A 9 THE "^olame 12 PANTHER FIJI Tke Pi Sigma Association Journal 1997 Special Pig Dinner Edition Come See The Restoration And Join In The Celebration Of The 80™ Annual Norris Pic Dinner JBDnORS — DAMIAN M. ZAMPOGNA 'g6 JfAMSS MAJiLK ghjdester '96 Adam KUCIA '97 | \r\n'Pig Dinner InformationWho: All Pi Sigma and Pittsburgh Area Phi Gams. Sorry, no family members or friends please. What: 80th Annual Norris Pig Dinner Where: The Holiday Inn - University Center. For directions call (412) 682-6200. When: March 15, 1997 from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Details: -Price of $40 in advance or $50 at the door to include dinner, ceremony, and reception. -Please RSVP by March 2nd with your choice of entree. -Parking will be provided at the Holiday Inn. -A block of rooms has been reserved for Phi Gamma Delta at a special rate. Call (412) 682-6200 for reservations. -Bar service will be provided before and during dinner. -A reception will take place at the Chapter House immediately following the ceremony. This year Pi Sigma is proud to announce the recipients ofthe prestigious Diamond, Gold and Silver Owl Awards. Ifyour name appears on this list please take the time to let us know if you will orwill not be in attendance as we are planning a special ceremony for the award recipients. Diamond Owl Winners William E. Pfeiffer '49 Robert C. Morris '73 Robert J. Riley '49 Larry Pansino '74 Timothy A. Preach '73 '74 Frank H. McCullough Theodore O. McQuiston '24 '25 Paul W. Robinson '50 Harold C. Sellers '48 James H. Walsh '25 Richard K. Smith '50 John S. Robb Mark P. Sobota Frederick C. VanScoyoc '49 Dennis P. Yeskey 72 Rex E. McLain Jr. '50 75 James B. Tafel '49 Dr. Richard B. Frost '49 Job F. Bonavita Alfred A. Furia Michael t. Muslin '50 David A. Scola 75 '48 JeffreyR. Sekerka 75 '50 Oscar E. Stevens 75 '49 Allan L. Wilkosky 75 Rick Younkin 73 Gold Owl Winners J. Robert Homer Kenneth D. Phifer '49 Roy W. Walker '49 William D. Baker Jr. '49 Robert E. Hauser '49 Caleb Davies '46 Paul D. Ferrell '49 John E. Eisaman '50 Dean L. Carey '49 John Fuhrman '73 William C. Fredrick '50 George Jacoby '73 William PL Genge Lee Karageorge '48 '49 Richard P. Keane '73 David P. Krugh '73 George A. Keck, DVM '50 John C. McKown Howard W. Over James E. Warden Silver Owl Winners If you should have any questions or comments please feel free to contact: Scott Colman Mel Eperthener Pig Dinner Chairman Pi Sigma Assoc. Treasurer (412) 781-6140 (412) 683-1077 71 75 75 \r\nDear Brothers; I am writing to you on behalf of the ongoing success and necessary investment into our chapter at Phi Gamma Delta. Both Scott and I are in the homebuilding business and have access to tradespeople and resources not usually available to the Graduate Chapter. In any presentation, there are two goals or motivations for many people's benefits that usually boil down to a savings of either TIME or MONEY!! We realize that both of these commodities are extremely valuable. The graduate trust has been very successful in regaining the confidence of the brotherhood as we move into the current environment of the university. We believe Phi Gamma Delta can thrive and prosper as a leadership fraternity with a beautiful house (that we have all enjoyed!) with an appropriate social agenda as well. I have assumed the position of "graduate house manager" or in corporate speak "facilities management coordinator." The trust has been, and is willing, to invest the time and I am asking for the assistance of all Phi Gams financially so that we may retum the respected and beautiful Chapter House to its "prestigious home" status. I have identified the areas of need that can make a big difference for an immediate impact for rush and a strong showing of support for the undergraduates carrying us into the future. The initial projects I have reviewed with estimated budgets are as follows: PROJECT ESTIMATED BUDGET Professionally refinish hardwood floors. Formal living room Trophy room $1,190 $ 950 New carpet for the entire first floor from the Entry Hall to the TV room area. $4,500 Installation of plumbing in the kitchen pantry area for coin-op laundry facilities from which the Fraternity benefits 50% of proceeds. This should provide (2) washers and (2) dryers. $ 900 Install drop ceiling in former barroom and meeting room (dance floor) with specific recessed and fluorescent lighting. Barroom Meeting Room $ 1,600 $1,550 Redo counter tops in barroom. $ 900 Redo vanity, door mirror and commode on the first floor. $ 750 New railing from second floor to main area. To Quote Redo second floor bath: (2) showers, new vanity, mirror, flooring, commode $ 8,500 Redo third floor hall bath: (2) showers, vanity, mirror, flooring, (2) commodes, hardware. $ 9,500 Refinish, refelt, repocket and replace bumpers on "the pool table" $ 795 Refinish pool table woodwork Paint and drywall touch up repair To Quote $5,000 Upon review of the overall projects, I predict a refinance of our mortgage will be necessary to engage the major projects. It is crucial to the ongoing interest of new brothers and for the longevity of our beautiful home. Iwill becontacting you for "Class of contributions for various projects soon. We hope to have a lot ofprogress prior to the Pig Dinner on March 15, 1997. In advance Iwould like to thank my co-trustees and all of the Graduates for their attention and support of Pi Sigma at this pivotal time. We need all of you to help! Thank you. Respectfully submitted. Mark Jennings '81 \r\nA MESSAGE FROM THE HOUSE CORPORATION & THE GRADUATE TRUSTEES During the past few months, the Pi Sigma Chapter ofPhi Gamma Delta has undergone some major changes due to several incidents that have occurred. I am going to bring you up to date on what happened, and how it is being handled as well as plans for the future to make sure both the House and the Chapter are prepared to continue into the next century! First, let me assure you that the Chapter is still alive and kicking and was not disbanded which was reported in the Post Gazette. The Chapter actually has two charters - one granted by the International Fraternity that is still in place and one granted by the University to recognize the Chapter as a recognized student group on campus. It was this student group "charter" that was pulled by the University in May which quite a few Brothers thought was the real charter from the newspaper articles. This all came about because ofapledge drinking incident that occurred during apledge meeting last fall. One ofthe pledges took it upon himself to use this opportunity to drown out several problems he was having in school and at home and got himselfto the point ofbeing taken to the hospital to have his stomach pumped! He ended up being pulled from school by his parents after this took place. Everything seemed to get back to normal at the Chapter after this until this young man decided to write the Chancellor a letter and tell him about what had happened and other things he had experienced while being apledge. This all lead up to a hearing by the Greek Incident Advisory Board which is made up ofGreeks that are currently employed by the University in various positions. The Chapter was found to be violating the University guidelines concerning alcohol and hazing &that lead them to the step I mentioned in the above paragraph. We then appealed to the University to review the case due to the severity ofthe penalty. Pitt then came back with alist ofsanctions against the Chapter. These included: suspending the Brothers that were involved with the above incident, agraduate trusteeship being put in place to manage the Chapter, a membership review being conducted by the trustees, the house corporation providing living quarters for a graduate educational advisor, &the Fraternity committing to creating an alcohol-free environment at the house. This is why there was no alcohol at the house after Homecoming and probably will not be any after the Pig Dinner. We as graduates have to treat this as the very serious issue it is by setting the right example! The first quarterly review of the Chapters progress (another sanction imposed by Pitt) was held with several University officials on Friday, November 22,1996. It was a fairly positive and productive meeting and the Chapter formally requested to be allowed to rush new members in January 1997. The Pitt officials said we would be notified before the end of this term on this matter. \r\nThe Chapter was officially put on "graduate trusteeship" at the Ekklesia this summer. This means graduates have assumed management responsibilities for the Chapter and attend the weekly Sunday night meeting to observe and guide the day to day operations. The chairman of the trusteeship is Gary Hirsch 73 and the two assistant co-chairmen are myself (Scot Jennings) '86 and Marc Alaia '91. The other graduates actively involved in the trust are: Mark Jennings '81 serving as secretary, Mike Kasimirsky '91 serving as financial advisor to the treasurer, Dave Wissinger '89 as the purple legionnaire, Mel Eperthener and Rob Johnston both filling duel roles with me on the House Corporation, and John Sheppard '44, Harry Montgomery '52, Tony Leech '81, Tim Reitmeyer, Harry Ingram, Steve Nolan, and Paul Karki have also played a part in making this arrangement work! I would like to personally thank everyone I mentioned above for their dedication to the Fraternity in volunteering to help. Our live in graduate educational advisor sanction has been being fulfilled this term by Damian Zampogna and he has done an outstanding job in this capacity of chapter advisor/liaison to the University. Thank you Damian!! This past summer marked the first time since I have beenHouse Corporation President that we actually closed the house due to lack of summer tenants. The normal summer wear and tear on the house was eliminated and the utility bills dropped significantly! We do not want this trend to continue but it had always been something we had talked about trying. The projects we have completed this year include having cleanouts installed and having the downspouts snaked out, having several doors replaced, and we have also donated some new furniture to the house to be used in the entry room to impress our new rushees! We are anticipating replacing the front porch steps, refining the fireplaces, and even installing a washer and dryer in the room off ofthe kitchen in the very near future! We are introducing a fund raising drive to be sponsored by pledge classes to take care of these and other projects to keep 4725 Wallingford Street in top condition as we cross the bridge into the next century! We are looking for more involvement from any graduates so the Trustee meeting and the House Corporation meeting are both held on the first Wednesday night of every monthbegirming at 7:00 p.m. Please feel free to drop by and join us in rebuilding our Chapter or to offer help in various ways. The Pig Dirmer has been scheduled for March 15, 1997 at the Holiday Inn in Oakland so please mark your calendars now! I look forward to seeing you there!! I am mighty proud to be a third generation Pi Sigma Brother in Phi Gamma Delta. Fraternally, J. Scot Jennings '86 House Corporation President \r\nTREASURER'S REPORT Mel Eperthener Greetings from Pittsburgh. Iwould like to take this opportunity to introduce myself to those of you that I have not had the pleasure of meeting. My name is Mel Eperthener, and I have taken over the Treasurer duties from the illustrious Dave Forti, who served in this office so greatly for the last few years. Dave has received an offer to practice law in Philadelphia, and has (rightly) decided to move on from Wallingford to bigger and better things. We all owe Dave a debt of thanks for his work with the Chapter; I know that I have big shoes to fill. I am sure that most ofyou are wondering who Iam, as you will not recognize me from your own college days. Yes, sorry to say, Idid not attend Pitt. Imajored in International Business at Allegheny College (Pi Chapter) before continuing my education at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia. Currently, Iown a small retail shop in the Pittsburgh area. My wonderful wife, Susan, and Imake our home in Shaler (both being from Pittsburgh originally) and currently have no prospective Phi Gams. As for the reason for this little note, that being the finances of Pi Sigma, I have to admit that the recent bad press concerning our relationship with the University has hurt our donations. One reason for this is that we have neglected communication with the Graduates (such as this newsletter) in the struggle to improve undergraduate behavior and University recognition. Iam sure that you have heard many times that undergraduate rent payments are not enough to keep the Chapter House running, and we rely on Graduate donations to pay for repairs and improvements. We are in the middle ofsome major improvements to the house that began with a remortgaging of the property that allowed us to basically "save" the house a few years back; this mortgage will be paid off on Founder's Day, 1998, just in time to celebrate the Fraternity's 150 years of organization. As for improvements to the house that we have completed, these include (but are not at all limited to) new windows, bathrooms, and kitchen. We hope that most of the major repair work is done (unless we get an unexpected surprise). The projects that are ongoing are purchasing some new furniture for the main floor (recently begun), the repair ofthe front porch and steps ofthe house that may turn into more extensive cosmetic work to the entire front of the house (bids are being sought) and a new stove for the recently completed kitchen. As I said before, the recent bad press for the fraternity has affected donations to the house, and I cannot say that I blame our Graduates. We received some very negative coverage in the local media that made it sound like Pi Sigma was closing. I have to admit that the stories affected me, and Iwas aware of what was going on. Let me stress to our Graduates that there are many Graduates in the Pittsburgh area working with the University to ensure that Pi Sigma is around for a long time to come!! However, I do want to again stress the importance of Graduate donations. Fortunately, the Chapter is financially well-off enough that at the end of this summer (traditionally when cash flow is lowest, just before the undergraduates pay their fall rent) we had about $10,000 in cash reserves. However, that is the lowest reserve that I have found in my examination of the books. What this means is that although Pi Sigma can continue along for awhile in our current manner, it will not be long until those reserves are depleted. This is why we need your help. Donations for the year so far amount to only a few hundred dollars (not counting a very generous donation from Brother Ron Puntil). If you would have given to Pi Sigma, but changed your mind because of the recent news stories, I urge you to again reconsider, as things are not nearly as bad as the media would have you believe. Well, I know that your eyes probably lit up when you received this newsletter with information about your old Chapter, and you are not reading this to hear about the financial state of Pi Sigma; you want to find out how all of your old friends are doing. So I will now allow the remainder of the newsletter to be turned over to the more important news of where our graduates are now and what they are doing with their lives. In closing, I would like to invite everyone to contact me ifyou have any questions about the financial state of the house. Ican be written to at the Pi Sigma P.O. Box, of course, but you are also invited to telephone me at my shop anytime (if I am not around, please be sure to leave a message, and Iwill call you back). The numbers there are (412) 781-6140 or (412) 781-0685. Also, those graduates with internet access can e-mail me. My address is cassidy@usaor.net Thank you for taking the time to consider what Ihave said above, and Iam looking forward to meeting more of you at the upcoming Morris Pig Dinner. Perge! \r\nRS. v.p. Please Respond by Marc/i J997. MENU Louisiana Gumbo Caesar Salad Chicken or Steak or Pasta Twice Baked Potato Green Beans Amamdine Coffee, Tea or Soda Cheesecake with Raspberry Sauce N?^me Breast of Chicken Marsala Year of Graduation Filet Mignon Address Angel Hair Pasta with Seafood, Herbs & Garlic $40 enclosed Phone Will pay $50 at the door Please mail to P. O. Box: Pi Sigma Association Inc. P.O. Box 71201 Pittsburgh, PA 15213 im \r\nIf' ^ V Oili A imiuia1 Pi D inner M a r c li 16, 1997 o oVoPo ty 31arcli 1997 U.S. POSUGfc The Pi Sigma Association P.O. Box 71201 PRESORl Pittsburgh, PA 15213 9URST CLASS PLEASE FORWARD ADDRESS CORRECTION RE Phi Gamma Delta Attn: Nick 1201 Red Mile Rd Box 4599 Lexington, KY 40544-4599 Parems: Yours sou's fraternity wail is sent to your address uhiie he is in colleye. If he has graduated or has a pennant address please send it to us. Thank You. 00,295 H METER 54 88 70