rainstorm i dl. ii £ : é The Bb \r\nSpecial thanks to Dick McCormick, Chris Peters, Jacob Kuettel, and Nick Arnold. Table of Contents Words of Encouragement 3 2014 Recruitment Update 4 Meet a Member 4 Pig Dinner 5 Home Improvements 6 Our Brother in Africa 8 2014 Alpha Iota Academic Program 10 My Time at NASA 11 \r\nWords of Encouragement We enjoy receiving le ers from all of our graduate brothers. This le er has received at the beginning of the 2014 Fall Semester, and gave the guys in the house inspira on going into the semester, and a reminder of how special it is to be an Alpha Iota Phi Gam. Dear Brothers, Congratula ons on the beginning of another school year at Alpha Iota! I hope the summer rush work has paid off and that you are about to pledge another outstanding group of young men. One of the proudest days of my life was having that White Star pinned on my lapel in September of 1957. In May of 1958 the White Star was replaced by the beau ful Black Diamond. What a terrific day it was and one I’ll never forget! My Fiji days at Iowa State laid the groundwork for my development as an adult and for my career a er gradua on in 1961. It was at 325 Ash Avenue that I learned organiza onal, social and leadership skills that have served me well even to this day. Being a Fiji at Iowa State was central to my character development and provided a social framework for me outside the classroom. I strongly believe what goes on outside the classroom is as important as what goes on inside. The classroom provided the knowledge to begin a career but Phi Gamma Delta provided me with the ability to succeed at that career. Within days, Fall will be in the air, the Cyclones will take the field, the leaves will turn color and the classroom work will begin in earnest. Savor those days, they will be some of the greatest in your lives and will be days you will not soon forget. I wish I were there with you! Fraternally, Dick McCormick ‘61 PERGE! 3 \r\nnew members and month of July, the recruitment team traveled the Midwest. They spent a weekend in Minneapolis, Chicago and the Quad can show them around the house. All of this effort throughout the summer paid off, as the recruitment team had 23 men signed before school even started! Overview Our recruitment chairmen Nate Burger (‘16) and Trent Purdy (‘16) are pleased to announce that 39 new pledges were signed for this fall semester. This brings the total number of members in the Alpha Iota Chapter of Phi Gamma Delta to 106! Spring Class of 2017 Pledge class had a total of 25 men join our Fraternity. This includes a 4‐man spring pledge class, down 1 from the prior year. Summer Recruitment Summer recruitment was a huge success. It all started with Greek Visit Day, where Fiji had 10 men stay the night, 5 of which eventually decided to sign with us. ἀe recruitment team spent the majority of May and June cold calling and emailing in order to get in contact with as many men as possible before their orienta on dates. Along with cold calling, Fiji was selected as tour house for the Interfraternity Council’s Greek orienta on session. Through this we were able to give 10 tours to groups ranging from 10‐30 poten al Fall Recruitment As the recruitment season wrapped up, Phi Gamma Delta made a huge push. Along with referrals from members of the exis ng class, many of the men that we had spoken with over the summer had decided that Fiji was the best ᴀt for them. Three weeks into the semester we ended recruitment with 39 new pledges to the Fraternity, pu ng us at 106 total men in Phi Gamma Delta. Conclusion The men of Phi Gamma Delta would like to thank the graduate brothers for all that they did. We couldn’t be the largest we have ever been without your help. We would also like to note that if any of you have sons, nephews, or even grandkids that are a ending Iowa State to please have them consider Fiji and get their contact informa on to us so we can show them around the house. Your Recruitment Chair, Nate Burger MEET A MEMBER Johnny Dzubak grew up in Johnston, Iowa and graduated from Johnston High School in 2007. A er high school, he decided to come to Iowa State and pursue a degree in Food Science and Technology. While studying, he found great apprecia on in microbiology, and decided to add microbiology as a minor. While working through his undergraduate degree, he met some upperclassmen in Fiji that he got along well with and ended up joining the house his senior year. In Spring 2012, Johnny graduated from Iowa State University. Upon comple on of his Bachelor’s degree, he decided to con nue on in academia with an emphasis in food microbiology. In Fiji, Johnny has go en the opportunity to hold leadership posi ons, such as being on cabinet as recording secretary and serving as brotherhood chair. Outside of Fiji, Johnny has go en addi onal leadership experience with various groups within the food science department, serving as both the treasurer and secretary of the food science club, as well as serving as the Iowa state college bowl team captain. Johnny Dzubak Class of 2015 Currently, Johnny is s ll working on his graduate degree with the plan of gradua ng in the Spring of 2015. In his free me, Johnny’s hobbies include longboarding, playing acous c guitar, listening to music, watching movies, playing foosball, and billiards. 4 \r\ne Dinner On April 26th, 2014 we hosted the 106th Annual Norris Pig Dinner at the Ames Country Club. It was one of the most successful Pig Dinners that we have had since the centennial and it was one to remember, Having over 200 gradu- ate brothers in attendance is what true brotherhood is all about. Reliving mem- ories with brothers, sharing stories of what they did in the past is always the entertainment at these Pig Dinners. I want to thank the people that helped that include Brothers Dustyn Curran, Lynn Schroeder, Kyle Vansice, and Scott Moore. Our 107th Pig dinner will be on April 11th 2015, hope to see you there! \r\n325 Ash has long been a beautiful sight for Phi Gam graduates, Iowa State students, and the community of Ames. Built in 1917, it has seen some major renovations, most notably after the fire in 1986 and during the summer of 2012. While these renovations are very much still intact, the house had a few areas not addressed during that most recent un- dertaking. However, thanks to major contri- butions from Brother Gordon Smith (61), we were able to improve those areas and more to firmly cement 325 Ash as one of the best looking buildings on the campus of Iowa State. Immediately noticeable are the improve- ments to the exterior of the house. The larg- est project undertaken here was the lawn. Our old, patchy grass was stripped away and replaced with new, luscious sod accompanied by a brand new irrigation system. With this combination, our lawn is sure to resemble the field at Jack Trice come Pig Dinner 2015. Next to be replaced will be the outdated, rundown house marker at the corner of Ash and Knapp. A more modern, limestone and brick marker designed by Brother Eric Rit- land (‘90) will take its place. To tie all the exterior projects together was a new lighting system that allows for better illumination on the outside of the house. The new LED lights were installed on the Ash side of the house and really make it stand out at night. While work on the outside may have been a bulk of the expenditures, there was no shortage of interior projects as well. After many years of absence, a baby grand piano was restored to the formal room of 325 Ash. While it often rests quietly, it brings a sense of prestige to our house. Also repaired was the major water issue in the basement. With installation of a French drain system, under- graduates no longer have to don rain boots when playing ping pong or watching a foot- ball game. In addition to these larger items there were many minor items addressed such as carpet and tile repairs, expansion of storage, upgrading of equipment, as well as various electrical and plumbing work. While we all hold 325 Ash near and dear to our heart and will always find it the best looking house on campus, Brother Gordon Smith’s gift allowed us to insure everyone that passed by our glorious house has similar feelings. Plans are in place to start a trend of annual maintenance and minor improve- ments in order to keep the facility in such pristine condition. The projects will all see completion by the end of Winter Break and everyone should be highly encouraged to come see all the work at Pig Dinner next April. \r\nThe sod for our new lawn was put in at the beginning of this semester. A er a few delays the construc on of the new housemarker finally began right before the first snowfall. 325 Ash Avenue has been home to Fijis for 97 years 7 \r\nOUR BROTHER IN AFRICA Hello FIJI brothers! My name is Lance Goettsch, class of 2013 and past Alpha Iota treasurer (Fall ‘11 to Fall *12). 1am currently a graduate student at Iowa State University studying Crop Production & Physiology and I graduated from ISU a little over a year ago with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Agronomy and International Agri- culture. Before joining FIJI I was a rural kid who grew up on a corn-soybean and livestock farm in eastern Iowa south of Calamus. Today I’m living in Masaka, Uganda while I work on my master’s research project which is titled “Practical methods to alleviate constraints limiting common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) production in Masaka, Uganda’. I have been living here since the end of May 2014 and will return to the U.S. in August 2015 after visiting a fellow Alpha Iota FIJI for a few weeks in July next year in Switzerland. 7 ie Offto Uganda Before being recruited by the Alpha Iota re- cruitment chairmen in the summer of 2009 I never imagined all of the opportunities that were lying ahead. After one of my pledge class members spent a semester abroad in Australia, I became very curious about life abroad and jumped at the opportunity to attend the Iowa State Study Abroad Fair. I learned a lot of information by attending the fair and before I knew it I had finished filling out all the paperwork and scholarships to study abroad and Iowa State was paying my way to spend a semester studying in Vienna, Austria! Little did I know, the experience I was about to have studying abroad in Europe was going to change my life forever. I dove deep into the European culture and began explor- ing my new home city daily,meeting some of my best friends from all around the world who I still communicate with today. On theweekends and holidays we would make short trips to the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Slovenia, Italy, and Croatia. And at the end of the semester a friend and I back- packed around \r\n Eastern and Western Europe experiencing 17 countries during my six months abroad. After returning from Europe I immediately took on the second major of International Agriculture and began looking for internships abroad, specifically in Africa. With the help of the Iowa State Career Fair I was able to find a job in Tanzania for the summer of 2012. This ex- perience was very eye-opening and it brought me to realize the importance and usefulness of my education I was receiving at ISU. I wanted to do more. After returning from Africa I applied for graduate school in hopes that I could find a research position in Africa, where high quality agricultural research is greatly needed and very beneficial to the large majority of the population. In fact, 65% of the African population relies on agriculture as their primary source of income compared to only 2% of Americans that rely on agriculture as their primary income source. After being accepted into graduate school I started designing my research pro- gram with the help of the Agronomy De- partment and I began applying for grants to fund my research. I was fortunate enough to receive a fellowship for my schooling, a living stipend, and an additional $15,000 grant to fund my research expenses while in Uganda. I'm now here in south central Ugan- da working on my project which is also part of a larger USAID funded project aiming to improve soil fertility management in maize- bean systems in Uganda and Mozambique. The team involves many people from many disciplines including economists, sociolo- gists, agronomists, soil scientists, and com- munication specialists from all over the Unit- ed States and Africa. Our work has already identified many of the constraints limiting bean production and my research willtest our hypotheses and determine whether or not our newly designed bean production systems will significantly increase yields. Increasing yields by up to four times is genetically possi- ble but there are many constraints (chemical, physical, biological, cultural, economic, etc.) that are keeping current bean yields at only one quarter of their yield potential. The men of Alpha Iota are extremely proud of our brother. Please keep Lance in your thoughts as he completes this important research, Pergé! \r\n2014 ALPHA IOTA ACADEMIC PROGRAM As we look to improve our standing among all fraterni es and meet our own lo y goals, a new scholarship program and handbook has been created by the scholarship chairman that outlines new ideas that can be used for other semesters. Individual mee ngs are being held with the scholarship chairman for those in poor academic standing to ensure they are on track for the semester. New member educators are working hard with the freshmen to make sure they develop good study habits. All new members have been split into small groups by similar majors who meet on a weekly basis for study sessions led by a brother. All members also have the opportunity to receive an on campus tutor which will be paid for by the house. We are unhappy with our academic performance last semester, and are hoping that these changes along with a strong effort out of everyone will put us back on top academically. Brandon Morris Class of 2016 Scholarship Chair BY THE NUMBERS 2 Ac ve Members broken down by Colleges at Iowa State University: 2 Agriculture and Life Sciences Design 5 7 Liberal Arts and Sciences Human Sciences 31 Business Engineering 20 10 \r\nIts still almost surreal to be able to say that I was working at NASA this previous summer. I surely had no idea at the start of last semester that my summer would con- sist of research on helicopter performance at NASA Ames Research Center, located just south of San Francisco. Looking back though, this experience had a profound im- pact on my desire to continue my studies in the aerospace engineering field. I received my email of acceptance into NASA’ summer intern program in early March, and within a few short months I was packing my bags to head out west to sunny California. I still remember the first day of my internship, when I met my mentor for the first time, and his promise to me that this would be the best summer I had ever had. He was right. Working at NASA opened my eyes to the multitude of exciting projects and inter- esting subjects of research being undertaken in the aerospace engineering field. My re- search was primarily focused on the analysis of UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter test data, with the goal of creating a database which rotorcraft manufacturers such as Bell Heli- copters and Sikorski Aircraft could use to begin design and creation of the next genera- tion of helicopters. I analyzed loading forces, vibration, pressure differentials, and many more factors that were observed under vari- ous conditions in flight tests. This experience was immensely helpful in advancing my understanding of the mechanics of flight, and helped reignite my interest in the aero- space field. Outside of my work on helicopters there were many incredible learning oppor- tunities that I was able to take part of. NASA hosted a series of informational lectures on a multitude of different subjects, ranging from asteroid deflection, to renewable energy, to colonizing Mars. Combined with the many incredible opportunities to explore the San Francisco area and the surrounding National Parks, I certainly had one of the most incred- ible and exciting summers of my life. While I am thankful for the opportunity I was given, know that this was all possible thanks to hi Gamma Delta. The leadership skills and other opportunities provided to me, as well as the prestige of being a part of this illus- rious fraternity, were crucial in helping me achieve one of my life goals this summer. can say with confidence that Phi Gam- ma Delta truly molds men and helps them achieve their life goals, and I will always be mighty proud to be a Phi Gam erge! \r\nNonprofit Org Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity 1201 Red Mile Road Lexington, KY 40504 US Postage Paid Lexington, KY WHERE ARE THEY FROM? Map of Ac ve Brothers’ Hometowns Prin ng and mailing services provided by the Interna onal Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta.