatly needed and sincerely appreciated. Yours gifts will replenish our funds and assist us with upcoming projects and repairs.
Dutch elm disease claimed the remaining elm tree in the front yard. Removal of the tree, debris and stump cost the Association $2,160. A new tree was planted, paid for by a small fund drive directed by Rich Maltz ’90, Thanks to Brother Maltz for his initiative and to those who donated.
Edward Brown ’87, alumni Association President
Spring Reception to Honor Howard R. Alter Jr. ’41
While plans are still being made, a Howard R. Alter Jr. Reception is being scheduled for Spring 2000. Omega chapter will honor Howard with a fine meal and special presentation. Further information will be posted to Omega chapter’s website.
In addition, a postcard mailer will follow with further details.
Alumni Vice President’s Report - Code Inspection and Dutch Elm
This spring, the borough completed its code inspection of the chapter house. The results? The house needed minor repairs to retain its occupancy permit. In fact, the code inspector had praise for the overall condition of the house. When I spoke with him on the phone he again commented that his impression of the house was extremely positive. His praise certainly reflects well on the undergraduates.
Also this spring, as noted in the Ed Brown article the Dutch elm in front of the chapter house was removed. It its place, a red oak was planted. This tree should not only be more disease resistant, but it also planted far enough away from the hose to avoid future problems with the house’s ever-finicky roof. Special thanks go to Richard Maltz ’90 for organizing the campaign to finance the new tree, and to all those who contributed, including Mike Stein ’91, Greg Hancock ’91, Scott Mayhew ’90, Chris Bartnik ’91, Jeff Damcott ’91, Bill Mohan ’91, Jim Smith ’89 and Ed Brown ’87.
One final note, please submit any nominations for the Board of Directors to me or Ed Brown.
Jim Stuhltrager ’89, Alumni Vice President
Keeping in Touch with E-Mail
Theta Chi of PSU Inc. would like to publish an alumni e-mail directory to help you stay in contact with Omega alumni. If you would like your e-mail address published in Omegaphone, please send a quick e-mail to me. We’ll publish all address received in the next Omegaphone.
InMay, we sent out minutes from Fodder;s Day meeting via e-mail to about 10 board members. Those who replied seemed to prefer e-mail instead of more paper. We would like to expand our directory so we can keep you posted about events like the upcoming Hoard R. Alter Reception.
Please be assured that we won’t send you “spam" and we won’t sell our list to vendors, As we move into the 21st century, this will be an excellent way for us to keep in touch.
John Fischer ’91, Alumni Secretary
Chapter News - Looking to the Future
The year 1998-99 certainly was a hectic one for our chapter. It began with the kitchen fire in January and continued right through the fall semester. However, despite our problems and setbacks, the brotherhood is even larger and stronger than it was the previous year. Not only did we initiate 10 new brothers in fall 1988, but we also have a new pledge class of eight. This is very exciting for our chapter and we are now looking to improve on our brotherhood even further in 1999-2000.
Once again, our events in October were some of the best of the year. Early in the month we teamed with Sigma Kappa sorority for our annual David P. Ferro K.I.C.K.S. Classic. Although the weather refused to cooperate the event was a stunning success, and we raised over $3,000, an amount that enabled us to sponsor an entire wish for the Make-A-Wish foundation. That night, a popular Pittsburgh band, Vibro Kings, played at our house. They had people grooving until the early hours of the morning. The K.I.C.K.S. chairs, Chris Witt ’01 and John Scott ’99, did an outstanding job organizing this campus-wide event. Thank you to all the alumni who helped us reach this record goal and make a sick child’s life a little better.
Matt Schwab, Mike Pollack, Paul Sorby, Matt Schellhaus, Kevin Buckney and Scott Boos -Thon 1999
Dave Turske - Homecoming 1998
Chris Blough (as Santa) - Big Brothers/Big Sisters Program: Santa Claus
Two weeks later, we joined the sisters of Alpha Delta Pi for the exciting week of Homecoming. If you were here for the event, you know that we had a blast all week while constructing a float based on classical Greece. Although only a few alumni made it to the house, those who did stop by had a fabulous time at our weekend events. We hope the more alumni will take their lead, stop by at Homecoming 1999m and see how your house is developing.
By far, the most exciting news for the year thus far concerns the Penn State Dance Marathon. Even before the event Began, out chapter was being recognized for its contributions. At the Dance Marathon Kickoff dinner the featured speaker was William Lear ’73, founder and first overall chair of this wonderful event. This year we again joined Alpha Xi Delta in sponsoring Madison Hurley, age 11, and raised and outstanding $33,984.85. This record amount contributed to the shattering of last year’s total and the rising of over $2.5 million for the Four Diamonds Fund. Out HTON chairs, Kevin Buckley ’00 and Eric Chan ’00, did a fabulous job of motivating the brothers to raise our total, and our dancers, Paul Sorby ’01, Scott Boos ’01, Greg Sefcheck ’00 and Peter Timer ’99, did a phenomenal job. To all the alumni who assisted us in almost doubling last year’s total, our heartfelt thanks and congratulations. Let’s raise even more money for the kids next year!
Our brotherhood is extremely excited about our plans for a Howard R. Alter Reception. We hope you’ll join us to honor this man who has given so selflessly to our fraternity.
Ambrose Heinz ’00 - Chapter President
Alumni News
On Sundays., A. J. Heutchy Jr. '34 substitutes where he’s needed as a church organist
In 1998, William C. Ings ’36 was a guest of the Caracas, Venezuela, office of Ernst & Young at the celebration its founding by Bill 50 years earlier. Twenty of Bill’s 48 years with the firm were spent in Latin America
William S. Grun ’47 is busy raising his oldest grandson. He also volunteers as a teacher one day a week and bikes about 1000 miles a year.
“Theta Chi became my first home away from home,” writes Robert E. Gohn ’53. “The discipline and camaraderie were exactly what I need as a teenage.”
At the law firm of Synnestvedt & Lechner, Alexis Barron ’60 serves as managing partner. He is a board member of both the Bach Festival of Philadelphia and Artgrowth 2000. He is also on the board of trustees of Park Lane Presbyterian Church and is a Republican committeeman in Montgomery County.
Edmund W. Smathers ’62, who retired from IBM after 25 years as an engineer, is a full-time ski instructor at Vail and is on the adjunct faculty of the Colorado School of Mines. He married last year.
CPA James C. Stalder ’62 is a managing partner of Pricewaterhouse Coopers. He is involved in many professional organizations, has been active in his community, and serves as an adjunct professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s Graduate School of Industrial Administration.
When he sold his house in Albuquerque, N.M., Gary A. Riser ’64 purchased an R.V. He is now traveling the country in his new eight-wheeled home.
Dave V. Matthews ’76, a senior appraiser at Arthur Andersen, teaches part time at Cabrini College in the Computer and Information Sciences Department. He also continues to officiate basketball at the high school varsity and college levels. David has two Children.
As a scientific supervisor at Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, chemist Anthony D’Ippolito ’83 is enjoying his work in pharmaceutical testing, validation and production. He would like news of Bill Clark ’81 and Phil Bender ’83.
James E. Noll ’87 serves as business development manager at VeriFone Inc. He and Chrissy Treece were planning to be married last November. Jim has kept in touch with Adam Swarts ’85, his wife, Amy, and their two children.
Stephen A. Dodge ’88 and his wife, Meg, have a 2-year old son, Jack. Steve is a COO of his family-owned start-up company, Advanced System Integration Corp. “ASI is always, hiring process control and factory automation engineers,” he writes. Last year, Steve enjoyed visits from Joe Kopetsky ’86, Joe Kidda ’88 and Chris Casciato ’85 for golf, business and drinks.
Urologist Sean P. Tierney ’88 is looking forward to graduating from his resident in 2000. Via e-mail he has kept in contact with Rob Scavello ’88, Bill Herron ’90 and Dennis Foley ’91.
In May 1999, Megan and John McIntyre Jr. ’91 welcomed the arrival of their first child, Lydia. John has left his position as a first-grade teacher with the Christina School District and is enjoying his new role as a full-time dad.
Correspondence from Mark J. Prushinski ‘91married in June 1998, classmate John Buyarski and Dennis Foley ’91 were in attendance.
Stephen P. Rozyckie ’92 is a civil engineer with Benatec Associates. He and his wife, Marla, were building a new home.
Matthew M. Mallin ’93 is a captain in the Army. When he last wrote, he was preparing to take command of a tank company and was expecting the arrival of his second child in November 1998.
Gerard C. Siaton ’95 is a clinical quality assurance auditor for IBAH. He and Christine Park were planning to wed in May of this year.
Chapter Eternal
We regret to inform you of the death of.
Kenneth K. Miller ’37
Edward J. Osterhout ’40 (3/18/98)
Philip J. Kreider ’41 (4/25/98)
Harry F. Brinker ’48 (11/7/97)
John R. Robinson ’77 (10/98)
Patrick McKinnon ’90 (7/99)
Theta Chi mourns their passing and extends condolences to their families and friends.
Thank you to all those brothers that shared their news.
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