Frater - Spring 2004

Selections from the Frater Magazine published by the Psi Omega Fraternity

Gamma Omicron
VCU/MCV

The 2003-2004 Psi Omega Gamma Omicron Chapter has continued the MCV tradition of combining the spirit of fraternal cooperation with service. This year many of our members participated in the Jamaica Project, a weeklong service project providing extractions, cleanings and restorations to the Jamaican people. The sunny getaway was also a welcome change from the cool Virginia fall weather.

Also, our SGA/Psi Omega Halloween party succesfully collected five boxes of canned goods for the Central Virginia food bank. Our Chapter recently received the Regional Founders Award for Community Service.

The Gamma Omicron Chapter would like to give a warm welcome to our new members: Jeanne Bradley, Allison Bukowski, Valerie Byrnside, Bryan Geary, Catlin Gracey, Molly Hanna, Nareen Kwatra, Reena Patel, Allyson Sheffield, and Mike Webb.

Submitted by Sheila Gillespie,’04
Secretary/Historian

Psi
Ohio State University

Happy New Year Psi O’s! It is hard to believe that we are kicking off a new year and that we have survived yet another quarter of dental school. It was a busy but fun Fall quarter! Most of our events were geared toward recruiting new members from the incoming class in addition to some really great events for current members.

Jessical Zatroch, rush chair, did a fantastic job of planning events to introduce prospective members to Psi Omega. A cookout, tooth review, and skull review were the major events planned to help the first years get adjusted and succeed their first quarter. Incoming students were also invited to our social events which helped them gain perspective that you can have a life during dental school! We are looking forward to initiation next quarter when we formally invite new members to be a part of our family. It looks like we will have quite a few joining and most importantly, they are all high quality folks!

Our chapter has also had some other fantastic events. Throughout the quarter, we had educational dinner meetings, sponsored by Patterson Dental, where suppliers came to teach us about changing turbines in handpieces and up and coming technology. We also finished bricking our massive outdoor grill. Frank Michitti ordered the materials and organized the job so it would get done. Thanks Frank! Many of our members contributed to mixing mortar, placing bricks, cleaning up, and as always, there were a few outstanding observers (we won’t mention any names)! We were able to use the grill multiple times for tailgate parties before the football games! Go Bucks!

Each quarter we plan one big party for the entire school. This year’s theme was “Fight Night.” It was a huge HIT...no pun intended. The party was such a blast that we are planning on making it an annual event. For the event, we set up a boxing ring in our dining room and organized people to fight for fun with blow up gloves. It was hilarious watching people go at it! We had both girl and guy matches including two of our members as our featured fight. President, Harmon Vredeveld, and first year JD gave us an interesting fight too! Our highest priority was safety by using mouth guards and head gear that protected anyone from getting hurt. The night was complimented with “knockout” punch, soda, and a keg.

We wrapped up the quarter with our annual Thanksgiving dinner which included all members, first year’s and alumni. This catered event gave us an opportunity to dress up, eat well, and enjoy each other’s company in a more formal setting. Thank you to the House Company Board who provided the wine and meal.

As for the upcoming quarter there are more help sessions planned for first and second year students, a local service project, another big party, initiation, more Patterson dinners, and many more memories ahead! If you would like to see more of our pictures and find out more about us, check our website at:

http://www.geocities.com/psiomegadental/

Thank you to all of our supporting alumni and good luck to all of our fellow students. Study hard. Play hard.

Yours truly,
The Ohio State Psi O Buckeyes

Sigma Chi
Medical University of South Carolina

The Sigma Chi Chapter of Psi Omega has had an eventful year. The Post-Gross Anatomy parties were a hit as usual and always a great release for the freshman class. Sigma Chi started the fall semester with a welcome back party at the home of Dr. Rick Albenesius where “Doc Rivers” cooked up his award winning barbeque.

Our annual Casino Night was even more successful than usual in 2003. We raised over $500 to donate to a new scholarship foundation. “The Ian Burns Scholarship Fund.” This scholarship was established in memory of the loss of a second year dental student in a tragic accident this past January.

We are looking forward to welcoming new members into Psi Omega this year. We have many exciting plans for the Spring. We have several happy hours lined up at some of the local bars around our beloved Charleston. This Spring we are planning a saltwater fishing tournament. It is sure to be a great time!

It is always sad to see our seniors leave as they graduate and on to the bright futures that they have worked so hard for, but we could not be more excited about the future of Psi Omega at the Medical University of South Carolina.

Craig A. Horton (‘05)
Historian

Sigma Iota
Southern Illinois University

It certainly has been a long time since our chapter submitted an update to the “chapter check’in”! We have a new executive board; including Kristin Miller as president, Nathan Wuebbels as VP, Shawn Buhr as treasurer, Liz Reiser as secretary, Erica Klein as IFC Rep, Beth Bauer as social chair, BJ Schlott as food chair, Bob Davis as chaplain, Brian Diemer as Philathropist, and Bill Capati and Brian Glesne as rush chairs.

We added fourteen new members at the start of the fall semester. There are always plenty of fun events throughout the year, including our annual wine trip in the fall, our Halloween party, the Thanksgiving party, our special senior send-off “bad beer” night, and summer BBQ. The pictures included are from our Thanksgiving party that went off successfully...all food was wonderful and the company was fantastic.

Best wishes for the remainder of the school year from Southern Illinois University’s School of Dental Medicine.

Lis Reiser (‘05)
Secretary