A water-drenched textbook lies ruined on the floor; a pair of burnt gym shoes have double knots still in the laces; the end of a scarf hangs out where a wall used to be, and a scattered deck of cards bearing dirty footprints are all that is left inside the charred remains of the Theta Chi Fraternity house.

The house is a complete loss. This Saturday marks three weeks since the fire, and the third week fraternity members have been trying to put their lives back together.

On the day of the fire many Theta Chi members talked of dropping out, but all of the men have stayed at Iowa State. Twenty men and the house cook have moved into Adelante Fraternity, and three other members have moved into an apartment. Five members of the fraternity, including house president Mike Taylor, walked out of the burning home with nothing but the clothes they had on.

“I lost absolutely everything. I was on the third floor, that whole back side where the air conditioner is sticking out,” Taylor said.

Taylor, a senior in dairy science and pre-veterinary medicine, said there has been an outpouring of support from everywhere.

“The university had housing and meal plans arranged for us at eight that morning. Monday at the University Book Store they let us charge textbooks and stuff to our U-bills, and the bookstore gave us all a bag of notebooks and supplies.”

Several individuals, organizations and businesses have given support and monetary contributions to Theta Chi. House members ran an advertisement in the Daily yesterday thanking them.

“The Dean of Students Office sent notes to every professor to let them know what was happening, and both the university and our national board had emergency loans ready for us. The greek system has donated clothing and money and sponsored us in greek events,” he said, “We’ve received letters of condolences from the residence halls. There’s been lots of help from everybody.”

Though the insurance for the house covered only the house and its furnishings, all but one of the mens’ family insurance will cover the cost of getting back on their feet.

The one member who won’t have insurance money coming was lucky. His room was in the basement, and except for some water damage most of his belongings were saved.

According to Phil Harris, captain of the Ames Fire Department, the cause of the fire was unattended grease on a lit stove that spread into the structural frame of the house. The fire has been ruled accidental.

Jon Fleming, a doctor at the McFarland Clinic in Ames, is an alumnus and adviser for Theta Chi. “I graduated in 1975 from Iowa State, and I watched 25 years of memories destroyed.”

Fleming said the house will be probably be torn down in the next four to six weeks. Hazardous materials like asbestos must be removed from the house first, and then there is a 10-day waiting period.

The plan is to build a new house on the same site.

“We’re moving as fast as we can, but we want to take a step at a time — make sure we do what is best for the students and the alumni,” Fleming said.

Preliminary costs for a new house are estimated around $1 million. Construction could begin as soon as this summer or fall. The earliest completion date would be the fall of 1998.

“Besides the insurance, we will be having fund-raisers to pay for rebuilding the house,” Taylor said. Both alumni and current members of Theta Chi are anxious to get started on designing the new house. “We already know what we don’t want. We are planning to tour some of the newer houses in the greek system and get some ideas.”

The next challenges for the men are to continue functioning as a fraternity and to find housing for the 1997-98 academic year, Fleming said.

A representative from Theta Chi’s national board came the Sunday after the fire and helped the members cope with their loss. “He told us that many Theta Chi chapters have never had houses and function just as well. He really gave us a mental boost,” Taylor said.

Taylor said the fraternity is still rushing new members and will be actively seeking new members to boost their base of support. “We have 10 rushees right now and we want to sign them up pretty soon.” Elections for new executive members of the fraternity will be this weekend.

Fleming said he is impressed by the way the members have stayed together and moved forward.

The fraternity members will be staying with Adelante until the end of the school year.

“We have no complaints. The fact they let us move in is incredible,” Taylor said.

Plans are in the works to sponsor activities and do their respective Christmas parties together.