GOG News Blog

Change in GOG Leadership

GOG Blog — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 20:17:24 +0000

Matt Moynihan has stepped down from his position as GOG President. Brooke Beier will serve as President to finish the term ending in September. Genevieve Waller will be taking Brooke’s old post of Communications Officer.

A little change in command, but we’re still committed to serving our members’ needs!

Announcing GOG Conference Awards

GOG Blog — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 18:53:42 +0000

The reviews are in and we are proud to announce our latest Conference Award recipients:

Sajan Goud – BME – “Real time Cardiac MRI using low rank and sparsity penalties”
Satyananda Kashyap – ECE – “A Fast and Accurate Non Iterative Algorithm for Regularized Non Cartesian MRI”
Minlu Zhang – ChemE – “Molybdenum oxide / C60 Schottky Barrier Photovoltaic Cells)”
Daniel Hutchins – English – “‘Y el Cielo Como Bandera’: Tropicália and the Question of Brazilian Exceptionalism in the ‘New’ Latin American Diaspora”
Dinah Holtzman – VCS – “White Masculine Fin-de-Siecle Hysteria in Daniel PulSchreber’s Memoirs and the Art of Matthew Barney”
Victoria Pass – VCS – “Africa Speaks in Millinery”

Congratulations to all the winners and thank you to everyone who reviewed applications! Watch for applications in the Fall semester.

GOG Ski Trip a Grand Undertaking!

GOG Blog — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 18:14:33 +0000

Our ski trip to Bristol Mountain on Saturday the 13th of February was a great success with around 150 students and their guests attending! The group included skiers of many different levels, with many trying skiing for the first time! The ski package included a free lesson which many beginners took advantage of. If you missed the ski trip, Bristol has a family night special from 4 pm to 10 pm on Saturdays. Call them to find out details, and stay tuned for next year’s ski trip!

Health Insurance Review Update

GOG Blog — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 14:43:19 +0000

As you may know, U of R is conducting a full review of the student health insurance plan this year. This review was initiated by President Seligman in response to the concerns graduate students raised about our health coverage at last year’s town hall meeting. Since then, UHS has conducted a focus group and conducted a survey of the graduate students. 23% of graduate students responded to the survey.

UHS has compiled the needs and wants of students who use the health insurance plan and is currently requesting proposals from a number of different insurance companies. They expect that they will be able to start comparing the different proposals early in the new year. It sounds like UHS and President Seligman are going to work together to improve our coverage while keeping costs managable. Any changes to our coverage would take effect for the 2010-2011 academic year.

If I get any more updates, I’ll pass them along.
~Kris, Advocacy Chair

Health Issues

GOG Blog — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 14:36:09 +0000

Take a look on the sidebar and notice we’ve added a new section called “Health Issues.” I’ve been working to provide resources for common grad student concerns about health care. If you want information about other issues or you have other concerns, please let me know (kskovbroten@bcs.rochester.edu).

~Kris, Advocacy Chair

GOG Conference Awards Announced

GOG Blog — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 04:28:51 +0000

GOG Conference Awards Announced:

1. Zhenmeng Peng - Chem Eng - ”Preparation and Property of Platinum-on-Metal Heterogeneous Electrocatalysts; Phase Behavior and Electrochemical Property of Platinum-Silver Bimetallic Nanostructures”

2. Lichang Zeng – Chem Eng - ”Synthesis and Processing of Monodisperse Oligo(fluorene-co-bithiophene)s into Oriented Films by Thermal and Solvent Annealing”

3. Andrew Przybylski - Clinical and Social Sciences - ”How Need Satisfying and Depriving Experiences of Video Game Play Shape Aggression and Well-Being”

4. David de Jong - Psych - ”The Playboy Effect: The Role of Sex and Fast Cars in the Maintenance of Masculine Identity”

Congratulations to all the winners, and thank you to everyone who reviewed applications! Watch for applications in the Spring semester.

Social Event Planning

GOG Blog — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:06:06 +0000

Want to have a fun social event? Want GOG to give you money to have it? We’re looking for people interested in helping plan events with GOG. Let us know if you have an idea and would like to make it happy with GOG money! Contact Jennifer at jmerickel(at)bcs.rochester.edu

GOG Has A New Photo Gallery!

GOG Blog — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:01:13 +0000

GOG has decided to start using Picasa Web Albums for displaying photos from GOG sponsored events. Recent events include RIA’s Diwali Dhamaka, Apple Picking and LUX Night. The gallery can be accessed here.

(http://picasaweb.google.com/URGOG09)

Walls On Film: 20 Years After The Berlin Wall

GOG Blog — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:56:12 +0000

GOG is co-sponsoring a film series organized by graduate students Shota Ogawa, Ryan Conrath and Zainab Saleh.

Location: Hoyt Auditorium, University of Rochester
Date: Thursday, November 19th
Time: 6:00 PM-12:30 AM

Free Admission for all!

Critically acclaimed films will be screened that not only represent walls, but address the spectator’s relation to the wall, or challenge our conventional understanding what constitutes a wall or boundary.

Films to be screened (the order in which they will be shown):
– Wings of Desire (Wim Winders, 1987)
– Mur (Simone Bitton, 2004)
– Hunger (Steve McQueen, 2008)

More information: http://www.wallsonfilm.com/

RIA’s Diwali Celebrations A Grand Success!

GOG Blog — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:43:14 +0000

GOG co-sponsored the Rochester Indian Association’s Diwali Dhamaka celebrations on October 17th, 2009. The event included entertainment by undergraduate groups UR Bhangra and UR Raas, as well as musical performances by graduate students, including the indo-fusion band, Desert Monsoon.

A highlight of the entertainment was a heritage show displaying various facets of indian culture from six states in India. The event culminated with an Indian dinner in Douglas Dining Hall and a DJ-ed dance night. Almost 500 people attended the event! More photos are posted at GOG’s photo gallery.