Upsilon Ups - June 2013

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The Upsilon UpsSummer Edition June 2013 www.illinois-pikapps.com Pi Kappa Phi, Upsilon Chapter, University of Illinois Est. 1921

Fellow alumni brother,

Oneofthemostrewardingpartsofbeinginvolvedwith the Alumni Chapter has been hearing frombrothers who lost touchwithUpsilon.Whether ahappyhoursinChicago,atHomecominginChampaign,orviae-mailnotes,manyofyouhaveexpressed

appreciationforourefforts.ItsequallyrewardingtoseeeventslikePushPin

becomemajorsuccesses.Withover70attendeesandover$3500raisedforpeoplewithdisabilities,thispasAprilsfundraiserwaseasilyourmostsuccessfulevenyet.ThatsatestamenttothehardworkofourChaplain,KevinSpitz,andthecontinuedstrengthofoubrotherhood.Itsalsoagreatexampleofhowyourfinancialsup-

portgrows,findingnewwaystoengageouralumnandkeepthebondsofUpsilonstrong.Thankstooustrongmembershipbaseandgenerouscontributionfrombrotherslikeyou,wehadthecapitaltostartou

See Letter Page 4

The Upsilon Alumni Chapters summer event ibackforanotheryear!MarkyourcalendarsforSatur-day, August 3, 2013fromNoonto6p.m.andplantojoinusatArlingtonParkfortheFifthAnnualDayattheRaces!Lastyear,nearly30brothersattendedtheeventin

ArlingtonHeights.Everyyear,Dayat theRaces featuresanafternoonofhorseracingandbrotherhoodatthetrackssemi-privateMillerLitePartyDeck.Allyou-can-eatanddrinkisincludedintheticketpricandapersonalbettingattendantisavailablejustfo

ourgroup.Thisyear,wehopetoshatterourattendancerecord.Ifwecanhit40attendees,theMillerLitePartyDeckbecomesacompletelyprivatevenuefortheUpsilonAlumni Chapter.So bring your family, friends andotherbrotherstothismarqueeevent!Formoreinformationortopurchasetickets,visi

http://www.pkpuac.eventbrite.comn

Your support

keeps alumni

chapter strong

PRESIDENTS LETTER

Record attendance hoped

for fifth Day at the Races

PUSH AMERICA FUNDRAISER

As members of Pi Kappa Phi we are ex-tremely fortunateto betiedto such awon-derfulphilanthropicorganizationsuchasPushAmerica.That iswhy itwaswith suchgreatpride the Upsilon Alumni Chapter hosteditssecondannualPushPinscharitybowlingeventwithallproceedsgoingdirectlytoPushAmericaonSaturday,April6.TheeventtookplaceinChicagosLincoln

ParkneighborhoodatSevenTenLounge,thesamevenuethathostedin2012.Theonlydif-ferencewasthatthisyearinsteadofjustrent-ingoutoneroom,PiKappaPhitookovertheentirevenueforanafternoonofbrotherhood,bowlingandcharity.Thealumnichaptersawanumberoffirst-

time attendees to an alumni event, and weshattered the record formost attendees foranUpsilonalumnihostedeventwith72paidadmissions! Alumni chapters biggest suc-cess,though,camefromthegenerosityofouralumni,alumnisfamily,andfriends.Last year, in our inaugural year, Upsilon

AlumniChapterwas able toraise$1,250 forPush America.This year, in setting up the

event,wemadethegoalofraising$2,500tosendtoPushAmerica.Inreality,afterallthepackageswerepurchased,raffleticketsboughtand donations tallied, our chapter raised$3,750forPushAmerica.The Upsilon Alumni Chapter would like

to oncemore thankall ofits corporate do-nors.ThegenerosityacrossChicagolandwashumbling.WewouldalsoliketothankPushAmerica and PiKappaPhi headquarters forhelpingwithcoordinationandadvertising.Finally,abigthankyougoesouttoallthose

who attended Push Pins, donated to Push

See Push Pins Page 4

Bowling& Brothers

In second year, Push Pins triplesprevious years fundraising total

Upsilon alumni Dan Shricks, Mike Demkovich, Jared Duke and Brian Durbin share stories overdrinks during the Push Pins event on April 6 at Seven Ten Lounge in Chicago.


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Summer Edition June 2013 www.illinois-pikapps.com Pi Kappa Phi, Upsilon Chapter, University of Illinois Est. 1921

AutoFocusAndrew Krok turns

childhood passioninto fruitful career

ALUMNUS SPOTLIGHT: ANDREW KROK

If you went to college withAndrewKrok, Y1032,youdcertainlyrememberhissilverHondaAccordCoupeparkedinourgarage.Andwhilethefirstthoughtthat jumped inyourheadwhenseeingthat car,now fondly referredto asAu-drey, was not gearhead, Andrew hasbeenacarguysincebirth.

Sincegraduatingin2008withadegreeinEnglish,Andrewhasmarriedhispas-sionsforcars,writingandphotographyinto a full-time job asMedia DirectorforFluidMotorUnion,aPlainfield,Ill.,basedserviceandrepairfacilityforluxuryEuropeanvehicles.In hisposition,An-drewhas helped buildFluidMotorUn-ion into themost liked independentautomotive service and repair facilityonFacebook.AndrewalsofreelancesforTotal911ThePorscheMagazine.WerecentlysatdownwithAndrewtofindoutmoreaboutwhathedoes:

QWhatdo youdoonadailybasisasMediaDirector?Andrew: Fluid MotorUnion (FMU)specializesinbothserviceandaftermar-ket performance for luxury Europeanvehicles (AstonMartin, Audi, Bentley,BMW,Ferrari,Lamborghini,Mercedes,etc.), and the performance half of ourbusiness includes an on-sitefabricationshop where we handcraft performanceparts from stainless steel, aluminumand titanium.Themajorityofmy jobconsists of taking FMUs daily goingson and relating them to our audience.

TheblogforourPerformancesideisadailydoseoftheinnerworkingsofourfabrication shop,whichis a side rarelyseeninthisindustry.Basically,Icom-prisethedaysworkintoa500-wordblogpost,completewithDSLRpicturesthatIshootandedit.Ithentakethatblogpostandthosepicturesanddisseminatethemthroughvarioussocialmediachan-nels,includingseveralautomotiveonlineforumsthatwefrequent.

QWhat do you like most aboutyourjob?

Andrew:Truthfully,Igetthemostsatisfaction fromwatchingmyworkheadoutontothewideworldoftheinterneandseeinghowitsreceived.Imawritefirst and foremost, so if I catch windthat somebodys likedmy writing/photographyenoughtocomeintoourshopandgetworkdone,orifithelpedthem

reinforcetheircareerpath,itmakesmerealizethatIamtrulyontherightcareerpath.Otherthanthat,Ilovebeingaround

cars,asIvebeenacarguysincebirthBeingontheothersideofthecurtain,sotospeak,isarealtreatforaguylikeme,whosintothesheeramountofengineeringpornthatsgoingonhere.

QWhats your favoriteprojectyouworkedon?Andrew:Myfavorite part of this jobusually entails attending and shootingcovering large-scale car meets. My fa

voritetripofthemallwasprobablythetrek out west to MFest 2011, whichis the west coasts largest gathering oBMW fans, owners and performancshops.TwelveofusdrovethreecarsathewaytoLasVegasandbackwithoutstopping,anditwascompletewithmechanicalmaladies and prettymuch everythingyoudexpectonaroadtripwitexpensive,high-maintenance cars. ThshowhasahookupwiththePalazzo,sowestayedinasuitefortheentiretyofthe

See Andrew Krok Page 4

Above, Upsilon Alumnus Andrew Krok(Y1032) takes a self portrait through the

side-view mirror on one of his subjectsAt left, several of his recent photos.


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Upsilon has seen great fortunethisyearaswecontinuetostrivetoredefinefraternityattheUniversityofIllinois.Overthelastyearwere-cruited26futureleadersoncampus,initiating19inthefalland7moreinthespring,endingtheyearwith85members.Inanefforttotakeourchaptertothenextlevel,weworkedtoimproveeveryareaofourchap-terwithspecialemphasisonservice,philanthropy,andalumnirelations.Inthesecondsemesterofthisyear,

Upsilon took a huge step forwardwithregardsto ourservice bybeingtrusted to run our own program-ming through Champaign UrbanaSpecialRecreation, beingtasked todesigneventsandprovideallofthevolunteerswithlimitedoversight.We also worked to improve ourphilanthropy,raisingover$6,000forPUSHAmericainourannualCampOutontheQuad,over$1,000with

War of the Roses, ournew spring philanthropyevent, $3,500 from thealumni Push Pins bowl-ing event, and an addi-tional $1,170bycurrentChaplain, Brother BenFeicht. While the finaltotal is not yet in, wehaveraisedover$10,000for PUSH America thisyear,beatingourpreviousbestbyawidemargin andaveraging faroverourgoalof$100perman.Inan effort to keep ouralumni

network closely in touchwith ourchapter we organized several call-a-thons, reachingout to alumni tolearnmore about them and wherelifehastakenthem.Wehavealsoupdated ourwebsite and facebookpage,tryingourbesttomakeourac-complishmentsaspublicaspossible.Ifyouhavenotalready,pleasevisitandlikeourfacebookpagewhereweoften post status updates and pic-turesofchapterevents.As we approach the upcomingyear,wehavemanygoals.Inaddi-

tiontoupholdingthestandardswehavesetforourselvesthisyearwithregardstoserviceandphilanthropy,we plan to place special emphasisonrecruitmentandmembereduca-tion.Weplantocomeintotheyear

more prepared than everand recruiting what wehope will be the biggestandbestclasstodate.Wehope tohave a improvedmember education cur-riculumwhichemphasizesthe lifelong brotherhoodof Pi Kappa Phi whileteachingnewmemberstotakeaccountabilityforthe

chapter.Ibelievethatwithcontinuedef-

fortfromourundergraduatemem-bers aswell assupport from all ofouralumni,Upsiloncancontinuetoprosper.Alumnisupportandhelpisalwaysappreciatedandweencour-ageyoutoreachouttousifyouwishtobecomemoreinvolved.Ihopetoseeyouallathomecomingthisyear,October26th,andcontinuetocel-ebrateourlifelongbrotherhood.Thanksalwaysforyourhelpand

supportandIamproudtocallyouallmybrothers!

In Pi Kappa Phi,Chris Mulreed (Y1146)


PresidentGene Giannotta(630) [email protected]

Vice PresidentSky Opila(708) [email protected]

TreasurerTommy Carrato(847) [email protected]

SecretaryDan Schriks(708) [email protected]

ChaplainKevin Spitz(847) [email protected]

Housing Corp. PresidentJames Nelson(630) 334-0177

[email protected]

THIS FALL

CONTACT INFORMATION

Philanthropy, volunteerism remaincentral to chapters mission

Upsilon outreachARCHONS REPORT

Welcomed 26 new mem-bers into our Fraternity

Raised over $10,000 forPush America

Won the intramuralchampionship in soccer

Champaign-Urbana Spe-cial Recreation has givenUpsilon the ability torun their own volunteerprograms and events

Logged over 1100 hoursof volunteering

Eight members of Up-silon spent their SpringBreak at a Push Camp inMissouri

Homecoming:October 26

This years homecom-ingeventisjustaroundthecorner. October 26, 2013

marks the 130th Home-comingattheUniversityofIllinois. We hope you canmakethetriptoChampaignfor a fun weekend full ofbarbecues, Pi Kapps, andofcourseIllinifootball!TheIlliniwill betaking ontheMichiganStateSpartans.As inpreviousyears, tail-gating and barbecuing willtake place at the Chapterhouse (306 E. GregoryDrive) beforeand afterthe

football game. Those notattendingthegamearewel-cometowatchintheChap-terroom.IfyouplantostayFriday night or Saturdaynightandneedahotel,dontforgettobookearly.If you have questions

aboutHomecoming, pleasecontact Alumni ChapterPresident Gene [email protected].

Eight undergrads attended PushCamp (above); an empathy dinner(right).


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bowlingeventlastyearandexpanditthisyear.Thatsupportalsomeanswecancontinue

topublishouraward-winningnewsletter,of-feringyoua chance tostay connected withyourchapter.Italsomeanswehavetheflexibilitytocomeupwithnewwaystodothatbetter.Forexample,ourexpandedsectiononlifeupdateswasagreatsuccesslastissue,al-

lowingourreaderstoseewhatbrothersareuptoallovertheworld.NowthatInolongerliveintheChicago

areamyself,Idontgettoenjoysomeoftheperks ofmembership firsthand. But its nolessrewardingtocountmyselfasamembercontributingwhateverIcantoensurethatthbondsforgedattheUniversityofIllinoisremainasstrongastheycanbe.Whetherbybecomingamember,offeringan additional contribution, or volunteeringyourtime,knowthatyoucanhelpensurethatwecontinuetodoeverythingwecantokeepourbrotherhoodconnected.Itsuptoallofustoensurethefoundation

wevesetforUpsilonoverthepastdecadere-mainsstrongformanymoretocome.Evenwithasmallcontribution,youcanmakeabigdifferenceaswemoveforwardwiththenexphaseofouralumnirelationsprogram.Strongalumnisupportmeansthatourun-

dergraduatechaptercancontinuetopointtothelastingbenefitsofbeingpartofUpsilonAnditmeansthatmany,manymoremenwilbeabletobeapartofthebrotherhoodthathasmadesuchadifferenceinourlives.

Fraternally,Gene Giannotta (Y1030)

Letter from page 1

Pins, helpedfinddonationsfor PushPins,andhelpedplanandrunPushPins.Itisonlywithallthesepiecesputtogetherthatthe2ndannualPushPinscharitybowlingeventwassuchasuccess.With such success and the positive feedbackthat the UpsilonAlumnichapter board has re-ceived,wehavealreadybookedSevenTenLoungeforSaturday, April 5, 2014 from 2:30-6 PM.

Forthosewhowerentabletojoinusthisyear,consider putting the date on the calendar andjoiningusnextyear.Forthoseof youwhomadeitthisyear,welookforwardtoseeingyounextApril!Ifyouwouldlikemoreinformationon Push

Pins,howtogetinvolvedwithhelpingfornextyearsevent,orhavinganycommentsofanykindabout Push Pins charity bowling, please [email protected]

Push Pins from page 1

Hello from Brother Jim Bayne (Y367).

Jim tells us he recently published his

first book in a series about the Revolu-

tionary War titled The Storm Breaks

and he is now writing regular columns in

the Culpeper Star-Exponent, the home-

town newspaper of Culpeper, Va. After

retiring from NASA, Jim continues to

farm in Virginia. It is with heavy heartthat we share news of Jims wife, Melba,

who passed in October 2010. Melba was

very close to the Upsilon Chapter and

was the Rose of Pi Kappa Phi in the late

1950s.

The Upsilon Chapter mourns the pass-

ing of Brother Wendell Hayes Schanz

(Y536). Brother Schanz passed on April

4, 2013. He was born on January 1,

1945 and was initiated into Pi Kappa Phi

on May 7, 1965. He was a resident of

Cape Coral, Florida.

Gunnar Schalin (Y537) concluded

his term as national president of the

Association of Procurement Technical

Assistance Centers (APTAC) in April

of this year. A reception for Brother

Schalin was held in Atlanta, Georgia

conveniently the same city as the first

Supreme Chapter he attended in the

late 1960s.

Mark Peluse (Y997) and his wife Beth

were married this past November. Good

friend and fellow brother, James NelsonY1002, stood up as Brother Peluses

best man. Congratulations!

Eric Chen (Y1008) accepted a posi-

tion with Amazon and is now living in

Seattle.

Nick Stoczanyn (Y1011) accepted a

position with Northern Trust Hedge Fund

Services in November 2012. Nick is still

based in the Chicagoland area.

Gene Giannotta (Y1030) recently

moved to Washington, D.C. to volunteer

with Organizing for Action while he pur-

sues new career opportunities.

Andrew Krok (Y1032) accepted a

new position with Web2Carz.com where

he will serve as a staff writer. Andrew is

still based in the Chicagoland area.

Congratulations to Brad Kaye (Y1036)

and his wife Toni. The couple was mar-

ried in Chicago on June 8, 2013.

Alex Stezskal (Y1055) and his wife

Christle were married on New Years

Eve. Christle was Rose of Pi Kappa Phi

during college. Congratulations to thenewlyweds!

Congratulations to Jeff McMahon

(Y974) and his wife Katie on the birth

of their daughter, Regan Marie. Regan

was born on May 12, 2013.

An extremely belated congrats to Mike

Reedy (Y868) and his wife Nicole on

the birth of their son, Luke. Luke was

born on May 24, 2011 and while we cer-

tainly missed his birth announcement,

we wish him a very happy 2nd birthday!

Have an update youd like to share?

E-mail it to Sky Opila at

[email protected]

three-daystay.Itwasatonoffun,Itookatonofpicturesandendedupwithaprettygnarlytan.

QWhat cool projects do you have comingup?Andrew:Ihaveacool freelancingprojectcom-ingup!Porschehascommissionedabooktobewrittenaboutthe50thanniversaryofthePorsche911,andIwilllikelybepenningastoryforit.

QWhatdoyouhopetobedoinginthe fu-ture?Andrew: Ideally,within thenext fiveyears Idliketobeafull-timestafferforamajorautomo-tive blog (e.g. Jalopnik, Autoblog) that focusesmore on OEM products rather than modifiedvehicles.Fromthere,myten-yearplanistoendupasastaffwriteronthemastheadofawell-es-tablishedautomotiveprintmagazine(e.g.Car&Driver,Automobile,Road&Track).Itcombinesmygreatestpassion-- cars --withmy one andonlymarketableskill--writing.n

Andrew Krok from page 2

Brothers Patrick Stille, Tommy Carrato and Pat Schuster posed as they made their approach to thelanes during the Push Pins event.

Documents

Upsilon Ups - June 2013