Phi Gamma Delta Gamma Kappa Chapter GRADUATE GAZETTE Spring 2012 \r\nState of the Chapter Jonathan Pigg, Chapter President Brothers, this is a wonderful time to be a brother in the Gamma Kappa chapter of Phi Gamma Delta. In the last year, we have pledged 45 men, 35 last fall, and 10 this spring. We have initiated 24 Fiji gentlemen. Through the brothers' tireless effort, we have become the largest chapter on the Colorado School of Mines campus. But it is not the size of our chapter that allows us to achieve our greatness, it is the quality of the gentlemen within and their accomplishments that defines Gamma Kappa as a true gem among fraternal associations. Getting the most apparent accomplishment out first. Our chapter has grown immensely in the last few years. Currently we have 69 undergraduate brothers in total (insert your own crude joke here...). 56 initiated brothers, 13 pledge brothers. Along with all of our new brothers, we also have a new faculty advisor, a teacher in the computer science department,Yong Bakos. You may be thinking that we should be focusing on quality rather than quantity, but we are. Out chapter is filled with exceptional Fiji gentlemen. This past fall we achieved an average chapter GPA of over a 3.0, the highest out of all of the fraternities.We are especially proud of this accomplishment because of the significant improvements we've made, not only in the academics of initiated brothers, but also in our new pledges as well. Along with improved scholarship, we've also excelled in our service to the community. In the fall alone the men of our chapter donated nearly 2000 hours of their time to a number of different areas of the community. We have continued our tradition of tutoring children of all ages at the Golden Library every week, and were awarded the community partnership award for our outstanding efforts towards education in the community. My brothers, the Gamma Kappa chapter is as strong, vibrant, and lively as it ever has been.Thanks to the time, effort, and money of every member - both graduates and undergraduates - the banner of Gamma Kappa is at the forefront, and the star of Phi Gamma Delta is propelled ever higher in the sky. \r\nGraduate Spotlight: Patrick Athey Pledge class: Nu Deuteron (Fall 2001) Graduated: 2005 Throughout his years at Mines, he held the positions of Chapter President, Recording Secretary, J board, and Inter Fraternity Council Vice President. He continues to be an active member in the chapter, currently acting as the Board of Chapter Advisors secretary. Additionally, he is the annual Pig Dinner chairman, organizing, setting up, and running the event every year. Mr. Athey has worked at Lincoln Trust Co. for the past 6 years as a relationship manager; he acts as a consultant for small businesses for 401K plans. In February of 2012, his daughter, Nora, was born. He claims that she is “teaching me more than I’m teaching her”. He is an avid sports fan, and enjoys both going to and watching games. \r\nGamma Kappa Service Award 2012 Gamma Kappa Award Winners “To the brother who displays exceptional service to community school and students.” Awarded to: Tyler Anderson Gamma Kappa Leadership Award Gamma Kappa Scholarship Award “To the brother who exhibits leadership in fraternity, school, and community activities.” “To the Brother who displays outstanding scholastic achievement.” Awarded to: Stephen Cutler Awarded to: Davi d Thomas Gamma Kappa Athletic Award Gamma Kappa Sweetheart “To the brother who displays exceptional athletic ability while also upholding the dignity of Phi Gamma Delta” “Given to the Lady who best portrays the values of Phi Gamma Delta and helps, by her own special way, the chapter achieve its quest for excellence.” Awarded to: Meg an Medi na Awarded to: Noah Towe Matthew Hazleton Graduate Kirk Arthur Lindahl Award Award “To the most outstanding brother of the Gamma “To the graduate brother of the Gamma Kappa chapter who best portrays the motto that: Phi Gamma Delta is not for college days alone” Awarded to: Cory Chil ds Kappa Chapter named in honor of Kirk Arthur Lindahl (’86) for his outstanding Contribution toward the founding of this chapter.” Awarded to: Travis Howard \r\nSPRING Rush week started on Monday, January 16, with a home RECRUITMENT: cooked lunch and dinner with a 1v1 Super Smash Bros tournament Matthew Runas like the past year. Our competitors were a little thin this fall with a snow storm happening right as dinner started.The SAE brothers came by again to participate. Winners were declared and given small prizes. Tuesday night we had the traditional Fiji Fiesta with fajitas for dinner and board games all night. We also kept the video games systems out to pull more interest since there was less snow. The piñata ended up not working out because of the cold though. Wednesday a small group went to glow golf despite the smaller turnout again like Monday.Thursday we had approximately forty to fifty people go to bowling, and this was our most successful night. Friday then held the traditional Old Spaghetti Factory trip, also allowing two friends of the house to come as a thank you for their dedication and hard work during Rush Week. Rush week itself was rough for all chapters on campus because RHA made a poor decision requiring all RAs to take their halls to a separate event for Delta Week. Despite this problem, we still ultimately ended up with ten men pledging into the Kappa Triton pledge class. Our goal was fifteen originally but between the lack of interest on campus and the RHA requirement, that was difficult to achieve. Fall 2012 Rush Week dates haven’t been decided yet, but we will be sure to publish them when they are.The tentative plan is the same traditional schedule we have used in previous semesters but a few changes might be made. We would love for grad brothers to come support our chapter and help us recruit all week long. \r\nSpring 2012 Graduating Seniors Travis Howard Metallurgy and Materials Engineering I will be moving to Fairbanks, AK to work for Kinross Gold, at their Fort Knox location as a Metallurgist. Patrick Eddy Engineering - Mechanical Specialty I'll be traveling to Africa for several months to do missionary work and am still in the process of finalizing future plans for when I return. Travis Graham-Wright Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Moving to Houston to work for Nation Oilwell Varco: Quality Tubing. Umberto Jacbo Kilbarger Chemical Engineering Searching for a Job Nicholas Olav Gerstle Double in Engineering: Electrical and Computer Science Graduate school (hopefully): Norwegian University of Science and Technology Daniel Christopher Bittinat Mechanical Engineering Thesis-Based Masters in Mechanical Engineering at CSM Joseph John Janus IV Electrical Engineering Applying for jobs Andrew Christopher Mahan Engineering Physics Studying Computer Science at University of Colorado Boulder. Hopefully I will be doing some research in bioinformatics/ computational molecular biology \r\nChristopher Paul Ventura Electrical Engineer I have received a position from Northrop Grumman, I am going to happily work for them in Aurora starting this summer.The company is a DoD contractor though, so my work will be secret. I'm excited to start, and I can't wait to see what kind of projects I'll be working on. Besides work, I'm moving to Aurora with my boyfriend, Andrew, and his dog, Abby. William Spaeth Engineering Physics & Nuclear Engineering I plan to get an internship after graduation for a year, and then come back to Mines or perhaps another school which offers Nuclear Engineering and finish up a graduate degree. I plan to move internationally after I get my masters and also plan to work in a nuclear power reactor. Austin Granger Chemical Engineering Haven't decided, but thinking of being an astronaut or a field engineer for a major oil company. Because this country does not have a manned space program anymore, I will probably adopt the field engineering side of life. Harrison Ingham Geological Engineering I plan to sell my soul to petroleum geology, getting a job in Denver later in the summer and will continue to be involved with the chapter. Christopher Andrew Pederson Geological Engineering Following graduation I will be taking part in the NAGT internship program through the USGS that will have me doing geophysical work in their Storrs, Connecticut branch. After that I hope to move into a full time position either within the USGS or elsewhere to continue my career building and to gain some of that 'engineering judgment' everyone keeps talking about. \r\nE-DAYS: The clock struck midnight, and just like Cinderella in her Stephen Cuttler pumpkin carriage, Mines turned into a real college for a weekend. The fervor of this year’s E-days was heightened by this year’s E-Pocalypse theme, re-emphasizing that by this time next year we will be living in irradiated bunkers wacking our loved-ones-turned-zombies heartlessly with dysfunctional weed-wackers in a hopeless effort to preserve our species. Though the parties and minor festivities had already been long underway, the real absurdities began with the traditional Ore cart Pull. Once again a hoard of several hundred Mines students inexplicably pulled a cart supposedly filled with ore from the far west end of Colfax (or close enough) to the doorstep of the capital, much to the surprise and confusion of many a passerby, angry drivers, and state politicians reconciling the drunk mob that formed outside their windows for no apparent reason. Our own Zach Breshears did the ore cart pull via unicycle, Jimmy Gayer did it via sombrero, Will Spaeth did it while slack lining on the chains outside various car dealerships, and Jamie Trumble…well, he did it… somehow. The festivities continued through the evening and into the next morning, though the details are somewhat…fuzzy…I suppose. The following morning brought us the E-days carnival, which included the cardboard canoe race, the trebuchet competition, and most importantly the go-cart race. Our own Jamie Trumble, Steven Freytag, Jimmy Gayer, and Tyler Anderson fashioned a go-cart from several bike wheels, some string, some duct tape…and a three-seater couch. Defying all odds, they won the slalom competition, proving once again that going through and obliterating all of life’s obstacles is just as effective as going around them. The night “officially” concluded with a performance from the Cold War Kids. They were probably good, but again the details are “fuzzy” for some reason. Unfortunately due to a fire ban and some unnecessary fears brought on by Mines Park nearly being burned to the ground, the traditional E-days fireworks/chemical explosion show was postponed until finals week, a time of year when we can all enjoy and appreciate it. That was sarcasm. Then, as Sunday came and the buzz wore off, the pumpkin carriage turned into a pile of unfinished homework and Mines returned to being…well…Mines. Until next year…if there is a next year. \r\nNew CSM Over the past few years there have been numerous construction Campus projects updating the CSM campus, allowing it to be competitive for Construction: years to come. This year the Weaver Towers renovations and the Maple Street Plaza were completed. The Weaver Towers renovation has added a Steven new connection point between Weaver Towers East, and Weaver Towers Blickley West.This area provides a better entrance into Weaver Towers, a front desk, mailboxes, two administrative offices, a music room, and an open study and social space. The dorm rooms were also upgraded.The Maple Street Plaza is a pedestrian friendly walkway down Maple Street from 17 th street to Guggenheim Hall.The plaza allows for a safe and convenient way for student to travel to classes. Last year the Brown building add-on and the construction of the new residence hall, Maple Hall, were completed.The new addition to the Brown Building is the new home for the engineering and mining engineering departments.The new resident hall north east of the Weaver Towers has provided enough space for the school to finally have all freshmen live on campus. The new Petroleum building, Marquez Hall, and the new Student Wellness Center are still under construction. Construction of Marquez Hall began north of the CTLM on February 18th 2011 and is estimated to be completed this summer. Once completed Marquez Hall will feature state of the art classrooms equipped with wireless networking and interactive audio-visual technology and increased faculty research capacity. The new student health center is designed to accommodate in one location health and counseling services. Ground for the health center was recently broken on the old Sigma Nu parking lot. Sustainability was a priority in all new construction on the CSM campus and they all are LEED certified. Picture below: The new addition to Brown Building, as seen from the student center.