THE CHAPTER Rho Alpha is off to a fast start this year. The Chapter turned in another solid rush performance this fall, claiming two pledges who promise to be excellent brothers, both in leadership and scholastic ability. Jeff Carter is educating our pledges this quarter, and if all goes well they will be initiated on January the 7th. The pledges are sophomores James Jeweler and David Kelley; they form the AH pledge class. Rush is going to be our main concern for 1983-84 as we are losing eight undergraduates. Fall rush produced a dozen good freshmen prospects for winter quarter. One key factor was a "dry" rush (no alcohol) which filtered out the "beer hounds" and attracted men truly interested in fraternities. The rush committee and the rush captains are relentlessly following-up on these people. John Dietrich (AE) will take the reins as rush chairman winter quarter as Dana Hesse is co-oping. We expect him to do an excellent job. Thanks to Financially speaking, Rho Alpha is doing well;A generous graduate donations. Mortgage payments have been increased from $470.00 to $500.00 per month. The house committee has several major projects underway. We hope to have the rewiring done by midJanuary 1984. Due to the high cost of fuel oil and the relatively low cost of firewood in Blacksburg, we are switching to a woodstove as our primary source of heat, but we will continue to use space heaters in the bedrooms. Everyone that comes to our house, including the field secretary, Mark Wilkison, is impressed by its appearance and we certainly want that tradition to continue. V Our newest and most active committee is public relations, which is making our name known on campus, both to other greek organizations and to students in general. We are involved with the new Kappa Alpha Theta chapter on campus and we, as a group, hope to be interacting with them socially. We already have had many compliments and intend to continue to do so. \r\nPAGE 2 Homecoming weekend was very enjoyable, in spite of the rain, and it was great to see the large number of graduates who attended. We would like to thank you, the graduates, for your donations to the chapter. Eight graduates donated a total of $550 to the chapter, with Ward Follette giving $200 and Ed Hardell giving $100. Your support is very helpful, and always appreciated. And, last but not least, the TWELFTH ANNUAL MORRIS PIG DINNER will be held on Saturday, May 12th, 1984, at the Blacksburg Sheraton Inn. Any suggestions for guest speaker will be welcomed. More details will be forthcoming. In conclusion, we have committed ourselves to making Fiji the top fraternity on campus and will push ourselves to the limit to make that goal a reality. It may not happen in the immediate future, but sometime soon FIJI WILL BE THE TOP FRATERNITY AT VIRGINIA TECH. PLEDGE/INITIATION FUND For several years we have toyed with the idea of a fund to loan money for Pledge and Initiation fees to pledges who would otherwise be unable to afford to pledge. We feel that the time has come when we can implement this program. We are establishing an initial fund of $540, which is enough for three pledges. The money is borrowed from Brothers, or the House Corporation, with the Chapter paying 7% interest for the use of the money. The pledges would repay their loan, interest free, at the rate of $10/month for 18 months. The $38 which this will cost the Chapter yearly will be more than repaid if we pledge one man one quarter earlier than we would have without the fund. We would appreciate any input on the subject which you may have. NEW FACULTY ADVISOR Dr. Bruce Ewald (Iowa State '55), Associate Dear, of the College of Veterinary Medicine, has agreed to be our new Faculty Advisor. Dr. James Smith (Davidson College '61), who has been our advisor for several years had to vacate the position due to taking a year's academic leav~. We are glad to have Dr. Ewald working with us. j Nov. 11 (Fri) Dec. 9 (Fri) Jan. 10 (Tue) Jan. 14 (Sat) Jan. 20 (Fri) Jan. 25 (Wed) May 12 (Sat) DATES TO REMEMBER | I Band Party (proceeds go to charity) Christmas Party Open Rush Open Rush Open Rush Closed Rush Dinner TWELFTH NORRIS PIG DINNER \r\nPAGE 3 GRADUATE NEWS HOWARD "GROUCHO" CANADA married Diane Cook on August 20 in Roanoke. Preliminary returns show that married life is treating the "old man" well. We all wish them many happy years together. ANDY STOWASSER, our Purple Legionnaire, and his wife Teresa have escaped from "West-by-God Virginia" and are living in the Roanoke area. We welcome them back to civilization. DANNY KALLICK and his wife Sara are expecting their first child. (I sense a "FIJI Sires and Sons" on the way.) ROBERT "SWEDE" ERIKSON is building a house in Tappahanock, Va. We missed Swede at Homecoming this year, but anxiously await another installment in the "Being Here" series of poems at Pig•=> Dinner. tOn Saturday, July 30, 1983 the Hokie FIJIs descended on King's Dominion. In addition to many Undergraduates and Little Sisters, we were honored by the presence of DANNY & SARA KALLICK, "SWEDE" & BRENDA ERIKSON, WARD FOLLETTE, ED "GNOME" HARDELL, MIKE "CAPTAIN STUPID" RODNEY, and PAUL "Z" ZAWISTOWSKI. CLIFF ROBER has been found. Alive and well, Cliff made it to a cookout held at Doug Frushour's home this summer. Cliff still lives in the Boston area, but we hope he will be able to join us at or Pig Dinner this year. BILL EAST has returned to Maryland. Bill appeared at the House for a Rush party with checkbook in hand. We are glad to have Bill "back in the fold." "NASTY" JONES, after having been downgraded to "merely obnoxious" during the summer, returned for Homecoming in full force. Congratulations, Nasty, you have your old title back!!!!!! PAUL ZAWISTOWSKI has accepted a job with the U.S. Navy in Charleston, SC. So, tell us Paul, how does it feel to finally stop being a burden on society? " MIKE ROONEY, of "Captain Stupid" infamy has been in Blacksburg since October 18. Mike has been staying at the house and interviewing for jobs through the University Placement Service. Will this guy never leave? The Chapter has corrected an old wrong. Congratulations to PAT RADFORD, our newest Graduate Little Sister! (Sorry it took us so long to come to our senses!) \r\n- PAGE 4 MINUTES OF HOMECOMING BCA MEETING October,22 1983 Chapter President Jeff Waldon called the ritual meeting to order at 10:52am and turned the meeting over to BCA President Brandon Bell. Graduate Brothers John Adamo, Brandon Bell (Mississippi State '72), Robert Dunn, Ward Follette, Rick Gass, Ed Hardell, Nasty Jones, Danny Kallick, Henry King, Mike Maret, Ed Merwin, Fred Munson, Chuck Radford, Mike Rooney, George Sakell, Rick Vaden, Mike Walton, and Paul Zawistowski were present. The entire Undergraduate Chapter, with the exception of Mike Barringer, Ephry Kaplan, Murphy Rector, and Scott Weber, were also present. Danny Kallick reported meeting. the proceedings of the last BCA Jeff Waldon outlined the status of the Undergraduate Chapter, stating that we have 21 Brothers this quarter (one is co-oping) and two pledges. Jeff also stated that we have many good rush prospects for winter, the House is in good shape, and that our new Public Relations Committee has been very effective so far. Jon Parker reported on the condition of the House. Jon stated that there is a problem with the furnace, and that we are considering buying a fireplace insert to heat the house to avoid the budgeted $1500 oil bill. Jon also stated that we are caulking and fixing broken windows to winterize the house. Several graduates expressed concerns about problems which may arise from a woodstove, the planned rewiring of the House was discussed, and Ed Merwin offered to provide a list of routine maintenance for the House. Dominique Kostelac. presented his plan to convert the back stairway into a double bedroom. Fred Schlang stated that we have upped the monthly deposit into the House Corporation Account to $500 and that we are working on making up the last of our back house payments. The Pledge/Initiation Fund was outlined to the Graduates, and the Rush Goals (8 for Winter and 5 for Spring) were announced. Erich Weinberg's outstanding bill was discussed. With no further business to come before it, the meeting was adjourned at 11:55am. Respectfully submitted, Douglas E. Frushour Recording Secretary \r\nPAGE 5 TELL-A-FIJI Please use this page for rush referrals, graduate information, or to give us additions for our chapter history. Just cut it off from the rest of the newletter, fold it, and mail it to us (we've even addressed it for you.) We want to hear from you! Fraternally, Doug Frushour, Editor \r\nNon-profit Org. US Postage PAID Blacksburg ,Va Permit No. 55 Rho Alpha Chapter Phi Gamma Delta 202 Church St. Blacksburg, VA JOHN HILLEB 109 OLD HICKOBY FT. Gfi££NS7ILL£ , SC 29607 THE PHI GAM VPI&SU Rho Alpha Chapter FALL 1983 Btacksburg, VA(703)552 4251