The Phoenix Alumni Chapter of Sigma Chi Fraternity lost its oldest
and most cherished member on Wednesday morning with the death of Dr.
Bertram L. Snyder.

Born on April 5, 1911 and initiated into Mu Chapter at Denison
University (Class of 1933), Brother “Bert” was a longtime Phoenix
doctor, lifelong supporter of Sigma Chi and mainstay at the monthly
meeting of the Phoenix Alumni Chapter.

Bert will be cremated and a private graveside service for family
members is planned for Monday, but Bert’s life will be remembered at
4 p.m. Wednesday (Aug. 7) at Shadow Rock Church, 12861 N. 8th Avenue, Phoenix.

A White Rose ceremony marking our Brother’s entrance into the Chapter
Eternal will be performed as part of the service. Brother Arthur
Almassy will deliver the euology.

“Bert personified the enduring nature of Sigma Chi. ‘Brotherhood’ was
more than just a word to him. He was always there for a brother, and
his participation in the alumni chapter inspired all of us,” said
Marshall Christy, consul of the Phoenix Alumni Chapter.

Christy urges all available brothers to attend Wednesday afternoon’s service.

Brothers,

Based on the email flying around this evening there is a tremendous
controversy raging in the Fraternity that deals with what all the
Active Chapters through their House Corporations have to pay for
their Housing and Liability Insurance.

A few short years ago the Risk Management (RMF) cost for ASU was
about $5,000.00 per year which for a 100+ man house like ASU was a
good deal at about $50.00 per person for the School year. Last year
(2001-2002) the cost was up to $17,906.00 and we just got the bill
for the 2002-2003 School year and the cost has exploded to $27,887.00
which works out to about $300.00 per man for the year. The following
are the rates for the three Arizona Chapters:

Beta Phi- $29,528.00 up from $18,390.00. 62% increase
Epsilon Upsilon- $27,887.00 up from $17,906.00 64% increase
Zeta Omicron -$8,773.00 up from $5,390.00 61% increase

Based on what other House Corps around the US are saying it seems
that the numbers are based purely on Chapter Population with no
allowance given for real risk management (Fire Alarms, sprinklers, no
previous claims etc – until two weeks ago ASU has not made a claim
since I got back involved in 1996…)

Are there any Brothers in the area that work in liability insurance
that would like to take a swing at getting us a lower rate. As much
as I (and I am sure the other House Corps in the Province) might like
to stay with the Fraternity’s RMF plan at this pace of increase we
will find our Chapter Houses begin to close based on simple
economics, particularly for the smaller Chapters like ZO up at NAU
where this increase seems like it will equal about $400 per man and
that Chapter is housed in a dry University owned Dorm!

In hoc,

David W. Riddle (ASU ’87)

Greetings Brothers (ASU Alum’s and other Sigma Chi Brothers in the
Greater Phoenix Area),

If any Brother has pull with the University we are in dire need of
assistance. ASU now appears to be bargaining in extreme bad faith
with the Fraternities on Alpha Drive and we are all in danger of
having our houses condemned and being kicked off the row!

Background: ASU provided land for the construction of Alpha Drive
and backed the issuance of bonds for the building of the Houses,
construction of the street (Alpha Drive) and the construction of the
parking behind the houses and across 6th street. Since 1962 the
fraternities have been paying down the bonds (which were retired last
year) and the additional fees for redoing the electrical grid for
that area (retired earlier this year).

The leases allowed for a purchase option (expires September 1, 2002),
which ASU has fought tooth and nail to stop the houses from
exercising. They made a tactical mistake a few years ago when they
told the Houses that we would have to retrofit fire sprinklers to the
structures and pay for it even though we were the tenants. While the
houses were negotiating with ASU on this point one of the houses went
ahead and did it and then filed suit against ASU to recover the
funds. When ASU saw that they were going to lose the suit (which
would have meant setting precedent for the other Houses) they offered
to settle with that house whereby in exchange for the house dropping
the suit and not requesting fees that ASU would deed them the land if
they retired their bond. They did so and became the first house to
go “private”. ASU’s mistake was that now they had now checker-boarded
the property.

Since that happened two of the other houses on the row exercised
their options (the last one did so in February 2002 after a prolonged
fight with the University ending with placing their money in escrow
and having to threaten to sue to get ASU to perform according to the
terms of the purchase option). The remaining six houses have been
working in concert to get ASU to finalize the remaining issues before
we purchase. Those issues have dealt with zoning, parking, the street
and other issues. The attorney that we hired has been working
diligently with the ASU General Counsel to reach agreement on the
documentation (we are very close to terms with them). Plus the
Houses hired Grady Gammage to work with the City of Tempe to work out
a zoning classification to accommodate our use. All of these efforts
had been moving forward until the new Michael Crow Administration
came into power.

In the last two weeks the remaining six houses notified ASU per the
terms of the purchase option of our intent to exercise. We had even
notified ASU back in June that they would be getting this notice from
all the houses the first part of July once our appraisal was
completed. ASU is now telling us that they will not be able to talk
to use again on this matter until the end of August and they have
even changed the negotiating person that we are to deal with to a
person that “Although not yet verified, he is reported to have stated
to the Board of Regents and others that he does not believe the
fraternities should exist on Alpha Drive.” Additionally the head of
the Alpha Drive Association stated the following in an email to the
Representatives of the Houses with the following statement
“Condemnation. I don’t want to put my reasons in writing, but I am
now 100% convinced that ASU is looking at the possibility of
condemning us immediately. With that belief, I absolutely believe
that we need to press ASU very hard to get these sales closed ASAP.”

The House Corp for our house at ASU just spent $20,000.00 from the
Reserve Funds held for us by the University, with the Universities
approval, in the last three weeks putting a desperately needed new
roof on the house in preparation for the coming fall semester because
we could not wait for the final purchase and the remodeling to
follow. If ASU, as The Alpha Drive Association President now
believes, is seeking to declare Eminent Domain and condemn the
properties this is very distressing that they would allow us to draw
down and expend $20,000 in July to then turn around the next month
and condemn the property.

So Brothers, if you have pull with the University please let your
fingers do the walking and contact those with the ability to get
those process set back on track.

The person now leading the negotiations for ASU is named Mernoy and
his number is (480) 965-3201.

Of course please feel free to contact me at home 480-610-8232 or via
email if you have any questions or comments

In hoc,

David Riddle
Chapter Advisor and House Corporation President for Epsilon Upsilon

ETHICS PROFESSOR WILL GIVE SIGS THE BUSINESS

Enron… Worldcom… Martha Stewart. The list of businesses suspected
of shady dealings and questionable accounting practices continues to
grow. What became of ethics and honesty?

Shari Collins-Chobanian, Ph. D., Associate Professor of Philosophy at
ASU West and expert on business ethics, will address what’s happened
and what needs to be done to hold U.S. businesses accountable at the
July dinner meeting of the Phoenix Alumni Chapter of Sigma Chi.

Collins-Chobanian will speak on Wednesday, July 10 at Phoenix City
Grille, 16th Street and Bethany Home Road. Drinks are at 6 p.m.,
followed by dinner at 6:30 and our speaker at 7.

——————————-

Also, if you’re a golfer, we’ll have sleeves of Sigma Chi golf balls
for sale that were left over from the 3rd annual Founders’ Day Classic.

——————————-

Big Cudos to the Active Chapter at NAU!

The guys up there sure have shown how to bounce back from
adversity. Since being placed on probation by the University in 1999
and undergoing membership review they have:

1. Not violated the terms of their probation
2. Not been involved in any University or IFC violations
3. Not violated the terms of their alcohol probation
4. Not been involved in any hazing violations
5. Provided education sessions for other Greek organizations
6. Two Sigs were recognized with the University’s Gold Axe award for
“Exemplary Student Leadership” in 2001 and 2002
7. Recognized as the 2000-01 Greek Fraternity of the Year
8. Received the Bash Award from Sigma Chi as most improved chapter
9. Ranked top three in Greek Chapter GPA last four semesters
10. Raised $3,000.00 for Children’s Miracle Network

NAU Alums you can be very proud of your Chapter.

—————————–

ASU Update

The loan application to CCI for the purchase of the house at 606
Alpha Drive is going in this week! The remaining six houses on Alpha
Drive that have yet to exercise their options (this includes us) will
be providing notice to ASU on July 12 or 15. We hope to have ASU
submit the purchase to the Board of Regents at either their August or
September meeting and to close as soon as possible after that hoped
for rubber stamp.

If you go by the house this week (or went by last week) you will have
seen that a new $20,000 roof is going up over the Residence portion
of the structure. We have many renovations planned over the coming
school year and hope to have an “Open House” to show it off in the
Spring so stay tuned!

This summer the row saw a rash of burglaries including our house
getting hit two or three times in a one week period! Julie was
awakened by something during one of these break-ins and called the
police who came into the house with guns drawn and came out with two
thieves. We have had many windows broken and doors pried open with
crowbars so we have some considerable damage to fix in addition to
the renovations that are planned. Looks like we will add a security
system to the planned items to install since the fence that is put up
during the summer does not appear to be deterring the bad guys anymore.

GOP PARTY CHIEF TO ADDRESS SIGS

Bob Fannin, a partner in the Phoenix office of the law firm of
Steptoe & Johnson and chairman of the Arizona Republican Party, will
be the June speaker at the monthly meeting of the Phoenix Alumni
Chapter of Sigma Chi.

Fannin will speaker on redistricting, party plans for the fall
election, and other political topics.

The June meeting is set for Wednesday, June 12, at Phoenix City
Grille, 16th Street and Bethany Home Road in Phoenix. Drinks begin at
6 p.m., followed by dinner at 6:30 and the speaker at 7.

————————————
Founders Day Golf Tournament

Meanwhile, the 3rd annual Founders’ Day Golf Tournament is set for
Saturday, June 15 at ASU’s Karsten Course in Tempe. With the
departure of Dan Clements to soggy Salem, Oregon, Bud Wilkinson is
now handling tournament parings and entry fees.

Call Bud at 602-493-1886 or budw@broadwaysbiggesthits.com. (Dan has
given Bud the entries and e-mail that he had received and Bud should
be contacting everyone soon as well.)

———————————–
ASU Update

The House is closed and fenced up for the Summer and we are
proceeding (along with the other Houses on Alpha Drive) in concluding
the purchase of the properties from the University. ASU however has
thrown a huge wrench into these plans by demanding at the eleventh
hour $1.85 more a square foot for our land then what they sold to Sig
Ep for in February. This would make the cost for us to buy skyrocket
from about $150,000 to $215,000! The Alpha Drive House Corporations
are preparing to dig in for a bloody fight with the University if
need be. With the departure of Dan Clements for Oregon Andrew Held
and myself are in need of assistance on the House Corporation at
ASU. If anyone would like to help us in this short term fight and to
help chart a new direction for the ASU House please contact me at
dave@microworks.net or at 480-610-8234.

Greetings Brothers,

First a note of apology to the ASU Sig’s that live in the Phoenix
area since many of them will get this note twice as they are on both
the ASUSig and PHXSig email lists. (If you get this note as a fax and
would like to get it in your email instead please let me now and I
will make the change for you.)

A FAREWELL:

Dan Clements who has served the Phoenix Sigma Chi Alumni Association
as it’s Treasurer for the past few years and filled the position of
House Corp President for the past year will be leaving us. Dan who
has been a Manager in the Phoenix Area Office for New York Life is
being transferred effective immediately to Oregon to run the entire
show for their Greater Oregon Office. Dan will be based in the Salem
Oregon area. Our loss is Oregon’s gain.

CALL FOR HOUSE CORP MEMBERS:

With Dan’s departure I will be assuming the duties of President of
the House Corp (until a replacement can be found). Those Brother’s
interested in serving on the House Corp please contact me directly at
either dave@microworks.net or at 480-610-8234. I would like to fully
populate the House Corp and would need six (6) Brothers to serve as
Trustees on the Board of Directors.

HOUSE PURCHASE UPDATE:

Due to some problems with our Accountant we ran into issues that have
delayed our moving forward with the purchase of the ASU House. We
have switched Accountants and the previous Accountant is finishing up
her work on some outstanding issues that have been a roadblock in our
purchase of the property. She committed to providing us with the
information we needed this past Friday and I am hoping to collect the
information from her today. We will then be submitting an offer to
purchase the property from ASU this week. We will be following Sig Ep
by copying the offer that they submitted and obtained approval on
this past semester.
ASU will then place us on the agenda for the Board of Regents meeting
to be held June 21st. Since our offer will be identical to the Sig
Ep offer we should have no problem being approved by both ASU and the
Board of Regents.
We will also be submitting our loan application to CCI by the end of
this month.
The delay caused by the previous Accountant has severely impacted our
ability to finalize this process and whereas we had originally
anticipated beginning renovations to the property as soon as the
semester ended this has know been pushed deep into the summer which
will in turn mean that the required renovations will now stretch into
the Fall semester and some of the desired updates may not happen now
until next summer or possibly over Christmas break.

ASU UPDATE:

The semester has ended and the guys have split for the summer. If
you go by the property you will see that we have erected a security
fence (as we do every summer.)
The last day of finals this year fell on the same day as the Phoenix
Alumni Chapter meeting and the Active Chapter hosted our semi-annual
Ritual meeting as well as hosted a cookout of Burgers & Brats. Even
though it was the last day of Finals the guys and pledges went all
out to clean the house to make it as presentable as possible for the
visiting Alum’s. The feedback that I got from the Actives was that
they really enjoyed playing host and especially liked the Chapter
meeting and getting to hear from older Sig’s. Brother Bert Snyder
(Denison Class of 1933!) once again showed us all up and set an
example we can only hope to emulate.
On another note I hear that we may have topped the Academic rolls at
ASU this past semester!
The final numbers are not in yet, but it looks like Derby Days may
have raised over $4,000 for the Children’s Miracle Network.

ALPHA DRIVE UPDATE:

Sigma Nu have vacated their house after having their Charter yanked
by their National once ASU dropped recognition of them. The word
from ASU is that it was due to hazing and specifically Paddle Night
was given to me as the hazing incident. I am trying to find out more
details so that I can make sure our guys know if a line has been
moved or if a line was crossed so that we do not fall prey to the
same thing. The Sigma Nu House Corp as I understand it our still
moving forward with the purchase of their property and will then
lease it to an Off Campus House until they are able to recolonize.
Phi Sig too is in trouble. After playing host for the cable show
“Girls Gone Wild” they found themselves facing sanctions from ASU. I
understand that they got past that issue with the University but that
their local Alums want to kick the guys out of the house and pull
their charter for other reasons. This has not yet happened, as their
National does not appear to want to do this. Phi Sig would then
follow the SAE model and recolonize with new guys since it sounds
like they have not been able to clear out a bad element that got into
their house.
Sig Ep (who just finished buying their house in February) also found
themselves in the Dean’s office this past week. Word is that they
were told specifically not to do three things and then went out and
did all three of the proscribed “things”.
Looks like three more houses could be empty on the row next semester.
It is really looking like a ghost town.
PIKE and SAE are also moving forward with reopening their houses once
they complete the purchase. PIKE never left actually, but did not
want to spend their insurance money fixing the fire damage until they
had resolved the housing issue and SAE have finished recolonizing
their house to the point that it is a full Chapter again. They have a
population of 45 guys now and as part of the House purchase they
raised $85k this past semester.
The Phi Delt house is still leased to TEKE and no word on when they
will recolonize.
The Theta Delt house is still empty and ASU’s plans are to tear the
building down once they have received the funds from the other houses
that are purchasing.

PERSONAL REQUEST:

I have the opportunity to sell my company (in business since 1994) to
a friend (and competitor) of mine but before I do that I would
need/want to line up employment. If you would like to review my
resume and assit me in this endeavor please see a “generic” and
fairly updated version of it at
http://www.microworks.net/dave/resume.html or contact me and I can
forward it to you. I have and still do enjoy owning my company but I
am starting to get burned out and want to see what else may be
available to match my skills.

In hoc.

David W. Riddle
ASU ’87

The Phoenix Sigma Chi Alumni Chapter Presents the 3rd Annual
Founder’s Day Golf Classic!

When: Saturday, June 15 – 7:30am shotgun
Where: ASU Karsten Golf Course
Format: Modified Scramble
Cost: $80.00 (includes lunch and sleeve of Sigma Chi golf balls)

Contact Dan Clements at 480-840-2059 or dclements@ft.newyorklife.com

A portion of the entry fee benefits The childrens Miracle Network and
the Phoenix Children’s Hospital.

Limited to Sigma Chi Brothers and their Guests. Make checks payable
to: Phoenix Sigma Chi Alumni Chapter.

————————————–
May Phoenix Sigma Chi Alumni Ritual Meeting

On May 8th we will conduct our semi-annual Ritual Meeting. Due to the
nature of the meeting we will not be meeting at our normal location
of the Phoenix City Grill but rather at the Active Chapter House at
ASU. The Active Chapter will be providing a catered dinner and
additionally May 8th is the last day of Finals before they break for summer.

When: Wednesday, May 8
Where: Epsilon Upsilon Chapter House of Sigma Chi Fraternity
606 Alpha Drive, Tempe (park in the big lot north of the house)
Cost: $0.00

Since we will be having a catered meal it is important that we obtain
a head count for those that will be attending. Please contact Dave
Riddle at 480-610-8234 or dave@microworks.net

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.