Spaghetti Dinner a Success

The kitchen at the house was stirring during the day of the 20th as actives and past Sweetheart’s together tackled the task of preparing a spaghetti dinner for prospective members, active brothers and alumni, from both Eta Iota and elsewhere.

As has become tradition, Alumni came to the house on this night to have an opportunity to speak with ERAU undergrads interested in our Fraternity and share some of the experiences that we have been fortunate enough to have as Sigma Chis. Among those in town included Jeff Fejfar and his fiancé, past International Sweetheart, Wendy Papson, Grand Praetor and past Chapter Advisor, Julio Varela, past Chapter Advisor Kent Krause, Roger Moody, Chris Edmondson, Bob Weisenseel, Brian Lojko, and myself. The night was a huge success due to preparation of the actives and the positive turnout of alumni to support the event. Special thanks again to everyone who’s hard work was very much appreciated, including Ryan Collins, Tommy Turfitt, Mark Nicalek, and past Eta Iota Sweethearts, Daphne Winegartner and Amy Misakonis.

Room 16 Discovery

Following the spaghetti dinner, the actives asked me to look at the ceiling in room 16 as it looked as though it was starting to come down along one seam in the drywall. Brian Lojko and I looked at it and suspected water damage from a leak in the roof or a busted pipe. To settle the mystery, we pulled down a small section of the loose drywall and were immediately presented with a scene from NBC’s Fear Factor as hundreds of carpenter ants fell from the infested insulation just above the ceiling. Both Lojko and I agreed as we watched the ants scurry across the carpet with larvae in tow that it was definitely one of the most disgusting events we had witnessed during our time at Eta Iota (and I had a rat die within the walls when I lived in room 10).

A full can of ant & roach spray combined with Crazy Bob armed with a wooden paddle made quick work of the pests as we tore down more and more of the ceiling to investigate the extent of the damage. The following morning, Brian and I worked to pull down the remainder of the ceiling to prepare for the replacement. It turned out that there was fairly significant damage to a couple of the ceiling joists that caused the drywall to start coming loose. It’s unclear at this point if the damage was solely caused by the ants or was done by past termites prior to the ’95 tenting and extermination.

Estimates from local contractors pinned the repair costs at about $1,000 more or less to replace the damaged wood and drywall. A couple of the pledges however have run contracting/renovation businesses in the past and have volunteered to showcase their skills and run this as a pledge class project resulting in a significant cost savings for House Corp. The work started on 9/28 and so far has progressed very well with professional results.

For complete pictures of the progress, check out the room 16 page.

Budget Overview

With the recent issues regarding our insurance coverage through RMF and things like the above repair work to room 16, I think it’s important for everyone to know about our operating budget.

As you can imagine, House Corp operates on a tight budget but we have obviously taken that to new levels. Highlights of the current budget for 2002-2003 are as follows:

Revenue
Rent ($4750*8months)	$38,000
Expenses
Mortgage	$20,640
Insurance	$13,000
Maintenance	$3,000
Postage & mailings	$850

Our only source of operating income is rent collected by the actives at a monthly rate of $4,750 for the 8 months out of the year they pay rent to House Corp. Some may ask about the 1855 Club income but that is not considered operating income as that money is set aside for long-term savings and not used to support annual expenses.

As you can see, with insurance being as much as it is, we don’t have much room for extensive maintenance funds so we are forced to be more mindful than ever of how and when things are being fixed or replaced. The actives have been cooperative so far although the year is still young and we will certainly be testing our resourcefulness by the end of the spring and into next summer.

Much like the airlines, we are financially blessed with having had several years of profitability to help us endure any modest crisis. We will continue to keep our tabs on our costs and work closely with the undergrads to keep the house maintained within our means. As I stated before, our fundraising does not go into our operating budget. If you would like to make a financial donation specifically to the chapter’s maintenance fund, please contact us:

John Banta
214-979-0850

Mike Gehman
508-883-2673
mikegehman@attbi.com

Joining The 1855 Club

As we covered in the latest newsletter, we’ve made it even easier to join the 1855 Club with an online payment option where you elect to pay in a single lump sum with a credit card. Membership options start at just 9.28 per month or $111.30 annually. Be sure to see The 1855 Club page for complete information.

Etaiota.org Guest Book

Looking for a way to waste some time at work? Check up on recent messages from our bothers on our chapter’s virtual guest book or leave your own for others to read. You can also provide your email address from this page so that any new updates are sent to you automatically so no need to keep visiting the page to check for updates.

This and much more right from the homepage at etaiota.org.

Guard Well,

John Banta
Eta Iota House Corp President

October Birthdays

As always, Happy Birthday to those Eta Iota Brothers celebrating in October:
10/01 David Newman ’73
10/02 Mark Burroughs ’79
10/02 Eric Hockman ’90
10/02 Christopher Koerner ’05
10/04 Bob Sween ’72
10/04 Roger Gross “Bullfrog ” ’93
10/05 Seth Downs ’92
10/05 Chris Marrero “Flobee ” ’99
10/06 Ross Stearn “R-Ross ” ’86
10/06 Ed Lowry ’99
10/07 Dan Moquin ’94
10/08 Nicholas Nesta Jr “Nick ” ’85
10/09 Robert Hartley ’74
10/09 Jim Furman ’73
10/09 Michael J. Remmert “Remy ” ’89
10/10 Bussey Allsup “Buzz ” ’71
10/10 Ryan Steffey “Pie ” ’93
10/10 Patrick McKelvey “Mefesto ” ’01
10/11 James Javurek “Jamie ” ’79
10/11 Jeff Hosler ’91
10/12 Terry Roberts ’71
10/12 Jon Brickner ’90
10/12 Allen Cassino “Fingers ” ’96
10/13 Randall L. Cohen “Randy ” ’85
10/13 James W. Dillon “Jim ” ’83
10/14 Steve Gregory ’78
10/14 William T. Reynolds II “Toby ” ’91
10/16 Phil Williams ’91
10/16 Mark Lester Que “Mooch ” ’05
10/17 Mitch Nimey ’91
10/18 Scott Card “Relish ” ’01
10/18 Bret Bergman ’05
10/19 Walt Hansen ’73
10/19 Jon Kalic “Doubletake ” ’92
10/20 Tom Costello ’87
10/20 Chad Denlinger ’95
10/20 Thomas Maugeri Jr “Cliff Claven ” ’99
10/21 Michael Read ’95
10/22 John Ferguson ’75
10/22 Brad Nunn ’81
10/23 Shawn Lowe ’99
10/23 John Haszard ’72
10/23 John Banta ’96
10/24 Michael Pelosi III ’81
10/24 John Emhoff “Quiver ” ’99
10/24 Rob Papandrea “Tic Tac ” ’00
10/26 Jason Alan Kreisher “Sea Bass ” ’05
10/27 Michael Wyble “Mike ” ’77
10/27 Michael Libonati “Mike ” ’82
10/28 Greg Bull ’76
10/28 Micheal J. Plapp “Mike / Doc ” ’79
10/29 Chris Holloway ’81
10/29 Todd Lake ’83
10/30 Chuck Hall ’89
10/30 Pete Cameron “Roxanne ” ’03
10/31 Scott Ekey ’82
10/31 Jonathan Walrath “Lawn Dart ” ’02