We're
Still Rocking Forward!
by Travis Bryant
Ah, another
issue disseminated to the masses. And we do mean masses.
We’re not here just for “practicing Sinfonians.”
You know: the band and choir directors, professional musicians, etc.
You guys are great, no doubt. And we’re proud of you for living
the Ideals every day. We also hope you’re active in that huge
bowl of alphabet soup made up of all those professional organizations
you belong to.
But we’re here also for the computer geeks, insurance salesmen,
car salesmen and yes *gasp* even government workers! The regular guys
who still feel the flame but have no outlet to experience Sinfonia
in everyday life. The folks who make up the booster programs and parent/student
support organizations.
To everyone reading we want to say GET INVOLVED! If you’re not
getting angry about the beating that music education is taking in
Alabama then you’re not paying attention. That’s where
we come in.
Don’t worry. This issue contains all of the chapter and Iota
“Nu”ws you’ve come to expect. But we’re also
directing our lamp light to issues that should be protected by our
umbrellas. Take for instance our article on plans to make healthy
students out of Alabama’s children and you’ll see just
how careful we all have to be.
This November Tat also includes an example of stoking the flame of
Sinfonia as Brother Casey Speigner gets involved and joins the Sinfonian
Tattler staff. You can catch up with Casey in our Q&A section.
The time is coming, brothers. Our students can’t fight for themselves.
We must fight for the opportunities for them. It’s up to us
to “encourage and actively promote.”
So, Sinfonian shields up, men! Let’s get busy!
We hope you enjoy this issue and realize how much we appreciate you
taking the time to read. As always please feel free to submit articles
or bring to our attention anything that just ticks you off or makes
you happy. That’s what we’re about - you and music education.
All Hail!
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Brasher's
Banter
by Jim
Brasher & Frank Miles
As
we announced back in September’s Tattler, Jim Brasher is the
Province Alumni Coordinator for Province 34. It is Jim’s job
to find all the alumni he can in the province and get them back
into the fold. He needs your help.
Jim has discovered that many of the addresses in the National Headquarters’
database are incorrect. He has tried to contact many alumni Sinfonians
but much of his correspondence has been returned to him as undeliverable.
PLEASE help Jim find lost alumni and, in turn, help lost alumni
rekindle the flame of Sinfonia. Go forth and seek out the men of
Phi Mu Alpha and send their addresses to:
Jim Brasher
P.O. Box 240231
Montgomery AL 36124 Please make
the effort to send these addresses directly to Jim. If you absolutely
cannot make it to the mailbox, send the information via e-mail to
frank@sinfoniantattler.com and I will see that Jim gets it.
Jim will join the ever-growing staff of the Sinfonian Tattler in
December to give us his perspective on the state of the fraternity
in Province 34 and to let you know how you can get more involved.
In the meantime, congratulations to the newest men of music in Alabama,
the Pi Omicron chapter at the University of North Alabama. The charter
group was initiated November 13, 2004.
Also, the Province 34 workshop will be held in January, 2005, on
the campus of Jacksonville State University. Tune in next month
for more details. And don’t forget – Once a Sinfonian,
Always a Sinfonian!!!
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Q &
A: Rookie on the 'TAT'
By Casey Speigner
Greetings fellow
Sinfonians!!! I am glad to be given the opportunity to get on board
for this wonderful idea. For my first installment into “The
Tat,” I have been charged with giving you a bit of information
about myself. Let me tell you two things up front. First, I think
this is a wonderful way for us to stay up to date with what is going
on with each other and our Alma Mater. Second, my major was Music,
not English, so anything you see written by me will have been edited
by my wife (who did major in English and teaches journalism). Things in my
life have been pretty good. Actually, they have been much better
than I could have ever deserved. Here’s the quick run down.
I have a wonderful wife, the former Jennifer Robinson (I, like many
others dipped into the SAI dating pool), and we have just recently
moved into a new home in Enterprise, Ala., that we had built ourselves.
In February, we will be expanding our family from two to three,
and I have two jobs that I actually enjoy. I am a computer hardware
technician for Wiregrass Hospice, based in Dothan, Ala., and I am
a minister of music at Bethany Baptist Church in the big city of
New Brockton, Ala. So, now that
you are caught up on whom I am and what I do, let me tell you why
I want to be part of The Sinfonian Tattler. I feel, just as many
of you do, that being part of the Iota Nu chapter of Phi Mu Alpha
was one of the greatest experiences of my life. I enjoy music, but
more than that, I want others to enjoy music with the same passion
and fervor that I do. I don’t mean just enjoying listening
to a few CD’s or to the radio, but supporting and participating
in local musical ventures. Since I am not a band or choral director,
I don’t have the same opportunities that a lot of you have.
I feel that the Tat is a way for me to participate and to encourage
each and every one of us to get out and do something to further
the cause of music. We all signed
up to do our part; I simply want to do mine.
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"Trimming
the Fat" Cuts Too Deep
by Travis Bryant Healthier
students may prove to be the undoing of many school music programs
in Alabama.
Our state officials’ latest efforts to encourage “more
active” students threatens to pluck each pudgy pupil out of
band, choir or any other “marginal enrichment” class
and force them into physical education classes.
One such initiative being investigated by a state task force would
be to require Alabama students to collect a certain number of physical
education credits to put in their educational piggy banks right
next to history and science.
This sounds good, right? Why shouldn’t students be required
to get out and exercise everyday? All they do is sit around eating
Pizza Bagels and playing PlayStation, right? But what the task force
isn’t saying is that kids will have to pass on any music classes
in order to take enough classes to get their PE credits. Fewer students
yield smaller classes and smaller classes yield lower funding and
lower funding yields no classes at all.
Earlier this year the Alabama Senate and House took steps towards
discontinuing PE waivers. Again, all this is being done with the
rationale of “making healthier students.” The folks
drafting this proposal think that band doesn’t offer physical
conditioning (and obviously never attended a summer band camp anywhere).
But all lawmakers heard was “vote for healthier students.”
Of course, they’re all going to vote for something that makes
“healthier students.” That’s how you get re-elected.
But what many of them, and probably many of the folks reading their
newspapers while eating their Cheerios, didn’t realize is
that this is, again, at the expense of music and art programs.
Lucky for Alabama’s students not everyone has been asleep.
There are now various bandwagons and petitions floating around for
you to sign. Or better yet you could call your local state representative’s
office and make sure that they are aware of this. And then spread
the word.
Everyone in the world will wave the banner of “healthier kids,”
but we need to make sure that banner doesn’t wave any higher
than our students’ music education.
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Friends
in High Places
by Frank Miles Not
quite the way Garth Brooks put it, but in our “exalted”
experience it’s certainly true. The brothers we lived, laughed
and learned with in college lifted us up when we needed it most.
Now is the time to climb the mountain of fraternity once again and
show the world what a few thousand Sinfonians can do.
When you think about it, it’s very strange that we spend 10-15
times more years as alumni as we do as collegiates yet only in college
do we truly act as brothers in a great cause.
Everybody, myself included, uses time as an excuse to dodge our
responsibilities as Sinfonians when in fact we have decades of time
that we didn’t have at our alma mater (I know what you’re
thinking, and I’m the exception to the rule). We have the
time and the resources now that we didn’t have then, but our
willingness to go it alone severely weakens the bonds that were
instilled in all of us by the ritual.
There are more than 100,000 alumni Sinfonians across this great
land of ours. Just imagine the impact we could make if we all spoke
with one voice.
I made the annual trek to homecoming earlier this month and spoke
with countless Iota Nu alumni. In so many cases, it felt like I
had talked to them just yesterday. The problem was I hadn’t
talked to them yesterday. I hadn’t talked to them last week;
I hadn’t talked to them last month. It had been at least a
year, last homecoming, that I had talked to most of them, and there
were a few I had neglected even longer. We CANNOT fulfill the object
of our fraternity if we are not being fraternal.
There’s a few of you out there reading this and we hope there
will be many more before long. But for now, let’s take advantage
of what we have. Our e-mail addresses are listed on the contact
page of the Tattler Web site. My challenge to you this month is
to send us a message and let us know where you are and what you
are doing. Also give us some suggestions on how the alumni of Iota
Nu can rekindle the flame of fraternity. Once that is burning bright
again, we can do so much more. Next month, I’ll let you know
what “so much more” means. Until then – once,
always, long live!
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Troy University Happenings and Events
By Scott Erb
•
General Info:
Do you want to know more about what is going on at your university,
your alma mater? Click on the following link to subscribe to many
listservs to keep you updated on events, athletics, radio and much
more.
https://tsutech.troyst.edu/cgi-bin/dlentry.pl
• TROY Athletics:
TROY Football beat UL @ LaFayette this past Saturday (Nov. 13) increasing
their record to (6-4). Their last home game will be against Middle
Tenn. St at Movie Gallery Field at 6:00pm. Come out to support the
undefeated Trojans in the "Gallery" this Sat. Upon a win
this Sat., Troy has a good chance at a bowl appearance due to 1-A
teams with losing records. Click on www.troystate.com
for more information about all Trojan sports.
• Activities:
For more information about the concert or other student activities,
please click on www.troy.edu/uac
.
• Homecoming 2004:
Homecoming was a blast this year. Over 100 alumni members cleaned
the dust off their horns and warmed up their mouthpieces as they
performed Sat. Nov 6 during halftime. The trumpets got a workout
while playing Granada. There was even a baby in a harness hooked
up to a clarinet player marching out there. It was a great time.
Go to the Sound
of the South Forum to see pictures of HC and all your friends.
• “Sound of the South”:
New Sound of the South Website: Its finally here, the “Sound
of the South” website (www.soundofthesouth.org)
Check it out for the latest updates and events happening with the
Sound of the South. Also, if you haven’t already, click on
the forum and communicate with alumni and current members of the
SOTS. It’s free to use and a great way to have healthy and
live conversations about all topics that interest you.
Iota News:
It’s a
great time to be an active brother at Iota Nu. Many wonderful events
are in the planning process:
Formal Smoker: Iota Nu had their Formal Smoker
this past wed night at HAL HALL. 15 young men received bids at the
Smoker/interview and have to Friday, Nov. 19 to turn them into the
FEO. The Formal Pinning will be Dec. 1st at 8:00 pm. in Troy, AL.
Location TBA
Note: Alumnus Charlie Jones's Son, Christopher
Jones, received a bid this year. It is a proud day for Charlie to
continue the tradition in the family as it was for me and my dad.
• We would like to welcome the new Brother from UNA to the
Province and the Fraternity. We wish you the best of luck on your
journey. Note: UNA's FEO or Colony Trainer was
initiated at Iota Nu. We are proud to see one of our chapter members
doing well and continuing the tradition at another sheltering institution.
• Iota Nu is again the big brother chapter to Epsilon Delta
(University of South Alabama). They say the third time is the charm.
They are back in the colony process trying desperately to become
a chapter once again. With determination and hard work I know they
will succeed. They will make a great chapter and the brothers will
definitely benefit Sinfonia and Province 34.
• Keep coming back for more updates on what’s happening
at Iota Nu.
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