First, the bad news as Bill Scott our Grand Praetor officially
released it to the Southwest Province Consul’s and Chapter Advisors
this evening:

“Brothers,

It is with deep sadness that I report to you the suspension of the
charter at 1855 Sigma Chi Rd. The Beta Xi chapter faced repeated
charges relating to behavior and drinking. The EC felt there had been
to many violations in the last few years and that the chapter
ultimately violated its probation sufficiently to justify suspension.
I ultimately agreed.
I know that Kyle and the brothers would appreciate hearing from you.
In their way (the Beta Xi way) they are a great group of Sigma Chi’s
and have always treated me with the utmost courtesy and respect, and
brotherhood. I for one will miss those cocky jerks. Shit, workshop is
going to be so quiet.”

Now for some background… With the unbelievable increase in the
insurance cost that each of the houses has to bear (the Epsi Upsi
share has gone from around $3,000.00-$4,000.00/year just a few years
ago to a whopping premium of $17,000.00/year Headquarters is not
wanting to take any chances with Chapters that are “marginal” in
their treatment of Risk Management issues. In this regard the only
way to ensure that our Chapters are going to be able to weather these
storms is through close monitoring of trends that we see developing
within our chapters (which is a sad observation in my opinion) and to
“nip it in the bud” as Deputy Fife would say.

Case in point: Two years ago Bill and I and a number of other Alumni
brothers made numerous trips (especially Bill) up to NAU to conduct
Alumni Interviews of the Actives and Pledges (the dreaded and
so-called Sigquistion). It was through this process and our jumping
through every single hoop that the Administration threw at us that
the Active Chapter was able to remain on Campus and limp through
their period of Probation. For example the Administration wanted the
Active Chapter to have a Resident Advisor that was a Sig and not from
that Chapter. NAU is a small school to begin with and now we had to
get a Sig as a graduate student willing to live and go to school in
Flagstaff and be willing to live in a dry dorm! Well we found our man
(he actually wanted to come to ASU for graduate school, he was
following his girlfriend out from Florida, and had called me about a
Resident Advisor position at Epsi Upsi) and he performed wonderfully
and that Chapter has been given an opportunity to continue its existence.

Last year Beta Xi had a terrible incident that I will not go into,
suffice it to say that it was far worse than anything that the ZO
Chapter did or was accused of up at NAU. The Beta Xi Chapter and
their Alums decided to fight the University on the sanctions and the
University’s threat to kick the Chapter from campus. Well, Beta Xi
won the battle but lost the war. Their Alums have know been bitten
for their efforts on behalf of the Active Chapter. I feel that if
they had followed the path as forged just the year before by The
Actives at NAU that this action would not have been taken nor needed.

There is another Chapter (not us) in our Province that I have been
told has a 50-50 chance of following Beta Xi by next Fall Semester
because their Alums decided to fight sanctions rather than deal with
the Active Chapter problems. Hopefully Bill will be able to salvage
this Chapter but he has been forced into a Reactive posture and is
not finding it an easy task to get his footing to take the initiative
from their University and our Headquarters on this matter. Here is
wishing him luck (I as well as others have already volunteered to
help him as needed).

At Epsi Upsi we have had some recent wisps of smoke (vandalism by
some members breaking doors and windows along with blatant use of Pot
and financial delinquency) and the House Corp under the direction of
Dan Clements is going to come down hard to make sure we can get in
front of any possible issues so that we don’t have a fire. Part of
the reason we are going to need to be aggressive in this regard is
the traditionally bad relations that Epsi Upsi has had with
Headquarters. They make Elephants look like they suffer from severe
memory loss. Whereas Epsi Upsi has kept its nose clean for years with
just one minor University discipline issue in the last 4-5 years we
still have a somewhat bad reputation in Evanston that took decades to
build and which will not change without the continued effort of the
Active Chapter. Not surprisingly the same “brothers” that tend to be
a problem in one area are more often than not a problem in at least
one other area too. These same problem “brothers” don’t attend
Chapter meetings and/or leave Chapter Meetings early and have not
fullfilled their Ritual obligation to be able to wear their badge and
vote in Chapter . I bet if you reflect back on your years you can
emember “brothers” that lived down to that sorry Standard. Dan and I
are planning on making an example out of these “brothers” so as to
jar that portion of the house out of its complacency which has been
bread by its tremendous success these past 4-5 years. The first
example is that one of these “Out of house Brothers” was by the other
day and busted out the large window on the ground floor bedroom that
faces the parking lot. When confronted about the damage he said to
“add it to his House Bill”. I have directed the House Manager (a guy
who is doing a fantastic job in his office) to get a quote on the
damage and to contact this sorry excuse for a brother to tell him to
bring payment by the next day or the police will be called. Many of
the guys have put forth some really tremendous effort on the Property
to show their pride and we as a House Corp are going to make sure we
are there to support them too. The Current JI class has really
stepped up and there is a strong cadre of leaders emerging from that
class and I can assure you that they are very interested in building
relations with their Alums. As this semester winds down I am looking
forward with renewed vigor, optimism and hope for the future. When we
have a house warming in the fall following the purchase of the
property and some of the planned renovations I hope that many of you
will have an opportunity to visit the House and meet the great group
of guys that are carrying the torch.

In hoc

Dave Riddle

Brothers,

If you are interested in playing in the Annual Founder’s Day Golf
Tourney at ASU’s Karsten Ping Golf Course on Saturday June 15th
please send an email note to Dan Clement’s,
dclements@ft.newyorklife.com, so that he and Bud can put together
another great Golf Tourney. (Remember Dan – no ringers this next time
and Bud you have to keep the Clydesdales off the fairways when they
are pulling the beer wagon.)

—————–
By the way the PHXSig email list (started 01/99) now has 921
addresses and the brand new ASUSig list is off to a great start with
273 addresses on it. The PHXFax list has 108 names.

If the UofA or NAU Alums would like to start an email listserv drop
me a line and I will be happy to host it for you guys and provide you
with a web interface to perform admin duties like add and remove
names from the lists.

Please note however that any of the Sig email lists and the PHXFax
list are only for SIGnificant news – not for commercial use – so
don’t ask and I won’t have to say no.

KTAR’S WESTMORELAND SIG SPEAKER FOR APRIL

Preston Westmoreland, afternoon host at news/talk KTAR radio, will
talk about the changing radio scene and much more at the April 10th
meeting of the Phoenix Alumni Chapter of Sigma Chi.

Westmoreland has spent 29 years in local radio, including the past 24
years at KTAR. He’s a licensed pilot, adventurer and expert in desert survival.

The monthly meeting will be held at Phoenix City Grille, located on
the SW corner of Bethany Home Road and 16th Street in Phoenix, on
Wednesday, April 10.Drinks begin at 6 p.m. followed by dinner at 6:30
and our speaker at 7.
—————————————————————————-
Next month is our bi-annual Ritual Dinner and even though it falls on
the last day of finals at ASU we are planning on holding the event at
the Active Chapter house at ASU.

—————————————————————————-
ASU Active Chapter Update

Things are progressing with the efforts to purchase the house by the
deadline of August 31, 2002 and hopefully by the time of the next
Alumni Chapter meeting the House Corp will have submitted the loan
application. We are planning on some pretty extensive remodeling
over the summer and are planning on hosting an event for all Sigma
Chi alums this coming fall.

IT’S FUTURE SHOCK WITH BILL GIBNEY

With tax season here, we’re all looking back over the past year …
but what about the future? Only two things are certain — death and
(more) taxes.

Brother and attorney Bill Gibney will address the Phoenix Alumni
Chapter of Sigma Chi this month on managing your money and asset
protection so that your family benefits when you’re gone.

The meeting will be held Wednesday, March 13 at Phoenix City Grill,
16th Street and Bethany Home Road. Drinks at 6 p.m. followed by
dinner at 6:30 and speaker at 7 p.m.

—————————————–

Derby Days are here!

If you or your business would like to help the ASU Chapter raise
money for Children’s Miracle Network during there Derby Days April 26
and 27 by purchasing an ad contact Nick Glassner at 602-320-7272 or
Reade McClintok at 480-206-8114 for further information. Last year
the House donated over $3,000.00 and Nick is really working hard to
exceed that by a SIGnificant margin this year. Prices are as follows:
Booklet Full page – $250
Half Page – $175
Quarter Page – $100
Business Card – $50
T-shirt $200
Banner $150

All Three (including full page in the booklet – $400

Date: February 13th
Time: 6:00 Cocktails, 6:30 Dinner, 7:00 Speaker(?)
Place: Phoenix City Grill, southwest corner of 16th Street and Bethany Home

Brothers excuse the lateness of the announcement but our Speaker
Chairman (Bud Wilkinson) has been scrambling to try and find a
replacement speaker this month since they canceled on us at the last
minute. A big “well done” is due Bud from all of us regardless due
to the dedication that he puts into lining up such great speakers and events.

For those that did not make it do the Hockey Night (another event put
together by Bud) you missed a good time. We had 46 brothers and
others in attendance and many old friendships were renewed.

———————————

ASU Active Chapter News:
Plans are fully in motion to complete the purchase of the property
from the University by the end of the current semester and then to
renovate the facility over the summer. If any brothers have
recommendations (or warnings against) for various trades that we will
need such as roofing, electrician, etc… please give either myself
or Dan Clements their name and number

Upcoming chapter outing to a Phoenix Coyotes hockey game. Brother
(and team president) Shawn Hunter has given us a “suite” deal. We
have 60 tickets to the Phoenix-Chicago game on the night of
Wednesday, Feb. 6. We’re selling the $100 face value tickets for $50,
refreshments included. So far, more than 20 have been spoken for.

To reserve your hockey tickets, e-mail or call Brother Bud Wilkinson:
budw@broadwaysbiggesthits.com or 602-493-1886.

—– HELP PROGRAM A TV STATION —–

The Phoenix Alumni Chapter of Sigma Chi Fraternity will have the rare
opportunity of actually helping to program a local TV station.

Brother Ron Bergamo will soon oversee KUSK-TV (Channel 7/cable
Channel 13)and he wants us to serve as a focus group and inform him
of our programming preferences.

Bergamo, who formerly ran Fox 10 in Phoenix, will speak to the
chapter at our monthly meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 9 at Phoenix City
Grill, 16th Street and Bethany Home Road.

Drinks will be a 6 p.m. followed by dinner at 6:30 and our speaker at
7. Bring a pen as Ron plans to ask us to fill out a questionnaire as
well as offer suggestions.

—– Upcoming Alumni Event —–

Don’t forget the upcoming chapter outing to a Phoenix Coyotes hockey
game. Brother (and team president) Shawn Hunter has given us a
“suite” deal. We have 60 tickets to the Phoenix-Chicago game on the
night of Wednesday, Feb. 6. We’re selling the $100 face value tickets
for $50, refreshments included. So far, more than 20 have been spoken for.

To reserve your hockey tickets, e-mail or call Brother Bud Wilkinson:
budw@broadwaysbiggesthits.com or 602-493-1886.

—– Interview Help Needed at the ASU Chapter —–

This coming weekend will be the Initiation of this past fall
semesters Pledge class. In case you had not heard we will be
initiating about 40 new brothers!! I need your help in conducting
Alumni Interviews on Saturday morning at the ASU Chapter House. I am
looking for at least 10 brothers to volunteer so that the interview
process can get done in an expeditious fashion. If you would like to
help please call Dave Riddle @ 480-610-8234. For those that have not
done interviews in the past this is a really enjoyable time and you
get to really see the caliber of the new Brothers. Additionally if
you would like to attend Initiation please let me know also so that I
can get you time and location information.

DECEMBER SIG MEETING CELEBRATES CHRISTMAS

The Phoenix Alumni Chapter of Sigma Chi helps put you in the holiday
mood this month with a speaker who is more than an ornament.

Judy Aguiar owns the European Christmas Market in Scottsdale, and
she’ll tell us how Christmas is celebrated around the world and show
off some of the incredible decorations that she imports.

Because of the festive subject matter, spouses are invited to attend
the December meeting as well. The date is Wednesday, Dec. 12 at
Phoenix City Grill, 16th Street and Bethany Home Road in Phoenix.

Effective with this week’s meeting, the dinner menu will be greatly
expanded, too. Drinks begin at 6 p.m., followed by dinner at 6:30 and
the speaker at 7.

———————————–

Also, don’t forget to reserve your tickets when the Phoenix Coyotes
host the Phoenix Alumni Chapter of Sigma Chi on Wednesday, Feb 6.
It’s the Coyotes versus the Chicago Blackhawks, and the Coyotes have
reserved us a suite.

To reserve tickets, contact Bud Wilkinson at 602-493-1886 or
budw@broadwaysbiggesthits.com

SUITE NIGHT FOR SIGS AT COYOTES/BLACKHAWKS

Circle the date of Feb. 6, 2002 on your calendars, because the
Phoenix Coyotes have reserved a suite(s) for the Phoenix Alumni
Chapter of Sigma Chi when the Coyotes host the Chicago Blackhawks.

We have as many as 60 tickets available to us — thanks to brother
and Coyotes’ president Shawn Hunter.

As was the case two years ago, a portion of the proceeds will go to
charity, with the remainder used to cover beverages and eats on game night.

The ticket price has yet to be determined, but you may reserve your
seats now by calling or e-mailing Bud Wilkinson: 602-493-1886 or
budw@broadwaysbiggesthits.

WHAT: Phoenix Coyotes vs. Chicago Blackhawks

WHEN: Wednesday, Feb 6, 2002

PRICE: TBA

Once again, KAET-TV (Channel 8) needs our help during its annual
December pledge drive. We need Sigma Chi alums (and actives) to man
the phone banks at Channel 8 in Tempe on Saturday afternoon, Dec. 8.

We need a dozen brothers to help between 2 and 7 p.m.
Brother Bud Wilkinson will be the on-air host from 4:30 to 7 p.m.

Last year, we had a half-dozen volunteers and more are needed this
year. It’s for a good cause — and it generates good will for Sigma Chi.

And, yes, there is such a thing as a free lunch!

Contact Bud Wilkinson and volunteer asap at:
602-493-1887 or budw@broadwaysbiggesthits.com.