Hello folks,

I received word that the local postmaster has fully and officially rescinded the decision for USPS to stop mail delivery.  At this point, there will be no change in services on June 1^st, nor at any date in the future as far as we know.  We expect this issue to be fully closed.  Please feel free to spread the word.

I want you to know that I deeply appreciate all the efforts you took on such short notice to get our residents notified and involved.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Have a great long weekend!

Billy

Billy Jankowski

Assistant Director, Apartment Student Programs

Apartment & Community Living

University of California, Santa Barbara

805-893-5831

The Graduate Student Association congratulates James O’Dea, Lily Wong, Mario Guerrero, and Brian Janssen as this year’s GSA Excellence in Teaching Award recipients.  The selection committee would like to acknowledge all nominees for the outstanding service they provide to undergraduate education here at UCSB.  To learn more about the recipients of this award, head over to http://ucsbgsa.org/awards

Award recipients will be honored at our last GSA Assembly meeting scheduled for Tuesday June 1st at 6:00pm in the GSA Lounge.  Please attend to celebrate their success!

With rumors that Storke is next in line for a withdrawal of USPS mail services, we ask all graduate students to participate in the fight to stop the USPS from withdrawing services to our communities.  Here’s a link to the flyer with additional details.

UPDATE:

Great news!  The USPS has retracted their letter to the university stating their intent to stop mail services to West Campus Family Housing on June 1st.  Hopefully we have won the war, and not just a single battle.

If the USPS intends to stop delivery of mail at a later date, the university has a plan to maintain services to our communities while the legal team continues to fight to maintain mail services if that becomes necessary.

UCSB Housing and the Graduate Student Association will continue to keep you informed as information becomes available.

“After very careful consideration on the part of many parties here at UCSB, it has been decided that we will opt out of participation in the new systemwide GSHIP for 10-11, continuing instead with our usual arrangement of the past 9 years with our insurance broker, Renaissance Agencies, and coverage this year, as in the past few years, with Nationwide Insurance Co.  This will include the usual, ongoing Eye Clinic and Dental Care Center operations in additional to the services routinely provided at Student Health.  The graduate students, in consultation with Student Health personnel, negotiated and approved an excellent plan with Nationwide for the coming year at a significantly reduced cost with additional benefits.  UCSB will plan on implementing the systemwide GSHIP for the school year 11-12 and we will keep you appraised throughout the upcoming year as to expectations and changes to come.  Thank you so much for your patience!”

At the last Faculty Legislature meeting held on Thursday April 22nd, four graduate students were presented with the 2010 Academic Senate Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award.  https://senate.ucsb.edu/awards/2009.10/

Congratulations to our outstanding teaching assistants!

Music Department:  Denise Gill

Department of Molecular, Cellular, & Developmental Biology:  Brian Janssen

Department of English:  Joomi Kim

Department of Film & Media Studies:  Nicole Starosielski

Denise Gill

For her exemplary work as a Teaching Assistant, we are pleased to announce that Denise Gill is a recipient of a 2010 Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award.  Denise is a Ph.D. candidate in the Music Department with a Feminist Studies Doctoral Emphasis.  She has served as both a Teaching Assistant as well as a Teaching Associate for classes in both departments, and she expects to receive her PhD this summer.

A professor of hers in the Music department comments that Denise is “the finest Teaching Assistant that I have had the pleasure of working with.” He notes that she is an “exceptionally creative and effective teacher” and that he has  “…personally learned much from her discussion techniques, the way she designs essay questions, and her ability to be both supportive and challenging with undergraduate students.”

One of her supporters notes, “The teaching evaluations that Denise has received demonstrate her excellence in the classroom and support of diverse students. In every evaluation category, she is ranked between Excellent and Very Good.”

Another writes that Denise “is positioned to be a truly interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary instructor as well as scholar. She is an enthusiastic and energetic instructor with a strong sense of how to bring together the important arguments in a field and the abilities of the students who face her.”

Finally, one of her students offers the following, “Denise always encouraged her students to think beyond the question and to never resort to ‘lazy thinking.’ … [S]he also urged us to delve deeply into subjects that we had never questioned and think critically not because we were supposed to, but because we were too intelligent not to. Looking back, I do not only feel fortunate that Denise was my teaching assistant, but that I had her during my first quarter in college.”

For her dedication to excellence in teaching, Denise Gill is awarded a 2010 Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award. Congratulations!

Brian David Janssen

Brian Janssen is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Molecular, Cellular, & Developmental Biology, and is a recipient of this year’s Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award. Brian has advanced to candidacy in the PhD program and is close to finishing his thesis work.

His nominator writes of him, “He has worked to hone his teaching style, serves as an excellent sounding board and as a source for new ideas regarding course content and style, and works tirelessly to help the students in the class. He has mastered the skill of being approachable and helpful while maintaining the line between student and teacher – he has earned the respect of the students and challenges them to tap into their potentials”

One of his faculty supporters who he works with as a TA in Developmental Biology states simply, “I have taught this course for 15 years – Brian Janssen is the best TA that has ever served with me in this lecture course.”

Students in one of his classes write, “His eagerness to teach was apparent and his enthusiasm for the subject material was contagious; he motivated us to attend his 8 AM sections on Fridays and participate in discussion.”  They continue with, “…Brian was the best TA we have had at UCSB. He went above and beyond what was required of him, and for his great attitude toward us and his concern for our education, it is a privilege to nominate him for this prestigious award.”

For his hard work and dedicated teaching Brian Janssen is awarded a 2010 Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award. Congratulations!

Joomi Kim

For her exemplary work as a Teaching Assistant, we are pleased to announce that Joomi Kim is a recipient of a 2010 Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award. Ms. Kim is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of English, where she has been a graduate student since 2001. She notes that as an undergraduate student in South Korea, she never had a Teaching Assistant for any of her classes, and “that being a Teaching Assistant was initially a voice-trembling experience.”  Despite this, a professor of Asian American Studies notes that she “has consistently rated among the best TAs in [the] department.”  He continues, stating, “Because she has been such an excellent teaching assistant throughout her time at UCSB, she has never had any trouble finding a job in our department, or in the English Department, or in the Writing Program. She is quite clearly an excellent, gifted teacher.”

One of her supporters notes, “[H]er students consistently praise her ability to help them with difficult concepts, and more than a few have described her discussion section as a ‘pleasure’ to attend, and ‘fun,’ too.”

Another faculty nominator states, “I know Ms. Kim … to be a thoughtful and caring instructor, and a true advocate for her students, unstinting in the time and energies she devotes to their learning.” And continues, noting “Ms. Kim is kind enough to over-enroll students in each section, to mitigate the shortage in available spaces, this means not 46 but up to 72 pieces of student prose to correct each week. Yet she handwrites comments on each of her students’ many homework assignments …a notoriously intricate task in literary criticism.”

Finally, a former student of her Asian American literature class offers the following: “As a math major I mainly take math and science classes. I had some interest in the subject but mostly took this class to fulfill general education requirements. I started out mildly interested in the class, but by the end I was completely engrossed in it, and this is mostly due to Joomi…. Joomi wanted us to succeed in the course, and she did as much as she possibly could to help us…. To put it simply, Joomi Kim is one of the best teachers I have ever had.”

For her hard work and excellence in teaching, Joomi Kim is awarded a 2010 Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award. Congratulations, Ms. Kim!

Nicole Starosielski

For her exemplary work as a Teaching Assistant, we are pleased to announce that Nicole Starosielski is a recipient of a 2010 Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award. Nicole is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Film & Media Studies, where she has been a graduate student since 2005. She is also pursuing certificates in Technology & Society and Global Studies and is scheduled to defend her dissertation this summer.

The chair of her department (as well as her dissertation committee) writes that she has “utterly excelled in the areas of teaching, research, and professional participation.”  Another faculty member describes her as “a tremendously talented, intelligent, creative, generous, and enthusiastic young scholar.” Furthermore, she adds, “It is not adequate to say that Nicole is in the top 1% of teaching assistants I have had or come across in my career—she is the best.”

One of her students praises Nicole for her mentorship as a TA. The student describes how Nicole appointed her to head a project, and then spent months working with her to have it realized.  She states, “While Nicole allowed us to experiment and learn independently, she successfully served as a creative guide for our group to create a film that we were proud of. Her intellect and tireless effort to really do something unique and important in our department and the community, was very apparent to me from the beginning.”

She is noted for helping students “to think critically and independently.… She does not merely lecture or talk ‘at’ us like many. Instead, she works out ideas with us.”

Finally, one student comments, “In Nicole’s classes, I feel like my brain is really working, not just listening and taking in information, but actually exercising, searching, struggling, and growing.”

For her hard work and dedicated teaching Nicole Starosielski is awarded a 2010 Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award. Congratulations!

You can download the document directly from us as well:  FirstRecommendations

I took a close look at the recommendations proposed by the Funding Strategies working group appearing on pages 73 to 106.  Here are my observations:

First I’ll say that I need to be reminded who the audience is for these documents.  This factors in to the extent by which arguments must be explained.

There’s an interesting point on page 73 (first bullet) about the necessity of state funding to support the efforts of attracting outside funding.  Perhaps this area needs both a louder voice with a better explanation to garner support.  Obviously it takes world class faculty and graduate students to compete for outside funding but retaining this talent does not rest solely on the outside funding they are able to obtain.  In order to attract and retain this talent, the state needs to make efforts to restore funding.  Essentially, we need to get the talent here before you can reap the benefit of their abilities to attract outside funding.

First bullet, page 74:  What exactly is the endowment size of each UC campus?  How has this money increased/decreased over time?  What have been the factors contributing to the increase/decrease of UC endowments?  This information would lend more support to any efforts to compare our resources to the private institutions eluded to in this section.  Of course, disclosing this information will lead to questions about how the endowments are managed.

Regarding administrative efficiency principles in general:  A reduction does not necessarily equate to an increase in efficiency.  With respect to staff, the work conducted by those who are laid off falls on the backs of those who remain.  This puts strain on the administrative infrastructure of our university system while doing little to boost positive employee morale.  The university cannot operate without the support of our hard working dedicated staff who are already stretched thin.

Page 75, the second bullet should include collecting data on graduates.  How many stay in CA, contributing to the economy?  The “campaign” should also draw upon historical voter trends with respect to educational taxes.  Over the last few months, arguments have been presented that votes are in support of education, but the details of this support need to be highlighted to support the arguments.  Additionally, there is something to be learned about public opinion by observing the comments left on news blogs that posted articles related to the current state of our university system.

Page 76, fourth bullet:  Yes, an advocacy campaign will absolutely be costly no matter how you approach it.  Even time is money.  Perhaps we can garner support from celebrity alumni and professional athletes who got there start at a UC.  Surely there are many and their public support has the ability to reach a very large audience.

Page 77, challenges:  We really need some stats on the number of graduates who stay in California to strengthen this argument.  Regarding next steps for implementation, we have seen many grass roots organizations spring up around the current issues associated with our university system but it’s unclear how much effort went into providing these organizations with accurate information.  It will be important in the future to support these organizations with as much information as possible.  Incorrect or misinterpreted information disseminating from these organizations inadvertently weakens our efforts to collectively advocate for reform.

Page 78:  We need to vote to stop future cuts.  Additionally, we need more information on a potential bill to cap fees:  http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9F1HPP80.htm

Participate in these excellent opportunities to meet your fellow graduate students and obtain information, do a little writing, or whirl your hips around as wildly as you can!

Knowledge in Action

Non-Profit Panel

Wednesday, April 28, 5 pm

Multipurpose Room, SRB

Meet with local non-profit leaders and learn how to transition into a non-profit career.  Our panelists will include Elsa Granados, Executive Director of the Santa Barbara Rape Crisis Center; Anne Kratz, Vice President for University Advancement & Development at Fielding Graduate University; and Marsha Bailey,Founder and CEO of Women’s Economic Ventures and the Small Business Loan Fund of Santa Barbara. These non-profit leaders will share brief narratives about their careers and then respond to questions from the audience.

Knowledge in Action

LeAnnE Howe

Want to Write? Strategies for Reviving Your Stories

Thursday, April 29, 5 pm

Women’s Center Conference Room

In this workshop we will revive memories, and [re]learn how to let go and write!  Bring a small object that once belonged to a family member, a pet, a friend—something you can carry in your book bag or purse.  This workshop will benefit writers of all experience levels and at all stages including those in the middle of a project and those with just an idea. LeAnne Howe is an enrolled citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, an author, poet, and screenwriter.

Stay Centered

Hoop Dancing

Thursday, April 29, 6 pm

Multipurpose Room, SRB

You are invited to join Sara Munro and step inside the hoop, claim your space, and give it a spin. Remember your rhythm, the joy of self-expression through your body, and your ability to play while you practice this new generation form of fitness, dance and movement. Larger, easier-to-use hoops will be provided for use during the workshop, and will also be available for sale. All fitness levels are welcome.

Friday, May 21st, 2010
University of California, Santa Barbara

“Celebrity is the advantage of being known to people who we don’t know, and who don’t know us.” — Nicolas de Chamfort

What does it mean to think about ‘celebrity’ and ‘glamour’ in the contemporary moment? What are the parameters of these two concepts? What is the relationship between celebrity and glamour? Is contemporary celebrity distinct from ‘celebrity’ in previous historical moments and cultural contexts, ranging from ancient Greece to Renaissance Italy, from the Romantics to the Russian Revolution? Can we speak of political celebrity? Literary, artistic or intellectual celebrity? How do these concepts traverse political, national, economic, and cultural terrains in producing new configurations of desires and imaginaries? How are Western/American discourses and images of celebrity and glamour exported and circulated throughout the global media economy? How do non-Western audiences and culture-makers absorb and/or contest these memes from inside or outside of that same economy? With the huge worldwide user-base of YouTube, Twitter and other social networking and media sharing platforms, the economic travails of older media (publishing, Hollywood, etc.), the increasing ubiquity of ‘reality’ television programming, the popularity of do-it-yourself celebrity gossip blogs, and do-it-yourself viral video stardom, we seem to have reached a moment in which obscurity and celebrity are unstable notions whose dynamic relationship demands further inquiry.Both celebrity and glamour–past and present–are in need of interrogation in relation to the ongoing discourses concerning representation, theory, networks, the body, gender, power, community and so on.

It is with this in mind that the Consortium for Literature, Theory and Culture at the University of California, Santa Barbara has chosen *Celebrity and Glamour* as the themes of this year’s CLTC conference, which seeks interventions from graduate student scholars around California that consider these notions in historical, literary, cultural, or aesthetic terms.

The conference will be held at the UCSB Centennial House on May 21st, 2010.
Keynote speakers to be announced shortly.

If you’re a graduate student at UCSB, make sure to tell your department’s GSA rep(s) how you feel about the following options! Unfortunately, because these negotiations are in process, the insurance company does not permit Assembly to distribute the specific pricing for each menu item to the broader graduate student community.  Without giving specific figures, I can say that the package they are offering us this year is very attractive!

UCSB campus-wide GSHIP menu items 2010-2011: Click to download.

As always, email gship@gsa.ucsb.edu with any questions or concerns about GSHIP or the voting process.

GSHIP Committee Meeting

February 26, 2010

SYSTEM-WIDE UPDATE

1. Increase Inpatient Alcohol and Drug Detoxification benefit from 3 days per plan year to:

2. Amend Outpatient Emergency Care copay from $100 to:

3. Amend Plan Year Maximum of $300,000 per condition to:

4. Amend Prescription Drug benefit maximum from $8,000 to:

5. Parity for all Mental Health conditions.

6. Prorate international student early start date of 7/31 for 4 week summer intensive program.

7. Provide Student Health Services reciprocity benefits.

Elizabeth Downing consulted with directors from the other Student Health Centers to clarify the issue of reciprocity, and they drafted the following language.  This statement will be posted to the websites of the Student Health Center at our campus and presumably at the other UCs:

“The Student Health Center (SHC) at each University of California campus gladly offers reciprocal access to SHC services to currently registered studetns from all other UC campuses under the same conditions that apply to its own students who are not enrolled in its campus Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP).  Students enrolled in their campus SHIP may receive special discounts, benefits or services at their home campus Student Health Center.  These special, campus-funded arrangements will not apply at another UC campus.”

Note: