Corridor Winter 2014 - Epsilon Beta of Theta Tau

Epsilon Beta of Theta Tau—Wayne State University
The Corridor
APRIL 6, 2014
WINTER 2014
Regent’s Report
This is an interesting time
for our chapter. With many
of the older, more senior
members graduated and
only a few previous Eboard
members, Epsilon Beta had
the challenge of growing
future leaders out of members who either had little
experience on the matter, or
were newly initiated. We
have had our struggles, but
this chapter is the most
productive we have been in
nearly a decade.
As far as brotherhood is
concerned, new faces spark
new experiences. Considering engineers tend to take
longer to complete their
degrees the chapter was
composed of older members
that had already build
strong bonds with one another. As time passed the
average age of Epsilon Beta
dropped significantly and
we are in turn establishing a
stronger unity amongst
ourselves like what once
was. Aside from the usual
studying or bar nights, we
have gone urban exploring
to some of the many buildings around the city, we’ve
held beer tasting events
where we sample a multitude of liquid gold, and we
even utilized Campus Martius and went ice skating a
few times this winter. Turkey Bash was a successful,
smaller party with mostly
brothers, pledges, and alumni and we would like to
extend a thank you to those
alumni that attended the
potluck the weekend prior.
It was nice meeting brothers
we had never heard of before (including their lovely
wives) and as with potluck
dinners it was a wonderful
evening. All if all this past
Fall semester we have
grown closer as a chapter
and cannot wait for what
the Winter has in store.
Officers:
 Zachary Spitzer—Regent
 Christina Jaenisch—Vice
Regent
 Donald Spreder—Scribe
 Eric Busch—Treasurer
 Matthew Verkinderen—
Corresponding Secretary
 John Drabik—
Pledgemaster
In H&T,
Zachary “Buttercup” Spitzer, X!YY!RR!TT!
EB 483
Zachary Spitzer is in his Senior year, majoring in Industrial & Systems Engineering. He is also serving his
2nd semester as EB’s Regent. He has been a member since the Fall semester of 2009.
Professional Development
During the Fall 2013 semester, our chapter acquired new knowledge in
respect to three different
areas, both on a professional and social level.
A resume building workshop, led by Jessica
“Bovice” Corner (EB 481),
was scheduled for one day
a week for the month of
September at the College
of Engineering. Each day
taught participants a different section which ultimate-
ly led to professionally
constructing a resume. This
event was also open to the
University which helped us
out with our Rush.
In October, the brothers
participated in a closed
beer tasting at the house.
One of our brother’s old
boss from Jacoby’s German Biergarten came in to
educate us on the liquid
gold we call beer. Beer, it’s
what’s for dinner!
in November, hosted by
Ronald “Ronmiholic”
Michalak (EB 147). Ron
taught the brothers how to
dress professionally as a
man, as well as how to
choose the right fit and
look which included color
matching, accessories and
texture. The brothers are
looking forward to having
Ron as our guest speaker
for the 2014 Regional Conference which is being held
at Wayne State University.
Dress for Success was held
In H&T,
Eric “Zapp Brannigan” Kroepel, YY!VV! EB 494
Eric Kroepel is studying mechanical engineering while also residing in his third year of theta tau.
Inside this issue:
Regent’s Report
1
Professional Dev.
1
Public Service
2
Alumni Relations
2
Fall 2013 P.C.
3
House Manager
3
The Closer
4
THE CORRIDOR
Page 2
Public Service
Public service is a bit more solidified this semester as we are looking to stay close to the Wayne
State and Detroit area with our
cumulative efforts. We are working to maintain strong relations
with clark park and have also
fostered a nice connection with
Blight Busters. For those of you
who don’t know Blight Busters is
an organization devoted to ending
blight around Detroit, blight can
come in numerous forms such as
abandoned buildings and trash
heaps that have been getting
removed on regular intervals by
us and the other volunteers involved.
In the semester prior we volunteered once again to assist the
leukemia & lymphoma society for
the event “Light Up The Night” a
fundraising walk around an area
in downtown Ann Arbor. The purpose of if was to raise money for
Leukemia cures and patients. The
brothers helped set up for this
event by creating lanterns, setting
up volunteer tents, as well as
other miscellaneous tasks. This is
our second year in a row with
regard to Light the Night and we
hope to make this a yearly tradition of our chapter. We also broke
ground for our own charity fundraiser, which will take place in
April. This event will raise money
for testicular cancer.
The Mosey is on April 12th from
12pm-3pm.
In H&T,
Caleb “Dr. Hibbert” Latimer, W!TT!
EB495
Caleb Latimer is in his Junior year, majoring in Electrical & Computer Engineering. He is also serving as Marshall. He
has been a member since the Fall semester of 2011.
Alumni!
The fall 2013 semester was a
very active one for our alumni.
On top of our monthly poker
nights, taking place on the first
Friday of every month, we
also had our annual Thanksgiving potluck. We had two of
the non-recent alumni in attendance, Gregory Mullins
and Nimish Desai, who
brought delicious food and a
multitude of stories to help us
learn about our fraternal history and strengthen our multigenerational brotherly bonds.
In our continuous effort to
keep everyone informed about
fraternal goings-on, an accurate and comprehensive alumni list is necessary. If you wish
to update your address or
email within our records,
please email our current alumni chair, Matthew Verkinderen
at [email protected].
I would like to personally extend a thank you to Mr. Gregory Mullins for a substantial
donation he made to the fraternity. We appreciate you
kind gesture and have put the
money to use improving the
chapter.
We would like to thank our
alumni for their continued support and interest in our chapter and the brotherhood of
Theta Tau as a whole.
In H&T,
Christina “Mulligan” Jaenisch, Y!TT!
EB504
Christina Jaenisch is in her third year, majoring in Civil Engineering. This is her first semester as
Vice Regent. She has been a member since winter semester of 2013.
WINTER 2014
Page 3
Fall 2013 Pledge Class
On October 7th, 2013, our pledge
class of five was pinned, with little
knowledge of who each other were or
what was to come in the months
ahead of us. Step by step, day by
day, we faced the trials of pledging
together and began to form an idea of
what it meant to be brothers - first
with each other, and later with others
as we met and interviewed the active
members at the time. It was an overwhelming experience at times, but it
was incredible and unforgettable all
the same. We put countless hours into
setting up and playing parts in the
Theta Tau Annual Haunted House,
participating in a mixer with the
women of Alpha Epsilon Phi, helping
out with the Thanksgiving Potluck
and Turkey Bash, and even planning
and throwing a social event of our
own. We grew to love and respect the
house, putting in an entire weekend
of work to replacing and restoring the
cabinets and countertop in the kitchen. Throughout the months of pledging, we had the privilege of meeting
and talking with the amazing alumni
of this organization as well. Their
stories, as wild as they sometimes
were, inspired us all the more to
become brothers of Theta Tau. In the
end, we learned about the house, the
chapter, the fraternity, the brothers,
the alumni, and even ourselves. And
now, as of December 22nd, 2013, we
are proud to be able to call ourselves
brothers of this fraternity, brothers to
the individuals currently active, and
brothers to those who have long since
graduated. It was a life-changing
experience for all five of us, and we
will cherish the experience for as
long as we may live.
well, since cheap student-done
work hasn't really worked out so
well in the past.
this year. As much as I hate to
admit, due payments can only go
so far. Since this is one of the
biggest undertakings our chapter
will go through, we’re going to use
Kickstarter once we get an appropriate estimate. More details will
be sent out in the next couple
months, but until then, donations
are always welcome through paypal, mailed to our address, or
negotiated in person. Epsilon
Beta has gone through so much in
the past few years, dwarfing previous years’ accomplishments - and
this is only the beginning. Let us
make this house something new
and strong to be remembered by,
and proud to be a part of.
In H&T,
Nicholas Bely
Biomedical Engineering EB 506
Wylynn Crotts-Tomes
Mechanical Engineering EB 507
Maxwell Eiswerth
Mechanical Engineering EB 508
Justin Isrow
Electrical Engineering EB 509
Maxwell Laws
Biomedical Engineering EB 510
The House
It’s no secret that our big pink
house has been through a
lot. We have a very rich history
and many great stories of events
that have happened over the
years. Every time I speak to an
alumni I learn something new,
which I try to pass on. But how
much more can she take?
Despite all the destruction and
negligence our house has endured, we’d like to think our home
will last us forever. It all starts
with vision - vision shared between not only the people that live
here, but all new members, family
of members, and our local
friends. Enough people are
aware of our problems now that
we have decided to do something
about it. Over the next few
months, we’ll be coming up with
several plans of action to fix this
place up. We will have many
certified contractors coming out as
There are many things that need
to be done. From the inside to
out, lighting, wiring, painting,
structural and appliances need to
be taken into consideration. The
outside is where the we will be
focusing most of our efforts. We
will be power washing the building, repairing the roof, redoing the
lawn and parking lot before going
into a full fledged restoration of all
the supporting wooden structures
and repainting. A few other projects to be included might include
repairing and replacing windows
and knocking down and redoing
our storage room in the back
properly.
The schedule for planning is ongoing, however, we’d love to start
this before the end of the summer
In H&T,
Donald “Otto” Spreder, V!
EB 489
Don is in his fourth year of college, currently studying for a degree in Computer Science. He is the
current scribe of the fraternity.
Closing Note
Founder’s Day Formal:
Many events are in the making as of right now. The biggest one is a formal our chapter is creating on the National Founder’s Day to honor
Theta Tau as a whole while also recognizing our alumni. More information will be emailed at a later date once we have more details planned
out. We also plan on having frequent barbeques and some tournaments. Hope you don’t mind playing beer pong.
Nationals:
Nationals is being held in Fort Worth, Texas this summer from July 24-27. Eight brothers plan to attend, but an issue of finances has presented itself as an issue. Hotel, flight plans, service charges and fees equate to about $500 per person. That’s a hefty price that a college budget
cannot cover, so we’re asking for your help. For more information on how you can contribute, please contact Matthew Verkinderen by email at
[email protected].
Event Planning:
Over the course of this year, we plan on hosting multiple events to honor the alumni, as stated above. The biggest issue is that I’m only one
person, and someone will be filling my shoes once elections for the next academic year are over. If you would like us to host a certain event, or
have any ideas, please get in touch with me.
In H&T,
Matthew “Meat Sword” Verkinderen EB497 R!
Matthew is a junior in mechanical engineering while also in his third year of the chapter. He is the current corresponding secretary.
House Address:
478 W. Alexandrine
Detroit, MI 48201-1716
Website:
Ebthetatau.org
Paypal Link:
[email protected]
Active Brothers:
Eric “Butters” Busch, EB475, Electrical Engineering
Zachary “Buttercup” Spitzer, EB 483, Industrial Engineering
Jonathon “Felcher” Donigian, EB 488, Computer Engineering
Donald “Otto” Spreder, EB 489, Computer Science
Thomas “Chunks Oliver” Knoppe, EB 493, Electrical Engineering
Eric “Zapp Brannigan” Kroepel, EB 494, Mechanical Engineering
Caleb “Dr. Hibbert” Latimer, EB 495, Electrical Engineering
Matthew “Meat Sword” Verkinderen, EB 497, Mechanical Engineering
Anant “[]” Patel, EB 499, Chemical Engineering
Russell “Margerine” Busch, EB 500, Mechanical Engineering
Johnathon “Crash Test” Drabik, EB 501, Biomedical Engineering
Pradeep “Gomer Pyle” Bhat, EB 503, Computer Science
Christina “Mulligan” Jaenisch, EB 504, Civil Engineering
Anthony “Stick Shift” Lemmon, EB 505, Computer Science
Nicholas “Snickerdoodle” Bely, EB 506, Biomedical Engineering
Wylynn “Coyote” Crotts-Tomes, EB 507, Mechanical Engineering
Maxwell “Merry” Eiswerth, EB 508, Mechanical Engineering
Justin “Zoidberg” Isrow, EB 509, Electrical Engineering
Maxwell “Pippin” Laws, EB 510, Biomedical Engineering
Have a Wonderful Summer Gentlemen!