Cross & Crescent (March 2009)

Cross & Crescent

a Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity publication

March 2009 路 XCVI 路 Issue 3

Cross & Crescent a Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity publication Features

11 Chapter News 3 Chapter and Alumni News Fraternity News 10 Internet Video — Why and How History 12 Celebrating Lambda Chi’s Legends & Leaders

Brother Dies in Plane Crash Iowa State Alumni Brother Larry Beutel was killed in the Continental Airline plane crash on February 12, 2009, in Buffalo, New York. Because his job required a significant amount of travel, he chose to board an earlier flight hoping to return home sooner to his family. By Ralph Otis (Iowa State 1979)

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Brother Featured on CBS’s “60 Minutes” On February 22, 2009, CBS’s “60 Minutes” broadcast a news segment featuring alumni brother Dr. John McCardell. The president emeritus of Middlebury College, he also is the founder and director of Choose Responsibility, a nonprofit organization established to engage the public in informed and dispassionate debate over the effects of the 21-year-old drinking age.

By Tad Lichtenauer (Butler 1988)

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Current Media Company President UCLA Alumni Brother David Neuman is a Peabody Awardwinning TV producer and programming executive who has held senior-level executive posts at some of the entertainment industry’s most successful companies. Today, he serves as president of programming for Current, a newly formed media company led by former Vice President Al Gore. By Chris Barrick Credits

Contributions

Publisher: Bill Farkas Editor: Tad Lichtenauer Assistant Editor: Chris Barrick Illustrator: Jeff Reisdorfer Podcast Voice: Fuzz Martin Photographer: Walt Moser Assignment Editor: Jon Williamson Historian: Mike Raymond Contributing Editors:

Jono Hren

Aaron Jones

George Spasyk

Content for consideration should be submitted by the fiftenth of the month.

Lambda Chi Alpha 8741 Founders Rd Indianapolis, IN 46268-1338 (317) 872-8000 editor@lambdachi.org www.lambdachi.org www.crossandcrescent.com

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CHAPTER NEWS

Chapter News Chapter news, alumni news, and reports of death Akron (Gamma-Alpha)

Ben Koch (2010) won the People’s Choice Award at the Bradley University’s “So You Think You Can Dance” competition benefiting Easter Seals.

Ian Bergstrom (2012), Damon Pee (2010), Sean Brolly (2011), and Tim Gargalianos (2011) took the plunge into the icy water at the 6th Annual Polar Bear Jump, benefiting the AkronCanton Regional Food Bank at Portage Lakes State Park on February 21, 2009, in New Franklin Village, Ohio.

Butler (Alpha-Alpha)

The chapter added 29 new associate members, the highest of any fraternity on campus.

Atlanta Area Alumni Association

Chapter brothers worked alongside Kappa Alpha Theta and Kappa Kappa Gamma sororities on two different community projects: one for the Humane Society and the other for a Valentine’s Day party for underprivileged children.

Dave Reddish (Florida 1999) is the new chairman of the Atlanta Area Alumni Association. The association held a networking event at the Ansley Golf Club on February 3, 2009.

The updated calendar and promotion of future events will be unveiled at the Ansley reception on April 9, 2009. An Atlanta Area Alumni Association logo pint glass will be offered as a gift at the April reception for those brothers who choose to pay dues for the next year.

Through the newly established “Green Team,” chapter brothers placed recycling receptacles throughout the house and held an information session to inform brothers how to properly recycle and to conserve electricity.

Bradley (Kappa-Upsilon)

Chapter brothers helped the Wheeler Mission by serving food to the hungry and homeless.

The chapter held a chartering ceremony on February 21, 2009.

The chapter held its annual Scholarship and Faculty Appreciation dinner on February 27, 2009, to acknowledge the many faculty members who enhance our daily experiences here at Butler University.

Cal State-Northridge (Beta-Rho)

Chapter members participated in Meet the Clubs Day, giving students the opportunity to meet new people, start networks, and express themselves to the campus and surrounding community. Chapter brothers, led by chapter President Neil Sanchez (2009), were out to promote Lambda Chi Alpha and help build a positive image towards student life.

California State-Sacramento (Phi-Pi)

Christopher Quinn (1990), president and CEO of Corporate Transportation Solutions, Inc., Sacramento, California, accepted the prestigious 2009 National Operator of the Year Award during the Annual Chauffeured Transportation Industry Convention in Las Vegas. The award honors excellence in management leadership, community service and industry involvement, staff training, fleet safety, and innovation among over 9,500 companies in the chauffeured transportation industry.

The chapter welcomed Danny Byrne, Mike Findley, Kenton Kammer, Larry Larison, and Tyler Ryan into the brotherhood during an Associate Member Ceremony held on February 22, 2009.

www.crossandcrescent.com

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CHAPTER NEWS

California-Los Angeles (Epsilon-Sigma Colony)

Central Missouri (Lambda-Pi)

The re-colonization of the UCLA chapter included the recruitment of 29 new associate members and the installation of chapter officers.

For the past 27 years, Greg Thomas (1981) has served as a wrestling and football coach and is currently the head football and wrestling coach for Olathe Christian School in Olathe, Kansas.

California-Santa Barbara (Zeta-Eta Colony)

The re-colonization of the chapter included the recruitment of 26 new associate members and the installation of chapter officers.

Cameron (Colony 291)

Located at Cameron University in Lawton, Oklahoma, the new colony recruited 26 new associate members and installed its chapter officers. Rodney Roosevelt (Eastern Illinois 1988), who teaches at the university, will serve as the colony’s chapter adviser.

Chicago Area Alumni Association

Associate Director of Alumni Affairs Dan Hartmann (Truman State 2008) is looking for interested volunteers to chair the following associations within the greater Chicago area: Chicago – City, North Shore, and West Suburbs. If you are interested in helping organize these alumni groups, please contact him at dhartmann@lambdachi.org.

Central Florida Area Alumni Association

Approximately 50 alumni brothers attended the Central Florida Area Alumni Association’s “Day of Sports” event held on February 7, 2009, in which 4 teams of alumni/undergraduates competed in 4 different sports on the University of Central Florida campus. Special thanks to Zach Feinstein (2011) for coordinating the event logistics.

Culver-Stockton (Kappa-Mu)

Paul Harvey (1939) died February 28, 2009. A talk-radio pioneer, Harvey was known for his resonant voice and his trademark radio feature, “The Rest of the Story.” He had been heard nationally since 1951, when he began his “News and Comment” feature for ABC Radio Networks. Harvey became a heartland icon, delivering news and commentary with a distinctive Midwestern flavor. On November 9, 2005, President George W. Bush chose to recognize Harvey by awarding him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Only two other Lambda Chis have been awarded this honor: Frank Reynolds (Wabash 1946) and Gen. Jimmy Doolittle (California-Berkeley HON).

Central Michigan (Lambda-Omega) Hon. Dr. John Vinson has accepted a position as chief of police for the University of Washington in Seattle. He previously served as the undersheriff for the Isabella County (Michigan) Sheriff’s Department, and also worked at the Central Michigan University Police Department from 1996 to 2004.

Vinson also has taught courses at Central Michigan and is well respected throughout the community.

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Denver (Alpha-Pi)

The chapter was awarded four campus awards during the annual Greek Awards Ceremony, including those for Chapter Standards and Accountability, Scholarship, Service, and the University of Denver Chapter Award of Achievement. Other awards included Most Athletic, Friendliest Chapter, and Best Dressed.

Criswell Fiordalis (2010) was elected IFC president. He previously served as IFC vice president of judicial affairs and risk

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CHAPTER NEWS

Hampden-Sydney (Kappa-Eta Colony)

management. In this position he worked hard to help the Greek system at Denver be more proactive in addressing issues campus wide. In addition to this position, he also serves as the Greek Affairs representative to the AUSA Student Senate and has served his chapter as risk manager since his freshmen year.

The colony added 11 new associate members, the largest new member group on campus this semester.

Idaho (Epsilon-Gamma Colony)

Lambda Chi Alpha is back on the University of Idaho campus for the first time since 2005. ELCs are on campus and are in the process of recruiting 20-30 associate members.

Eastern Illinois (Phi-Alpha)

The chapter launched its new website.

Dirk Bennett (2010), representing Eastern Illinois’ IFC, presented a session on “Defining the Standard of Excellence in Every Community” at the Mid-American Greek Council Association annual conference in St. Louis.

Incarnate Word (Pi-Epsilon)

The chapter has obtained a new chapter house with six bedrooms, five baths, and 2,600 square feet. They become the first national Greek organization on campus to receive a chapter house. The chapter was colonized on February 9, 2004, and chartered on February 12, 2005.

Embry-Riddle (Sigma-Phi)

Chapter brothers participated in the Adopt a Highway Program again this semester, cleaning up a long stretch of Clyde Morris Blvd. from International Speedway Blvd. to Mason Avenue. They perform this community service twice a semester.

Indianapolis Area Alumni Association

Bob Todd (Indiana State 1970) has become the chairman of the Indianapolis Area Alumni Association. Todd has previously served as president of the Indiana State Alumni Association in Indianapolis. He is working with area alumni from the Ball State University, Butler University, and Indiana University chapters to organize a schedule of events for 2009. Other alumni brothers who serve on the steering committee include John Schmitz (Ball State 1983) and Dave Arland (Butler 1984).

Florida (Epsilon-Mu)

George Kalaf (1950) died on April 19, 2008.

Georgia Tech (Beta-Kappa)

Chapter brothers continue to dominate intramurals, winning three fraternity championships last fall.

Iowa State (Alpha-Tau)

Chapter campus involvement remains strong as more than 20 brothers participated in FASET and numerous brothers involved with IFC.

The rock that Ray Sorensen (2001) painted in rural Iowa to honor military veterans has become a popular tourist attraction.

Spring recruitment was outstanding, thanks to the strong leadership of Recruitment Chairman Richard Browning (2011).

The chapter added six new associate members, one of the largest of recent spring classes.

Chapter officers held a successful retreat in Athens, Georgia, with commitments made to hard work and to reach the chapter’s goals.

High Point (Iota-Phi)

Kansas (Zeta-Iota)

Chapter brothers held “House Mom Kidnap,” a spring community event, on February 23, 2009. As the name suggests, 13 house mothers from Greek houses on the Kansas campus were “kidnapped” and held in the chapter house in exchange for canned goods which were then donated to area charities. The house mothers enjoyed an evening of hors d’oeuvres and wine while socializing with their counterparts from other houses.

Gordon Bowen (1983) has worked in the field of organ donation and transplantation for the last 23 years. He is currently the CEO of LifeBanc in Cleveland, Ohio.

www.crossandcrescent.com

The chapter initiated 13 new active members on February 20, 2009, for the chapter’s 2009 spring class. Congratulations to initiated brothers Ian Alsup (2012), Eric Carabetta (2012), Jiancarlo Direnzo (2010), Hunter Hess (2012), Christopher Huggard (2012), James Goff (2011), Christopher Klockau (2011), Dylan Long (2012), Andrew McCracken (2010), Scott

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CHAPTER NEWS

Millsaps (Theta-Eta)

Maynard (2012), Adam Mertz (2012), Patrick Morton (2012), and Stephen Thomson (2012).

David Sandlin (2010) was named IFC vice president of administration and David Williams (2011) was named the IFC vice president of programming.

Louisiana-Lafayette (Iota-Omega)

“Step Up Your Game” was the theme of the fall 2008 semester for the chapter brothers. The brothers started off the semester with a very successful recruitment by doubling their associate member class from the previous year. In late September, the brothers hosted their 11th annual Watermelon Bust and, with the help of the sororities on campus, raised approximately $9,000 for various charities.

The chapter earned the highest GPA of any Greek group on campus for the fall 2008 semester, the only fraternity to exceed the average undergraduate GPA.

Minneapolis Area Alumni Association

Mankato State (Lambda-Delta)

Any alumni brother interested in social networking in the Twin Cities may contact Walter Hidalgo (Texas–San Antonio 1996) for more information on planning events and becoming involved. His email is lxaphiup225@hotmail.com.

Minnesota State Rep. Pat Garofalo (1994) took his lessons in leadership experiences (as chapter president and IFC representative) and is now a three-term state representative. In his first two terms he was well regarded by members of both parties for leading reform of the education funding formula, opposing federal education mandates, and fighting for honest budget solutions.

Nebraska-Omaha (Iota-Delta)

Michael Buckley (2010) was elected IFC executive vice president.

Mansfield (Beta-Omega)

Blake Griffiths (2012) was elected IFC vice president of communications.

Brian Martenis (1973) runs an Incentive Travel Company in Philadelphia, and he is a columnist for the bi-monthly INCENTIVE Magazine.

Nicholas Schaefer (2010) was elected IFC vice president of recruitment.

Miami-OH (Zeta-Upsilon Colony)

The colony was invited to serenade the members of Alpha Delta Pi sorority and their new member class of over 50 women. The group of a little over 20 brothers, 16 associate members, and five soon-to-be associate members upheld the honor of Lambda Chi Alpha with traditional songs of the fraternity for crescent girls.

On January 31, brothers spent a Saturday volunteering at a local homeless shelter.

The newly formed Alumni Advisory Board has its first meeting on February 15, 2009. The eight Board members are Bo Gebbie (Evansville 2002), Jarad Miller (2001), Shawn Cook (Colorado State 1999), Dusty Kugler (2006), Mark Slobotski (2002), Mark Petersen (2006), George Day (Illinois State 1974), and Patrick O’Riley (2008).

An Associate Member Ceremony was held for eight new associate members on January 24, 2009, in the Kumler Chapel on the Western Campus of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

The colony finished seventh out of 25 fraternities on campus with a GPA of 3.15, beating the all-men’s, all-unaffiliated men, all-unaffiliated women’s, and all-campus averages.

Michigan Tech (Phi-Phi)

James “Jamie” Holden (1986) was promoted to corporate secretary and assistant general counsel of Coachmen Industries, Inc., located in Elkhart, Indiana. Coachmen is one of the leading manufacturers of systems-built housing for the residential, commercial and military markets. Prior to joining Coachmen, Holden served as general counsel and director of legal services for Rhino Linings Corp. in San Diego, California. He also served the Michigan Tech chapter as vice president and secretary of the chapter’s house corporation from 1996 until 2006, and spearheaded the acquisition of a new chapter house in September 2005.

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CHAPTER NEWS

North Dakota (Epsilon-Zeta)

Oklahoma City (Theta-Delta)

Alumni brothers formed a new Alumni Association and held their first monthly teleconference. Topics discussed included an alumni funded scholarship program; a new alumni donation program which features purple, green, gold, and pearl recognition levels; and planning of various publications and events.

Steve Dickerson (1968) co-hosts a conservative morning radio talk show - Gulf Coast Mornings - from 5-8:00 a.m. weekdays on WBUV/Newsradio 104.9 FM in Biloxi, Mississippi. The listening area includes Mobile, Alabama, and Slidel, Louisiana, as well as six lower Mississippi Counties. On the latest Arbitron ratings completed in January the station was the No. 1 station overall in the market of more than 30 stations.

The newly formed Brotherhood Advisory Board held its monthly teleconference with the undergraduate chapter officers. This group continues to grow in size. Donations totaling more than $250 were gathered from board members to purchase teleconferencing equipment for the undergraduates.

The House Corporation has been attempting to contact alumni brothers and are seeking contributions to help answer the need for flood insurance this spring since flood levels are predicted to be very high. Funds are also needed for repairs following the pipe burst in the basement over the winter break that flooded a portion of the basement and caused electrical damage to outlets and furnaces.

North Texas (Iota-Zeta)

The chapter has implemented a Professor of the Month Award to spotlight University of North Texas faculty members who go above and beyond the qualifications of their job. Winners will be awarded a $50 gift card to Pourhouse Sports Grill in Denton and a certificate of appreciation. With the third-highest fraternity GPA last year, the chapter prides itself on its academic achievements.

Oklahoma State (Alpha-Eta)

Todd Steelman (2010) is a third generation chapter brother.

Both his father, Dayton Steelman (1959), and his grandfather, Buck Steelman (1928), were members of the chapter at Oklahoma State University. When his grandfather attended the university in 1928, it was known as Oklahoma A&M College; when his father attended in 1959, he was an active member of Lambda Chi when the school name was officially changed to Oklahoma State University. Todd Steelman followed his father and grandfather and joined the chapter in the fall of 2006.

Ohio State (Gamma-Tau)

On behalf of his company, Crazy Uncle Jester’s Inferno World, President and Founder Jeffrey Stevenson (1995) received eight 2009 Scovie Awards. Considered the world’s leading recognition for hot and spicy products, the award process includes the industry’s most rigorous blind tastings by a panel of the country’s top culinary experts who sample hundreds of the world’s most lauded gourmet foods.

Oklahoma (Gamma-Rho)

Michael Fisk (2003) died February 16, 2009.

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CHAPTER NEWS

Pacific Northwest Conclave

San Antonio Area Alumni Association

Hosted by Oregon State University chapter brothers, more than 100 brothers from six chapters attended the Pacific Northwest Conclave from February 21-22, 2009. The first of 14 regional events, the conclave was organized by Oregon State Chapter Adviser and Master Steward Dave Leathers (Cal State-Fresno 1982) and Oregon State Chapter Treasurer Collin Turner (Oregon State). Chapters attending the event included University of California-Davis, University of Nevada, University of Oregon, Oregon State University, University of Washington, and Washington State University. Grand High Beta Beta Drew Hunter (Denver 1980) was the special guest and keynote speaker.

Conclave award included: GPA, Washington with with 3.1 GPA; Recruitment, Oregon State with 23 new associate members; Retention, Oregon with 100 percent; Man-Miles, Nevada-Reno with more than 12,000 miles.

More than 50 brothers attended the recent Centennial Celebration reception held in late January 2009 at Hotel Contessa in downtown San Antonio. Grand High Beta Drew Hunter (Denver 1980) was the featured speaker. A post reception event was held at Pat O’Brien’s restaurant owned by Cory Neal (Angelo State 1991).

San Diego Area Alumni Association

The San Diego Area Alumni Association hosted a Centennial Celebration reception at the La Jolla Marriott in San Diego, during which the Order of Achievement Award was presented to Oliver Smoot (Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1959).

Simpson (Theta-Lambda)

Phoenix Area Alumni Association

After singing with the Grammy-winning male a cappella ensemble Chanticleer for 9 years, Matthew D. Oltman (1997) was promoted to music director of the group.

The Phoenix Area Alumni Association hosted a Centennial Celebration reception at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix. Many members of the Lambda Chi Alpha Educational Foundation Board were in attendance for the reception.

South Dakota (Alpha-Gamma)

In January 2009, chapter brothers raised approximately 500 pounds of food for the North American Food Drive by doing a bag drop.

Chapter brothers also participated in the Relay For Life event, a fundraiser for the fight against cancer.

The chapter has adopted Main Street in Vermilion, South Dakota, to the delight of local business owners. This is similar to adopt-a-highway but is in a higher traffic area that needs weekly cleaning.

www.crossandcrescent.com

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CHAPTER NEWS

Southeast Missouri (Delta-Phi)

Washington State (Tau)

Jackson Seemayer (2009) was elected IFC vice president of Risk Awareness and Nolan Ryan (2011) was recently elected IFC vice president of Community Relations. Dave Shoulberg (2012) was elected to an IFC cabinet position.

Chapter brothers helped raise nearly $1,000 to help support the Whitman County Humane Society.

West Texas A&M (Iota-Xi)

Jon S. Leasure (1976) died on December 28, 2008. He and his family lived in Hereford for 10 years, where he helped his father and brother operate Leasure’s Body Shop. In addition, he worked as an insurance adjuster in Amarillo for many years.

Ryan and Seemayer attended the Mid-American Greek Council Association seminar in St. Louis, Missouri.

Southern Methodist (Gamma-Sigma)

Charles Seligman (1956) is a practicing artist who has devoted his full-time efforts to artistic expression using combinations of mediums - canvas, paper and mixed media projects. Large scale canvasses, however, are where the scope of his creativity is most evident. Here, with the generous use of paint, he works with a combination of palette knives, brushes, and even his fingers when the spirit moves him.

Western Carolina (Beta-Zeta)

The chapter achieved the highest overall GPA among all fraternities on campus and highest new member GPA among all of Greek Life for the fall 2008 semester.

Western Illinois (Beta-Tau)

The North American Interfraternity Conference President and CEO Peter Smithhisler (1988) hosted 160 IFC officers and advisers for the 2009 IFC Academy in downtown Indianapolis.

Lambda Chi Alpha attendees included: Justin Conley (Western Carolina 2009), Stephen Johnson (Western Carolina 2010), Aaron Fieseler (Culver Stockton 2010), Bryan Hardy (Samford 2011), Matt Knickman (Central Missouri 2009), and Bryan Weiser (Washington 2010).

Stetson (Zeta-Tau)

Scott Plakon (1981) serves in the Florida House of Representatives.

Texas-Austin (Alpha-Mu)

Van Mueck (1980) was transferred from Corpus Christi, Texas, to San Antonio as part of Whataburger restaurant’s relocation of its corporate headquarters.

Texas-El Paso (Zeta-Epsilon)

Ben Perez (1991) has designed a comic book called, Spiralmind.

Texas State-San Marcos (Lambda-Phi)

Christopher Huvelle (2009) received the opportunity to become a Foreign Exchange Broker/Investment Adviser at GFS Forex & Futures Inc. in New York City.

Toronto (Epsilon-Epsilon)

Chapter brothers held “Brothers-Warming-Others,” part of their winter recruitment initiative. Brothers stood out in the sub-zero Canadian weather to hand out free hot chocolate and cookies to brighten everyone’s day.

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HISTORY

Celebrating Lambda Chi’s Legends & Leaders As part of a 12-month series, our fourth month pays tribute to Lewis Plourd.

Editor’s Note: The following contains excerpts from: 1992 Cross & Crescent, 2008 Cross & Crescent, and an interview with former Grand High Alpha Rev. S. George “Doc” Dirghalli (Florida 1950)

and his treasure.”

As Dirghalli expressed, Plourd was not just gracious with his “treasure,” but he was also generous with his time and his talent. He dedicated years of service to the betterment of the Fraternity, and during his tenure as Grand High Alpha, he was instrumental in supporting Fraternity Education.

Lewis A. Plourd (Butler 1949) began service to the General Fraternity in 1950-51, when he served as a traveling secretary (today called ELC) for special visitations. He served both on Lambda Chi Alpha’s Board of Directors (Grand High Kappa 1964–66, Grand High Delta 1966–68, Grand High Beta 1968–70, and Grand High Alpha 1970–74) and the Educational Foundation Board of Directors (Secretary 1977–78). Plourd also was a member of the Executive Committee of the National Interfraternity Conference from 1975 until his untimely death in 1978.

A Bridge Builder Not long after Plourd returned from the Korean conflict, he got married. While Lew had a passion for Lambda Chi Alpha, his wife could not understand why he dedicated so much of his time and efforts to the Fraternity. Plourd would try to explain to her how much he loved the Fraternity and how he wanted to keep making the experience better for current and future members, but she could not grasp his passion.

Lew was born on March 5, 1925, in Frenchville, Maine, a French-speaking hamlet bordering Quebec, where he graduated from Madawaska High School.

He learned English “the hard way” when he entered the Army Air Corps. After entering the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1943, he trained at Miami Beach and Butler University and was an instructor pilot after three years of service. Plourd returned to Butler and earned his undergraduate degree in physics/chemistry in 1949. At that time, he also was initiated into Lambda Chi Alpha. He both organized and was president of the Philosophy and the Flying Clubs at Butler in addition to being a member of the Commerce Club. He served Alpha-Alpha Zeta as house manager and as chapter secretary.

Lewis Plourd truly was a bridge builder for the Fraternity. While he easily could have enjoyed his undergraduate experience and moved on, he stayed involved and paved the way for the Fraternity into the 20th century. When Lew became Grand High Alpha, Lambda Chi was at a turning point. The Fraternal world was torn between keeping old traditions and moving forward. Lew believed in pushing the Fraternity and making it better.

Dirghalli says, “Lew brought the Fraternity into its humanity. He defused the pompousness.” Lew was the first Grand High Alpha to do away with the Grand High march. The march was an extremely complex and out-dated entrance that the Grand High Zeta would always do at General Fraternity events. By defusing the pompousness of the Grand High Zeta, Lew made it possible for them to become regular people that General Fraternity and staff members could relate to. Tozier Brown (Denver 1936) put it best when he stated, ‘Plourd’s tireless energy and his inexhaustible well of fraternalism marked him among all of the brothers that I have ever known. To the very end he was hopeful, helpful, and humorous — a magnificent combination.’”

Professionally, Lew was an attorney in El Centro, California, although he variously engaged in enterprises such as real estate investor, national truck sales investor/exporter, Imperial Valley produce farm owner, rancher, cattle feeder, restaurant owner/operator, and Salton Sea State Park concession owner/ operator. During the Korean conflict, Plourd was recalled to three years of active duty as the personal pilot for Gen. James Van Fleet. Afterward, he earned his law degree from the University of Southern California and practiced law in El Centro. He was later admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Service and Stewardship Lew Plourd personified service and stewardship within the Fraternity. In an interview, Rev. S. George “Doc” Dirghalli (Florida 1950), remembered a story that exemplifies the graciousness of Lew:

Incurable Idealism “Standards, ideals, service — these are the hallmarks of our Fraternity. It is only in the last area, however, that the observer will find a great degree of change, since Lambda Chi Alpha’s standards and ideals remain basic and fundamental –- they need only reaffirmation and constant renewal...to the charge of incurable idealism, Lambda Chi Alpha happily pleads guilty.”

— Lewis Plourd

“The fraternity was not well paid; George W. Spasyk (Michigan 1949) and I earned $125 a month. That’s how we started, Cyril F. “Duke” Flad (Wittenberg 1940) probably didn’t make much more than that when he started. Duke could not afford a new car. It was Lew who said, ‘Duke, you are going to spend $2,000 on a car that’s used, let me slip you this one grand so you can buy a new one. You deserve a new car.’ That was Lew. He would have said it in a quieter way than I just did. He was generous; with his time, his talent,

www.crossandcrescent.com

By Sean Cox (Butler 2009)

Lew was a member of the 4th degree of the Knights of Columbus, the Elks, and the Roman Catholic Church. He married Elaine M. McCloud in 1953; they had six children: Stephen (Z-ψ 382), Christopher (A-A 937), William, Martin, Lisa, and Jeffrey. Lew Plourd died on August 29, 1978.

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FEATURE

Chapter Brother’s Eulogy Iowa State Alumni Brother Larry Beutel was killed in the Continental Airline plane crash on February 12, 2009, in Buffalo, New York.

By Ralph Otis (Iowa State 1979) Editor’s Note: Alumni Brother Larry Beutel was one of 50 passengers killed when the commuter airliner crashed on February 12, 2009, about 6 miles from a Buffalo, New York, airport. The Continental Connection Flight 3407 was en route from Newark, New Jersey, to Buffalo Niagara International Airport when it went crashed. The cause is still under investigation. The following is a eulogy by Beutel’s Iowa State University chapter brother Ralph Otis.

Memorial Contributions

His family has requested that contributions made in his name that will benefit the Iowa State chapter of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity can be sent to the Alumni Association at: ATZ Corporation, P.O. Box 7272, Des Moines, IA 50309-7272.

Please note on the check “In remembrance of Larry Beutel.” These contributions will be used to sustain the chapter during its reorganization and redevelopment. An accounting of the use of the funds will be shared with his wife, Kara Beutel.

It saddens me to report that we lost a great friend and Lambda Chi Alpha brother, Larry Beutel (Iowa State 1981), in the recent plane crash of Continental Flight 3407 in Buffalo, New York, on February 12, 2009. Larry’s job required significant travel. This particular day was a day trip to New Jersey. He boarded this particular flight ahead of his scheduled flight in order to get home to his family early.

A memorial plaque will be designed noting Larry’s contributions to the chapter and the brotherhood and to enumerate the names of the brothers who contributed to the chapter in remembrance of Brother Beutel.

Many of you know Larry by different names. He had many nicknames, so you might know him as CAB, Art, Clarence, or his favorite, BC.

while and then returned to school to get his MBA at Harvard University. He has since worked with a few different companies and most recently served as the vice president of consulting for Salient in the Buffalo, New York area.

No matter what you called him, he was a friend and very dedicated to our Fraternity at Iowa State. He served in many roles while in the house, the last as the president of the chapter. I recall the evening he was elected when I spoke to the chapter about his leadership and character. I have known him for over 30 years and today I would give the same speech about what a fine man he was. He took on some tough issues, which often were not popular, but he knew that it was right for the Fraternity. He made a difference to our house.

Last fall, Larry visited our family in Princeton, New Jersey. He expressed his continued dedication to the Alpha-Tau chapter and encouraged me to help the chapter in any way I could. Neither he nor I have been back to the house for many years, but his love for the house remained strong.

The most important thing he did at that dinner was talk to my 17-year-old son about the value of a fraternity. He went on about friendships, loyalty, academics, leadership, and, yes, even a few good times. In this time of sorrow, it is clear to me how accurate he was.

Larry graduated from Iowa State in 1981 with a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering. He worked in the oil industry for a

I have had the pleasure of renewing some old relationships with brothers of Lambda Chi Alpha. It is sad that it has happened due to the passing of Larry.

Larry is survived by his wife, Kara, and two sons, Ethan and CA. Farewell to a great friend and brother.

www.crossandcrescent.com

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FRATERNITY NEWS

Internet Video: Why and How Cancel your cable and stop your audio Podcasting...Internet video is the way of the future.

By Jeff Reisdorfer (Wisconsin-Whitewater) Cancel your cable and stop your audio Podcasting...Internet video is the way of the future.

ET that day, CNN had served more than 21.3 million live video streams (since 6 a.m. ET that day). The video sharing site YouTube. com serves more than 100 million videos each day and over 10 hours of video are uploaded to the site every minute. Finally, it was reported

by Comscore.com that Americans watched 558 million hours of video online during the month of July 2008.

Why Internet Video?

Seasoned web users and newbies alike may be puzzled at my opening comments about ditching their most prized forms of entertainment; the fact is that online video is the way of the future. But what makes online video so fab?

What It Means for You and Your Chapter?

People want to see what you are doing, in addition to sending out a newsletter, running a basic website or hosting a blog. It means that video is a viable way to engage our brothers, peers and others. Writing up an article about how your chapter hosted a Watermelon Bash is great. Including a video showing highlights from the day’s events is even better! It’s the next best thing to actually being there. Creating and sharing interesting and relevant video shows that we are actively involved in improving the collegiate and life experiences of our brothers and friends.

1) Easy to create Long gone are the days of Dad cranking the 8 millimeter camera or even toting around that gigantic VHS camcorder on his shoulder.

Creating video and posting it online takes only moments. Most digital cameras now come standard with video mode. Shoot a video of your chapter’s float rolling down the street in the Homecoming Parade, connect the camera to a computer and upload the video file to a video sharing site, and you are done. This level of simplicity has given everyday people the ability to create their own television shows to share online (see Current/Neuman article).

How to Create Online Video There are plenty of great resources online that can help you create great video -— follow this link (http://mashable.com/2007/06/27/ video-toolbox/) to an article at Mashable.com which gives over 150 Online Video Tools and Resources.

2) Portability We can access Internet video ANYWHERE we have a connection via a computer or cell phone. Modern technology has placed live news broadcasts and our favorite movies in the palms of our hands as we travel across the world. Better yet, we can download these videos and watch them on iPods, PSPs, cell phones, and many other devices, to watch and share later.

Before you get started recording and uploading, here are a few of my suggestions to get you thinking about the planning process.

1) Be relevant If it isn’t interesting to your audience, they will tune out faster than you can recite the Greek alphabet.

3) Quality Scratchy or grainy films are a thing of the past. Digital technology ensures that video quality won’t decay with time. Of course files can be lost, but there will be no fading of colors or tearing of film as we watch the video over and over. It doesn’t end with our personal videos. Major television networks are now posting their hottest television shows online for fans to watch. With only minor commercial interruptions, watching online is a great alternative. The picture quality of network TV shows is wonderful. Most shows are now shot in high definition and then converted to a file that is of the highest quality and streamed online. If you haven’t watched a television show online, you are missing out on its best feature: on demand viewing.

2) Be engaging Just because you have a video clip of your chapter playing softball doesn’t mean that everyone will want to watch. Make it entertaining by including some audio in the background. Perhaps place titles at the beginning and end so that if someone stumbles onto your video they can easily understand who it’s about and what is going on. The idea is to keep your viewer entertained while you are delivering your message.

3) Keep it short While you may be proud that your chapter won the Greek Games Tug-O-War, showing the entire five minutes of the tug is not interesting to most viewers. Instead, assemble a video of the highlights of the event to share your achievement.

Still not convinced that people are willing to watch video online? On January 20, 2009, when President Barack Obama was sworn into office, CNN streamed live video of the day’s events. As of 3:30 p.m.

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4) Share Embedding video directly onto your website is great. But giving others the ability to share the video on their sites gives your video portability. By sharing your video on sites like YouTube, Viddler and others — you are giving universal access to your chapter that allows others to see the quality of your brotherhood. If I can watch your video on Viddler.com and then embed that video into my blog, I have just pushed your message out to a bigger audience (and so on).

Now that you know what you should be doing to keep your audience interested, it’s time to shoot that video. I won’t bore you with suggestions about lighting and audio. I do recommend being real when making your video. People don’t want over-the-top nonsense.

Be yourself and your message will be well received.

If you would like to take a little extra time to produce a polished video, you can use video editing software like Apple’s iMovie. Import the video from your camera into a video editing program, and clip off the beginning and end portions that are not relevant. Mix video clips together and add music to your video if there is no audio or if the audio is not important to your video. Include titles at the beginning and end of your video. Include the name of your chapter and contact information such as an email address or website if the video will be used for public relations purposes.

Once you have finished your edits, save the file and publish it into a variety of formats that will be acceptable to your video sharing site.

Quite often, sites like YouTube, Viddler, and Vimeo will allow for the upload of a certain file size/type and then convert it into Adobe Flash format for you. Remember to produce your video on your computer to match their upload specifications.

Today and Tomorrow Online video provides us an opportunity to share our achievements and life events with our brothers and peers, to recruit new members and to show our neighbors the positive impacts we have on our local communities. It provides us a way to archive our successes and create new memories for the future.

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FEATURE

McCardell Featured on CBS’s “60 Minutes” On February 22, 2009, CBS’s “60 Minutes” broadcast a news segment featuring alumni brother Dr. John McCardell.

By Tad Lichtenauer (Denison 1987)

Editor’s Note: This is a follow-up article to the one we published about Dr. John McCardell in our March 2008 issue.

On February 22, 2009, CBS’s “60 Minutes” broadcast a news segment featuring alumni brother Dr. John McCardell (Washington & Lee 1971). The president emeritus of Middlebury College, he also is the founder and director of Choose Responsibility (http://www. chooseresponsibility.org/), a nonprofit organization established to engage the public in informed and dispassionate debate over the effects of the 21-year-old drinking age.

“I am thrilled with the responses we have received from the ‘60 Minutes’ segment that aired on CBS,” McCardell says. “Clandestine high-risk drinking is a growing problem for which the 21 year-old drinking age is at least in part responsible. It’s time to consider a change. The consequences of reckless and unsupervised drinking are serious.”

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, more than 60 percent of the lives lost to alcohol by those under the age of 21 are lost off the highways -- more than 3,000 per year.

Underage drinking annually contributes to 599,000 injuries and 97,000 cases of sexual assault among college students. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services states that approximately one in six teenagers “have experienced ‘black out’ spells where they could not remember what happened the previous evening.”

educational program were 20 percent less likely to be heavy-episodic drinkers and 30 percent less likely to be problematic drinkers numbers that prove that alcohol education, which we believe should also include parents, can be a useful tool in altering young adults’ drinking habits.”

“As the Boulder, Colorado, Chief of Police Mark Beckner stated on the ‘60 Minutes’ segment, enforcement alone is not the solution,” McCardell says. “Recent research estimates that just one out of every 500 cases of underage drinking results in citation or arrest. Seeking to enforce a law that has proven frustratingly unenforceable should lead us to ask whether the law is in step with social and cultural reality.”

Visit the web version of the Cross & Crescent at www.crossandcrescent.com to view the “60 Minutes” video.

More than two years ago McCardell founded Choose Responsibility.

His purpose and mission is to promote informed public debate, and support a fresh approach to the problem of reckless and excessive drinking, especially by young people.

“One of the approaches to help solve the problem, we believe, is meaningful alcohol education that goes beyond scare tactics and temperance lectures,” he says. “We know that this approach can work: recent data indicate that students who completed the AlcoholEDU

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FEATURE

Current Media UCLA Alumni Brother David Neuman is a Peabody Award-winning TV producer and programming executive who has held senior-level executive posts at some of the entertainment industry’s most successful companies.

By Chris Barrick (Butler 2004) David Neuman (California-Los Angeles 1983) is a Peabody Awardwinning TV producer and programming executive who has held senior-level executive posts at some of the entertainment industry’s most successful companies.

Today, Neuman serves as president of programming for Current, a newly formed media company led by former Vice President Al Gore.

Current is a national cable and satellite channel dedicated to bringing viewer-created content to its subscribers. Users upload videos, and the Current online community votes for what should be on TV. Neuman started out as an NBC executive from 1984 –1989, where he served as vice president of current comedy programs and vice president of comedy development during the network’s exciting creative period in which “The Cosby Show,” “Family Ties,” “Cheers,” “The Golden Girls,” “Night Court,” and other programs dominated the primetime ratings.

Following NBC, he served as president of programming for the Channel One Network from 1992–1996, president of Walt Disney Television and Touchstone Television from 1996–1998, head of programming for Digital Entertainment Network from 1998–2000, and chief programming officer at CNN from 2001–2003.

Neuman received Lambda Chi Alpha’s Order of Achievement in 1998.

BARRICK: You were there when Current TV was starting off, from the ground level, when it was up and coming, correct?

I felt very differently about that issue because I had experience with this generation before when I worked at Channel One, which was a national in-school television broadcast.

NEUMAN: I was. When the two partners who developed it, Joel Hyatt and Al Gore, conceived the network, they started looking for a head of programming and they went on a pretty wide search to find someone. And they found me and we all hit it off together.

This was 2004, before YouTube was created. It was before Facebook was created. It was before the social media revolution. We were really on the cutting edge of it and were the only people doing that in the television media and it really took off. We ended up doing things that were imitated by a lot of other media companies and networks.

Showing that, in fact, it was viable and the content could really be very exciting.

BARRICK: So how did the concept come about, it was kind of revolutionary at the time, something no one had ever tried or done?

NEUMAN: Al, who has always been on the forefront of technology, was very intrigued with the idea of user-generated content because he loved the idea of democratizing the medium of television. Most of the people he met with from the industry were very skeptical of the idea of the audience’s ability to create content and meaningfully participate.

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BARRICK: I have seen a lot of CNN now using the eye reporter that seems very much like what you guys were trying to do from the start.

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NEUMAN: Yes, we watch it with a chuckle. I give them credit. They recognized a good idea when they saw it.

Sample Current Programming

Visit the web version of the Cross & Crescent for sample video clips from courtesy of Current TV.

BARRICK: Current has a lot of news documentary type video. Do you see the stuff that you guys produce having the validity that a formal news station has?

BARRICK: You earlier brought up Facebook and YouTube and how those have obviously taken off now. Do you see that as your competition or do you see that as something that enhances you, that more people are getting involved in the process?

NEUMAN: At the beginning when we announced what we were going to do and launched the actual network and programming, the press were very skeptical and very concerned because if you really care about things like journalism, you don’t want to see something come along that is going to destroy it or lessen the quality of it. We have always felt the opposite. If you opened up the journalistic process to the average person, there would be an increase in the quality level that was out there. And you would get people to tell stories that hadn’t been told before instead of a few voices telling stories from their own point of view.

NEUMAN: Web2.0 really isn’t the same paradigm of competition.

Being your audience comes out of my audience. Our whole concept is to be very synergistic with all the people on the web who facilitate the media. We have a deal with YouTube to distribute a lot of our content and we syndicate our content via YouTube. We source a lot of our content from YouTube because it has become the giant depository for amateur video on the planet. So really both of the entities are really synergistic. We network and market through individuals who connect to each other through Facebook. We’re kind of uniquely set up.

I think we are very optimistic about that and our first efforts were really exciting material. Right after we launched the network, the Katrina tragedy happened and we were getting citizen journalism reports that were as good or better than things major networks were producing. If you recall, the video media was literally flooded out of the story. We couldn’t get into New Orleans and you couldn’t get a signal out of New Orleans because the storm had effected the bridge in New Orleans. So meanwhile, we had kids with laptops and handheld cameras basically sending us video by Yahoo Instant Messenger that was really the highest quality video coming out of that situation. When we got those stories and got that material and started posting it, we knew we had something very exciting. We were witnessing a revolution.

BARRICK: How big is the current network? How many people visit your station and website?

NEUMAN: We’re not yet at the stage of the television network. We’re not Neilsen rated. That will undoubtedly come soon; we are so new you usually go for a few years before Neilsen begins to publish a rating. We do know our website does have an actual rating and we can count the number of users. We are up to 8 million unique views a month, which is actually a very promising number and it’s growing

“If you opened up the journalistic process to the average person, there would be an increase in the quality level.” www.crossandcrescent.com

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very dramatically. We were about a million uniques a month a little over a year ago and were hoping that by the end of this year we will be at 15 milion uniques at least.

back. It’s also provided an opportunity for a lot of brothers to reconnect with each other and that’s very cool. It looks like they have a great group of kids and I’m real glad that it’s back. What was great was that the university was very cooperative because many of us have stayed very involved with the university. We have some credibility with the administrators that we wanted to re-establish a chapter that they could be very proud of.

So we are ready; we already surpassed the traffic of most cable networks that would be comparable to us because we’re just not a cable network. We are a media company and Current.com is one of our flagship products along with Current TV in the United States, Current TV UK, and Current TV Italy. Those are all sister networks and we be launching another country this fall.

BARRICK: I think that is all I have unless you have something else about the company or Fraternity experience, or anything else in general?

BARRICK: How do you see moving forward with web 2.0 dealing with entertainment TV and journalism?

NEUMAN: You know I just want to add that once again it’s funny I work with Lambda Chis all over the place and it turns out I’m constantly meeting Lambda Chis in the business world. I’m lucky enough to work with some of my Fraternity brothers in this industry.

One of my close collaborators here at Current is Frank Lintz (California-Los Angeles) who was in the house with me.

NEUMAN: I think a few things. I think that first of all when we began the user-generated content, our audience was really oriented towards video stories, stories people told — many of them journalistic stories and it was very challenging; and now we have a lot of different ways the audience can participate so people who don’t have the resources or the time or inclination to tell a complete story and video — we have all sorts of other ways to participate. There are dozens of ways the audience can participate with Current. One of the most interesting is during our election coverage we actually had a partnership going with Twitter and while all the presidential debates were happening, and the presidential election, and the presidential inauguration, we had live tweeting happening from the audience simultaneously with the events themselves. Once again, ahead of the curve, watching Current during those major events was like watching the event itself, then you were watching the audience converse about the event at the same time. It was very exciting and very liberating that no matter what was happening we were providing the audience with a direct mirror about itself. Showing you what the audience was thinking moment to moment as the events were happening

For all the young guys who are reading this publication, they will be very surprised how much the Fraternity will help them as they go forward with their career. I have never met a Lambda Chi who wasn’t willing to give me a hand and give me a break and give me an opportunity just because of the brotherhood. I’m very grateful for it.

BARRICK: To switch over to the Fraternity side, you must be excited about the chapter being re-colonized at UCLA? NEUMAN: I really am. I think it’s really great that the chapter is

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