OF THETA TAU

8T H E G EA R OF T H E T A T A Umiles in northern latitudes to attendO n Monday afternoon G rand ViceRegent Hinckley took the chair. GrandMarshal Daniels, reporting for the Cre dentials Committee, rated delegatesfrom Alpha, Sigma, Upsilon, Lambda,Phi, Omicron, and Delta Beta as su perior in their knowledge of the frater nity and its ritual.T he Grand Scribe’s report indicateda total membership o f 13,058, an in crease of 905 members in the last bi ennium. Considering th at 66 o f thesecame in a t the time of the EpsilonBeta installation, there were 248 fewerinitiated by the chapters in this bi ennium than in the preceeding one.Some picture o f the devoted servicerendered to the fraternity by ErichSchrader was given by the fact thathe w rote 3224 letters during the bi ennium. This is an average of morethan five each working day — w ith out benefit o f a stenographer. As Ex ecutive Secretary, he reported th atthe current membership level was nothigh enough to support the currentoperations of the fraternity.G rand Treasurer Mercer reportedon the balances in his care. The GearEndowment fund has now reached alusty 43,000 total, having increasedmore than 3,000 in the biennium.General fraternity funds in his careand investments during the bienniumwere enumerated.T he G rand Marshal reported the re ceipt of 928 pledge forms and theissuing o f 931 shingles during theperiod, some 120 still to be prepared.G rand Inner G uard Brown reportedon his visit to Pi Chapter and suggestedth a t Rho Chapter m ight be useful inpromoting a chapter a t a nearby uni versity. He concluded by announcingth at the press of business affairs wouldnot permit him to continue in office.Frank Edwards, G rand O u ter Guard,told o f his activities in connection withthe Schrader Award plaque and of hisparticipation in the Executive Councilmeeting at Iowa C ity. He also ruefullyadm itted th a t he was one of the cul prits who had not sent the G randScribe an acknowledgement of receipto f the Convention minutes, a point onwhich the Grand Scribe had earlierlaid considerable stress.T he Gear report revealed the highestbiennium cost ( 9300) in history anddetailed the economies which were be hold even in a constantly more expen sive environm ent. Some 47 percent ofthose eligible to receive the Gear arenow on the mailing list, indicating astrong alumni interest in view of thetendency to migrate to new addresseswhich seems typical of Theta T au ’s.

T H E G EAR OF T H E T A T A UFollowing a decision made tw o yearsearlier, the chapters presented briefreports, w ith the result th a t all hadbeen heard from by the end of theafternoon. Numerous activities weredescribed, which it was felt would beof use to other chapters. Such ideas asthese are typical: Delta, its lectureseries from prominent engineers; lota,its music room; Lambda, its book col lection; Mu, its supervision o f fresh men tests; Omicron, its wives’ club; Pi,its slide rule classes for freshmen; andRho, its gathering of second handbooks for an Egyptian university. T auruefully adm itted losing a ball gameto a faculty team while Upsilon boastedo f its excellent furniture m anufactur ing. Chi turned to and cleaned theengineering laboratories and Psi lamen ted, "U n fo rtunately M.S.M. docs pub lish scholastic averages — scholarshipis being stressed!"Omega pledges servea turkey dinner to the actives. EpsilonBeta received an award for participa tion in a blood drive. Perhaps the mer riest quip was made by Bieber o f Thetawho promised to send their scribe’shead in a basket to atone for a certainbreak in communications.Monday evening was given over tocommittee work and the delegatesworked far into the night to get w rit ten reports ready for the next day.Tuesday opened with the report ofthe 50 th Anniversary Committee,9H . H . Hopkins, Chairman. A remark ably complete plan for a Conventionin Minneapolis in mid-October, 19S4was outlined. The delegates seemed tofeel that an O ctober meeting wouldwork little hardship on the scholasticThe A uditing Committee relievedBrothers Mercer, Schrader, Daniels, andHowe from further financial responsi bility for the biennium by approvingtheir financial records.The Ritual and the Insignia Com mittees liked the status quo.Brother Glass, the President o f theProfessional Interfraternity Confer ence, gave an informal report on theactivities of th at organization.The Extension Committee outlineda constructive five-point program fordeveloping interest on open campuses.New proposals relative to the ThetaT au scholarship were made, chief ofwhich was to make an annual ratherthan a biennial award.The Discipline Committee created awarm argument over the use of"proxy” votes a t a trial and in theend it was voted th at proxies must be"open”, i.e., a vote must not be decidedbefore a hearing.

T H E G EA R O F T H E T A TA UTuesday afternoon began w ith thePublications Com mittee report whichendorsed the present policy o f themagazine in regard to publication ofchapter letters and alumni notes in al ternate issues and made the major re commendation for the publication ofdelegates attended 5 conferences in thespring o f 1952 a t a cost to the frater n ity o f 2450. The meetings were con sidered outstanding successes by every one but the Grand Treasurer, who call ed attention to the fact th a t the budgetallocation had been shattered by thea Theta T au D irectory as a p art o f theGolden Anniversary Celebration. Itwas estimated th a t the directory wouldcost but 3000 more than the amountpresently in reserve for the purposeplus estimated sales. This sum m ightbe raised by solicitation or by continued budget allocations in succeedingenthusiastic attendence at the meetings.T he Convention then adopted a Regional Meeting budget o f 1500 and aplan whereby the G rand Treasurerwould support only tw o carloads ofdelegates to any meeting,T he Budget Committee came in witha figure of 17,000 for the next bi bienniums. The Convention voted topublish the directory and BrotherDaniels offered to carry o u t the pro-ennium, somewhat higher than thelast budget because o f anticipated costrises and the doubling o f the scholar ship fund.The Com mittee on Dues and Feestook the bit in its teeth and proposedan increase in initiation fees and inBrother H inckley reported on theRegional meetings held during the bi ennium. T w enty-tw o chapters and 333

T H E G EAR O F T H E T A TA Uannual dues sufficient to permit oper Pete had shown a fine knowledge ofation a t the level called for in the parliamentary procedure and a level budget. Since this meant a constitu headed approach to the legislative prob tional change, a motion to rewrite the lems throughout the sessions.article on dues and fees in accordanceThe initiation of Donald Ray Bor w ith the Committee’s recommendation ders of Delta Beta was carried out bywas made and carried w ith but one dis an initiation team made up of Mindersenting voe. A t one point in the dis man of Sigma, Leonard of Alpha, Agri cussion one delegate said, "Brother Re cola o f Beta, Gregoire of Mu, Lenhartgent, I rise to a point o f order. W hat of Omicron, McCoy of Upsilon, Nel are we doing?” A lthough the increase son o f Phi, and Wales of Epsilon Beta.was not palatable, the delegates must Founder Erich Schrader participatedbe given credit for taking a most re at an appropriate point to highlightsponsible attitude toward the continu an excellent presentation of the ritual.ation o f the fraternity ’s activities.Wednesday morning saw the windupThe C onstitution Committee had of the Convention business. Reportsother hot potatoes to handle, such as were received from the Transportationthe membership qualification clause and the Scholarship committees. Theand the admission of "ag-engineers”. Schrader A ward Committee announcedVigorous argum ent followed, but when th a t first place was won by Sigma, sec the dust had settled, the membership ond by Phi, third by Beta, and fourthclause was unchanged and the "ag-en by Upsilon. A t this point, Brothergineers” were henceforth eligible for Minderman (Sigma) was heard to say,membership wherever the curriculm "W e may be rabble rousers, but Iwas accredited by E. C. P. D. Although guess we get our reports in.”Brother Schrader vigorously opposedthis amendment in the debate, as theroll was called on the question and itbecame apparent th a t the delegates(led by Phi C hapter) wanted thechange, he brought forth a good laughwhen he said, "I have always been agood friend o f Phi. I vote yes!”Tuesday evening was taken up witha banquet and an initiation. U nder themanagement of Brother H . L. Solbergo f the Purdue faculty as M.C., Dr.A.R. Spaulding, G rand Regent Curtis,, Bunnell, Hobby, Nelson,and G rand Scribe Erich Schrader gaveSchrader, Cottrellshort b u t stim ulating talks. Tim e wasThe Committee on Professional andtaken out between the talks to presentPast Grand Regent Ames w ith a silver Leadership Development presented aplatter, and to announce th at the dele three-point program (w ith subdivi gates had chosen Peter Mindcrman of sions) of recommendations to theSigma as the outstanding delegate. chapters for improvement of this as H ad the Executive Council voted, the pect of their activities.T he Committee on Inter-Chapterresult would have been the same, for

12T H E G EAR O F T H E T A TA URelations suggested correspondence be tween chapters on a list of pertinentThe Resolutions Committee subm it ted six resolutions (dubbed "very con troversial stu f f ” by Chairman Reeves),one of which designated the Nine teenth Biennial Convention as the"N orm an B. Ames Convention” , uponwhich Brother Ames voted a lonesome"N o .” A nother called upon the armedservices to make use o f engineers"commensurate w ith their training.”A dditional resolutions were offeredfrom the floor, one of which called up on Sigma Gamma Epsilon to clarifyits status as an honorary or professionallraternity.The Nominations Committee wasthe last to report and its recommcndaG rand Regent — Jamison Vawter,Zeta ’16G rand Vice Regent — A. DexterHinckley, Theta ’27G rand Scribe — Erich J. Schrader,Alpha ’05G rand Treasurer — Paul L. Mercer,Omicron, ’21Grand Marshal — John M. Daniels,N u H on. ’22The G rand Scribe was instructed tocast a unanimous ballot for these bro thers. Tw o candidates were presentedfor the offices of G rand Inner andO uter Guard, and when the ballotingwas completed the positions were filledas follows:Grand Inner Guard — N ick Trbovich, Phi ’37Grand O uter G uard — Robert L.Noxon, Sigma ’49Installation of officers followedwhereupon the Convention was closedin proper form .In retrospect, this Convention canbe rated as one of the best in the lasttw enty-five years. The delegates werebusinesslike, responsible, and states manlike in their decisions. T he decisionsto publish a directory, to prepare for afine Golden Anniversary celebration,and to raise dues to compensate for in flationary effects all indicated thewillingness o f these young men tokeep the fraternity operating a t a highlevel.

I Inc E xecutiv e C o u n c i lThum bnail Sl etcln es o f P resent N a t i ona I O fA cJamison\ awltr, CraniJ RecentG rand Regent Jamison Vawter wasborn in Arkansas C ity, Kansas, April21, 1889, and graduated from A rkan sas C ity H igh School in 1908. Duringthe years from 1912 to 1917 he workedfor the G ulf Colorado and Santa FeRailroad, advancing from chainman toassistant engineer. Simultaneously hewas working on another project, andwas granted a nine months leave fromthe railroad in order to complete hissenior year a t the University of Kansasand receive the B.S. degree in CivilEngineering in 1916.H e served in W orld W ar I from1917 to 1919 as 1st Lt. and Captain,Corps of Engineers. His o u tfit was the31 Sth Engineers who were in Franceand Germany for a year, participatingin tw o battles, St. Mihiel and MeuseArgonne. Back in the United States,Brother Vaw ter returned to the rail road for one year as assistant engineer,then spent 1920 to 1922 as assistantprofessor of Mechanics a t the Univer sity o f Kansas. In 1922 he made a oneway trip to the University of Illinois.Since that time he has taught CivilEngineering, becoming a full professorin 1937.Jamison V aw ter was initiated intoZeta Chapter in 1916, and his con tinued interest in the Fraternity isshown by his record of service. H e waselected G rand O uter G uard in 1921,and Grand Treasurer in 1923. Thelatter position he served faithfully fortwenty-seven years. The first tw entyfive of these were very active, but inthe last tw o years Brother Schradertook over the detailed work o f thechapter accounts, since Brother Vawter's administrative duties a t Illinoishad accumulated with the years.He has also been active in the Pro fessional Interfraternity Conference.H e served as their vice-president, as amember of the Executive Committee,and held a two year term as presidentduring the early years of the organiBesides his active teaching careerand his time given over to Theta Tau,Jamison Vawter is a joint author oftw o books: Theory o f Simple Struc tures, w ith Thomas C. Shedd (Hon.Kappa) and Elementary Theory andDesign o f Flexural Members, withJames G. Clark. Both o f these booksare published by John Wiley and Sons.

14T H E G EA R OF T H E T A T A UIn 1922 he married Theresa O ’Brienand they have tw o children: Jeanne(Mrs. George H . W eatherbe) who nowlives in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Patriciawhose home is in New York City.Even his hobbies have grown morestrenuous, as outside duties forced himto give up fishing. H e now considershis chief recreation to come from tak ing p art in politics, as he has been amember of the Urbana C ity Councilfor the past sixteen years, in charge ofthe street department, and a memberof the Board o f Local Improvements.H e is now running again, and unlesshe can persuade enough people to votefor the Democrat who is opposing him,he will probably keep his office foranother four years.A I fr e J D e x te r H inckley.Q ra n J V ic e R egentT he Fraternity’s Grand Vice Regentwas born in New York on December9, 1902. Eighteen years later he grad-Professionally the G rand Regent isa member of Sigma Xi, T au Beta Pi,Chi Epsilon, T au N u T au, and Scab bard and Blade. He also maintains hismembership in the American Societyof Civil Engineers, American RailwayEngineering Association, and Inter national Association for Bridge andStructural Engineering. He has servedon committees o f the A.R.E.A. forover tw en ty years, b u t has now retiredW e have a t the helm a distinguishedengineer w ith a long record o f serviceboth to the profession and the frater nity. He is a fine choice to bring ThetaTau through the last biennium o f itsfirst half century.uated from Manual T raining HighSchool and afte r a few years enteredthe combined college and engineeringcourse a t Columbia University. H e re ceived his B.A. in 1925 and the E.E.in 1927. During this time he added afull program of extra-curricular ac tiv ity , numerous part-tim e and sum mer jobs and secured tim ely financalassistance by his marriage in May of1925.In 1928 his wife, Elizabeth, let himhelp work her way through college,including medical school. D r. ElizabethH inckley has continued the Hinckleytradition of a full life w ith an occupy ing practice as a pediatrician, also ser ving as an attending physician a t tw ohospitals. Young A. (Alden) Dexterarrived in November o f 1931 andsome years later attended Harvard,m ajoring in biology.Returning to Columbia in 1928 hebecame interested in illuminating engi neering and began to take an activepart in the N ew Y ork Section andnational work o f the Illuminating

T H E G EA R O F T H E T A TA UEngineering Society. In 1944 he be came Executive Secretary o f the Illum inating Society. Since then he hasworked w ith the staff and officers inan expansion program which has seenthe Society membership doubled, budg e t and headquarters sta ff tripled."D ex” has been especially active inthe Engineering Alumni Association ofhis alma mater, serving as ExecutiveSecretary, Manager and Secretary, andsince July I, 1940 as president. H e ishelping organize alumni effo rt towardColumbia U niversity’s DevelopmentPlan for the building of the ColumbiaEngineering Center."D ex” HinkIey is a member ofAlpha Chi Rho, Am. Soc. for Engr.Education and Am. Inst, o f Elect.Engrs., and up to 1944 took an activep art in the New York Section o f thelatter. H is hobbies include dancing(ballroom. Polka, Mazurka, squareE ric k J . Schrader, C r a n d S c r ih eErich J. Schrader was born in Bre men, G ermany in 1881. W hen he wasfo u r years old he came to this countryw ith his parents and grew up in theAmerican environm ent. Later he at tended the U niversity of Minnesota,where he received a degree in miningengineering in 1905. D uring this periodhe form ed a local engineeringfraternity which, as all Theta Tausknow, was destined to develop into amajor professional fraternity.A fter leaving college he began along career as mining engineer in theUnited States and Mexico. H e con tinued to advance until by 1912 hehad become General Manager o f theRockland Mine in Nevada. A fter manymore years o f experience in managingand superintending mines in variousISdances, — you name i t ) , walking,music, theatre, foreign movies. He isproud of his above average currentevents score, being a regular "coverto cover” reader of Time Magazine.Through all the years since his initia tion in 1926 Brother Hinkley has beenclosely associated with Theta Chapterof Theta Tau. He became its ChapterAdviser in 193 5, serving u ntil 1941when the fraternity elected him asG rand O uter Guard. In 1946 he waschosen G rand Inner G uard and in 1948became chairman o f the Regional Con ference Committee which laid plansfor four highly successful regionalSince 1950 Brother Hinckley hasserved Theta T au in the capacity ofG rand Vice Regent. His ability, in terest, and dynamic spirit will con tinue to benefit Theta T au in hissecond term o f office.parts o f Nevada, he set up a consul tin g office in Reno in 1932.His professional activities includemembership on the Nevada State Min-

T H E G EA R O F T H E T A TAUing Advisory Board and Chairmanshipof the Nevada Delegation to the W est ern Conference o f State Mining Boardsin 1944, as well as the preparation ofpublished articles.The founder of Theta T au has heldmany im portant offices in the Frater nity. From 1906 to 1911 he was Na tional Chairman and from 1911 to1919 its first Grand Regent. Uponhis retirement from the Grand Regencyhe became G rand Scribe, a positionwhich he has held ever since. W henTheta T au celebrates its Golden Anni versary, Brother Schrader will be cele brating his th irty -fifth year as GrandScribe. W hen the position of Execu-tive Secretary was created in the 17thBiennial Convention, Erich J. Schraderwas unanimously chosen to take overthose duties w ith the work he does soably as G rand Scribe.Brother Schrader is famous for hisprodigious memory of Theta Taus- Heknows thousands of them by name andhis continued interest in the fraternityincludes each new group o f pledgesand initiates. H e sends out thousandso f letters each year w ithout stenogra phic help, asking only th at they beanswered w ithin a reasonable length oftime. His long and active backgroundo f experience and service to the fra-P o u l L . M ercer. G r a n d TreasurerTraining Corps, a fact which Paul hasalways blamed for that " C ” he got inCalculus. During this period he wasconfined to the hospital w ith DonC urtis, for a bout w ith influenza,which led to a life-long friendship withthe form er G rand Regent. T he lastyears were normal, however, and heemerged w ith a T au Beta Pi key and aB.E. in Civil Engineering in 1921. Anewly formed program in hydraulicengineering took his eye and he remain ed for another year and received thefirst M.S. in hydraulic engineeringgiven by the U niver

National Capitol—Charles F. Myers, 106 N. George Mason Dr., Arlington, Va. . ENGINEERING, Theta Tau1 Sigma Phi Delta. JOURNALISM, Sigma Delta Phi. LAW, Gamma Eta Gamma, Delta Thcta Phi, Phi Alpha Delta, Phi Beta Gamma, Sigma Delta Kappa. MEDICINE, Alpha Kappa Kappa, No Sigma . C