Here it is, the first edition of the Section 89 News for this new academic year. I know a few of you were starting to wonder when (or if!) you were ever going to see the "News" again... You will notice a change - we have input from every one of our chapters and groups. And I hope you like what you see. Let me know what you think of this new format for the newsletter -- I'd like to continue it, but I need your feedback.
Each chapter should by now have all the registration information for the Region I and II Conference in Hartford, CT, December 29-31, 1995 (if not, let me know.) It looks to be a great conference, and I know a lot of people are planning to attend -- you should too. Aside from all the fun (which there will be plenty of), there will also be opportunity for leadership development, in the form of a Chapter Program Workshop (which begins on December 28th), a Leadership Development Workshop, and lots of other workshops during the conference, including a town meeting with National Vice-President Jack McKenzie. There will also be several opportunities for service. and of course, a big banquet to top it all off. I hope to see you there!
We'll hold a Section Leadership Day on February 10th, in Rochester at RIT. Expect a filled few hours of intense APO discussions, on a variety of leadership topics. We'll set the details closer to the event, but let me know if you have any ideas. I'm thinking right now that Membership Retention and Motivation may well form the basis around which much of the discussion will form, since this is a topic which affects all chapters.
There will be one bit of business at the conference as well, as arranged at the Fall Sectional Conference. There was a bit of confusion about how we will choose the host site of the Spring 1997 Sectional Conference, and just what type of conference it will be, and we'd like to clear that up. Last Spring, we decided that in Fall 96, Section 89 and Section 88 would each host their own conference. Although many of us thought that the following Spring Conference would be a joint conference, this was not voted on. In order to allow chapters to prepare bids in time for the Spring 96 conference, we will need to clear up this ambiguity at the Regional Conference. Thus, your assignment is as follows:
Each chapter should be prepared to vote on the following two questions:
Please come prepared with your ideas. I don't expect a long meeting, but we do need to clear this up.
The beginning is the most important part of the work.
Plato
We had a couple of great Section Events this Fall. Back in September, brothers from several Section 89 Chapters gathered at Allegheny State Park in Western New York for a Service Project and Picnic. The project was helping to clean up a former landfill area, and consisted mostly of cleaning up a small mountain of glass bottles, as well as several truckloads of scrap metal and old appliances, and sending them off to a recycle. While is wasn't a glamorous project, we left the area much cleaner than it had been before, and it will become a trailhead for cross-country skiing.
After the work, we had a big 'OLE picnic, with all the usual trimmings. There wasn't a whole lot of sporting activity going on; perhaps folks were a bit worn out from the project. It was certainly a beautiful early Fall day, and I think everyone in attendance had a good day.
Thanks for Sandi Lipped from Epsilon Sigma chapter (Buffalo), and Jen O'Reardon from Alpha Beta Beta chapter (St. Bonaventure), and all others who helped to make this happen.
In October, we had a small Leadership Conference in Syracuse, NY. Even though the turnout was small, everyone that was there has told me they got something valuable out of the day. We did a review of Chapter Finance topics, and then had a lot of open discussion on various topics related to chapters. Thanks to Gary Miller of Phi Chapter, and Marilyn Mims of the section staff for helping to make the arrangements for the day.
Section 89 made a pretty good showing at the Fall Section 88/89 Conference up in Plattsburgh. Most notably, perhaps, was that it was actually pretty warm for the conference, with temperatures in the 50s and 60s. I drove home through snow and sleet, but at least it was nice for the conference.
Some of the goings-on in the business meeting are detailed elsewhere in this newsletter, so be sure to check those out. Other highlights included a great showing in the costume contest Friday night. Epsilon Nu showed particular prowess in this area, with prize-winners including Kiss members Mike and Russ, and Jason as a cow.
Thanks to Alpha Beta Chi for hosting a great conference!
Mu Lambda has gotten off to a great start this semester despite a noticeably smaller brotherhood due to graduation, proving once again it's not the size that counts but what you do with it! Service this semester has included working with some new organizations as well as our past favorites. Our VP Service Beth Darcy has done a fantastic job setting up projects. Some of those projects have included making dinner for residents of the local Ronald McDonald House, working with patients of the St. Mary's brain injury unit and the University of Rochester Blue Light escort program. Besides the fun we've had at these projects we've also had a great time at the fellowship events such as pumpkin picking and carving for Halloween, bowling, dinner and games, and movie night.
The future looks bright for the chapter, starting off with our 7 enthusiastic new pledges under the guidance of Pledgemaster Rachel Carpenter. They've really bonded well and taken part in numerous brotherhood events, making many contributions. The Theta class has some big events in store for us. Great job Jennifer, Steve, Alana, Terisa, Michele, Kasia, and Erin! We look forward to initiating them into the brotherhood. All are invited, details will be sent out soon.
Other upcoming events include the WXXI PBS pledge drive, a Mu Lambda favorite and Merit Badge University Day. MBU will be held Saturday, Dec. 2 from 8-4:30 and will offer 60-70 Scouts the opportunity to earn 2 merit badges. The future is looking good.
We look forward to hearing from other chapters. E-mail Pres. Snehal Patel at sp002c@uhura.cc.rochester.edu, VP Membership Amanda Ridder at ar003c@uhura.cc.rochester.edu or myself at wk001d@uhura.cc.rochester.edu. Also check out our homepage created by Amanda, http://www.rochester.edu/sa-org/APO/ , it looks really great!
E-Funky-E's service program is stronger than ever! We have a considerable amount of service going on under our noses! Some projects that we did this year are:
Interested in the things we are doing? Join us for some of our events!!!
On A Mild September morning, 7 Brothers, 1 Pledge, and 1 cat from E-Funky-E chapter arrived at Founders Plaza in the University at Buffalo to help Mercury Communications (owner of radio stations 89.9 and 103.3 in Buffalo, NY) with Pets on Parade. The reason for the event was to have people to sponsor your pet on a walk around Putnam way. In the process, money was raised to help the SPCA and the Humane Society.
They had several competitions through out the day: Pet/Owner Look a like, Ugliest Pet, Pet Costume, Doggie Dash, and Stupid pet tricks. They were also gave away free pet food samples. Volunteers took home a considerable amount of food. (I left with a 3 month supply for Teddie, the cat).
What we did was help set up in the morning, mark the course, put up signs leading to Founders Plaza, registration, hand out free samples, and run the Doggie Dash. It wasn't that hard work. Mainly we sat around and watched the events. The Highlight of the day was watching Teddie (My Cat) smack a huge Pit Bull upside the head and live...
Well, everybody, the fun and games are underway! Darien lake was the highlight of September's fellowship for the E-Funky-E chapter. Although it rained the entire day, I have to say, it was the best trip I've ever had there. By going on the last day of the season we avoided lines and saved 1/2 the money we would have spent! We hit all the water rides (since we were soaked already) and both roller coasters a couple of times. We got some great "scream" pictures, some key chains, some good memories, and of course, wet underwear!
In October we had homecoming spirit week, Assassin, apple picking, and the haunted hayride. For spirit week, we painted windows, made a banner, participated in water games, participated in a scavenger hunt, decorated a cake (we took 4th), and made a cheer for UB (we placed 3rd)! APO at the University at Buffalo won 3rd place overall for spirit week!!!
Do the things we are doing sound interesting?? Then come and spend some fun time with your crazy brothers in Buffalo!
Greetings and Salutations from E-Funky-E! We hope everyone's semesters are very productive. It's almost time when we will welcome our Mu pledge class as brothers and we would love to share this special night with all of you! The day is Friday, December 1st and the place and time will be announced soon, so leave that date open! We also extend an invitation to all for our end of the year potluck awards banquet on Saturday, December 9th. For more info on either event, please send us e-mail! Hope to see you soon!
To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.
e. e. cummings
This year, Gamma chapter participated in the fifth annual Make-A-Difference Day on Saturday, Oct. 28th. Make-A-Difference Day is a national community service day dedicated to making in difference in the community through service. The day is sponsored by USA Weekend and is, in part, a challenge to see which groups can come up with the best, most fulfilling, most creative projects. Projects will be judged and the 60 top projects will receive $2000 towards the charity of their choice. Gamma decided to take the challenge.
In order to have the best day of service possible, we worked in conjunction with other service organizations on the Cornell University campus to plan numerous service projects in the Ithaca community. The idea behind our planning was to find out the "needs" of the agencies we approached, that is, what did they need us to do? rather than us coming up with a project for them. The agencies we chose were those that were in high need but infrequently received volunteers because they were located somewhat out of the area. In this way, we would be making a difference in the community and also among the service groups on campus by joining together for a common cause and creating a closer bond through service.
There was much enthusiasm for our plan and we even succeeded in obtaining Timberland, Inc. as a sponsor. Timberland took care of all the publicity (i.e.. press releases, flyers, posters, and articles and ads in the newspapers) and arranged a post-Make-A-Difference Day reception with pizza, soda, cookies, ice-cream and a t-shirt raffle. In the week prior to Make-A-Difference Day, a series of "teach-ins" were conducted with topics ranging from the abuse of workers and environmentalism, to living on welfare and bias in public schools.
On the actual Make-A-Difference Day, over 100 volunteers from the different service groups (about 25 from Gamma chapter) were evenly dispatched to the ten different projects around the Ithaca community. The projects included: landscaping at an elementary school, conducting Halloween activities with disabled adults, helping an agency move their location, running a casino for the elderly, cleaning up a Girl Scout camp, cleaning up a Halloween party, painting, and assisting with a Children's Halloween party. The day ended successfully with both the volunteers and the agencies feeling very pleased and excited with all that was accomplished. The feedback so far has been extremely positive. Make-A-Difference Day has definitely made an impact on the Gamma chapter. The agency that I worked with, Broome Developmental (a home for disabled adults) has already invited my group back for their Christmas party. And many of the brothers who worked with Caroline Schools (an elementary school) have already expressed an interest in going back. One brother even offered to chair the anticipated project. I would be interested to hear if other chapters participate in Make-A-Difference Day and what kind of projects they did. I hope Gamma will participate in Make-A-Difference Day again next year. But until then, I'll keep everyone posted as the whether we are chosen as one of the top projects of Make A Difference Day 1995. Keep your fingers crossed!
Greetings from Epsilon Gamma, in the great hinterlands of Alfred. Our semester has been jam-packed with events, projects, and activities. So far we've had a very service-heavy semester. VPS Chris "Iggi" Yankel has brought us projects ranging from such traditional projects as a blood drive and the Boy Scout pushmobile, to newer projects like helping at the local stables and running a stress booth at our university Health Fair, because, after all, who better to talk about stress than APO brothers. Our chapter has already racked up 427 service hours for this semester and we're still going. Still to come are our Environmental Awareness Fair for National Service Day, helping at the Montessori school, and helping out at the pledge's town clean-up.
Speaking of pledges, they're doing great. All three of them. We may be short on quantity, but we have quality and the Rush committee is already getting to work planning for next semester.
Meanwhile, the Fellowship committee has taken to the road. EG has taken a lot of road trips this semester, not least of which was our mass exodus to sectionals. Why were so many of us there? Maybe it was the relief that we weren't hosting it. Fellowship has also planned lots of donut runs. Beware, you never know where we'll turn up next. In the midst of all this tripping, Fellowship chair Jen Monoson has been hard at work planning our formal, "Moonlight Serenade." This gala event will be held on Nov 18. If you're interested in going, contact Jen at MONOSOJB@BIGVAX.ALFRED.EDU. We've also found a wonderful way to promote brotherhood unity, through a friendly game of assassination.
With all the donuts we've been buying, it's a good thing we have Catie Camille and her Fundraising committee. They've raised a grand total of $458.50 through projects such as our Pancake Breakfast, Brotherhood auction, and "Guess the Number of M&Ms" contest. Still to come is a theme Dance of the Hours, which will have different types of music for each hour. This will be on Nov 11. With all these projects going on, it's no wonder we're exhausted, but if being the best was easy, then everyone would do it. Any wishing to contact us may do so by sending our corresponding secretary Angel Hoover at HOOVERAB@BIGVAX.ALFRED.EDU or by e-mailing us directly at ALPHAPHI@BIGVAX.ALFRED.EDU. And so, farewell from Epsilon Gamma, coming soon to a meeting near you.
Hi from ABB chapter out here at St Bonaventure. Last year was a real good year for ABB; we gained 16 new brothers, and are going strong. We were delighted to be awarded the Fr. Joe Doino award for outstanding service to the campus. Our little brotherhood managed to rack up over 1729.5 hours of service last year. This year is looking even better. We have 13 hard-working pledges, and have been busy with all kinds of projects, including the festival of trees on campus, the Warming House, a soup kitchen off campus, and helping out the local boy scouts earn merit badges. And of course, we are sustaining our regular project of helping to prepare and serve meals each week at The Warming House, a local soup kitchen. You are welcome to join us any Friday afternoon just let someone know if you want to come since it is rather hard to find. And of course, we had 7 brothers help out at the annual Section 89 Fall Service Project and Picnic at nearby Allegheny State Park.
This year we have invited two more people to be our advisors and we plan on inducting them as well as the president of the university into the fraternity on December 9, 1995 when our pledges become brothers. Keep this date in mind.
Don't you wish you had a train so that you could be cool too! For those brothers who didn't come to sectionals, you missed the train- literally. Xi Zeta finally was recognized for its table presence and wishes to thank the SUNY Plattsburgh chapter for their recognition of our fraternal humor. Xi Zeta is formally issuing a challenge to all other chapters, to the greatest table at SUNY Oswego: if we are formally beaten we will buy a garbage plate for your president (because we can't afford to feed chapters like University of Buffalo). We are now entertaining bids for our really cool train.
Hi Section 89. Phi has some great stuff planned for the next month:
National service day went very well. WE raked leaves, cleaned up litter on the streets and in the local parks, planted flowers, and handed out fliers promoting recycling. A big thank you to Gamma Chapter and Rick, who joined us. WE also have some other projects in the works. One is a three day a week program with the Christian Youth Organization helping with homework and after-school activities. Another ongoing project is quilt-making for the Ronald McDonald House.
Last month consisted of fellowships such as apple picking and haunted house trips. This month we are planning to go to a local history museum and nice dinner at Old Country Buffet.
Also coming up: Phi's semi-formal, December 8th, for more info, check out Phi's newsletter: PHILINGS. WE would love to see all of you there.
As our pledges wrap up the semester, they have busily planning and executing service projects, fellowships, and fundraisers. Initiations are planned for November 18th.
That is all from all of us here in good old snowy 'cuse.
Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought."
Albert von Szent-George
Chi Pi has been busy lately with a few service projects, most notably helping out with the March of Dimes' Jail and Bail fundraiser from October 31-November 2. Brothers had the opportunity to dress up a"Cops" and go and arrest the "jailees." We even got to cuff them!
Future service projects include the First Annual SUNYCard Hustle on November 11. Brothers will be serving in many capacities, mostly as security to keep the race course clear of cars and safe for the participants.
Pledge Initiation is coming up within the next few weeks, and this semester's pledges have challenged the Brotherhood to a contest to see who can recite the Greek alphabet better. The brothers are going to have to work hard to beat the pledges!
Greetings from Alpha Beta Xi! We are alive and strong with 38 active brothers and 1 associate brother...after losing over 30 brothers to graduation at the end of last year. Also, we are planning on adding to that total of active brothers in the near future with our Rho pledge class (11 pledges). They are currently in their eighth week of pledging (as of November 11th). As part of their pledging requirements, the pledge class held a fund-raiser. They sold carnations for Sweetest Day to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation and our own treasury (50/50)...We, as a brotherhood, decided to also donate our part of the proceeds to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Speaking of our treasury, we have fought back from destitution (at one point, we were in the RED at the end of last semester)...and now we are doing very well with a stable and healthy treasury.
Our service program is also strong and healthy. Recent projects have included a Halloween Haunted House (put on by us for a local group of Girl Scouts)...Our VPM found out the hard way that frightened Girl Scouts fight back, having been punched in the stomach by one...and we joined the SUNY-Brockport petitioning group for their National Service Day project, also we had dedicated brothers who got up at 5:30 AM on a Saturday to volunteer at the HarvestWalk.
Speaking of service, we have been undergoing some service to our brotherhood. Six brothers have been meeting weekly for the past six weeks to revise our chapter bylaws and bring them up to date. It's amazing to see what can get lost in pages of documentation...Along those lines, we have revived a practice from deep within our chapter history...The Sunshine Patrol. This is a group of brothers that have banded together to lift the moral of the brotherhood and keep spirits up through inspirational e-mail messages and weekly snacks.
Also, having mentioned our recent departure of over 30 graduates, we would like to note our pride in having one of the ten Most Recognized Alumni Associations in the country. We recently got a chance to visit with some of them on Alumni Weekend...Charter brothers on up through recent graduates. It's nice to see the evolution of our chapter through the eyes of the alumni and hear stories of what it was like when they were here.
So that's what is going on here in good ol' SUNY-Geneseo...If you're ever in the neighborhood, stop in and visit.
This is just a brief blurb to let all of you out in Section 89 land know that we here in Brockport are still alive. Yes we survived the summer and are continuing to complete the requirements to become a chapter!!!
With any luck that will happen this academic year, With that being said we look forward to getting out and visiting. We are on line and are easy to get in contact with (check the sect 89 directory or web site) so let us know what's going on and we'll put together a road trip. Thanks for asking about us, and you will definitely hear when something significant happens.
Till then....
The beginning is the most important part of the work.
Plato
Greetings from the Port City of Lake Ontario. We had a great time in Plattsburgh and we hope you did too but we are ready to put on an even bigger and better Conference in April. We are already hard at work to give you the best Sectional experience you've ever had. We guarantee you will have a blast! Just remember to mark you calendars NOW for this exciting event on April 18-20, 1996. If you have any ideas, questions, comments, or concerns, please mail them to our chapter care of our Sectionals Chair, Russ LaChanse. He would love any input you have. That's all we have for now. We look forward to seeing you in April, if not sooner!! Thanks for your time, good luck with the rest of your semester, and above all remember always have fun.
You can see the text of this article over here.
Send your answer to me in writing - either e-mail or US-Mail.
With this newsletter, I'm sending out the latest Section Directory. Of course, let me know of any changes or updates. Also, remember that the latest Section 89 Directory information is always available on the WWW at: .
Also, should your chapter wish to send a mailing (such as a newsletter, or invitation) to all the other Section 89 Chapters, let me know and I can provide you with mailing labels for the other chapters, and save you a little effort in addressing envelopes. You'll still have to lick those stamps all on your own, though.
In the name of progress (?), we have a new phone system at work, so to reach me at work, the number is the same (607-255-2329), but you will now be greeted by a computer, and you'll want to know that I am at extension 106.
Also in the name of progress, the lab where I work has changed its name slightly, and this has meant a change in electronic address, from NNF to CNF, thus my e-mail address is now: bojko@cnf.cornell.edu the section mailing list is now: sect89-l@cnf.cornell.edu and the Section 89 Web Page is at: http://www.cnf.cornell.edu/Section89.html
Good news: for at least a year or two, both the NNF and CNF addresses will work.
Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right.
Henry Ford
This newsletter represents a big departure from past Section 89 News issues. We have input from every chapter in the Section, and I think that's great. I'd like to know your opinion of this newsletter format, and what you'd like to see for the future. I hope that we can get chapters to submit items regularly -- the question there would be just how often is appropriate:
Let me know your opinions here.
You got to be careful if you don't know where you're going, because you might not get there.
Yogi Berra
To my little:
You're a PHREAK!
Love, Lola
Epsilon Gamma --
The tires have never been better. Thanks!
Xi Zeta:
I'll write you a roll call anytime! Will you bring your train to our sectionals next year?
-Lola
Everyone get psyched! No Frills, Just Service - Fall '96, E-Funky-E !!!
+----------------------------------------------------------------+ | Section 89 News | | | | The Section 89 News is published for Section 89 to provide | | communication from the Section Chair about upcoming events, | | important announcements, and amusement. Please send articles, | | news of events, or other comments to: | | | | Rick Bojko | | Section 89 Chair | | 700 Warren Rd, # 15-3D | | Ithaca, NY 14850 | | | | 607 257-9875 (H) 607 255-2329 x106(W) | | bojko@nnf.cornell.edu | | | | | | The Section 89 News is also available on the WWW: | | http://www.nnf.cornell.edu/Section89.html | +----------------------------------------------------------------+