June 2007 Omegaphone
The newsletter that you received in the mail two weeks ago was mistakenly sent by our printer and was not ready to mail. This was a print- ing error and is not a reflection of the Omega Chapter Alumni Association. We hope that you will enjoy this final version of The Omegaphone.
Golf Outing
The 26th Annual Theta Chi Open was won going away by Brother Bob Mooney ’78 shooting an 83. The top four were Brothers Mooney, Greg Schlegel ’73 (who shot 88), Bob Mausser ’75 (who shot 89), and Tony Bernardo ’78 (who shot 90). Brother Mausser won the Man Miles Award as he traveled all the way from Houston, Texas.
A new tradition, the Tachi Cup, was born at this Open. The Tachi Cup is awarded to the low group score based on a handicap system. The winners of the inaugural Tachi Cup were Ken Oeschger ’77, Dennis Hottel, John Loyle ’76 and Dave Zovath ’73. Similar to a scramble event, this format allowed all Brothers to have a reasonable shot at winning the cup. Perhaps a Krapper Cup should be awarded to the worst scoring group.
A total of 34 Brothers attended on a beautiful day. They enjoyed a great 19th hole outing featuring a pig roast. Brother Alan Vladimir ’85 was the youngest Brother in attendance and in fine Theta Chi tradition got to kiss the hind side of the pig. The party went on after the Open as many Brothers stayed at the nearby Sheraton Post Inn located in King of Prussia, PA.
The 27th Annual Theta Chi Open will be held, as always on the first Friday in May, which is May 2nd, 2008 at Turtle Creek Golf Club located in Limerick, PA. Mark it on your calendar!
Alumni Report
A lot has changed in the last year of Omega chapter: National has addressed our financial issues; the third floor construction is well on its way; the roof has been repaired; and installation of a house-wide sprinkler system has begun.
While National has been able to help us out, we must help ourselves as well. National has no interest in owning the chapter house and wants the alumni association to regain control in the next year. For us to take back the chapter house, we will need to make sure we can handle the financial responsibilities as well as the day-to-day operations. We are considering undertaking a major capital campaign drive to help pay National back for all the work currently being done to the chapter.
We will also need to complete the rest of the work that needs to be done to the chapter house.
The current alumni association will continue to keep all alumni informed and try to get as many people involved as possible. We have a tough road ahead, but I have seen both undergraduate and alumni brothers step up to help. If you would like to get more information about what’s going on or are interested in lending a helping hand, please let us know.
Fraternally,
Richard Maltz ’90
Alumni President
Undergraduate Report - Undergraduate Brothers Show Their True Colors with Top GPA, Intramural Championship and Charitable Acts in Community
The past semester has been very successful for the brothers of Theta Chi Omega chapter. For three straight semesters, Theta Chi has consistently maintained the highest cumulative chapter GPA among all IFC fraternities. In the Fall semester, 13 brothers achieved Dean’s List, with Brother Michael Crawford boosting our average with his perfect 4.0 GPA. Don’t worry, though; we’re not a bunch of bookworms. We won the Intramural Championship for Men’s Volleyball in the Fall. We are currently under review by a panel that is judging our chapter for excellence. Being named a Chapter of Excellence at Penn State is a very prestigious title that only the best fraternities get to hold. Brother Todd Pontius, currently the IFC Vice President of Programming, happened to be sitting on that panel, and informed us that we lit up the room with our accomplishments.
Our helping hand has reached many people already in this school year. After yet another successful K.I.C.K.S. tournament in the Fall, we raised approximately $1,800 for Make-A-Wish. We have monthly visits to an elderly care home, The Village, to play bingo with its residents. These senior citizens look forward to our visits, and recognize our let- ters when we walk through the door. That,
along with over 400 hours of community service, has shown that we care about the surrounding community. For THON, we teamed up with S.N.A.P., which stands for “Student Nurses Association of Pennsylvania,” although the brothers prefer to call them S.N.A.P.S., which to us stands for “Sexy Nurses at Penn State.” Together we raised a total of $16,110.16 for the kids. Our goal for next year is to blow that total away and return to being a top tier THON fundraising fraternity.
Our 75-year-old house is currently under a great deal of renovations. The third floor was demolished in early winter, and should be completely remodeled by the end of May. We should have 20 available rooms by the begin- ning of next semester, as well as a new roof, a usable fireplace/chimney, and several new appliances. The Norwich Housing Corporation has provided the funds to allow Greg Butts and his wonderful FratFix crew to give us the much-needed renovations that we have desired since we moved back into the house.
As far as where we’re headed, the sky’s the limit. I’m a sophomore, leading up an entire Executive Board of sophomores who are ready to restore Theta Chi to glory here at Penn State. People are beginning to recog- nize us, and they will continue to do so as our brotherhood grows in size, involvement and character. We are participating in Greek Week for the first time since our re-founding, and preparing to ride our successes from Homecoming 2006 into Homecoming 2007. We also brought in ten new members over this year to refill the void left by the graduat- ing class of 2007, and we already have massive recruitment goals for the Fall semester.
As always, the president should encourage alumni to return. I don’t care if you give money. Hell, leave your wallet at home (who said you needed a wallet to carry cash?). Just show up once in a while. You have stories to tell, and so do we. Come back to the house and relive some of those memories. Without our alumni, we might as well be the Alpha class of 1919. We do have a past, so share its beauty with us.
Alumni Updates
William W. Orben ’55 - Twelve years ago, we arrived at our retirement home less than a mile from a Gulf Coast beach. We still drive north for about four months and stay at Lake Champlain. We celebrated our 50th anniversary in July 2004 and attended PSU’s 50th Reunion in 2005.
James “Jim” Caldwell ’57 - I suppose that some of my best memories are of happenings in the kitchen when E.T. Gifford was the resident chef. I still picture him mixing up meat loaf with a cigarette hanging from his mouth with an inch of ash. He would be mixing up a concoction of eggs, hamburger and whatever. If the ash dropped it was just part of the seasoning.
A particularly funny occasion was when the stove blew up and the oven door blew off during dinner. Giffy shot a look at the kitchen with wide eyes and was almost speechless. No one was injured which makes it a funny memory.
One of the best parties we had was a big weekend when we had a formal cocktail party with a formal dinner. We had a tight budget and someone suggested serving Orange Blossoms for cocktails, which is a mixture of 180 proof alcohol and orange juice. We started out with a dilution of 10 parts orange juice to one part alcohol. We quickly noticed that the dilution was not enough and changed it to 15 to 1. Needless to say it was an unusually loud dinner party but a good time was had by all.
Of course the best memories are of the brothers. So many with such varied personalities. I also remember the pinnings and the serenades of the coeds. Theta Chi is a good memory!!
Francis Paolone ’59 - I earned three degrees at PSU—and survived all degrees as player and graduate assistant coach (’66-’70) under “The Maestro.” I have gone from head coach of football at a suburban school in New Castle, PA to graduate school, and then to prison, serving two years in Project New View at Rockview State, developing pro- grams to prevent recidivism; then to University of Maine at Augusta as Consortium Coordinator, then to UAB as the assistant to Associate VP-Student Affairs (with five-year stint as stress management consultant at BellSouth Corp.). I earned a second Master’s Degree in Public Health resulting in a research study on lupus. I just completed the initial three-year term as the Alabama representative to a newly formed nationwide Taxpayer Advocacy Panel, which surveyed taxpayers’ concerns for systemic issues that could be recommended for viable changes within the IRS and its operations.
Wife Maria Antonette was born in Bolzano, Italy and came to U.S. at age 11. She learned English and graduated from Altoona High School with Mike Reid (PSU All- American). I met her at PSU and we married in 1969. She has been a model and TV commercials spokesperson, a self-employed image con- sultant and research interviewer at UAB. She is currently a beauty advisor at SAKS-Parisian at the Galleria in Hoover, AL.
Son Jon graduated from Hoover High School and was a two-year letterwinner in track and cross-country (two state championships). He is a U.S. Air Force veteran and graduate from UAB with B.A. in Environmental Studies.
Son Patrick graduated from Hoover High School and was a two-year letterwinner in football as a wide receiver and running back; at 6'2" and 190 lbs., Joe Pa missed out on this one. He is currently 24 years old and is soon to be commissioned 2nd Lt. after graduating from UAB with B.S. in Logistics and Civil Engineering.
Alexis Barron ’60 - I am an intellectual property attorney, president of the Board of Trustees of our church and officer of local committees and parties.
Edward M. Beidel Jr. ’76- In August 2007, Dr Deborah Casamassa Beidel (Theta Chi Little Sister ’76) and I will celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary.
Thank you to all those brothers that shared their news.
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