AlphaSpeaks Fall 2012 Issue - Volume VII, Number 2 New Jersey Alpha RLC Chapter Newsletter www.sigepnja.com
HURRICANE
SANDY
NJ Alpha Brothers lend a hand to relief efforts in Hoboken.
Also in this issue
Mid-Semester VP Appointment... An Update from the President... 75th Anniversary... Alumni Reunion...
Alpha Speaks Fall 2012 Issue - Volume VII, Number 2 New Jersey Alpha RLC Chapter Newsletter
Publication Staff Barry Allan Travis Vice President of Communications
Patrick J. MacLane Editor-in-chief
John J. Meagher IV Graphics Design Editor
Adith Subramanian Graphic Designer
Chris Dorman
Second Time’s the Charm
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ho knew one word would mean so much. You all should be pleased to know that this semester’s Alpha Speaks has taken another step in becoming a serious alumni newsletter. Last semester’s newsletter was prepared using Adobe Photoshop, a fantastic graphic editing software capable of creating images that could destroy your perception of reality but lacking a text editing system with spell check. This semester we have moved to Adobe InDesign, a desktop publishing software used by professional publication companies around the world to create things with lots and lots of words. Words that I hope my committee and I can spell correctly. I hope the readers of Alpha Speaks have enjoyed my time as VP of Communications. As a committee we have sent larger and more frequent publications than those before us. EspeciallyAdith with Subramanian this issue we have greatly improved the professional appearance of our publication. I hope that Undergraduate you are all impressed with the progress Accomplishments the Communications Committee has Coordinator made this year and I assure you the improvements will continue with the new elected VP of Communications and the committee he will form. If it were not for the members of this committee it would have been impossible for any of this to be created and I am thankful every day for the talent inside of this brotherhood. Please do not forget that this is a publication that the undergraduate chapter produces for the alumni community. Its purpose is to keep alumni informed on
the current status of the chapter and to improve alumni relations. From just two eight page newsletters, two event postcards, and website hosting fees almost five thousand dollars will have been spent this year to support our efforts to keep alumni informed. Every dollar of that comes from our chapter activities budget which is directly funded by undergraduate dues. As the chapter continues to grow the need for print communication increases. Unfortunately the size of our undergraduate chapter will stay relatively the same and so will the size of our chapter activities budget. If we as a chapter expect this newsletter to continue to grow and publications to regularly be released it will require annual donations from the alumni community. As an organization the alumni of NJ Alpha are always there to help the chapter when it is in need but unfortunately very few are here to support the undergraduates when they are not crying out for support. It is upsetting that our AVC consists of only a few active alumni who give so much to aid the undergraduates on a consistent basis that it can be a burden on their own lives. NJ Alpha needs alumni to not only help support the organization financially but to establish a presence in the undergraduate chapter as mentors, friends, educators, and role models. NJ Alpha needs alumni to be the brothers they all took an oath to become. Virtue, Diligence, and Brotherly Love Barry Allan Travis VP of Communications
Distribution Coordinator
Chris Bisceglie Content Coordinator
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Congratulations to our intramural soccer and football teams for winning their respective championships!
President’s Update Brothers of New Jersey Alpha,
precedented amount of community service. While NJA has been improving in these very visible areas, other aspects of our brotherhood are also getting better. The sense of brotherhood is extremely high. One example of this is taking a simple walk throughout the house and seeing almost all of the doors open, even when brothers are not even present. It is also not unlikely that you may find brothers asleep in rooms that are not even theirs. With the end of my term came the election of a new executive board. All of the brothers that have been elected are incredibly motivated, passionate, and driven. They are the men I know this chapter needs in order to continue its direction of always getting better. It is these men that will bring New Jersey Alpha to the next level of greatness. I am confident in the success of our chapter, and look forward to what Conclave will bring this upcoming summer.
As my term of being Chapter President of New Jersey Alpha comes to a close, I have many positive experiences on which to reflect. Our chapter has continued the goal of ridding ourselves of complacency while improving in every area possible. The undergraduates have been more motivated than ever, and this motivation is manifesting itself in multiple ways. Our GPA has greatly improved, chapter community service is at an all time high, and our brothers are incredibly involved on the Stevens campus. Last semester, I discussed our GPA drop and the steps we took in order to address this. The result after one semester is that our chapter now has an all-time high GPA of 3.44. This is an example of our chapter identifying a problem, taking corrective actions in order to fix it, and then receiving extraordinary results. This has been a common theme of the semester and is proof that when New Jersey Alpha is determined to accomplish a task, anything becomes possible. This determination spreads to other areas, such as domination in Greek sports, the highest fall bid class in our history at 17 new brothers, winning Phi Sigma Sigma’s annual Lip Sync competition, and accruing an un-
Fraternally yours, Bryan Baranyay Chapter President
The Elect
Congratulations to the members of the newly elected SigEp NJ Alpha Executive Committee
Eddie Watt President Elect
Evan Nelson VP of Programming Elect
Jordan Musoff VP of Finance Elect
DeVon Lineman VP of Mem-Dev Elect Christian Geary Chaplin Elect
Chris Bisceglie VP of Recruitment Elect
President Bryan Baranyay Chapter President .
Devon Lineman Vice President of Programming
Ryan Miskanich Vice President of Finance
Michael VonGonten Vice President of Membership Development
Chris Bisceglie Vice President of Recruitment
Mark Minervini Chaplin
Jeff Nicholls VP of Communications Elect
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THE VOICES
SigEps Welcome in Victims of Sandy by Bryan Baranyay (Class of 2014) Published in the November 2012 SoundBite
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urricane Sandy hit New York and New Jersey hard when she arrived, but the brothers of New Jersey Alpha RLC were fortunate. The Stevens Tech Chapter house was on one of four blocks in Hoboken, N.J., to have power, running hot water and basic amenities that everyone suddenly needed. We were just one of a few dots of light in a city of 50,000. Nearly half the city was underwater for several days and Stevens Institute of Technology was closed for a week. The entire New York Metro area was suddenly shutdown and few people had an inkling of what to do next. The day after the hurricane hit, our brothers realized how blessed we were since our house went un-flooded and still had electricity. We were determined to make a positive impact during such a trying time, especially since our house was suddenly Ground Zero of our campus as well as our neighborhood. Along with our resident scholar, Polina Pinkhasova, we went to Hoboken City Hall to see how we could help. “Once at city hall, the brothers of Sigma Phi Epsilon took immediate action,” Pinkhasova said. “They started organizing themselves so brothers were at the shelter continuously for 24 hours.” Brothers were providing simple items that everyone usually takes for granted: a Gatorade jug to supply a shelter with water, lamps so volunteers could see what they were doing at night, cooking utensils for food, board games for children and blankets for neighbors. As a chapter, we were honored to supply things that would make this horrific experience all the more bearable for others. The most precious of these commodities in the
wake of Sandy was electricity. We placed extension cables from our house to the front patio near the sidewalk. We connected three power strips to share what so many greatly needed to charge cell phones, laptops and tablets. We also set up a table and chairs so neighbors could relax and try to take their mind off what was currently happening. Polina had an especially moving experience while helping out. “One woman brought tears to my eyes as she explained her situation. She arrived at the shelter saying that she had never asked anyone for anything but was in desperate need of food for her three children,” Polina said. “Without hesitation my SigEp boys worked with the shelter to package up boxes of food for her. I will forever remember the scene of her graciously accepting food from my boys in order to feed her family.” Besides providing power and items to neighbors, our house also contributed many service hours to the city of Hoboken. Our chapter has logged almost 800 volunteer hours. We have helped cook and prepare food for shelters in Hoboken, volunteered at shelters to help those who lost their homes or never had one, loaded and unloaded EMT and National Guard trucks with medical and household supplies, delivering medication and other items like oxygen to displaced residents, and cleaned houses and businesses in the area. During this event New Jersey Alpha felt responsible for helping our community. Without question, Sandy challenged Hoboken, but she also tested New Jersey Alpha, and we were determined to respond as a brotherhood to help our fellow students and neighbors. It was an excellent opportunity to put our cardinal principles into action.
Community members rest and charge their electronics outside of the New Jersey Alpha chapter house.
“During this event New Jersey Alpha felt responsible for helping our community.”
Breast Cancer Walk SigEp NJA and Delta Phi Epsilon teamed up for the “Making Strides Against Breast Cancer” walk and raised over $2000 for breast cancer research and support. The event was coordinated by brother Kyle Kampo.
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OF NJ ALPHA
Stepping into an EC Position Midsemester by Chris Bisceglie (Class of 2015)
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all of 2011, I am a Sigma with little to no knowledge of not only Sigma Phi Epsilon, but the fraternal world. One year later I am now the Vice President of Recruitment for New Jersey Alpha. As soon as I became a brother of Sigma Phi Epsilon I knew I wanted to help out in any way I could, and eventually become a member of the Executive Committee. I never anticipated being presented with the opportunity less than a year after I joined. Due to unforeseen circumstances, I was presented with the opportunity to run for the VP of Recruitment position. With minimal knowledge of the position (my interests were always in memdev or programming) I was skeptical that I was the man for the job. After doing some research and talking to former VP’s, presidents, alumni and the Regional Director, I was convinced that I was fit to
hold the position. About three months later I am ecstatic that I was not only nominated but elected. Getting involved within the fraternity on such a high level has heightened my knowledge and pushed me to learn more about SigEp. Although it was a difficult transition since it was in the middle of the semester, I was able to overcome the adversity with the help of previous VP of Recruitment, Michael Cianfaglione. The hardest part of the job was by far within those first few weeks. I was not used to the job of delegating responsibilities to individuals older than myself. I also had a Bid Night to plan in less than three weeks. All in all I think that the semester went well and that the overall intensity of recruitment significantly increased. I am glad that I even got to re-run again for VPR for the 2012-2013 term, and I look forward to contributing even more.
Chris Bisceglie VP of Recruitment F2012-F2013
My Phi Philosophy by Jeffrey Earl (Class of 2016)
Jeffrey Earl
Fall 2012 Sigma Class
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s I take my first steps into this new stage of fraternal life, I am presented with a challenge; I must familiarize myself with other cultures and embrace their unique ideas while discovering more about myself. I know that I will be able to accomplish this because of my self-motivation and eagerness to learn. Indeed, my desire to explore new things is very much the reason I am at this school, studying my particular major. But too often, my learning experiences are solely individual. Instead of Phi addressing my progression alone, I want to employ you to improve the process. I want to foster growth not only in myself, but in the rest of my brothers as well. And to accomplish this, I will need the help of all of you. I say this because I value personal growth over nearly every other character trait. I have forged friendships in admiration of this quality and ended relationships be-
cause of its absence. I believe that it contributes to all aspects in life and that it should be used to develop a positive personality. It is also the foremost reason I joined this Brotherhood. Many of you demonstrate tremendous ambition and growth. I know that this chapter will help me accomplish what I want in my own personal development. Each brother has their own talents and interests. I admire most the diversity of the brotherhood and am excited to explore it. I challenge you to share them with me during my Phi experience. To all of my brothers, I ask for your help! I need you to encourage me, and at times pressure me, to continue my personal growth. With your support, surrounded by so many great men, I will surely succeed.
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New Murals The incoming class of sigmas painted several new murals in the house as their projects.
Alumni Day 2012 by Ray Nierstedt (Class of 1977)
O
n Alumni Day June 2, 2012, ten Sig Ep brothers from the Class of 1977 met for our thirty-fifth class reunion. As the group gathered at noon at the Stevens Center, we were joined via smart phone by another member of our class, Rich Taborek, from California. It was great to see everyone again with only one class member for our reunion missing. When we met up again in 2007, many of us had not seen each other in thirty years or so. Still, when we began to talk to each other, it was as if we just picked up the conversation after all those years. When we sat back down on the steps in front of the house, it was as if we had never left. We are old enough to appreciate the education we were given, and we have all benefited from the career options presented to us. We hope to meet again in five years, if not before. I would urge any other Sig Ep brothers to attend the Alumni Day Reunions. It was a great day! With such a successful thirtieth reunion in 2007, we all decided we would plan to do it again in 2012. We met at the Howe Center and went out to eat at a nice restaurant in the “new” Hoboken. We then took a tour of the newly renovated Sig Ep house. The houses are now joined together and there is a new kitchen and party room (editor’s note: this room actually serves as our
meeting room…on most occasions) where the back yard used to be. It has more of a dorm feel to it now, but it is air conditioned and was very nice on a hot day. We were still able to find our old rooms, but found they were much different than we lived in them. We spent the afternoon in the front room of 528 Hudson Street talking to some of the present brothers that were there. They were astounded to meet people as old as us. After that, we went out to dinner. It was a great time, and no one wanted to leave. The group that met included Brian Allen and Susan Barbash, Frank Al Morgan, Ted Natoli, Ray Nierstedt, Tom and Sou Kon Nigosanti, Willie and Maria Pyontek, Bob Ruginis, Jim and Joan Santoianni, Ken Schlatmann, and Rick Schmauz. Rich Taborek joined us via smart phone. Only Mike Wagner was unable to make the event.
Contact SigEp@stevens.edu for more information
Balanced Man Scholarship Rick Housley, class of 2016, wins the 2012 Balanced Man Scholarship. This year’s scholarship banquet was run by Christian Geary, Ed Watt, Chris Bisceglie, and Nick Gentile.
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An Interview with Steve Kern by Tommy MacKinnon (Class of 2011)
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rother Steven Buce (‘84) caught up with Brother Steven Kern (‘86) at the annual Class of ’86 reunion dinner. Steven Kern currently lives in Boonton, NJ with his wife of 17 years and three sons Jordan (13), Jayson (9), and Ian (7). He learned about Stevens through friend and brother Ted Bick (‘86). Steven takes great pleasure coaching his sons’ baseball teams, a position he has held the last five years. Steven’s bonds of brotherly love in the Class of ’86 remain strong today as they remain some of his closest friends, with four of the brothers deciding to share a house together after graduation. In 2007 Steven experienced a three month illness. During his recovery, he decided that he would try to put a contact list of all the brothers of the Class of 1986. What seemed like it would be a daunting task was found much easier when he realized that many of the brothers were still in contact all those years later. Once he was suc-
cessful in wrangling up all the information he could find, a reunion dinner was planned at Arthur’s in Hoboken that September. Realizing that their friendships have stayed strong for the 20 years in between and that they acted like it was 1986 all over again when brought back together, a tradition was born. Since then five dinners have been held at both Arthur’s in Hoboken and Morris Plains including one in which Rich ‘Sweet’ Houghton, recently back from Afghanistan, was able to attend. Brothers have traveled over two hours to attend the dinner with Walt Marlowe traveling the furthest from Alexandria, Va. Otto even surprised the group showing up for the 2011 dinner. Though the brothers may be grey, the dinners and the brotherly love of the Class of ’86 has not changed. Steven has still not been able to contact Eric Herskowitz or Richard Hastings. If you have any information or would like to reach out to Steven, you may reach him at stevenk@ turtle.com.
Alumni Update
Recent Marriages and Children
New Brothers Congratulations to the new Brothers of Sigma Phi Epsilon NJ Alpha RLC. The latest sigma class has had a 100% bid acceptance rate, and more recently a 100% sigma test passing rate. Kevin Acker Kevin Aeckerle Kris Alvarez Andrew Bean Matt Bombard Sebastian Castrillon Jeff Earl Wes Elford Peter Giannini John Griggs Mike Mcaree John Meagher Jordan Musoff Robert Pinto Adith Subramanian Nathan Quay Frank Roberto
NJ Alpha Wins Lip-Sync Competition
John Dillon (‘10) married Trisha Phillips on October 27th
Steven Lonison (10’) married Stefania Varricchio on November 18th
Anthony (86’) and Melanie Piccolo welcomed their son Colin on November 10th Michael Conti (06’) married Caroline Killian on October 6th
SipEp holds onto its title as the best dancers on Stevens Campus. This year’s the theme was all things 90s. 7