Gamma - Winter 2012

The

G a m ma zet t e a Publication of the Gamma Chapter of Pi Kappa Phi the University of California, Berkeley Winter 2012

Journey of Hope 2011 The Journey of Hope is something that can not be described well, as many things of such magnitude are. This year we were blessed to have three gentlemen take the ride that is the Journey of Hope, a trek across the United States by bicycle, to raise funds, and ultimately awareness for individuals who live daily with disabilities. Ethan Wicklund and Michael Chang took the southern route, leaving from the Golden Gates of San Francisco, traveling down the coast of California, through the Bible Belt, and finally cutting North from Athens, Georgia to our Nation’s Capital, Washington D.C. Charles Leon chose the Trans-America route.

His journey began in Seattle, Washington, and took him east, through the heartland of our country, finally landing him in D.C. as well, for a culminating arrival that still brings chills to those who have experienced it in the past.

The overall experience, as stated before, is almost impossible to describe in full. Most, including myself, use the rather cliche phrase of, “It was the best experience of my life”, simply as an easy way of getting out of the two hour conversation that must ensue if you are to truly describe your experiences to your piers and family members. The richness of the experience comes from more than simply the accomplishment of riding a bicycle 4000 miles across the North American continent. It’s within the moments off the bike that makes the journey meaningful. Once our volunteers have finished their day of cycling, whether it be thirty or one hundred and thirty miles, they fill the remainder of their day with meetings and visits with various groups across the country that seek every day to make the lives of people with disabilities more enriched, giving them the opportunities that they may not otherwise be given. It is in these moments, the people you meet, the places you visit, the sincerity of a hug, the excitement on a face, that makes your entire day of cycling, and the trip at that, completely worthwhile. It is truly amazing what an attitude can

do, it is a psychosomatic response, a real high that is rarely experienced in daily life, but on this trip, its a daily reaction.

Below we’ll meet our three brothers who took the Journey: Michael Chang, Ethan Wicklund, and Charles Leon.

Michael Chang is a current active in the chapter as a sophomore. He lives in Los Angeles and took the Journey of Hope as a crew member for the southern route. His experience is a bit different from the others because of his role on the team.

Though his trip had a different purpose, it did not lack in significance for him. “The trip changed how I interacted with people, and has taught me that there is much more to a person than what is on the surface.” It has given him a new perspective into the lives of people with disabilities, bringing an empathetic view rather than a common sympathetic one.

Along with his new perspective, he learned compromise and to appreciate others advice. The trip for him, like many, will have a lasting effect.

He would love to be able to do it again though this time as a cyclist.

He knows he has summers to come and is considering doing Gear Up Florida during this upcoming summer.

Ethan Wicklund is currently graduated and working in San Francisco, the place of his birth. He graduated last spring and took part as a cyclist on the southern route, one of two Gammas that made a difference on that team. “I had always heard great things about the Journey of Hope from Pi Alphas, but the trip itself was better than anything I had ever imagined. Every day on the road was so unique and unlike anything I had ever done before, and made for the best summer of my life.” Ethan had a great experience on the trip. He is coming back to his community with a new perspective. He is bringing new values to his home and work place that he learned on the trip: “personal accountability, hard work, brotherhood and disability awareness”. Unfortunately, he is probably continued on page 3

The GammazeTTe

Rediscovering the Meaning of “Fraternity”

Published by Gamma of Pi Kappa Phi at UC Berkeley. Please direct all news to: The Gammazette, c/o FMG, 5055 East Broadway, Suite C-214, Tucson, Arizona 85711, or Gamma@CalPiKappaPhi.org

A letter from former Resident Advisor Zach Brown

2012 Undergraduate Executive Committee Archon Max Dieckmann ’09 619.990.3486 maxdieckmann@gmail.com Vice Archon Alasdair Pressney ’10 Treasurer Robert Uchida ’11 Secretary Andrew Ngo ’11 Warden Joel Guerra ’11 Chaplain Michael Judy ’11

Gamma Alumni Association President Juan Serrano ’91 Vice President Steve Pas ’79 Treasurer Todd DiPaola ’98 Secretary Ryan Panos ’95 Members-At-Large Mark Metcho ’75 Cory Dean ’94 Christian Santiago ’98 Student Rep Max Dieckmann ’09 Chapter Advisor Michael Barnes ’99

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Brothers, I recently had the unique opportunity to serve as the resident advisor for the Gamma chapter and I’d like to share with you a little about this rewarding experience.

Those of you who know me probably remember that after joining Gamma in Spring of ’91, I decided to take some time off from school in order to work in the software industry. Well many years passed, and after having largely given up on the idea of ever going back, my father’s recent death provided me with the courage and motivation to do so. In Fall of ’09 I returned to Cal after a 16-year absence to finish my Bachelor’s degree.

When I reached out to the fraternity about opportunities to get involved, I was referred to the alumni board president, who turned out to be none other than my pledge brother, Juan Serrano. We discussed the recent chapter re-organization and the university’s stipulation that there be a live-in adult supervisor, and when Juan asked if I would consider living in the house as the Resident Advisor, I accepted. As I imagined moving back into the old chapter house at 2908 Channing Way, scenes from the movie “Old School” ran through my head. In reality, however, the next two years would change me for the better in ways I couldn’t anticipate.

As I engaged in the chapter, I strove to be more than just the “voice of reason” but to be a coach and mentor to the brotherhood. While participating alongside active brothers in activities such as Give-a-Push Weekend, the Sports4Kids program of tutoring and coaching sports at a local elementary school, and a successful attempt at rolling the world’s longest California Roll—over 300 feet long, reaching from the steps of Sproul Hall through Sather Gate—I always felt that I gained more from the experience than I was able to contribute.

Being an undergrad again in my 30s posed quite a few challenges but the active brothers were instrumental in helping me adjust and find my stride academically and socially. Through working together to improve the physical house, with projects such as painting our letters on the Channing-side driveway and renovating the chapter room, or just swapping stories over a boiling kettle in the kitchen, we built lasting bonds. I also had the privilege of being involved in rush activities and watching the chapter grow from fewer than 20 actives to nearly 50 bright young men, dedicated to the values of Pi Kappa Phi. At the most recent Founders’ Day banquet, awards were given out to several active brothers who had demonstrated excellence in areas such as academics, leadership, and volunteerism. As these young men accepted their awards, more than once did I hear the phrase “Pi Kappa Phi has made me a better man.” Through both supporting and learning from these young men over the last two years, as they worked to rebuild the chapter, I had the privilege of re-discovering the meaning of the word “fraternity,” and as a result, I can whole-heartedly say that Pi Kappa Phi has made me a better man too.

In August I finally earned my bachelor’s degree in Asian Studies. In my two years back in school, I studied the politics and economics of Asia as well as Japanese and Mandarin Chinese. These new skills combined with my technology background have since landed me a position as a global project manager at Hitachi America. Although I’m no longer involved in academics at Cal, I look forward to continuing my involvement with the chapter.

In closing, I’d like to encourage my fellow alumni to get involved with the chapter and rediscover the meaning of “fraternity” for yourselves. The active brothers are a bright, motivated and solid bunch of guys and as my experience proves, the rewards of alumni involvement are truly mutual.

Further, I’d like to encourage any other brothers who may have drifted off before graduating to return and finish their degrees as this can be tremendously rewarding in and of itself. If I can answer any questions or otherwise be of assistance toward either of these ends, please feel free to contact me at the email address below.

Fraternally yours, Zach Brown - Spring ’91 zach.brown@cal.berkeley.edu

Gamma 2012 Annual Fund Many thanks to the alumni and parents who pledged their support to Gamma in 2011. We understand that finances are very tight for most of us and we greatly appreciate your support. We ask, though, that you now consider joining us in support of the chapter as we look forward to 2012.

Our goal for 2011 was to get back to the level of success we had with our initial effort in 2008. While we made great strides towards this goal, we ultimately fell just short of getting 50 donors. So, for 2012 we have renewed this goal and we know that with your support we can help secure the future of the Gamma chapter.

Ultimately our goal is to help the undergraduate chapter achieve and maintain a level of excellence. To do this, we need to raise at least $15,000 annually to meet the expenses associated with running our alumni/parent relations program as well as planning for necessary capital improvements at the chapter house. All this while also increasing funds available to our educational and scholarship programs.

Whether it be our Housing Fund or our Scholarship Fund, your support will make a significant difference for Gamma. To make a contribution, please return your check in the enclosed annual fund envelope or go to www.CalPiKappaPhi.org, click on the “Donate” section. We thank you for your loyal and continued support

Many thanks to all those who donated to the Gamma Chapter in 2011.

Your support is greatly appreciated.

Eugene Roberts ’38 Walter A. Eagan ’47 James G. Seiler ’47 Robert J. Di Piazza ’48 Richard G. Houston ’49 Ronald A. Segel ’51 James F. Meagher ’52 James Pelton Kinlock ’53 Lawrence J. Olson ’55 Clayton E. Mitchell Jr. ’62 Mertin Wade Ritchie ’66 Paul Herman Pause ’69 Steven Chester Pas ’79 Richard A. Rappaport ’79 Mark Andrew Nielsen ’81

Michael Ira Glantz ’82 Alexander D. Glew ’83 G. Glenn Izmirian ’84 Craig C. Hess ’88 Scott H. Keller ’88 Matthew A. Brown ’89 Juan Manuel Serrano ’91 Jacob H. Witul ’91 Isaac Adam Chapman ’92 Frank A. Winton Jr. ’93 Lihsing Kuo ’94 Joshua Patrick Short ’94 John J. Li ’94 Charles M. Vasquez ’94 Eduardo Cabral ’95

Adrian C. Fernandez ’96 Federico C. Fernandez ’96 Todd James Dipaola ’98 Christian Thomas Santiago ’98 Edward Kaihua Chow ’98 Reuthanak Tap ’98 Kevin H. Klein ’00 Robert Suyu Shen ’02 Samuel E. Endicott ’03 Erik M. Arreygue ’07 Billy & Olivia Chang James & Susan Dieckmann Carol Wicklund Enright

Journey of Hope (continued) unable to take part in the Journey of Hope again, due to a full time job and plans for law school in the near future, but the trip is really something that he will carry with him for the remainder of his life. Though he is most likely unable to take the trip again, he fully encourages others who are considering to sign up because it is something that makes for an incredibly rewarding experience.

Charles Leon is another current active and a senior with plans to graduate this spring. He took part as a cyclist on the Trans America route, and also had an incredibly rewarding experience on the Journey of Hope. “I met a version of myself I didn’t know existed: one that accomplishes more in one day than I ever thought possible.” The trip tends to do that. It brings out a new side of people. You learn that your limits are not where you originally thought they were. His overall experience on the trip was “indescribable”. Which, in a sense, is how it was for all the guys that took the trip. As I stated before, this trip is rarely put into words successfully. Charles unfortunately does

not see himself doing another Journey of Hope, though he will use the skills he learned to better the community around him, through volunteering with local adaptive cycling programs and other disability awareness groups near the bay area.

The trip is, in a way, similar for all the guys, though at the same time very different. The values that these men learned can, at times, overlap, though the ways that they learned them will stay with them for the rest of their lives. The Journey of Hope is really an indescribable trip. It is not for the faint of heart. You will learn more about yourself and your community than ever before. It will push you further than you have ever gone. Though you will come out the other side a better person.

- Michael Hervey ’09

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Alumni Update - Dick Rogers ’78 all Dick could say is he would not survive them again. I asked him what he learned from being in our fraternity that he still uses today, and he said “people skills”. The fraternity taught him how to work with a variety of people and their different personalities.

My first memories of Richard (Dick) Rogers were as his roommate.

I was in my freshman year at Cal; he was an upper classman living on the third floor of the chapter house. I remember he had a beautiful girlfriend who was always very kind. Dick was the first person to ever give me a bottle of wine. But then again, I was only 18 at the time. In fact, I still have the two bottles of red wine he gave me; a 1967 and a 1976 bottle of wine. I lost touch with Dick after college, and had not heard from him in over 30 years. Earlier this year, he contacted me through Facebook.

Brother Dick Rogers enrolled at Cal in the winter of 1978 after transferring from the University of Colorado. He pledged Pi Kappa Phi in fall on 1978, and earned the nick name of Road Trip. Unfortunately I was unable to learn how that name was bestowed upon him. Back in the day, Dick used to hang out with Dan Bergmann, Steve Black and Chris Shepanek to name a few. He would love to know what ever happen to Tom Davis (Big Bird), Rick Rapapport, Terry Salinger, and Brian Ward. I asked Dick what fond memories he had of his fraternity days at Cal he said the Miller beer in the coke machine and his pledge class sneak... something about a hooker and a clue??? When asked further about the good old days,

Dick graduated from Cal in December of 1980 with a Degree in Business Administration and took a job in the Banking and Mortgage Banking field. After the four years he branched out on his own and started a real-estate investment and development company. However, in 1986, the tax laws were significantly altered and Dick decided to make a huge career change. He picked a career that would make most of us envious of him. He became a Golf Pro and went back to school earning a degree in Golf Course management and operation. After eight years in the golf business, he ended up in Las Vegas to build a golf course with Johnny Miller and Chi Chi Rodriguez. By then, Dick and Terri were raising their family. So, when time came to move out of state to build another golf course, he and his wife decided to stay in Las Vegas. Dick gave up the golf business career and co-founded a Commercial construction company which he still runs today.

By the way, Dick Rogers married his college sweetheart, the cute Tri Delt, Terri. They have two wonderful children, Stephanie, 28 and Will, 25, both happily married. It was fun listening to Dick brag on his family. His daughter graduated from University of Nebraska Medical School with a doctorate in physical therapy and works (like her mom) as a Psychical Therapist. Dick’s son Will is more like his father and works in the finance field after graduating from UNLV. No grandchildren yet, but Dick and Terri are still hoping.

Dick would love to hear from his old friends. He can be reached at the e-mail address rbrogers1958@gmail.com - Steve Pas

Gamma Alum Volunteers in Japan Tsunami Cleanup In August 2011, Gamma alumnus Zach Brown spent a month doing volunteer tsunami relief work in the wake of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Inspired by the fraternity’s dedication to volunteerism, Zach made arrangements with a group named All Hands Volunteers to travel to Ofunato, Iwate on Japan’s northwest coast and engage in community cleanup and construction work among other things.

“Being involved with Pi Kappa Phi instilled in me a strong sense of service to others, and since I studied Japanese at Cal, when I heard about the damage caused by the March 11 tsunami, I felt compelled to get over there and help,” explained Zach.

The type of work ranged widely from digging mud out of drainage canals and irrigation ditches in rice paddies, removing damaged drywall from peoples’ homes, and cleaning and organizing photographs from lost photo albums in order to reunite them with their owners.

“The photo project was extremely emotional, especially in a culture

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where ancestor worship makes it important to venerate the deceased. In one case, a family came in that had lost a young daughter, and what we had saved were the only surviving photos of her.”

The All Hands team consists of volunteers from countries around the world drawn together to the common cause of disaster recovery. For further information on volunteering with All Hands please visit http://www.hands.org.

If you’d like to read more about the situation in Tohoku, Japan, Zach documented his experiences in an online blog at: http://rebuildingofunato.wordpress.com

Build America There we stood, following six weeks of travel from Denver to Washington, D.C. constructing accessible structures and other amenities at camps specifically serving individuals with disabilities, sixteen brothers - one Build America team - linked arm over shoulder gazing across the National Mall with tear-laden eyes listening to Push America’s CEO, Chad Coltrane, speak to a crowd of five hundred friends and family.

Although our eyes were fixed on the national monuments, our hearts and minds were running through the memories we had accumulated over the summer.

Several experiences crossed my mind, but none stood out more than Dan from Rocky Mountain Village located in Empire, Colorado. It was the last day for that week’s campers, and they always finish the week with a hike to the nearby summit. Dan and the other campers were extremely excited to venture to the top of the abandoned mine shafts where one can gaze over the campgrounds and beautiful surrounding landscape. Dan has been a camper at Rocky Mountain Village for over 25 years (to say he’s a local legend is an understatement), but has only be able to make the trip to the summit three times prior; our group was committed to making this Dan’s fourth visit.

A group of five of us assisted Dan as we carried him up the precarious path in a specially designed carrying blanket. The counselors had told us the path was tough, but they failed to mention it was no wider than two feet in some locations with a very steep drop-off down the side of the mountain. There were many instances where half of our team was continuously slipping off the extremely narrow pathway, but we failed to give up or drop Dan; he was getting up that mountain regardless if we lost a member to the mountain.

The cheers of the other campers signaled we had reached the sum-

mit of our climb. We settled Dan down in a comfortable position and overlooked the camp; I vividly recall Dan’s pleasure as he took in all the sights around him. Through our efforts we had brought immense satisfaction to Dan and this made the view that much more breathtaking.

As we ventured back down the mountain, one of the female counselors jogged by and we noticed Dan visibly had a certain glimmer in his eye. As we paused to let her pass, Dan said to our group, “The lights may be out in the attic and the water isn’t running, but there’s still a fire in the furnace”. We instantly lost it and laughed along with Dan. Dan possesses a spirit to life that rubbed off on all of us that day; to summarize it as, “taking nothing for granted and living everyday to the fullest” does not do him justice. He is an enigma of undiluted joy.

I did not realize it until our final day on the steps of the Capital, but Dan along with all the other campers we shared time with had rubbed off on us. We stood their new men, with new outlooks on life and with a new sense of perspective. I saw this transformation in every member of our team - a team of men who had become some of the strongest brothers in only six short weeks. I encourage every active brother and alumni to consider participating in Build America; the interactions and good work will truly change your life.

If you are interested in Build America please contact Nick Breaux, Push America’s Director of Special Events, at (704) 504-0880 or nbreaux@pushamerica.org. Additionally, for more information visit: http://www.pushamerica.org.

- Max Dieckmann ’09

Gamma Chapter wins 2011 Dodgeball Championship Late in the fall semester the chapter assembled its top squad of quick and flexible members to participate in Kappa Alpha Theta’s “Theta Dodgeball” charity tournament. Harkening back to their elementary school days, the brothers dodged, ducked, dipped, dove and dodged like true champions and took first place out of a field of 32 teams. All proceeds were donated to CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), a group that supports volunteer advocacy for abused and neglected children so that they can live in safe and permanent homes.

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