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Delta Sigma Phi | Spring 2010 Delta Sigs Making an Impact in the Visual Arts

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The Spring 2010 issue of The Carnation magazine includes alumni profiles, a Feature on Delta Sigs in the Visual Arts, and a number of stories about Delta Sigs making the world better through their work. This issue is to begin being mailed May 1, 2010.

TRANSCRIPT

Delta Sigma Phi | Spring 2010

Delta Sigs Making an Impact in the Visual Arts

2 T H E C A R N AT I O N | D E LTA S I G . O R G

letter from the editor

Brothers,

Leadership. It’s a term we talk about often in Delta Sigma Phi, but I

can’t help but wonder if everyone understands that being aleader isn’t incumbent upon having a title… You don’t haveto be the top person in your company or even your depart-ment to be a leader. You can be the lowest on the totem poleso to speak, yet still lead.

This became clearer and clearer to me as I attended DeltaSigma Phi’s Regional Leadership Academies this January. Ihad the pleasure of co-facilitating a planning and goalsetting session for new members at the Chicago RLA. Inthat session, I met and spoke with brothers who had recentlyinitiated, yet they were talking about the numerous thingsthey’d already done to make their chapters better. It wasrefreshing, and I was proud that our newest brothers werealready leaders even without the executive board titles.

As I was looking through our plans for this issue of TheCarnation, a theme of leadership became evident. As youread this issue, I hope you’ll keep in mind the fact that lead-ers come in all shapes and sizes, from all walks of life and inmany different disciplines. You’ll meet a number of brothersthroughout this issue that are leading in different areas of theworld, all of whom have one thing in common – DeltaSigma Phi.

For instance, on pages 9-14, you’ll read our feature storyabout brothers in the visual arts. It encapsulates a number ofdifferent disciplines with brothers leading in each of them.In our Health & Fitness section, you’ll meet Dave Franks,East Carolina ’79, who along with co-workers, is leading thedevelopment of a gaming system to help kids with autismcommunicate more effectively. Franks has three children

with autism, and has taken it upon himself to help them andthe millions of others with autism have better lives.

In our Business & Finance section, you’ll meet a leaderwith a title – Mark McCutcheon, Auburn ’74, who serves aspresident and CEO of Golden Flake Snack Foods. OurLeadership & Education section speaks for itself with a storyby regular contributor Jim Lucas, Missouri S&T ’69.

Our Tech Trends section includes a piece written byBrendan Crowell, Georgia Tech ’04, a graduate student whois leading a research study on using GPS technology tomeasure early earthquake signs. In Sports, we’ll talk to threebrothers from the same chapter who’ve had amazing successas high school football coaches in the Midwest.

To close the issue, we’ll get a glimpse into a day in thelife of Brandon Carroll, Virginia Tech ’08, the president ofVirginia Tech’s student body, and read a story by BrianBeaupied, Grand Valley State ’06, who along with threeother chapter brothers, is working on the campaign toelect a fellow chapter brother to a seat in the MichiganState House.

This issue is full of stories on leadership, and I hopeyou enjoy reading each of them. As always, if you have anycomments on the magazine, please contact me at [email protected] or (317) 634-1899 x425.

I remain…

YITBOS,

Bruce Hammond, Ohio Northern ’98Editor

3S P R I N G 2 0 1 0

Letters to the Editor

General Comments on the Fall2009 Issue

It was fun playing Where’s Waldo with

myself in the Convention picture. You

should’ve written an article on our (Zeta

Omicron) 35 hour (70 round trip) drive to

Convention. Now THAT’s a pilgrimage!

YITBOS,

Hugo Diaz (via Facebook)

CSU East Bay ’05

Editor’s Note: Undergraduate brothers from

the Zeta Omicron Chapter at CSU East

Bay drove from Hayward, California to

the 2009 Convention site in St. Louis,

Missouri. It WAS a pilgrimage that we’re

sure none of them will soon forget!

Responses to The Etiquetteof FlyingYou’ve probably sparked a whole list of

complaints from frequent travelers, but

here’s my latest and greatest. When an

airline boards by zones, rows, etc., stay

seated or out of the way until yours is

called. Don’t stand in the boarding area,

in the way of people trying to board,

vying for the first space in your section.

And especially, don’t get in line trying to

“time” when your zone or row will be

called and then step out when you get

to the podium and it hasn’t! The plane

isn’t going to leave until everyone has

boarded, people.

YITBOS,

Mark Shaw

Georgia Tech ’90

Never lean your seat back if there is a

person in the seat behind you. I always

thought this was common etiquette

knowledge, but recent overseas travels

have shown me otherwise. No one

wants to fly twelve hours to Italy with

your seat crushing their kneecaps.

YITBOS,

Benjamin Finkel

Oswego State ’98

In terms of airport procedure, my big

belief is to smile and be friendly to air-

port staff – you catch a lot more flies

with honey than you do with vinegar.

They are not going to help you very

much if you’re acting like an idiot.

When going through security, I always

have my boarding pass and ID out for

the initial TSA rep. When I approach

the line, I remove my belt and shoes

and then put my watch and pocket

items in one of my shoes. I always grab

two trays, one for my laptop and the

other for my shoes, belt and jacket.

The second container also holds any

liquid or gel prescription items that

might otherwise be deemed too big to

travel with. I walk through the security

frame with my hands up, holding my

boarding pass. I think if people were

aware and proactive about getting

through the security line, it would be

a lot easier and less stressful.

YITBOS,

Terrence Donovan

High Point ’90

Opposites Come Together toLead at Fox

I enjoyed the article on Dean Hallett

and Keith Feldman at Fox, however,

USC is definitely not a public universi-

ty as claimed in the article. The

University of Southern California is a

private school and is not part of the

California university or college system.

I just wanted to set things straight.

YITBOS,

Ron Winkler

UC Berkeley ’65

Editor’s Note: This is one we totally missed.

According to its web site, USC “is one of the

world’s leading private research universities.”

We apologize for the mistake.

Have comments about a story or on the

magazine in general? We’d welcome your

feedback by e-mail at [email protected] or

on our new Facebook Fan Page dedicated

to The Carnation by going to

www.facebook.com/thecarnation.

Editor’s Note: It was pointedout to us that we failed to

properly mention or congratulatethe 2009 winners of the Harvey

H. Hebert Awards in the Fall2009 story about the Convention.

The four winners of the HebertAward in 2009 were:

Tony Blanton, Transylvania ’85Chris Northern, Texas ’77Jim Rath, UW Oshkosh ’71

Scott Wiley, Oswego State ’97

We regret the oversight, andcongratulate these outstanding

brothers who received one of theFraternity’s top alumni awards.

4 T H E C A R N AT I O N | D E LTA S I G . O R G

9

18Health & Fitness – Del Worthington’sEfforts in Haiti

Feature: Delta Sigs inthe Visual Arts

28Sports – A Cradle of HighSchool Football Coaches

Contents

DEPARTMENTS2 Letter from the Editor3 Letters to the Editor6 News Feed8 Fraternity Confidential9 Feature: Delta Sigs in the

Visual Arts15 Business & Finance18 Health & Fitness

24 Leadership & Education26 Tech Trends28 Sports32 A Day in the Life34 In Their Own Words36 Books by Brothers38 I Spy Delta Sigma Phi39 Bond Eternal

Mission: The Carnation is a lifestyle magazine meant to entertain, educate and inspire the members of Delta Sigma Phi to become better men and lead better lives, while also educatingand entertaining other readers who may not be members.

EditorBruce Hammond, Ohio Northern ’98

Contributing WritersBrian Beaupied, Grand Valley State ’06Brandon Carroll, Virginia Tech ’08Keith Cecil, Transylvania ’99Brendan Crowell, Georgia Tech ’04James R. Lucas, Missouri S&T ’69

Art DirectorShelle Design Incorporated

Address publication materials and correspondence with national office to:Delta Sigma Phi1331 North Delaware StreetIndianapolis, IN 46202(317) 634-1899FAX: (317) 634-1410E-mail: [email protected]: www.deltasig.org

THE CARNATION OF DELTA SIGMA PHI(USPS 091-020), official publication ofDelta Sigma Phi, 1331 N. Delaware St.,Indianapolis, IN 46202, is publishedsemiannually. Publication postage paidat Indianapolis, IN and additional mailing offices.

Postmaster: Send address changes toTHE CARNATION OF DELTA SIGMA PHI,1331 N. Delaware St., Indianapolis, IN46202. Subscription price to non-membersis $8.00 per year. Single copies $3.00.

Copyright 2010 by the Delta Sigma Phi Fraternity; 1331 N. Delaware St.,Indianapolis, IN 46202. No part of thispublication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted inany form or by any means, mechanical,electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the copyright owner.

THE CARNATION® and Delta Sigma Phi®

are registered trademarks of Delta SigmaPhi Fraternity, Inc.

www.deltasig.org

CARNATIONTHE

5S P R I N G 2 0 1 0

News Feed

Fraternity Leadership Training Continues

Since the last issue of The Carnation,Delta Sigma Phi has continued itsimpressive march toward becomingAmerica’s Leading Fraternity. The lead-ership of the Fraternity feels as thoughproviding top notch leadership trainingopportunities for our undergraduate menis the first step in that process, and has continuedto make developing these opportunities a top priority.

In fact, during the Fall semester, Delta Sigma Phiunveiled new online webinars for undergraduate leaders togain knowledge on a number of different chapter operationsand personal development topics. In the program’s initialrollout, over 200 brothers took part in these sessions.

As 2010 began, the annual Winter leadership trainingprograms took place, including The Summit and theRegional Leadership Academies. The third annual Summitprogram trained over 180 undergraduate chapter presidentsand recruitment chairmen the weekend of January 8-10 inIndianapolis. With 85% attendance from the Fraternity’schapters and colonies, many of our chapters will be betterprepared to head into the Fall 2010 recruitment period ona high note.

Throughout the remainder of January and early February,the Fraternity also hosted five Regional LeadershipAcademies across the country that trained nearly 800undergraduate leaders and alumni volunteers from acrossthe country. Add that to the 180 at the Summit and the 200in the webinars, and just since the last time The Carnationmailed, the Fraternity has trained nearly 1,200 men.

For more information on the Fraternity’s events, go online:http://www.deltasig.org/about/history/meetings_and_events.

2010 Membership Directory Work Underway

As it has every five years, Delta Sigma Phi is in the midst ofdeveloping its 2010 bound Membership Directory. Datagathering efforts began in early February and will continuethroughout 2010.

According to Executive Director, Scott Wiley, “We areexcited to again be partnering with Harris Connect to devel-op a membership directory for our alumni. This is an excel-lent opportunity for Delta Sigs to connect and engage withtheir fellow brothers from across the country, and I’d like toencourage all of our alumni to participate in the data gather-ing process so our 2010 membership directory can be asaccurate as possible.”

Since you’re receiving this magazine, you will likely alsobegin receiving postcards asking you to call a toll-free num-ber to verify your contact information for the directory.Please take a few moments to do so, as this will allow theFraternity to provide as much correct information to yourbrothers as possible. This will also help the Fraternity cleanits data to better serve members.

Should you have questions about the directoryproject, please feel free to call the Fraternity’s Director ofCommunications, Bruce Hammond, at (317) 634-1899x425, or e-mail him at [email protected].

Attendees of the 2010 Summit listen attentively tothe presenters.

Sam Jabara, Nick Lessnau, Chris Atallah, and MarkStevenson from Alpha Tau Chapter at Albion at the 2010Chicago RLA.

6 T H E C A R N AT I O N | D E LTA S I G . O R G

News Feed

Fall 2009 Expansion Projects ExtremelySuccessful

Returning to two campuses where the Fraternity previouslyhad a presence, Delta Sigma Phi’s Fall 2009 expansionprojects were great successes.

Eastern Michigan Universityis the home of 45 recruits whomake up the Gamma Tau Colony.After being gone from campus since 2006, Fraternity staffmembers spent approximately six weeks in Ypsilanti,Michigan recruiting men for the recolonization.

Colorado State Universitywelcomed Delta Sigma Phi backafter a five year hiatus duringFall 2009. During the expansionprocess, 52 new members were recruited to start the ThetaZeta Colony. A mixture of freshmen and older students makeup this group of men who were interested in a differentFraternity experience than was available on their campus.

According to Executive Director, Scott Wiley, “We’reextremely excited to have returned to these two campuses,and are looking forward to these groups becoming the top groupsin their respective Greek communities in the near future.”

Both of the new colonies are supported by excellentalumni volunteers, all of whom have dedicated themselvesto serving as mentors and advisors to the undergraduatemembers as they develop into chartered Delta Sigma Phichapters. If you’re in either of these areas and are interestedin assisting, please contact Regional Director, Ry Beck, [email protected].

Delta Sig Supports CHIA Along with OtherGreek Organizations

In January, Delta Sigma Phi, along with a number of otherGreek letter organizations, asked alumni members in thestate of Ohio to urge their U.S. Senators to sponsor SenateBill 781 – the Collegiate Housing Infrastructure Act. Thisact is meant to make college more affordable by preservingnot-for-profit student housing, such as Fraternity housing.

According to the web site of the Capital FraternalCaucus, a group that represents fraternities and sororities inWashington, DC, “A quirk in the tax laws allows collegesand universities to use charitable contributions to build andmaintain student housing while preventing other not-for-profit student housing entities from doing the same thing.”

The web site continued, “The Collegiate Housing andInfrastructure Act erases this disparity, allowing taxdeductible contributions to not-for-profit student housing

entities such as fraternity and sorority foundations to beused for the same purposes that a college or universitycould use such contributions.”

The outreach effort by numerous members of fraternitiesand sororities in the state of Ohio led to U.S. SenatorSherrod Brown adding his name as a sponsor to the bill.At press time, Senator George Voinovich had yet to signon a sponsor, but it is the hope of the caucus, includingDelta Sigma Phi, that he will sign on soon.

To see how you can support this effort in your state,go to the Capital Fraternal Caucus’ web site athttp://www.fraternalcaucus.org/.

Longtime Former Delta Sig Executive Directorto Retire

Former Fraternity Executive DirectorAllen James, NC State ’65, hasannounced that he will retire in thethird quarter of 2010. Since 1991,James has served as the Presidentof Responsible Industry for a SoundEnvironment (RISE), a nationaltrade association representingthe manufacturers, formulatorsand distributors of pesticide andfertilizer products.

As he did during his time as Delta Sig’s ExecutiveDirector from 1978-1987, James made quite an impact asthe leader of RISE. In fact, a new award called the E. AllenJames Award will be presented annually starting in 2010 tohonor an individual who makes outstanding contributionsto the specialty pesticide and fertilizer industry.

According to Bill Culpepper, president and CEO ofSePRO Corp, who was also one of the founders of RISE anda member of the initial search committee that hired Jamesas RISE’s President in 1991, “Allen is an incredibly giftedleader who has done a great amount for RISE as an organiza-tion and for the industry as a whole. He has exceeded allexpectations with the things he has accomplished sincejoining RISE, and his professionalism and consistent qualityof work have become the trademark of the organizationmoving forward.”

Delta Sigma Phi’s outstanding undergraduate award wasnamed for James in the late 1980s, just as RISE has recog-nized his success with its own award. James continues tovolunteer regularly for Delta Sigma Phi as an alumni advisorto the Rho Chapter at North Carolina State University andin other ad hoc roles. He will return to North Carolina uponhis retirement.

James

7S P R I N G 2 0 1 0

Fraternity Confidential

The Fraternity recently asked its chap-ters and colonies to nominate their toprecruiters in an effort to identify theorganization’s leading experts onrecruitment. After 70 names were sub-mitted, The Carnation talked to a few ofthem who attended The Summit tolearn more about recruiting today’scollege students.

The Carnation: What is the mostimportant aspect of recruitment inyour eyes?Nick Naddaf, Illinois State ’08: I thinkthe most important part is gettingeveryone involved. A lot of people stopwhen they get older thinking they havepaid their debt, or even just after formalrush is over. Recruitment really needsto be going on all year by everyone.

Andy Bremer, Oregon ’07: I agree withNick in terms of getting everyoneinvolved. The hardest part about beinga Recruitment Chairman is when youhave all of these people around youwho aren’t doing anything. It puts allthe pressure on you. On top of that,recruitment is about understanding whoyour key recruiters are in the chapter.Sharing the workload with the work-horses that you know will be there isalso important.

The Carnation: What are some traitsof an effective recruiter?Henry Negrete, San Jose State ’07: Itis important to have knowledge about

your brothers so you can introducethem to a potential member that mighthave similar interests with them. Thiscan also come in handy when a poten-tial member might have the same issuewith joining that a previous brotherhad. For example, we had a brotherwho pledged another fraternity beforeus and dropped because of hazing.When a potential member brought hisfear of being hazed up, we had him talkto our brother who used to have thesame fear.

Naddaf: To be an effective recruiter, Ifirst think you need to be ambitious andnot a procrastinator. You have to workhard. Secondly, you need to be extreme-ly outgoing and be able to meet andinteract with a lot of different people.Lastly, I think recruitment is all aboutsales, and you need to be able to sellyour chapter. In Greek Life, it’s a bunchof different groups competing for thesame guys, so you need to be able to dif-ferentiate your chapter from the others.

Bremer: I think you need to buy intowhat Greek Life is on your campus, andthen believe and live by the values ofthe Fraternity. You can’t get someoneto join if they’re not sold on Greek Lifein general. I think being open is alsoextremely important, because some-times people are not what they seemwhen you first meet them. There aretimes when I meet someone, and it’snot until the end of the term that I

really think they’d be a great brother –perhaps even a future president. Beopen and look for the good in people.

The Carnation: Are you using anynew recruitment techniques to spreadthe word about the organization?Naddaf: We have set up a FacebookGroup, which has been a lot of work,but we had around 200 people whojoined the group. We also use personal-ized text messaging to reach out torecruits when we are working on them.It’s been a great way to connect withthem since everyone texts these days.

Bremer: Facebook is definitely impor-tant. I comment on a lot of posts wherepeople are talking about Greek Life. Iwould link to our Facebook Group andto our web site. Having the web sitewas also key. We have one that is inpretty good shape and is updated oftenwith a contact form on it, which setsus apart from the other organizationson our campus. We also use the textmessaging stuff that Nick talked about,and just began using something for ourweb site called Chapterspot, whichincludes a recruitment section. Lastly,we used YouTube to post our AnchorSplash videos, which was helpful forpeople to be able to find out about us.

RECRUITMENTFROM THE PROS

8 T H E C A R N AT I O N | D E LTA S I G . O R G

The Carnation: What have you foundundergraduates on your college cam-puses are looking for these days intheir Fraternity experience, and howcan that be instructive to others acrossthe country?Negrete: A lot of the undergraduates inmy chapter are looking for the brother-hood. This is common among guys whoare far away from home and have avoid to fill with missing family andfriends. Oftentimes they are just look-ing for somewhere to belong, and forsome Delta Sig is that place.

Naddaf: The perk of our chapter is thebrotherhood aspect, much like whatHenry said. The way we treat peoplewho we meet is also a big perk. Thething I most remember from when I wasgoing through recruitment was the wayI was treated, and thinking that whenI go to Delta Sigma Phi, they giveeveryone a fair chance no matter whatyou look like or what your beliefs are.

Bremer: In addition to what these guyssaid, I think what sets my chapter apartin recruiting today’s students are all ofthe leadership opportunities available.The fact that we have been involvedon campus and visible has been an assetto our recruiting.

The Carnation: What are two piecesof advice you’d give to other chaptersabout being successful in recruitment?Naddaf: First, never give up on apotential member. Second, get every-one involved, because the difference

that everyone working together canhave as opposed to one person workingby himself can be exponential.

Bremer: Specifically to recruitmentchairmen, just realize that planningand preparation are great, but nothingwill ever go exactly according to plan.Recruitment is a lot of go with the flow,which is ok.

Negrete: I’d say the first piece of adviceis to know your strengths. If you are notgood at approaching strangers then trytalking to guys you already know.Second, don’t be afraid. The worst thatcan happen is someone will say no.

As the interview concluded, Naddafadded one final thing that is the perfectway to end this piece: “Hopefully a lotof people will be reading this, but everyuniversity is different. You can takethese ideas, and then mold them toyour own campus and chapter to makethem work for you.”

DELTA SIGFact or Fiction

Are the following statements about

Delta Sigma Phi fact or fiction?

Answers may be found on page

39, on the same page as the list

of Bond Eternal brothers.

1. A Delta Sig invented Big League

Chew, the shredded bubble gum

in a pouch.

2. A Delta Sig holds the patent for

the athletic shoulder sling that you

oftentimes see players wearing after

suffering a separated shoulder.

3. A Delta Sig is the only kicker to ever

be named MVP in the NFL.

4. Two current NFL coaches who are

both Delta Sigs were roommates

in college.

5. A Delta Sig founded the business

newspaper called Investor’s

Business Daily.

6. A Delta Sig is currently on the

Supreme Court in two states.

7. Delta Sig’s tallest known alumnus

is 6’6”.

8. Delta Sig alumni have the same

name as ten past presidents of

the U.S.

Do you have recruitment tips

to share with brothers? Go to

The Carnation’s Facebook

Fan Page to make your

voice heard. We will print

some of your comments in

the Fall 2010 issue. Go to

www.facebook.com/thecarnation.

Well, it’s years and years later now, andmost of us have long since put thosepaint brushes, colored pencils, andmarkers down. However, there are agreat number of people who haven’t,and who make a daily living throughthe arts. Later in the story, we’ll tellyou about a few Delta Sigs making aliving and an impact in the visual arts,a chapter who annually competes in acontest related to the visual arts, and abrother who is an ardent supporter ofthe arts through volunteerism and phi-lanthropy.

But first, did you know that as of2009, an Americans for the Arts studyshowed that there were 686,076 arts

businesses in the U.S. that employed2.8 million creative workers? Prettyamazing, right?

Did you know that the economicimpact of the non-profit art industry is $166.2 billion according to anotherAmericans for the Arts study, and thatthe arts generate approximately $29.6billion in tax revenue?

Did you know that only 1.4% of students with a high level of artsinvolvement drop out of school bygrade 10, as opposed to 4.8% of stu-dents who have low arts involvement,and that in 2008, students with fouryears of arts classes outperformed non-arts students by 85 points on

the SAT according to a study byThe College Board?

The fact is that the arts are animportant part of the fabric of our society. As you take a look at the following pages where we talk to someDelta Sigs either doing or supportingthe visual arts specifically, we hopeyou’ll keep in mind how importantthey are, and potentially think abouthow they affect you on a daily basis.Please feel free to share your thoughtswith us on our Facebook page atwww.facebook.com/thecarnation,or by e-mailing the editor [email protected].

S P R I N G 2 0 1 0 9

Think back to when you were in elementary school, and you picked up the paint

brush to develop your first watercolor masterpiece. If you were like many kids

that age, it made you proud to be able to take it home and show your family

what a great artist you were. Yet your pride was likely no match for how proud

your family was.

10 T H E C A R N AT I O N | D E LTA S I G . O R G

Now, learn more about our first DeltaSig Artist, Derek Anderson, IowaState ’88.

DEREK ANDERSON– NEW YORKTIMES BESTSELLINGCHILDREN’SBOOK ILLUSTRATOR

For Derek Anderson, Iowa State ’88, ittook a lot of time and effort to be ableto make a living from his passion for illustration, and a lot of rejections too.After all of the hard work, however,Anderson has made a significantimpact in his lifelong passion, as aNew York Times bestselling illustratorof children’s books.

Anderson’s passion for art and illustration goes back all the way tokindergarten. He had drawn a pictureof an Easter Bunny, and his principalhung it on his office wall for theremainder of the school year. Proud of his accomplishment, he went on and in second grade, he recalls the first story that he was able to write,about a pirate ship. He has not stopped writing or drawing since.

Growing up, while some peopleidolized athletes or movie stars,Anderson idolized Charles Schulz, the creator and illustrator of thePeanuts comic strip, even meeting the well known artist before he died.Anderson said, “He was so nice, but it was one of those moments where Ididn’t know what to say to my idol.”

As he was making his way throughhis young life, drawing and illustrationbecame, and still remain, an instinctualpart of his life. He has always beenstruck graphically by things and people,and because of this, he has looked atthe world in a different way than manyothers. In fact, one of the things thathe enjoys doing the most is peoplewatching, because he can record little

nuances in his mind that he can thenuse in his illustrations in the future.Some of those nuances include thingsthat people wear, mustaches and beardsthat look interesting, or the shape of aface or nose.

“An illustrator’s mind needs to belike a bank, constantly storing imagery,because when we go to the easel, wecan’t stop to think ‘now how does lighthit the corner of the room if it’s shiningfrom this side’,” he said. “I’m constantlylooking at those things and rememberingthem so when I do go to the easel, it’s automatic.”

His ideas and inspiration come fromeveryday interactions with people. Hemight hear something that someone is saying and turn it into the name ofone of his characters, or might seesomething that he can utilize in one of his illustrations in the future. He carries sketchbooks often writing downideas, and is always looking for inspira-tion that he can use. “If you’re a creative person, and that’s your line of work, you learn to look for ideaseverywhere,” he said.

And while artists may look at theworld in a different way than manypeople, finding ideas and inspirationwhere others might not, Anderson isquick to point out that everyone hasartistic ability early in life. He says thatfor some reason, a lot of people let thatability go. Kids’ imaginations are anamazing thing, and authors and illustra-

tors grow up holding on to that creativity and imagination.

Anderson said, “I still have that six year old boy in me, and I look atthe world with that sense of awe andwonder. When you don’t let that go,you’re constantly wondering aboutthings, and that’s where stories comefrom – that curiosity.”

After graduating from Iowa Statewith his degree in Fine Art, with an emphasis in drawing, printing and printmaking, Anderson began submitting his work to publishers inNew York. It was a lot of hard workmarketing his illustrations and tookyears and a number of rejections beforehe got a deal. A few years after he started his marketing efforts, he went toNew York to meet with publishers faceto face with a portfolio. Two weeks afterthat trip, he finally got his first deal, a

Copyright ©2010 Derek Anderson from the book HOT ROD HAMSTER(Scholastic Press) by Cynthia Lord and Derek Anderson

Copyright ©2010 Derek Anderson from the book HOT ROD HAMSTER(Scholastic Press) by Cynthia Lord and Derek Anderson

S P R I N G 2 0 1 0

Random House Step into Readingbook called Ready? Set. Raymond!

Quickly thereafter, he began hisnext project, his first picture bookcalled Little Quack. That was when hefinally hit the big leagues, as he neededto put together 20-30 illustrations inthe same style, palette and character.“It was scary,” he said. “I didn’t know ifI could do it, but I believed I could andpulled it off. That really set everythingin motion for me.”

The process for illustrating a book isan interesting one. In fact, the timelineis approximately two years from whenthe contract is signed until the book isready to go. It includes conceptualizinghow the characters will look, whichAnderson said may take 200-300 triesbefore it’s exactly right. Then come thethumbnail sketches where he figuresout the composition for each page, andthen he develops the final sketchesthat he sends to the publisher. He thenpaints the book.

Interestingly, Anderson says that hisjob is not just to illustrate the author’swords. “As an illustrator, your job is tobring a world to life. A lot of times, wecreate visual arcs within pictures thatdon’t exist in the words. Throughout theprocess, I have to keep track of every little thing in that world I created, andI’m always thinking about those smalldetails as I’m working on the book.”

He doesn’t use computers in hiswork. He manually draws and paintseach and every illustration he doesbecause he likes the tactile feeling ofputting the brush to paper. There areno 40-hour workweeks, and really noweekends either when he’s working ona deadline.

The best part about his job is thefeedback he gets from kids either by e-mail on his web site or at some of thetalks that he gives. The Little Quackbooks have been translated into ninelanguages, and are reaching kids allover the world. “I got an e-mail from alittle girl in Japan once, and it waswritten in the sweetest broken English

about how she loved Little Quack, that she had three of the books and she carried them everywhere she went.That’s a really amazing thing that I amreaching a child that far away and thatthey’re enjoying the work,” he said.

Since he began his career in illustration,New York Times Best Selling IllustratorDerek Anderson has written and/or illustrated 15 children’s books. In March,his latest book called Hot Rod Hamstercame out to rave reviews. You can findmore information about it in the Books by Brothers section at the end of this issue of The Carnation.

That’s the power of the visual arts –the ability for them to make a differ-ence in the lives of children andeven adults who come into contactwith them. Next, we’ll talk abouthow the Beta Pi Chapter at MichiganTechnological University annuallycompetes in the Winter Carnival’sSnow Statue Competition – anothervisual art that has made an impactin the local community.

BETA PI CHAPTER– ANNUALSNOW STATUECOMPETITIONDURING CAMPUSWINTER CARNIVAL

Each year for the last 80 plus, thecampus at Michigan TechnologicalUniversity has been the place to be inMichigan’s Upper Peninsula during thewinter months, as the campus has heldits annual Winter Carnival. During thecarnival, campus organizations take partin a number of interesting contests andevents, none larger than the SnowStatue Competition.

Delta Sig’s Beta Pi Chapter began itsinvolvement in the event when theywere a colony, and each year since hasmade the statue competition an integralpart of their chapter’s involvement oncampus and in the community.

According to Tom Schneider, oneof Beta Pi Chapter’s Statue Chairmen,“History-wise, we entered WinterCarnival and the statue competition asa colony and we won. We then earnedour charter a few months afterward, soit has been a large part of our effortsever since.”

So what is the snow statue competi-tion? It’s likely exactly what you’re picturing, except it’s probably much,much larger in scale. To put it in con-text, the chapter utilized approximately160 tons of snow and water to createthis year’s statue, and spent nearly4,000 man hours to erect it. Each year,each organization participating mustdevelop their structure based on atheme – 2010’s being Games We KnowCovered in Snow.

The process is led by three statuechairmen who are chosen theSeptember prior to the event (whichtakes place in February) to streamlinethe project. These chairs draw roughsketches and site design layouts, and by the end of October, the chapter hasdetermined its theme for their specificstatue. They submit their ideas to acommittee before Christmas break, andwhen they return to school, they work

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nearly non-stop to erect the best statuethey possibly can.

You’re probably wondering howthey actually make such an elaboratestatue. Over the years they have developed forms made of plywoodwhere they place the snow to shape it.They call this massing it, and accordingto Schneider, the 10-11 days that theyare massing are the most physicallydemanding. By the time they are massing, they’ve also put up their scaffolding, which is used to build thewalls of the statue higher and higher.They use no machinery in the entireprocess, aside from when they needmore snow to be brought to their site.

After the massing period is finished,they begin slushing. They develop aslush consistency with snow and waterthat they use to make their walls as stiffas possible. They take the slush in fivegallon buckets to the men who areworking on the walls. Those men slapthe slush onto the walls and thensmooth it to help them stay sturdy.One week is used to do a rough slush,and then they also use the slush to doadditional details on the walls and inother areas of the statue. The slushingtakes up the remainder of the fourweeks of the process.

The whole process of developingthe snow statue culminates with an all-nighter to finish the last of thework. The all-nighter is the kickoff toWinter Carnival, and is an amazing rallying point for the groups makingthe statues. At that point, all of thefine features are finished, and the chap-ter brings out its ice. The ice is used forthings like ice swords, ice bananas, andsuspended rope bridges made of ice.

Most weekdays, chapter memberswork from 6:00 pm – Midnight, andleading up to the statue deadline thehours get longer and longer, culminat-ing in the all-nighter the night beforethe statues must be completed. Everymember of the chapter is expected totake part in the statue competition,and they even have a saying that hasbeen around since the 1960s that says“If you have time for anything else, youhave time for statue.” According toSchneider, “The mentality is thatyou’re expected to be outside workingon the statue unless you’re in class orworking on homework.” That justshows its importance to the chapter.

The event is important to the community as well. During the WinterCarnival, mostly because of the snowstatue competition, the size of the area surrounding Houghton, Michigandoubles. It’s great for tourism, andwith an estimate that thousands ofpeople come to see the statue eachyear, those in the Houghton area getto see some outstanding visual artcreated by undergraduates.

Even though in 2010 the Beta PiChapter’s Statue, which had a themeof “When Kong Island is in Peril, DKSaves it with a Barrel”, placed second,the chapter still had an amazing experi-ence coming together to develop it.Schneider said, “It’s one of those thingsthat you’ve achieved this monumentaltask. When someone goes into theirfirst statue, they don’t understand thesignificance of it. However, as theprocess goes along, it’s great to seethem understand why it’s so important– because we’re all out there togethergiving it everything we have to developthe best possible statue we can. It’s asense of pride in the chapter.”

For more photos of the statue,check out the chapter’s web site atwww.deltsigbetapi.org.

Our next Delta Sig in the visual arts is in a little more traditional artform

than developing snow statues – photography. Check out TomDonoghue, Missouri ’66, who has had an amazing career photograph-ing stars in a variety of disciplines.

TOM DONOGHUE –TELLING STORIESTHROUGHTHE ART OFPHOTOGRAPHY

“Photographs are experiences captured.” –Tom Donoghue

Just like all good visual art, goodphotography tells a story, allowingthose viewing it to feel the emotions ofthose being photographed and captur-ing the essence of the moment.

Tom Donoghue, Missouri ’66, began telling stories through photogra-phy while he was a junior in highschool and has never stopped. Whileattending Farmington High School in Farmington, Michigan, he was also serving as a photographer for the Detroit Pistons basketball team and the Detroit Tigers baseball team,roles which propelled his career forward upon his graduation from the University of Missouri.

Along the way, Donoghue served as the lead photographer of HollywoodPark Race Track, as the west coast photographer of the Republican Partyduring the 1988 presidential campaign,and in many other interesting roles.

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Today, Donoghue contracts with theLas Vegas Motor Speedway to shoot allof its events, Planet Hollywood Casinoand other Las Vegas venues, and theTaste of the NFL. His career has takenhim from the Midwest to LA toWashington to his current home in Las Vegas, always with his trusty Nikoncamera by his side helping to tell thestories of the events he covers.

One of the many interesting thingshe’s done is his work at the SuperBowl. For the last 18 years, Donoghuehas photographed it through the Tasteof the NFL, the large charity event thenight before the big game. The 2010event was special for him, as his 22year old son was back from his secondtour of duty in Iraq, and throughDonoghue’s work with the MissAmerica Pageant in Las Vegas, heworked it out so his son could be MissAmerica’s official escort throughout theSuper Bowl festivities. What a story totake back to his fellow soldiers!

Donoghue has photographed in anumber of different genres, includingentertainment, sports and politics.Among them, however, photographingsporting events is his favorite. He saidthe excitement of not knowing what’sgoing to happen next excites him andprovides opportunities to really makean impact through photography. “If youcan capture that one moment in yourcamera, you’ve got something reallyspecial and a story to tell.”

His web site is littered with photo-graphs of the rich and famous, fromMickey Mantle to Hugh Hefner,Gerald Ford to Celine Dion, but evenwith all of the famous and importantpeople he has photographed,Donoghue says that photographing hissons growing up has been his mostamazing experience in photography.

In fact, the one most significantevent he has photographed was his oldest son’s wedding. “Everything wasgoing great, and then as I was doingclose-ups of him and his wife exchang-

ing vows and rings, I realized this wasmy son and my eyes welled up. I couldn’t even focus anymore,” he said.“It was a great experience.”

While most of us won’t ever havean experience like that as a professionalphotographer, many of us still want tobe better in the art of photography.Donoghue had a few insights to shareabout the most important things tothink about when taking photographs.

First, having good equipment is key.He never leaves home without hisNikon Camera, which has become anextension of him and a part of his life.To show his loyalty to the brand, henamed a horse and one of his goldenretrievers Nikon.

Second, getting up close to thesubject you’re shooting and understand-ing that different angles give youcompletely different shots are important.“Sometimes, if you bend down a littlebit or get up a little higher, the picturewill be completely different,” he said.“Also, too many people are too faraway from the subject to get a goodshot. You need to get up close to capture the experience.”

Lastly, help the audience feel thepicture to help them understand thestory you’re trying to tell. “The greatestthing is when you can tell a storythrough a picture, and if you can make

the audience feel a picture,” Donoghuesaid. “If you’re taking a photo of yourparents, have them hug or look at eachother, or say something funny to havethem show some kind of emotion. Try to create that special moment.” Bydoing so, you’ll be helping the audienceunderstand the feelings and tell them astory from that moment in time.

The stories that Tom Donoghue hasbeen able to tell throughout his careeras a photographer are amazing. Hisphotographs are on display throughoutLas Vegas, and allow people a glimpseinto moments that most of us couldonly imagine. They capture the feelingsand emotion of a moment in time, andallow them to last forever.

Like any artist, what else can youask for?

To see some of Tom Donoghue’sphotos, check out his web site atwww.donoghuephotography.com.

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From a successful photographer toan alumnus who has made helpingthe arts a part of his life’s passion,we’d now like to introduce you toFrank Basile, Tulane ’58.

FRANK BASILE –ARDENTSUPPORTEROF THE ARTSIN INDIANAPOLIS

As we have talked about with theprevious Delta Sigs, the arts reallydo make an impact on people. No oneknows that better perhaps than FrankBasile, Tulane ’58, a retired executivewho is an ardent supporter of the artsin his hometown of Indianapolis,Indiana.

While two of the brothers we high-lighted have been able to make a livingoff their work in the arts, many organi-zations that support the arts struggle toget adequate funding and dedicatedvolunteer leadership to help make adifference in their communities.

For years and years, Basile and hiswife, Katrina, have supported artsorganizations in Indianapolis in a num-ber of capacities – as volunteers, Boardmembers, philanthropically, and just asregular attendees and observers of art inthe city. The couple’s support comesfrom their desire to make a differencefor the disadvantaged and to make artavailable for those who otherwise wouldnot have the opportunity to enjoy it.

For Basile, that desire to make adifference stems from his childhood.“One of the reasons we lean toward artand cultural causes is that my parentswere not educated; they worked most ofthe time and did not have the knowl-edge, time and money to expose my fivesisters and me to art and culture whilewe were growing up,” he said. “I want tohelp ensure that others will enjoy art andculture at an early age, regardless of their

circumstances. That’s why outreachefforts of organizations appeal to me.”

Basile’s lifelong mission has been tohelp people realize their potential, andthrough their support of the arts both inoutreach programs and philanthropically,the couple is helping make that happen.

Take their work with the HerronSchool of Art in Indianapolis for exam-ple. Their main way of contributing withthe school is by sponsoring programswhere students work with businesses in the local area to get commissions for sculptures and paintings while theyare in school. Thus, these students aregetting real-world experience in the visual arts while they’re still getting their education. Basile also has served as the chairman of the Dean’s AdvisoryBoard for the school, which is anotherway he’s able to make a difference for the students.

Basile and his wife also work regularlywith the Indianapolis Art Center. Heserved on the Board of the organizationfor over 20 years, including time as itsChairman of the Board. Also, he and hiswife are heavily involved in the outreachefforts with the Center, once again help-ing make art available for both aspiringartists and those who want to view it.

We could go on… Basile and hiswife support so many arts organizationsin Indianapolis that we’d need manymore pages to talk about them all.However, what’s evident is that theyfeel strongly that the arts make animpact on people’s quality of life.

“In my opinion and in the opinionof many other people, the arts add tothe quality of our life,” he said. “Forexample, I couldn’t imagine living in acity without the opportunity to viewpaintings and sculptures, listen to classical and popular music, or watchplays, opera and dance performances. Ithink all of this adds to the quality of lifefor individuals and the community.”

And without the support of individu-als and corporations, none of these

things would happen. According toBasile, the arts don’t pay, which is whyyou don’t find many for-profit organiza-tions in the business of providing artsand culture. An example is that if youwere to go to the opera, the ticket priceyou pay only covers approximately 30-40% of the cost to stage the produc-tion. It has to be supplemented by individuals and corporations.

He and his wife take in at least twoart forms per week ranging from playsto art exhibits to concerts. On a dailybasis they look at sculptures and paint-ings they have in the house. “It justadds so much to the enjoyment of lifeas we go on,” he said.

As they do go on, their efforts willcontinue to add a great deal to the livesof those individuals and organizationsthey touch. It’s a testament to the dedi-cation of the couple, and the importancepeople like Frank and Katrina Basile canmake in their communities.

It’s evident that Frank Basile and hiswife find a tremendous value in the arts,as do the other brothers who we’ve spot-lighted in this piece.

When we joined the Fraternity, weheard a lot about one of the Fraternity’score values: culture. Supporting thearts, not just the visual arts, provide anexcellent way for us to live one of ourorganization’s core values on a dailybasis. Take a moment to think abouthow you can be enlightened throughthe arts, or how you can help enlightensomeone else: how you can be a betterman today like these brothers who areworking in the arts.

Think back to your first watercolormasterpiece that you showed your family.Even though it was many, many yearsago, how did it make you feel? We hopethis piece helped you remember that thearts can make you feel that way again –and help you live one of the Fraternity’score values at the same time.

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Business & Finance

One person who definitely wasn’t thinking that way is MarkMcCutcheon, Auburn ’74. In fact, he thought he’d only workat his current company for one year and then find a real job.But, he’s now spent the last 30 years moving up the ladder atGolden Flake Snack Foods, maker of “the South’s originalpotato chip.” He began as a plant supervisor and now serves asthe president and CEO of the savory snack food companybased in Birmingham, Alabama.

In January, McCutcheon served as the luncheon speaker atDelta Sig’s Regional Leadership Academy in Atlanta. With asouthern twang, and sometimes with his excitement soundingmore like a Baptist preacher than a high powered CEO, hestarted his talk by enthusiastically telling a story about a bas-ketball team and their goal of winning the championship.

The team came out excited, and on the first play of thegame they had an alley oop dunk! Unfortunately, it was in thewrong hoop, and the team ended up losing the game by onepoint. The moral of McCutcheon’s story to the undergraduateDelta Sigs in the room – making one mistake isn’t what keepsus from meeting our goals, just as the basketball team’s mistakeat the beginning of the game wasn’t what kept them frommeeting their goal.

For the next 25 minutes, he preached that leadership isabout making difficult decisions, while at the same time mak-ing sure that attendees remembered to lead with integrity andhonesty. As the speech ended, he was surrounded by under-graduates thanking him for his advice and pledging to lead intheir chapters.

LEADINGWalking across the stage to receive your college diploma from the university president or your

college’s dean is an exciting day. It’s likely that you’re even more excited when you’ll start a job

soon after graduation at a great company. But how many of us walking across that stage think

we’ll be with the same company 30 years into the future? Probably not many…

McCutcheon

WITH INTEGRITY AND HONESTYMARK MCCUTCHEON, AUBURN ’74

The reason McCutcheon can speak so eloquently on thetopic of leadership stems from his career-long passion for bet-tering the company for which he works. Even with 1,000employees, Golden Flake is known as a family organization,and McCutcheon embraces that through his continued under-standing of the company’s past. He also understands andrespects the traditions of those leaders who have come beforehim in the company. In fact, the president before him was alsoan Auburn alumnus, and is a mentor to him.

That family atmosphere that has been the culture of thecompany since its founding shines through in McCutcheon’sapproach to leading his employees and taking care of them.He lives by a three word philosophy that he asks all of hisstaffers to live by as well – the three F’s.

“If you put these things in this order, all will be good,” hesaid. “It’s your faith first, family second, and every ounce ofenergy you have left for Flake.”

The philosophy is one that permeates throughout theentire company, and one that shows that while Golden Flakeis important, it’s not more important than your faith or yourfamily. The company’s culture is one that is embraced, as evenwith 30 years of time with Golden Flake, he is 75th on theseniority list with the company. “I just had a woman retirewho had been here since 1945, so I’m not the weird one herewith 30 years of seniority,” he said.

The culture that we just spoke of has been embraced by theemployees because they feel as though they are a part of a fam-ily at work. Essentially, Flake = a work family… And there’s areason they feel that way – Golden Flake has never laid anemployee off from one of its plants. Yes, you read that correct-ly. Not one employee has been laid off. The fact is that whenpeople leave the company, it’s usually because of retirement orattrition, hence McCutcheon’s 75th place on the seniority listwith 30 years of experience. With the economy the way it is,the easy thing to do in order to continue to be successful is tolay off some workers to take expenses off the top.

McCutcheon and the other leaders at Golden Flake haveresisted the urge to do so, and their employees have embracedthem for that.

The other thing that employees find comforting withMcCutcheon and the other company leaders is that they haveall been in the employees’ shoes. McCutcheon started byworking at a plant, and understands the business from thebottom level all the way to the C Suite.

“Not just me, but other officers can all run a sales route orrun a production line,” McCutcheon said. “I may not do itwell, but I can certainly do it. I give credit to my predecessorswho allowed me to learn all those things. I was able to workevery shift and go start a new plant at the age of 29 in Ocala,Florida. I think there’s no doubt that having those experiencesgives us as leaders more credibility with the employees.”

Speaking of his fellow company leaders, McCutcheonworks well with them also. His philosophy is to let them runtheir area without interference. “I tell them you may havegone to the left, and I may have gone to the right, but as longas we get to the end goal, it really doesn’t matter.”

The great thing for McCutcheon and the company is thatthey have met those end goals much more often than theyhaven’t. Even in the very difficult economic times that thecountry has experienced in the last year and a half, GoldenFlake, and the snack food industry as a whole, has done verywell. According to McCutcheon, it’s because they have such aloyal customer base that wants comfort food. They don’t eatout as much, and take their lunch to work or school. Thatworks well for Golden Flake, as they provide a great productfor a great value for what they sell.

“We’ve had some of our best growth in tough economictimes,” he said. “We’re spending more in capital expendituresthan we have in the last ten years. We’ve been blessed and arecertainly bucking the trend with how a lot of other businessesare doing in these times.”

Right now, you might be asking yourself why Golden Flakehas been able to be successful, and why people aren’t eatingLays or Ruffles or one of the brands from the bigger companieslike Frito-Lay. It’s simple according to McCutcheon – GoldenFlake has created a niche with their customers through theirunique flavors and quality.

“As an example, if Frito-Lay were to make a hot potatochip and sold it in Louisiana, it probably wouldn’t be hotenough,” he said. “However, that same chip in Illinois wouldburn someone’s mouth. That makes them have to make moreof a generic flavor, while we can tailor it for the unique tastesof our customers. We often do blind taste tests in areas wherewe don’t even sell our snacks, and we win! It’s because of ourattention to taste and quality.”

In addition to flavor and quality, the company has had along-standing relationship with the two major universities inthe state, Alabama and Auburn, as well as the SEC as a

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Business & Finance

McCutcheon with several brothers from his home chapter atthe 2010 Atlanta Regional Leadership Academy

whole, serving as one of the sponsors for each entity for anumber of years. In Alabama’s case, the relationship started50 years ago, and was followed by Auburn a few years later. Inthe 1980s, the company became a sponsor for the entire SECto show its commitment to the southeastern part of theUnited States.

Because of the fact that football is king in the South, andtailgating is a huge part of the football experience, GoldenFlake placed itself in the perfect location for visibility andexposure for its products. In addition, the footprint of the SECfits almost exactly with the footprint of the company, makingit a win-win relationship.

Even with tailgating being a huge part of their business,McCutcheon proudly talks about the fact that all of the com-pany’s products are trans fat free and cooked in vegetable oil.However, there is one big exception to that – the company’spork skins. They are big business for Golden Flake, which isthe second largest brand of pork skins in the United Statesbehind only Frito-Lay. At the same time, the company isworking hard to make its products healthier, but also feels thatmoderation is just as important.

“We’ve reduced salts on products and try to do the best wecan to make our products healthier. The biggest thing we’vedone is introduce 100 calorie packs, so junior can have thereal stuff but have portion control,” he said. “We believe thatthere are no junk foods, only junk diets.”

Under McCutcheon’s leadership, the company has alsoembraced making the environment healthier with its Green isGolden initiative. The company reuses its shipping deliverycartons as many as eight times, which then go to the card-board recycler. Between its two plants, the company is alsokeeping about 30 million pounds of waste out of landfills byproviding its wet waste to cattle and its dry waste to a chickenfeed additive. According to McCutcheon, the only thingthat’s not recyclable at this point in the process is the bag, andtheir packaging folks are working on that as we speak.

Most recently, the company put in a waste treatment facili-ty at its main plant where they treat their process water andput it into a downtown Birmingham industrial creek to helpclean it up. “In fact, this technology is so amazing that we maybe able to chlorinate it and reuse the water,” McCutcheonsaid. “We don’t make a big deal about our recycling and reuseprogram. It’s just something that we do.”

As you can see, Mark McCutcheon is a business leaderworking hard to enhance his company. But he’s also someonewho makes time to give back to the community. His focus ison kids and youth, as he works with the Boy Scouts, JuniorAchievement, and Campus Outreach. He also works with theBirmingham Chamber of Commerce and as a company repre-sentative with the United Way to ensure that the company isrepresented in making a difference.

Even though he wasn’t thinking he’d be at Golden Flake for 30 years when he was walking across the stage at his col-lege graduation, his family of coworkers and the communityat-large are happy that he made the decision to stick around.A leader with strong Alabama roots, Mark McCutcheon wasright on when he was talking to the crowd at Delta Sig’sRegional Leadership Academy – leadership is difficult, butyou can meet your goals if you work together and lead withintegrity and honesty.

Mark McCutcheon is one of three members of his family tojoin the Kappa Chapter of Delta Sigma Phi. His brother,David, joined in 1970, and while Mark was an undergradu-ate, the chapter initiated Mark and David’s father, whowas a pledge when he went off to fight in World War II.Mark resides in Birmingham, Alabama with his wife of 32 years, Terri. They have two daughters – Meagan,who is a graduate of Auburn, and Whitney, who is agraduate student at Auburn.

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McCutcheon speaking to the Atlanta Regional LeadershipAcademy crowd.

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Health & Fitness

We all know about the devastation thathit the impoverished country of Haitifollowing the earthquake in January. Itwas yet another setback for a countrythat is the poorest in the western hemi-sphere. We also heard a lot about thosewho went to Haiti to help with therelief efforts in Port-au-Prince, and thecelebrities who lent their name andstature to the numerous telethons toraise money for the victims.

One person you probably didn’thear much about is a Delta Sig namedDel Worthington, USC ’75, who hasbeen traveling to the country since2003. For six years, Worthington, whois an orthopedic surgeon by trade, hasgone to Haiti twice per year for aroundtwo weeks at a time working at theNorthwest Haiti Christian Mission,located in Saint Louis du Nord, about140 miles northwest of Port-au-Prince.

About a week following the earth-quake, Worthington made his way tothe mission to provide support, and hespoke with The Carnation about notonly the earthquake, but his wholeexperience working in Haiti.

The Carnation: Tell us about the mission.Worthington: The mission has beenthere for 30 years, and it has an exten-sive network of programs. It has anutrition program, a birthing center, aschool for kids, and outreach churchesthroughout the northwestern part ofthe country. It also has the medicalprogram, and I go in and do orthopedicsurgeries. We’ve built two operating

rooms down there through volunteersupport, and we get a group of otherdoctors, nurses, technicians, and othervolunteers to take care of patients fortwo weeks at a time.

The Carnation: Can you tell us moreabout the people and what you seewhile there?Worthington: The mission is located inone of the most impoverished areas inHaiti. The people are desperate. I seestarvation. I see terrible diseases. I seepeople who have had fractures for yearswho have never been treated becausethey can’t get anyone to take care ofthem. At the same time, the peoplethere are also exceedingly gracious, areappreciative, and have huge openhearts welcoming people who are thereto help them.

The Carnation: Can you tell us astory of an inspiring person thatyou’ve met while there?Worthington: On one of my early trips,someone came up to me and said “I’vegot a friend who has two broken legs.Can you help him?” He had gone toone of the hospitals in Haiti, and theyhad turned him away because hecouldn’t pay. In the back of a pickuptruck, he went to a second hospital along way away from where he lived,and they turned him away becausethey didn’t have any orthopedic doc-tors. He then came to our mission, inthe back of a pickup truck, with twobroken legs. He had a hip fracture onone side, a broken leg on the otherside, and we did surgery on him.Following the surgery, he had a numberof fevers, and it turns out he hadmalaria. So, I had to treat his malariaat the same time. We also had to givehim blood transfusions. Haiti doesn’thave a blood bank, so the missionariesgave their blood to give to him.

At the end of the whole thing, hewas inspired by the people at the mis-sion who were taking care of him. Hesuddenly began feeling guilty becausehe had been living with a woman whowasn’t his wife, and he decided to getmarried to her. We had the whole wed-ding ceremony at the mission. I still seehim when I go down there. In fact, when I went down in January, Istopped by his house and he and hiswife are doing fine.

Del Worthington with one of hispatients in Haiti.

A Delta Sig’s Efforts

BEFORE AND AFTER THE

EARTHQUAKEIN HAITI

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The Carnation: Talk about how youfeel about the impact you’re makingin your efforts there. Worthington: I go down there and workreally hard, but the need is so big, sosometimes I feel like I’m not really doingvery much. But, to those individuals, it’ssomething that is helpful. The last timeI was down there, I didn’t feel like I wastreating that many people, but I didtreat some terrible infections and somepeople who showed up very ill whoselives we saved. If I hadn’t been there,they’d be dead. While it wasn’t a lot ofpeople, it was still people.

The Carnation: How does it makeyou feel to be making this difference?Worthington: I feel like I get more outof it than they do. It’s really enrichingto go down there for everyone on theteam, and I think universally whenpeople begin going down there, theyfeel like they’re getting more thanthey’re giving. It really makes me feelgrateful for the opportunity.

The Carnation: Let’s talk about theearthquake that happened in January.What was your first reaction whenyou heard about it? Worthington: Having been in Port-au-Prince many times and having seen theconstruction there, I was hearing thenews reports and knew how devastat-ing it would be. I usually go to Haiti inApril, and my immediate thought wasthat when I went in April 2010, I’d beseeing patients that would need treat-ment that had not been treated.

The Carnation: How did you goingdown in January come about, and whatwas it like trying to get to the mission?Worthington: I got some calls to go toPort-au-Prince, which is not what Iwanted to do because it’s not where Iusually work and I didn’t think I coulddo anything there. Some of the peoplefrom the mission had gone there to help,and a week later, people from Port-au-

Prince started filtering up to the missionfor assistance. The mission called me,and I went down to offer my assistanceabout a week after the earthquake.

We couldn’t go through Port-au-Prince to get there, so we had to find adifferent route. We flew to Miami andthen to the islands of Turks & Caicos.From Turks & Caicos, we chartered aplane and flew to Cape Haitien, whichis a city in northern Haiti. From there,we found some volunteer pilots whohad come from the United States withtheir small planes. They flew us overcloser to the mission, and we took atruck from there. It took a couple daysto get there.

The Carnation: What were your firstimpressions when you arrived?Worthington: A lot of the people whohad been waiting were dead. That wassombering. My first impression wasthat it was like their 9/11. I went toNew York within a few days after 9/11,and you could really sense how sombereverything was. That’s how it was inHaiti – the entire country.

The Carnation: Was there any dam-age in the area of the mission?Worthington: The people in the areafelt the earthquake, but there wasn’tmuch damage to speak of, aside from acrack in one of the walls of the mission.

The Carnation: Tell us about some ofthe people you saw.

Worthington: I saw some people whowere trapped in the earthquake, andthey were very psychologically trauma-tized, as well as physically traumatized.I also saw a lot of the disease rate go upfor people in the area of the mission,since most of the food comes inthrough Port-au-Prince, and none ofthat was making its way to the area.The malnourished lost the little bit offood they were getting. A lot of thewomen in the birthing center startedpremature labor because of their physi-cal and psychological stress. The stresslevel was just very high, and theamount of sickness was worse than itusually is.

The Carnation: Is there a message thatyou’d give to other Delta Sigs about theimportance of getting involved to makea difference for others?Worthington: I don’t necessarily thinkwhat I’m doing is for everybody, but Ithink it’s important for people to giveback to the community. I think welearn that through the Fraternity, andwe learn that through life, and this isone of the ways that I do it.

Del Worthington is a 1975 initiate ofthe Alpha Phi Chapter at USC, andcurrently resides in Phoenix with hiswife, Diana. They have four kidsranging in age from 15-24. Hisfather, Bill, was a 1953 initiate ofthe Beta Omega Chapter at theUniversity of Arizona.

Worthington in the operating roomin Haiti

The Northwest Haiti ChristianMission

20 T H E C A R N AT I O N | D E LTA S I G . O R G

Health & Fitness

Using TECHNOLOGY to AID

David Franks and his wife Deok Soon, pose with children Jacob (back row), Joshua, Hannah and Grace. Joshua, Hannah and Graceall suffer from varying degrees of autism.

Children withAUTISM

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Did you know that today, it is estimated that one in every110 children is diagnosed with autism, making it more com-mon than childhood cancer, juvenile diabetes and pediatricAIDS combined? It’s true according to Autism Speaks, thenation’s largest autism science and advocacy organization.

A total of 1.5 million individuals are affected by the dis-order, and these numbers continue to climb, making autismand its related developmental brain disorders a point ofemphasis for many researchers and doctors across the countryand world.

However, it’s not all researchers and doctors who are doingtheir part to help children with this disorder. Dave Franks,East Carolina ’79, who in his day job is a producer and direc-tor at U.S. Animation Sales, is doing his part by trying tobring an interactive program to market that is meant to helpautistic children better learn to communicate.

Along with a team of others, Franks has been workingto develop his interactive program, called Robo Rocket,with a goal of further assisting autistic children to developtheir speech, communication and understanding of theEnglish Language.

Franks has a vested interest in doing so. His family isaffected by autism daily, as three of his four children havebeen diagnosed with it. This has made him a fervent sup-porter of research that’s being done, and caused him to tryto do his part to help children afflicted with the disorder.

“I never would have designed this program if it had notbeen for my children. Seeing the effects of autism everydayhas changed me,” he said. “Now, the development andcreation of our software has become a life goal. All of mytraining and experience is needed for the development ofthis program.”

The program Franks and his team members have devel-oped helps build a foundation for the child by engagingthem with animated characters and interactive learningmodules, allowing them to learn letters, vowel sounds, words and their meanings, and pronunciations. The child isinteracting with the software, thus engaging and developingtheir speech and language skills at their pace.

You might be asking yourself why an interactive programlike this is necessary. According to Franks, it’s because whilespeech therapy can be effective, sometimes children aren’treceptive to learning at the time the therapy appointment istaking place.

“We have taken our children to speech therapy, but theproblem with that is it takes a lot of therapy to have evenminimal results, and at $75 per half hour, this becomes quite

expensive,” he said. “Also, we noticed that the time we hadscheduled was not always the time that our children werereceptive to receiving speech therapy.”

In addition, as many of our readers can attest, childrenbecome bored easily, causing them to tune out a therapy toolthat might not be as interactive as say, a movie or cartoon.

“My family has bought other products on the market, andhas found that these products are not tuned to the needs ofour children,” he said. “Our children lose interest in themafter just a couple of uses, and then the learning opportunitystops completely, rendering the programs useless. Ourchildren love watching animated movies and televisionshows, and are very receptive to using computers, preferringedutainment that uses animated characters.”

While Franks and his team have the idea, design, andmanpower to make this project happen, they are still in thefunding stage to be able to get it off the ground. While inthis phase, however, they have a high powered ally on theirside that has seen the product and signed on to help –Harvard University.

“Harvard University has seen our design for the languageprogram and has agreed to assist in the testing, affecting thedesign to maximize the achievable results for autistic chil-dren,” he said. “Everyone that learns about the program hasloved it, especially the schools, parents and providers forautistic children.”

The launch of the product can’t happen soon enoughfor Franks, as his children continue to deal with the difficul-ties brought on by autism. He has made helping autisticchildren his life’s calling, and this project is one that hefeels can enhance these children’s life experiences quicklyand efficiently.

“These children need help now, not later,” he said. “Theyare our future. We can provide them with the tools now tohelp them succeed in life.”

If you’re interested in talking with Dave Franks about hisefforts to bring his product to market, or just to learn more,you can reach out to him at [email protected] (919) 961-6063.

For more information about all of the research that’s beingdone to combat autism, visit Autism Speaks’ web site atwww.autismspeaks.org.

22 T H E C A R N AT I O N | D E LTA S I G . O R G

Have you ever considered running a5K, half-marathon, or even a fullmarathon? Perhaps you used to bemore active, ran when you wereyounger and want to try to get back in shape. Odds are you absolutely can.There are many marathon runnersthat didn’t run a mile until they werewell into their 40s or 50s. If running issomething that interests you, read on.This article will provide you greatadvice to get started. Even if your current activity level’s apex is stalkingfor the nearest parking spot to walkinto a fast food joint, you can startmaking incremental changes to experience a more fit, active, andhealthy lifestyle through running.

Before you get going, an importantquestion to address as you begin a distance training program is what isyour motivation? Are you fulfilling alife-long dream to tackle the feat ofcompleting a marathon? Are you trying to shed some pounds andstrengthen your cardiovascular health?There are as many reasons for runningas there are runners, but it is impor-tant to identify what drives you so you can persevere when you face foulweather, sore muscles, and the tempta-tions of quitting. Identify your goaland motivation and keep a constantreminder of this. When you are

feeling low, or that you might cut your run just a little short, remindyourself why you started this process.

The most important place to startthis journey is with your health careprovider, and a full physical exam toensure you are ready for a distancerunning training program. Your physi-cian may clear you to begin immedi-ately or recommended a few steps totake before you begin. Either way, this is an invaluable and essential stepin implementing any type of exerciseprogram. Even if running is not recommended by your physician, there countless alternative exercises to help you reach your fitness goals.

Once cleared by your physician,your first stop is the local running specialty store for the right pair of running shoes. It is important to selecta running specialty store over yourlocal sporting goods store to have aprofessional shoe fitting. There aremany different brands and styles ofshoe to fit all types of feet. You maywant to consider custom inserts thatconform to the shape of your feet. Forthose with high arches, flat feet, orother types of special needs, orthoticsmay be something to consider. Even ifyou already have a good pair of shoes,you still should drop by a running specialty store to make sure your shoes

are right for you, and that they stillhave responsive and supportive midsoles (400-500 miles maximum)for the miles you will be putting onthem. Your body will thank you in thelong run! (Pun intended…)

As you progress in your trainingprogram, you may want to revisit therunning specialty store to considerinvesting in other types of runninggear. There are a multitude of optionsto help you continue to train and perform in all types of weather conditions. There are breathable,moisture-wicking shirts, shorts, andsocks to keep you cool and dry on hotdays, and wind resistant thermal gearto keep you warm on cooler days.Also, pick up some reflective gear forearly morning, or evening runs, whenthe sun is down.

There are a variety of greatresources online to do everything from track and plan your runningroute, to logging your miles, to gettingmore information about improvingand advancing your training program.You can find everything from applica-tions for your mobile phone to trackyour miles and give you motivation, to precise training regimens. Use thesegreat resources; however, always con-sider the source. A runner’s forum isnot the place to seek medical advice,

Health & Fitness

FROM THE COUCH TO A MARATHON:

Tips to TrainWithout INJURY

By Keith Cecil, MS, CSCS, Transylvania ’99

23S P R I N G 2 0 1 0

but it might be just the place to researchreviews of a new products or area races.Bottom line, the Internet is an invalu-able resource if you use it wisely.

Running is a fabulous cardiovascularexercise that burns calories and buildslean muscle. However, if you are serious about achieving long-distancesyou should pair your running with complimentary resistance training and flexibility exercises. The bestinvestment you can make towardadvancing as a runner is investing in a few personal training sessions at alocal gym. Find a personal trainer withwhom you feel comfortable sharingyour physical strengths and limita-tions, as well as your goals. Discuss aresistance training program to buildthe necessary strength to balance themuscles required for running. Learn to properly use the machines and freeweights, and discuss the proper inten-sity of your program. A few sessionswith a certified personal trainer at theoutset of your new regimen will giveyour body the capacity needed to gainreal miles and prevent serious injury.Reputable certifications to look for ina trainer include the NSCA-CPT andCSCS, ACSM, ACE, and AFAA.

As you begin running you will need to pay increased attention toyour nutrition. Increasing miles meansburning more calories. Even if you are trying to shed some pounds, youshould consume enough calories tomaintain adequate energy levelsthroughout the workouts. Be sure toeat regular, well-balanced meals.Incorporate lean meats, vegetables,fruits, and plenty of water into yourdiet. It is very important to eat right,and stay hydrated when you areexpending a great deal of energythrough distance running. Even if youdo not feel hungry, you still need toreplace the calories you are burningthrough running.

When you are ready to start yourtraining, be sure to find a great trainingprogram that will take you through a

day-to-day regimen to help you get toyour goals. Many of these programs arebased around the principle of startingslow, while progressing through inter-val training to prepare your body forlonger distances each time you run.You might want to find a partner or a group to train with to provide motivation, camaraderie, and for safety purposes. Also, remember to get a brief warm up and some lightstretching prior to your run and somenice static stretching following yourrun. Stretching can reduce muscletightness and increase your range ofmotion. When running, remember tokeep a comfortable pace, especially ifyou are just starting out. Also, remem-ber to utilize your off day. You willneed this to recover, so you canprogress to a greater distance the next day and not put yourself at riskfor injury. But be sure to listen to your body. It will tell you if you needextended rest, or if you need to see adoctor or possibly a sports medicinespecialist. Distance running is hardwork, but if you enjoy the journey, itwill take you to great places. Be sure totrack your progress. There are several

acceptable tracking devices online thatyou can use to record your workouts.

I hope the information here pro-vides a roadmap of how to get startedrunning and possibly even achieveyour goals of completing a marathon.If you start at the beginning and follow the steps, you will identifyexactly where you need to start andhow to make safe and surprisingprogress toward that first marathon.Remember, this is a lifestyle changeand you should be prepared to committhe time and effort needed. Keep challenging yourself and your body,but remember to seek qualified profes-sional assistance along the way.Training for marathons is a seriousundertaking that will require seriouscommitment and investment; howeversuccessful training and completingthat first marathon will provide inexplicable pride and adventure.

Keith Cecil serves as the AssistantDirector of Fitness and Wellness,Strength and Conditioning Coach,and Assistant Tennis Coach at hisalma mater, Transylvania University.He resides in Lexington, Kentucky.

24 T H E C A R N AT I O N | D E LTA S I G . O R G

Leadership & Education

We’re all familiar with risk in the financial world, but wewant to talk here about organizational risk and personal risk.

Have you learned more in your life from mistakes or fromyour successes? Most people say from their mistakes, but howmuch good do mistakes do in organizations? They are like…evil! We all “know” that we shouldn’t make any mistakes.With that mindset, instead of trying to learn from our mistakes, we bury them.

At Luman we talk about making Intelligent Mistakes™ –mistakes that come from trying something new, trying something different, burning the box, moving beyond the status quo. Maybe the new idea didn’t quite work the way wehad hoped, but there is still a lot of value to be gained. Forexample, there may have been five things we learned fromthe effort that we wouldn’t have learned otherwise. We caneven take this to higher level and celebrate mistakes – theultimate pathway to learning and growth.

You certainly know that high expectations are critical –they make high performance possible. However, you haveto have high tolerance too, because we are all humanand imperfect and we simply make mistakes. So here’s aparadox: high tolerance is what makes high expectationstolerable. If I am in an environment that has high expecta-tions and there is no safety net, I know instinctively that ifI make a mistake it could be a career-limiting move. I assureyou, I am not going to take any chances at all. I will notmake any attempts at changing things for the better in thatarea at all. It’s just not a smart thing to try. And so, thatmeans, especially in tough times, that we can end up in oneof four categories:

• First, there are a lot of people right now who are Cynics– which is terrible. They say to themselves, “I don’t seehow it’s ever going to get better” or “There is no use trying to change things.” This is not an okay place tobe, because this mindset creates frustration, aloofness,and finally hopelessness. They’ll take no chances. It’scontagious and will spread through an entire depart-ment and organization.

• Second, there are Skeptics. They think, “Well, I’d like itto be better, but I don’t quite see how.” That attitude isokay as long as they don’t plan to stay there. They’ll

take a few chances. It’s okay to have a few skeptics inthe organization, but what you really want in toughtimes are lots of a third group…

• Supporters. These are the people who are going to tryto help you build something special in the midst of allthe challenges and problems that we’re facing today.They’ll take real chances. And if you’re really luckyyou will retain some…

• Visionaries, the fourth and highest category. These arethe people that say, “Take a risk”, “Maybe we could trythat”, and “Surely we could do this.” They are the oneswho propose real change, like “Let’s spend less time overhere so we can spend more time on this new idea overthere.” They’ll explore the future and try it on for size.

Now, this is where I’m going to bother you just a little bit.This is where we’re really limited in getting more out of people and getting them to really put more of themselves and who they are into the operation. I have seen that there’sfour ways leaders look at people, and these viewpoints helpcreate cynics, skeptics, supporters, or visionaries.

The first way came out of double-entry bookkeeping, created in the 1400s. Back then how much was an individualhuman being worth? If you weren’t a king or queen, whatwere you worth? Not much. So is it any surprise humanbeings came out as costs? If I buy a desk, that is valuable. If I hire a person and train them, it’s an expense. And so we say people are important, but we end up treating them ascosts. I would like to see this change in how we figure things in the accounting world.

This “cost” notion gets played out in a lot of ways. One isthe infamous “Bell Curve” of human performance. You get tosay to most of your people, “Wow, you are really average! Infact, you’re one of the best average people we have!” Not aformula for success.

About 50 years ago we wanted to get around that idea of“cost” a little bit, so we said, people are a valuable human_______________. It’s an ‘R’ word. Resources. Okay, we’regetting better. What do we do with a resource? We use it up.Use it up? “Abbey, we’re really glad you’re coming to work forus and we intend to use you up.” I just don’t know about this.I know I don’t want to be a resource to be used up.

RETURN ONHUMAN INVESTMENT

Raising our View of People and Their PossibilitiesBy Jim Lucas, Missouri S&T ’69

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So, as progress would have it, about 15 years ago we triedto improve on that. People became our most important_____________. It’s an A word. Asset. What do you do withan asset? Is that appreciate? No, we depreciate it. Doesn’t thatsound like just the kind of job we all want to get? They aregoing to use me up for my useful life and then something elseis going to happen – I am going to be depreciated!

All of these ways of viewing people can’t help but bedemeaning. In fact, I think they’re just terrible. I’ve beenencouraging people all over the world to change the name ofthe “Human Resource” department to something different.Instead of using terms like human capital, human assets, andhuman resources, here it is: I urge you to view people asinvestors. I challenge you to start the mindset shift in yourorganization with a change in the name of your HR depart-ment – to the HI or Human Investment department.

People as investors. This vantage point gives us a wholenew perspective. Just as a company tries to create an attrac-tive place where people want to invest their money, so itshould do the same so people will invest their lives. We canview them as investing themselves and the best of who theyare, the best of the ideas they can contribute.

I see people who are totally creative, resourceful, and ener-gized when they are working on hobbies, remodeling theirhome environments, devoting themselves to volunteer activi-ties, pouring themselves into church activities, and so on.Then they enter the workplace and they aren’t permitted todo anything. They can’t try anything new, and they can’t takeany risks.

Here’s the problem. If a leader thinks you are a cost, resource,or asset, do you know what their question is? “How do I getmore out of you?” This is not a very uplifting question. But, if aleader thinks you are an investor, the question changes to “Howdo I create an environment, how do I design a culture, how do I

put together a team where you are more likely to invest every-thing you are into it?” It’s about generating a high Return onHuman Investment™ or ROHI™.

This view gives us a whole new target, something toreplace the Bell Curve. Why shouldn’t we want 95% of ourpeople investing , performing, delivering results, adding value?We’ll always have 5% over on the left. Great leaders movethe bulk of their people all the way to the right. They providea culture that provides the freedom for the majority of theirpeople to deliver results. These performance percentages arewhat Luman calls The Rule of the 95 and the 5™. Here’s how itplays out.

My daughter was a high school teacher. She noted, “If youhave 30 kids in class and one that’s kind of a bad apple, if you’renot careful, you can spend the whole semester working on thebad apple rather than on the 29 that could really get a lot out ofyou as a teacher.” We can do that as leaders as well. Do youknow where a lot of policies and procedures come from? Someare necessary, but many are put in place when somebody makesa mistake. We don’t have the courage to deal with the mistakeso we create a policy that applies to everybody.

Who do you think follows the new policy, the 5 or the 95?The 95 of course. Who still tries to get around it anyway? The5! We would be much better off focusing on elevating the 95and taking a hit from the 5 than spending all our energies onthe 5 and rigidly over-controlling the 95. That’s the bottomline of how leadership works best. Knowing leaders say, “Thisis what we need as a result.” They give plenty of latitude, thebroadest possible boundaries, and leave it up to their peopleto achieve the results.

Football legend Vince Lombardi said, “Those who haveinvested the most will be the last to surrender.” That is whatleaders and organizations really need, what you really need.People who have invested the most and who won’t give up!This means that as a leader, you should find ways to encour-age people to take more personal risk. Why? Because theywant to make your organization great, and you’ve made itsafe, really safe, for them to try.

In the future, there’s no Investor like people who fullyinvest themselves into excellence. Create the environment,send them the invitation, and watch excellence soar!

James R. (Jim) Lucas is an acclaimed author, popularspeaker and recognized authority on leadership, culturedesign and organizational development. He is presidentand CEO of Luman International, a firm that for morethan twenty-five years has worked with thousands ofleaders to build Passionate, Thinking, Pure-PerformanceOrganizations™. This article is supported by Jim’s newbooks The Passion Principle and The Attraction Principle,which are now available. To order copies for your team ororganization visit www.lumaninternational.com.

26 T H E C A R N AT I O N | D E LTA S I G . O R G

Tech Trends

Did you know that the San Andreas fault system movesalmost two inches per year! While this does not seem likemuch, it is my job to measure exactly how much it movesand the implications for large earthquakes in southernCalifornia. We like to say that the San Andreas fault is cur-rently 10 months pregnant, because the last great earthquakealong the southern segment of the San Andreas was in the1600s. Many public outreach programs have been taking

place in California to prepare major metropolitan areas forthe big one (see http://www.shakeout.org).

Currently, I am in my third year of my Ph.D. programat the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in sunny SanDiego, California studying geophysics. Geophysics, in short,is the use of data and models to understand the underlyingphysics and composition of the Earth. Geophysicists studyeverything from oil and mineral mining, the magnetic field

By Brendan Crowell, Georgia Tech ‘04, Ph.D. Student in Geophysics

USING GPS TO MEASURE THE POTENTIAL FOR

EARTHQUAKES

27S P R I N G 2 0 1 0

of the Earth, earthquakes, volcanos, tsunamis, groundwaterflow, features on other planets, and features at the depths ofour oceans.

My research centers on using Global Positioning System(GPS) measurements to study the earth. Over the past 15years, scientists have been permanently installing GPSantennas all across the United States and world. Therewas a great push five years ago to install 800+ more GPSstations in a project called EarthScope, which also includedinstalling hundreds of seismometers and strainmeters, as wellas drilling a hole into the San Andreas fault. Around thistime, many of the permanently installed GPS stationsupgraded to transmitting data in real-time to look for rapidevents such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptionsand landslides, as well as to help surveyors in the construc-tion and farming industries map out their projects withgreater accuracy.

The measurements that we take are much more accuratethan the GPS measurements that you get on your handheldGPS devices because we use multiple broadcast frequenciesand other processing techniques. We are able to measure lat-itude, longitude and altitude as accurate as a quarter inch.Because of this accuracy, we are able to track very smallchanges in the movements of different faults. During a largeearthquake for example, a fault can slip greater than 10 feet,and someone can measure the fault slip with a ruler. Thereare exponentially more small earthquakes than large earth-quakes, for which a fault might only slip an inch or two,which is why we need to monitor faults continuously withGPS. For a point of reference, the recent magnitude 7.0earthquake in Haiti produced between 6 and 9 feet of slipalong the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault, and the magni-tude 9.2 Indonesian earthquake in 2004 produced maximumslip up to 60 feet.

My main research project looks at how earthquakes alongsmall faults in southern California actually add stress to theSan Andreas fault. We do this by surveying hundreds ofsmall metal discs called benchmarks with GPS, and look atthe change of position over many years. You may have seensurveyors around construction sites set up their tripods onthese monuments to measure the relative position of thebuilding to property lines. From the change in position ofthe different monuments, we are able to measure how muchdifferent parts of the Earth’s crust are being deformed, andhow much motion is occurring along every fault. The SanAndreas fault system is very complex because it represents achange from a fault system with tension (pulling apart) intoone that has lots of shear motion (side to side). We havenoticed that a few faults in the Salton Sea have had a greatdeal of anomalous motion recently, which is transferring

stress to the southern San Andreas, heightening its riskfor rupturing.

Another research project that I am working on involvesusing real-time GPS data to supplement an earthquake earlywarning system currently underway for southern Californiausing seismometers. The concept of earthquake early warn-ing is fairly simple: if you record the earthquake at the start-ing location, this information can be transferred to citiesbefore the seismic waves get there. If an earthquake were tooccur on the southern San Andreas fault, the seismic waveswould take upwards of 70-90 seconds to reach the LosAngeles Basin. By looking at the first few seconds of theearthquake recorded at GPS and seismic stations near theepicenter, we can potentially characterize what the magni-tude and the amount of shaking in a given area before theearthquake strikes populated areas.

GPS has the advantage over seismometers in that GPSmeasures the actual displacement of the ground during anearthquake, whereas seismometers only measure either thevelocity or acceleration of the ground. Seismometers arehowever, much more precise instruments, so the combina-tion of the two measurements can provide a robust systemthat will have fewer false alarms, increasing public confi-dence and awareness.

While most people don’t think a minute of warning timeis enough, this amount of warning can prove very valuablefor the automatic shut down of trains, bridges, gas lines andpower plants, as well as provide a physical warning toschools and municipal buildings. Also, emergency agenciescould be notified of where the most damage took place tobetter help those in need. In most cases, simply gettingunder a desk is the difference between life and death. Ifyou do live in an earthquake prone area, make sure youknow the safe areas of your home. People usually don’tget hurt from the actual earthquake, but from structurescollapsing and objects falling. Don’t hang things aboveyour bed. Secure bookshelves and other tall pieces offurniture. Use earthquake locks on your kitchencabinets. And finally, stay calm. Make sure you readthe recommendations from FEMA for more suggestions(http://www.fema.gov/hazard/earthquake/eq_during.shtm).

With all of the recent earthquake issues hitting Haiti andChile, we thought this story would be timely and relevantfor our audience. Also, it provides some information abouthow one Delta Sig is making a difference in his graduateschool studies.

28 T H E C A R N AT I O N | D E LTA S I G . O R G

Sports

Memories were exchanged…Information came to light, some ofwhich can’t be printed in thesepages… Adventures from years agowere told (and probably embellished alittle)… It was like they had goneback in time and what they were talk-ing about just happened yesterday. Inreality, it happened 30-40 years agowhen these men were undergraduates.

On February 22, The Carnation,with the help of fellow alumnusDelbert Christensen, Morningside ’71,brought together three Delta Sigs totalk about their excellent careers ascoaches at small Midwestern highschools. In the coming pages you’llfind out more about their careers, howthey promote accountability and teachleadership, all the while promotingDelta Sig’s mission by helping theirhigh school players be better men.

THE PARTICIPANTS: • Curt Bladt, Morningside ’65•Tracy Hirt, Morningside ’74• Rex Mehrhoff, Morningside ’75

The Carnation: What made youwant to become a coach?Hirt: I knew I was going to do it fromthe start. When I was in high school, Iwas mentoring over at the elementaryschool. Being from Iowa City, withthe tremendous facilities there, I hadthe ability to watch all of the amazing

athletes come through, which wasgreat. We all love sports and wereraised competing in sports, and I justknew that coaching was for me.

Bladt: I actually stopped by Harlanwhile I was on my way to St. Louis,Missouri for an interview. I looked atthe newspaper, and saw they had anopening for a Biology teacher, anddidn’t get any further. (Laughs) Thefootball coach at that point was alsofrom my hometown, and while therewasn’t any space on the football staffthat first year, the next year I beganas an assistant coach. I did start aswrestling coach that first year though.

Mehrhoff: I got into coaching becauseI can’t keep my opinions to myself. Itseemed like a natural fit. I can’t getmy classroom kids to listen to me, butI can get the athletes to listen to me.(Laughs) Actually, I sat out a yearfrom coaching, but I just couldn’t stayaway from it. It gets in your blood,and then the fact that you can workwith great kids is a bonus.

The Carnation: How has coachingchanged since you first started in thebusiness?Bladt: They’ve changed rules a lotsince we started coaching. Theemphasis on trying to knock guys outof the game is gone now, which makes

the game a lot more fun for the kidsand for us as coaches.

Hirt: I think things have not changedas far as the game itself, because youstill just want them to go out thereand hit and tackle. The biggestchange is not the kids – it’s the par-ents. The last four years you can seethe changes in parents in what theyexpect from their kids and how theyhandle the game. You have to be a lit-tle more hands on with them nowthan you used to. The thing I havealways stayed true to is the mantra ofbeing honest. We always told our kids“if you wonder why you’re not playingand you can’t figure it out, come inthe room with your position coach,and we’ll tell you exactly why it is.You may not like hearing it, but we’lltell you exactly what’s going on.”

The Carnation: How are today’s highschool students different than theywere 10, 15, or even 20 years ago?Hirt: You know, athletes know whatcoaches expect from them. I’d saykids are more open today. They liketo joke with you a little bit more, andthey also want you to talk with thema little more. I think the kids todaywant leadership, because a lot of themdon’t have dads anymore. They’relooking for a male figure to take careof them. They come to us for advice,

A CRADLE OF HIGH SCHOOL

FOOTBALL COACHESThe stories flew around the room like stealth bombers – you weren’t sure wherethey were coming from or what was coming next.

29S P R I N G 2 0 1 0

and we know we’re important forthat reason.

Bladt: They read you really well.You’d better not be a phony, becausethey’ll see through that instantly. Youhave to be very honest with them.Also, they’ve got all these electronicdevices like cell phones and the(Nintendo) DS’, but you just have todeal with that. The other thing is thatthey come in and say “Coach, I don’tthink I’m going to play anymore. Iwant to get a job so I can get a car.” I try to talkthem into staying, but sometimes thatdoesn’t happen.

The Carnation: How are you able to teach accountability to your young men, and have them hold one another accountable?Mehrhoff: Especially with our upper-classmen, we tell them that it’s up tothem to show the younger guysthrough positive enforcement whatthey learned from those that camebefore them. We put accountabilitythen on the underclassmen to payattention when we’re working withthem. They’re accountable to be atpractice and weightlifting everyday,and for some of them, it’s the firsttime they’ve been held accountablefor anything. It’s a lesson that we hopethey learn through our efforts.

Bladt: An example of senior leader-ship and accountability is somethingthat happened this past year. We hadthis one player who was really good.He was a middle linebacker whoplayed offensive tackle the year before.He really wanted to be a fullback, butwe’d never really had a 6’5”, 240pound fullback before that could run4.7. I said that if he could find some-body to take his place and do an ade-quate job on the offensive line, I’d lethim try fullback. He spent the entiresummer with a couple kids who shared

the offensive tackle position, and wemoved him back to fullback. He was apretty good hammer.

The Carnation: Talk about howimportant it is not to give up on kids.Bladt: That is one of my points ofemphasis for myself and those whocoach with me. I had a kid one timethat as a freshman, I didn’t think he’dever play. As a sophomore, he wasn’tmuch better. But as a junior and asenior he turned out to be a starter forus. It was an unbelievable transforma-tion, and it taught us a lesson to notgive up on someone.

Hirt: I think kids really thrive off suc-cess. When they see success, the nextbunch comes in and says “That’s whatthey did, and we want to do more ofthat.” It reminds me of a kid we hadwho we never gave up on. He was5’10” and 155 pounds, was slow, was-n’t very strong, and we said “You’re asenior, and you need to step up.” Hesaid, “Coach, I play music. Football’sfun, and I love to play the game, but Idon’t know that I want to step up.”That kid led us in tackles that year,and in a playoff game, he was bleedingfrom his mouth at halftime. I askedthe trainer whether he was ok, andthe trainer said he thought he was.After the game, we checked and hehad a broken jaw. He played thewhole game with a broken jaw, andwe had him wired shut a half hourafter the game. I saw him the next dayat school thinking “what have Idone”, and I apologized to him. Hesaid “I never would have let you takeme out of that game. I knew I washurting, but I wanted to finish it.”

Bladt: Did you say he was in music?I hope he was a drummer or pianoplayer. (Everyone Laughs)

The Bladt File:

• 41st year as a head coach, last32 of which atHarlan Community High School in Harlan, Iowa

• Career Record of 345-35

• 11 time state champion, eighttime state runner up, 24 timestate semifinalist

• Two time national coach of the year in 2006 and 2009

• Also coaches wrestling andtrack and field

The Hirt File:

• Retired after 31years as headcoach at Platte/Geddes/Dakota Christian in Platte, South Dakota

• Career Record of 185-105

• Inducted into the South DakotaCoaches Hall of Fame in 2009

• Also coached wrestling and trackand field in his career

The Mehrhoff File:

• 26th year asassistant coachat Cumberland/Anita/Messina High School in Anita, Iowa

• Coaches line of a team that in the last two years has gone 18-4 in 8-man football

• Also coaches wrestling

30 T H E C A R N AT I O N | D E LTA S I G . O R G

Sports

Mehrhoff: I think that story illustrateshow kids will rise to our expectationsas well. It’s wonderful to see that ifyou don’t give up on that little fresh-man, who then becomes a little biggerbut is now clumsy, that he can becomeyour next great player because heknows you didn’t give up on him. It’s sometimes a great transformationwhen you let it happen and expectthat they’ll be great.

Hirt: What was great for me waswhen I was substitute teaching at myold high school. I couldn’t wait towalk into that teacher’s lounge andhave some of those teachers say “Itcan’t be! You can’t be teaching.” Mythought was, “See! You shouldn’t havegiven up on me!” (Laughs) We knowthere are kids out there that need tofind some motivation in order forthem to reach their potential.

The Carnation: Is it easy to pick outwho the leaders are when they firstcome into the program, and if not,how do you develop them through-out their four years?Bladt: You can kinda see who aregoing to be the leaders. Some lead byexample, while some are more verbal,and others lead by what they do physi-cally. We try to emphasize leadershipin the classroom, and there’s not a daythat goes by that after practice I don’tremind them what their number onepriority is. This year, we had four kidswho were 4.0 students, which meansthey’re taking what we have to say to heart. One even had a 35 ACT. I didn’t talk to him much. (Laughs) I didn’t want to sound too stupid…(Laughs) If you give them some ownership, they’ll lead.

Mehrhoff: It really doesn’t take longfor the group to assign leadership to aperson. As soon as we see that somekid is being a leader to kids youngerand older than him, I start assigning

him with little tasks to help him have a little ownership. Somethinglike, “Why don’t help this freshmanhave a better stance.” You give him a little responsibility, and by the timehe’s a senior, he’s the team leader.

The Carnation: How satisfying is itto see someone you’ve coached go onto do great things?Mehrhoff: There are certain kids yousee who you know are going to rise to the top and be successful, and youcan basically only get in their way; butthere are also the ones that everybodyelse has said, “he’s not going to go anywhere.” If you can teach them the team concept, responsibility, andaccountability to stay with it, even ifthey just barely graduate from highschool, it’s great to see them succeed.What scares the hell out of me iswhen a kid comes back and says, “Iremember in 8th grade you said this tome” and I don’t remember saying it tothem. If they remember the good stuff,imagine how much hurt you can puton them with the bad stuff you say tothem. For the last 20 years I’ve beentrying to watch the bad stuff I say.

The Carnation: What is it like winning state championships?Bladt: We had a basketball coachwho, after we had won a few statetitles, would ask the day when I cameback to school, “Who you gonna playfor the title next year?” Nothing like a little pressure… (Laughs) The thrillof a state title is in the pursuit and trying to get there, because once itsthere, while exciting, it’s over. It’s definitely exciting for the kids though.

Hirt: The excitement is before andafter the game. The game itself is stillthe game. State championships aremore about the town and the school,not just the football team. Thoseteams always come back smiling toyou. It’s the teams that don’t that

hurt, because someone has lost. The ’92 team of mine sticks out to me because it wasn’t full of a bunch of great football players. It was just ateam that came together after starting0-3 to win nine straight games, beating a team that was going for its fourth straight state title.

The Carnation: Tell us how largethe towns are that you coach in.Hirt: Platte is around 1,200. We have45 on our football team.

Bladt: Harlan is around 5,000. We have 365 students in our top three grades.

Mehrhoff: We’re three communitiesin one school. Anita has around 1,200people. Messina is around 900 people.And Cumberland is around 500 or600. Our top three grades have around96 students.

The Carnation: As such, you all areprobably well known when you walkaround town. How have you gotteninvolved in the local community tobetter it?Hirt: There’s no doubt that when we walk downtown, people know whowe are and want to talk to us. All I’mcalled in town is “Coach”, and youdon’t know how important that isuntil in my experience, when friendsfrom Iowa City come up to visit me,they say “Geez, everybody knows you!”As the coach, giving back to the com-munity is expected and important. Weall are asked to help, and we all do so.

Bladt: If there aren’t a couple of callseach week asking for our involvement,it would be a bad week. Things likeasking us to play Santa at the Hy-Vee,emcee a baseball game, sell tickets forsomething, or speak at the Kiwanis.They ask and we help.

31S P R I N G 2 0 1 0

The Carnation: On a sad note, didyou know Ed Thomas, the headcoach in Pakersburg, Iowa who wasshot and killed by a former player?What was it like for you all to hearabout that?Bladt: Parkersburg was also the placethat had a tornado in 2008, and ittook Coach Thomas’ house. Our teamloaded up a busload of kids and wentup to help them clean up, because Iknew Ed for many years and he was agood guy. The devastation opened alot of kids’ eyes.

I can tell you exactly where I waswhen I got the news that he’d beenshot. I was at a wrestling camp at ourmiddle school, and I got the call. Ithappens that my mother-in-law livesdown that way, and she heard on theradio that a famous coach in Iowa hadbeen shot in the weight room thatmorning. She knows I go to theweight room every morning, so shewas in a bit of a panic thinking itmight have been me.

As I watched the trial as it wenton, it just shows that all of us are vul-nerable. I recently had a good friendthat was killed in an accident, whichjust shows that’s the case. Ed probablyhad no idea that this could happen,and it’s just sad.

The Carnation: To get close on ahappier note, what’s the best thingabout coaching?Hirt: The kids. It’s all about the kids.

Bladt: I agree. It’s fun to see the lightgo on. That was great in the classroomalso. A kid finally figured out how tobalance that chemical equation. It’sjust fun to see that happen and thesuccess that kids have.

Mehrhoff: Watching a kid have suc-cess is great. They just brighten up.

The three chapter brothers arejoined by another famous Iowa coachnamed Randy Hinkel who wasunable to join them for the interviewdue to an awards banquet he wasinvolved in. We hope to bring youinformation about Randy in a futureissue of The Carnation.

A very special thanks to GeneKnudsen, Morningside ’68, fortaking the photos that accompanythis story.

Rex Mehrhoff, Tracy Hirt, and Curt Bladt in front of the Morningside College banner on campus

32 T H E C A R N AT I O N | D E LTA S I G . O R G

A Day in the Life

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2009

7:00 am I begin to prep myself for the big presentationscheduled for 8:30 am. I am presenting SGA’s strategic planto the entire academic council, which is made up of thePresident of the University, his Vice Presidents, and all of theAcademic Deans.

7:50 am I pick up Shane McCarty, SGA’s Vice President,so that we can run through the plan one more time.

8:00 am I arrive at the Latham Ballroom in the Inn atVirginia Tech, and Shane and I begin to prep. We find waysto create synergy and play off each other’s strengths. Duringthe presentation, there are technological errors, so ourPowerpoint isn’t visible for the audience to see. Fortunately,we have practiced so many times that we don’t give it anoth-er thought. We give the hard copy of the strategic plan toeveryone in attendance and answer their questions.

Because SGA represents the official voice of the studentsat Virginia Tech, some administrators wanted to gauge myopinion about a variety of issues. A major source of concernfor professors and students is the evaluation process.

I explain the importance of evaluations occurring mid-semester to provide professors with feedback to adjust theirclass, and lessen the grade dependent responses as they relateto the actual performance of the teacher.

9:30 am I have my business writing class, where we talkabout writing a business plan and how to structure a formalreport. My report discusses my ideal non-profit calledActively Caring for People.

11:00 am I have a conference call after class withTatango, a group text messaging company. I sit as a memberof their user advisory board. Derek Johnson, their CEO, wasjust named a top 30 CEO under 30 by Business Week. I try toguide him in terms of the overall user experience, which isessential because his biggest market is college students.

11:45 am My mom is calling me about my plans forThanksgiving. Every year, I usually go to see my grandmother(on my dad’s side), but this year she is sick. We talk brieflyabout school and other things, but I have a meeting at12:30 pm with the Provost, and I like to be very preparedfor each meeting.

12:30 pm I have a meeting with Provost McNamee totalk about ways to actively engage students inside a classroom.The size of a classroom is expanding, and our quality of educa-tion is diminishing. I suggest that we look into near-peer learn-ing environments like Berkeley and Emory. In my opinion,teaching is the greatest opportunity to learn and remember, soI suggest implementing a program where students teach otherstudents. I feel like it is important for the upper-administrationto hear tangible ways to empower students. We need to domore to let students be creative and innovative.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF

BRANDON CARROLLStudent Government Association President at Virginia Tech

Credit: Kelsey Kradel/Virginia Tech

33S P R I N G 2 0 1 0

1:30 pm I grab lunch at the Au Bon Pan kiosk, which isa “grab and go” kind of place in our Squires Student Center,where the SGA office is located. I go to the office to relax fora bit, but people need to book reservations and have generalquestions, among other things. After taking care of somemundane tasks, I call Austin Gage, a Delta Sig pledge and asophomore from Alexandria, Virginia. We had a really goodconversation about why he was interested in Delta Sig, whyhe chose Virginia Tech, what he can add to our brotherhood,and many other interesting topics. I really like this pledgeclass a lot – they all add something to our brotherhood.

2:45 pm I go back to the SGA office to try to tacklesome e-mails. I usually average around 80-90 a day that I needto either read or respond to. I will always respond to e-mailswithin 48 hours, but I usually have to block off around 3-4hours. One e-mail sticks out to me. I find out that a Delta Sig,Bob Veazie, and my mentor, Dr. Geller, are dedicating theirlatest book, When No One’s Watching, to the SGA at VirginiaTech and they even included me as a character in the book.

3:45 pm I am about to head over to my final meetingwith an administrator. After this meeting, I can finally takeoff my suit!

4:00 pm My last meeting for the day with administratorsis with another mentor Dr. Anne Moore. I meet with herweekly to discuss how to break down the separate silo andimprove collaboration. Dr. Moore used to work with the StateCouncil for Higher Education, has been a public sector lobby-ist, and now she serves as the VP of Information Technologyand acts as the head of Learning Technologies. She knows howto make change within a University, and she has a very differ-ent way of thinking. I usually tell her all of the issues, and shehelps me evaluate my priorities. The meeting is extremely pro-ductive, as we talk about how to make Torgersen a 24/7 studyfacility. As I am leaving, she hands me a book called TheInnovator’s Dilemma, which talks about why mature companies(like a college institution) fail. The analogy I will use is thatit’s like we are a train on a track and if we keep just doingbarely enough to keep the train afloat, we will eventually runourselves to the ground. Although it is not foreseeable in thenear future, we have to look at reinventing our processes,building a “new train” before it is too late.

5:30 pm I make my to-do list for the night. Thisincludes sending follow-up e-mails, doing some homework,preparing for meetings tomorrow, and organizing my bindersfor the final stretch in the semester.

6:00 pm I go to dinner with the Vice President, ShaneMcCarty, the Chief of Staff, Bo Hart, and the Director of

Transportation, Brianna Farr. We’ve been working on gettingreal-time tracking on the Blacksburg Transit all semester,which has been an uphill battle. We are trying to make surewe are all on the same page, discuss some issues we have beenhaving with their IT department, and the best way toapproach this moving forward.

7:30 pm I finally make it home and begin on my home-work (or try to). I try to get all of my homework done onThursday and Friday, so I can have the weekend free. My hard-est class is called Financial Planning for Professionals, wheremy professor assigns around 3-4 hours of homework per class.Thankfully, we only have class on Mondays and Wednesdays,but I do have to be very disciplined in order to maintain thatbalance between school, SGA, and a social life.

9:00 pm My goal is to clear my inbox by 10:00 pm.My pet peeve is having any e-mails in my inbox when Igo to bed. I have an e-mail from the VP and Dean forUndergraduate Education, and he wants me to appointtwo people (a sophomore and a senior) to sit on a strategicplanning committee for undergraduate education. Talkabout an opportunity. The University can do a lot in termsof academic advising, near-pear learning, and I am privilegedin this opportunity to choose two students to help theUniversity with the future of undergraduate education.

10:30 pm I am just finishing up with e-mail and tryingto prepare for tomorrow. E-mailing really tires me out. A lotof times, they require long thought-out responses. I head overto the living room and watch a little bit of the 49ers vs. Bears game, but it is boring. I am still contemplating if I amgoing to go to the Virginia Tech vs. Maryland game thisweekend. I am from Maryland, and I would be able to seemy mom, but I still have to remind myself that I am a brokecollege student.

11:30 pm It is my brother’s birthday tomorrow, so I callto wish him a happy birthday, and then head to bed.

Reflection: It’s been an eventful day, and I am feeling beyond priv-ileged and humbled to be the SGA President at the best Universityin the world. As SGA President, I have learned the importance ofsurrounding yourself with people passionate about the mission;experience is not necessary (although it helps). Higher Educationshould be about raising the bar for students and meeting theirneeds. However, this isn’t always the case. Next semester, I planon tackling the major issues at this University and making carefullycrafted recommendations to the University that will ultimately shiftthe focus to the students.

34 T H E C A R N AT I O N | D E LTA S I G . O R G

FRATERNITY BROTHERS ON THE

CAMPAIGN TRAIL

Now it was off to catch the first ferryback to the island, and another dayof events, speakers, and welcomingreceptions.

Not every day begins so early inour campaign to elect brother FrankFoster, Grand Valley State ’05, to theMichigan House of Representatives,but each day often plays itself out thesame way: finding and meeting withthe movers and shakers in one ofMichigan’s largest House districts; anarea that covers the northern tip ofthe Lower Peninsula and as far northas the U.S.-Canadian border town ofSault Ste. Marie.

It is, at times, every bit as glorifiedas it sounds with various cocktailreceptions, free dinners, and publicappearances. But in reality, we spendmost of our days setting up meetings,doing tedious database entry and othermenial office work. Our eveningsinclude knocking on strangers’ doors,hoping not to be mauled by their dogs.

After living up north some sixmonths now, I am convincedNorthern Michigan has more dogsper capita than it does people.

Frank and I had begun to conjure aplan to run for public office in April oflast year, at our last undergraduateWhite Carnation Ball. The election

for this particular House race was stillmore than a year-and-a-half away.We began to research, analyzed votingstatistics from previous races and con-sulted with contacts in the capital andat Grand Valley.

Not long after, Frank filed to run.Epilson Tau brothers Steve Smith,’03, Tom Ebenhoeh, ’07, and MikeKrombeen, ’08, decided to joinmyself, ’06, and another GrandValley State University graduate,Jason Puscas, in what is surely thelargest and most extensive campaignteam for any House race in the stateof Michigan.

After completing classes and finish-ing earning our degrees, we relocatedto rural Northern Michigan, whereFrank was born and raised. This

proved to be a culture shock as therest of us had been raised in the sub-urbs of metropolitan areas.

A GROUP OF FRESHLY-MINTEDCOLLEGE GRADUATES put theirpersonal goals and aspirations on holdto help a fraternity brother get elect-ed. Let’s just say our friends and fami-lies were less than enthused, especiallyafter the investment our parents hadjust made to help us get jobs.

But the sad reality in Michiganis there are no jobs to be had. Welive in the state with the highestunemployment in the nation, andwe’ve watched our friends and peersleave the state in droves to findemployment elsewhere in the country.

In addition to not having employ-ment opportunities in a state we alllove, where our families still live, we allbelieve in the difference we can makeby taking part in our great democracy.If we didn’t think Frank had a shot, andif he wasn’t a brother, I can assure youwe wouldn’t still be enduring a brutalNorthern Michigan winter.

I have no personal political aspira-tions, but I know that taking chancesleads to opportunities. I know thatloyalty is a value this fraternity hasinstilled deep within me, and that if

In Their Own Words

The Delta Sigs on the Foster for theMichigan House team

The wake up call was set for 4:00 am this particular Saturday morning. We had just walked

in the door some two hours before, after hosting a welcoming event on Mackinac Island during

this year’s Michigan Biennial Republican Leadership Conference. The rest of the evening was

spent cavorting around with different state legislators and gubernatorial candidates.

By Brian Beaupied, Grand Valley State ’06

35S P R I N G 2 0 1 0

I come across a brother in need, I’llinvest myself in assisting him in anyway I can.

For being a young, wide-eyed groupof young adults, most of us had beenvery involved in student organizationsand various leadership roles. Frankwas a two-term student body presidentwho lobbied for higher education inLansing. He also was an intern inMichigan gubernatorial candidatePete Hoekstra’s congressional officein Washington, D.C. Mike and Jasonhad also served as vice presidents ofour student senate and had politicalinternships and Steve was heavilyinvolved, well, in just about every-thing on campus. I had served as vicepresident of the fraternity, president ofthe Interfraternity Council, graduateof the Delta Sigma Phi LeadershipInstitute and the editorial staff of mycollege newspaper.

So it’s not like we haven’t had anysort of leadership experience.

The campaign officially kickedoff during the Fourth of July this pastsummer. That day we had two parades;one in Petoskey and another in a near-by resort town called Harbor Springs.

After showing up ill-equipped for thefirst parade, we spent our brief two-hourwindow between parades at a localOffice Max, frantically making signs anddecorating Frank’s Ford Explorer to lookmore festive. We caught the next paradejust as it was beginning.

We heard of another parade inSault Ste. Marie, an hour-and-a-halfdrive north, and another early thenext morning in Curtis, anotherpopular summer town in Michigan’sUpper Peninsula, and another two-and-a-half hour drive west of the Soo.

I realized very early that therewould have to be a lot of personalsacrifices made. At times we wouldusually spend relaxing on weekends,holidays, etc., we would spend work-ing, and putting in long days at that.

IT’S NOT FOR A LACK OF HARDWORK that to date we’ve knocked onmore doors and raised more moneythan any of the other four candidateswho have filed to run. We’re continu-ing to go to chicken dinners, pancakebreakfasts and any community eventswe come across. We’re determined tomake a difference and won’t stop untilwe get Frank elected.

We have the most to gain fromthis state turning around. We want to

reinvent our state and help bring it back to prominence. More important-ly, we want to stay in Michigan, it isthe perfect place to work, live, learnand raise a family.

For more information on ourcampaign, where Frank stands onthe issues, or how to get involvedor contribute, you can visit ourweb site at www.fosterforhouse.com,on Twitter (@frankfoster) or onFacebook (FrankDFoster).

Foster

36 T H E C A R N AT I O N | D E LTA S I G . O R G

FICTION

The View from BrindleyMountain: a Memoir ofthe Rural SouthBy Gene Scruggs, Transylvania ’59ISBN: 978-1439261316

The View from Brindley Mountain is a memoir of a place and a time: the place – the sandy, pine-forested hills of northernAlabama; the time – a span of two decades embracing thenineteen forties and fifties. This was an era of hardshipsbrought on by world war, but also a time of rebirth and prosperity. On the surface today, the place seems littlechanged beyond the network of paved roads and ubiquitous,gaudy shopping malls. But time has wrought a remarkabletransition in the local ethos. Gone are most remnants of a simpler lifestyle, combining the joys of civic solidarity and family reunions with the rough and tumble existence on a hard-scrabble farm. Gone are the childhood games and the innocence born of geographic and ethnic isolation.For one well-journeyed native son, the limited view fromBrindley Mountain has morphed into a world-view with limitless possibilities.

Kalup’s CrossroadsBy E.T. Lewis, Waynesburg ’62ISBN: 978-1607498193

In the late nineteen-seventies, when the Federal Governmentbegan its “War on Drugs” in earnest, the Drug EnforcementAdministration, much to the chagrin of the FBI, emerged asthe most important and visible of all federal law enforcementagencies. In those days, the FBI lacked the jurisdiction tocompete in the area of drug investigations and they simplycould not tolerate another agency beating them to the frontpage. From that was born, within the hierarchy of the FBI,an all-out effort to change this deprecation. Using theirenormous influence in Washington, the FBI kept pressure on the heads of government until, in the early eighties, the Attorney General of the United States granted themconcurrent jurisdiction in matters concerning drug smug-gling and trafficking. Kalup’s Crossroads is a fictional storythat speculates on how far the FBI might be willing to go in order to accomplish their goal.

Hot Rod Hamster Illustrated by Derek Anderson, IowaState ’88 and Written by Cynthia LordISBN: 978-0545035309

Old car, new car, shiny painted blue carRust car, clean car, itty-bitty green car. WHICH WOULD YOU CHOOSE?

Newbery Honor-author Cynthia Lord and New York Timesbestselling illustrator Derek Anderson put the pedalto the metal in this endearing, rhythmic, rip-roaring raceto the finish line where a hamster creates a sizzling hot rodwith a little help from his new furry friends and YOU!

NON-FICTION

Buzzedby Wilkie Wilson, LSU ’63, CynthiaKuhn, and Scott SwartzwelderISBN: 978-0393329858

Buzzed is an authoritative guidebook to help people makehealthier decisions about drug use with the help of easy-to-fol-low explanations of the most recent discoveries about drugs.From caffeine to alcohol to nicotine to steroids and hallucino-gens, this book gives real explanations from three PhDs in theDuke University Medical Center about the negative effects ofdrugs, potential dangers associated with them, and their addic-tive properties. It also includes an extensive list of referencesso readers can continue to research on their own.

Real Role Models: SuccessfulAfrican Americans BeyondPop Culture by Joah Spearman, Texas ’05 and Louis Harrison, Jr.ISBN: 978-0292718326

All young people need good role models, and black youthespecially need positive and real examples beyond the famousand wealthy people they see on SportsCenter highlights andMTV Cribs. While success as a celebrity athlete or enter-tainer may seem like an achievable dream, the reality is that

Books By Brothers

37S P R I N G 2 0 1 0

young African Americans have a much greater chance ofsucceeding in the professions through education and hardwork – and a mentor to show them the path. Real Role Modelsintroduces high school and college-age African Americans totwenty-three black professionals who have achieved a highlevel of success in their chosen fields and who tell their sto-ries to inspire young people to pursue a professional careerand do the work necessary to achieve their dreams.

The Passion Principleby Jim Lucas, Missouri S&T ’69ISBN: 978-0-9823161-0-8

Great organizations pursue great visions–visions forged by the passionate, committed people in the organization. A passionately shared vision draws on all of their ideas, person-alities, and passions to build a unique organization, one whose success can be admired but not replicated.

Do you want an organization with an unmistakable identity,a vision so compelling that people invest themselves in thecause and compete for a chance to join you? This bookletshows you how to fashion a powerful charter for success. Andworld-class leaders don’t stop there: they design organizationsthat draw out and align the passions of all their people.

When a passionate organization meets an organizationwhose people are merely engaged, the passionate organizationwill triumph every time. This step-by-step guide will showyou how to identify five enemies of a passionate organization,redesign seven components of your organization around apowerful core, and build ten key elements into your organiza-tion to sustain its passion.

ENTERTAINMENT

Official Collectors Guide:TV Guideby Dr. Steve Hofer, Wittenberg ’59ISBN: 978-0977292714

TV Guide: The Official Collectors Guide is the ultimate priceguide for collectors, as well as a history of television as seenthrough the pages of TV Guide® magazine. The book con-tains almost 38,000 covers – all in color, as well as the values

of every issue starting from the 1950s. It profiles the historyof television programs by decades and tells collectors whereand how to find back issues. This is the first time every TVGuide digest-size cover has been printed in one publication.

Ultimate Catholic Trivia:1001 Fun and Fascinating Factsby Scott Frush, Eastern Michigan ’92

ISBN: 978-0974437446

Ultimate Catholic Trivia reveals 1001 fun facts and tantalizingtrivia that are sure to entertain, educate, and surprise. Alongwith little known trivia that will bring history to life, thisone-of-a-kind extravaganza of curiosities on all thingsCatholic will prove fascinating for Catholics and a livelyfeast for trivia buffs of all backgrounds!

The primary categories of trivia include: • Jesus and the Holy Bible • Saints, Angels, and Popes • Vatican, Shrines, and Churches • Events, Origins, and Miscellaneous • Teachings, Beliefs, and Structure • Seasons, Holy Days, and the Mass • Sacraments, Sacramentals, and Prayers • Organizations, Orders, and the Clergy

Complete Idiot’s Guide to Freemasonryby Brent Morris, SMU ’69ISBN: 978-1592574902

Mysteries revealed… truths uncovered… and mythsdispelled. What is the truth about the Masons suggestedin Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code? Can Freemasonry reallybe dated back as far as Babylon? Did they really coordinatethe Boston Tea Party and the American Revolution?What really goes on at a Mason lodge during an initiation?Here is the real story behind the secret society that nowboasts nearly five million members (and has included suchillustrious fellows as George Washington and BenjaminFranklin), as revealed by a Master Mason. The book offersa highly illustrated field guide to Masonic jewelry andsymbols, and includes further reading, a glossary, a list offamous Freemasons and information on Freemasonry inpopular culture.

38 T H E C A R N AT I O N | D E LTA S I G . O R G

Carlos Murillo, Utah State ’09, at Zion National Parkin Utah

Mike Wims, North Texas ’66, and Alain Balmanno, UtahState ’07, at the Pyramids in Egypt in October 2009

Michael Bryant, Morningside ’05, Maurie Tomke,Morningside ’06, and Chapter Faculty Advisor GregGuelcher, Morningside ’03, at the Great Wall of China in May 2008

Jimmy Goode, Millikin ’05 on a trip to the Pyramids inEgypt in September 2009

i spy DELTA SIGMA PHI

i spy DELTA SIGMA PHI is a feature where DeltaSigs, or Delta Sigma Phi’s letters, are found in interestingand unique places. Have you taken the flag to the top of amountain, worn your letters in a foreign country, or donesomething unique with fellow brothers? If so, send us thephoto and we will include the best of them in this sectioneach issue.

Photos submitted must be at least 300 DPI (taken on the highest resolution of the digital camera you utilize and NOT on a camera phone), and should be e-mailed to [email protected] with an explanation and a proposed caption. We look forward to sharing more photos like the ones on this page in future issues!

39S P R I N G 2 0 1 0

NAME CHAPTER JOIN DATE DECEASED DATEWalter Steril Daron EPSILON 12/2/51 9/2/09Kenneth W. Henry EPSILON 12/17/54 12/1/09William Scatchard, Jr. EPSILON 2/8/31 10/1/09Christian Paul Erickson ETA 12/2/94 11/19/09Milton Edward Adams KAPPA 4/27/56 5/16/09Henry Watson Ivey II KAPPA 11/10/56 4/9/09James Eugene Headley, Jr. NU 4/16/51 9/16/09William A. Churchill HILGARD 2/22/53 11/18/09James Henry Clippard, Jr. RHO 4/9/57 4/27/09Ronald Roger Danella RHO 5/3/64 9/8/09John B. Legge TAU 11/21/54 4/1/09Russel A. Bechtel UPSILON 5/30/53 9/30/09Clarence B. Brewster III CHI 4/9/49 7/1/09Robert Paul Trunick OMEGA 1/7/49 9/5/09Willard Kells ALPHA GAMMA 2/26/55 11/1/09Walter George Wanamaker ALPHA GAMMA 3/4/39 10/22/09William Carl Ziemke ALPHA IOTA 5/1/49 6/6/09Roger Kurt Hildebrand ALPHA KAPPA 11/4/51 10/8/09Albert F. Schuchardt ALPHA KAPPA 11/20/49 5/1/09Robert Ivan Boyd ALPHA PI 1/24/50 8/16/09Louis J. Blanc, Sr. ALPHA RHO 4/18/31 9/10/09Richard M. Howard ALPHA RHO 2/25/51 1/1/09Donald R. Owings ALPHA RHO 10/28/51 2/1/09Robert H. Churchill ALPHA TAU 4/20/40 7/29/09John David Scott ALPHA UPSILON 3/10/63 11/1/09Leo C. Hammerschmitt ALPHA PHI 3/9/36 10/1/09Robert J. Latham ALPHA PHI 9/28/47 6/9/09Raymond E. Prochnow, Jr. ALPHA PHI 6/11/44 2/1/10Timothy Gene Watkins ALPHA PHI 12/21/85 11/28/09Charles S. Doll, Jr. ALPHA CHI 7/9/47 9/25/09David Harry Morgan BETA ALPHA 2/14/60 10/25/09John Howard Hardin BETA GAMMA 12/17/84 10/12/09Walter J. Leach II BETA GAMMA 2/14/43 6/2/09David Lawrence Grabowski BETA IOTA 11/15/64 5/20/09John BillCalhoun BETA KAPPA 12/16/53 1/26/09Millard Davidson BETA XI 3/5/50 4/15/09Gary Eugene Eddings BETA OMICRON 5/11/67 2/8/09Richard Deuel Granville BETA OMICRON 1/11/58 10/6/09Lewis S. Neeb BETA PSI 2/7/54 11/1/09Rene J. Belisle BETA TAU 5/16/48 11/20/09Jerry Fillmore Campbell BETA UPSILON 5/27/51 10/16/09James Alf Iverson, Jr. GAMMA ALPHA 2/7/54 2/19/09Delbert Max Grigsby GAMMA DELTA 5/25/52 11/30/09Earl Nicholas Dawson, Jr. GAMMA IOTA 5/21/50 1/17/10Richard F. Donnelly GAMMA UPSILON 12/16/56 1/1/10Watson Robert Hanscom GAMMA UPSILON 12/16/56 1/1/10David John Ross GAMMA UPSILON 5/2/55 7/1/09Ronald Mark Schroeder GAMMA UPSILON 1/13/64 1/1/10Thomas Alfred Johnson GAMMA OMEGA 6/19/60 2/1/10Bob Ed Osborn GAMMA OMEGA 1/30/71 1/1/10Robert Alan Watkins DELTA DELTA 12/12/76 7/13/09Robert Earl Bennett, PhD. DELTA IOTA 12/11/64 9/9/09William Fredderick Schuck DELTA OMICRON 4/17/05 2/7/10Robert Martin O’Shea EPSILON GAMMA 5/24/64 6/26/09Willis Conway Pierce, Jr. EPSILON RHO 10/27/56 11/1/09Jeffrey Alan Diggs ETA IOTA 12/12/86 10/14/09Jason Christopher Rozakis ETA NU 5/9/93 1/8/10Mark Andrew Fanion THETA IOTA 11/22/96 3/5/10

1. Fact… Former New York Yankees pitcher Jim Bouton, Western Michigan ’59, invented Big League Chew along with fellow pitcher Rob Nelson in 1980.

2. Fact… Duane Saunders, Kansas State ’58,holds the patent for the shoulder sling used by many of today’s college and professional teams when someone is recovering from a separated shoulder.

3. Fact… Mark Moseley, Stephen F. Austin ’67, a kicker for the Eagles, Oilers, Redskins andBrowns in the 70s and 80s, was named NFLMVP during the strike shortened 1982 season. Moseley still is the Redskins franchise’sall time leading scorer with 1,207 points.

4. Fact… Mike Shanahan, Eastern Illinois ’74, and Mike Heimerdinger, Eastern Illinois ’72, were roommates on campus at Eastern Illinois.Shanahan currently serves as head coach of theWashington Redskins, while Heimerdinger is theoffensive coordinator for the Tennessee Titans.

5. Fact… Bill O’Neil, SMU ’53, founded Investor’sBusiness Daily in 1984, and is continuing to havea very successful investment and entrepreneurialcareer. O’Neil invented the CAN-SLIM invest-ing philosophy, which was formulated by lookingat the 500 best performing stocks since 1953.O’Neil is also an author of a number of bookson investing.

6. Fact… Mark Martin, Western Carolina ’81, is aSenior Associate Justice on the North CarolinaSupreme Court, and Michael Cavanagh, Detroit’59, is a Justice on the Michigan Supreme Court.

7. Fiction… The tallest known alumnus is Dave Schlesser, Morningside ’74, who stands at6’11”. More than 25 years since his graduation,Schlesser still holds Morningside basketball’srecords for career scoring average – 20.6 points,and rebounding average in a season – 17.3rebounds/game.

8. Fiction… Actually, there are brothers in theFraternity’s database with the same name as 14previous U.S. presidents (# of brothers with thatname in parentheses) – John Adams (6), Thomas Jefferson (1), James Monroe (1), John Tyler (1), James Polk (1), Zachary Taylor (1),James Buchanan (1), Andrew Johnson (6),Chester Arthur (1), William McKinley (3),Woodrow Wilson (1), John F. Kennedy (1),Richard Nixon (1), James Carter (10).

bond eternal

Due to incomplete information, deceased dates may reflect the date the fraternity was notified.

Answers to Delta Sig Factor Fiction Questions

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2011 Delta Sigma Phi ConventionJuly 28 – August 1, 2011

Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate

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