After receiving feedback from over 160 members of the MIT community, including staff, graduate and undergraduate students, the MIT Parking and Transportation Office, in collaboration with the Graduate Student Council, has developed a New Winter Tech Shuttle Route and Schedule which should meet the needs of each sector of the campus community.

Questions to gsc-shuttle[at]mit[dot]edu

Over the next two weeks the GSC will be meeting with administrators to discuss the graduate student cost of living situation and attempt to develop viable solutions to the problem. One part of this process involves the GSC Cost of Living Advisory Board (GSC COLAB), a group composed of students and administrators representing the major cost factors, including health insurance and housing.

Questions to gsc-officers[at]mit[dot]edu

The GSC's December General Council Meeting will be held on December 3rd, 5:30 pm, in the GSC Office in 50-220 (Walker Memorial, 2nd Floor - also on the MIT Map). Hope to see you there!

• If you are a GSC Representative and cannot attend, please contact the GSC Vice President at gsc-vice-president[at]mit[dot]edu and submit a proxy.
• Not a GSC Representative, but are interested in becoming one? Visit the GSC Representative Information Page.

The GSC's annual Representatives' Retreat will be held on November 22nd and 23rd at the MIT Endicott House (see website). All transportation, lodging, and food will be provided for those attending.

If you are a GSC Representative, a GSC Institute Committee Representative, or an Executive Committee member, you are invited! We have up to 40 spots available, so if you're interested in attending, please contact the GSC Vice President at gsc-vice-president[at]mit[dot]edu for more information.

Not a GSC Representative, but are interested in becoming one? Visit the GSC Representative Information Page.

The Higher Education Affordability and Equity Act of 2003 is a bill that proposes to allow certain expenses incurred during graduate education to be non-taxable, including room and board. For many students supported by fellowships (RA/TA) and scholarships, this could result in income tax savings on the order of $1000 per year.

If you want to write a letter to MIT's Washington Office or call your representative to help generate support for this bill, we have provided templates for you to use if you wish, as well as information on how to contact your representative. For more information on these issues and on what the NAGPS does, visit our NAGPS Page.

Questions? Contact the GSC NAGPS Liaison at gsc-nagps[at]mit[dot]edu.

MIT Medical is having a reception for the new OB/Gyn for MIT Medical, which will also be attended by a number of other staff from MIT Medical OB/Gyn services, including nurse practitioners and midwives.

• Date: November 18th
• Time: 5:00pm-6:30pm
• Place: E23-364 (3rd floor of MIT Medical)

An FAQ has been provided by MIT Medical, describing what's new and what's not in OB/Gyn services at MIT Medical, and it will be supplemented with additional notes by the GSC from the campus-wide forum on Women's Health at MIT held on Tuesday, October 28th.

If you want to be kept informed about the continuing discussions on the issue of Women's Health at MIT, please contact the GSC HCA chairs at gsc-hca[at]mit[dot]edu.

The GSC Graduate Ring (the "Grad Rat") was revealed on October 23rd, 2003. For information on the ring and how you may get yours, please visit the Graduate Ring Information Page.

Questions to gsc-ring[at]mit[dot]edu

The Biggest Graduate Student Council Event Ever Is Coming...

GSC 50th Anniversary Celebration: More events then you can shake a stick at!

• RingLink: Walker Memorial, 6pm 10.23.2003
  See the new Grad Brass Rat and stay for TechLink. Proper ID required.
• Dedication Ceremony: Student Center Steps, 4pm 10.24.2003
  Come learn how the GSC has been working for you and your predecessors with a historical perspective of 50 years of GSC service, hors d'ouevres, and the presentation of a commemorative tree to MIT.
• Oktoberfest: Lobdell, 2pm 10.25.2003
  Acoustic BBQ presents an afternoon of great German food and both non-foaming and foaming drinks (proper ID required). Headlining is the band "Granian."
• Dance Fusion 2: Ashdown House, 8:30pm 10.25.2003
  Finally dance the night away at Ashdown's 2nd International Dance Party with 3 dance floors and plenty to eat and drink. Bring proper ID to drink.

Questions? Contact gsc-50-chair[at]mit[dot]edu.

Interested in Women's Heath and the changes at MIT Medical?

Then come out to the campus-wide forum on Women's Health at MIT, where representatives from MIT Medical will be making presentations on what's new and what's not in ob/gyn services at the Institute. They will also be available to answer questions and get feedback about the changes in staff and service location.

Questions? Contact the GSC HCA chairs at gsc-hca[at]mit[dot]edu.

The Graduate Student Council was originally formed in January of 1953, and to celebrate these past 50 years of service to the graduate community, GSC is holding a series of large events from October 23—25.

Representatives from the GSC, Class of 2004, faculty and administrators will recommend speakers to President Vest, who will make the final selection. If you know of a speaker you would like to hear, please do the following by 5pm on October 14th:

• send an email to gsc-commencement-speaker[at]mit[dot]edu with "Commencement Speaker" in the subject line
• include a short note, of no more than 4 sentences, outlining who the person is and why they should be the speaker

The term for GSC Representatives begins October 15th. If you are interested in representing your department, your living group, or your special interest area please visit our GSC Representatives Page to find out how you can get involved with the GSC. Applications are accepted at any time, and you may contact the GSC Vice President at gsc-vice-president[at]mit[dot]edu for more information.

The inaugural Graduate Ring Premiere will be held on October 23rd of 2003, at 6pm in Walker Memorial. Co-Hosted with TechLink, this will also be one of the kick-off events for the GSC 50th Anniversary. The Graduate Ring Committee is offering a contest to win one of five free gold Grad Rats - visit their Information and Contest Page to find out more!

If you have any questions, please contact gsc-ring[at]mit[dot]edu.

$100k of the $2M collected from the yearly $200 student life fee will be allocated by the Dean for Graduate Students to projects that serve to improve graduate student life and build community. All students interested in "enriching the graduate experience" at MIT are encourages to submit proposals in consideration of funding! Proposals are due by October 15th. » Find out more

Tickets to the September 24th Red Sox game, discounted by the GSC, are now sold out. The interest in the event was great, and if you are interested in helping to coordinate such events in the future, we encourage you to contact the GSC Activities Committee.

MIT Medical is changing its hospital affiliation for Obstetrics and Gynecology services from Brigham and Women's Hospital to Mount Auburn Hospital.

GSVD is a one-day community service event that takes you to one of many interesting locations outside of MIT's walls to give back to the community. It will be held on September 13, 2003. Find out more and register to participate!

The GSC is responsible for planning, coordinating and carrying out the Institute's official Graduate Student Orientation. Please visit our Orientation Page for more information on what events we have planned.

If you are a new student, note that in addition to this, your department and/or living group may have their own orientation events as well.

If you have other questions about our welcoming events for this year's incoming class, please contact the GSC Orientation Chairs, Saeeda Jaffar and Akshay Mohan, at gsc-oc[at]mit[dot]edu.

The GSC Graduate Ring Committee is moving along quickly, but we still need your help in getting feedback on some design issues. The new GradRat will feature an icon that represents the students department in the ring, which means we have to create 28 different logos! We need student feedback on the icons we are creating, and have set up a webpage that shows the current ideas.

If you have any feedback or ideas, please contact the GSC Graduate Ring Committee at gsc-ring[at]mit[dot]edu.

August, 2003

The next General Council Meeting will be held on
Wednesday, August 6 at
5:30 p.m. in the
GSC Office (Walker Memorial room 220)

You can also find a Meeting Agenda on our Meetings Calendar.

August, 2003

As you can see, the GSC website has been relaunched, with an entirely new layout and sitemap. This new site was created after a great deal of usability and accessibility testing and has been designed to be easy-to-use for the average MIT graduate student. The site is currently in a "Beta" format, and a great deal of the content will be filled in within the next few weeks. If you have any comments or suggestions for the site, please email gsc-webmaster[at]mit[dot]edu.