Whoever donates the most money to a sister gets to pie them themselves!!
Today is the last day to donate money to pie Phi Sigma Sigma to support their foundation for supplying under privileged kids with school supplies and scholarships!!!
Whoever donates the most money to a sister gets to pie them themselves!!
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According to a student organizations report, Catholic Campus Ministry members logged 806 community service hours last semester.
The next highest count was the Cheerleading team, with 144 logged hours. No other organization had more than 100 logged hours. Campus Activities and Engagement Director Heather Hall said that some organizations, like Habitat for Humanity (in fourth with 65 logged hours), have larger-scale service events in the spring. Many clubs whose members Hall said were actively advertising and working with her on community service events did not make the top five, including the Delta Chi fraternity and the Phi Sigma Sigma sorority. Hall said Pitt-Johnstown was listed on the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for 2015, the sixth time the campus community has made the list. Hall said that organization leaders should log their hours, both for their own record and for community pride. Catholic Campus Minister LaDonna McCrary said her group tries to do a service project every month, ranging from coat drives to helping teach Sunday school at local churches. McCrary said one of the things they’re working on now is taking grocery bags from a food drive and weaving mats out of them to give to homeless people. “These mats are gorgeous. We’ll take them on our mission trip,” she said. She said, to make them, group members turn a bunch of grocery bags into a ball, then knit them together with crochet needles. The mats have loops on the corners so that they can be carried across someone’s shoulders. McCrary said she plans to take group members to Camden, New Jersey, for their end-of-the-year trip this year, although they also frequent Philadelphia. “Camden has one of the highest crime rates in the U.S. It’s a little more intense than Philly.” She said students wanted to work at a wet shelter there, where those in need can come in high or inebriated and receive food and a place to sleep. McCrary said the group also hosts retreats for grade-school groups in the Cambria Room or Whalley Memorial Chapel, sometimes working with 50 to 60 kids from first grade or high school. She said anyone interested in getting involved may attend the group’s Faith Share events at 8 p.m. Tuesdays in the chapel. Cheer President Emily Kaczmarek said that many of her team’s hours came from volunteering at October’s Light the Night walk and a fall festival at Westmont’s Hilltop Elementary School. Kaczmarek said biology professor Jill Henning reached out to them about the festival. “Of course, we said ‘yes’—we love doing events like the fall festival where we get to interact with the surrounding community. “For this festival, not only did we put together a performance for everyone, but we also helped to run various activities and stayed after to help clean up everything at the elementary school.” Team members are always looking for opportunities to give back to the school and the community, she said, and will work with those who ask them to volunteer. Delta Chi fraternity Vice President Connor Krugh said that most of the group’s community service work is Johnstown-centric, rather than Pitt-Johnstown-centric. Two weeks ago, the brothers collected $340 in spare change from campus residents for a cancer research foundation. Their “Pie a Delta Chi ” events fund the same charity, and Krugh said they usually make $50 to $100. In September, the brothers acted as waiters at a bar and grill, giving out wristbands to patrons over 21 years old and cleaning off tables. Krugh said the fraternity volunteered at slapshot games last semester at the ice rinks in Johnstown and Ebensburg. “Almost the entirety of the brothers went and were helping the (hockey) tournament along,” he said. “It’s mostly older men making teams to enjoy the sport they once loved—it was great to help them have that much fun.” Krugh said that, when the weather is nicer, the brothers also clean up a stretch of highway near the Galleria mall, which they adopted last semester. He said fraternity members are hosting a recruitment night tonight which potential pledges can attend to meet and get comfortable with the brothers. Thirteen brothers are to be graduated this semester, which is almost half the membership. Krugh himself pledged to the fraternity only last semester. “We love giving back to the community. It’s a brotherhood—the brothers are all really cool, really respectful. They cherish the people who come in and care about our grades and what’s going on in our lives.” Hall, who advises Greek Life, said that service is one of the four pillars of Greek Life, along with brotherhood, leadership and scholarship. Sorority Phi Sigma Sigma’s Haunted Trail and Dance Team’s Halloween Bash may make a dark and spooky season a little brighter.
Most years, sorority members hold a haunted house inside their Larkspur lodge. This year, however, Philanthropy Chair Tea Smith said they wanted to use a mystery location. The trail and house combination is to be from 7 to 10 p.m. on Halloween, next Wednesday. “Everyone will meet at the gazebo, and we’ll walk down in groups to where (the haunted house) is,” Smith said. Smith said the event would still be indoors and handicapped-accessible. The event is to be themed after cult classic movies, including “Halloween,” “Friday the 13th” and “Nightmare on Elm Street.” Smith said, last year, the theme was “Phi Sig Phobias,” and the year before that was modeled after a dollhouse. Smith said there would be comic relief, too. “So you’ll be all, ‘oh, my God,’ and then like, ‘hey, I love that movie.’” Smith said they were hoping to have volunteers from Greek life and Pitt Players. She said actors have already been taken care of, but that volunteers are still welcome to help set up. There is to be a $1 minimum donation and a donation bucket, Smith said. Proceeds are to go to the sorority’s charity foundation, which supports school and college readiness around the region. “We sponsor everything from pencils to scholarships for anyone who needs help.” Dance Team members are to have a “Ghoulie Get-Down” Halloween party 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Saturday at the Log Cabin. Team President Dominique Jefferson said the team’s parties, which are held multiple times a semester with different themes, make up for fraternity parties being closed with recycled invite lists. “(Pitt-Johnstown) needs more campus life—we want to involve everybody instead of just a particular crowd,” Jefferson said. A costume contest’s first place winner is to receive a gift card. Senior Brandon DeGuerre is to DJ the event, providing hip-hop, rap and R&B music. Jefferson said Log Cabin parties are allowed to have a capacity of 150 people at a time. They also have to delegate two bouncer-type members to scan student IDs at the door and one Head of the Party to make sure things run within regulation. The bouncers and party head are required for all campus parties by administrators. Even if the list fills up, Jefferson said the team will continue to sell $1 bags of candy to help pay for decorating the cabin. When Pitt-Johnstown officials shut down the Kappa Zeta sorority last spring semester, Phi Sigma Sigma was the only campus sorority remaining. Since then, Student Government President Joe Evanko and Campus Activities and Engagement Director Heather Hall share a goal to add another sorority.
When Evanko was running for student government president last year, he said one of his main goals was a Greek life expansion. He said it was one of his main goals because he thinks Greek life members are good for campus. “(Fraternities and Sororities) were off balance with having three (fraternities) to only one (sorority),” Evanko said. He also said the Interfraternity and Panhellenic councils were disbanded with the inbalance. The Interfraternity Council is a national fraternity organization. Phi Sigma Sigma member Kasandra Matthews said the Panhellenic Council is an organization only when there is more than one national sorority on campus. Hall said she is supportive of anything that could offer more leadership opportunities “Another group from a National Panhellenic Conference women’s group will allow for more service in the Greater Johnstown community,” she said. Evanko said all existing members of Greek Council have stepped up for fraternity and sorority members. He said student senators have not been able to do a lot in the sorority’s formation. “(Student senators) try to be as open and helpful as possible in the creation. “Having one choice is not that desirable,” he said. Evanko also said Pitt-Johnstown administrators have given the approval to allow national fraternity and sorority members the option to start a new campus chapter. Hall said, with another sorority, more female students may want to join Greek life. Adding a new campus sorority is to be a mutual experience, according to Hall. “We are now what is referred to as ‘open for expansion’ through the (National Panhellenic Conference). This means that I have a set of expectations and documents that have to be submitted that will be shared with the 26 member groups in the conference,” she said. She also said the number to start a new sorority is going to be dependent on the group that is interested. “For a campus our size, I would imagine that there would be 30-45 women needed to install a new group,” Hall said. Sophomore Amber Vandevender said she and sophomore Angelica Tate are trying to start a Zeta Tau Alpha fraternity. According to Hall, Zeta Tau Alpha is referred to as a fraternity because the founding members were some of the original women’s fraternal groups that is not named a sorority, but is a group in the conference. Vandevender said the process so far has been more time-consuming than difficult. She said she and Tate thought of bringing Zeta Tau Alpha to Pitt-Johnstown last summer. “We knew it was going to be a very long, and sometimes frustrating, process. However, we were willing to do whatever it takes,” Vandevender said. She said they have 13 potential members. “Many girls have expressed interest in joining. However, since we technically aren’t a campus organization yet, we have decided to keep the group exclusive until we get the OK to recruit,” she said. Tate said she and Vandevender wanted to bring the fraternity to campus for a variety of reasons. “The beliefs (Vandevender) and I both share are reflected by Zeta Tau Alpha: the promotion of alliance, happiness and the building up of a greater and purer womanhood. “With Pitt-Johnstown’s strong emphasis on preparation for the real world, we agreed that nothing could ready a person more than the participation in a group such as Zeta Tau Alpha,” Tate said. Matthews said she and other Phi Sigma Sigma members are supportive of another campus sorority. She said it would be nice to see the Panhellenic Council be brought back to campus. Matthews also said another sorority would be good for campus. “Sororities bring women on campus together,” she said. She also said a big community of women would help other women feel safe. According to Vandevender, fraternity and sorority members have been supportive about the possible Greek life addition. Although Hall said another sorority would be beneficial, she said it’s a challenging time for Greek life nationally. She said it’s important for campuses to return to the ritual and values they were founded on. Vandevender said she thinks there’s a bad reputation attached to Greek life. “Hazing scandals and recent deaths in the Greek life community at big universities have damaged the appearance of Greek life and, because of that, people don’t have much respect for it anymore. “We want to restore the fundamentals of charity work, academics and unity among not only the women of this campus, but everyone,” Vandevender said. Hall said Pitt-Johnstown Greek life members are committed to service, scholarship and leadership development, but there’s room to grow. “I feel it is my role to help students who are not currently unaffiliated to see the great opportunity of being a member of a national network that offers continued personal growth and leadership development that gives to their campus and community,” Hall said. Hall also said fraternity members have been supportive of adding another sorority. “The men have embraced Phi Sigma Sigma (members) as the women’s group here and even worked to develop Greek Council so that there was a temporary governing group. “Once we have our local Panhellenic Council to govern the women’s group, we can reincorporate the Interfraternity Council and operate as most campuses our size do,” she said. Hall said her ultimate goal for Greek life is to help create leaders. Kayley McKay was named Homecoming Queen and Zachary Barnot was named Homecoming King for 2017 at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown during a Saturday, September 30, ceremony. Pitt-Johnstown President Jem Spectar crowned Ms. McKay and Mr. Barnot at the campus University Square Gazebo. They were sponsored by Delta Chi fraternity. Kayley is a nursing major from Harmony and is also the President of Phi Sigma Sigma Sorority. Zachary is a Belle Vernon grad who will have his degree in Business Information Systems. These leaders were nominated by Delta Chi Fraternity. Nominations were announced earlier in the week and student voting concluded Friday. The coronation is part of Pitt-Johnstown Homecoming weekend. Candidates for queen included McKay, Sarah Brasili, Amber Gibbs, Sydney Hamilton, Haley Knepp, Santana Lardo, Heather Moon, and Julianne Nerone Candidates for king included Barnot, Qaseem Chaudhry, Andrew Downey, David Francola, Abdullahi Mada, Thomas Messer, Patrick Petrell, and Brady Willis. Last year's queen and king - Ashlee McMullen and Bernard Dunegan - were on hand for the ceremony.
The University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown is marking its 90th anniversary well as the 50th year of the campus in its Richland Township location. Pitt-Johnstown was founded in 1927 and is the first and largest regional campus of the University of Pittsburgh. Pitt-Johnstown is recognized by the Princeton Review as a “Best in the Northeast” college, by G.I. Jobs as a “Military Friendly School,” and by Pennsylvania Business Central as a "Top 100 Organization.” The distinctive combination of Pitt-Johnstown’s people, programs, and place results in exceptional performance in preparing students for career and professional success. Pitt-Johnstown is the regional leader, educating for success in the Real World.
Rachel Logan, Copy Editor April 12, 2017 After a recent temporary suspension of Kappa Zeta, Pitt-Johnstown is home to only one social sorority out to four social fraternities. Finance and Administration Vice President Amy Buxbaum, also a Campus Title IX coordinator, said that there is no violation of equal opportunity for men and women. “(Pitt-Johnstown) does not organize these groups or recruit for them. We simply provide equal opportunities for both sororities and fraternities to organize on campus. “This is different than varsity athletics programs, which we actively organize and direct, which are subject to Title IX.” A memorandum from the federal Department of Education, dated May 3, 1989, noted the difference between social Greek life and professional, service or honorary Greek life. Title IX, the memo says, applies to service and honorary organization in that they may not exclude members based on gender. “Under Title IX and the implementing regulation, the membership practices of social fraternities and sororities are specifically excluded from coverage if the active membership consists primarily of students in attendance at institutes of higher education, and the fraternity or sorority is exempt from taxation under the Internal Revenue Code.” Pitt-Johnstown administrators thus do not guarantee the presence of equal Greek life opportunities on campus. Student Affairs Vice President Shawn Brooks said such matters stay on the student level, unless things go awry. According to Brooks, there have been as many as four social sororities on campus in recent years, but two have been suspended for possible hazing, and one has been removed by its national sponsor. Brooks said that those looking to organize a social fraternity or sorority on campus could connect with the national organization they wish as a sponsor, then petition the Pan-Helenic council. “It’s a separate process for recognition. It doesn’t rise to the administrative level. Our role is very limited unless things go absolutely haywire.” Currently, the sorority Alpha Gamma Delta is eligible to return to campus if they wish to recolonize, a process that takes about half a year, Brooks said. Greek Affairs Director Shaun Hemphill did not respond to attempts to contact him. The president of the remaining sorority on campus, Phi Sigma Sigma, declined comment. READ MORE: Only 1 sorority is left
Tyler McNulty, News Editor April 5, 2017 Student government members approved a 2017-2018 academic year budget for clubs and organizations at a March 28 meeting. Funds were allocated to 47 clubs. Eight organizations were denied funding, including Kappa Zeta sorority, History Club and Kickstart Kids’ Hearts. The three organizations that received the most money were Programing Board, $99,250; Ice Hockey, $52,324 and American Society of Civil Engineers, $27,588. Pitt-Johnstown College Democrats requested $129,219: $75,000 for a Bill Nye appearance and $50,000 for commentator Van Jones. Treasurer Joe Evanko said that was not feasible. “(Allocations committee members) denied (Nye and Jones) because that just isn’t feasible with the amount of money we have to allocate to all clubs,” Evanko said. College Democrats members received $4,021 for next year. Catholic Campus Ministry requested $18,000 for next year. The organization received $1,896. Ministry members did not provide proof in time for a funds request. When Evanko brought amendments to the budgets, one he brought up was the amendment to the ministry’s budget. For a budget amendment to be approved, two-thirds of student government members must vote in favor of the amendment. Student government senators passed the members’ amendment, and the club was allocated $1,896. Geology Club members requested $11,150. They received $1,075. “Geology Club’s budget was late, and they didn’t give accurate proof,” Evanko said. The student activity fee — a $90 charge to each student every semester, creates the money to allocate to organizations. According to Evanko, if a student drops out before a certain point in the semester, all or half of the $90 is refunded. “We predicted low just to be safe,” Evanko said. At a March 14 student government meeting, co-chairwoman Madison Nick said allocations committee members predicted there to be 2,700 students for next fall semester and 2,400 students for next spring semester. According to Nick, the student government constitution states that a certain percentage of the predicted student activity fee must go to the Programming Board. She said giving the certain percentage straight to Programming Board members allows them to plan programs based on what is happening, planning events a year in advance. “With giving (Programing Board members) a certain percentage of the student activity fee, (board) do not have to plan a whole year of events in advance,” Nick said. Nick also said the Programming Board is the only club the student government constitution requires a certain part of the budget to go to. “Programing Board serves the whole campus,” she said. Some items the allocations committee didn’t fund included clothing, retreats and coaches’ pay. Evanko said cutting coaches’ pay was a tough decision. Although club coaches are there for a reason, Evanko said it wasn’t fair to be paying coaches with the students’ money. The emergency allocation fund allows club members to request funds for something they did not originally included in funding requests. To keep funds in the emergency allocation pool, 5 percent of the student activity fee needs to be in emergency-allocation funds. When allocations committee members originally reviewed all of the budgets, the emergency-allocation funds were not big enough. “We were pretty nice first time around,” Evanko said. However, committee members then went back through each budget and cut an additional 10 percent to the last line item in each club’s budget, according to Evanko. New clubs whose members proposed a budget less than $1,000 and returning club members who proposed a budget less than $500 did not receive the 10 percent cut from their last funds request. Evanko said this year’s budgeting season went well. “Overall, budgeting went a lot better. We had no mistakes, besides the issue with the constitution.” Nick agreed. “Budgeting has changed a lot since my freshmen year. It’s gotten a lot better, and club (members) are starting to get a hang of (the budgeting process),” Nick said. READ MORE: Almost half goes to only 3 groups
Catherine Dawson, Staff Writer November 2, 2016 Starting at 9 p.m. last Wednesday, Phi Sigma Sigma members put on their annual haunted house. Sophomore Samantha Albert, a Phi Sigma Sigma member, volunteered to be in charge of putting on this year’s doll-themed haunted house. “(Phi Sigma Sigma) voted on what type of theme to make the haunted house. The doll theme won because we thought that it would be the easiest to get across, and, since we are a bunch of girls, we can be dolls,” said Albert. Sorority members lined the way to the entrance with white paper bags. At the entrance, there were three sorority members waiting to collect a $5 admission and lead participants into the house. Upon entering, Albert was dressed as a doll, pointing and yelling where to go. She wore a red dress, stockings and fake blood. She also had on doll-like makeup: a pale face, dark eyes and lipstick. Cloth was hung from the ceiling to create a type of maze that gave the effect of blind angles, making it easier for scaring. By creating a maze, Phi Sigma Sigma members were able to extend the time guests spent in the haunted house, giving it a more authentic feel. The haunted house also had strobe lights that caused disoriented guests to beware. Albert said the setup downstairs included a nursery, a family room and a little girl’s room. Upstairs consisted of a ventriloquist, someone dressed as Jigsaw, a villand voodoo dolls. Many Phi Sigma Sigma members played a role in the haunted house and some Kappa Delta Rho members helped, too. “Overall the roles were easy to portray since we did have so many girls and a few guys available,” said Albert. Albert said that she heard a lot of explicit language, which normally isn’t good, but she took it as a good sign that the haunted house was scaring people. “There was plenty of screaming, even some from large men,” said Albert. Kappa Delta Rho sophomore member Scott Strain was in charge of scaring people when they exited the haunted house. “I wore dark clothing, a Jason hockey mask and fake blood. I waited behind the door for the people to come out and, when they went to get candy and apple cider, I scared them,” said Strain. Strain said that the majority of patrons said that they didn’t actually expect the haunted house to be scary. Senior Jesse Lock went to the haunted house because he said he thought it would fun. Before entering the house, he admitted that his expectations were low. “I expected really nothing, maybe some streamers hanging from the ceiling, like a bowl of candy and people dressed up in Goodwill clothes with ketchup on them,” said Lock. Upon leaving Lock said he was impressed. “It was quite good; I was impressed with the sorority members’ enthusiasm and the overall amount of effort they put in. Given the space that they had to work with, they did better than they could have,” said Lock. “I think it was one hayride away from being a legitimate seasoned business,” said Lock. Phi Sigma Sigma members made about $200 that is to all be donated to The Phi Sigma Sigma Foundation for School and College Readiness, said Albert. “All in all, I am happy with how it turned out, and I feel we may have genuinely scared, if not spooked, some people,” said Albe READ MORE: Large men scream at haunted house
Rachel Logan, News Editor September 14, 2016 Campus events are no longer to be organized by the Programming Board. Rather, students and organizations can submit a grant request from a weekly pool of available programming funds. Student Affairs Vice President Shawn Brooks described the new procedure as taking decision power from the Programming Board and giving it to students to initiate event ideas. “In order to be good stewards of the student activity fee, we must spend it wisely and invest where (students) show up,” Brooks said. Programming Board members are to decide, however, which event proposals receive funding. He said Programming Board members had good ideas last year, but were spending lots of money on events like the traditional Spring Concert, where there wasn’t a good turnout and, in effect, wasting student money. As an experiment, Brooks said board members allocated funds to the Ski Club for its Rail Jam event last winter. “It exceeded our wildest expectations,” he said. Brooks noted that the price per participant was miniscule for participants and spectators, while the students’ enjoyment of the event was immense. “Students know what they want to do,” he said. Thus, he said, programming grants were born. According to Brooks, the collective student activity fee pool is to be split into week slices, allowing up to $1,500 to $2,000 to be spent for each of the 24 programming weeks. Clubs can request funds to host campus-wide events by pulling from this pool. “That way, we’re not trapped into monthly Bingo Nights,” he said. “We’re having clubs and organizations do all the work.” Student Government Vice President Nick DiGiorgio said the point was to give students access to their fee money. “We’re changing who’s (proposing) ideas,” he said. “We hope to give students some equity, so they’re more inclined to bring friends.” DiGiorgio said there would still be a Programming-Board-sponsored event every month. Forms are to be submitted two weeks in advance and will be available in front of the Student Government office, in the Student Life office and via email for club officers. Some of the main boundaries for submitted events are that no alcohol is to be purchased with grant money, trips off campus are to include a chaperone, typically the adviser, and events must be inclusive of all Pitt-Johnstown students. Events are also not to be used as fundraisers, except by donation; therefore, no entrance fee is allowed, but tip jars or donation boxes can be used. Submissions are to be reviewed by Programming Board members at their 6 p.m. Monday meetings. The first meeting covered more than six event proposals. DiGiorgio said that there already has been one request for a block party from Phi Sigma Sigma. Lacrosse Club President Web Burrier said he’d like to host a campus event similar to Midnight Madness. “There would be events outside while we played a game (of lacrosse).” Burrier said. “You say free food, free T-shirts: everyone’s there.” Last year, the club struggled to get funding through student government due to an issue with paperwork, so dues were increased to cover the cost of referees. The club was unable to purchase new uniforms for last year. This year, the club was more successful with funding due to Burrier’s close contact with Student Government President Kyle Maguire. “As a club sport, we need to generate interest.” Burrier said he thought an event grant would be a good way to accomplish this. READ MORE: Student ideas to get funding
Kaitlin R. Greenockle, News Editor October 22, 2015 Student Government Association members held an informational meeting Oct. 6 on how to budget for clubs and organizations. Student Government President Shelby Smith had the idea to inform club and organization members before the actual budgeting process starts, so it would go more smoothly than in the past. The only clubs and organizations with representatives in attendance were Time-Out Christian Fellowship, Phi Sigma Sigma and Kappa Zeta. Smith said she had hoped to get more student organization members’ input on what they need from the budgeting process. “I wanted to help ease the burden that clubs have of trying to map out how much money they will need for an entire year because we do understand it’s hard to plan that far in advance,” said Smith. Smith said she had hoped for a bigger turnout but knew it might have been small because of insufficient advertising. She plans to have at least one more meeting before the end of the semester, but, this time, Smith and Student Government Allocations Committee members will present the budgeting process and requirements along with taking suggestions from club and organization members, according to Smith. Student Government President Pro-Tempore Madison Nick said there has been discussion about budgeting process flaws. Her advice to those who have to deal with budgeting is to provide allocations committee members with as much proof as possible. Also, to do as much fundraising they can because committee members take that into consideration when allocating money. Time-Out Christian Fellowship President Jocelyn Hartman went to the meeting because she thought it would be beneficial to see how the budgeting process works. “It wasn’t what I expected it to be. From the email, I figured there would be more organizations there and more discussion,” Hartman said. She said, last year she was Time-Out Christian Fellowship treasurer, and she understands all that goes into the budget and how painstaking a task it is. “I think they (Student Government members) could help clubs on campus by having more opportunities for clubs to attend meetings for budgeting in the spring,” Hartman said. Hartman said that she thinks Student Government members make themselves available for any questions and concerns, but she doesn’t think club and organization members take advantage of what they offer. She also said that she can understand why some club and organization members get upset about certain clubs and organizations getting much bigger allocations than others, but, after the meeting, she said she was able to learn more about how they budget and that it makes sense and is fair. “After being at the meeting, I am looking forward to some of the revisions that they will be making for the budgeting process and hope that it will help to resolve future issues,” Hartman said. READ MORE: Budget news reaches few
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