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Omega News

Omega Adds Fine Home to Penn State Campus

By John L. Carson, Omega ‘32

Entering the front door of Omega's new house one finds himself in a large reception hall. To the left is the cloak room and to the right an attractively furnished tele-phone booth. Straight ahead and a bit to the left is the door opening into the card room which has the capacity of four tables. Off from this is a small lavatory. To the right of the card room is the music room and library combined, which is furnished with two davenports and three living room chairs done in old rose tapestry, a baby grand piano, mahogany table, and Chinese lamp. These furnishings together with several reading lamps create a homelike atmosphere. Just off the music room is a completely furnished guest room, together with a private bath. The twin beds, blankets, and spreads were furnished by Omega's Mothers' Club. The fire tower is also reached from the music room.

We retrace our steps to the reception hall and enter the club room. This is the pride of the house and is furnished with the best of everything: four leather davenports, four leather easy chairs, two huge domestic rugs, orthophonic victrola, bridge lamps, and a mahogany table. The center of interest in this room is a huge fireplace faced with unfinished knotty-pine panels. On either side is an old-fashioned highback done in pointed tapestry. Two french doors open to the porch from which an unobstructed view of the Bald Eagle range of mountains may be had.

The dining room in the basement (really the street floor) is reached by entering the doorway to the left of the main staircase and descending two flights. The ceiling of the room is finished in dull oak beams and rough cream colored plaster. Attractive side lights together with several ceiling fixtures furnish the illumination. A MIL8B-lye open fireplace is situated at one end of the room, while the door leading to the chapter room faces one RB one reaches the bottom of the stairs. The floor is a polished terraza composition separated into squares by brass strips. Eighty persons may be seated for dinner at one time. The third and fourth floors are used for studying and sleeping quarters exclusively. There are ten rooms, ten by twelve feet on each floor, equipped with double deck beds, individual closets, large size oak study desks having four drawers each, half length mirrors, vapor heat radiators, and oak high-boys. White plastered walls form the back-ground of the upstairs. Having a flat roof the size of a tennis court, the boys in the hot spring days take sun baths without being observed by any passersby. A fire tower approved by under-writers runs from the first to the fourth floors and saves wear on our front entrance. Seniors and juniors are the only ones permitted to enter the house that way. In the rear of the house is a lawn large enough really for a good sized miniature golf course. Eight automobiles may also be parked without any trouble at all. One thing which attracts the eye is the key-stone above every window and door on the outside, an appropriate symbol for the State of Pennsylvania. The shutters are painted cream color on the main floor and green on the third and fourth, making an excellent contrast to the red, rough pointed brick.

The Theta Chi house on the Penn State campus is known as the Chrysler building because it is four stories in the rear, and from that view is about the highest fraternity building in State College. We are ideally situated on the side of a hill and accordingly we have taken every advantage which this location affords not only in structure, but in landscaping as well.

Plans for Omega's new house, financial and otherwise, were not the result of a brilliant over night thought; on the contrary, several were rejected, and it was not until the fall of 1928 that realities began to be seen.

Frank H. Schrenk, former national president, was the force that started material things rolling. He stated to the alumni that in order for Omega Chapter to keep up with the trend of times on the Penn State campus it would be necessary for them to take the responsibility of financing a new house. The alumni proved equal to the task. Special mention should be accorded those who proved to be the backbone of the organization. John A. Irwin, '16, president of Theta Chi of Penn State Inc., directed and managed the entire building program. Norman C. Horner, '16, treasurer of the corporation, and Walter B. Shaw, '21, vice president, devised and man-aged the financial scheme. William C. Thompson, '20, secretary of the corporation, has taken care of legal matters.

The total valuation of the house is 168,000. It was financed as follows: The first mortgage of $30,000 was taken by the Peoples National Bank of State College. The second mortgage of $28,000 was taken over by alumni and actives and sold in the form of $100 bonds paying six and one-half per cent interest. Each year a certain number of these bonds will be redeemed by the corporation. No one was required to purchase bonds, but all alumni and actives were urged to do so. The balance was partly made up from a saving fund in-vested in the Taber Building and Loan of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This fund was created by earnings of the chapter and alumni pledges paid in monthly installments.

The value of the lot was placed at $5,000 by a brokerage concern, but this was paid in full several years ago. This is part of the last $10,000. The National Board of Trustees advanced $5,000 which is included in the second mortgage bonds totaling $25,000.

The house is in the name of the corporation, and the active chapter pays a monthly rent to that body to take care of the expenses and the retiring of the bonds.

Omega's new 65,000 house built on the corner of Allen and Prospect Streets, State College Pennsylvania, was officially opened the week-end of May 16 last year, when alumni and actives participated in two days' festivities.

Eighty-four persons were seated in the dining room in the basement at the formal dinner Friday night. Speeches were made by John J. Irwin, '16, president of Theta Chi of Penn State Inc., Norman C. Horner, '16, treasurer of the corporation, Walter B. Shaw, '21, vice president of the organization, Maxwell C. Suerken, '29, retiring president of the active chapter, and Beverley D. Decker, '30, newly-elected president of the actives.

Following the dinner was the much talked about dance which lasted until two o'clock. Decorations, hats, horns, streamers, and buckets of confetti added the right flavor that is needed to make a function a success. Saturday at noon we entertained Arthur R. Warnock, dean of men, and Adrian 0. Morse, assistant to the president of the college. Both gentlemen addressed the chapter after lunch and wished us success and also thanked us for building such a fine structure on the Penn State campus.

The afternoon passed quickly with Move-up and Tap Day exercises being conducted on the campus. There was also a bridge tournament for the women, while those athletically inclined watched a lacrosse game between University of Pennsylvania and Penn State.

In the evening, festivities were continued by an informal dance to which one member of each of the fifty-six other fraternities was invited. Dancing continued until the usual Saturday night curfew hour.

New Houses Are Many

Fraternity building at Pennsylvania State College has kept pace with the college building on the campus. During the past three years nineteen new chapter houses have appeared, while on the campus twelve major structures and several small-er units have been erected in a $4,500,000 building replacement program. Of the fifty-eight. fraternities at Penn State, which house 1300 of the 4300 men, thirty-eight own their houses, the Theta, Chi house be-ing among the recent. additions.

Actually the start of the fraternity buildings preceded college development, the transformation of the Locust Lane section from woods and farm land into one of the choicest residential and fraternity districts of the town having been begun ten years ago.

Locust Lane, the town fraternity section, where there are twenty-seven of the fifty-eight fraternities at Penn State, occupies the broad rolling highland southeast of the campus, the business district, and older secTions of the town lying between the college and this newer fraternity section.

Two Athletes Outstanding

Omega Chapter at Pennsylvania State College has two outstanding athletes. Roy Maize, 115-pound class wrestler on the varsity squad, is known on the campus as "Little Samson." In the first two meets of the season, with West Virginia University and the University of Chicago, he threw his opponents both times. His West Virginia vis-a-vis was knocked out for twenty minutes and his Chicago opponent for five minutes. Charles Hammond, varsity basketball forward, was high scorer the first four games of the season and is at present in second place.

OMEGA INITIATES TWELVE

New Actives Entertained at Banquet —Delegation Attends Anderson Funeral
By JOHN L. CARSON - Omega ‘32

Pennsylvania State College, Feb. 11.— 'Omega initiated one junior and eleven freshmen into Theta Chi Fraternity, completing the third degree Sunday, February 15. In the evening the newly initiated were entertained at a banquet at which Francis J. Doan, '20, alumnus adviser, and Russell Nesbitt, '14, former alumnus adviser, were guests of honor. Those initiated are: Paul Fugate, '32, Robert Asplund, '34, Walter Coates, '34, George Decker, '34, William Dunlap, '34, John Fay, '34, Arpad Heutchy, '34, Harry Osgood, '34, Charles Saunders, '34, Randall Skillen, '34, Benjamin Small, '34, and Ernest Wilby, '34.—An official delegation from the chapter attended the funeral services of Clarence R. Anderson, Pi, '09, member of the Pennsylvania State College forestry extension school, who died recently at the Blair Memorial hospital, Huntingdon, Pa., and whose body was brought to State College for burial. He is survived by his wife and two sons.—John Carson was recently initiated into Alpha Beta Sigma, professional journalistic fraternity.—William Hazzard, '32, returned to school the second semester after taking a trip around the world on a merchant liner. —Beverly Decker, chapter president, re-turned from his practice teaching course the last of January with many fine ideas for chapter improvement—Louis Keene has been appointed first assistant gym team manager, while William Hazzard and Dale Kaufman are working hard as second assistants.—In the first basketball game of the interfraternity matches Omega swamp-ed its opponents 34-6 which gives us a rather confident start for the cup. Last year we were in the quarter finals. There are sixty teams entered in the tournament.

Omega's Home - March 1931 Rattle