EGSA Appetize 10.16.13

EGSA,

This email interrupts, not ends, the two-week EGSA services shutdown. Apparently, some people naively expect elected officials to do what they were elected to do. Rather than give in to their demands, even if it means doing what’s best for everyone and saving our organization from collapse, we here in the Office of the Secretary have chosen to drag out the shutdown as long as possible by pretending to work hard and blaming others. And attending our sister’s wedding this Friday. Some announcements, however, simply must be made.

Here they are, stripped of their usual overpriced and inflated commentary. Stupid shutdowns.

The Essential Announcements

Clarifications and Instructions Regarding English Department Funding for Conferences

• Yes, there’s money. Yeah, you can probably get some. No, probably not that much. Yes, you need to be responsible and organized and fill out some paperwork and all that. See Dr. Hanks’s message below for details:

English graduate students who have had papers accepted for presentation at a recognized academic conference may apply for reimbursement of their expenses for up to $150 for M.A. program candidates and $300 for Ph.D. candidates. In order to allow every graduate student the opportunity to attend at least one academic conference to present a paper, it has become necessary to initially limit each student to one request per academic year.  However, toward the end of the budget year, if there are funds remaining in the current allocation, the Graduate Travel Funds Committee will then consider requests for funds to support travel to a second conference. Students apply by sending an e-mail to the faculty chair of the department committee members responsible for granting awards, which rotates. This year the chair is Maurice Hunt and the members are Joe Fulton and Emily Setina. The e-mail, sent simultaneously to all three members, should apply for a specific amount, describe the paper along with its title, the name and place of the conference, its dates, and include a several-sentence account of how presenting the specific paper will professionally benefit the graduate student. Two attachments to the e-mail are required: a pdf of a letter or e-mail from a conference official that shows acceptance of the paper, and a completed Travel Grant Application form. (The form appears on the EGSA website). After returning from the conference, the student attaches travel and conference-related receipts to a reimbursement form, which may be obtained from Lois Avey. The completed form is returned to Office Manager Avey and she will give it to Dr. Vitanza for her signature. A reimbursement check will be sent a few weeks afterward to the graduate student’s local mailing address.

Tea. Shirts.

• Dr. Ford writes,

Come by the English office to pick up your free English department t-shirt, wear the shirt on Friday, and join us for tea at 2:30.

20^th Century Reading Group, Fri., 18 Oct., 4:30pm, Amy and Emily’s (2223 N. 6^th St.)

• Short stories by Australian writer Tim Winton
• Pick up copies of the stories from Elizabeth’s desk in CS 413 and show up on Friday to discuss them with your mates. Bonus points if you talk like an Aussie the whole time. Or if you dress up like Crocodile Dundee.

Professional Development Panel, Fri., 25 Oct., 2:30pm, CS 4^th

• “Preparing for the Job Market” with Drs. Barcus, DePalma, Pond, and Smart
• Presumably, you will be instructed to stock up on tissues and ice cream.
• But you will also get advice, resources, and information regarding the job search in or out of academia. These are things you want.
• You will also get pumpkin chocolate-chip muffins. These are things you need.

MRRS, Fri., 25 Oct., 2:30pm, ABL Lecture Hall

• Dr. Robert Boenig (Texas A&M), “‘It All Began with a Picture’: The Medieval Roots of C. S. Lewis’s Visual Imagination”
• This is, in fact, scheduled for the same time as the aforementioned event. It is unfortunate. It is unavoidable. It is probably a conspiracy designed to keep you from getting a job and forcing you to read C. S. Lewis without really understanding the medieval roots of his visual imagination. Don’t let the conspirators win. Blame the shutdown, pick one, and attend.

Dead Writer Reading, Fri., 1 Nov., 7:30pm, Amy and Emily’s (2223 N. 6^th St.)

• Sarah Rude writes of this official EGSA fall event,

Instead of the usual themed potluck, we’re going to have a “Dead Writer Reading” at which participants dress up as one of their favorite dead writers and do a short (1-3 min) reading from one of their works. Think of it as the Halloween counterpart to “Bad Wine, Bad Poetry.”

• Do not confuse this with the 18 Oct. event hosted at Amy and Emily’s. At the 1 Nov. event, Crocodile Dundee outfits are not (I think) encouraged.

Anticipating a return to the flush times of fully functioning EGSA services,

Jeremy Leatham

EGSA Secretary