GGSA Minutes 3-25

Geology Graduate Student Association minutes

March 25, 2010

Meeting was called to order.

Members present:

Shanna Losee

Rob Dennen

Dawn Sweeney

Ken Christle

Patrick Whelley

Christine Sumner

Mandy Hintz

Pauline Paul Nesaraja

Star George

Jessica Ball

Issues discussed:

1.      Red Cross Donation

·         Donation paperwork for $200 in support of Haiti Earthquake Relief is in process with GSA; Jessica will personally deliver the check to the Buffalo Red Cross

2.      Buffalo Gem and Mineral Show

·         This weekend (March 27-28) from 10 AM – 5 PM

·         Cost $5 to attend

·         Jessica offering rides

3.      Spring open house on Saturday (3-27)

·         Held in Student Union from 10-12 AM

·         Contact Melissa Zelazny if you’re interested in helping (she needs two students)

4.      Ideas for spending remaining club money

·         We have $257.06 remaining that needs to be spent by the end of June (July?)

·         Purchase grill for club purposes?

·         Field trip possibilities (April or May)

o   Gore Mountain garnet mine

o   Alleghany State Park

5.      New student “survival guide”

·         Document will be posted on GoogleDocs; all are welcome to edit

·         Tips for new grads, information about places to live, etc.

6.      External Review results

·         Discussed future plans of department (new hires, changes to advising and class quotas, changes of balance of MA/MS/PhD student numbers)

·         Suggestion that graduate club nominate and/or support speakers for Pegrum series in order to diversify the subject matter of the talks, and to further involve the club with department activities.

·         Discussed faculty solution to missing student Pegrum talks for faculty meetings (adding more student talks); suggested that faculty reschedule meetings instead. Will be addressed at next faculty meeting (4-1-10)

Meeting was then adjourned.

Submitted by:

Jessica Ball for Sonja Melander (absent)

Geology Graduate Student Association President

Report from March 4 Faculty Meeting

1. The department is undergoing an external review, to address growth and future goals. If you would like to nominate yourself for "Lunch With the Exterior Review Committee" contact Patrick Whelley ASAP. Lunch is on currently scheduled for March 18th at 12:00, and 5 to 8 students will be selected to go.

2. Info on grad applications and expected enrollment (see Patrick's email!)

3. Dr. Mitchell's and the Volcanology research groups are still scheduled to move to their new spaces this summer.

4. The issue with the swipe card locks should be fixed within a week or so.

5. Further discussion of general security issues will occur at future faculty meetings.

6. Some changes may be made to the Pegrum schedule to allow faculty to attend student research talks. Again, contact Patrick with ideas and input on the issue!

New Resources Page

Don't forget to check out the new GGSA Resources page! There's still a link to the scholarship/fellowship list, but now there are also a number of new links to writing, career, and fieldwork resources as well. Check it out!

GGSA minutes 1/19

Meeting was called to order.

8 members present

Issues discussed:
1. Winter party
o Vote to use $2260.24 (pending final invoice) of our funds for the
final balance for the Geology Winter Party
-unanimous approval
o Vote to use $167.95 of our funds to reimburse Shannon (Star) George
for the sheet cake for the Geology Winter Party
-unanimous approval
o Vote to use $100 for to reimburse Jessica Ball for payment of the
caricature artist for the Geology Winter Party
-unanimous approval
o Vote to use half of proceeds from raffle towards Haiti relief (the
other half for Graduate Geology Club funds)
-unanimous approval
o Undergraduates will pay DJ fee (including a dinner)

2. Wilderness 1st Aid
o Will probably be held February or March through Outdoor Pursuits
o http://wings.buffalo.edu/org/outdoorpursuits/spring09.shtml
o If you’re interested, contact Russ Crispell at crispell@buffalo.edu
for details (the website doesn’t have dates on it)

3. Spring field trip ideas
o Ring dyke in New Hampshire (near Patrick’s place)
o Garnet mine in the Adirondacks

4. Graduate Student Association events
o See http://www.gsa.buffalo.edu/

5. Mark Diamond Research Fund
o Soonest deadline is Feb 19 (for research to be conducted April 1
2010- March 31 2011)
o If you want to apply, you must attend a workshop
+ Feb 2, 3 pm, 330 Student Union
+ Feb 5, 2 pm, 330 Student Union
o See http://www.gsa.buffalo.edu/funding.html

6. Volunteering for Boy Scouts
o Several people are needed to volunteer to help teach boy scouts map
reading as part of their requirements for the Geology merit badge
o If interested, contact Star (sgeorge8@buffalo.edu) for more info and
merit badge counselor paperwork
o They've already completed a lot of the requirements, but if you're
interested in seeing the requirements, see:
http://meritbadge.org/wiki/index.php/Geology


Meeting was then adjourned.

Submitted by:
Sonja Melander
Geology Graduate Student Association Secretary

Some final Winter Party info

Hope you're looking forward to tonight! I have a few reminders for everyone:

• The event is at the Pearl Street Grill & Brewery at 76 Pearl Street in Buffalo; it goes from 7-11 PM. We will be in the Pan American Room. The bar opens at 7 and dinner will be served starting at 7:30. Parking is scattered and the area may be busy, so carpool if you can!
• Bring your tickets. We will be collecting them at the door, and it's the only way to let the bartenders know what drink package you have.
• Raffle tickets will be on sale during the event, so bring some cash! Remember, half the proceeds will be donated for Haiti earthquake relief efforts, and we have some awesome raffle items.
• We will also have a caricature artist on hand to draw for us starting around 8 or 8:30. Remember to smile!
• There will be tags available to label your coat - lots of people in the department have similar winter coats, so please don't walk off with one that's not yours.
• Finally, there will be no tickets sold at the door. Please do not bring unticketed guests to the party. We've worked very hard to accommodate everyone who has purchased a ticket, and it may damage our relationship with Pearl Street if we have to deal with party crashers. Pearl Street has a great bar and restaurant downstairs, so if you would like to meet anyone there, feel free!

I hope that this will be a great party for everyone. See you all at Pearl Street!

Jessica

Raffle at Winter Party

We are having a raffle at the Winter Party that will benefit the Graduate Geology Club and Haiti Relief efforts.  As you all know, the recent earthquake in Haiti has been devastating , and relief agencies are in desperate need of funding. If you can spare a few dollars, this is a great chance to help the recovery effort and win cool prizes! The drawing will occur at the Winter Party, but you don't need to be present to win - just make sure you write your name on your ticket.

We are in need of donations for prizes, so far we have two pairs of theater tickets (Grease at the Shea’s and MusicalFare Theatre – Daemen College tickets) and Jessica will donate a baked good IOU. We would greatly appreciate any donations you can offer such as gift cards, gift baskets, or anything you may specialize in. Please e-mail Melissa (mzelazny@buffalo.edu) or Trevi (talough@buffalo.edu) if you would like to make a donation.

Tickets for the raffle costs $1.00 each and will be available starting Friday (1/15) from Melissa (NSC 864), Trevi (NSC 875), or Jessica (NSC 880). We will sell them up to the time of the drawing at the Winter Party.

Club Meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 19

Hope everyone had a great winter break and that the first week of the semester went well. We've finished selling tickets for the Winter Party, and it looks like we're going to have a great crowd! In order to get all our payments and reimbursements in on time, we'll need to have a brief meeting to approve the spending for the GSA paperwork. All you need to do is show up and say yes!

The meeting will be on Tuesday, January 19 at 3 PM in Cooke 435 (right before the Geohazards Seminar) the 7th floor plant alcove. We'll go over what's going on for Winter Party and get some input on what would be a better time to meet regularly this semester. (We can also bring up some ideas for future activities!)