AlphaSpeaks Spring 2013 Issue - Volume VIII, Number 1 New Jersey Alpha RLC Chapter Newsletter www.sigepnja.com
What’s in store:
•Jeopardy! •Studying in Australia •Alumni Updates
•President’s Update •SigEp Sweetheart •Undergrad Updates
Alpha Speaks Spring 2013 Issue - Volume VIII, Number 1 New Jersey Alpha RLC Chapter Newsletter
Publication Staff
Jeffrey Nicholls Vice President of Communications
Jeffrey Earl Alpha Speaks Chair
Alumnus in the Spotlight!
Q
uick, name a general during the Persian Gulf War. Who is Norman Schwarzkopf? A medical practice involving multiple needles. What is acupuncture? Canadian city with a hockey team (again). What is Winnipeg? The man who knew all these facts and more on a recent episode of Jeopardy!. Who is Brother Mike Munley ‘09? Mike’s pilgrimage to the pinnacle of the nerdiverse was a long one. From the first episode he saw at age five, he was hooked. After auditioning for the high school tournament and again as an adult to no avail, the third time was the charm. Now the real fun began. Mike began honing his trivia skills by any means necessary. Weekly bar trivia was a must, online quizzes were standard, replaying actual Jeopardy! games from past seasons thanks to a fan created Jeopardy! archive (Yes, that’s a real thing.) was gold. When asked what the most challenging part of
Thomas Mongelli
the whole process was, Mike said “The anticipation during the three weeks in between knowing I made it on the show and the actual taping was brutal.” During the taping, Mike was in the zone, dominating the Caribbean Capitals category and doing something every Jeopardy! hopeful dreams of by “running”, or answering every question in, the Pro Sports Teams category. When it came time for the Final Jeopardy! question, Mike had amassed a very impressive $11,800, but found himself in a betting situation known as Stratton’s dilemma (Yes, people study Jeopardy! betting strategies that closely.). He went big and came up short. However, it’s not all bad. Mike is quick to point out that it was the experience of a lifetime, and he has gotten to cross off a major bucket list item. In his words, “Walking out on that stage was awesome. There’s nothing like it.” -Thomas Mongelli Class of 2010
Alex Trebek with Michael Munley
A Blast from the Past - 1987
Nathan Quay Parents Chair
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President’s Update Brothers of New Jersey Alpha,
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s with every semester, New Jersey Alpha began this Spring 2013 semester looking to push our chapter to even greater heights and even more outstanding accomplishments, constantly striving to improve the undergraduate experience for our brothers. Our main objectives focused on renewing our commitment to Sound Body, improving our status as a Residential Learning Community and increasing our chapter GPA. To improve Sound Body among the brothers, we restructured our Sound Body Attack Plan and were able to attain 50% participation from the brotherhood. In order to further our RLC status, we applied for an RLC grant offered by Illinois Alpha for which we are among the top three finalists. We also hosted a very successful Faculty & Staff Open House. In order to increase chapter GPA, we revitalized our Academic Attack Plan and even coordinated group study sessions for finals. The brothers of NJA put hard work into each of these initiatives, and these efforts were rewarded with great success. In addition to these accomplishments, New Jersey Alpha continued to excel nationally, athletically, and academically. Nationally, the chapter sent 15 brothers to the Carlson Leadership Academy this semester where former President Bobby Truppner was awarded with the Regional Outstanding Senior Award. Bryan Baranyay, another former President, was
selected to be one of the few SigEps in the nation that will attend the Tragos Quest to Greece this summer. In athletics, the brotherhood dominated Greek Basketball Intramurals winning yet another championship. In academics, one of the brothers, Brad Warren, was named the valedictorian of the Class of 2013, after also leading New Jersey Alpha to our second CPK win in a row as our Castle Point Knight. These are only a few of the many accomplishments of the undergraduate brothers of NJA. New Jersey Alpha has had an exciting semester, and we are all looking forward to another great semester in the Fall. With 25 graduating seniors, the remaining undergraduates have some big shoes to fill, but we’re confident that we can continue to take New Jersey Alpha on to bigger and better things. In the meantime, we are preparing ourselves to head down to Dallas, Texas for Conclave in the beginning of August. If all goes well, NJA will have 25 undergraduates in attendance, a record number of brothers for our chapter. At this Conclave, we hope to receive our third Buchanan Cup in a row, and perhaps even hold on to the Man-Mile Award we clinched two years ago. Fraternally yours, Edward Watt Chapter President
President Edward Watt Chapter President . Evan Nelson Vice President of Programming
Jordan Musoff Vice President of Finance
DeVon Lineman Vice President of Membership Development
Founder’s Day Save the Date!
Chris Bisceglie Vice President of Recruitment
Friday and Saturday November 1st & 2nd, 2013 Meet the current undergraduates! Hang out with other NJA Alumni!
Christian Geary Chaplin
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A WORD FROM Taking learning outside of the classroom
Going above and BEYOND by Tim Baccaro (Class of 2015)
by Michael McAree (Class of 2015)
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pon recolonizing the house, the Sigma Phi Epsilon New Jersey Alpha Chapter underwent a rigorous application process in order to become a Residential Learning Community (RLC). Since then, the brothers have continued to enhance their spaces and implement academic programming bent on improving their living learning environment. This past semester, the newly formed RLC committee came together to create a three part strategy designed to enhance the residential learning experience. The first area of focus is placed on developing relationships with faculty on campus. NJ Alpha held a Faculty Open House where many members of the administration were welcomed to the chapter facility to spend time with the brothers and learn what life as a Sigep was all about. There are also plans to set up evenings with individual faculty members (one per month) so that brothers will be able to interact with a professor and learn from them outside the classroom. New Jersey Alpha is constantly looking for opportunities to become partners with those involved in higher education. The second area of focus is geared toward reaching out to the students. The brothers of New Jersey Alpha are eager to show that they can be a resource for students at Ste-
vens. This semester, NJ Alpha accomplished this by continuing to hold academic reviews (open to all students across campus). Social networking sites allowed the brothers to start taking requests for reviews in particular subjects. In the future, the fraternity will continue to provide these academic opportunities and will proceed to act as mentors to students across campus. The third area of interest involves the improvement of the Residential Learning Community spaces within the Sigep house. The most recent Sigma class took on the task of painting a chalkboard into one of the designated learning spaces! There are currently plans to put up a plaque in the house’s primary study that will keep record of high academic achievement among seniors. In terms of renovations, there will be contractors coming into the Sigep house to provide quotas on redoing the chapter’s extension. The plan is to create new room equipped with white boards, a smart board and academic furniture. After all renovations are complete, the NJA Chapter hopes to have a class taught for credit in its facility. The brothers feel that this would be yet another way to give back to the school and students and promote the living learning ideals to (not just our brothers) but to students from all ends of campus.
THE UNDERGRADS I
Michael McAree Biomedical Engineer Class of 2015 To learn more information about the RLC progress or help further our current RLC related supplies please contact Michael McAree at mmcaree@stevens.edu
n the summer and fall of 2012 I had the opportunity to study abroad in Sydney, Australia. The experience was everything I could have hoped for and more. Sydney was a friendly and clean city that I encourage anyone to visit as soon as they get the chance. It was very difficult to understand that a country on the other side of the world could have such a unique culture, yet still share so much with us here in the states. I had an internship at the Nature Conservation Council of New South Wales where I learned a lot about the green movement in Australia and met some incredibly down-to-earth and friendly people. On
Creating some Brotherly Love by Mark Minervini (Class of 2013)
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Sigma Phi Epsilon NJ Alpha RLC Join the LinkedIn group! Looking for a job? Looking to hire someone for a job? Become part of the SigEp NJA RLC LinkedIn page and get the resources and connections you need! Search SigEp NJA RLC and send a request to join! 4
top of learning about this Aussie culture, I was able to snorkel and scuba dive in the Great Barrier Reef, zip line down mountains in New Zealand, feed kangaroos, surf at some of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen, and so much more. It was the fastest four months of my life, and I will always remember the places I visited and the people I met (even though I lost my camera in New Zealand). This experience helped me realize that there is so much to learn and enjoy when traveling. I encourage anyone who has the opportunity to study abroad to take advantage of it, explore the world, and spread some SigEp brotherly love.
Mark Minervini Mechanical Engineer Class of 2013
Tim Baccaro Civil Engineer Class of 2015
Stay up to date with us! www.sigepnja.com www.facebook.com/sigepnja
s brothers of Sigma Phi Epsilon we abide by three cardinal principles: Virtue, Diligence, and Brotherly Love. We try to apply these values as best we can to our lives, but as college students, we often find it difficult to come together and have a good time, especially with all of the added pressures of our studies. Schoolwork is an important priority for all of us, but nothing beats being able to take a break and have some fun with your fellow brothers. We are always striving to have the soundest minds and soundest bodies on campus, and aspiring to those principles gives us a very competitive nature. This semester, we have purchased a new ping pong table for the house, and after seeing the enjoyment all of the brothers were getting out of this new addition, I decided to take things to the next level by planning
a ping pong tournament. More than half of our 91 man brotherhood was ready to compete in an epic ping pong tournament. In what started out as recreation, 62 brothers and other prospective brothers on campus signed up to play on our enormous 4 foot by 6 foot bracket now posted on the wall in the kitchen. Over the course of the past few weeks, brothers have gotten in contact with each other and set up times for their matches at their own leisure, spending some of their free time bonding with brothers that they may have never gotten to know before. This whole experience started out as a small idea to have some more fun, with maybe a few brothers playing in their free time, but it has grown into a great way for us to come together as a brotherhood, indulge our competitive nature, and strengthen one of our core principles: Brotherly Love.
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The King keeps his Title Not only was Brad Warren named Castle Point King in March, but just two months later Brad was named valedictorian for the class of 2013 at Stevens! Earning him this title was his perfect GPA of 4.0, four years of varsity wrestling, and the extra classes he took on top of his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree. Brad now works at Morgan Stanley.
AAP
Newest Brothers of SigEp NJA RLC
by Jeff Earl (Class of 2016)
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cademics reign paramount to all other things at Stevens. At SigEp, as part of our Sound Mind ideal, we strive to excel in the classroom. Personally, if it weren’t for SigEp’s focus on developing a Sound Mind, I may not have joined this fraternity. So, it pained me sharply when I heard that we had been ousted as the top academic brotherhood on campus. As the Academic Attack Plan Chair, I look forward to working with our brothers to take our academics to the next level. The Academic Attack Plan (AAP) is SigEp’s tool to develop Sound Mind in each of our brothers. It focuses on improving study skills, building an academic support base, and cultivating personal organization and responsibility. While primarily a voluntary program, the AAP requires brothers with a previous semester grade point average of less than 2.9 to enroll. Each member of the program is assigned a study team composed
of brothers best suited to their motivational or major-specific needs. Each team is captained by a brother that have been identified as having outstanding leadership abilities. Throughout the semester, brothers enrolled in the AAP are held responsible for attending three mandatory study hours per week, tracking their grades in a comprehensive spreadsheet, and creating a positive culture in which their team can flourish. AAP Captains are responsible for monitoring their team’s academic performance, scheduling, and communicating feedback about their teams. The goal of the AAP and of our Vice President of Membership Development is to increase our chapter’s GPA by 0.15 this semester, from 3.32 to 3.47. We give special thanks to brothers Andrew Bean, Andrew DeRogatis, Chris Dorman, Mark Minervini, and Marc Richardson for their work as AAP Captains.
Lighting Up the Show by Brad Warren (Class of 2013)
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Brad Warren Valedictorian Class of 2013
n Friday March 22, I was crowned Castle Point King, marking the second consecutive victory for SigEp. This year’s theme was high school stereotypes. We made a video parody of Mean Girls and then enacted part of a high school talent show, performing two acts (videos are on YouTube – search “sigep castle point king” or go to the SigepNJA channel). Our first act was a dance with some pretty awesome choreography. For the second act, we danced in the dark with light-up suits made using electroluminescent (EL) wire. An incredible amount of work went into
the making of CPK this year: scripting, filming, and editing the video; choreography; many hours of dance practice; sewing EL wire into the suits; light suit electronics; and programming the lights. We were able to pull it off thanks to the wide support and diverse skills of the brotherhood. I coded my choreography into the lights, but there’s no way I could have done all the electronics without the engineering team of Eddie Watt, Rick Housley, and Alex Cihanowyz. In the end, all our hard work paid off. I’m still amazed at what we were able to accomplish, and very proud to be a SigEp!
Sigma Phi Epsilon NJA RLC YouTube Channel http://www.youtube.com/user/SigepNJA Watch all the LipSync and Castle Point King Videos! 6
New Brothers
Sigma Class of Spring 2013
Pictured from Left to Right: Tom Halloran Rick Housley Andrew Frieling Austin Swain John Atkinson Collin Newman Matthew Greenfield Mike Kressaty Alex Gurski Mike McCarthy
Reflections of a Sweetheart by Michelle Gallo (Class of 2013)
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rom the beginning of my five years at Stevens, the brothers of Sigma Phi Epsilon have always been some of my best friends. Both the undergraduates and alumni have been the people whom I have trusted to always be there for me personally, and with academic and career advice. Thus, it is with great pride that I wear my Sigma Phi Epsilon letters as their Sweetheart. It means so much to me to be an official part of a house which has given me so much these past years. Whether hanging out with the brothers at Monday Night Football, going ice skating in Jersey City, being a co-captain for Hall Brawls, or participating in community service events such as the Strides Walk for Breast Cancer or MLB Pitch, Hit, and Run Competition, most of my best memories at Stevens include the brothers of SigEp. Even memories with my sorority include the brothers of Sigma Phi Epsilon. They have consistently showed their support for my sorority as well as their campus involvement at events such as Castle Point King as well as our ANAD Vigil. Winning the CPK crown again this year just goes to show that not only are the
brothers of SigEp some of the best men on campus, but they are also some of the most talented. There is no doubt that the brothers of SigEp are leaders. They are involved in so many activities on campus, have a commanding presence in everything that they do, and are easily recognizable through their actions. As Sweetheart, I will work to strengthen the ties between the brothers and ladies on campus as well as strive to act as a mentor to younger brothers who may need someone to talk to whether it be about their personal life or academics. Being elected Sweetheart my final year at Stevens means more to me than I can convey, especially since long before being given this title, I have always felt welcome in this house. Earning the title has made me feel like a part of something bigger, a part of an organization filled with some of my best friends. As I embark on a new chapter of my life with ExxonMobil in Texas, I hope to be someone that the brothers always feel comfortable reaching out to, and I will still consistently support the brothers throughout their years at Stevens.
Want to have a story in Alpha Speaks? Email it to us alphaspeaks@sigepnja.com!
Michelle Gallo Chemical Engineer Class of 2013
SigEp Sweetheart Former President of Delta Phi Epsilon 7
Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity 530 Hudson Street Hoboken, NJ 07030
AlphaSpeaks Spring 2013 Issue - Volume VIII, Number 1 PPP New Jersey Alpha RLC Chapter Newsletter
Inside: Alumnus in the Spotlight!
Michael Munley stars on Jeopardy
Lighting Up the Show
Brad Warren wins Castle Point King
Important Info
Founder’s Day and LinkedIn
Not your mail? Tell us and we’ll change the address! - sigep@stevens.edu