President’s Academy

		The Triangle Fraternity President’s Academy was held on Saturday, January 15th of this year.  Current Active President Jason Vining attended for the Pitt Chapter.
The attendants broke up into small groups for several Round Robin discussions, including topics on motivation, communication and confrontation.  The Ritual was also examined in-depth and discussed at length.
	The highlight of the session, though, was the group competition, where several small groups had to interact in order to achieve their objectives.  Each group represented a company with a set of goals and material requirements.  These groups then had to negotiate with each other for the rights to use or buy the materials needed from each other.  The first group to achieve all of their goals was declared the winner.  Brother Vining noted that certain groups formed a personality all their own, including some sneaky ones, and gained some valuable insights on interactions.
	The attendees also went through a period of self-evaluation where they listed the leadership qualities that they had and what they thought they needed to work on.  The event wrapped up with a three hour long social at a local arcade, which the fraternity had rented out.  The presidents got to play any games they wanted for free without the interruptions of the normal customers.  Brother Vining said that he “got a lot out of it” and made some new friends.  

Quotes of the Quarter:

“Enough ****ing bank talk, let’s move on.” – Graeber
   (Ed. Note: As opposed to normal bank talk, Jeff?)

“While you’re in college you have time but no money.  When you’re working you have money but no time.  When you’re retired, you’re too old to do anything.” - Over

Initiation

	The Pitt Chapter held its initiation ceremony on Sunday, January 23rd.  Three fine men went through the ceremony, which lasted four hours.  The ceremony began at 3 in the afternoon and lasted until 7 that night.  The mood was solemn as the three men went through the ceremony that has been the link between all Triangle brothers since the fraternity was created.
	After the ceremony was completed, the mood became celebratory with the entire attending brother congratulating the newest members to the Chapter.  Most of the attendants then went out for a meal at Charlie’s, which has become a tradition in the recent years.  The Golden Triangle wishes to extend its congratulations to these new brothers.

Tutoring Program

	The Pitt Chapter’s engineering tutoring program has hit its stride recently.  The program, begun in the Fall of 1999, allows for all engineering students to attend and be helped in their classes.  This has been endorsed by the Freshman Engineering Tutoring Program, coordinated by our own Brother Hendricks, and, recently, by the University ROTC program.
	The brothers attending the tutoring nights, which are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 7 to 10 PM, try to help all of the students that walk in as best they can.  This not only helps the students, but the brothers as well.  The brothers are able to meet new people and make new friends while helping their fellow students.  This is a true win-win situation.

Upcoming Events:

Founders’ Day: 	To be held on Saturday, April 15th.
		 	More information to come.

Summer Picnic:	June 10th.
			Location to be announced.

PITT CHAPTER of TRIANGLE FRATERNITY
1999-2000 FINANCIAL REPORT
QUARTER ENDING December 31, 1999 
(includes projections)

INCOME		BUDGET		ACTUAL	
Rent		$5,332.00		$3,999.00	
Interest		$0.00		$28.68	
Donations		$0.00		$400.00	
TOTAL		$5,332.00		$4,427.68	
					
EXPENSES		BUDGET		ACTUAL	
BLF Loan		$0.00		$0.00	
Insurance		$0.00		$0.00	
City Tax		$0.00		$0.00	
County Tax		$0.00		$0.00	
Repairs		$1,575.00		$1,145.91	
Newsletters		$100.00		$176.00	
National Fees		$150.00		$150.00	
Other		$0.00		$1,018.75	
TOTAL		$1,825.00		$2,490.66	

NOTE: The category of Other includes $718.75 for legal fees for investigating the potential sale of the current chapter property, and 300.00 for an appraisal of the chapter house/property. FYI – the chapter property was appraised between $155,000 and $165,000.

Many, many thanks also to Brother Adam Griffin’s mom for her generous donation of the electronic dartboard, and to Brother Tim Fisher for his donation of a Foosball table, we greatly appreciate them!

Editor’s Comments
			By: Eugene R. Hendricks

Announcements:
Br. Kurt Over lost his sister in a car accident on January 11.  The Pitt Chapter has made a donation, in her name, to a charity that she supported.

Birth of Meghan Rose Christman, 8lb, 8 oz, 20.5 inches long
 
Bob Rose is working for Sanyo Semiconductor in Northern NJ
 
Brian Hogue working for Dick Sporting Goods in Moon Township and teaching a master's level Informational Science class at Pitt.
 
Amit Patel working for Cisco Systems, Boston, MA.

	A little note on cooperation (a.k.a. Gene’s Rant):

		Brothers, I come to you this quarter to speak about the cooperation needed to maintain a brotherhood such as ours.  I’m not talking about cooperating just on the Active-Alumni level, but also with the two organizations.  The time has come where we are going to be moving into a new fraternity house on the hill.  During the move we will need to come together as a brotherhood.  Personal differences should be put aside and we should all pull our own weight.
		This means paying your bills, doing the work that your office requires of you, supporting all of the elected officers as they try to do their jobs, and pitching in where needed.  Now, all of the brothers, Actives and Alumni included, need to work together so that the sale of the house and the transition to new facilities can be made as smoothly as possible.
		Now, I know that there are some of you who voted against the sale, however, we need your support in this as well.  Griping about how this isn’t the right thing to do will not help anyone and might even hurt the Chapter more than you think the move will.  
		It is at this time that we need all of the brothers to help out where they can.  If you don’t have the time to give us any help, that is fine and I’m sure we all understand. But if you can help out at all, even if it’s taking over the planning of a minor event, it will be greatly appreciated, as all of the current officers, both Active and Alumni, have enough work to do as it is.

	(The statements made here are the opinion of the author and should not be attributed to any other person or group affiliated with this newsletter.)

Meet the Recent Initiates

		The initiation held on January 22nd marked the addition of three new brothers to the Pitt Chapter.  These brothers are a needed addition to the small chapter and have brought their own views in with them.  All of them joined because they were friends of the current brotherhood and they already fit in quite well with the chapter.
		All of these gentlemen joined because they were the friends of brothers.  They attended rush events in the spring of 1999, but didn’t join due to time constraints.  They all found that Triangle “was different from other Fraternities,” so they decided to pledge in the fall.
		Brian Michael Albert, from Johnstown, wants to take a leadership role in the Chapter.  He has an attitude towards increasing the cleanliness in the house.  Brian would like to “do what I can to make people care about this place.”  Brian wants to start out as the Rush or Scholarship Chair and work his way up to higher positions.
		Seth Michael McGeorge, from Reading, PA, would like to be involved in Rush, but isn’t sure if he wants to take an office yet.  Seth, also known as Iggy to his pledge brothers, would like to increase the unity of brotherhood in the Chapter.  He says that he joined Triangle because “it was the thing to do.”
		Dan Stevenson, the third member of the pledge class was not available to be interviewed, but has been described by the brother that have met him as a good, hard working man who will make a fine brother.

Motions

1999-00.001 – House Investigation			Passed

1999-00.002 – Legal Rep. (housing)			Passed

1999-00.003 – Smoke Detectors				Passed

1999-00.004 – Furnace					Passed

1999-00.005 – Advisor					Passed

		
Active Organization Election Results

		The results are in and the Active organization has a new set of officers, set to take over at Founders’ Day.  The election was held on January 23rd of this year.  The new E-Board is composed of the following officers:

		President  	Eli Dicken 
		Vice-President 	John Correll
		Treasurer  	Jason Vining
		Secretary  	Brian Spencer
		Rush  		Adam Griffen
				Chris Scott
		House  		Tim Taylor
		
		During the next three months, their predecessors and the Alumni Board will train these brothers so that they will be able to take over the positions at the Founders’ Day ceremony.  There will also be a retreat schedule for a weekend, yet to be determined, where the new and old Active officers along with the Alumni officers, will determine the course the Chapter will be taking in the next year.

Motions (cont.)

1999-00.006 – Money review				Passed

1999-00.007 – New Door Lock				Passed

1999-00.008 – Appraisal				Passed

1999-00.009 – Housing (big one)			Passed

Housing Issue Resolved

		The Pitt Chapter held a chapter-wide vote on January 29th of this year for the purpose of resolving the housing issue dealing with the offers proposed by Howard Hanna Realty and the University of Pittsburgh.  This vote was precedent setting not only in that it decided the issue of on-campus housing for the fraternity, but also that the use of proxy ballots was authorized by the Alumni Board.
		The use of proxy ballots was key in the resolving of the issue because they allowed several brothers to vote in this important issue.  Many brothers of the Pitt Chapter do not live in the immediate Pittsburgh area and, thus, would have had to make long trips in order to make their feelings in the matter heard.  Through the use of proxy, these brothers were saved the trouble of traveling to the chapter house from where ever they currently live.
		The proxy ballots became very important in that they allowed those brothers not able to make the actual vote a chance to give their opinion.  As is turned out, they did not sway the vote one way or another, but they did tip the scales to bring the vote over a two-thirds majority.  This majority was not required to pass the motion, but it did give it a suitable validity that cannot be easily questioned.
		The current situation is that Howard Hanna wishes to have the house turned over to them by late August or early September of this year.  Negotiations are currently underway to have Howard Hanna provide the chapter with a building to use until the Pitt facility can be completed.

A Word on Layout

The new layout being used here reflects my belief in what the newsletter should look like.  This may be changed in the next few issues, depending on what I feel works.  There will be some standard sections, though, such as the little text boxes with motions, quotes and other things.  The classifieds are my feeble attempt at humor and probably contain a lot of inside jokes, but I thought they would be appreciated.  The boxes in bold outline, however, are actually serious requests, so please treat them as such.
- Spock

Classifieds

Wanted:

One hunter to track and kill an offending animal.  Last seen on the cover of this newsletter with a stupid quote in a word balloon.

Contact Jeff Graeber if interested.

Wanted:

One Alumni Organization member to fill the role of VP – Active Affairs.  Responsibilities include coordinating joint Active and Alumni events as well as act as Alumni representative to the Active E-Board.

Wanted:

One Active organization member, to act as contact and information leak to the Alumni VP of Communications for purposes of publication in the newsletter.
Contact Eugene Hendricks if interested.

Need a companion at a party?  

Not having much luck with conversation?

Try Invisible Frog, supplying friends for drunk people everywhere.

“It worked for me.” – Dave Evanko

Wanted:

One Alumni organization member, to act as contact and information leak to the Alumni VP of Communications for purposes of publication in the newsletter.
Contact Eugene Hendricks if interested.

Wanted:

One Alumni Organization member to fill the role of VP – Alumni Affairs.  Responsibilities include the planning of Alumni events and encouraging social interaction between Alumni Organization members.