August, 2000

Brothers,

The purpose of the House Corporation (as I see it) is two-fold:

1. Provide adequate housing for the undergraduate chapter at a reasonable price
2. Provide programs to our chapter alumni aimed at helping each of us retain the Spirit of Youth and maintain the strong ties of brotherhood that we forged as undergraduates.

Having stated our purpose from a high-level perspective, let me give you some detail on each of these challenges.

The current state of our house is less than satisfactory. The house has become somewhat of a money pit. House Corp.'s short-term goal is to make the house self-sufficient. By that I mean that the maintenance and capital item replacement schedule will be solely funded by the undergraduates' mortgage payments. The long-term goal of the House Corporation is to find a better solution to our housing needs. Both goals will take some time and resources.

The Board of Directors believes that we can achieve the first goal within two years. This maybe somewhat ambitious but we have made significant progress over the six months since taking office. We have overhauled the budget, adjusted the undergrads' montly rent to be more in line with university and local housing costs, and have agreed upon a revised maintenance and supporting finance plan. However the plan will not be complete until we make the current house a more attractive place to live for the undergraduates. This will require funds in excess of the current budget so that the necessary improvements can be realized in the near term. Most of the improvements are simple: new carpet, drywall, paint, air-conditioners, and refurbishing the bathrooms. Some problems, as rare as they may be, are considerably more extensive, like structural problems, electrical and plumbing.

Our long-term goal is to find a better solution to the undergraduates' housing needs. This will require a significant amount of money for planning and construction or purchase. What better way to insure our future success than by saving for a rainy day. We would benefit by having capital available so that we could work with Delta Chi in their attempts to lobby the school to a solution to our housing needs.

As with everything else, your House Corporation has renewed its commitment to providing regular correspondence, directories, and with the upcoming 30th Birthday celebration on the horizon, one BIG-ASS PARTY!!! Some of these programs will also require a small amount of funding in order to be successful.

1855 Club:
Many of you are already participating in the chapter's new fundraising intitiative, The 1855 Club, and we thank you. For those of you who are still unsure about where the money is going and whether or not it will be properly allocated, let us explain our plan for how to use the funds. As we've indicated above, the current house needs work and while we're moving towards a self-sufficient environment, we are in need of immediate resources in order to accomplish our short-term goals. As this program will be in its infancy this year and next year, we've allocated the majority of the money to go towards immediate maintenance needs. As we move into 2002 and beyond, less of the money is planned for maintenance and we will concentrate on a long-term savings initiative for the new house.

Expected Allocation:

	Maint.	HC Ops	Savings
2000-2001	80%	20%
2002-2003	60%	20%	20%
2004- ~	20%	20%	60%

We've made it very easy to get involved with this program, simply check out your options online at etaiota.org/1855club

As always, please contact either of us if you have any questions or comments concerning your House Corporation.

Guard Well,
John Banta