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Psi - Spring 2008 Newsletter
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THE DELTA CLASS
A Publication of the Psi Chapter of Pi Kappa Phi at Cornell
SPRING 2008 ITHACA, NEW YORK
THE PSIREN
By Ethan Pollack
The recently
initiated Delta Class of
Psi Chapter can
already be seen
sporting their letters
around campus, a
showing of pride in
not only their personal
accomplishment in
c omp l e t i n g t h e
member education
process, but also pride
c omp l e t i n g y e t
another step of the
s u c c e s s f u l
reestablishment of Pi
Kappa Phi on the
Cornell Greek scene.
The initiation of the
17 members of the
INSIDE THE PSIREN:
THE DELTA CLASS 1-2
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
— DAVID BLITZER
2-4
PCAC BOARD 2
PSI CHAPTER ’S NEW
OFFICERES
3
JOURNEY OF HOPE 4-5
Mailbag 6
ad memoriam 6
HOMECOMING 2008
SEPTEMBER 26-28
B IG RED VS . YALE
JOIN US AT THE HOUSE FOR A VICTORY
CELEBRATION AFTER THE GAME !
ALSO, THERE WILL BE A SPECIAL MEMORIAL PLAQUE
DEDICATION FROM THE IOTA CLASS OF ’94 TO COM-
MEMORATE THE UNTIMELY DEATH OF
MICHAEL JOSEPH SHORE PSI #793.
PAGE 2 THE PSIREN
“NOT ONLY
WAS DR .
BLITZER
NAMED TO
SMARTMONEY
MAGAZINE ’S
DISTINGUISHED
LIST OF “THE
30 MOST
INFLUENTIAL
PEOPLE IN THE
WORLD…”
By Shahar Ziv
As Managing Director and
Chairman of the S&P 500 Index
Committee, the last year has been a
hectic one for David Blitzer (Psi
#471). As I caught up with him, he
was preparing for several trips to
Europe to meet with leaders and
discuss the implications of recent
US economic events. With the
recent collapse of Bear Stearns and
other indicators showing signs of
further economic downturn, it
Psi Chapter
Alumni Corporation P.O. Box 788
Ithaca, NY 14850-0788
President
Shahar Ziv, (Psi 982)
Vice-President
William Chang, (Psi 989)
Treasurer
Matthew Estersohn, (Psi 1005)
Secretary
Alok Tayi, (Psi 1028)
Directors
• Fred Schneider, (Psi 314)
• Michael Davis, (Psi 795)
• Jack Cognetta, (Psi 985)
• Michael Reinitz, (Psi 1016)
• Father Robert Smith, (Psi 1033)
THE DELTA CLASS
Delta class brings the Psi
brotherhood up to seventy-
two brothers, the highest
number of brothers since the
re-founding in 2004.
During the member
education process the Deltas
went through the various Psi
and national rituals, and
were also expected to
complete various projects to
build class unity. The projects
included a PUSH fundraiser,
two house improvement
projects, an associate ritual,
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT — DAVID BLITZER
an associate brotherhood
event, two social events
planned by the associates, as
well as a class plaque that
was presented at the final
oral boards.
The Delta class
consisted of 14 freshmen and
3 sophomores. Activities of
some of the Deltas include
Varsity Lightweight Crew,
Club Ultimate Frisbee,
Mock Trial, Sketch Comedy,
and Cornell EMS among
others.
appears that he will have his hands full
for the next few months as well.
Dr. Blitzer graduated from
Cornell with a Bachelor of Science
degree from the College of
Engineering. He was initiated into
the Psi Chapter on May 7, 1967. As I
was telling him about the some of the
current accomplishments of the Psi
Chapter and mentioned the work the
alumni board was doing to get back
control of the lease to the 55
Ridgewood Road property, David
mentioned how the 55 Ridgewood
house wasn’t even in the fraternity’s
possession when he was an
undergraduate; the chapter was then
housed at 722 University. A lot has
changed at Psi and Cornell since then,
including the North Campus Initiative
to house all freshman – David
mentioned that there really wasn’t a
“North Campus” when he was an
undergraduate – and the recent West
Campus Res ident ia l Col lege
Initiative.
After graduating from Cornell, Dr.
Blitzer went on to receive an M.A. in
Economics from the George
Washington University and then
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT — DAVID BLITZER
PAGE 3 ITHACA , NEW YORK
Psi Chapter’s New Officers
Archon : Chris Sarra Major: Materials Science and Engineering E-mail: [email protected]
Vice-Archon : Matthew Bloom Major: Mechanical Engineering E-mail: [email protected]
Treasurer : Benjamin Schreff Major: ILR E-mail: [email protected]
DAVID BLITZER:
MANAGING
D IRECTOR AND
CHAIRMAN OF THE S&P 500 INDEX
Secretary : Joel Posner Major: ILR E-mail: [email protected]
Warden : Matthew Murphy Major: Biological Engineering E-mail: [email protected] Historian : Brian Steinmetz Major: Mechanical Engineering E-mail: [email protected]
Chaplain : Jason Shapiro Major: ILR E-mail: [email protected]
Push Exec : Christopher Chamberlin Major: Mechanical Engineering E-mail: [email protected]
PAGE 4 THE PSIREN
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT — DAVID BLITZER
earned his Ph.D. in Economics
from Columbia University.
Prior to joining Standard &
Poor’s, the world's foremost
provider of financial market
i n t e l l i g en c e, i n c l ud i n g
independent credit ratings,
indices, r isk evaluation,
investment research and data,
Dr. Blitzer was Corporate
Economist at The McGraw-Hill
Companies, S&P's parent
JOURNEY OF HOPE 2008
By Bill Chang
On May 17th, I’ll be joining this year’s Journey of Hope
riders Elan Greenberg and Tim Lutz on a ride around Lake Cayuga
along with Dave Peterson, Max Cann, Tom Stephenson, Jeremy
Schwartz and several other former Psi JOH riders. It will be the
first time I will be back to Ithaca since graduating in 2001 and I’m
BLITZER HAS
AUTHORED
TWO BOOKS
ABOUT
INVESTING
AND THE
ECONOMY .
corporation. Prior to that he
was a Senior Economic Analyst
with National Economic
Research Associates, Inc. and
did consulting work for various
government and private sector
agencies including the New
Jer s ey Depa r tmen t o f
Environmental Protection, the
National Commission on
Materials Policy, and Natural
Resources Defense Council.
As I spoke to Dr. Blitzer
and did the requisite “Google
Search” on him, I was amazed
that our national fraternity has
not added him to its list of
Famous Pi Kapps. He has
authored two books, Outpacing
the Pros: Using Indices to Beat
wall Street’s Savviest Money
Managers (2001) and What’s
the Economy Trying to Tell You?
E v e r y o n e ’s G u i d e t o
Understanding and Profiting
from the Economy (1997).
Additionally, not only was Dr.
Blitzer named to SmartMoney
magazine’s distinguished list of
“the 30 most influential people
in the world of investing, which
ranked him seventh in 2000,
but in 1998, he was also named
the nation’s top economist,
receiving the Blue Chip
Economic Forecasting Award
for most accurately predicting
the country’s leading economic
indicators for four years in a
row! Needless to say, PKP
National will be getting an e-
mai l from me shor tly
nominating him to join this
distinguished list.
JOURNEY OF HOPE 2008
PAGE 5 ITHACA , NEW YORK
looking forward to seeing how
things have changed.
Psi chapter had a long
record of sending Journey of
Hope riders every year which
ended with Dave and I. I was
disappointed that such a long
tradition had ended, but I’m
glad that Psi is sending JOH
riders again. Having met some
of the new alumni, I think that
the chapter is in good hands
with the new Psi’s.
Dave and I rode the
South route in 2001 and it was
one of the best experiences of
my life. I met some amazing
people, both the other riders
and the people with disabilities
that we worked with along the
way. I also got to see the
country in a way that few people
get to experience, from crossing
the Golden Gate bridge to
cycling the last few miles to the
steps of the Capitol in
Washington, D.C.
I hope my fellow alumni
help to support the Journey of
Hope and any future riders that
the chapter may send. It’s an
amazing experience for the
riders and the funds that are
raised go towards a great cause.
“DAVE AND I
RODE THE
SOUTH ROUTE
IN 2001 AND
IT WAS ONE OF
THE BEST
EXPERIENCES OF
MY LIFE . ”
The Psi Chapter Mailbag
W. John Zygmunt 434
needs to work on his handwrit-
ing or invest in a typewriter!
Jim P. Trozze 403
Jim‘s daughter Olivia will be in
Cornell’s Class of 2012 in ILR
Tony Balda 999
got married in 2007 and a bunch
of Pi Kapps were there. He also
had a few too many beers with
Chris Fong and Steve Stern while
Dan Kurnos claimed to be “sick”
Richard Lissa 514
changed jobs and now works for
Formasa Plastics as Director of
Logistics & Management in
Livingston, NJ
PAGE 6 THE PSIREN
The Psi Chapter
Mailbag Ad Memoriam
We regret to inform you of the passing of the
following brothers of the Chapter Eternal. The Psi
Chapter extends its heartfelt condolences to the
friends and families of:
Edward William Harker Jr (Psi 170)
Eugene Gibson Arnold (Psi 333)
Michael Joseph Shore (Psi 793)
We will carry on the memory of our dear brothers
as we continue a tradition of fraternity and
camaraderie.
We invite all brothers to join us and the Iota class of ’94
this Homecoming for a special memorial plaque dedication
in memory of Michael Joseph Shore (Psi 793).
Staton Lorenz 358
is semi retired after selling his motorcycle racing
and swap meet business of 33 years. He is cur-
rently working with a hotel lobby brochure ad-
vertising agency www.unusualideas.com
Alex Sherer 597
and his wife have been running a Veterinary
clinic together for 19 years. They just bought a
vacation home in Tahoe’s Northstar Ski Resort.
Their oldest son Nicholas is in his first year
studying Physics at UC Santa Barbara.
Gary Fisher 445
recently spoke with Henry Siebel (class of 1968)
Henry is the reunion chair for the Cornell class
of 1968’s 40th reunion in June 2008.
Bill Newell 436
And his wife Brenda just became grandparents in
May 2007. Their daughter Mary presented
them with a beautiful granddaughter Caitlynn
Maeve
Nick Linder 980
is graduating from Law School this spring. Then
headed back to his hometown of Indianapolis,
IN to clerk for a federal court of appeals judge
for a year. He is hoping to see some Psi broth-
ers in Denver for the Supreme Chapter (July 25-
29)!!
Justin Teo 1000
recently moved to Tokyo, and is currently working for a
hedge fund covering Asian equities. Feel free to look
him up if you ever make it to Tokyo. Also “Great Job
Shahar for reconnecting with the alumi base.”
PAGE 7 ITHACA , NEW YORK
The 51st Supreme Chapter
in Denver, Colorado
Register today:
• http://denver.pikapp.org/
• Phone: (800) 929-1904
Alumni Club
James Dodd 299, Gary Fisher 445,
Kenneth Kelly 460, Richard Lissa 514,
William Salomon 531, Claudio Gualtieri
941, Nick Linder 980, Corey Berthold
983, Mike Reinitz 1016, Steve Stern 1018,
Christopher Keenan 1031
Archon’s Club
Fred Thorne 285, Staton Lorenz 358, Jim
Trozze 403, W. John Zygmunt 434, Michael
Piscitelli 538, Alex Sherer 597, Vincent
Gentile 610, Greg Della Rocca 687, Joshua
Cheron 783, Mike Davis 795, Gabe Heafitz
822, Tom Stephenson 862, Tony Balda 999,
Justin Teo 1000, Alok Tayi 1028
Red Rose Club Robert Smith 149, George Heinrich 429,
Shahar Ziv 982
Founders Club Bill Newell 436
Psi Chapter thanks you for your donations
PAGE 8 THE PSIREN
Create a Profile on CornellPiKapp.com!
Hey Psi Alumni! Did you know that you can create your own personal profile and keep in touch with active broth-
ers as well as fellow alumni? Tell us what you’re doing now, where you are currently located, or just leave an
Alumni comment. Your confidentiality is respected; you can fill in as much or as little information as you would
like. Additionally, only active brothers and other alumni with profiles will be able to view your information. To
create a profile on CornellPiKapp.com, just email our webmaster, Spencer Marks, at [email protected].
Old Pi Kapp Photos?....Send ‘Em Our Way! The Psiren is looking photos and stories for our next issue. If you have any photos or short stories from your
undergraduate days in Pi Kappa Phi, you can email digital copies to our Webmaster Spencer Marks at
[email protected]. Send your hard copies to the chapter house:
We’ll scan and return any photos you send us!
Pi Kappa Phi
c/o Alumni Relations Chairman
55 Ridgewood Road
Ithaca, NY 14805
ΠΚΦ ΠΚΦ
Check us out on the web!
http://www.cornellpikapp.com
Pi Kappa Phi, Psi Chapter
55 Ridgewood Road
Ithaca, NY 14850
