Department of Anthropology, University at Buffalo

AGSA Minutes - october 10, 2009

  1. Attendance:
    Ammie Mitchell, Haley Showers, Amber Kling, Laura Harrison, Jen Faux, Laura LeVon, Mike Rienti, Joe Costa, Elijah McStotts, Kate Whalen, Amanda Osterhause, Richard Gillette, Sunday Moltonwakefeild

  2. SBI programming grant for the computer lab- we decided not to write a grant for the computer lab, there was not a enough hardware to legitimate writing a grant. We will be looking for flat screens from UB surplus. We also voted unanimously to encumber $60 to purchase an optical drive and some new peripherals.

  3. Co- Sponsorship- Geography Awareness Week- unanimously voted to cosponsor the Geography week $50. Here is some general info about Geography week:
    Geography Awareness Week is the 3rd week in November. Basically, our event list is looking as follows:
    On Tuesday we are planning to host a Geography Quiz Bowl on the spine for teams of students and faculty. We are reserving the Jeopardy-like clicker system for this event. On Wednesday, we are bringing in Brian Barnes, the head of the Western New York GIS Users group for our GIS day speaker. He'll speak on some practical application of GIS out there in the world. Plus, he and his wife are oenophiles, and so we are going to invite them to stay after the lecture to host a Geography of Wine event. This was a popular event that we added last year, and so we wanted to continue it. We'll have a wine tasting, emphasizing the differences between wines from different regions.

    On Thursday we are planning on hosting an International Games Night. This event blends good food, good drink, and entertaining games from around the world into one exciting evening. Likewise, it has been a popular event for the last three years and so we would like it to continue.

    One Friday we will be hosting a Graduate Student Symposium from about 10:00 to 12:00. We would like to have graduate students from outside the geography department present papers if possible. The theme of the symposium is still TBD. We have invited Dr. Kavita Pandit, who, until recently was part of the SUNY administration, and i the president of the American Association of Geographers to give a lecture (and we will be catering lunch) so the theme can take a cue from her lecture topic when she sends an abstract.

  4. AGSA Halloween Party- Unanimously voted to encumber $120 for the Halloween party. The party will be held on Friday, 10/30/09 in the Grad Lounge at 7.30 pm. We will be decorating the grad lounge that afternoon. Please contact Kate Whalen if you would like to help out.

  5. AGSA Coffee hours- Unanimously voted to encumber $60 to cover a coffee hour in November. Date TBA.

  6. AGSA Happy hours- We will be having a happy hour sometime in November. Date TBD.

  7. NEAA- 50th conference will be held here in March 5-7, 2010. The theme is Borders and Boundaries
    1. Symposia- we would like to have enough grad students to submit papers that we could organize a symposia or panel that high lights our research
    2. Staffing- we will need grad students to help staff the events. More details to follow
    3. Happy Hour- we would like to sponsor a happy hour for grad students. More details to follow.
    4. Fundraiser- Dr. Pollock agreed that we could design and sell T-shirts, mugs, keychains, etc., which would be a great fundraiser for us.

  8. Committee Reports (IEMA, Faculty, GSEU, Senate, Grievance, Curriculum)

  9. Vote to create a committee to redesign the Best of Buffalo hand out- unanimously voted to create this committee. Russell Gullekson volunteered to head this committee, which was first proposed via email. He was unanimously voted into the position.

  10. Community Outreach- the club can earn $250 by performing 50 hours of community service. Popular option is a Habitat for Humanity day.

  11. Events we want to plan- this year we will be planning field trips to the ROM and Meadowcoft. If you are interested in helping to plan these please contact Kate.

  12. Reminders: Conference funding deadlines

  13. Any other new business- we should plan a happy hour for the IEMA post-doc.

  14. That's It!

Repectfully submitted,


Kate Whalen
AGSA President

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