"Not for college days alone" Spring 2013 The Pine Tree Fiji Omega Mu Chapter Learn about how life's been living in the house Things have definitely changed over the years. The Castle's getting older, but she's still standing strong. See how different living in the house is nowadays Page 4 Omega Mu is on the move Clubs The Omega Mu chapter of Phi Gamma Delta is marching forward. We as a collective undergrad chapter are dedicated to taking this chapter to new heights. Over the past few years our SPIFFY Tyler Picard, Shane Arnold, Ben Mortonm rush has been shifting to a new form of recruitment known as Brendan Obrien, Sumner Dynamic Recruitment, and it's brought our chapter up to 43 ASCE active brothers. These are numbers we haven't seen in years. Ben Grondin, Austin Fagan,John Mulderig With more members being brought in, we have increased the number of in house brothers making us more financially sound as well. Omega Mu is on the move. IFC Sumner Blatt, Shane Arnold, Cam Bussiere Rush last year was a full brotherhood effort which brought in 18 new brothers, 11 of which moved into the house. Ski and Andrew Rollins, Travis We went from 16 in house brothers to over 25 this year. These Snowboard Guay, Zach Dyson, Phil are great improvements. Within the next year the house will, Walker, Clarke Prince without a doubt, be at full capacity. Coming from a financial Outdoors Zach Dyson standpoint things are looking good. So good, in fact, that we Club were able to sign into a year long contract with our new chef Russel Brown. He's changed the dynamic of the house completely, raising moral and providing us with incredible meals (which you'll get to taste at Pig Dinner). He's been a wonderful asset to our brotherhood this year. Continued on Page 2 Lorem Ipsum Dolor Spring 2016 Omega Mu is on the Move Scholarship has also been a big focus this year. We've completely reworked the scholarship plan through nationals to provide a strong backbone to the brotherhood. Achieving scholarship is our first priority and the main reason we are here. This new plan should result in great improvements in the overall GPA of brothers through the use of weekly check-ins with the scholarship committee, mandatory library hours, and even a tutoring system. Philanthropy has been another focal point within the last year. We've had very successful events that included a Thanksgiving food drive, Christmas toy drive, and our 3rd annual Light the Night walk which raised money for the Lukemia and Lymphoma Society to honor our late brother Geary "2E" Nealy Jr. We're looking to continue these events in the future and continue to improve on them as well. Not only does it help our image, but most importantly it helps the people who need it most in the surrounding communities One of the most important by-laws that we've passed as of late is one that requires all brothers to take part in a club or activity outside of Fiji. This has been beneficial in many ways. It gets us involved on campus aside from Greek Life. Some clubs that have been popular amongst brothers have been IFC, the Inter- Fraternity Council, and SPIFFY, a stock trading club where you get some real life experience. These clubs have also helped with meeting new people which, and getting our name out around campus. All of these efforts and improvements have lead this chapter to receive an informal but meaningful ranking from PGD of #2 in the Northeast behind only Cornell University. We're setting our sights higher though. #2 is a great improvement, but there is plenty of room for advancement. If we continue to move forward and settle for nothing less, then we can become the best in the Northeast, and as well, the best fraternity at UMO. 2 Lorem Ipsum Dolor Spring 2016 Chef Russ This year we've got a new addition to the brotherhood. It's not a brother, but he might as well be one. The addition of Chef Russ has brought more to the house this past semester than we could've anticipated. The man knows how to cook. For starts his food is great. Over the course of the semester we've been fortunate enough to have meals fit for a king. We've had everything ranging from salmon, specialty pizza, and even steak and potatoes. It's almost like we've got our mom back in the kitchen making us meals. It's really a treat. He's also kept us on track as far as the budget goes. He's been making a noticeable effort to save us money which is excellent. This helps a lot in making us more financially sound. A Special Thanks What he really brings to the table is brotherhood morale. Dinner time has become We would like to extend a special thanks more than just a meal. Its turned into a time to two groups of graduate brothers. The first where we can enjoy each others' company. As group being the crew from the classes '69-'73 lead funny as it sounds, his meals have really by Bob Doyle. They were able to raise enough strengthened our brotherhood. Rather than money to repair the bricks on the front Phoenix. dreading dinner (like we did with chef Tim) he's Another group the class of '82, lead by Tom given us something to look forward to on a daily Hicks, was able to raise over $2100 to be put basis and we're very grateful to have him towards carpeting for the stairs and second floor. contribute to this brotherhood. We couldn't be more grateful for these contributions by graduate brothers. Any support is never taken lightly. We truly do appreciate this. We want to see this castle remain in its glorious form for years to come, and contributions like these make it happen. Thanks again to the classes from '69-73, and to the class '82. 3 Lorem Ipsum Dolor Spring 2016 Life in the Castle Question: What's your favorite part about living in the house? Answer: I like dinner the best because we get such good food and it's always entertaining. Russ is killing it in the kitchen. I haven't been disappointed with a single meal yet. Nothings better than eating dinner with 20 of your best friends every night -Charlie Haritos Question: How've your grades been while living in the house? Answer: They've jumped up a ton. Im surrounded by kids in my major who help me out, but also provide me with something to compete against. And there's almost always somebody going to the library. It's a lot better than going alone -Bret Stuart Question: What do you guys do for fun around here? Answer: Well brotherhood and social have really stepped up their game. We've had a ton of events this semester that have been a great time. Even took DZ bowling once. I don't how they were back in the day, but they've got some real cute girls now. -Pierson Petropolous Question: Do you regret not living in the house this year? Answer: Absolutely. I decided to take a year for myself and live in an apartment instead but it really doesn't compare to living in the house. It's nowhere near as fun, and I'm stuck eating food my roommate cooks which is just terrible. Wish I'd never moved out. I regret it every day. -Miles Gagnon Question: How has living in the house changed since you've been here? Answer: It's gotten a lot better because of how many guys we've had move in. It was really stressful with a small number of guys. Lots of house jobs and we were really tight on money. Moral was way down. This year's been a lot different though. The house is about as full as it can get and with Russ cooking I've got no complaints. Looking forward to the rest of the semester -Ben Morton 4 Lorem Ipsum Dolor Spring 2016 Graduate Brother to Graduate Brother: "Not for College Days Alone" and a Few Good Men Wanted How many times did all of us hear the words, In recent years two of the alumni eras have worked "Not for college days alone?" That phrase is hard to re-establish the old fraternal bonds and simple, but takes a while to understand. It is friendships, with Pig Dinner serving as the primary almost impossible as undergraduate to fathom vehicle for accomplishing this. Bob Doyle '72 has been the meaning. Life is before us at that age like an a driving force in bringing together the brothers from exciting fascinating landscape viewed through the late '60's and early '70's. Jim Fassett, '83, Joel the windshield of a fast moving sports car we are Gardiner, '83, and Tom Hicks, 82, have done the same just learning to drive. with the brothers of the early 1980's. Both groups have really enjoyed the experience of reconnection. Old As Bob Duetsch, '71 (for whom the friends are the best friends, particularly if those old "windshield" was the canopy of an F-4 friends are brothers. Also, the connection and shared Phantom)so aptly put it, "As you get older, and experience of working together with the more of your life is in the rear view mirror, you undergraduates has forged strong friendships among tend to look in the rear view mirror more often the brothers of our two eras. at those people and things that formed us into who we have become." For many of us, as we Reconnection with Omega Mu has truly enriched and do that, we are reminded of Brother Calvin made more enjoyable the lives of the brothers from Coolidge's assessment that his largest formative these two eras. We would like to see more graduate influences were "God and the fraternity that brothers have the same experience. We have found molded me." that all it takes is one of two brothers, acting as "Team Captains" for their eras, who make the calls and send All of us are born with a few things we naturally the e-mails to the brothers of their own era to get them do well, and a whole lot more that we do not. back home to the Castle for Pig Dinner. It isn't that One of the exciting things about the fraternal often in life that SO little work by a few can lead to SO experience is that we have the opportunity to much enjoyment for many. learn from each others' talents in a largely unconscious process of observing our brothers We hope that a call for a few good men and brothers do what each does best. It is impossible to look from other eras to reach out to bring their brothers at one of the composite photographs that line the home for Pig Dinner will allow many other brothers to halls of the Castle without thinking that each of enjoy their own reconnection, which then extends far us is very much a composite of the attributes of beyond Pig Dinner. our brothers - the most effective "professors" we If you would like to get the ball rolling with the guys enjoyed at U Maine. with whom you grew into men, please contact me The years immediately after graduation are (Tel: 972-333-6090, e-mail: jmcldal@aol.com)or typically filled with creative change - marriage, Sumner Blatt, current Chapter president, about how to children, the beginnings of our career, and the get started. I promise you that the rewards will far Phi Gamma Delta experience is crowded out by outweigh the modest investment of time. the rapidity of change and the urgency of All the best and Perge! adapting to it. In those years reality can place our formative influences into the back seat for a Jim McLean while. If they are left there too long, we run the risk of losing some very rich experiences. 5 "Not for college days alone" Spring 2013 The Frank Norris Pig Dinner As you all know it's almost that time of year. Pig Dinner is right around the corner. This year we'll be hosting it on April 20th so mark your calendars. FIJI We'd love to see you up here to enjoy the food, camaraderie, and to share in the tradition that is Pig Dinner This year we'll be making one major change, and that's to the food. We won't be having that same old food that you've been getting year after year. We're switching things up and having our very own Chef Russ cook the meal. We promise you'll enjoy it. Let us know if you'll be making the trip and RSVP to any of the options listed below! (We'll answer your questions too) Perge' President: Sumner Blatt (207) 319-6914 Sumner.Blatt@umit.maine.edu Corresponding Secretary: Charles Haritos (207) 409-4670 Charles.Haritos@umit.maine.edu Graduate Relations: Andrew Myers (207) 615-2947 Andrew.Myers@umit.maine.edu Perge'