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Welcome to the blog page
As blogs are written, they will be added to the bottom of this page. The newest blog is also on the home page.The week in review: September 28, 2007
Welcome back for another great year with Phi Sigma Pi!
We kicked off Autumn quarter with Community Commitment. Ten brothers came out that day to help the Holy Family soup kitchen downtown. We helped clean the cafeteria after lunch, pack food donation bags, and organize the kitchen. Definitely an eye opening experience – that hunger is common in our own neighborhoods and cities. It felt great to know we could lend a hand, and the workers were so appreciative of our assistance.
We have officially introduced our Autumn quarter Teach For America backpack collections! We will be collecting supplies throughout the quarter to donate to Louisiana students who were affected by Hurricane Katrina, Rita, & Wilma. Our goal is to completely fill 20 backpacks with notebooks, erasers, pens & pencils, crayons, dictionaries, and other essentials such as toothpaste and toothbrushes. Contact Katie at fortner.29@osu.edu for more information!
Student Involvement Fair Raffle winners were drawn for our bookstore gift certificates. Thank you to everyone who participated. The winners are:
SBX $25 Gift Certificates
Brandon Bowditch
Sarah BrayerUBX/Buckeye Books $20 off textbooks coupons & 3 Free T-shirts
Alana King
Ryan ConnollyThe week in review: October 15, 2007
Our first prospective member event was last Wednesday. Thank you to everyone who came to Jaclyn and Megan’s for the cookout! It was the first night that the chilly fall weather set in, so we crammed 17 Brothers and 20 prospective members into the apartment for grilled burgers and good conversation. (The corn hole sets outside were mostly unused, with the exception of die-hard fans Adam and Aaron).
Our prospective member events still remaining for the quarter include:Sunday, October 21st:Ultimate Frisbees in the Oval at 5:00 PM
Monday, November 5th: Board Game Night at 8:00 PM in PA 0010
Thursday, November 15th :White Elephant Party at 6:30 PM in PA 0115 (Details to follow!)If you are interested in joining Phi Sigma Pi, come on out. Meet brothers, and see if we’re the right organization for you!
This weekend, Ohio State welcomed brothers from the Beta Beta (Kent State) chapter. After watching the football game (either at the Shoe or Eric’s house), we all met up for dinner at Don Pablo’s that evening and then a night on the town.
Sunday morning, the Beta Iota Brothers headed downtown to COSI to participate in Making Strides Against Breast Cancer. October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and this 5K walk is designed to raise money for research and treatments. Our team met our $200 fundraising goal, and overall the event raised $117,961.72!
The week in review: November 11, 2007
Last Sunday, our Brothers volunteered at the Columbus International Festival downtown at the Vets memorial. We worked the “peace badge” stand, helping children and their parents decorate and create buttons. We had a view of the stage during the event where the performers varied from European musicians to African dances. It was a great opportunity to see a variety of diverse cultures while helping the community.
We started the week off with a Meet Phi Sigma Pi Board Game night for prospective members to check us out. Cranium, Disney Trivia, Catchphrase, and Apples to Apples were huge hits, and we ended the night off with some rounds of Mad Gab. Ever played Mad Gab? Here’s an example. Say these words to yourself: “Haystack Up Hank Aches.” It’s nonsense, right? Say it to your roommate, your classmate, or your professor – and try to figure out what you sound like your saying phonetically. (Answer below).
And despite a disappointing Buckeye loss against the Illini, Phi Sigma Pi had an exciting weekend! 3 of the Brothers are also members of the Junior Class Honorary Bucket and Dipper, who hosted the University of Illinois’ Atius-Sachem honorary for the 82nd pass of the Illibuck trophy (Illy, as he is nicknamed, makes a great “H” in O-H-I-O poses!). In addition to visitors from Illinois, Phi Sigma Pi hosted a Brother from the chapter at Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA. Gabe is quite the traveling Brother, and always a blast to host. One great thing about being a National organization is that connections with Brothers at other Chapter gives you the opportunity to experience something that you may never have had the opportunity to experience at your school—such as a Big 10 football game. Go Bucks!
Mad Gab Answer: “A stack of pancakes.”
An interesting game. Get together with a group of good friends and play it yourself!
The week in review: November 30, 2007
We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving with friends, family, and lots of turkey! For many Brothers, it was a much needed weekend off before the final push of the quarter.
Phi Sigma Pi got together before everyone headed home for a home-cooked dinner to see Spamalot at the Ohio Theater downtown. A musical version of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, it was a night for lots of laughter – and a car ride home full of quotes from the show and reviews of the performance and script.
As we approach the holidays, the Beta Iota Chapter decided to get in the spirit of giving. It started with our backpack stuffing! Our chapter collected supplies, such as, but not limited to pencils, dictionaries, scissors, and toothpaste, which we packed into bookbags for donation to our national philanthropy, Teach For America. This organization distributes the bags to Louisiana students who were affected by Hurricane Katrina, Rita, & Wilma. We had a successful drive, collecting enough materials for 20 backpacks for charity.
Then, we had a little bit of giving between Brothers and prospective members. Our final Meet Phi Sigma Pi night of the quarter was a “White Elephant Party.” Everyone brought two wrapped items, one as a gift and another as a joke. Everyone picked their items carefully in the first round and unwrapped a surprise. Did you get a gift – OSU gear - or a joke – a Nora Roberts novel all written in Swedish? In the second round, everyone had a choice: Do you use your turn to “steal” a desired item or take your chances with the pile of wrapped gifts? An exciting evening of fun, laughter, and holiday spirit, and a great opportunity to make new friends!
We concluded our quarter with our Fall Quarter banquet at the Fawcett Center, where we said farewell to Mike Johnson, our graduating senior. He will receive his degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering. He has been a Brother in the chapter longer than anyone else – since 2002 – and has represented many leadership positions during his time with us, including Tech Consultant, Parliamentarian, and President. We congratulate Mike for his new job at Rockwell Automation. He will train for six months in Mayfield Heights before receiving a permanent location. Good luck Mike!
We also recognized three Brothers, voted by the chapter as representing scholarship, leadership, and fellowship as well as the Brother who had attended the most events this quarter:
Scholarship: Megan Conroy
Leadership: Katie Fortner
Fellowship: Colleen Maleski
Brother with the most points: Cristy Vallejos
The week in review: January 23, 2008
Welcome back to an exciting new quarter – and quite a busy one for Phi Sigma Pi.
We kicked off the quarter with Winter Rush, and we are happy to introduce our 16 new initiates:
Caitlin Criss-
Brett Anthony
Dan Gray
Nick Fox
Scott Roberts
Krysten Udris
Stacy Girdler
Valerie Waugh
Kadie Baltes
Liz Crawford
Geoff Thomas
Steve Chinn
Hannah Spangler
Alex Varga
Nick Boyd
Caitlin Headly
We welcomed them with a traditional pinning ceremony followed by dinner at Don Pablo’s. Tonight, we tried out the new Panda Express on High with our first Big/Little night.
Last weekend, we celebrated our Founder’s Day. Phi Sigma Pi was established at Ohio State on January 31, 1994. We are part of a national organization that was founded February 14, 1916 at Central Missouri State University.
On Friday, there was intense competition – who can knock down the most pins with a heavy fluorescent orange ball while wearing neon green shoes with flames? Our members went bowling at Capri Lanes, and whether you didn’t break 100 or you threw a strike every time, there were lots of good times with friends.
Saturday, we volunteered at the Franklin County Dog Shelter in the afternoon before our extravagant banquet later that evening. The theme was “Night at the Theatre,” and we rolled out the red carpet for a night of great memories. An evening of dancing, conversation, laughter, and even a surprise sighting of President Gordon Gee in his bowtie.
In other news, Phi Sigma Pi Inter-Chapter Relations Chair, Mbabndah Ndobegang Jr., is featured on the Ohio State website for his service on Alternative Winter Break! Check it out! http://www.osu.edu/features/2008/winter/
The week in review: February 4, 2008
The race for the Democrat and Republican Presidential nomination is in full swing. While Ohio’s primary is not until March, some fairly important decisions will be made as Super Tuesday approaches. Last Tuesday, our chapter had a discussion night to better educate ourselves as voters:
Who are the candidates? What are their stances on hot issues? How many delegates to they need and is any candidate too far behind at this point in the race?
We went home with a better idea of who was on this year’s ballot.
Our regular chapter meeting was Thursday where we planned for upcoming events, especially the Great Lakes Regional Conference this weekend. Ohio State’s Beta Iota Chapter will host 8 other chapters delegates for this event and will be visited by our Regional Consultant, Ryan DeGuzman. After the meeting, our Brothers grabbed a bite to eat at BW’s (cheap boneless night) and challenged each other’s skills at Guitar Hero. Mbabndah was acknowledge as champion with a phenomenal 100% accuracy and score of 179,516!
Phi Sigma Pi topped off our weekend with a Gallery Hop Saturday night. We grabbed a bite to eat in the Short North, then wandered through the art galleries – observing paintings, photographs, metal and glass work, and hand made jewelry. Our last stop was the aromatherapy candle shop for the ladies.
The week in review: February 11, 2008
GREAT LAKES REGIONAL CONFERENCE
Ohio State’s Beta Iota Chapter of Phi Sigma Pi welcomed delegates from 8 other chapters this weekend for the annual Great Lakes Regional Conference (GLRC). This included:
- Alpha Phi - Eastern Michigan University
- Beta Alpha - University of Michigan
- Beta Xi - Miami University
- Beta Sigma - Michigan State University
- Gamma Mu - Central Michigan University
- Gamma Rho - Western Michigan University
- Epsilon Beta - Bowling Green State Univ
- Epsilon Iota - Ohio University
Delegates from each chapter worked together all year through online conferencing to plan this year’s event at our campus. GLRC is held to promote interchapter relations, celebrate our tripod of ideals: scholarship, leadership, and fellowship, and discuss fraternal business.
The weekend was a great success! The other chapters came in on Friday evening, and after watching Casino Royale, some ventured off to OUABeats at the Newport for a night of dancing!
Saturday morning we traveled down to the Franklin Park Conservatory. We explored the palm room as well as The Orchid Forest, where hundreds of colorful blooms fill the Conservatory’s Tropical Rainforest biome and followed their model trains through the international exhibits. Many were amazed by the exquisite Chihuly glass. We returned to campus for lunch in the South Campus Gateway and a leadership seminar before the mocktail party later that night.
Our weekend concluded Sunday morning with Phi Sigma Pi roundtables, which gave us a chance to discuss individual chapter policies and events and ways to improve our own chapter through others’ ideas. Beta Iota definitely walked away with some great ideas and insight on our fellow Greak Lakes Brothers and new friends!
The week in review: February 24, 2008
Fundraising – an integral part of any organization!
Phi Sigma Pi worked Mongolian BBQ and the event was successful in helping us meet our fundraising goal. We sold tickets for unlimited bowls while trying our hand at the grills! Last Wednesday, we cooked your food (with a guiding hand or two from the experienced workers). We even saw a few tricks with the sticks!
After seeing the new release of Step Up 2: The Streets in theaters, our Brothers wanted to do some dancing. Eight Brothers road tripped to Miami University for Beta Xi Chapter’s formal Saturday. The event was Mardi Gras themed, so we put on our beads and our dancing shoes. Sundaes and a chocolate fountain topped off the night!
We finished off the weekend with a little PB & Jam! Our new Spring Rush will soon be upon us, and we welcomed potential members to come “Meet Phi Sigma Pi” at one of our quarter’s service events. Many helping hands helped make approximately 200 sandwiches for the Holy Family Soup Kitchen downtown – where we volunteered in the Fall with Community Commitment! It was a rewarding experience knowing we had put food in the hands of the hungry.
Beta Iota Chapter of Phi Sigma Pi @ The Ohio State University