Rogers County, Oklahoma
Rogers County is a county located in the northeastern part of the U. S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2010 census, the population was 86,905, making it the sixth-largest county in Oklahoma based on population, its county seat is Claremore. Rogers County is included in the OK Metropolitan Statistical Area. Created in 1907 from the western Saline District of the Cherokee Nation, this area was named the Cooweescoowee District, Cooweescoowee County at the time of statehood, but the residents protested and the name was changed to Rogers County, after Clem Vann Rogers, a prominent Cherokee rancher and father of Will Rogers. According to the Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, the Arkansas Band of the Osage Nation settled in the Three Forks area (the junction of the Arkansas River, Grand River and Verdigris River during the 1760s and established two villages called Pasuga and Pasona in what is now Rogers County. Pasona was near an ancient earthwork platform mound near the Verdigris River, it was called Claremore Mound, to honor Osage chief Claremore In 1828, Cherokee bands who had left the Southeast early exchanged their Arkansas land for an area that included present-day Rogers County.
This had been ceded by the Osage in 1825 under a treaty to the United States. The area became organized by the Cherokee Nation as the Saline District of their portion of Indian Territory. In 1907 the western portion of that district was organized as the Cooweescoowee District. Upon statehood in 1908, the district was designated as a county named Cooweescoowee. Residents supported renaming the county in honor of Clement Vann Rogers, an early Cherokee settler and prominent rancher here. Shortly after statehood, Eastern University Preparatory School was established on College Hill, just west of Claremore, Oklahoma; the Oklahoma Military Academy, established in 1919, took over the facility. In 1971 the academy was closed and the facility was converted for use by Claremore Junior College; as a four-year curriculum and graduate departments were added, the state legislature renamed the institution as Rogers State College and Rogers University, before settling in 1998 on the current Rogers State University.
According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 711 square miles, of which 676 square miles is land and 36 square miles is water; the largest body of water is Lake Oologah. The main streams are the Verdigris River. There are several smaller creeks and lakes in the county. Nowata County Craig County Mayes County Wagoner County Tulsa County Washington County As of the census of 2010, there were 86,905 people, 31,884 households, 24,088 families residing in the county; the population density was 105 people per square mile. There were 27,476 housing units at an average density of 41 per square mile; the racial makeup of the county was 75.3% White, 1.0% Black or African American, 13.1% Native American, 1.1% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 1.4% from other races, 8.1% from two or more races. 3.7% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 18.1% were of German, 13.8% Irish, 8.7% English, 3.0% French, 2.5% Scottish, 2.2% Italian ancestries.96.7% spoke English, 1.7% Spanish, 0.4% German as their first language.
There were 31,884 households out of which 38.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.60% were married couples living together, 8.90% had a female householder with no husband present, 21.90% were non-families. 19.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.50% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.71 and the average family size was 3.10. In the county, the population was spread out with 28.70% under the age of 18, 7.40% from 18 to 24, 28.60% from 25 to 44, 24.00% from 45 to 64, 11.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.40 males. The median income for a household in the county was $58,434 and the median income for a family was $67,691; the per capita income for the county was $26,400. About 7.2% of families and 9.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.3% of those under age 18 and 7.3% of those age 65 or over.
Catoosa Claremore Collinsville Owasso Tulsa Bushyhead Gregory Justus Limestone Sequoyah Tiawah Jamestown Keetonville The following sites in Rogers County are listed on the National Register of Historic Places: I. W. W. Beck Building, Oologah The Belvidere, Claremore Chelsea Motel, Chelsea Claremore Auto Dealership, Claremore Eastern University Preparatory School, Claremore Ed Galloway's Totem Pole Park, Foyil Hanes Home, Sageeyah Hogue House, Chelsea Mendenhall's Bath House, Claremore Maurice Meyer Barracks, Claremore Oologah Bank, Oologah Oologah Pump, Oologah Pryor Creek Bridge, Chelsea Will Rogers Birthplace, Oologah Will Rogers Hotel, Claremore Verdigris Club Lodge, Catoosa Rogers County Government's website Rogers County Genealogy page Oklahoma Digital Maps: Digital Collections of Oklahoma and Indian Territory Voices of Oklahoma interview with Frank Robson. First person interview conducted on November 2, 2009 with Frank Robson referencing the history of Rogers County, Oklahoma. Original audio and transcript archived with Voices of Oklahoma oral history project
Oklahoma Historical Society
The Oklahoma Historical Society is an agency of the government of Oklahoma dedicated to promotion and preservation of Oklahoma's history and its people by collecting and disseminating knowledge and artifacts of Oklahoma. The mission of the OHS is to collect and share the history and culture of the state of Oklahoma and its people; the Society has the rare distinction of being both a Smithsonian Institution and National Archives and Records Administration affiliate. The OHS was formed in May 1893, 14 years before Oklahoma became a state, by the Oklahoma Territorial Press Association; the initial function of the OHS was to collect and distribute newspapers published in Oklahoma Territory. The society was declared an agency of the territorial government in 1895, it became an official state government agency when Oklahoma reached statehood in 1907; the OHS is both an Oklahoma government agency. The OHS Board of Directors is made up of 25 members, 12 of whom are appointed by the governor and 13 elected by OHS members to three-year terms.
The OHS today works statewide and nationally to preserve and nurture Oklahoma's history. The Oklahoma State Historic Preservation Office operated by the society, carries out federal preservation programs in Oklahoma under the National Historic Preservation Act, to preserve Oklahoma's significant buildings, parks and sites. Projects are carried out in partnership with the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service, as well as other state and local governments and interested people; the society posts markers at historical sites. The OHS has published The Chronicles of Oklahoma, the society's scholarly journal, since 1921 and continues to issue four editions per year; the society's monthly newsletter, Mistletoe Leaves, includes information about OHS activities and historical happenings throughout Oklahoma. Both publications and other historical works are available per issue; the OHS has published numerous other titles including The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma Culture and History. The Chronicles of Oklahoma through 1962 are available online through the Oklahoma State University Library Electronic Publishing Center.
The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma Culture and History is available on the society's website. The OHS Research Division houses more than 9 million photographs, more than 1 million pages of historical documents and manuscripts, 3,000 oral histories, historic film and video collections, more than 4,400 titles of newspapers on available microfilm. Many of the Oklahoma Historical Society's documents and materials are available online at little or no charge, including indexes to the Dawes Rolls, Oklahoma military deaths, the 1890 Oklahoma Territorial Census, Territorial Incorporation Records, Hastain's Township Plats of the Creek Nation, Oklahoma County marriage records 1889-1951, Daily Oklahoman obituaries, Smith’s First Directory of Oklahoma Territory; the online archives catalog contains some of the photographs in the OHS Research Division Collection. Historic newspapers are available free of charge on the Society's Gateway to Oklahoma History; the society operates the state's museum located in Oklahoma City.
The Oklahoma History Center occupies 215,000 ft² and contains more than 2,000 artifacts and exhibits featuring hands-on audio and activities. A museum store is available online or at the Oklahoma History Center, annual membership can be purchased for individuals and institutions. From 1919 to 1942, Czarina Conlan was in charge of collecting artifacts and documents for the museum from the various Native American tribes throughout the state; the History Center houses the OHS Research Division, which includes a large Research Center, free and open to the public. In May 2009 the OHS announced plans to build a second museum, to be called the Oklahoma Museum of Popular Culture, or OKPOP, located in Tulsa's Brady District, it is planned as the state museum of popular culture, including music, television and the performing arts. After lengthy delays, funding for the museum was obtained through a $25 million bond issue approved in 2015. In late 2016, the society announced that OKPOP will be located on North Main Street, across the street from Cain's Ballroom.
The Oklahoma Historical Society administers a number of state-owned properties either in their entirety or with interpretive centers.: Museums Cherokee Strip Museum Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center Museum of the Western Prairie Oklahoma Territorial Museum Route 66 Museum Pioneer Woman Museum Spiro Mounds Historic Homes Pawnee Bill Ranch Fred Drummond Home George M. Murrell Home Sod House Military Sites Cabin Creek Battlefield Fort Gibson Fort Supply Fort Towson Honey Springs Battlefield The Oklahoma Historical Society is under the supervision of the Secretary of Commerce and Tourism. Under Governor of Oklahoma Mary Fallin, Larry Parman is serving as the Secretary; the Society is governed by a 25-member Board of Directors. Thirteen of those members are elected by the members of the Society and twelve are appointed by the Governor of Oklahoma, with the approval of the Oklahoma Senate. All member serve three-year terms; the Governor serves as an ex officio member of the Board. The Board is responsible for appointing an Executive Director of the Society, who serves concurrently as the State Historic Preservation Officer.
The current Executive Director is Dr. Bob L. Blackburn, Ph. D. Oklahoma Historical Society official site The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture OHS Gateway to Oklahoma History Oklahoma History Center official site OKPOP official site
Cox Communications
Cox Communications is an American owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises providing digital cable television, telecommunications and Home Automation services in the United States. It is the third-largest cable television provider in the United States, serving more than 6.2 million customers, including 2.9 million digital cable subscribers, 3.5 million Internet subscribers, 3.2 million digital telephone subscribers, making it the seventh-largest telephone carrier in the country. Cox is headquartered at 6205 Peachtree Dunwoody Rd in Sandy Springs, Georgia, U. S. in the Atlanta metropolitan area. Cox Enterprises expanded into the cable television industry in 1962 by purchasing a number of cable systems in Lewistown, Lock Haven and Tyrone, followed by systems in California and Washington; the subsidiary company, Cox Broadcasting Corporation, was not formed until 1964, when it was established as a public company traded on the New York Stock Exchange. It was taken private by Cox Enterprises in 1985. In 1993, Cox began offering telecommunication services to businesses it was the first multiple system cable operator to do so.
This grew into Cox Business, which now represents $1 billion in annual revenue. In 1995, Cox acquired the Times Mirror cable properties. In 1997, Cox became the first multiple system cable operator to offer phone services to customers following the 1996 Telecom Act. Two years in 1999, Cox acquired the cable television assets of Media General in Fairfax County and Fredericksburg, Virginia; the following year, Cox Communications acquired Multimedia Cablevision with assets in Kansas and North Carolina. In 2004, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors found Cox Communications guilty of violating an agreement with the county which stated that all homes served by Cox within Fairfax County would be digital ready with the new fiber optic network by June 2003; when this term expired with less than 30% of the county having been completed, the Board of Supervisors decided to fine Cox $100 per day from the agreed completion date, until work was completed on January 2006. The Board forbade Cox from raising rates to recover the cost of the fine for a period of 10 years from the actual completion date.
The total fine was $93,000. By November 1, 2005, Cox announced the sale of all of its Texas, Missouri and North Carolina properties, as well as some systems in Arkansas, California and Oklahoma to Cebridge Communications; the sale closed in 2006 and those systems were transitioned by their new owner from Cox branding to Suddenlink Communications. On May 14, 2007, Cox announced that they had sold their investment in Discovery Communications for the Travel Channel, related assets, $1.3 billion. In 2007, DiversityInc magazine named Cox Communications #25 in its Top 50 Companies for Diversity. Cox climbed to the sixth position on Diversity Inc.'s 2008 list. In 2008, Cox was named #8 on the Top 10 Companies for African Americans. Two years on November 19, 2010, Cox began offering wireless services in Orange County, California. In February 2011, Cox Communications completed its Alternative Energy Project which included two fuel cell installations at each of the company's San Diego, CA and Rancho Santa Margarita, CA headquarters.
Two separate PureCell System 400 kilowatt installations will generate enough onsite power to reduce the company's dependence of the local power grid and decrease its carbon footprint. In September 2011, Cox Home Security was added to their suite of products listed on their website; this new service uses advanced technologies similar to the home security products offered by other MSOs such as Comcast. In August 2013, Cox launched a new television platform known as Contour, which features recommendations and a user profile system across multiple devices. In 2015, Cox licensed Comcast's Xfinity X1 platform. Cox stated that at least 1 million subscribers were on the X1-based Contour as of October 2017. In 2016, Cox Business reached 3 billion in annual revenue. Cox Business: Provides business level video and Internet services. Cox Media: Advertising sales Travel Media, Inc.: Travel Channel and TravelChannel.com. Cox Communications Virginia created the philanthropic Cox Charities to annually provide grants to nonprofits serving youth.
The organizations must have education programs that focus on science and technology, literacy and other areas. In the 2016-2017 program, 15 nonprofits received a total of $150,000, they were: An Achievable Dream ForKids Horizons Hampton Roads REACH The Salvation Army - Hampton Roads Area Command The UP Center Virginia Peninsula Foodbank Educacion Para Nuestro Futuro Main Street Child Development Center Hopecam Fairfax Futures Literary Council of Northern Virginia Boys and Girls Clubs of Southwest Virginia Child Health Investment Partnership of Roanoke Valley Total Action for ProgressOther state branches of Cox Communications donate money annually through a Community Investment Grant program. The money goes to 501 organizations; the organizations will differ from state to state, year to year, but also have a focus on education, social issues, the arts. These programs can be found in Oklahoma, Arkansas and Iowa, the Southea
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, Texas on the south, New Mexico on the west, Colorado on the northwest. It is the 28th-most populous of the fifty United States; the state's name is derived from the Choctaw words okla and humma, meaning "red people". It is known informally by its nickname, "The Sooner State", in reference to the non-Native settlers who staked their claims on land before the official opening date of lands in the western Oklahoma Territory or before the Indian Appropriations Act of 1889, which increased European-American settlement in the eastern Indian Territory. Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory were merged into the State of Oklahoma when it became the 46th state to enter the union on November 16, 1907, its residents are known as Oklahomans, its capital and largest city is Oklahoma City. A major producer of natural gas and agricultural products, Oklahoma relies on an economic base of aviation, telecommunications, biotechnology.
Both Oklahoma City and Tulsa serve as Oklahoma's primary economic anchors, with nearly two thirds of Oklahomans living within their metropolitan statistical areas. With ancient mountain ranges, prairie and eastern forests, most of Oklahoma lies in the Great Plains, Cross Timbers, the U. S. Interior Highlands, a region prone to severe weather. More than 25 Native American languages are spoken in Oklahoma, ranking third behind Alaska and California. Oklahoma is on a confluence of three major American cultural regions and served as a route for cattle drives, a destination for Southern settlers, a government-sanctioned territory for Native Americans; the name Oklahoma comes from the Choctaw phrase okla humma meaning red people. Choctaw Nation Chief Allen Wright suggested the name in 1866 during treaty negotiations with the federal government on the use of Indian Territory, in which he envisioned an all-Indian state controlled by the United States Superintendent of Indian Affairs. Equivalent to the English word Indian, okla humma was a phrase in the Choctaw language that described Native American people as a whole.
Oklahoma became the de facto name for Oklahoma Territory, it was approved in 1890, two years after the area was opened to white settlers. The name of the state is Pawnee: Uukuhuúwa, Cayuga: Gahnawiyoˀgeh. In the Chickasaw language, the state is known as Oklahomma', in Arapaho as bo'oobe'. Oklahoma is the 20th-largest state in the United States, covering an area of 69,899 square miles, with 68,595 square miles of land and 1,304 square miles of water, it lies in the Great Plains near the geographical center of the 48 contiguous states. It is bounded on the east by Arkansas and Missouri, on the north by Kansas, on the northwest by Colorado, on the far west by New Mexico, on the south and near-west by Texas. Much of its border with Texas lies along a failed continental rift; the geologic figure defines the placement of the Red River. The Oklahoma panhandle's Western edge is out of alignment with its Texas border; the Oklahoma/New Mexico border is 2.1 miles to 2.2 miles east of the Texas line. The border between Texas and New Mexico was set first as a result of a survey by Spain in 1819.
It was set along the 103rd meridian. In the 1890s, when Oklahoma was formally surveyed using more accurate surveying equipment and techniques, it was discovered the Texas line was not set along the 103rd meridian. Surveying techniques were not as accurate in 1819, the actual 103rd meridian was 2.2 miles to the east. It was much easier to leave the mistake than for Texas to cede land to New Mexico to correct the surveying error; the placement of the Oklahoma/New Mexico border represents the true 103rd meridian. Cimarron County in Oklahoma's panhandle is the only county in the United States that touches four other states: New Mexico, Texas and Kansas. Oklahoma is between the Great Plains and the Ozark Plateau in the Gulf of Mexico watershed sloping from the high plains of its western boundary to the low wetlands of its southeastern boundary, its highest and lowest points follow this trend, with its highest peak, Black Mesa, at 4,973 feet above sea level, situated near its far northwest corner in the Oklahoma Panhandle.
The state's lowest point is on the Little River near its far southeastern boundary near the town of Idabel, which dips to 289 feet above sea level. Among the most geographically diverse states, Oklahoma is one of four to harbor more than 10 distinct ecological regions, with 11 in its borders—more per square mile than in any other state, its western and eastern halves, are marked by extreme differences in geographical diversity: Eastern Oklahoma touches eight ecological regions and its western half contains three. Although having fewer ecological regions Western Oklahoma contains many relic species. Oklahoma has four primary mountain ranges: the Ouachita Mountains, the Arbuckle Mountains, the Wichita Mountains, the Ozark Mountains. Contained within the U. S. Interior Highlands region, the Ozark and Ouachita Mountains are the only major mountainous region between the Rocky Mountains and the Appalachians. A portion of the Flint Hills stretches into north-central Oklahoma, near the state's eastern border, The Oklahoma Tourism & Recreation Department regards Cavanal Hill as the world's tallest hill.
The semi-arid high
George Washington
George Washington was an American political leader, military general and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. He led Patriot forces to victory in the nation's War of Independence, he presided at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 which established the new federal government, he has been called the "Father of His Country" for his manifold leadership in the formative days of the new nation. Washington received his initial military training and command with the Virginia Regiment during the French and Indian War, he was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses and was named a delegate to the Continental Congress, where he was appointed Commanding General of the nation's Continental Army. Washington allied with France, in the defeat of the British at Yorktown. Once victory for the United States was in hand in 1783, Washington resigned his commission. Washington played a key role in the adoption and ratification of the Constitution and was elected president by the Electoral College in the first two elections.
He implemented a strong, well-financed national government while remaining impartial in a fierce rivalry between cabinet members Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. During the French Revolution, he proclaimed a policy of neutrality while sanctioning the Jay Treaty, he set enduring precedents for the office of president, including the title "President of the United States", his Farewell Address is regarded as a pre-eminent statement on republicanism. Washington utilized slave labor and trading African American slaves, but he became troubled with the institution of slavery and freed them in his 1799 will, he was a member of the Anglican Church and the Freemasons, he urged tolerance for all religions in his roles as general and president. Upon his death, he was eulogized as "first in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen." He has been memorialized by monuments, geographical locations and currency, many scholars and polls rank him among the top American presidents. Washington's great-grandfather John Washington immigrated in 1656 from Sulgrave, England to the British Colony of Virginia where he accumulated 5,000 acres of land, including Little Hunting Creek on the Potomac River.
George Washington was born February 22, 1732 at Popes Creek in Westmoreland County and was the first of six children of Augustine and Mary Ball Washington. His father was a justice of the peace and a prominent public figure who had three additional children from his first marriage to Jane Butler; the family moved to Little Hunting Creek to Ferry Farm near Fredericksburg, Virginia. When Augustine died in 1743, Washington inherited ten slaves. Washington did not have the formal education that his older brothers received at Appleby Grammar School in England, but he did learn mathematics and surveying, he was talented in draftsmanship and map-making. By early adulthood, he was writing with "considerable force" and "precision."Washington visited Mount Vernon and Belvoir, the plantation that belonged to Lawrence's father-in-law William Fairfax, which fueled ambition for the lifestyle of the planter aristocracy. Fairfax became Washington's patron and surrogate father, Washington spent a month in 1748 with a team surveying Fairfax's Shenandoah Valley property.
He received a surveyor's license the following year from the College of Mary. He resigned from the job in 1750 and had bought 1,500 acres in the Valley, he owned 2,315 acres by 1752. In 1751, Washington made his only trip abroad when he accompanied Lawrence to Barbados, hoping that the climate would cure his brother's tuberculosis. Washington contracted smallpox during that trip, which immunized him but left his face scarred. Lawrence died in 1752, Washington leased Mount Vernon from his widow. Lawrence's service as adjutant general of the Virginia militia inspired Washington to seek a commission, Virginia's Lieutenant Governor Robert Dinwiddie appointed him as a major in December 1752 and as commander of one of the four militia districts; the British and French were competing for control of the Ohio Valley at the time, the British building forts along the Ohio River and the French doing between Lake Erie and the Ohio River. In October 1753, Dinwiddie appointed Washington as a special envoy to demand that the French vacate territory which the British had claimed.
Dinwiddie appointed him to make peace with the Iroquois Confederacy and to gather intelligence about the French forces. Washington met with Half-King Tanacharison and other Iroquois chiefs at Logstown to secure their promise of support against the French, his party reached the Ohio River in November, they were intercepted by a French patrol and escorted to Fort Le Boeuf where Washington was received in a friendly manner. He delivered the British demand to vacate to French commander Saint-Pierre, but the French refused to leave. Saint-Pierre gave Washington his official answer in a sealed envelope after a few days' delay, he gave Washington's party food and extra winter clothing for the trip back to Virginia. Washington completed the precarious mission in 77 days in difficult winter conditions and achieved a measure of distinction when his report was published in Virginia and London. In February 1754, Dinwiddie promoted Washington to lieutenant colonel and second-in-command of the 300-strong Virginia R
Kappa Sigma
Kappa Sigma known as Kappa Sig, is an American collegiate social fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1869. Kappa Sigma is one of the five largest international fraternities with 318 active chapters and colonies in North America, its endowment fund, founded in 1919, has donated more than $5 million to undergrads since 1948. In 2012 alone, the Fraternity's endowment fund raised over $1 million in donations. According to the traditions of the fraternity, Kappa Sigma evolved from an ancient order, known in some accounts as "Kirjath Sepher", said to have been founded between 1395 and 1400 at the University of Bologna; the story says that the corrupt governor of the city, one-time pirate and papal usurper Baldassare Cossa, took advantage of the students at Bologna, one of Europe's preeminent universities which attracted students from all over the continent, by sending his men to assault and rob them. On December 10, 1869, five students at the University of Virginia met in 46 East Lawn and founded the Kappa Sigma Fraternity in America.
William Grigsby McCormick, George Miles Arnold, John Covert Boyd, Edmund Law Rogers, Jr. and Frank Courtney Nicodemus established the fraternity based on the traditions and of the ancient order in Bologna. These five founders became collectively known as the "Five Friends and Brothers". In 1872, Kappa Sigma initiated Stephen Alonzo Jackson, who would go on to transform a struggling local fraternity into a strong international Brotherhood; the organization attributes much of its success to Jackson noting that, "Since his death in 1892, the success of the Order is the direct result of Jackson's devotion'to make Kappa Sigma the leading college fraternity of the world.'"In 1873, Kappa Sigma expanded to Trinity College, the University of Maryland, Washington and Lee University. The fraternity attributes this growth to the initiation of Stephen Alonzo Jackson in 1872. During his membership, Jackson revised the ritual of Kappa Sigma, he created the Supreme Executive Committee, which now serves as the governing body of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity on an international level.
Jackson introduced the idea of a frequent, national convention of all Kappa Sigmas, a practice now continued by the biennial Grand Conclave, characterized the event as "the finest hour" of Kappa Sigma. In 1885, the publication of Kappa Sigma's quarterly magazine was commissioned under the name The Quarterly This publication ran for 5 years until it was reorganized to run bi-monthly and renamed The Caduceus, the name it holds to this day. In 1912, Wilbur F. Denious struck upon the idea to establish a charitable endowment for Kappa Sigma; as a result of the hard work of him and many others, the Kappa Sigma Endowment Fund was established in 1919 "to support the charitable and beneficent purposes of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity." In 2002, along with Phi Delta Theta, Kappa Sigma ended its involvement in the North-American Interfraternity Conference at the national level due to disenchantment with the strategic direction of the organization. However, many individual chapters remain members of their host university's Interfraternity Conference, but no chapter is required to recognize or be involved with their university's IFC if they should choose not to.
In 2003, the Kappa Sigma Fraternity ushered in an unprecedented era of growth for the fraternity. In the Spring of 2005, Kappa Sigma Fraternity began fundraising for and construction of a new headquarters; this $6 million project had its grand opening on June 2, 2007. At the 66th Conclave, the Kappa Sigma Endowment Fund was declared to be the only official educational foundation of the fraternity and is housed at the new headquarters. Kappa Sigmas are taught to live their lives by the Star and Crescent, which are the symbols of the Fraternity that make up the official badge: They follow the four pillars of the Fraternity: Fellowship, Leadership and Service; the Star and Crescent is used as part of the guidelines behind Kappa Sigma's strict no-tolerance anti-hazing policy. The Fraternity takes all allegations of hazing seriously and revokes charters from guilty chapters which can be as old as 130 years. To be eligible for membership a prospective member must profess a belief in God, though adherence to a specific religion is not required.
In at least one situation, Kappa Sigma has revoked a chapter's charter for omitting the fraternity's religious requirements from its initiation. The Kappa Sigma Fraternity consists of over colonies; each chapter is led by a five-member Executive Committee, each referred to as an officer. These officers consist of the Grand Master, Grand Procurator, Grand Master of Ceremonies, Grand Scribe, Grand Treasurer; each chapter and colony has a number of committee chairs that are assigned to specific areas. Over 1,500 alumni volunteer as advisors for Kappa Sigma. At the international level, the Supreme Executive Council sets policy for the fraternity, disciplines chapters, approves the formation of colonies and chapter; the offices of the SEC mirror the office of the undergraduate EC and consist of the Worthy Grand Master, the Worthy Grand Procurator, the Worthy Grand Master of Ceremonies, the Worthy Grand Scribe, the Worthy Grand Treasurer. The WGM, WGP, the WGMC each serve a two-year term, while the WGS and WGT each
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of rock music that originated in the United States and United Kingdom in the 1970s. Used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produced and was used interchangeably with alternative rock; as grunge and punk revival bands in the US and Britpop bands in the UK broke into the mainstream in the 1990s, it came to be used to identify those acts that retained an outsider and underground perspective. In the 2000s, as a result of changes in the music industry and the growing importance of the Internet, some indie rock acts began to enjoy commercial success, leading to questions about its meaningfulness as a term. Sometimes used interchangeably with "guitar pop rock", in the mid-1980s, the term "indie" began to be used to describe the music produced on punk and post-punk labels; some prominent indie rock record labels were founded during the 1980s. During the 1990s, grunge bands broke into the mainstream, the term "alternative" lost its original counter-cultural meaning.
The term "indie rock" became associated with the bands and genres that remained dedicated to their independent status. By the end of the 1990s, indie rock developed several subgenres and related styles, including lo-fi, noise pop, slowcore, post-rock, math rock. In the 2000s, changes in the music industry and in music technology enabled a new wave of indie rock bands to achieve mainstream success. In the early 2000s, a new group of bands that played a stripped-down, back-to-basics version of guitar rock emerged into the mainstream; the commercial breakthrough from these scenes was led by four bands: The Strokes, The White Stripes, The Hives and The Vines. Emo broke into mainstream culture in the early 2000s. By the end of the decade, the proliferation of indie bands was being referred to as "indie landfill"; the term indie rock, which comes from "independent," describes the small and low-budget labels on which it is released and the do-it-yourself attitude of the bands and artists involved. Although distribution deals are struck with major corporate companies, these labels and the bands they host have attempted to retain their autonomy, leaving them free to explore sounds and subjects of limited appeal to large, mainstream audiences.
The influences and styles of the artists have been diverse, including punk, post-punk and country. The terms "alternative rock" and "indie rock" were used interchangeably in the 1980s, but after many alternative bands followed Nirvana into the mainstream in the early 1990s, "indie rock" began to be used to describe those bands, working in a variety of styles, that did not pursue or achieve commercial success. Aesthetically speaking, indie rock is characterized as having a careful balance of pop accessibility with noise, experimentation with pop music formulae, sensitive lyrics masked by ironic posturing, a concern with "authenticity," and the depiction of a simple guy or girl. Allmusic identifies indie rock as including a number of "varying musical approaches compatible with mainstream tastes". Linked by an ethos more than a musical approach, the indie rock movement encompassed a wide range of styles, from hard-edged, grunge-influenced bands, through do-it-yourself experimental bands like Pavement, to punk-folk singers such as Ani DiFranco.
In fact, there is an everlasting list of subgenres of indie rock. Many countries have developed an extensive local indie scene, flourishing with bands with enough popularity to survive inside the respective country, but unknown elsewhere. However, there are still indie bands that start off locally, but attract an international audience. Indie rock is noted for having a high proportion of female artists compared with preceding rock genres, a tendency exemplified by the development of the feminist-informed Riot Grrrl music of acts like Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, 7 Year Bitch, Team Dresch and Huggy Bear. However, Cortney Harding pointed out that this sense of equality is not reflected in the number of women running indie labels; the BBC documentary Music for Misfits: The Story of Indie pinpoints the birth of indie as the 1977 self-publication of the Spiral Scratch EP by Manchester band Buzzcocks. Although Buzzcocks are classified as a punk band, it has been argued by the BBC and others that the publication of Spiral Scratch independently of a major label led to the coining of the name "indie".
"Indie pop" and "indie" were synonymous. In the mid-1980s, "indie" began to be used to describe the music produced on post-punk labels rather than the labels themselves; the indie rock scene in the US was prefigured by the college rock that dominated college radio playlists, which included key bands like R. E. M. from the US and The Smiths from the UK. These two bands rejected the dominant synthpop of the early 1980s, helped inspire guitar-based jangle pop. In the United States, the term was associated with the abrasive, distortion-heavy sounds of the Pixies, Hüsker Dü, Meat Puppets, Dinosaur Jr. and The Replacements. In the United Kingdom the C86 cassette, a 1986 NME compilation featuring Primal Scream, The Pastels, The Wedding Present and other bands, was a document of the UK indie scene at the start of 1986, it gave its name to the indie pop scene that followed, a major influence on the development of the British indie scene as a whole. Major precursors of indie pop included Postcard bands Josef K and Orange Juice, significant labels included Creation and Glass.
The Jesus and Mary Chain's sound combined the Velvet
