FIJI NEWS President's Address Ireetings Brothers! We have once again begun a new semester, and I have a lot of good news to share with you. I would first like to introduce the newly elected cabinet officers: Treasurer: Josh Mackert Recording Secretary: Jon Petcu Corresponding Secretary: Mark Wentink Historian: Steve Butera Our first act as cabinet was to take a retreat to International Headquarters. Internationals is a very impressive place to visit and the staff there was a great help to us. They went out of their way to lend us a hand and helped us identify our goals for the chapter. We all came back full of ideas and very motivated to carry them out. One of the most important topics we discussed was rush. We have just finished up a very successful rush week and pinned ten new pledges. They will aii make great additions to the brotherhood. In service to the community, we are currently helping the sisters of Delta Gamma raise money for the blind, and are planning a dance with the residents of the Warmhearth Retirement Home. I'm happy to report that our overall grade point average for the chapter this past semester was a 2.6. This is an increase from the previous semester average of a 2.4. For this semester, we have set our academic goals even higher. It will not be long until we have the highest grades of any fraternity on campus. All in all, we are keeping very busy here in Blacksburg. All of the brothers are looking forward to seeing all of you at Pig Dinner this year. Preparations are almost complete, and I am sure that everyone will enjoy themselves. Until then, I wish good luck to all and hope to see everyone next month. Fraternally, William M.Hepler 'BZ1 Chapter President Perge! Upcoming Events March 5-13—Spring Break March 26 House Corporation meeting March 26 Norris Pig Dinner Campus News A new shopping center behind the Blacksburg Wendy's is planned for August 1994. It will be named Collegiate Square. Virginia Tech appeared on NBC nightly news on February 10th. The show interviewed faculty and staff about the new "Electronic Village" that will be the Blacksburg of the future. If you missed it we have it taped. See it at Pig Dinner. Virginia Tech's Jim Pyne had his number 73 jersey retired at halftime of the Louisville game. Pyne is Tech's only unanimous All-American selection in history. The center of the Hokies allowed only one sack in four years. Finally, the Hokies were presented with the 1993 Independence Bowl trophy. This came as a result of their 45-20 thrashing of Big Ten power Indiana. This was the high point of recent years and it made for a great FIJI trip to Shreveport/ New Orleans. Jonathan Petcu 'BZ' \ \r\nScholarship An this academic year, our Rho Alpha chapter has made a strong commitment to scholarship that is unprecedented in recent history. Many measures have been taken to ensure that all of our brothers achieve high scholarship. Some incentives and motivators have been added to the program, such as: free pizza for the person with the highest test score each week, a word of the week to keep in mind, and an improved koofer file. One larger measure is an inter-team competition. The team with the lowest average QCA will have to make dinner for the team with the highest QCA. This has inspired mutual cooperation and brothers helping each other out. Another action taken was to pass a bylaw requiring all pledges to attend three study sessions per week in the library. The bylaw also required brothers below a 2.0 to attend three study sessions per week, and brothers below the all male average to attend two sessions per week. The results from last semester's efforts hint at a brighter future. The number of brothers required to go to study sessions is less than half of what it was last semester and the chapter's QCA is up significantly (We beat the allmens average). Scholarship at Rho Alpha is once again an important priority and looks to improve even more in the coming semesters. Jason Dean BH o, RUSH "n January 12,1994, cabinet, Greg Edel, and I met with the officers of International Headquarters in Lexington, KY to discuss the goals of the Rho Alpha chapter. One of these goals was to pin ten pledges for the upcoming spring semester. Despite not having a large amount of time to prepare for spring rush, we were confident that out efforts would be able to produce some results. Spring rush began with the IFC rush fair held in Squire's Commonwealth Ballroom on Monday, Jan. 24. We were able to meet and invite a fair number of new faces to the our first rush event in Pritchard Hall the next night. We had tacos at our rush in Pritchard, and we handed out business cards with the future rush dates on them which I feel is a great idea for future rush events. The next rush was also scheduled in Pritchard on Thursday night; however, Tech was playing Louisville in basketball at the same time as the rush. Thus, we decided to collect the rushes' athletic cards and invited them over to the house before the game for some pizza. Despite Tech's usual winning efforts, the night went extremely well, and I feel the decision to take the rushes to the game rather man Pritchard paid off. The third rush was a casino night held at the house on the following Tuesday night. The one thing that differed about this casino night was that the chapter decided to invite our favorite ladies to the rush event, ihings went extremely well as both the rushes and the ladies had a great time. The fourth and last rush was closed rush at the house on Thursday night. There the chapter was able to give the rushes valuable information concerning the chapter and answer any of their questions. We also included a slide show of pictures taken from the previous fall semester. Bids went out the following Monday night and I'm proud to write that the Rho Alpha chapter of Phi Gamma Delta met its goal of ten pledges with one other still pending despite only giving out thirteen bids! As rush chairman, I'm extremely proud of my brothers and appreciative of all the help they have given me throughout the rush. We are all extremely excited about the new additions to the chapter and hopefully the chapter will have ten newly initiated brothers come next fall. William B. Litton BH \r\nlew uaomet Seizes Command An December, a new group of officers were elected to continue the excellent work of the outgoing cabinet. Thanks to some timely and useful advice from the previous officers, the leadership transition has proceeded relatively smoothly. The new officers (Bill Hepler '95, President; Josh Mackert '95, Treasurer; JonPetcu '95, Recording Secretary; Mark Wentink '95, Corresponding Secretary; Steve Butera '95, Historian) kicked off 1994 with an extremely productive trip to Fiji Headquarters in Lexington, Kentucky. With help from the Director of Graduate Services, Ben Robinson; Purple Legionnaire, Greg Edel; and Rush Chairman, Will Litton '96; the new cabinet devised a plan of action for the year and developed some long and short-term goals for the chapter. Chief among the things that this cabinet would like to see is an improved rush and pledge program to increase the amount of quality men in the fraternity, a continued improvement in the chapter's scholarship, a stronger development of graduate relations (Ben said we had some of the most pissing purple grads in all of Fijiland! Not a direct quote but close), and the ultimate goal of winning the Condon Cup at Ekklesia this summer. So far, the chapter has shown great support for the new officers. With the recent initiation of some excellent new brothers and the completion of a strong rush, the PA chapter is well on its way to an incredible year. Steven R. Butera Historian Perge! BD BCA A WORD FROM ROB he Spring '94 semester started off with a bang, as the newly-installed undergraduate cabinet braved obnoxious weather conditions to become the first chapter nationwide to travel to Lexington for a retreat. The new cabinet is composed of five very capable and talented men - President Bill Hepler, Treasurer Josh Mackert, Rec Sec Jon Petcu, Cor Sec Mark Wentik, and Historian Steve Butera. One of the most noticeable changes in the undergraduate this year is the conversion to the team system. In this new format, committees no longer exist as we knew them. Instead, the brotherhood is divided into five teams which work together on tasks delegated to them by the cabinet and the chairmen of scholarship, pledge education, rush, service, grad relations, and social. For instance, one specific team may organize a rush one night and then carry out a community service project a week later. The undergraduate chapter has just completed a second highly successful spring rush. Following up a fall rush which yielded six pledges, the latest pledge class is composed of ten outstanding men. The new found success in the rush effort is the result of the undergrads making rush more of a continual, yearround process than ever before. Rho Alpha was recently paid a visit by Field Secretary Dave B urns, who was very pleased with the current state of the chapter. He listed among our strengths the new cabinet, chapter tone, the level of involvement, and the support of our graduates. He was very impressed with the recent rush accomplishments as well as 3 the improvement in grades, although he identified these two areas being the biggest challenges the chapter faces this year. The overall grades for the chapter have improved from a 2.4 last Spring to a 2.6 this past fall. With the recent Bylaws aimed at bringing scholarship back to the top of our priorities, even greater improvement is expected when the final grades are released in May. In other academic news, the Rho Alpha fund of the Phi Gamma Delta Educational Foundation will soon award another $500 scholarship to one of our own. As I have said in the past, the greatest advantage this fund gives us is that the scholarships are aimed specifically at our own undergraduates here at Rho Alpha. The total assets in the fund currently stand at $5955.00, not including any outstanding pledges. The goal of the BCA is to bring this fund to a total endowment level of $ 10,000.00, at which point the grants we make will come solely from the interest on the principal. This will mean that with no additional fund raising we are assured of a $500 grant every year. We are within sight of this goal, so this year at Pig Dinner, please consider helping us out. Don't for Pig Dinner is the weekend of March 26 at the Blacksburg Marriot, and as always, it should be a blast. Moving onto future events, Ekklesia will take place in Kansas City August 10-14. Advanced word is that the Archons will be strengthening the fraternity for the 21st century. Have a great Spring and I hope to see you at Pig Dinner! Fraternally, Rob Paine Perge! \r\nTPAAYATE TIABITZ he big news at Rho Alpha is straight out of the sports pages. Phillip Leftwich, brother of our own Lin wood Leftwich, is preparing for his second season as a starting pitcher for the California Angels. Phil was called up to the majors last July, where as a rookie he earned an impressive 3.79 ERA and a record of 4 and 6, as well as a solid berth in the starting rotation for the 1994 season. In other news closer to home, Shandon "Doctor Smooth" Thompson married his lovely fiancee Sadie in Chicago last November. The vows were witnessed by many loyal Fiji's including Tracy Matthews, Matt Holland, Lin Leftwich; and winning the Oscar for best supporting drunk on a major road trip, Jim Jeweler. Not to be outdone by a mere wedding, Ward Follette celebrated his 40th birthday in Bethlehem, PA in January. The party was a year in the planning, and was attended by a host of Fiji's including Mike Rooney , Danny Kalick, Jonathan Jacobs, Jim Burlant, Jim Jeweler, some guy trying to pass himself off as Dana Hesse, Rob Paine, and Mike Walton. Highlights of this three day party included lots of skiing, bridge, generous helpings of Ward's H AZ-M AT chilli and encountering these big white lumpy things outside in the snow that later turned out to be cars. Our sincere thanks to Ward and Elizabeth for making us feel at home. In other news, House Cor. President and former cheese-eating roommate Rich Lloyd is making news on several fronts. He and his lovely bride Julie Tucker will exchange vows on April 9th in Wytheville, VA. Word is that Rich is looking to retire from the Freshens Yogurt business and move onto bigger and better things in the business world, to which we all wish him Godspeed. From the Lloyd household in Manassas we move south to Fishersville, Virginia, where Matt Holland will be married to his lovely fiancee Lucy on May 21. Matt is employed as an account executive for Saxon Mortgage Corporation, whom he represents in his travels throughout a third of the continental U.S. Captain Stupid! Report to the bridge immediately! The good captain, also known as Mike Rooney, is engaged to married to Linda Sinsebox, in a completely unorigional but very wise move. Mike and Linda are busy renovating there house in Ellicott City, MD; and they have recently purchased a Nissan Altima, which keeps them busy for hours balancing champagne glasses on the hood or rolling steel bearings off the fender. Several unconfirmed rumors are wafting around the fraternity like the vapor trail from a pot of Ward's "hi-octane" chilli. They are believed to be true but as the deadline moves closer they remain unconfirmed. Among these is news that Colin Winchester is entering the seminary, a move that surprises few who know him but makes us all very happy for him. Another late breaking story is that Colin's old housemate and our good friend, Bill Woodward and his wife Kelly, are expecting their second child latter this year. Also Mike and Sharon Maret are expecting their second child latter this spring. Onto news of the weird, Roel Cuejlio's Ford Bronco was crushed by a nearly century-old oak tree which fell during a severe thunderstorm in D.C. last summer. Thankfully, no one was injured as the truck was parked at the time, and the insurance has taken care of the whole unfortunate incident. Jim Jeweler recently embarked on a profitable sideline selling T-Shirts commemorating the 3rd Battle of Manassas, the Lorena Bobbit trial. I wish the best of everything to our new couples, new babies and all the rest of us mentioned in the newsletter or not. Take care and I will see you at Pig Dinner. Fraternally, Rob Paine Perge!