Spring/Summer 2011 Beta-Rho Bulletin

BETA-RHO BULLETIN

Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity

California State University, Northridge

Volume 39, Issue 2

Spring / Summer 2011

Under wraps. The Matador Statue awaited its official debut before a ceremony got underway on Sept. 8.

Matador Statue Unveiled Story, Page 4

The flag is up in remembrance of 9/11. After numerous delays, several brothers took up residence at the Lindley House on Aug. 30. The chapter hosted a barbecue for about 40 guests after the Alumni-Active Softball Game on Sept. 11.

Lindley House Is Up and Running

Alumni softball game streak extended. Tim Pena rounds second base after Spencer Schmerling smashed a line drive. Story, page 6.

Chapter Delays CUP, Seeks to Develop Strong Neighbor Relations Story, Page 5

Nearly all of the alumni-active softball game’s entourage carpooled or walked to the Lindley House to partake in its inaugural barbecue and get a first taste of life in Beta-Rho’s postHalsted 1-3 era. The American flag that had been hooked to the baseball diamond chain link fence found a new home at the corner of the garage in recognition of the tenth anniversary of 9/11.

Official fraternity inscriptions painted or affixed to the house were nowhere in sight, and its giant trove of trophies dating back the early 1970s were still being kept in a storage locker off-site. Without a conditional use permit, the chapter was treating the new property strictly as a private college dormitorystyle residence.

The exact number of residents remained undisclosed, but at least now the property was

generating rental income.

Doc Ellis (BP 124) assisted the undergrads by helping with some yard work at the Lindley House during the softball game. High Pi Emeritus Tom Lawrence (AI 620) dropped by and took his first tour of the new property. Sorely missed at the game was Anthony Pinkett (BP 484), but he wasted no time talking to rushees with fellow alumni after his late arrival.

Several prospective members that had missed the game mingled with the brothers along with some alumni spouses, toddlers and girlfriends while feasting on burgers, hot dogs and refreshments. Well-wishers peaking at around 40 settled into the new place after the softball game ended until the actives adjourned to Sierra South 182 where they held their weekly chapter meeting.

After John Leynes (BP 590) 1

climbed onto a folding ladder to adjust the awkwardly low backboard, several of the actives and alumni played their first pickup basketball game together on a small court near the back gate of the property. The court’s asphalt was still painted with the name of one of its former tenants, the now defunct CSUN chapter of the Fiji Fraternity. In keeping with the inscription on the front doormat, “What happens here, stays here,” nobody could quite figure out the significance of the letters that spelled out “Iota Zone” on the other end of the basketball court. At some point the chapter was looking forward to removing the oversized pale lavender Fiji inscriptions from the old gray pavement.

A few brothers also practiced their volleyball skills by the barbecue area with a couple of

Next Page >>>

Lindley House: Before & After Living Room

Chopageddon, pt. 1. About a dozen undergrads and alumni worked on clearing weeds at the property on July 31.

Scott Press is shown with Zach Payne.

Kitchen

Garage / Shed

TV Room / Lounge

From renovations to relaxation. Members of the corp. board toured the house on June 8 (left column) as the renovations went into overdrive. The right side pictures were taken on Sept. 8, 11 and Oct. 12. The property’s garage was demolished in late August.

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<<< Lindley House, front page the prospective members.

Getting the house prepared for the barbecue came less than two weeks after some of the undergrads moved in for the first time. Once the renovations and various technical hurdles were overcome, the city inspector informed Housing Corporation President Spencer Schmerling (BP 288) that the property could be occupied on Aug. 29.

Permitting for the house renovations began last November, and work started in April. Major construction began on June 13, but not before a huge bee infestation needed to be cleared out of the minuscule crawl space above the living room ceiling vent near the front door entryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s left side. Longtime chapter contractor Hal Smith needed his men to cut a hole in the roof for a beekeeper to gain access to the area where a long string of honeycombs had developed. It took a week before they could finally eradicate the bee colony, fix the roof and block the gap where the bees had originally entered.

Then a construction crew corrected numerous building anomalies that affected the house. Among the more glaring issues were pipefittings that jutted from bathroom floors that needed covers. Smith also noted during a conversation on Aug. 9 that the bedroom closet door Spring / Summer 2011

spaces were all built without adhering to a standard size.

Next came the final wall treatments, connecting central A/C and heating units, painting the interior walls, preparing the driveway forms and pouring concrete, kitchen and laundry room appliance load-ins, fixing or replacing some of the toilets, carpeting, installing recycled granite countertops in the kitchen and coordinating with Time Warner to finalize cable TV and internet setups.

Brother Schmerling donated work desks, office chairs and a router to complement the broadband cable modem for the live-ins. According to High Alpha and Lindley House resident Vahan Khodanian (BP 562), the wi-fi signal was quite good.

Once the front doors were finished, a security system with video surveillance cameras and recording backup capabilities was installed.

Aside from the interior, it took the chapter three weekends to clear out the weeds and tear down the old garage in the backyard starting on July 31.

Scott Press (BP 55) supervised two “Chopageddon” parties (a

Relaxing by what’s left of the pool. Kicking back with Spencer Schmerling, Tim Pena, Howard Sapper and Jay Friedman. Yesai Fstkchyan (uper left) tends the barbecue grill. Leon Kozlowski (top, in red t-shirt) was among the guests getting to know the brothers.

word coined by Brother Ellis), donated food and water bottles and provided many of the garden tools that were used. Between a dozen and 18 actives and alumni tackled brush clearance the oldfashioned way with garden shovels, hoes, spades and rakes instead of weed whackers so that the foxtails and other weeds wouldn’t return until the next spring.

Before the city inspector okayed the property for

Beta-Rho Zeta of Lambda Chi Alpha International Fraternity

occupancy, he required that a few internal wiring issues be resolved, the chain link fence, bins and trash bags full of weed cuttings needed to be removed, and the old garage had to be demolished.

After acquiring yet another city permit, members of the chapter congregated again in late August with sledgehammers to dismantle and haul away the garage/shed.

All those efforts seemed to be the last things on the minds of the brothers and their guests as 3

they relaxed in the TV room on Sept. 11 to watch the Vikings/ Chargers football game while sipping bottles of Jarritos tamarind sodas, discussing rush plans in the dining room or tend to grilling the last burgers before heading to the chapter meeting.

The Lindley House had finished its transformation from neighborhood eyesore to an attractive private residence that just so happens to house some very lucky Lambda Chis.

Matador Statue Brings Out the Roses The Matador, CSUN's controversial mascot, made its public debut in front of Sequoia Hall before an appreciative crowd of dignitaries, donors, current CSUN students, bands, cheerleaders and special guests on Sept. 8.

Hundreds of students and passersby squeezed up behind the roped-off donor and VIP seating area behind the newly completed Matador Square for a glimpse of what is certain to become a focal point for campus rallies, dedications, memorial tributes, protests and special occasions for decades to come.

Five of the chapter’s alumni contributed to the Matador Statue fundraising campaign last year. The combined donations of $5,000 enabled Beta-Rho Zeta of Lambda Chi Alpha to be highlighted among the names of the gold level donors, the second highest tier of top individual and organizational contributors. It was the only CSUN fraternity or sorority to leave its mark on one of two bronze plaques mounted on the statue’s pedestal. All other donors were recognized with pavers lined in a square surrounding the new campus landmark.

Before the unveiling, CSUN’s President, Dr. Jolene Koester, singled out the donors from Beta-Rho for their support during her speech.

“We have four alums from the Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity who attended school here,” she said while gazing over the crowd and hearing cheers. “I hear some of them! In three different decades: Gary Thomas, Rick Childs, Spencer Schmerling and Michael Cooperman. They wanted to honor their fraternal bond and inspire their future fraternity brothers to remain connected to the campus by their donation.”

Due to an omission in the printed program, probably the source material for some of Dr. Koester’s speech, she forgot to mention the name of the chapter’s fifth donor, Chris Dyer.

The Matador brings out the roses. Hundreds of donors and guests attended the unveiling of the Matador Statue on Sept. 8. Red roses were placed at the foot of the statue.

Lambda Chi Alpha’s CSUN chapter is recognized on a plaque on the pedestal’s west side.

Shellie Hadvina, associate director of the alumni relations office, admitted that they had accidentally forgotten to add his name to the donor list in the

ceremony’s brochure.

Ms. Hadvina had originally started pushing for the campus to have a bronze Matador statue back in 1989. This latest effort 4

had been the culmination of a second campaign that kicked off in 2006. Fundraising efforts began after the Associated Students Senate granted $10,000 in seed money to hire a different sculptor, Jon Hair, and develop a new design.

According to the text of the program, the Matador Statue Fundraising Committee spearheaded a drive to raise $150,000 to build the largerthan-life bronze statue, the first of its kind on campus. No additional (A.S.) student activity fees or state funds were used for the project.

The statue has been erected between the Oviatt Library and University Student Union on grounds that were once referred to as the Engineering Field. It stood on a square in front of Sequoia Hall and off of Cleary Walk, a major footpath named after one of the university’s former presidents, Dr. James W. Cleary.

During the statue’s unveiling, a new CSUN tradition was also revealed. A.S. President Amanda Flavin offered an explanation for the Tradition of the Rose. Red roses were to be placed at the foot of the statue by students, alumni, family or friends to overcome an obstacle, challenge or adversity.

“At the end of a great bullfight, Matadors are often rewarded with red roses,” Flavin said. “We too will embrace this tradition at Cal State Northridge. Whenever we encounter a worthy adversary and choose to enter the ring, we will celebrate by laying roses at the feet of our Matador. We as a community will honor and respect those challenges we face.”

Dozens of long-stemmed red roses were given out as she spoke. When Ms. Flavin concluded her remarks, she placed her rose at the foot of the statue in the first observance of this tradition. After the unveiling, dozens of roses surrounded the sculpture’s base.

Spring / Summer 2011

Lassen and Zelzah across the street from the Sigma Chi House during the late morning.

Shortly before the meeting, supporters met with Brother Schmerling in front of the bronze ‘Fernando’ statue about 200 yards from the corner conference room area. Members and guests were shown a largescale rendering of the Lindley property’s renovated floor plan.

Then a quick discussion ensued to map out the group’s presentation strategy.

Aside from Brother Schmerling, the chapter’s main spokesperson, several brothers stepped forward to discuss the chapter’s mission and some of its accomplishments before the CUP hearing’s associate zoning administrator, R. Nicholas Brown.

After Brother Schmerling and the chapter’s attorney presented the chapter’s case for the CUP, Rick Childs, Vahan Khodanian, Yesai Fstkchyan, John Bonilla, Gary Thomas and Corey Davis addressed Mr. Brown. Some of the topics that were shared with the audience included the chapter’s recent academic records (its fall 2010 overall GPA was 2.949), campus involvement, community involvement and noted Lambda Chi alumni.

Neighborhood group reps and their appointed attorney spent their time voicing opposition to the Greek

CUP Proceedings Put on Hold After Hearing When Beta-Rho Zeta’s housing corporation purchased the Lindley property in 2007, it had liquidated its three Halsted Street holdings for what amounted to nearly an acre-anda-half of land and a nearly completed private one-story residence in the 4,000 squarefoot range. It sounded perfect for the chapter, except for one thing: the neighbors despised fraternities, and they are much better organized. The day of reckoning arrived on May 23, the chapter’s highly anticipated Conditional Use Permit hearing.

Beta-Rho was either going to win over the rancorous opposition and operate its new complex with a strict set of operating procedures, or execute an alternate plan and still occupy the residence with fewer live-ins without any of the trappings of a fraternity complex.

Corp. Board President Spencer Schmerling had been discussing the negotiations that had taken place at various neighborhood council meetings leading up to the hearing for months. The neighbors in the immediate area around the

property had coalesced into five opposition groups: the Northridge Community Coalition, Northridge Townhome Estates, Mannam Presbyterian Church, Lindley West Coalition and Northridge East Neighborhood Council. Residents had developed their animosity toward fraternities in general when a previous tenant, also a fraternity, had staged numerous raucous parties that required police intervention and dumped trash and “used condoms” into the adjoining neighbors’ yards.

The chapter had been instructed to bring as many supporters as possible to the CUP hearing, and non-members such as parents, fellow students and other Greeks were encouraged to lend their support in the conference room.

Ultimately, about 25 active members, alumni and fellow CSUN Greeks attended the hearing. Sixteen of them commuted to the Van Nuys Municipal Building next to the city hall in a bus that the chapter chartered. Bus riders congregated at the parking area on the northwest corner of

Beta-Rho Zeta of Lambda Chi Alpha International Fraternity

community at CSUN in general and cited some of the problems encountered with the chapter’s former tenants – other fraternities – in its Halsted 2 and 3 properties between the late 1990s and early 2000s. In his comments, Brother Schmerling admitted during his questioning from the audience that the maintenance issues with the Halsted properties and the decorum of its tenants could’ve been handled better in hindsight.

About three hours into the meeting, the chapter’s bus riders were told that they needed to return to Northridge. Incredibly, a second bus needed to be summoned when the battery in the original one failed.

Near the conclusion of the hearing, Mr. Brown set a time limit of 40 days for the chapter to meet a set of conditions that would be necessary to attain a CUP. After the hearing, the corp. board revamped its plans for the CUP. It became apparent that Beta-Rho would be facing an uphill battle with the requirements that Mr. Brown set in addition to the likely appeal from the neighborhood groups.

The corp. board decided to voluntarily drop the CUP application process and revisit the issue once the chapter has had a chance to be part of the community.

Presenting the chapter’s case for a CUP. Steven Shapiro holds a copy of the Lindley House floor plan that was displayed during the CUP hearing. With him are Matthew Rice (left side) and Joey Solano. Beta-Rho supporters met near the ‘Fernando’ Statue (top) on the mall in front of the Van Nuys City Hall building for a strategy meeting.

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Alumni Streak Lives On in Annual Softball Game Could the alumni extend their winning streak to eight in a row?

Not without labor. Nevertheless, the alumni kept their record intact with a final score of 18-11 on

Sept. 11. That made it their eighth consecutive 21st century victory.

Incredibly, the undergrads almost forfeited the softball game when the requisite number of nine players hadn’t shown up by the noon start time at Northridge Park; however, the latecomers had been cleaning up the new Lindley House for the postgame barbecue, so the delay just gave the alumni more time for batting practice. Players were about to be divided into teams based on odd and even Zeta numbers when a few carloads of undergrads suddenly pulled up to the parking lot.

By 12:25, the two teams commenced play after a moment of silence was observed in remembrance of the victims of the terrorist attacks on U.S. soil a decade earlier. A large American

flag had been draped across the chain link fence above the alumni dugout on diamond #3.

All of the undergrads and nearly all the alumni in attendance wound up on the batting orders. Undergrads who played at the top of the first inning were John Bonilla (BP 593), Justin De Leon (BP 602), Alex Samowitz (BP 568), Steve Shapiro (BP 575), John Leynes (BP 590), Vahan Khodanian (BP 562), Douglas Centeno (BP 553), Joey Solano (BP 597), Matthew Rice (BP 567) and Tony Ball (BP 605). Daniel Ramos (BP 608) arrived later and a guest batted with the undergrads.

Unlike the actives, the alumni stuck to its tradition of batting in ascending initiation order number. Leading off as he had since at least 2007 was one of

the alumni’s most productive batters and frequent umpire, Scott Press (BP 55). Batting order then continued with Rick Childs (BP 83), “Shoeless” John Westerbeck (BP 173), Brandon Cesmat (BP 175), Mark Widawer (BP 220), Jay Friedman (BP 249), Howard Sapper (BP 257), Tim Pena (BP 264), Rich Ohlberg (BP 356), Rick Trevino (BP 451), Cesar Ayllon (BP 453), Mike Press (BP 455), Sam Renbarger (BP 463), Gio Pernudi (BP 473), Rob Press (BP 495 and Darren Arrieta (BP 533). Chris Dyer (BP 500) did not bat. Arriving a few innings late while the alumni were at bat, Spencer Schmerling (BP 288) wasted no time smashing a line drive for a double.

“I had a soccer game today,” Brother Schmerling said. He coached for his son Ethan’s

The kids are alright. The 2011 alumni-active softball game roster - Front row (l-r): John Bonilla, Rich Ohlberg, Darren Arrieta, Mark Widawer, Justyn De Leon, Douglas Centeno, Rick Childs (lying down on the job) and Cesar Ayllon & daughter. Standing: Giovanny Pernudi & son, Spencer Schmerling, Yesai Fstkchyan, guest, Chris Dyer, John Leynes, Howard Sapper, Alex Samowitz, Jay Friedman, Matthew Rice, Joey Solano, Steve Shapiro, John Westerbeck, Tony Ball, Tim Pena, Vahan Khodanian, Sam Renbarger & daughter, Daniel Ramos, Rob Press, Rick Trevino, Mike Press and Scott Press. More photos can be seen on the Facebook Lambda Chi Alpha BP Alumni page. Mark Widawer (top) winds up for a line drive hit to left field. (Group photo: Kristy Nevarez)

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Spring / Summer 2011

soccer team.

Brother Scott Press scored the first run of the game with an RBI single from Brother Cesmat.

The alumni then went on to score in seven of the eight innings they were at bat.

It took three innings for the undergrads to get on the scoreboard, but they hit three runs at that point. Nevertheless, they trailed by four at the end of the third inning, even with occasional defensive help at first base from one of the alumni pitchers, Brother Sapper.

“I hope you don’t take me off your Facebook page for throwing him out,” Brother Sapper said.

Perhaps the alumni’s most devastating WMD has been the Press Effect. Scott Press and his sons Mike and Rob, along with a stable of long ball hitters like Brothers Pena, Widawer, Westerbeck, Trevino and a deep roster of singles and blooper specialists, have kept the undergrads winless since 2003.

“The last time the chapter beat the alumni was when Rob and I were undergrads,” Mike Press quipped.

Despite the huge deficit in runs that needed to be made up at the top of the ninth inning, Brother Leynes took the game in

stride. “We need 11 points to tie,” he said, laughing between gulps of bottled water.

When Brother Ball was asked about the undergrads’ chances of winning the game at that point, he remarked, “Oh yeah, we’ve got this one,” while smirking and shaking his head ‘no’.

The actives took the latest loss in stride, the best sports the alumni could ever have the pleasure to play. When one of the actives suggested that they challenge the alumni to an annual soccer match, however, there were few takers.

Whether he was at bat or playing in centerfield, Brother Westerbeck preferred wearing white socks but no shoes. His shoeless attire didn’t slow down his frequent runs around the bases.

“Don’t tell Howard [Brightman] I was here,” he confided. “I’m supposed to be over at his house today helping him [with preparations for his Halloween home decorations].

Several alumni took frequent breaks to admire the newest additions to the Ayllon, Pernudi and Renbarger families under the shade trees behind the eastside bleachers. Mike Press’ wife Amanda also debuted their

Beta-Rho Zeta of Lambda Chi Alpha International Fraternity

Alumni have their day in the sun. (Clockwise from upper left): Gio Pernudi and Sam Renbarger spend some quality time with their children. John Bonilla, John Leynes and Vahan Khodanian don’t have a care in the world even though the alumni are leading early in the game. Alex Samowitz crosses home plate for one of the undergrads’ 11 runs. Alumnus Cesar Ayllon rounds third base and heads for home.

sweet-natured and laid-back dogs Stella and Dasher.

Brother Cesmat won the Man Miles Award for commuting the 7

furthest. He needed to leave early so that he could get back to Valley Center, an inland city in northern San Diego County.

program in philosophy, he has plans to continue his coursework at CSUN in order to complete a Master’s program in higher education administration.

Although it’s not unusual, one brother took over a decade off from his college studies to pursue a career full-time.

“I took the long route to get into real estate,” Brother Crisci explained during a phone call. He had taken a leave of absence from his studies in 1996 after majoring in marketing. When his career as a real estate agent took a hit in 2008 after the housing market collapse, he “felt compelled to finish [his] degree” and locked into a Bachelor of Science program in real estate. Now that he’s finished his undergraduate studies, he plans to enroll in CSUN’s MBA program next spring and then pass the CPA exam.

Other spring, 2011 diplomas were awarded to Brother Cavaye for a BS in kinesiology, and Brothers Pierson and Rhodes for BAs in television production and communication studies, respectively.

Also finishing coursework before Father Time wrapped up 2010 were Brother Dourgarian with a BA in cinema-television, Brother Garcia: BS, business administration- finance, business law and real estate; Brother Serrano: BA, art studio and Brother Yamagata, BA, political science (pictured on page 9).

Here come the grads. Jordan Pierson (top right) is joined by some of his family. Shay Rhodes (right) celebrates his commencement day with Jamie Glass.

Neil Sanchez (below) is joined by Vahan Khodanian and Eric Gonzalez.. Political Science grad and new student orientation leader Mike Yamagata (next page) also attended his commencement ceremony.

Courtesy of Neil Sanchez

As it has for the past 39 years, the chapter’s active membership contracted somewhat this spring as several more brothers completed their undergraduate degree programs.

A few opted to participate at various commencement ceremonies during the week of May 23. One of them brought the vice president of student affairs to his feet for an especially warm farewell.

Among the spring, 2011 degree recipients who were called to the commencement stage were Jordan Pierson (BP 563), Shay Rhodes (BP 565) and Neil Sanchez (BP 535). Also among the past year’s graduates from December, 2010 were Misha Cavaye (BP 577), Danny Crisci (BP 415), Jason Dourgarian (BP 536), Jairo Garcia (BP 548), David Serrano (BP 519) and Mike Yamagata (BP 572).

During the Mike Curb College of Arts, Media and Communication commencement ceremonies on May 24, Brother Pierson caught up with Brother Rhodes and also took some pictures with Brothers Dourgarian, Steve Zavala (BP 581), John Bonilla (BP 593) and Yesai Fstkchyan (BP 598) who were among the well-wishers.

“It was a pretty chaotic day,” Brother Pierson messaged on Facebook.

At the College of Humanities ceremonies on May 25, Brother Sanchez walked onstage to receive his diploma after Los Angeles City Controller Wendy Gruel gave the commencement address. As he walked across the commencement stage, Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. William Watkins left his seat and met him at the podium to personally congratulate him.

“Hopefully, people after [current High Alpha] Vahan [Khodanian] can maintain the positive relationship that has been built with the division of Student Affairs,” he wrote in a Facebook message. Now that he has finished his bachelor’s

Courtesy of Shay Rhodes

More Beta-Rho Brothers Join the Ranks of the Graduates

Courtesy of Jordan Pierson

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Spring / Summer 2011

Beta-Rho’s Graduate Roster as of June 1, 2011 Heredia, Joseph P. - 2001 - BA: Urban Studies & Planning. MA in Public Administration Hermanson, Shane A. - 1999 - BA. Herskovitz, Jerry R. - 1983 - BA: Psychology. ‘90: MS: Counseling, CSU Hayward.

Higgins, T. J. - 1988 - BA. Huisman, Capt. Christopher R. - 1993 - BA: Political Science (Iowa State).

Isaac, Rick J. - 1981 - BA: Psychology. 83: MA. Ismail, Pierre I. - 1991 - BS. 95: MBA. Jahangard, Hamid R. - 2006 - BS: Business Admin.: Management.

Kacic, Edward B. - 1977 - BA: Political Science. ’01: MBA - UC Irvine, ’03: CAIA. Kacik, Robert A. J. - 1975 - BA: Psychology. (Antioch College).

Kane (ret.), Capt. William G. - 1978 - BA: Russian.

Kanji, Aleem - 2007 - BS: Business Admin.: Management.

Karamooz, Mahdiar D. - 2009 - BS: Business Admin: Finance, Economics.

Kensic, Robert H. - 1985 - BA: Radio-TV-Film.

Kern, David A. - 1997 - BS: Business Admin: Marketing.

Kilsheimer, Thomas P. - 1984 - BA. Kinjo, Richard K. - 2005 - BS. Klass, Daniel P. - 1992 - BA: Political Science.

Krueger, Brian M. - 1992 - BS: Business Admin.: Accounting.

Lederman, Henry M. - 1973 - BS: Business Admin.

(USC).

Letzer, Devin M. - 2007 - BA: Religious Studies.

Lockwood, Gabriel S. - 2007 - BA: English Literature, Psychology. 09: MVCC, Utica College, Human Rights Advocacy, Political Psychology, Pre-Law. Lodolo, Josh R. - 2004 - BS: Business Admin.: Management.

Lopez, Jr., Gilbert - 1987 - BA. Lowry, Kent F. - 1991 - BA: Spanish Language & Culture.

Lucero, Alex M. - 1998 - BS. MA in Education Leadership.

Lucero, Terrence A. - 1981 - BS: Business Admin.: Accounting.

MacNeil, Thomas J. - 1996 - BS: Classical Applied Mathematics, Statistics.

Maltin, Andrew S. - 1993 - BS. Matelson, Austin - 2008 - BA: History.

May, Eric J. - 1988 - BS: Business Admin.: Human Resources Mgmt.

McDougall, Charlton S. - 2009 - BA: Journalism.

McFarlane, James P. - 1993 - BA: Liberal Studies.

McFarlane, John R. - 1993 - BA: Liberal Studies.

McKelvey, Ph.D., Michael - 1989 - BA: Music- Vocal Performance. '91: Southern Methodist Univ. - Master of Music. ‘04: Doctor of Musical Arts - Vocal Performance, UT Austin, Meadows, Robert C. - 1995 - BA: Geography. (CSU Chico).

Megginson, Brian E. - 1979 - BS: Mechanical Engineering. ’90: MS: Engineering (Cal Poly Pomona).

Michelena, Nestor A. - 1992 - BA. Mirkovich, Chris M. - 1991 - BA: English: Writing. ‘09: MBA, Loyola College in Maryland.

Mirochnick, Dustin T. - 2004 - BS: Business Admin.: Finance, Real Estate & Insurance.

Mojaradi, Kevin A. - 2004 - BA: Public Health. Masters, Public Health.

Ohlberg, David E. - 1993 - BS. 97: MBA. Ohlberg, Richard L. - 1992 - BS: Business Admin.: Accounting.

Ortega, Desmond S. - 2005 - BA: Broadcast Journalism.

Overall, James G. - 1982 - BS. Owens, George J. - 1993 - BA: Political Science.

Parra, Marco A. - 2007 - BS: Business Admin.: Finance.

Pena, Timothy R. - 1990 - BA: Liberal Studies & Political Science.

Perl, Daniel W. - 1996 - BS: Business Admin: Finance.

Peros, Michael V. - 1984 - 2BS: Small Business Management & Human Personnel Services. (University of Colorado), ’87: Juris Doctor: Southwestern University.

Pfarrer III, Charles P. - 1980 - BS: Clinical Psychology.

Pierson, Jordan - 2011 - BA: TV Production.

Pinkett, Anthony E. - 2007 - BS: Business Admin: Marketing.

Plotkin, Jerry - 1977 - BS. Press, Michael I. - 2006 - BS: Biology.

Press, Robert J. - 2008 - BA: History.

Press, Scott J. - 1975 - BS: Business Admin.

Prushan, Robert E. - 1986 - BA: Art: Photography.

Quint, Brian E. - 1986 - BS: Business Admin.. Univ. of Chicago '91, Business.

Renbarger, Samuel F. - 2006 - BA: Advertising/ Journalism. (Univ. of Oklahoma).

Reyes, Adrian E. - 2009 - BA: Journalism.

Reyes, Ronald G. - 2006 - BS. Reyes, Toby A. - 2003 - BS: Business Admin.: Accounting.

Rhodes, Shay D. - 2011 - BA: Communication Studies.

Richardson, James L. - 1996 - BA: RTVF- Film Production.

Roberts, James M. - 1987 - BA: Political Science. (CSU

Courtesy of Michael Yamagata

Cesmat, Brandon M. - 1989 - BA. (San Diego State), '92: MFA. Childs, Richard G. - 1979 - BA: Theatre Arts. ‘01: CA Clear Teaching Cred.English, Chapman University.

Chin, Brett M. - 2004 - BA: Business Admin: Marketing. ‘08: MA: Educ, Curriculum & Instruction - Youth, Univ of Minn.

Cohen, Steven - 1986 - BA: Theatre Arts.

Cooperman, Michael A. - 1995 - BA: Communication Studies.

Cormier, Larry P. - 1991 - BA. Coyne, Ph.D., Joseph W. - 1974 - BS: Pre-Med. Crain, Dennis K. - 1975 - BA: Geography.

Crisci, Daniel C. - 2010 - BS: Business Admin: Finance.

Dahlem, William E. - 2004 - BS: Business Admin.: Finance.

Daum, Kevin J. - 1986 - BA: Theatre Arts. (Humboldt State).

DePascale, Paul D. - 1990 - BA: Anthropology, Biology, Japanese. AA, psychology, Santa Monica City College.

Desind, Scott D. - 1993 - BS. Doff, Charles P. - 1992 - BA. Dourgarian, Jason - 2010 - BA: Cinema-Television.

Duffy, Patrick - 2008 - BA: CinemaTelevision/Film Production.

Duran, Armando - 1998 - BS: Health Science.

Dyer, Christopher R. - 2009 - BS: Business Admin.: Human Resources.

Ehrlich, Michael H. - 1971 - BA: Political Science.

Emmerson, James G. - 1985 - BS: Engineering, Graphic Design.

Eskander, Mark B. - 1972 - BA: Social Studies: History-Geography. '76: San Fernando Valley College of Law (which was merged into the University of LaVerne. ’78: Admitted to California State Bar. Fitzgerald, Daniel - 1986 - BA: History. 89: Teaching credential.

Flahaven, Ryan - 1995 - BS: Kinesiology.

Flocken, Jeffrey E. - 1976 - BS: Business Admin.: Management.

Fournier, Beau - 2006 - BS: Health Education.

Fregoso, Jose - 2010 - BA: Cinema-Television.

Friedman, Jay - 1988 - BS: Business Admin: Marketing.

Friedman, Jeffrey A. - 1983 - BS. Gallardo, Esq., Lance R. - 1987 - BA: Political Science.

90: Juris Doctorate, Creighton University Gannon, Brian J. - 1991 - BS: Business Admin.: Finance & Real Estate . 99: USC, MBA, Finance & Marketing.

Gantman, CFLS, Robert J. - 1992 - BA. Garcia, Jairo I. - 2010 - BS: Business Admin.: Finance, Bus. Law & Real Estate. Stevens Institute of TechnologyEngineering Management alumnus.

Gardner, Jeffrey S. - 1981 - BA: Radio-TV-Film.

Gardner, Jonathan S. - 1987 - BS: Business Admin: Marketing.

Garfield, Brian D. - 1977 - BA. ‘08: USC graduate.

Gibson, Timothy M. - 2009 - BA: Psychology.

Gill (ret.), Col. David N. - 1979 - BA: History & Cultural Geography.

Gluck, Antony E. - 1992 - BS: Criminology & Corrections. ‘95: Southwestern University School of Law: JD. Gonzalez, Eric R. - 2009 - BA: Journalism.

Goodstein, Gary J. - 1988 - BA: English, Criminal Justice. (San Francisco State).

Grammier, Daniel J. - 2003 - BS: Mechanical Engineering.

Green, Barry W. - 1993 - BS: Business Admin: Finance & Real Estate.

Green, Mark S. - 1983 - BS. MBT USC, CPA. Greenberg, Richard A. - 1978 - BA: Political Science.

UCLA graduate. '82: USC: MBA. Greene, William W. - 1972 - BA: Radio-TV-Film.

Greenwood, DC ND, W. Hunter - 1984 - Logan College of Chiropractic.

Gregory, Kevin D. - 2008 - BA: History.

Gregory, Michael J. - 1990 - BA: Business Admin.: Organizational Systems Mgmt..

Gross, D.O., Richard E. - 1980 - BS: Environmental & Occupational Health Science. Minors: Chemistry & Biology. ’85: Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine from University of Health Sciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Kansas City, Mo. Guggenheimer, Darin - 1997 - BS. Hart III, John W. - 1981 - BA: Philosophy.

Hartung, Robert - 1990 - BA: Speech Communication.

Hartwig, Steven E. - 1981 - . (University of Arizona) Post-grad work done at Cornell Univ.

Heatley, Ch. John M. - 1993 - BA: Pastoral Studies. ‘07: Bible Institute of Chicago graduate. MA in Divinity.

Helin, Kurt E. - 1990 - BA: Journalism.

Aaldering, Mark M. - 1984 - BS: Engineering.

Abbenante, Phillip S. - 1987 - BA: Psychology. Sociology minor.

Abrams, Steven M. - 1994 - BS: Business Admin.: Economics. (UCLA) Ahmadi, Matthew L. - 2010 - BS: Business Admin.: Finance.

Alcouloumre, Michael - 1988 - BA. Anderson, P. Duke - 1993 - BA: French Language & Culture. (University of Hawaii). Master of International Business (Pepperdine University) Arager, Ph.D., Scott - 1987 - BA: Biology. '92: MBA from National University. ‘05: Ph.D. in Health Care Administration from Madison University.

Arciniega, Jessie - 2009 - BA: History.

Arrieta, Darren M. - 2010 - BS: Civil Engineering.

Aston, Christopher - 2002 - BS: Business Admin: Finance. ‘04: MA. Ayllon, Cesar A. - 2006 - BA: Communication Studies. ’09: Single Subject Teaching Credential (CSU Bakersfield) Baba, Jr., Byron M. - 2008 - BS Business Law/BA Religious Studies/Econ.

Baker, Todd D. - 1985 - BA. Bale, Joseph M. - 1973 - BS. Barner, Jason L. - 2008 - BS: Kinesiology.

Beemer, William F. - 1995 - BA: Fine Art. ‘98: MA, Education.

Bennett, Michael R. - 1984 - BS: Business Admin: Mgmt. & Engineering.

Bijlani, Samir M. - 2000 - BS: Business Admin.: Accounting & Info. Systems.

Bingham, B.J. - 2006 - BA: Theatre Arts.

Bloomfield, Justin W. - 2010 - BS: Marine Biology.

Blor, Aloysius M. - 2001 - BS. Bluth, Richard D. - 1987 - BS: Business Admin: Finance & Economics.

Bollinger, Walter L. - 1941 - BS: Business Admin. (Penn State).

Bongiorno, Richard P. - 1996 - BS: Business Admin: Finance. ‘03: MBA Pepperdine.

Bossuk, Eric C. - 1980 - BS: Business Admin.: Accounting.

Bowen (ret.), Lt. Col. Paul E. - 1980 - BA: History.

Brian, Mitchell L. - 1983 - BA. Brown, Michael H. - 1976 - BS: Business Admin.

Buccino, Anthony J. - 1996 - BA. Budow, Jason J. - 1995 - BA: Graphic Design.

Burns, Lawrence W. - 1976 - BS: Business Admin.: Accounting.

Bushnell, Frank E. - 1987 - BS: Business Admin: Finance.

(Fresno State).

Butler, Sean P. - 1993 - BA: Political Science. ‘97: MBA Loyola Marymount University Cavaye, Misha - 2010 - BS: Kinesiology.

Beta-Rho Zeta of Lambda Chi Alpha International Fraternity

9

Dominguez Hills).

Robles, Geoffrey J. - 1998 - BS: Business Admin.: Mgmt.

Info. Systems. (University of the Pacific).

Romi, Alain - 1990 - BA. Rosenberg, Sanford M. - 1976 - BA. Rubin, Craig J. - 1976 - BS. Ryan, Daniel J. - 1993 - BA. Salgado, Adam - 2007 - BA: Political Science.

San Jose, Ellis G. - 1989 - BS: Business Admin.: Real Estate.

Sanchez, Neil A. - 2011 - BA: Philosophy.

Sanders Jr., Maurice K. - 1981 - BA: Political Science.

Schaefer, Patrick J. - 1989 - BA: Art. Scher, Dr. Robert D. - 1977 - BA: 2-D Art, PhotoJournalism. ‘11: PhD in Art 2-D, Univ. of Nevada- Reno.

Schmerling, Spencer S. - 1993 - BS: Business Admin: Mgmt.

Schneider, Brian A. - 1987 - BA. Schneider, Robert I. - 1976 - BS: Business Admin: Marketing.

Schwab,Virgil E. - 1981 - BS: Engineering.

Seewald, Jürgen H. - 1984 - BS: Business Admin: Finance.

Senderling, Steven A. - 2005 - BS: Business Admin.

Serrano, David - 2010 - BA: Art Studio.

Severeid, Mark S. - 1991 - BS: Microbiology. (CSU Sacramento).

Severns, Bodhi A. - 2010 - BA: Photojournalism.

Seward, Scott F. - 1990 - BA: Psychology.

Shapiro, Lawrence J. - 1979 - BS: Mechanical Engineering.

Shaw, Michael E. - 1986 - BA: History. (Antioch College).

Sherrill II, Anthony P. - 2005 - BA: Deaf Studies. Minor: African American Studies. ’07: MBA: Educational Leadership.

Shulman, Ph.D., Richard A. - 1991 - BS: Human Resources Mgmt. Ph.D: Clinical Psychology, CA Grad Institute.

Siegrist, Matthew A. - 2008 - BS: Business Admin.: Business Law. Sievek, Sean W. - 2002 - BA: Music Industry Studies.

Silberman, Mitchell I. - 1986 - BS: Business Admin.: Accounting.

Simon, Craig S. - 2006 - BA: History, English Language & Literature. (University of Maryland).

Singer, Drew S. - 2009 - BS: Business Admin: Marketing.

Smith, Douglas W. - 1994 - BA: Political Science.

Sovetky, DC, Daniel L. - 1986 - BS: Biology. ‘89: Los Angeles College of Chiropractic Grad Springett, Daren R. - 1990 - BS. Staff, Ted J. - 1991 - BS. Stepczyk, Charles A. - 2001 - BA: RTVF- Multimedia.

Stogden, Jr., Alfonso J. - 2006 - BS: Biology.

Suarez, Tony - 1979 - BS: Business Admin: Marketing. ‘82 MBA in marketing, Pepperdine Swedelson, Mark D. - 1987 - BS: Business Admin.: Accounting.

Tabares, Richard J. - 1986 - BS: Business Admin.: Finance.

Taubman-Walker, Mark H. - 2004 - BA: History. San Francisco State Grad. Credentialed in M/M (meets NCLB for highly qualified teachers in their field).

Thayer, Eric - 2006 - BA: Visual Journalism.

Thomas, Gary M. - 1983 - BS: Business Admin.Marketing.

Topel, Clifford S. - 1977 - BS. ‘89: MA. Trevino, Rick - 2006 - BS: Kinesiology. ‘08: Master's in Public Admin.

Tuazon, Russell M. - 2002 - BS: Business Admin.: Mgmt.

Info. Systems.

Valdez, Carlos R. - 1998 - BA: Speech Communication.

VanDeusen, Collin M. - 2007 - BA: History.

Vilkin, Gregory M. - 1982 - BS. Vosogh, Mehdi R. - 2002 - BS. Walinski, Carl V. - 1990 - Double BA: German Language & Literature, Political Science. Grad work in Germany: poli. sci., 1991-92. ’99: MBA: USC's Marshall School of Business.

Warren, Craig E. - 1973 - BS. Watson, Jeffrey S. - 1980 - BS: Business Admin. ‘82: MBA. Widawer, Mark L - 1987 - BS. Wielmaker, John A. - 1991 - BA: Political Science. 3 MA degrees: Government. “Highest level attained is Inceptor, a fancy way of saying all but dissertation" (UT Austin).

Yamagata, Michael M. - 2010 - BA: Political Science.

Yao, John D. - 1994 - BS: Business Admin.: Accounting & Info. Systems.

Yedidsion, Parham - 1988 - BS. Ziskin, Randolph E. - 1982 - BA: History. (USC). ’02: Teaching credential.

Zwicker, Kenneth D. - 1981 - BA: Political Science.

(Pepperdine University).

Editor’s Note: These were collected from Facebook and GHQ’s 2009 directory. If you see any omissions or would like to correct or update your information, send an email to rc4x4profit@verizon.net.

Juan Guerra video/YouTube

Victory Building ablaze. News of the Victory Building fire on Nov. 3 made national headlines. The blaze was broadcast on international news media outlets and posted as viral videos on YouTube. Damages were estimated at more than $7 million and temporarily shut down the company run by Gary Thomas and his brother, Fred.

Community Reaches Out After an Alumnus’ Company Is Lost in Huge Fire

O

n the one day in the year – Nov. 3 – that the Victory Building in Chatsworth could take a breather from its hectic schedule of printing and shipping direct marketing literature, a devastating fire gutted the offices shared by its co-owner, Gary Thomas (BP 146) and his brother, Fred.

The blaze made national news; fortunately, there were no injuries.

The political consulting firm of Aaron, Thomas & Associates’ headquarters, its printer, Coronet; and Engage Marketing, a direct and digital mailing company; collectively lost in excess of $7 million in equipment and records. Luckily, most of the company’s computer files were recovered, but Brother Gary Thomas’ extensive personal collection of political memorabilia was virtually crushed or incinerated.

According to a Daily News article by staff writer C.J. Lin, Brian Humphrey, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department, said it took more than five hours for the more than 200 firefighters on scene to extinguish the blaze. Originally reported at 5:59 p.m., flames reached up to 50 feet above the roof of the Victory Building and spread throughout the 16,500-square-foot structure. The intense heat also ignited a propane tank mounted on a forklift that blew shrapnel through a closed steel door.

Businesses and the community rallied to help re-establish the company, one of the largest direct marketing firms in the country.

The fire and rebuilding efforts were recalled by Brother Thomas at his new Chatsworth offices a few miles away from the former building on the southeast corner of Owensmouth and Prairie on Aug. 12.

Could you briefly recap what was the cause of ignition and what the fire did to the building and all your stuff?

The interesting thing about the timing is that the election was Nov. 2, the day before the fire.

If the fire had been any earlier, the building would’ve been full of a lot of people, and it would’ve had a lot more fuel in it. So it could’ve been a much more serious story. The fact that it happened the day after the election made us a little suspicious because we’ve had things happen to our building before… after an Gary Thomas election when somebody loses.

I was off at a symphony board meeting. I’m sitting in the meeting and my phone – I just kept getting these messages: voicemail messages, just tons of them. I said, “I don’t know what’s going on in my world, but I need to go find out.” And the first call I listened to was, “My building’s on fire.”

So I ran out of that meeting and [I’m] driving back to Chatsworth, and one of my first thoughts is that it’s gotta by arson. Somebody just torched my building! And the second thing I thought is: what am I going to miss the most…? My bookcase was full of signed books, a lot of political memorabilia and other collectibles. And the one thing I was most bummed about was the ball that [former UCLA Basketball] Coach John Wooden personalized to me. It was on a day I got to spend with Coach Wooden, and he signed this ball for me. And I thought... that’s the thing I’m going to miss the most.

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Spring / Summer 2011

So I got there; the police had the street blocked off. You couldn’t get through, and I said, “It’s my building, I’m going through.” She didn’t even stop me and she let me run up there. We had three engine companies respond, 220 firefighters putting it out. The commander that was in charge had just lost a couple of men recently, and so he was being very cautious. The fact that it’s a printing facility: they don’t know what’s inside, they don’t know what chemicals [are in it]. They couldn’t be more aggressive about going into the building. It was more: let’s keep it under control and save the neighborhood.

As soon as they got some of the flames out, they were running in trying to get our computers and our hard drives. We were telling them where they were, and they were going in and grabbing them and running out. And all of our employees are out on the street, applauding, and it was a big deal. Then the firefighters would get excited and go to try and get more. Then, they let me come up to my window, and [a firefighter] said, “Is there anything else in here that you want?” I looked in there and I thought, there’s no roof, the beams with air conditioning units just kind of balancing on it. I said, “It doesn’t look safe. You guys just need to get out of there. There’s nothing important in the building.”

And he says, “C’mon, there’s gotta be something!” I look, and I see that my bookcase is still there. And I said, “In that bookcase there was a basketball. Is there any chance that that basketball is still there?”

And he goes over and grabs it; that’s it there [points to his bookcase where the ball is now displayed]. It’s a rubber ball in a plastic case, and it doesn’t have a scratch on it. Unbelievable…. Again, he said, “What else do you want?” He’s just scooping some stuff out; a few of those items on the bookshelf are from the fire. And somebody said, “Oh, he’s got a signature of Ronald Reagan that I’m sure he’d love.” And I looked over to that corner of the room and it kind of didn’t even exist anymore. I thought: there’s no way that that autograph survived. He goes over there, digs through and found it. The frame was broken. The matte was a mess. There were some photos in it, and the only thing that’s okay is the little piece of paper with Reagan’s signature. [Laughs.] I couldn’t believe that those things would actually survive the fire.

Anyway, that was the night of the fire. It was pretty tragic; we had most of our employees out there. Our employees are family, so it was a real bonding experience. Every day after that, we were all there together.

So, to answer your question, [the fire investigators] quickly ruled out arson because of where it started. We actually have security cameras, so we’ve seen the fire start on camera. It started behind one of the presses. They think it’s electrical. We’ll never really know for sure.

Were there some outlets in that corner of the building where it started?

You mentioned that the building was quite old. 1947? [Actually, Coronet, the printing company was founded in 1947.]

No. The building, I think, is only [about] 25 years old. But there’s a lot of power back there. These are big six-color Heidelberg presses.

But that was good that it wasn’t arson. It gutted the building. The walls are still standing. They are propped up; they think they’re going to save the walls when they reconstruct it, but everything inside was gone. All of our equipment was completely destroyed.

That was on a Wednesday. By Saturday we had already made arrangements for temporary facilities at a small warehouse. We went off to Costco and bought folding tables; we went over to the Apple Store and got computers, reloaded software. In less than a week we were back up and running.

Didn’t the firefighters also save your hard drives from your computers?

Yeah. Almost all of our data was recovered. We had nothing backed up off-site. We do now. It was very expensive because we had to send them all out for data recovery. But we retrieved almost all of Beta-Rho Zeta of Lambda Chi Alpha International Fraternity

our data. Now that’s data to me that goes back to 2004, maybe.

Everything older than that was all stored on DVDs, and those just all melted to each other. So all my old records are completely gone, all the designs I did prior to 2004.

Tell me a little about the new building. You mentioned earlier that there are some advantages to being in this place as opposed to your former headquarters.

Well, we searched pretty extensively in Chatsworth and Simi Valley. Those were the two places we thought we wanted, and the properties out in Simi were really great. But we wanted to stay in Chatsworth. Our vendors are here. Our employee base is out here.

We finally saw this one, and we thought it would be just perfect.

Why did you lease it rather than buy it?

The ones that were available for sale that we wanted to buy just weren’t the nicer buildings. The nicer ones, they don’t sell in Chatsworth because they’re easy to lease. So we took this one, and we’re very happy here. It has a nice presence, the layout’s great. The size is perfect.

We spent a lot of money renovating it. I used to look out of my outer office to the building across the street. Now I look out my window and I’ve got the Chatsworth Hills. So, it feels more like home here.

What equipment have you replaced your former presses with? How have you changed and upgraded your printing technology?

We replaced everything. We basically have the same capabilities that we had before. Some of the technology is newer on the equipment now. We [acquired] a digital press. [We replaced] all our bindery equipment.

And we just got back from Atlanta, buying the big press, a six-color Heidelberg. That’s a traditional offset [press]. The Xerox that is [in the adjacent room] is the digital press.

Now that you’ve become accustomed to the new office, what things would you like to try and replace your memorabilia?

It’s funny. It’s stuff I collected over a long time. The books that were all signed [many by former Republican presidents], I’ve been collecting those for 30 years. I’ve got autographs back to Nixon. Those are all gone, and I don’t care anymore. I enjoyed them while I had them, but I don’t want to replace that stuff. …When I first moved in here, I wanted to keep it a little simpler.

But I keep finding things. Like just yesterday, I was at a table reading for The Simpsons, so I ended up with all this Simpsons stuff. So I thought, okay, I’ll bring it in. [Several miniature Simpsons character figurines stare out from his bookcase.] I want to keep [the office] a lot more clean and streamlined.

When you mentioned John Wooden’s autograph on the basketball and looked at it, I was hoping you’d say it was the original and not some facsimile.

The photo that’s on Facebook with Coach Wooden was from that day. It was actually taken at his townhouse. So we spent the day, we did a bunch of different things and I drove him home. He signed that ball and I got a picture with him.

Could you briefly tell the story about the bronze Reagan bust [that sits on a table behind his desk]?

The artist is Greg Polutanovich. I do collect his work and he’s an American Indian and cowboy artist. A couple of years ago I was picking up one of my pieces from the foundry, and we were discussing Reagan and the upcoming 100th birthday celebration. He was thinking of doing a Reagan. [I told him] that I know the original president of the Reagan Foundation, and if you want to have a meeting with him, maybe you can get it into the [Reagan Presidential] library. He generally only does 12 copies of each of his pieces. They’re large bronzes. You have to get up and feel how heavy that thing is.

Anyway, I placed an order before it was done. He met with them, Next Page >>> 11

<<< Victory Building Fire, page 11 and they wanted to do 40 since he was the 40th president. They loved it [and] they actually sell them at the library [in Simi Valley] now. He had to tell them that one of his collectors had already been promised one. So I have one of the 40. Nancy Reagan has the first one and Michael, his son, has number 15. I have number 14. So they are available at the Reagan Library, but only until they sell out the edition.

I have a feeling that they are not going to last too long [and sell out].

It’s pretty spectacular. Of all the bronzes that I’ve seen, even the ones at the Reagan Library, a lot of them don’t really look like him.

I think this is the finest representation of him.

The artist is extraordinary; he’s so talented. He does a lot of stuff for movies as well.

Were there any other upsides to the aftermath of the blaze? Was there anything that happened that was unexpected, but wound up being something positive from this experience?

There was a lot. The initial thing was how absolutely wonderful the community was. We had so many calls. I tried so hard to return all the calls and emails and texts and everything else. It was very difficult to do. I remember I was up late every night just trying to return emails.

With the outpouring from the community and friends and business associates and clients, competitors, everybody was just amazing. We had so many offers of free office space. The Marriott in Warner Center offered to hire all of our displaced employees. People were willing to do whatever they could to help us out. And then the other big surprise to me was what a big media story it was. It was on every station for so long. I had people calling from all over the United States and even some people from overseas that saw it. We had the iconic Victory Building on the outside that people were familiar with, so as soon as they saw it, they knew it was our fire. It just shows how great this community is. We had complete strangers [offering to help us].

This woman down the street – I don’t even know who she is – she offered half of her building for us to use as office space.

That’s incredible. I’ve always had nice feelings about Chatsworth, but that puts it in better perspective.

It’s all over the San Fernando Valley, really. People all over the Valley were offering to help. We had printers offering to handle our clients’ work without making any money off of it.

But there were a lot of good things that came out of it. I think one of the things that was cool was our employees and how committed they were to helping us get back on track quickly. We don’t have any turnover here. People that come to work here, they just stay forever.

Everybody really is that close.

The other story that was kind of fun is a couple of days after. The fire department was still there and trying to go through and find things. One of the firemen came out with this old antique sword that I had in my office. He said, “Who’s is this? It’s really cool.” And I said, “That’s mine. Do you want it?” And he says, “Are you serious?” And I replied, “If you want it, you can have it.” He then said, “I would love to put this up at our fire station to remember this fire.” So it’s hanging over at a fire station in Sherman Oaks.

Directory Revisions P. Duke Anderson (A) BP 332 9716 Helen Ave. Shadow Hills, CA 91040-1322 No phone dukeanderson@roadrunner.com

Shawn C. Fancy (A) BP 505 222 Cervantes Lake Oswego, OR 97035-1208 Cellar Assistant, Brooks Wines brookswine.com

Ivor K. Asas (A) BP 450 27254 Riverview Ln. Valencia, CA 91354-1894

Daniel P. Klass (A) BP 315 High School Teacher: Arabic/French

Jason L. Barner (A) BP 490 5135 Cahuenga Blvd., Apt. 9 North Hollywood, CA 91601-4011

Robert E. “Rob” Prushan (A) BP 179 344 Medea Creek Ln. Oak Park, CA 91377-3838 National Communications Manager, Farmers Insurance

Richard D. “Rich” Bluth (A) BP 208 15 Rutledge Ct. Sterling, VA 20165-6243 (832) 381-7975

Kim

Dr. Robert D. Scher (A) BP 51 University Professor: Art History & 2D Art, University of Nevada, Reno

Frank E. Bushnell (A) BP 210 1740 Claire Ct. Yuba City, CA 95993-1618 (530) 301-3847 bulldog1987@yahoo.com Assistant Deputy Commissioner California Dept. of Financial Institutions Laurits P. “Larry” Cormier (A) BP 297 310 N 9th St. Burbank, CA 91501-1301 Mark B. Eskander (A) BP 18 eskanderesq@att.net

Jeffrey V. “Jeff” Tinnes, Jr. (A) BP 205 P.O. Box 13161 Marina Del Rey, CA 90295 (310) 892-3543 jetmech90295@gmail.com Retail Clerk, Tobacco Trader, Culver City tobaccotraderusa.com John D.Yao (A) BP 403 johnderrickyao@mail.com LOST! Lloyd Cristobal (BP 280) Glen Longarini (BP 293) Scott Sonken (ZB 314) A = alumnus

Summer Birthdays June

21 Jerry Herskovitz, 22 Quint Quider, 23 Christopher Aston & Joe Nguyen, 24 Scott Desind, 26 Armando Duran & Brian Gannon, 27 Jim Roberts, 28 Peter Hong & Robert Kacik, 29 Mark Eskander, 30 Ken Spitz

July

1 Beau Fournier, 2 Josh Lodolo, Charlie Murphy & Daniel Sovetky, DC; 3 Sean Schray & Clifford Topel, 5 Jay Friedman & John Sager, 6 Michael Nakhleh, 7 Mahdiar Karamooz, 8 Frank Estrada & Hunter Greenwood, DC ND; 9 John Harmon & Brian Krueger, 10 Tony Suarez, 12 Paul Teixeira, 13 Joe Bale, Daniel Kearns & Bob Schneider; 15 Tony Dao, 16 Daniel Grammier, 17 Brett Chin & Bob Meadows, 18 Kevin Frankovitch, 19 Rick Martinez, 20 Devin Letzer, 21 Bobby Kensic, 22 Danny Klass, 23 Mark Lichen, 24 Steve Duerre, Barry Green & Alfonso Stogden; 26 Pete Fields, Yesai Fstkchyan, Bruce Marks & Dave Menin; 27 Joe Crane, 30 Stuart Herman

August

1 Eric Gonzalez, 4 Shay Rhodes & Doug Smith, 6 Matt Perrin & Jaryd Tashiro, 7 Johnny Prado, 9 Jason Dourgarian, 14 Danny Crisci, 15 Virgil Green & Jim O'Connell, 19 Antony Gluck, 23 Aleem Kanji, 24 Richard Ohlberg & Marco Parra, 25 Ivor Asas, 27 Spencer Schmerling, 28 Geoff Robles, 29 Jim Black, Chris Dyer, Alex Roncagliolo & Jeff Tinnes; 30 Bill Greene, 31 Mike Sorensen

September

3 Gary Goodstein, 4 Dan Rimkus, 5 Tim Shannon & Cory Simon, 6 Mike Culbertson, 9 Eddie Bankston, Andrew Carricato, Rob Harburg & Allen Jacobs; 12 Sam Renbarger, 13 Sean McDougall, 14 Jim Emmerson, Jeff Hutchins, Alex Samovitz & Nick Serenil; 15 Anthony Pinkett, 17 Ch. John Heatley, 18 Dennis Crain, 19 Rick Trevino & Mike Yamagata, 20 Kevin Kim & Jeff Watson, 21 Mike Cooperman, 22 Lance Gallardo

Brother Thomas also mentioned that he wants his company to thank the community with an open house around the date of last year’s fire and honor the fire stations that helped extinguish the blaze.

12

Spring / Summer 2011

On a sunny beach in South Florida, Mike Bennett (BP 165, shown at right) married Sherri Tarpchinoff on March 12. With them was matchmaker and witness Paul DePascale (BP 198).

Brother DePascale introduced Sherri to Brother Bennett. What ensued was a romance that spanned over 750 miles from each other; Sherri lived in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The marriage took place shortly before they headed out on an 8day Caribbean cruise for their honeymoon.

Closer to home, a wedding reception that attracted some Lambda Chi alumni took place on June 18 in Camarillo at Brother Bennett’s mother’s backyard near the Las Posas Country Club. Aside from the brothers shown in the photo at right, George Raquel also attended.

“The ceremony that everyone attended was just an after-party,” Brother Bennett said during a phone call. For the actual wedding, he and Ms. Tarpchinoff took their vows on a beach in Ft. Lauderdale.

“Immediately thereafter, we climbed onto a 400-passenger Regent Seven Seas cruise ship [that sailed] to the Western Caribbean and Mexico,” he continued. “We saw Key West and sailed between the mainland and Cuba. Then we visited Guatemala.”

Brother DePascale introduced Brother Bennett to Ms. Tarpchinoff after talking to him during one of their impromptu get-togethers with some alumni at Santa Clarita’s Wolf Creek restaurant on July 3, 2009.

“We had a long-distance dating thing going for the better part of a year,” Brother Bennett added. “It was almost surreal.”

Volume 39, Issue 2

Version 2.5

Editor, reporter, designer & photographer: Rick Childs The Beta-Rho Bulletin is the official publication of Beta-Rho Zeta of Lambda Chi Alpha, Inc. at California State University, Northridge and is distributed at no charge to all of its members and affiliates whose mailing addresses are current. Articles, directory revisions, weddings, bir ths and professional info should be snail mailed or e-mailed to the editor at 44044 Engle Way Apt. 65, Lancaster, CA; 93536-6660 or rc4x4profit@verizon.net, respectively. MS Word, Excel, JPG, PDF, TIFF files, press releases and photos are accepted. All other correspondence to the corporation should be sent to P.O. Box 280311, Northridge, CA 91328-0311. The next deadline is Dec. 15,, 2011. Made on a Mac Mini with iWork Pages ’09. Last revised on Dec. 2, 2011.

Editor’s phone number: (661) 948-3260 2011 Corporation Board of Directors: President

Spencer Schmerling VP, Communications Rick Childs VP, Activities

Scott Press Secretary

Anthony Pinkett Treasurer

Chris Dyer Alumni Directors Robert Press

Dustin Mirochnick

Gary Thomas

Jessie Arciniega (alternate) Chapter Adviser

Eric Gonzalez High Alpha

Vahan Khodanian High Tau

Nick Serenil High Iota

Erwin Avendano High Rho

Jordan Brown On the Web: Headquarters

www.lambdachi.org Chapter Website

www.lambdachibp.com Franternity Journal www.crossandcrescent.com Facebook

Lambda Chi Alpha, BP Alumni

Gary Thomas honored with ‘Fernando’ Award for volunteerism

Gary Thomas (BP 146) was named as the 2011 Fernando Award recipient on Sept. 16. The 53rd annual awards ceremony and banquet was held at the Woodland Hills Warner Center Marriott Hotel. The Fernando Award represents the highest honor for volunteerism and civic accomplishment in the San Fernando Valley.

According to the Daily News, Brother Thomas has raised more than $5 million for San Fernando Valley non-profits, among them the Boys and Girls Club. He was also one of the Valley Economic Alliance’s founders.

He joins his father, Fred Sr., as a recipient of the Fernando Award. His father won the award in 1988. The award was first presented in 1959.

Beta-Rho Zeta of Lambda Chi Alpha International Fraternity

Melinda Kelly

Mike Bennett Heads Cross-Country for Florida Beach Nuptials

Reception for the locals. Mike Bennett held a wedding reception in Camarillo on June 18 that attracted several alumni. Shown above Brother Bennett are, from left, Paul DePascale, Roger Marte, Mike Diamant, Jeff Tinnes, Tom Lawrence and Mark Green.

Courtesy of Devin Letzer

Alumni Announcements

Paul DePascale

Jennifer, Ruairi and Devin Letzer

It’s a Boy for Devin Letzer

Devin (BP 471) and Jennifer Letzer welcomed Ruairi Martin Letzer on May 6 at 9:55 p.m. at Henry Mayo Memorial Hospital in Valencia.

He weighed in at 8 lbs., 9 oz. and was temporarily 19 3/4” long.

Todd Baker handles TV production duties for Radio Personality Howard Stern

Todd Baker (BP 199 – Class of 1985) has been a freelance producer for the televised version of “The Howard Stern Show” on “Howard TV” (“Howard Stern In Demand”) since May 2010. He currently produces episodes of the daily morning show In New York.

13

Stead Leadership Seminar Attracts 3 Brothers to the University of Iowa or the 2011 Stead Leadership Seminar, nearly 650 brothers converged on the Iowa State University campus in Ames, Iowa on July 28-31, according to an article in the Cross & Crescent. Three brothers from Beta-Rho took part.

Representing the chapter was its current president, Vahan Khodanian (BP 562), recruitment officer Yesai Fstkchyan (BP 598) and Steven Zavala (BP 581).

Jerre Stead (Iowa 1965), the CEO of IHS, Inc. (Denver, Colo.) and chairman of the Educational Foundation, outlined a series of challenges during his speech at the final banquet on July 30. Brother Stead’s name has prefaced the Leadership Seminars following his generous and ongoing financial support of the four-day event that commenced with the “Call to Lead” fundraising campaign in 2007.

Some of his remarks appeared in a September 2011 Cross & Crescent article written by its editor, Tad Lichtenauer (Denison).

“We’ve given a lot of gifts,” Brother Stead reminded the banquet guests. “We think of (gifts) as an investment. We’ve invested in every one of you here tonight, and we will continue to do so because we want to create great leaders.”

This year’s Leadership Seminar followed a similar format to the one held at the 2010 General Assembly in Phoenix, Ariz. Only the ritual workshops, exoteric mysteries, were missing.

“The general format was the same,” Brother Khodanian said Vahan Khodanian after the corp. board meeting on Sept. 8. “I attended the General Assembly last year and the Stead Leadership Seminar two years ago. The difference was that this year they went with a [slightly different set of] goals. They wanted us to work with our conclave. It’s now the nearby chapters, whereas before, they tried to get everyone to mingle and meet chapters from all across the country.”

Lambda Chi Alpha’s leadership development program, True Leader, attracted each of Beta-Rho’s entourage. Brother Khodanian went to an advanced workshop.

“I was part of True Leader II session because I did True Leader I last year… Faithful Steward, I believe,” Brother Khodanian said. “True Leader I is about learning about yourself as to what your leadership style is. True Leader II is about how you work with leaders and followers.”

Beta-Rho has earned advanced placement in the three-tier hierarchy of Lambda Chi’s chapters, according to Brother Fstkchyan.

“They split it up by chapters in three levels,” he noted during the Aug. 14 corp. board meeting. “We got placed as an advanced outer circle chapter…. By the year 2013 we’ll get inner circle status, hopefully. Inner circle…: you have to complete the outer circle, which is cold recruitment, call to brotherhood and exoteric mysteries. So that’s basically recruitment, Kappa and Phi. We’re good at almost all of them.”

One of the biggest highlights of the Leadership Seminar for

Brother Khodanian was when former Grand High Alpha Rev. S. George “Doc” Dirghalli made a surprise appearance during the Harm Reduction seminar on the last day of the conference.

“Doc Dirghalli had just arrived that day,” Brother Khodanian said.

“He decided to come into our session and listen. We had a few minutes left, and we asked if he had any thoughts… and he gave this 25-minute speech about encouraging us. Everyone was more than happy to stay overtime into their lunchtime. It was pretty cool because no one else got that experience.”

Brother Khodanian described the attendance uptick as “an increase from both the Centennial and last year. [Registration fees] were a lot cheaper, so that helped to get more people to attend. And I guess the location is more central than Arizona.”

It wasn’t all banquets, lectures and note-taking. Brothers also went

F

Yesai Fstkchyan

Steven Zavala

out to Iowa State’s expansive open fields for some recreation.

“We went to an Olympics-style event,” Brother Zavala said during the barbecue on Sept. 11. “We divided into conclaves and competed against each other in a few different events. It was fun.”

Brother Zavala also took advantage of a t-shirt exchange that the Leadership Seminar offered for the first time. He was wearing a black 2009 Watermelon Bust t-shirt from another chapter that he had exchanged for one he’d brought along from his collection.

“There were some people that brought some bags of shirts out,” Brother Zavala said. “If you had the same size [as someone else], they’re going to want your t-shirt. I only traded one, because I didn’t bring a lot. I like the shirt. It’s something different from a different chapter.”

After the sessions were over, Brother Zavala enjoyed exploring the campus and the environs.

“We went to go check out the Greek Row and that was pretty interesting,” he said. “They had a lot of really nice houses.”

He also checked out the Iowa State Lambda Chi chapter house.

“The only difference between them and us is that they have a row and a bigger house. I would say that [their house] is about [the size of the Lindley House], only two-story.”

The 2012 General Assembly returns to the Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix, Ariz. next July.

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Spring / Summer 2011

Chapter Announcements

Associate Member Installation. High Alpha Vahan Khodanian (above at the right of the coat of arms portrait) provides the opening remarks at the AM ceremony on March 6 before the chapter meeting got underway.

Harm Reduction policies reviewed by ELC during chapter presentation

Spring 2011 initiates. Beta-Rho 602-609 still looked pretty alert in the pre-dawn hours of May 7. Front row, from left: Michael Paris, David Pina and Alex Roncagliolo.

Standing: Jacob Holmes, Zach Payne, Justyn De Leon, Daniel Ramos and Tony Ball.

Chapter Receives Order of Omega Awards and Recognition

On April 28, the Order of Omega Greek Leadership Honor Society recognized CSUN’s chapter of Lambda Chi Alpha's accomplishments with several accolades. Order of Omega, which recognizes the top 3 percent of Greeks on each campus, inducted two members of Beta-Rho Zeta: Jonathan Bonilla and Neil Sanchez, in recognition for their outstanding academic excellence and campus leadership.

The chapter also received awards for Recruitment and New Member Programming and Campus Involvement. The chapter's university adviser, Christopher Aston, also received the award for Fraternity Advisor of the Year. —from www.lambdachibp.com

Beta-Rho Takes Top Honors in Spring Greek Week

Alumnus addresses chapter for Career Night

Neil Sanchez

Each year, the IFC Fraternities and Panhellenic Sororities are teamed up for an entire week of competitions that raise money for a local charity. This year, Lambda Chi Alpha’s team took home the crown of Greek Week Champions for the second time in the past three years. Team Ares was comprised of Lambda Chi Alpha and Sigma Chi fraternities and Alpha Omicron Pi Sorority. Thanks to our team and all the other chapters who competed, Greek Week 2011 raised over $2,000 for the Special Olympics held in Long Beach.

—from www.lambdachibp.com

At the close of an abbreviated chapter meeting that followed AM Installation on March 6 at CSUN’s Sierra Hall 182 classroom, Educational Leadership Consultant Marcus Kelley addressed the chapter about Harm Reduction.

This has been the General Headquarters’ parlance for risk ELC Marcus Kelley management, a responsibility now handled under the authority of the High Theta office.

In recent years Lambda Chi Alpha has become proactive in raising the standards for its policies and procedures to minimize the risk of catastrophic injuries or death among its membership and guests, whether they are on chapter property or attending chaptersanctioned social functions and events.

Not just any trophy. Vahan Khodanian holds the 2011 Greek Week trophy.

Beta-Rho Zeta of Lambda Chi Alpha International Fraternity

Ellis San Jose (BP 283) spoke before the chapter on April 10 to recap his professional career since he graduated from CSUN in 1989 with a Bachelor of Science in real estate. He recounted some stories about his fraternity experience (fixing up and “flipping” a house as a fundraiser) and his exploits with real estate, trust deeds and notes.

“If you see someone that is out there that has a life that you want to duplicate, don’t try to figure it out yourself,” he said. “Go find out how you can be of value to them.”

A lot of people want to share their success Career retrospective. Ellis San Jose recounts his stories and mentor career from real estate to finance with The Note Guys. others, he observed.

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BETA-RHO BULLETIN Beta-Rho Zeta of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity P.O. Box 280311 Northridge, CA 91328-0311

Address Service Requested

Editor’s Journal ‘Summertime’, a George & Ira Gershwin song that was sung most memorably for me by Janis Joplin during her Big Brother and the Holding Company days on their great 1968 album Cheap Thrills, was also my favorite season to be active in the fraternity. In the mid to late 1970s I divided my time between the chapter’s first home in Reseda near the corner of Cantara and Tampa, and the first one it owned across the street from the Alpha Xi Delta Sorority House, Halsted 1.

When the sun broiled the Cantara House in July of 1976, it seemed like everything slowed to a crawl. Except for the live-ins’ bedroom swamp coolers, there was no A/C. Nevertheless, a couple of the guys and I focused our attention on the dozens of flies that habitually parked themselves on the dining room walls and ceiling, normally the place where the High Alpha would conduct chapter meetings. Somebody had left a toilet plunger lying around, and before long we came up with a game and began throwing it like a tomahawk at the walls and ceiling to pulverize the little pests. The only problem was that each toss left a quarter-sized dent in the walls and ceiling with little red and black fly gut decals debossed into the old coat of white paint. We were summarily ordered by the house manager to repaint the room on an equally hot day, but at least now we were doing something useful.

Alumni-active softball games were formerly held on the Music Field in June, now the site of the Valley Performing Arts Center. I still remember seeing Robert Kacic rollerblading effortlessly on the sidewalk around the field with his big black dog trotting beside him.

Friday nights were often spent playing volleyball in the backyard or checking out cheap flicks at the Peppertree Cinemas on the southwest corner of Devonshire and Reseda. Charlie Murphy drove me over there one night in August, 1977 from Halsted 1 in his orange Mustang fastback for a screening of Kentucky Fried Movie, one of the first in a long line of popular sketch comedy movies.

It’s still one of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen, right up there with Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Animal House.

There were never enough beach parties, but I did manage to attend a few as an undergrad. Any excuse to flee the Valley for toasting marshmallows and relaxing by a big bonfire a stone’s throw from the breakers at County Line made for great times.

I went to one General Assembly in 1976 in Roanoke, Va. and a Leadership Seminar the following year in Knoxville, Tenn., both during August. (I’ve been to two additional General Assemblies so far since my graduation in 1980 and ’82.) The 1976 General Assembly deepened my fraternity experience immeasurably. Famed television actor and Lambda Chi Will Geer (Grandpa Walton) and a more youthful brother performed parts of the hit play ‘Mark Twain Tonight’ during the final banquet. I toured Williamsburg, Va. and Washington D.C. with several brothers and then paired up with Brian Garfield in a rented Gremlin for a leisurely visit to the Gettysburg, Pa. chapter, Valley Forge, Philadelphia and the MIT chapter house in Boston.

The next summer I followed Bruce Marks and Brian Megginson around for stops in Atlanta where we visited Six Flags Over Georgia, the High Point, N.C. chapter where I ate some of the best barbecued ribs ever and then wound up at the Leadership Seminar at Knoxville’s university. During our stay, we packed into a hall for a Celebration of Life with the Rev. George “Doc” Dirghalli presiding. It was the night of Aug. 17. Three Lambda Chis strummed guitars and sang a medley of Elvis Presley tunes. Then came the announcement that Elvis had died earlier in the day in Memphis. Suffice it to say that there were few dry eyes during that evening’s program. We had one more day together after the seminar, and we converged on Pigeon Forge, Tenn. where we spent a few hours laughing at a water park that was built onto a mountainside with insanely fast slides.

Summertime with the fraternity. Play it again, Janis.



BETA-RHO BULLETIN

Beta-Rho Zeta of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity 2011 Alumni Loyalty Fund

Beta-Rho Zeta of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity Spring / Summer 2011 edition The chapter’s alumni loyalty fund could use your first-time or continuing help! Newsletters are a vital part of keeping in touch with what’s going on with the chapter and our alumni. No one except the printer and the USPS has been making money from them; they are a labor of love. Efforts to discontinue a printed version of this newsletter and make it into an e-zine on a web page is most likely the future of this publication due to the difficulty we have had sustaining it with alumni donations. Digital PDF file copies of nearly every Beta-Rho newsletter since 1975 are already posted at Dropbox.com where they can be downloaded. If you would like to gain access to this members-only website’s user list, contact the editor, Rick Childs, at (661) 948-3260 or rc4x4profit@verizon.net. Any financial support you could provide in these fiscally restrictive times would help.

Use the P.O. box address at the top of this page. Thank you in advance for any support that you can offer. And please, send your email address!

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