Call of the Pride

Special points of interest:

Find out how to connect with

sisters, wherever you are

Check out some of our

upcoming events

See how your dues are

providing scholarships

See what your sisters are up

to

Welcome new alumnae

members

Inside this issue:

New Alumnae 2

Scholarship Award- 2

Dallas Trip 3

Throwback 3

Sister Spotlight 4-5

Beta Bites 6-7

Data by Rachel 8

Announcements 9

Connect 9

Volume 1, Issue 1 Winter 2015

Hey ladies! Bryonna Pitts and Katlin

Seagraves here! We hope everyone

had a great holiday season. We are

welcoming the New Year with a new

format for our Alumnae Chapter

Newsletter, Call of the Pride! We are

going to be sending out issues 2 times

a year. If you have anything you

would like to see in future issues,

please feel free to contact us at

BetaNews@askbeta.org anytime with

suggestions, photos, or pieces of

writing. We are looking forward to

fostering the relationships of the

alumnae chapter and keeping

everyone informed of chapter and

national happenings. Please enjoy our

first issue of the year. Stay warm and

let us know how you’re doing!

Letter from the Editors

Alpha Sigma Kappa—Women in Technical Studies, Beta Alumnae Chapter

Editors Katlin Seagraves and Bryonna Pitts

Greetings

sisters! This year

is going to be a

great year for

the Beta

Alumnae

Chapter. If you

don’t know

already, the Beta Active Chapter is

hosting National Convention this year

(July 30th-August 2nd). Personally, I’m

looking forward to attending and

meeting some of my sisters that I

haven’t met before. And as the

Alumnae Chapter President, I am

looking forward to helping our Active

Chapter host.

This year for our chapter I want to have

real discussions on the future of our

chapter and set/make goals that are

attainable. One of my goals is to

modernize our voting process. I have

the framework started to allow for

anonymous voting via the internet. I

believe this will improve our voting

member turnout since we all can’t

always make it to our meetings. As

always, I’d love to see more of our

Alumnae attend events with the Active

Chapter.

I look forward to seeing everyone at

our Spring meeting!

ASK Love!

Nikki (Acton) Waldrop

Letter from the President

2014 Beta Alumnae Annual Academic Scholarship Awarded

The 2014 Annual Academic Scholarship was awarded to Ashley

Findlay on November 21, 2014. Ashley is sophomore Computer

Engineering/Computer Science student. She is very active in both

Alpha Sigma Kappa and the OU College of Engineering. She is

social chair for the Beta Active Chapter, Publicity and Volunteer

Committee Chair for Sooners Without Borders and Outreach

Liaison for the Society of Women Engineers.

She represents Alpha Sigma Kappa well with her high academic

standards and achievements. She is a Science and Engineering

Education Scholar, Multi-Cultural Engineering Program Scholar,

and a Distinguished Scholar for the University of Oklahoma. She

maintains good grades and stays active on campus all while working as a Services Specialist for the University of

Oklahoma IT department.

Ashley Findlay is a woman who embodies the qualities and values of Alpha Sigma Kappa. Look forward to hearing

more about her accomplishments both as a sister of Alpha Sigma Kappa as well as a student of the University of

Oklahoma.

Welcome to the New Beta Alumnae! On November 21st, 2014 the Beta Alumnae chapter welcomed four

new sisters into our ranks.

Jordyn Snow (pictured top left) is a Native American Studies student

from the Alpha Gamma Class. She is expected to graduate May

2015.

Darrshini Muthurajah (pictured top right) is a Microbiology student

and a member of the Alpha Epsilon Class. She is expected to

graduate December 2015.

Elise (McCarthy) Shepherd (pictured bottom left) graduated with a

B.S. in Microbiology and is member of the Alpha Epsilon Class.

Kimberly Kort (pictured bottom right) is an Aviation Management

and Supply Chain Management student and a member of the Alpha

Gamma Class. She is expected to graduate December 2015.

The Annual Academic Scholarship is awarded yearly to an undergraduate member who

demonstrates academic excellence and lifelong commitment to Alpha Sigma Kappa. Please

look forward to our next issue to see who is awarded the 2015 Annual Service Scholarship.

Call of the Pride Page 2

by Katlin Seagraves

by Katlin Seagraves

Alumnae Trip to Dallas

Pictured left to right: Shauna (Jones)

Hainz, Camille (Ristroph) Whitlock,

Kimberly (Combs) Haliburton, Carol

(Sharp) Watson, Eden (Smith)

Burgess, Lynn (Ghose) Cabrera

Want to see some of your own photos

here? Make sure to send them to us at

BetaNews@askbeta.org.

Beta Throwback

Page 3 Volume 1, Issue 1

In January, some of our Beta Alumnae traveled to Texas to spend a couple of days in Dallas. They visited the

Dallas Museum of Art and spent way too much time shopping and dining.

Future weekend trips are sure to happen, as everyone had fun in Dallas! If you have suggestions or comments

regarding the Beta Alumnae social calendar, contact our Social Chair, Molly Priebe! You can reach her a

mpriebe@askbeta.org!

Pictured above are sisters Darrshini Muthurajah, Jordyn Snow, Eden Burgess, Erin Cooper, Allison Quiroga, Molly Priebe, and Kari

Hunter enjoying a couple of meals together in Dallas, TX. January 24-25, 2015

by Molly Priebe

Q: Where do you currently live? A: I live in Houston with my husband, Julio (who also graduated from OU as well). And except for a brief stint in New Jersey (which is gorgeous!), I’ve lived in the Houston Metropolitan area since graduation. Julio and I have two fur babies: a dog named Rocki, and a tortie-cat with pretty green eyes name Slinky. Q: What are some of your hobbies? A: I'm resuming a lot of meditative, inwardly-focused activities that I loved in college and high school: reading, yoga (pranayama-focused, VYASA style), writing (journaling, mostly). I also enjoyed Houston's food scene - there are amazing and down-to-earth people here who are chefs, food writers, home cooks and restaurateurs. I've gotten involved with one of the few

South Asian-focused theatre troupes in the country - Shunya Theatre. It's great to balance my analytical training and work with creative thinking and activity - I find that I do well with one only if I have the other, too. Q: What have you done since graduation? A: Oh wow - in retrospect, I've done a lot, though incrementally and in the moment, it never seems like that much. I've served in 8 different roles at 3 different companies, not counting working for myself as a consultant/principal: I've worked as an engineer, an HSE program manager, a business analyst, and a new initiatives project manager (my current role). Along the way, I picked up a graduate certificate focusing on supply chain management. I got married - solo

and along with my husband, I've lived in 5 different parts of the Houston metro area. Between the two of us, we've bought and sold 3 houses. I hope we stay put where we're at for a while - we like the neighbors and the neighborhood. It reminds me a bit of Tulsa, where I grew up. Q: What are you doing professionally? A: I just started a new role with a content company focusing on news, information and analysis about and for the energy industry. I'm the company's special initiatives manager, and I report to the company's President/COO. My current project focuses on updating a content platform; I'm working with external UX and development consultants and internal stakeholders and SMEs to make this work. The challenge? This isn't exactly my field - but I've been hired for the skill sets I bring to the table (problem solving, project management). It's enough to get the work started - to get it done, I learn (a lot - about the company, and web property design and development) along the way. It's great fun, so far. It's exciting work for many reasons, but mostly because I get to take every aspect of my experience since and including college - and build on them. I remember joking as a freshman, when founding the Beta Chapter, about making sure that ASK and Triangle communications were clear and open, and working with individuals in both Beta and OK/T\ to make that happen. Establishing and honing that particular skill set has come in quite

Sister Spotlight: Catch Up with Founder Lynn (Ghose) Cabrera

Call of the Pride Page 4

At Elisa (Compton) Harmon's graduation. Ellie, one of my Littles, now lives and

works in San Antonio, so I got to see her (and her husband Matt) twice this last year,

after many years!

Interviewed by Katlin Seagraves

Page 5 Volume 1, Issue 1

handy since I started this role, when refereeing between the consultant and non-SME stakeholders. It's one of my most valuable skill sets. Q: Are you still involved in promoting STEM for women and girls? Do you have a particular philanthropy or organization you are involved with? A: I remain involved with Alpha Sigma Kappa throughout the years - still my favorite STEM-focused organization for women. I'm feeling the itch to diversify that experience, though - probably focusing on organizations in the Houston area, and groups that incorporate a STEM-focus in their programming for girls (such as the Girl Scouts). I'll drop in on the occasional SWE and WITI meetings - and I'm quite interested to see what AAUW's doing nationally. They all have strong programming and membership, and I like to learn about what works for other STEM-focused women's organizations. Q: How are you still involved with Alpha Sigma Kappa? A: I had the privilege of serving as Expansion Representative to the Eta Chapter, and recently served as NDOE. Before that, I was involved with the Beta Alumna Chapter (right after college). I would like to see us stay better connected across the generations of Beta alum (I'd like to see all ASK Alumnae better connected across Chapters, actually). The ASK National Chat Facebook group is a good forum for initiating contact among other Sisters. I recall a Google+ Hangout from a couple of years ago with so many Beta alum - that was fun! Keeping ties alive are a challenge

for any organization, actually. What programming for alumnae - what do we want, as a Chapter? I'm glad we are here to mentor and support the Beta Active Chapter (as we should, individually and as a Chapter) - and we established ourselves as sorority rather than a club for a reason. We're strong enough in numbers now that we can explore that, and come up with some pretty cool ways to be connected with one another, and continue living our Oath. Q: Are you coming to National Convention in OKC this year? A: I'd love to! The National Convention is always on my calendar - whether or not I can make it this year depends on a project I'm working on right now. But it would be a shame to miss it - I'd love to see be at a conference in

Beta's back yard. Especially in Bricktown - I've heard it's changed quite a bit since I was in school. It would be fun to check it out with my Sisters. Q: Do you have any advice would like to share? A: Listen for that inner voice that knows what's best for you, and trust it as it serves you more, and well. Believe in yourself. Treat your body, mind, and soul well - and you'll do right by yourself as well as others. Surround yourself with amazing, good, kind people. Value simple pleasures - those are the ones that matter the most. Make sure to find Lynn on Facebook and Twitter!

Follow @marginfades on twitter!

At Beta Alumna Anna Jo Isbell's wedding in California - along with Beta

Alumnae Mary (Ames) Murphy and Ellie Harmon in 2014. First time I got to

see any of these ladies and our mutual friends in quite a while.

Call of the Pride Page 6

Hello there, my lovely Beta ladies! For the inaugural issue of the new Alumnae newsletter I have brought you my favorite recipe for the frozen-nose-and-toes

weather everybody is suffering through right now.

How do you feel about hot fudge? Ridiculous question, hot fudge is amazing. How about pudding? Everyone likes pudding! And what about cake? Like I even have to

ask. Well, are you ready for this? Hot. Fudge. Pudding. Cake.

Somewhere between a brownie and the chocolate lava cakes you can only get at restaurants, this is gooey chocolate heaven. It’s good no matter what, but hot out of the oven it will make you want to cry, so make it for a crowd who will devour it

immediately. Or, even better plan, eat it all by yourself. It’s that good.

Welcome Robin Bowman to our first installment

of Beta Bites by Robin! She will be sharing

recipes for us all in each issue of The Call of

the Pride.

Robin Bowman is an alumna from the Alpha-

Gamma Class of the Beta chapter. She

currently lives in Baton Rouge, LA where she is

studying mathematics and being awesome.

You can contact Robin via Carrier Pigeon,

Ouija Board, or Facebook.

Hot Fudge Pudding Cake

Beta Bites by Robin by Robin Bowman

1. Position your oven rack at the lower-middle position and preheat to 325 degrees. Grease an 8x8 inch baking dish with butter or non-stick spray. 2. Combine 1/3 cup cocoa, all the brown sugar, and ½ cup of the granulated sugar in a bowl and set aside. 3. Melt the butter, the remaining 1/3 cup cocoa, and the chocolate in a double broiler, or just microwave it, because ain’t nobody got time for that. Whisk until smooth. 4. Whisk together the flour and baking powder in a small bowl and set aside. 5. Mix together the remaining 2/3 cup sugar, vanilla, milk, salt, and egg yolk. Mix in the melted chocolate mixture and the flour mixture. 6. Pour the batter into the baking dish and spread to the corners. 7. Okay, this is where the instructions get weird. Take the sugar mixture you made first

thing and sprinkle it evenly over the top of the batter. Use all of it, even though it seems like a lot. Now pour the coffee gently on top of the cocoa mixture.

(I know. I know it doesn’t make any sense. I know it seems like you’re sure to have a soggy, runny baking disaster on your hands, but trust me. I do not know why this works, but it does, and it’s beautiful.) 8. Bake about 45 minutes, until the top is puffed and bubbling and just starting to pull away

from the edge of the pan. 9. Let cool for 25 minutes, because we want those tears to be tears of glorious chocolate

nirvana and not a horrible mouth scalding. 10.Serve with vanilla ice cream. Now I hear you saying, but Robin, it’s 21 degrees outside

with a 10 degree wind chill, how can you even say the words ice cream? When you make this again, which you will, and it’s a more sane, fit-for-humans sort of temperature outside, try it with the ice cream and come next December you’ll be that crazy person buying a gallon of Bryer’s while there’s three inches of snow outside.

As a final parting note, I offer this wisdom: at some point during either the preparation or the consumption of this dish, there might be a voice in your head that says, surely that’s too much chocolate? You need to shut that voice out. It doesn’t know what it’s talking about. That’s

good advice for life, too.

Ingredients 1 ½ cups coffee* 2/3 cup cocoa 1/3 cup packed brown sugar 1 cup granulated sugar 6 tablespoons unsalted butter 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate ¾ cup all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 1/3 cup whole milk ¼ teaspoon salt 1 large egg yolk * The strength of the coffee should be done to taste. Personally, I don’t like coffee much, so I actually do half coffee, half hot chocolate!

Page 7 Volume 1, Issue 1

Source: The New Best Recipe, by Cook’s Illustrated, aka the only cookbook you’ll ever need.

A year and a half ago, I founded Akashic Labs, a research and development consultancy based in Portland, Oregon. Starting a business, I have discovered, is not unlike clinging to an ostrich as it races across the plains; a rush of terror and exhilaration, coupled with the nagging worry that the ostrich is about to turn around and relieve you of the burden of having eyeballs.

When I'm not guarding my eyes from unexpected ostrich pecks, however, I have been working on an incredibly interesting project that exemplifies to me the way data science should be conducted.

Data science is all the rage at the moment. The Big Data bandwagon is now so full that it's more like a Big Data Caravan. Everyone, from Google to Facebook to the NSA, is loading up on all of the data they can, in the hopes that it will drive profits up and solve all the big problems.

Unfortunately, on many projects, data scientists are brought in far too late, well after the data has already been collected. "Here is our data!" organizations exclaim. "Now tell us why we collected it! Dive into the database and bring us back insight! Go go gadget data scientist!" This approach is problematic, because data

collection designed without specific goals often creates data sets that are ill-suited for any specific purpose.

The project I am currently working on, however, has reversed the normal pattern. Instead of bringing me in to make sense of a tangled heap of data that has already been collected, I have been tasked with structuring the data collection so that it is valuable for the users of the product. I have the delightful opportunity to lay the groundwork for successful analysis in the future, based on the questions that the users care about. It is a data science project beginning, interestingly, with an ethnography.

Over the last three months, I've spent hours interviewing 40 users of my client's software, delving deeply into what they wish they knew about their organizations and what data it's possible for them to collect. Their concerns and desires are directly shaping the recommendations I make, sculpting the data collection into a tool that will produce quality information for their future use.

This approach, centering the data needs of the

users, is deeply refreshing; I can only hope that

more organizations on the Big Data

bandwagon adopt it.

Call of the Pride Page 8

An Ethnography for Data by Rachel Shadoan

Rachel Shadoan is a data scientist, data visualizer, and

ethnographer whose primary research interests lie at the

intersection of people and technology. She is the co-founder and

CEO of Akashic Labs, a research consultancy based in Portland,

Oregon, where she lives with her partner Zack and more

houseplants than you can comfortable shake a stick at. She likes

cruciferous vegetables and hates bad science. She initiated as a

member of the Rho Candidate Class.

Sister Updates: Once a Sister, Always a Sister

Find us on Facebook

Beta Chapter Group

Beta Chapter Page

To find or start an ASK Facebook group near

you, contact Allison Quiroga.

Conn ec t w i th your s i s te r s !

To update your sisters on big news in your own life, please contact us at BetaNews@askbeta.org.

Beta Alumnae Sisters Jenifer Henslee-Peck, Erin Cooper, Lynn Ghose Cabrera, and

Allison Quiroga at 2014 National Convention held in Minneapolis, MN

Beta Alumnae Sisters Erin Cooper, Lynn Ghose Cabrera, Eden

Burgess, Jennifer Andrews, Katy McNeil, Allison Quiroga, Lacey

Denman, Jenifer Henslee-Peck at the 15th Local Founders Day

Celebration in Norman, OK

Sister Nikki (Acton) Waldrop of

the Rho Candidate Class and her

husband Stephen Waldrop are

expecting their first child! Her due

date is set for May 16, 2015. They

currently reside in Norman, OK.

Nikki works at Devon Energy.