BGSA General Meeting Minutes

Check out the minutes from the latest BGSA General Meeting by clicking on the title of this post, or on "Meetings" in the sidebar!

Department Rep. Positions available for 2010-2011

The following biology graduate student representative positions are available for next year (2010-2011):

• Green Committee
• Safety Committee
• Curriculum Committee
• Organismal Seminar Committee (CEEB)
• Molecular Seminar Committee
• PGSS Councillor (2 positions)

There are also many BGSA council spaces still available, so please consider making a small commitment and participate in decisions that affect grad students in this department. It doesn't have to take a lot of time, but it makes a big difference (and looks good on your CV).

If you are interested in running for any of these positions, please submit a candidate form and support forms from 3 other BGSA members to BGSAelections@gmail.com, or bring them to next General Meeting (Monday March 8, 11 AM, location TBA).

Travel Grant winners

> Announced the winner of Fall 2009 BGSA Travel Grant (Trond Sigurdson) after a number of students declined the award due to other funding.

The Winter 2010 BGSA Travel Grant winner(s) are (in order of draw - only the person highest on the list who is able to accept the grant will receive it):

1. Lari Delaire

2. Richard Feldman

3. Felipe Dargent

4. Kiyoko Gotanda

5. Ian Hatton

6. Xoxo O’Farrill

7. Grigoris Kylafis

8. Zoe Joly-Lopez

9. César Largaespada Roque

10. Shawn Leroux

2010-2011 BGSA Elections

Be a 2010-11 BGSA Councilor! Be a Graduate Rep!
- Help plan social and professional dev't events (feed your megalomania)
- Sit on a committee that you're interested in (e.g. Green Committee, AGSEM etc.)
- Looks good on your CV (90% of BGSA Councilors become tenure track professors)

* Is it difficult? No.
* Is it fun? Yes (mandated).
* Will it take up too much of my time? No, i.e. 1-2 meetings/term and help plan 1-2 events/year for BGSA Councilors, anywhere from 1 meeting/month - 1 meeting/year for the Graduate Reps.

Sound good? Darn tootin' it does. Here's what you do:

1) Want to be a BGSA Councilor and/or a Graduate Rep? Open the attached 'Candidate Form', fill in your name and position and the names of three current BGSA members (grad students, postdocs) who will support your nomination -- use a separate Candidate Form for each position. Email this to bgsaelections@gmail.com by Sun Feb 28. You don't have to be a BGSA Councilor to be a Dept Rep, but hey, you could be!!

2) Ask those three people to fill in the attached 'Support form' with your name and their name and email it to bgsaelections@gmail.com by Sun Feb 28. The same people can support you for multiple positions (e.g. BGSA Council and AGSEM Rep), but need to send two versions of the Support Form each position.

3) There are positions for 18 Councilors on BGSA Council, plus 2 spots for new students in September 2010. If there are >18 nominations, then we have an election (or thumb wrestling) at the BGSA General Meeting on Mon March 8. If not, those people are acclaimed to Council and we still have the General Meeting. The Executive (President, VP, Treasurer and Secretary) are elected from Council -- so you have to be a BGSA Councilor to run for an Executive position.

** STORY TIME EXAMPLE **

Charles Darwin wants to be a BGSA Councilor and is thinking about being VP. He learns to use email and sends his Candidate Form to bgsaelections@gmail.com at the stroke of midnight on Feb 28. He asks 3 friends to support his nomination, and they come back from the dead to email his Support Form. At the BGSA General Meeting (March 8), Chuck is acclaimed to BGSA Council -- but his nemesis Alfred Wallace decides that he also wants to run for VP (revenge for the whole 'you stole my natural selection' scandal). They thumb wrestle for the position, Chuck loses becaues he's been dead longer, and Alfie becomes VP. However, in a twisted turn of events Chuck is acclaimed as President and once again usurps poor Alfred. Sucks to be you, Alfie.

Yes, BGSA Council really is this exciting.

Please feel free to email me, Jon, Rich or Caitlin (2009-10 BGSA Exec) if you have questions about the process or any of the positions.

Cheers,
Aerin, John, Caitlin & Rich

BGSA Winter Retreat – January 15-17, 2010

Who: BGSA members, their friends and partners

What: Kind of like the September camping trip, but with skiing and snowshoeing

When: Friday Jan. 15^th to Sunday Jan. 17^th, 2010

Where: Keene Farm, near Keene Valley, NY (about 2 hours from Montreal)

http://www.accmontreal.ca/en/huts/keenefarm

Why: Get together after the holidays, welcome new students and have fun!

Keene Farm is a big log cabin in the Adirondack Forest Preserve (New York) owned by the Alpine Club of Canada. You can drive right up to it and it has wood stove heating, insulation (!), gas lighting and stoves for cooking, and sleeps 30 people in bunk beds with foam mattresses. There is an outhouse and no running water.

What to do?

There are lots of outdoors activities within walking and short-driving distance, suitable for everyone from beginner to advanced levels. You can rent cross-country ski gear and snowshoes at the infamous Mountaineer store* and there are trails all over the place. For downhill skiers, Whiteface Mountain is about 30 min. away in Lake Placid. The cabin is cozy and warm if you want to relax indoors or play games after making snowmen.

** ‘Mountaineerfest’ is the same weekend http://mountaineer.com/?page_id=83

What to bring?

• Passport or border-crossing driver’s license
• Sleeping bag, pillow, and indoor shoes/sandals and clothes
• Your ski or snowshoe gear (or rent there) and outdoorsy clothes
• Games or musical instruments
• Food and drinks (either food groups or BYO, will figure out later)