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June 14, 2004

The Military

One is left with the horrible feeling now that war settles nothing; that to win a war is as disastrous as to lose one
- Agatha Christie (1890 - 1976)

It is inevitable for a fraternity to avoid the military and its long reach into the college man's life. Ever since the first days of the inception of greek-letter societies, young men have been targeted for possible drafts, recalls, or deployments. The cataclysmic second World War all but silenced the voices of these young men, and fraternities across the country scattered to hold on to whatever resources and men were dwindling under their umbrellas. Alpha Kappa Lambda was, and is, no different. Adam Janot left today for the United States Marine Corps Reserve, scheduled to be done with training in time for the Spring semester. David "Flounder" Dickman, my younger brother, left three weeks ago for Lacklang AFB for his training. He should be back a week into this Fall semester. With the incessant "peace-keeping" operations in Iraq, and the long wait for the anticipated people's democratic rise to power there, along with the constant turmoil and unrest, the chances of being deployed are greater now than they have been since 9/11. It would be rough on the guys if it happened to one or more of us.

Chris Wirshing, past president of our chapter and all-around smart-ass, did the same as David is doing right now: basic and advanced training for the Air Guard. He just graduated a few weeks ago, and it helped teach him discipline and respect, along with helping him pay for school. We hope the same applies to David and Adam when they return.

We held a going-away party for Adam last night at Jason and Jeremy's house. Chris even custom-made some brands for the guy out of coathangers he was planning on heating by the bonfire. He had a U, an S, an M, and a C all ready to go at Joe DeMay's suggestion, but Adam gracefully refused. He even refused getting a tattoo across his chest before he went. The DIs would have definitely loved him had he proved his dedication to the corps like that before even stepping into his first uniform.

I also passed around some pen and paper and let everybody write David something. Justin Payne probably misses him the most. It's been three weeks now since he's been gone, and I sent him the letters from everybody through the mail today. Hopefully he's toughening up and learning some discipline while he's down there. Deep down, I think it's everyone's hope that these two guys come back as real men. All grown up, and ready to tackle life by the horns.

And if there's one thing I think our membership needs more than anything right now, it would be maturity.

Posted by spunkinator at 12:25 PM

June 09, 2004

Summer Classes and an Alpha Chi Barbeque

Summer time an' the livin' is easy, Fish are jumpin' an' the cotton is high. Oh, yo' daddy's rich, and yo' ma' is good-lookin', So hush, little baby, don' yo' cry.
- Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward

For some, summer means kicking up your feet and relaxing. For others, summer classes are in full swing. Both the five week and eight week sessions are starting their feverish schedules, and students are learning more in a day than they did in a week in regular semesters. By summer's end those of us attending class will be prepped to start the fall semester on the right foot. Meanwhile, our roster for Conclave is looking good, with confirmed attendances by Jasen Braun, Adam "Buddha" Binder, Jeremy Rasmussen, Jared Cooke, Joe DeMay, Justin Payne, and me. And Jasen has been hard at work organizing our first official summer event happening this Sunday...

The barbeque with the Alpha Chis is this Sunday at 4pm at the Julia Davis Park. Jasen's putting this one together, and it looks like we'll get a good turnout. Unfortunately, I won't be able to make it, as I work all day and night. Jasen will buy some cheap food, and hopefully bring frisbees, volleyballs, chips, drinks, and everything else needed for a successful BBQ.

Maybe next time we have a BBQ like this (in a couple week's time, with another sorority?) we should plan on floating the river immediately afterwards. It's a great way to cool off, and although the weather right now is still a little iffy, July weather is just around the corner. Floating the river's a great time, because we get to be outside, get a little tan, see the girls, and socialize on a leisurely ride down the river. Add water guns, and water falls, and cold water, and the fun factor is complete.

We were supposed to go iceblocking sometime last month, but unfortunately it rained that day, so we cancelled it. I might give Jeremy a call and see if he has another date for us to do that. Maybe the weekend after this barbeque.

Posted by spunkinator at 08:50 AM

June 04, 2004

On Finding a House

The most important work you and I will ever do will be within the wall of our own homes.
- Harold B. Lee (1899 - 1973)

Finding a house right now is main priority number one. We've had meetings, we've had discussions, we've debated, argued, brainstormed, thought, and dreamed about this for a couple of months now. It's finally becoming a reality. There looks to be about six guys willing to move into a house, including David "Flounder" Dickman, Jasen Braun, Justin Payne, Jeremy Rasmussen, Blaise Exon, and myself. There must be some sacrifices, and we all understand that they must be made if we plan on making our fraternity the best it can be. In a perfect world, we would have a house right next to campus, with four bedrooms and a two car garage that we could transform into an extra room or office. We'd probably have to bunk up with one other person, but that's another sacrifice we're willing to make, however unappealing that seems. That's not all we're willing to sacrifice, though...

This will be my fourth year at school and the first time I've ever shared a bedroom after I've already lived by myself in three different houses. The properties around campus are some of the worst here in town, and I can safely assume that most of the houses are not up to current zoning and safety codes. If we had Warm Springs next to campus, we'd be set. There's plenty of great houses with the right size and number of rooms we need, but it's unfortunately too far away.

Flounder and Justin found out the white two-story house across the Admin building on University is up for rent, but after checking with the property manager, we found out only one of the three (separately leased) floors was available. The owner also is not at all willing to sell his cash cow, either. So we keep looking. Blaise, the future "RA", is getting anxious. He's out of the loop, way out in Richfield, and he's really excited about it.

I'll call a meeting sometime this coming week, and see if we can schedule some activities for the summertime, along with maybe setting up a "house-hunting day" once a week where we go out and look for possible properties.

In the meantime, Chris Wirshing is going to have to be kept informed, as he's the one that's going to be financing the house for us. If he can get a decent loan on a house (over $100K), he'll buy the house and we'll pay him during our tenure there. Plans are we stay at that residence for three years or so until we convince Nationals that we're responsible enough to hold a house down with no problems or complaints, and after we have a strong, solid membership. After they're convinced, they put down the money to buy a house in their name, and we pay them the bills as the guys graduate and new guys come in.

The house will be a major draw for any new rushes. After a year of not having a central location to hang out at (with the separation of our old "house"), we're hurting to have a central hub again. This house will the first official AKL house our chapter has ever had, and so we're going to follow all the rules down to a tee. That means alcohol-free housing (which is the best draw, in my opinion), increased insurance, and zoning charges for putting our letters out front in a non-multi-family zoning area.

We've got our work cut out for us. We just have to continue our drive and stay focused for a move-in date the week before classes start. Mid August, here we come!

Posted by spunkinator at 10:21 AM

June 01, 2004

The Start of Summer

No price is set on the lavish summer;
June may be had by the poorest comer.
- James Russell Lowell, The Vision of Sir Launfal, 1848

Today marks the last day of registration for the 2004 Conclave in San Francisco. AKL celebrates 90 years, and that's a good long time's worth of tradition and history. This year's Conclave will be the best one yet, and will the first that most of our guys will be attending. It's set to become a classic.

I take it we will be billed to our matching funds account later, so none of us have to pay right now. I think that's right on, as most of the guys are busy working hard enough to save up a decent amount of money for the school year. Save one or two, most of the guys here have to come up with money for school by themselves.

Most of the guys are here in the summer, but a few go home or away. Blaise Exon is back home in Richfield working for his parents, while David "Flounder" Dickman is off in basic training for the Air Guard. Both will be back for the fall semester. There might even be a few old inactive guys like Kyle and Drew rejoining us as well. It should definitely be a lot of fun. There's a LOT of work to do, and I hope that Conclave will set a fire in our asses to accomplish it all.

The Leadership College starts Wednesday August 4th, and the Conclave starts right after, ending Sunday. There's plenty to do in San Francisco, and I think an extra day to see the sights and go hit the major attractions will be a great time together.

The only thing to do now is to organize some summer activities for all the guys and the rush guys. We have contact information for somewhere around 16 high school and other guys that are interested in AKL. Our problem is organizing them into activities geared to interest them in our organization. You can't join a fraternity if you don't like the guys, or if you don't fit in. That's why there's different fraternities. The rule is, if you don't think you would hang out with them, then there's no point in rushing them. Numbers don't count if you've got 15 douche-meisters running around with our letters on. Quality versus quantity is the rule. Now, we just have to set up some of these events, like boating, cliff jumping, barbeques, and river floats with the AKLs (and the Alpha Phis too). Jeremy Rasmussen, the Recruitment Chairman, is in charge of setting these all up. We'll see if he can put anything down in official writing so all of us can hang out.

Posted by spunkinator at 12:02 PM