Finals are officially over. We graduated two promising young men this Spring: Blaise Exon and Jared Cooke. Both will be sorely missed, and their contributions to our fraternity were countless in number. Now, as we head into the long drudgery of the lazy summer months, we prepare ourselves for the crescendo of responsibilities and tasks we must accomplish by the Fall semester.

We moved out of the Suite, which was the single and greatest thing to happen to our chapter last year. The University worked with us to meet our expectations and demands, and the end product was a slick, shiny new 8-bedroom suite in the heart of campus: Taylor Hall. Some will be back for next semester, most won't.

We had a rough last semester. We only rushed one person, and he's now enrolled in a school in his hometown of Houston, Texas. Our numbers are low, our grades are low, and our morale is low. We need a boost. We need a fire under our asses to get us back in shape. I believe Conclave 2006 in Indianapolis is that fire.

Terry is back from spending a long time studying abroad at Macquerie in Australia, and he seems to be the only one that's completely elated at taking the reigns of the fraternity and whipping it into shape. You'll hear it from me now: He will be the next president our our chapter.

Everybody has left for the summer. It feels deserted in Boise. Brody went to his summer camp in Decatur, Michigan for the entirety of the summer. My brother Flounder is deployed for at least 30 days in the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East, although he thinks he'll stay for the majority of the summer, depending on how it goes. Jeff and Tex both headed to New York for the summer selling security systems door-to-door. Cuz went back to California to be with his family and friends. Joey, Bradey, Garrett, and a few more all left to go to Atlanta to also sell security systems door-to-door. Now only a scraggly few remain to hang out in the summer time.

What has to get done before school starts? An inconceivable amount: Our rush schedule has to get finalized. Our summer activities and meetings have to be finalized. We get to go to Conclave. We have to get in contact with incoming freshmen and get them the information they need on rushing. We need to get three more people to sign up and live in the Suite, as we only have five confirmed right now. That right there might be the hardest part.

I stand corrected: the hardest part will be recruiting 10-15 brand-new, promising, bright young men to fill our ranks. And to do that, our attitudes have to change and our levels of excitement and expectations need to go way up. Without a sudden influx of new rushes, we will wither away into nothing.

Here's to the summer of '06. God bless us.

All the DBNs dressed up, while most of our guys showed up in jeans and a t-shirt. Oh well.

As usual, the guys strained around the TV, while the girls got everything in the kitchen underway. For the second time in a row, our guys have been stuck with the task of cooking the turkey. A sorority (two now, actually), full of GIRLS that can COOK, wants a bunch of guys who play videogames and whose definition of cooking involves a trip to McDonald's to prepare a turkey -- the hardest and most oft-miscooked and item on the Thanksgiving table. Whatever.

In the end, we all settled down around the TV, and Justin plopped in the tape of the Christmas Dinner in 2003 last year. I think it one of the few times we actually hung out with the DBNs back then, and there was a lot of lively talking and partying around the food. It looked like a genuinely fun time. I think I even caught a glimpse of Malina and I flirting on the couch. I miss having the old house on Rossi. But all good things must end, right?

It was successful, no doubt. But it wasn't the same as last year. Maybe we need to spice it up a little. We'll see. We have some time reserved specifically for the Alpha Chis, such as sledding in January, and other blocks that will be later announced. We figured since it was getting so repetitive with the DBNs, we should be branching out and hanging out with the AXOs and the AZDs more. And so we got in there before the AXOs did their calendar planning session, and now we've actually got some variety in the mixers lined up for the Spring.

With the coming up of the SAEs on campus, we have a little more competition. Which is a perfect chance for us to step it up and be the best we can be. It's no longer just the Kappa Sigs and the AKLs when the girls wanted to hang out. We'll see how it works out. They have the single largest international fraternity in the world, so they've got lots of resources to help them succeed. It's up to us as leaders in our own chapter to step it up and succeed.

So let's do it.

With the appropriate backstory, you can tell this year's elections were loaded with memories and sour tastes. Impeaching your own president is something that no organization should ever have to go through, and I feel sorry for all the new members that had to go through the ordeal. But things start afresh every year, and the topic eventually made its way into our chapter meetings a month ago. What would happen? Who would be our figurehead? Our leader?

You know, elections were never a big thing to me. I never held a high office in my chapter, but I always controlled it. If a vote didn't go the way I wanted it to, it didn't bother me; I just knew that I would have to go about getting what I wanted some other way. And as long as you have the best interest of the chapter at heart, and not your own, the chapter will thrive. If everyone did whatever it took to make what's in the best interest of the chapter happen no matter what (elections, etc.), then the chapter will survive and it's members will be the better for it. Titles don't matter. People will ALWAYS follow the leader, no matter what his title. Keep that in mind. After I left, the chapter fell apart after the very next election. No one accepted the way the election went and the chapter crumbled right then and there. It was crazy. I wish I had been there (or at least conferenced in) to tell them that no matter what happens, the fraternity has got to keep it together. The real leaders will never care about the title, and they won't ever care if anyone acknowledges that they are the leader. It will be evident that he is the leader when he turns around and everyone is behind him.

I beat myself up thinking that I should have talked to them before elections. It may have made the difference. Unfortunately, I will never know.

Elections are so important; not so much who 'wins' the big new titles, but the attitude everyone takes with the new administration (including those that ran against the victors, and the ones that voted for them). You can tell the character of a man by how he adapts when things don't go his way. No matter what, the brotherhood has to survive. Just because things don't go your way, don't wash your hands of the fraternity. MAKE them go your way next time. I wish I had talked to your guys about this while I was up there, but it was never the right time.

Although I think you have already caught onto this, my advice to Danny Dickman is, don't care about the title. Care about the good of the fraternity. A coach manipulates the entire game without ever stepping foot onto the field. Remember that.

These words echoed in my mind as I sat in on the meeting. Before it started, I asked for a minute to express my feelings on the subject to the chapter before we started the elections. Adam "Bhudda" Binder's term as president was ending, and we were all eager to get started on the elections. After a torturously slow meeting (50 minutes to approve money for a turkey and reading announcements), we got started on the actual elections. Maybe Bhudda realized he wouldn't be able to run the meetings anymore, and dragged it longer than it should have, but we only had two hours to get six officer positions filled before we were kicked out of the building at midnight.

Thank God it was a House Meeting and everyone was wearing ties. It was a small but appropriate nuance that helped set the correct mood for the evening. Joe had become recently engaged to Kim from Delta Beta Nu, and was unfortunately taking more time at work and less time at school to be better prepared for his wedding and family's needs down the road. It was no surprise, then, that he announced his wish to decline all his nominations a week before elections. Wontor caught wind of this, and pulled him to the side and gave him a pep-talk while general business was handled.

Blaise took the Presidency by storm. It was refreshing to see such unanimous support from all the members this time around, instead of a dealing with split feelings down the middle of our chapter. Hopefully he won't get arrested (again). I kid. After proving himself worthy when he got suckered into being the treasurer, he definitely deserves it after paying his dues (Ha! God I'm good).

The Vice Presidency was up next, and out of nowhere Joe jumped in the ring. Whatever words Sean used worked miraculously. We had another willing, able contender. Brody, who dreamt of Rush Chair since even before his pledgship, was now calmed by that fact that he might not have to take VP. I stepped out of the ring as well, and it was again no contest. Joe swept it clean.

Treasurer was also easy. Bhudda was originally elected Treasurer last year, but was then voted in to be the interim president after the arduous impeachment. As an accounting major, it was a no-brainer to see him sit in on the role. His promises to run the chapter finances as a business (and "not a checking account") still pique my interest, but only time will tell how he will turn things around.

Jeremy had expressed his desire to become the Fraternal Educator even before Kai had started this semester. Garrett, who had scored the highest out of his pledge class, was also in the running. Jeremy really was the right man for the job, and Garrett realized it and admitted it to us during his speech. So Garrett became Jeremy's assistant FE, and together I think they will do great things not only in new membership education, but continuing education and programs as well.

Brody and Jeff were next up for Recruitment chair. The exact same situation arose, and we tagged Jeff to Brody as his assistant, although Brody got the official title. Like Keith told me above, though, real leadership doesn't come from a title. I think Jeff has great things going for him. This applies to the entire Eta class, which is one of the strongest and ablest pledge classes this chapter has ever seen.

Secretary finished out the list of officers, and I decided as soon as Joe stepped it up for VP that I wanted to be Secretary. Although it's mostly busy work and record-keeping, it's something I thought I could excel at. I was also glad (along with Brody) that Joe had filled the glaring vacancy of one of the more important positions in this chapter, as I was able to run for Secretary with full strength. After a long debate, I was elected.

The meeting came to a close, barely three hours after we had begun. I think the general feeling as we left the room was one of satisfaction and comfort, knowing this chapter was in the hands of good leaders. Everybody walked out knowing that the right man for the job was duly elected. Now we look forward to a year together making this chapter the best it can be, by growth and commitment.

When asked what had changed his mind half-way through the meeting, Joe answered, "I told Sean about how I have to worry about the other organizations I'm in (Sigma Beta Phi Honor Society President), and how I have a new job coming up, and how I'm spending less time at school. He asked me one simple question: where do my loyalties lie?

"He was right. I knew right then and there how important AKL was to me. And with that, I stood up and announced my wish to run for VP."

Our caravan left on Friday after school, fought through some incredibly dense and dark fog, and arrived at the WSU Eta chapter house for a little cookout. We met some of the guys, then headed back to the Alpha Phi house at U of I to get settled into our couches and meet all the guys. We even managed to play a few house-wide Halo2 matches that night. Since it was the end of their I-week, there were no girls or any consumption of alcohol by any member, so it was cool to hang out with everybody and build some brotherhood.

The next morning, us Gamma Theta boys headed out to The Breakfast Club, a small restaurant in downtown Moscow specializing in apathied waitresses and breakfast foods. We were still a little groggy at 8am, but the coffee and pancakes woke us up enough to dress into business casual and stroll to the new Commons for our first session of our Conference.

After lunch we reconvened back at the Commons for a few more hours of break-away group sessions and long lectures on chapter operations. All the pledges really learned a lot about how we run our chapters, and I think they benefitted the most out of everybody. Eta and Alpha Phi had endured AKL Day a few weeks before, in which they had to sit through the exact same content as this weekend. Needless to say, they were less than excited about all this. But us Gamma Theta boys were the most attentive and appreciative of all the hard work Jeremy put into it, and we thanked him accordingly.

We came back and had a great dinner by the cook at the Alpha Phi house, which included pot stickers, sushi, spicy chicken wings, cheesy log, kietsch, and baklavah. Pretty cool stuff.

After that, we sent all the pledges from all three chapters into a little room at seven, and everybody helped set up the initiation stuff while they waited. Finally at nine, everything was set up, and we performed the Ritual. Everybody helped out, and it was an awesome experience for all of us. It's great seeing how different chapters make the Ritual their own while still sticking to the integral basics.

That night we went to an afterparty for the new members, and everybody had a great time. Maybe a little TOO good a time, because the next morning's breakfast at the Breakfast Club was pretty groggy and slow. We said our goodbyes to Moscow and the guys, and drove all the way back through endless highway traffic back to Boise.

All in all, it was a great trip, and something we'll probably be doing yearly from now on. It was great to be able to finally meet the Eta and Alpha Phi guys, and the networking will only help us out in the long run as we strive to be a big chapter like those two houses have become.

The semester started great. We implemented a wish list, and we put up names of all our friends who we'd like to see as potential members. The names came in, and so we planned out the first few weeks to cater to the new freshmen: night football, barbeques at the park with volleyball and frisbee, etc. For our first intramural flag football game, we had a turnout of 14 guys, 7 of which were active members. Our opposition, the Kappa Sigmas, showed up with five guys. They looked at us and made a few low whistles, I think. They asked us if all those guys were our pledges, to which we smugly replied: maybe. And the truth was, we WERE interested in all those guys, but the problem was our retention of that interest. In my personal opinion, we just didn't have enough cool events planned to keep the interest going. Interest waned, and led to intellectual atrophy.

First, we managed to keep the interest of Brody Aston, who we had met earlier at the DBN cocktail party. He was (and is) a solid member, exhibiting almost all the traits we look for in new members. Plus, he's great to hang out with, and an all-around great guy. He was probably more crucial in our recruitment efforts than most of our guys combined. There's nothing like one pledge rushing another.

We then managed to secure the interest of Jasen Braun's younger brother, Jody. He's a great kid too, and although not overly loud and seeking attention, he's a good guy to be friends with.

Next, we had Jared Cooke's new roommate to sign: Ryan Jones. He's also fun to hang around with, and is even old enough to go to the bars and have a good time with our older members. Now we have those two members living in the same house, as well as Blaise, Jeremy, and I living in an apartment, too.

That same meeting, we asked Garrett Yocum to sign the pledge card after only knowing him for a couple of days, and he respectfully declined to discuss it over with his parents and review his financial commitments. When he said no, he sat there and blinked, and cut the uneasy silence by interjecting, "What? You're not going to clap for me or anything?" He came back a few days later and signed the card and became the fourth official pledge.

Finally, Jeff Gunn capped off our list of recruits this semester. He had hung out all semester long, and was a great guy to be around, with a few potential friends looking to join if he did. He was definitely an asset by himself, though, and we'll be seeing good things from him in the near future.

Five guys was not what we had hoped for. But most of the members seemed happy with the effort. Being the future-seeking visionary that I am, I was expecting a huge rush class of 15 or more strong guys this semester. Most wanted ten. National wanted eight. And yet we got five. Does that speak about our combined effort this semester? Maybe. Does that speak about our recruitment chairman also? Maybe. But we all know that it could have been better, and it could have been far worse. As we look forward to next semester, we have the opportunity to have as many as 9 guys join us, just from the fact that some couldn't do it this semester due to various reasons (time commitments, financial obligations, etc). Adam Janot might make it back from a broken foot in the Marines, a transfer student named John that seems to hang out more than all the other guys combined, and Jacoby, who had gone as far as contacting NHQ (National Headquarters) to get in contact with us. Sadly, all his classes (and his residence) are in Nampa, so next semester we'll (hopefully) be seeing him move into town and joining up. A few others, like JP and his friend Aaron, will be back to school in full swing come the spring semester.

We're excited for what he have in store, and now the only thing left to do is execute that which we've sought so hard to accomplish thus far.

The pledges are in week three of KAI, and will be treated to the Formal Pledging ceremony on Tuesday. After that, we're headed to Moscow, Idaho for a newly-scheduled Western Leadership Conference that National is putting on for us, Alpha Phi (U of I), and the Washington State boys (Eta chapter), both of which are highly respected chapters within our national fraternity.

So far, we have planned, organized, and done different activities and parties (per se) exclusively with the DBNs, who are our sister sorority. They are very similar to us in the way they run things, which makes planning with them much easier. Alpha Chi Omegas require planning as much as four months in advance for anything to ever happen. And the Alpha Zi Deltas are in a world of their own, somewhat. Not a derogatory at all, it's just that they operate differently than the other Greek chapters on campus. To their credit, though, they are the nicest, most sincere and happy bunch of girls ever to grace greek letters. And we mean that in the most honest sense, too.

Our midterms happen this week, which means we're at the halfway mark. We're hoping for more These Hands Don't Hurt involvment, including bringing in special speakers Phares Book and Kahli McCray. I'm also involved with the Women's Center Coordinator Melissa Wintrow, and we'll be planning some major events soon. We recently raised somewhere around $400 for the benefit of their Sexual Assault Response Line, which is an excellent resource for everybody on campus. Let's see what we can accomplish together the rest of this semesmter. After all, we're Men of Character, Committed to Making a Difference.

The biennial Conclave of the Fraternity of Alpha Kappa Lambda has just finished, held at the San Francisco Airport Marriott. And you missed out if you didn't get to go. Jeremy, Jasen, Justin, Joe, Jared, and I all went, along with our advisor and corporation board president, Tom Cuthbert. It was our first Conclave for all of us except Tom, who has been to five now.

After around ten hours of driving, we hit rush hour traffic in Sacramento, and later in San Francisco. Two hours to travel somewhere around 30 miles. Just the toll bridge coming into San Francisco took us an hour. And it wasn't even the Golden Gate. The Airport Marriott is located like 15 miles south of downtown, right in front of the airport in the town of Burligame. Though mostly a business-only hotel, there were some excellent ballroom and event spaces. We picked up some snacks and breakfast for our stay at the local Safeway, and then parked the Yukon (for $8 a day). We met a few other AKLs that night out in the outdoor area. Kevin and Justin were from Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, Beta Tau chapter. We also met a mild-mannered chap named Keith Pike, an alum from Arkansas State. We decided to go into town the next morning and visit till our Leadership College started that evening.

We visited San Francisco downtown early next morning. The cheapest way to travel into downtown was to take the complimentary airport shuttle, then hop onto the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transport, I assume) from the international terminal straight into downtown. We got off at Powell St, and walked a good, long way up some crazy inclines through Chinatown and into the Wharf. Chinatown was a festering, seething mess. It was way too busy, too dirty, and too smelly. There were some food items displayed for sale that were just wrong-looking. Like out-of-this-world, and smelling like it, too. We made it to the Wharf, grabbed lunch at the local Hooters, and went touring around Pier 39. We missed the last Alcatraz ferry by a couple of minutes, so we checked out the street performers, the sea lions, and Ghirardelli Square, and finally called it a day. We had to be back in time to make it to our dinner. And dinner was good.

If there was one thing that I could definitely say was the best part of staying at the Marriott, we would all unanimously agree it would be the food. The banquet facilities, the caterers, and the food were top-notch. We looked forward to lunch every day. It was the best part of the day, period. It was all fresh, hot, and delicious. We had a Southern-style buffet, with tamales, tortillas, rice and beans, and churros (!) for dessert.

The leadership college keynote speaker was scheduled that evening. David Stollman, the co-founder of CampuSpeak, gave an impressive presentation, focusing on how we should improve our recruitment standards, and actively recruit with wishlists and team leaders. If you're reading this down the road and you don't know what I'm talking about, then I can honestly say I've failed you as a member and Vice President of our chapter. If you'd like more information, visit the CampusSpeak website at http://www.campuspeak.com . We had a lot on our minds that evening, so we went to sleep with heavy hearts and minds full of ideas.

The next morning we had a battery of internal speakers from within AKL, talking about finances, recruitment, and the whole bunch. Not as impressive or inspiring as David's the evening before, but necessary, nonetheless. We had a short break before our Initiation and Omega ceremonies. They were both very well-performed, and for the first time since our inception as a fraternity, the Ritual was performed as it was originally - all alumni.

The next morning, breakfast was served, and the official start of the 2004 Conclave commenced. Everything was planned down pat, and everything went smoothly. We discussed and voted on some proposed amendments to the Constitution and Bylaws. The Constitution received no changes, but the Bylaws were brought up to date to properly reflect the NIC's new standards for 2005. Business went by pretty fast, and Jared and I had a great time.

We recessed for lunch (yum!), and had the rest of the day off. We hired a limo, and it took our group down to Great America Theme Park for a full day of unadultered fun. They had some pretty crazy rollercoasters and rides, and we all had a good time. Up until Joe and Keith and Justin got stuck at the top of the 23-story Turbo Drop (or whatever it's called). Everybody else zoomed down, except for them. The loudspeaker told them to hold on for a minute while the mechanics came down to fix "the problem". They were up there being whipped by the wind for ten minutes in complete terror. I saw Joe's tears falling from above, and I knew they were having a rough time (I love you, Joe.) Finally, they were slowly lowered down, and to make a long story short, we walked away with $50 in food certificates, and enough front-of-the-line passes to serve us the remainder of the day. Everything went well after that, including repeat visits to Top Gun (the absolute best inverted coaster ever). Our limo was late to pick us up ("Oh, you mean the ENTRANCE entrance"), and we made it back that night more tired than even our 6 hour trek into downtown a few days earlier.

The next morning was the last day of Conclave, and we discussed more business, including holding nominations and elections for the officers. Everybody was reinstated except for the Vice President of Operations. Don Wiethuecter gave up his post to a younger but equally (if not more) able replacement, who runs his own law firm and is a dedicated and successful AKL brother.

Jared ran for the Undergraduate NEC position being vacated by "Moss" Rodriguez from Alpha Rho chapter at UTEP. There were four nominees for the undergraduate position, and all four were equally impressive. Pat Allen, our national president, commented on how such a fine group of individuals had turned up for the position. Jared lost, but will be back in full-force for the Spring mail-only ballots election, to take Craig Zanetti's place (from the Alpha Phi chapter in Moscow).

We went to "church" that evening, and called it a day. The next morning everybody departed, and we drove back watching more Family Guy. Now, all we have to do is implement all we learned, and fully realize our dream of becoming the greatest AKL chapter that ever lived. The UTEP boys deservedly earned the Founders Award, but I think that we can take it if we stick to our dreams and goals. We'll give them a run for their money.

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.

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.

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...

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.

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...

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!

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.

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.

I'm technologically-oriented. I'm also a lover of history. Controversial, maybe, but it works for me. Our history is important. Our fraternity strives to become better every day, to become men of character committed to making a differece. If we can be better that we were the previous day, no matter how small a measure it might be, we are moving in the right direction. So, I created this web log to document exactly what happens in our lives as we progress into the annals of the future, and history, of Alpha Kappa Lambda.

"Who control the past now, controls the future.
Who control the present now, controls the past."
- Rage Agains the Machine, "Testify".

Sorry, it's sounding religious. Anyway, my point is, if this thing that we have, this Alpha Kappa Lambda Fraternity, if this thing really will live on forever, then shouldn't we have a history? Shouldn't we have some sort of record of our doings? Shouldn't we do our successors a favor in blessing them with the knowledge that comes from those more experienced than them? I think so.

Like a father passing his wisdom to his know-it-all son, so it will happen with us. By using a technology to publish and archive what we do, it will help us out a lot. Right now I have a free one-author license to Movable Type 3.0.

Maybe in the future, somebody more technologically oriented will convert to Drupal, or something free that will allow about three authors or so to all contribute a little something to our ever-growing archive of knowledge. Maybe when we have a solid foundation of 50 guys, a "history committee" will be doing just this: publishing the goings-on of our fraternity on this archive. Everybody will have access to the archive, and can read all the entries, right back to this very first one.

In my eyes, the history will be just that: a published retelling of events. Maybe other fraternities and sororities will follow. Maybe we can have some sort of community or ring, and an active online community. Boy, what standards and breakthroughs we would overcome if we were an e-Fraternity! Microsoft Sharepoint networks, wireless Bluetooth PDAs, the list goes on. If we don't keep up with all this, we'll only get left behind. If we really are Men of Character committed to making a difference, then let's make a difference. This is my contribution. Hopefully yours will follow.