September 2006 Omegaphone
AlumnI Presidents Report
As you may have heard, Omega chapter is in uncharted territory and facing some big challenges. This past semester, National had to step in and take over the financial and day-to-day operations of the chapter house. This action was necessary because the Borough was intending to foreclose
on the property and house to pay off back taxes. This may sound like a bad situation gone worse but, in this case, it was a welcomed intervention.
Here is the reality we were facing: the borough taxes were three years in arrears, insurance two years in arrears and the house had a number of major physical plant issues needing to be brought up to code immediately. Specifically, we are required to add fire sprinklers throughout the house. All of these issues were clearly out of our current financial reach.
Luckily, our National Fraternity is strong enough to help us resolve our short- term financial problems and has taken over complete financial control of the chapter house. This summer they paid off the back taxes and insurance, took care of the first mortgage, finished code work on second floor, receiving bids for code work on the third floor, secured an accountant to collect rent and pay bills and hired a caretaker for weekly inspections of current construction and the house for any needed repairs.
However, National cannot fix our number one long-term problem: involvement from our alumni members. We are very grateful for the efforts and resources put forward by the few leaders who have served as alumni officers in the past. However, this minority’s efforts were finally spread too thin. To correct this we have to get a larger number of people to step forward and lend a helping hand to our fraternity through contributions of time and professional skills.
Along those lines, the alumni corporation is undergoing a complete overhaul. Current Alumni President Dennis Foley ’91 has resigned and other offices remain empty. Until full elections are held at Homecoming, the Board of Directors has appointed Richard Maltz ’90, President and Chris Burke ’93, Secretary. Jim Stuhltrager ’89 will be staying on as Treasurer. Please consider how you could support the organization as a volunteer and nominate yourself for an office, committee or captain.
To get things rolling, a small group of alumni have met this summer to brainstorm ways to improve the alumni corporation and get more alumni involved. The emerging theme: improve our overall communication and develop a plan to eventually take back ownership of the chapter house. We are committed to improving our alumni communication with regular Omegaphones newsletters (at least twice a year), continued use of the website (www.thetachiomega.com) and through e-mail newsletters.
In addition to thinking of ways that you can participate in these efforts, you can help out by sending us a financial donation right now. No matter what the size of your donation, it is much needed to gather forward momentum and greatly appreciated.
I want to thank all alumni for your continued interest in Omega Chapter. Get actively involved and keep an eye on the chapter and alumni corporation over the next year. You will be very happy with the direction taken and work completed.
I look forward to seeing everyone at Homecoming (Oct. 21st). Please contact me if you are interested in volunteering and with your questions, concerns and insights to this situation. Any and all comments are welcome and appreciated.
Fraternally,
Richard Maltz ’90
Alumni President
Alumni Updates
Ray Campfield ’50 - I have been retired for 18 years.
Richard Hill ’58 - I would like to see Alexis “Alex” Barron ’60.
Alexis Barron ’60 - I continue to be managing partner of Synnestvedt & Lechner LLP, a law firm specializing in intellectual property law and expanding into N.J. with the opening of another office in Princeton.
James Stalder ’62 - I have just “retired” for a second time. In 2000, following my 38 years with Price Waterhouse/Price Waterhouse Coopers, I accepted the Deanship of the Schools of Business at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. I completed my 5- year term as of June 30, 2005.
Reid A. Squier ’79 - Completed a 120-day tour with my Air Force reserve unit in Kuwait where I was the executive officer of a contingency aeromedical staging facility. This was a small hospital where patients (including military working dogs) waited for medical flights out of the theater. It was a terrific experience thanks to the special members of our unit and the members of the other services who worked closely with us.
Kerry E. Becker ’82 - I’ve been back in State College since 1991 and worked as owner/President of Thermal Plus of State College from 1991 to 1999. In 1999 I sold my company to Masco. I have been the General Manager since 1999. I have a wife, Debra, and 2 boys, Zach and Alec. We live about 10 miles from State College.
Timothy P. Dutcher ’83 - Recently promoted to manager of the Outfitting Branch at Naval Sea Systems Command.
Adam E. Ruskin ’85 - I am working on developing three new cancer drugs that we hope to get on the market soon. I still love skiing, adventure racing, and now spending more time in Tahoe and traveling to Europe.
William Ross Jr. ’86 - Wife- Carolyn. Two boys - Billy 14 and Bobby 9.
Paul E. Vassil ’86 - We’re doing well, staying out of trouble by working as a Family Medicine Physician in a growing suburban practice. I am enjoying the kids and trying to be as involved as I can with them. I also work a little extra in the Ephrata Community Hospital ER (interesting experiences!). As for brothers, it would be great to hear from or see any from my era. Any passing through Lancaster, please feel free to get in touch. My wife Maria is awesome at holding it all together, and the kids—Kyricki (8), Katerina (6), Markella (2) and Peter (2)—keep us moving.
James R. Koppersmith ’88 - The last few years have seen some major changes. My wife, Vivienne and I had a beautiful little girl, Alexandra, on July 3, 2004. She is now busy terrorizing our dog, Kodi, as she learns to move around the house. We also moved from Capitol Hill to a single-family home near American University.
James M. Stuhltrager ’89 - Will be heading up for the football games, please fee free to stop by our tailgate at space 2844, between the stadium and University Drive.
Chris Heidrick ’91 - We’ve recently moved to Ross, CA- just outside of San Francisco- as I’ve joined the Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. as VP of Marketing. My wife Lisa (Walker) Heidrick (Alpha Phi ‘92) and I have two children: Sarah (6) and Jack (19 mos). We’d love to hear from Tom Dymek, Jason Ross ’92, Mike Stein ’91, David Schrader ’91, Mark Franz ’91 and John Fischer ’91.
Christian Koczur ‘91 - My wife Heather and I celebrated our 12th anniversary. We have 2 children: Jonathan Daniel (16) and Eva Marie (6 mos). We keep in touch with Robert “Rob” Kurek ’92 who is living in San Francisco.
David L. Schrader ’91 - Opened Schrader Group Architecture in April 2004. Business serves residential, commercial, educational and public clients in and around Philadelphia and throughout the East Coast. I live in Malvern, PA, with my wife Jamie and our 15-month-old twins, Cooper and Sadie.
I see Mark Franz ’91, John Fischer ’91, and Mike Engleman ’91, regularly and would like to get together again with all of the pledge classes around mine.
Jason P. Ross ’92 - Celebrating my 6th anniversary with my wife, Heidemarie. We have two children, Nicholas Alexander (3) and Katelyn Marie (1).
Ronald Beadenkopf ’93 - I just passed the six- month mark of a one-year tour with the Third Infantry Division in Baghdad, Iraq. This is my second tour in Iraq, serving this tour as Officer-in-Charge of Signals Intelligence for the division. My dream is to come back and visit State College again with some of my class of ’93 brothers and see what’s changed and what hasn’t.
Matthew S. Keller ’00 - Upon June graduation from Jefferson Medical College, I began my transitional year residency at Christiana Hospital in DE and then will continue with a dermatology residency at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. My wife Karen and I are expecting our first child in February 2006.
Chapter News - Penn State Greeks and National Organization Bestow Numerous Awards on Omega Chapter
Spring was a great semester for the brothers of Theta Chi. Out of the 47 fraternities at the University Park Campus, we ranked first in GPA, for the second semester in a row, with a 3.38. Leading the academic charge, 12 brothers were named to the Dean’s list and Michael Crawford and Max Staplin maintained individual GPAs of 4.0.
In addition to devoting time to schoolwork, many brothers are involved in other organizations on campus including: Boy Scouts of America, Blue and White Society, Kinesiology Club, and the Outing Club. We also have brothers on the Varsity Baseball and Volleyball teams and the Lacrosse, Fencing, and Gymnastics clubs.
As Brothers of Theta Chi we try and live our motto of “The Helping Hand”.
Brothers Todd Pontius and Stuart Ringelheim represent Theta Chi at the 2006 Dance Marathon
This is evident by the money raised and more than 400 hours spent in community service activities including the Special Olympics, Habitat for Humanity, World Aids Day, and visiting a Nursing Home. We raised around $1200 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation through our KICKS tournament (Kids In Cooperation with Karing Students) and raised around $11,000 for the Dance Marathon (THON).
We’ve been running strong for almost three years now and are getting recognition for our accomplishments. At the annual Greek Oscars Awards Ceremony we took home four awards:
Chapter Academic Achievement Award
New Member Academic Achievement Award
Leadership and Involvement Award
New Member Education Award
And, at Theta Chi’s 150th National Convention this summer, we were awarded the Howard R. Alter Jr. Award in 7 areas of Chapter operations and have set our sights on winning the complete Alter Award.
I hope this gives you an idea of the chapter’s direction. We still have room to grow, but we are on our way to, once again, becoming one of the great fraternities at Penn State. I hope to see you back for Homecoming to visit us new guys, get reacquainted with old friends, and maybe share a few stories about the good times you had at 523 S. Allen St. Without your involvement we won’t know about all the amazing things that happened here before us, and that would truly be a waste of history.
Robert Blumstein ’07
Omega Chapter President
Thank you to all those brothers that shared their news.
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