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Friday,
Dec 4, 2009 |
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The weather didn’t cooperate (it was a wet, rainy night) but that didn’t dampen our holiday spirit. Suzie DeBusk was the guest speaker at our December Christmas dinner. Suzie is an entrepreneur, leadership instructor, and African adventurer. Having founded and run her own technology firm since 1988, she has remarkable insight into what it takes to build and maintain a business. Additionally, she has been a lead instructor in a technology and leadership program within Fortune 50 companies for more than six years.
But this obviously busy schedule hasn’t kept her from having some amazing adventures outside of the work place. Suzie has gone on more than a dozen African safaris, the first eight of which were on horseback, doing long gallops across the plains of Kenya, being charged by elephant and buffalo and many, many more adventures.
She shared some highlights of these safaris, along with some breathtaking photographs, to a group of 30 brothers and their guests at the University Club. The talk was preceded by a delicious Christmas buffet.
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Tuesday,
Nov 3, 2009 |
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Dr. Russell
Romanella,
Director of
the
International
Space
Station (ISS)
and
Spacecraft
Processing
Directorate,
NASA was our
guest
speaker at
our November
luncheon.
Dr.
Romanella
had an
extremely
interesting
presentation,
including
some of the
most amazing
photographs
from space
I've seen.
He spoke on
NASA's
mission,
background
information
on NASA, the
space
shuttle, and
the ISS.
NASA's
budget is
$18 billion,
which is
about ½ of 1
percent of
the federal
budget. NASA
employs
around
17,000
people. The
space
shuttle
program is
about to
end. It has
been used
for the last
several
years in
support of
building the
ISS. When
complete,
the Space
Station will
be 199 feet
long, with a
wing span of
361 feet and
will contain
34,000 cubic
feet of
pressurized
space. Dr.
Romanella
talked about
some of the
possible
successors
to the space
shuttle.
Rusty
Richardson,
President of
the Phi
Delta Theta
Foundation,
was also at
the
luncheon.
Rusty gave a
quick
overview of
the
foundation,
including
noting this
past year
the
foundation
has awarded
more than
$250k in
scholarships,
300k donated
hours, and
$300k in
leadership
programs.
The
foundation
is currently
working on a
new $16.2
million fund
raising
campaign.
The focus on
future
awards is
based on a
"whole man"
concept. In
addition to
academic
scholarships,
the awards
will also
include
leadership
and ethics
training.
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Tuesday,
Oct 6, 2009 |
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Christopher
Davis,
Assistant
Special
Agent in
Charge (ASAC)
of the FBI
Tampa Field
Office, was
our guest
speaker at
the October
luncheon.
Chris spoke
to us about
his
experiences
with the FBI
and how his
early
football
career
helped with
his
leadership
skills.
Chris is a
native of
Rahway NJ,
went to high
school in
Washington
DC and
earned a
football
scholarship
to attend
Purdue,
where he
earned his
bachelors in
pre
law/criminal
justice. He
received a
Masters in
criminal
justice from
Boston
University.
Following
college,
Chris went
on to enjoy
a successful
six year
career in
pro football
as a member
of the
Baltimore
Stars in the
USFL, the NY
Giants and
NE Patriots
in the NFL,
and overseas
in Europe
where Chris
was a
player/coach.
He coached
football
collegiately
at Plymouth
Sate
University
(NH) prior
to entering
the FBI.
Upon
graduation
from the FBI
academy, he
was assigned
to the Los
Angeles
field
office. In
1997 he was
assigned to
the FBI HQ
counterterrorism
division.
His FBI
career has
many other
highlights,
including
his
promotion in
2006 to his
current
position as
ASAC of the
Tampa field
office. His
FBI career
has focused
on counter
terrorism.
He worked
the Oklahoma
City
bombing, the
9/11
investigation,
and was a
sector
operation
commander
for the 2002
Olympics in
Salt Lake
City.
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Tuesday,
Sept 1, 2009 |
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The club
started off
our
2009-2010
year with a
home run.
Robert
Stuart,
Orlando
District 3
Commissioner
since 2006,
was our
guest
speaker.
Robert, an
Orlando
native,
spoke on a
wide range
of topics,
but focused
on his
experiences
as a Little
League
baseball
umpire.
He has been
a Little
League
umpire for
over 41
years,
starting at
age 14 when
his big
brother
"recruited"
him to
umpire a
game he was
playing in.
He loved it
so much that
he has done
it ever
since.
In 2005, he
reached the
pinnacle of
Little
League
umpiring --
he was an
umpire at
the Little
League World
Series in
Williamsport,
PA.
Robert spoke
about the
two main
books that
guide his
life -- the
Bible and
the Little
League rule
books.
At the end
of his talk,
he held a
question and
answer
session.
The topics
covered
everything
from the
current
health care
debate, the
state of the
city and
its budget,
to what to
do about the
recently
damaged
fountain in
Lake Eola.
Robert was a
Sigma Chi at
the
University
of Florida,
and spoke
briefly
about the
historical
link Sigma
Chi and Phi
Delta Theta
share as
part of the
Miami Triad
founded at
Miami
University
in Ohio.
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Wednesday,
Apr 29, 2009 |
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The Central
Florida
Alumni Club
celebrated
Founders Day
on April 29,
2009 at the
University
Club in
downtown
Orlando. We
had 50
brothers,
guests, and
actives on
hand to help
celebrate.
The evening
started with
a social
hour,
followed by
dinner.
After
dinner, Dann
Pottinger,
an expert on
the history
of Orlando,
gave an
informative
presentation
of historic
homes in
Orlando,
including
stories to
go along
with those
histories.
Finally, six
actives from
the Florida
Iota chapter
at UCF
helped with
the Founding
Ceremony. We
honored
brothers:
Walter
Blackburn
(Indiana
Beta, 50
years)
Carl
Dickinson
(Ohio Iota,
55 years)
Frank Engs
(Georgia
Beta, 50
years)
John
Williamson
(Georgia
Alpha, 55
years)
Harlow
Middleton
(Florida
Alpha, 50
years)
Frederick
Pfeiffer (N.
Carolina
Beta, 65
years)
Paul Senft
(Georgia
Beta, 50
years)
Brothers
Engs and
Senft hadn't
seen each
since
college and
were
pleasantly
reunited to
receive
their Golden
Legion pins
together.
The evening
was a great
success and
enjoyed by
all who
attended.
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Tuesday,
Mar 3rd, 2009 |
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Brother
Barry Baker
was our
guest
speaker at
our March
luncheon.
Barry is the
Director of
Library
Services at
UCF.
Barry spoke
to us about
changes in
library
technologies.
Brother
Baker
started with
an overview
of library
technologies,
starting
with the
card catalog
that most of
us grew up
with.
The card
catalog was
the primary
library
technology
from the
1880's to
the 1980's.
In 1967, the
Online
Computer
Library
Center (OCLC)
was started
as a
"nonprofit,
membership,
computer
library
service and
research
organization
dedicated to
the public
purpose of
furthering
access to
the world's
information
and reducing
information
costs".
One of their
primary
products is
WorldCat, an
online
version of a
card catalog
which
itemizes the
collections
of more than
10,000
libraries.
The UCF
libraries
contain over
1.9 million
books, with
a budget of
$11 million,
of which
$5.6 million
is used on
materials,
including
$2.4 million
on
electronic
resources.
There are
over 130
people on
staff at the
UCF
libraries.
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Tuesday,
Feb 3rd, 2009 |
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We had a
great crowd
on hand at
our February
dinner
meeting that
featured Dr.
German, the
Dean of the
new UCF
College of
Medicine.
There were
well over 60
people in
attendance,
including
brothers
from our
club,
actives from
both UCF and
Rollins,
members of
the
University
Club, and
spouses and
guests.
There were
also a few
prominent
guests in
attendance,
including
Dr. Charles
Millican,
the first
president of
UCF.
Dr. German
spoke about
what it?s
been like
getting the
UCF Medical
School
started. She
was its
first
employee,
and this
fall the
first
incoming
class will
start. With
her
leadership
and the
support of
the central
Florida
community,
the first
UCF medical
school class
of 40
freshmen
will all be
coming in
with full 4
year tuition
and living
expenses
scholarships
? each worth
over
$160,000.
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Tuesday,
Jan 6th, 2009 |
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We started
2009 off
with a talk
from Dr.
Mario
D'Amato,
Assistant
Professor of
Philosophy
and Religion
at Rollins
College, in
Winter Park.
Dr. D'Amato
spoke to us
about
"Buddhism
and
Comparative
Religion".
He completed
his B.A. in
history at
Loyola
University
in Chicago,
and his
Ph.D. at the
University
of Chicago
in the study
of religion,
focusing on
Asian
religions
and the
philosophy
of religion.
His area of
specialization
is in
Buddhism,
primarily in
the
translation,
interpretation,
and analysis
of Buddhist
doctrinal
texts from
Sanskrit.
Dr. D'Amato
introduced
our group to
a basic
understanding
of the The
Four Nobel
Truths of
Buddhist
doctrine:
1. There is
suffering
2. Suffering
arises due
to craving
3. To
eliminate
suffering it
is necessary
to eliminate
craving
4. The
elimination
of craving
is achieved
by following
the
eightfold
path (right
views,
thought,
speech,
conduct,
livelihood,
effort,
mindfulness,
and
concentration.)
His talk
ended with a
lively
question &
answer
session, and
based on the
Q&A, I think
this was one
of the best
presentations
we've had. |
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