End-of-the-Semester Update

Aloha LIS Students,

I hope everyone is doing well. I'm posting a brief blog to provide updates from the GSO Assembly. But first, please welcome our new 2009-2010 LIS Graduate Student Representative -- Karin Kuchler! Elected in a landslide victory, she will begin GSO duties in the beginning of Fall 2009.

Update to the UPASS: The GSO Assembly recently received the second draft for the UPASS reduced fee trial program. For the duration of January 2010 to December 2011, all eligible Manoa students will receive a bus pass for The Bus. 'Eligible' is defined as those students who have paid the $20 tranpsortation-specific fee when they pay their tuition. The trial partnership with The Bus will reduce the current bus pass fee of $100 to a much smaller $20.

And finally, please join the Graduate Student Organization End-of-the-Year BBQ! The BBQ is this Friday, May 1st on the Marine Science Building (MSB) Lanai from 6:00pm – 7:30pm. The GSO will provide meat burgers, veggie burgers, hot dogs, chips, and cookies. Beverages will also be available.

Mahalo,
Rebecca Marrall

March GSO Update

Aloha LIS Students,

I hope all is going well with your semester midterms! The March GSO Assembly was quite busy, so I have a lot to report:

First off, the GSO Assembly received a presentation about graduate student exchange and study abroad opportunities from Rosemary Casey. Ms. Casey is the Coordinator for the Peace Corps chapter on campus, in addition to being an excellent resource person from the UH Manoa Office of International Education. Ms. Casey's presentation highlighted many of the possible venues for study abroad and exchange, and stressed that many graduate students under-utilize these chances. For more information, please contact:

Rosemary Casey, PhD
Coordinator
Queen Lili'uokalani Center for Student Services
Room 206
(808) 956-3101
rcasey@hawaii.edu

Or go to the following website:
http://www.hawaii.edu/oie/uhprograms.php

Next, the GSO Assembly listened to a discussion put forth by John McNamara, Associate Director of External Affairs, and Carl Clapp, Associate Athletics Director. The two men wanted to converse with GSO Representatives about a potential increase in student semester fees for the Athletic Department. The potential fee could be anywhere from $50 to $70 per student, per semester. Both Mr. McNamara and Mr. Clapp assured GSO that these fees were not yet in place, and that tonight's conference was merely an informal conversation.

Here are the facts from the presentation:

• The Athletics Dept. has already sought outside funding and sponsorships for its budget. The Manoa Maniacs initiative was an effort to accomplish that objective. However, they claim that it is not enough to cover expenses.
• Other universities charge high Student Athletic Fees, ranging from $32 (Fresno State) to well over a hundred dollars (Idaho). Currently, Hawai'i does not charge students an Athletics Fee but students do pay an Activities Fee.
• If the fee proposal passed, students would be able to attend UH games for free. And Mr. McNamara and Mr. Clapp state that some of the collected money could go to non-Athletic functions.

Please understand that the Student Athletic Fee is still in a conceptual stage; the gentlemen had no official proposal but only wanted to receive feedback from GSO. The general opinion of the GSO Assembly was negative; few representatives seemed to think that a Student Athletics Fee -- upwards of $50, at that -- was a wise investment in these times of budget cuts and economic hardships. For most of the audience, the disadvantages of the idea far outweighed the benefits.

I invite LIS students to share their opinions on this potential fee. If you have concerns or questions, please e-mail me at rmarrall@hawaii.edu so that I can better represent the collective LIS opinion.

A reminder -- the School of Pacific & Asian Studies will offer its 20th Annual Conference from Wednesday, March 11 to Friday, March 13th. The keynote speaker will be Professor Greg Dvorak from Tokyo University. Students from all disciplines are welcome. For further information, please go to: http://www.hawaii.edu/shaps/gradconf/2009/index.html.

And lastly, the end of the 2008-2009 academic year is quickly approaching. Consequently, the Library & Information Science program will need new representatives for 2009-2010! Are you interested in a fun way to get involved with LIS leadership, with a minimal time commitment? Then GSO may be for you!

Find out at an informational meeting on Thursday, April 2nd, 2009. We will meet at Paradise Palms from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. LIS students interested in being a GSO Representative (or simply learning about GSO) are encouraged to attend and learn more. Elections for the 2009-2010 Representatives will occur shortly after.


Mahalo, and Good Luck on Midterms!
Rebecca Marrall

Welcome to 2009!

Aloha LIS Students!

I hope you all had a fabulous Winter Break! With the Break and the start of a new semester, I imagine everyone is really busy. Therefore, this blog will be (relatively) short! :-)

Couple of quick announcements:

1. The Graduate Student Organization just issued the formal call for candidates for the new Chair of GSO. The term would occur during the 2009-2010 academic year. If you are interested in submitting your name and running for the position, contact Keith Sakuda at gso@hawaii.edu. In addition, GSO is looking for individuals to fill several vacant positions, such as the Newsletter, Ombuds, and Campus/Events Chairs. Again, if you are interested in learning more, or submitting your name for election, please contact Keith Sakuda at the aforementioned e-mail.

2. LIS needs another Graduate Student Organization Representative! Beginning in January 2009, we are down to one GSO Rep and you folks deserve two! The GSO Representative position is a great experience that offers many opportunities to contribute to student government, and a chance to advocate for your fellow LIS students. Don't think you have enough time? No worries -- the time commitment is minimal, and you can share duties with another representative!

If you'd like to learn more, please contact Rebecca Marrall at rmarrall@hawaii.edu. If you are interested in submitting your name for the vacant position, please contact Dr. Andrew Wertheimer at wertheim@hawaii.edu.

Mahalo, and good luck on the new semester!
Rebecca Marrall

December 1, 2008 GSO Meeting

Aloha LIS Students,

I hope this post finds everyone well! A few updates from the Graduate Student Organization:

Just in time for those New Year resolutions, the GSO is participating in the Great Aloha Run of Honolulu on February 16, 2009. The event is a run/walk marathon with a total distance of 8.2 miles. Interested in completing the run? You can register under the GSO Group Code 143. If you sign up before December 5th, you will receive a discount. Furthermore, all family and friends are invited, too! To learn more, please go to http://www.greataloharun.com/.

Another item of interest -- particularly for graduate students living on campus: On Monday, December 8th, the GSO will meet with the Director of Student Housing to discuss the possibility of creating a student residence restricted to graduate students only. The dorm in consideration is Hale Wainani, a large complex with 108 apartments and located next to Hale Noelani on campus. If you are interested in expressing your opinion on this matter, please meet the GSO representatives in Frear Hall first floor at 4 p.m. The meeting will last approximately an hour.

And finally... The Graduate Student Organization Grants & Awards Committee has decided the Spring 2009 budget! As Library & Information Science belong to the Blue Group, we have an approximate pool of $13,125 to fund professional development opportunities. I urge everyone to use this resource -- especially since the ALA Annual Conference registration is coming up!

Mahalo, and good luck on Finals!
Melissa Kayongo and Rebecca Marrall

New Developments in the GSO!

Aloha LIS Students,

Last night, the Graduate Student Organization gathered for the October 2008 Assembly. We covered some important issues that have great relevance for LIS students -- here are some brief updates!

The GSO Assembly voted on three motions:

1. The first motion was particularly important to professional programs like LIS. The motion moved to amend the current application criteria for graduate grants and awards. This motion was passed.

In the past, for a graduate student to apply for GSO funds, the proposal and funds request needed to directly benefit a master's or doctoral thesis. And in order to attend conferences, priority was given to graduate students who intended to present a paper or poster. As of yesterday, the GSO Assembly voted to remove the thesis-related restrictions and to allow students seeking funds for "professional development" to apply.

So what does this development mean? The removal of the thesis-related restrictions means that professional degree students -- like the LIS program -- can apply for career development opportunities like conferences without the added stipulation of having to prepare a paper or presentation. Keep in mind that application for GSO grants and awards doesn't mean that you will get the funds, but the criteria are now much more achievable for classified graduate students who aren't writing a thesis. This is wonderful news for LIS, as it improves our future ability to attend conferences and other professional gatherings!

2. The second motion proposed to the GSO Assembly stated that minimum and maximum caps be placed on the grants and awards. This motion was passed. The new minimum and maximum for domestic expenses are $250 and $1,000. The new minimum and maximum for international expenses are $500 and $2,000.

3. The third motion proposed a temporary measure for Fall 2008 only. It recommended that the entire GSO Budget be divided equally between all graduate groups -- $10,500 each. Fund distribution is going to be re-evaluated in Spring 2009 based on head count (how many people per group) and demand (how many people applied for funds per group). This measure passed.

Because the funding is going to be re-evaluated next semester, it is important to apply for grants and awards this semester. If LIS applies for funding frequently, it will send a strong message about how much we value and need the grants and awards from the Graduate Student Organization. Plus, the demand for funds may allot LIS more funds in the future.

Interested in learning more or applying for funds? Visit the Graduate Student Organization website at http://gso.hawaii.edu/html/index.php.

Additional Stuff:

The GSO Assembly also had guest speakers who attended the session. Jennifer Graf presented on behalf of the Office of the Ombuds, and offered an overview of the services the Office can provide for graduate students. If you are having an academic or professional conflict, the Ombudsmen are a resource for impartial help. If you're interested in learning more, please visit the website at www.manoa.hawaii.edu/ombuds.

Candidates Isaac Choy (D) and Jeri Jeffyres (R) also attended the GSO Assembly last night. They are both running for the House of Representatives district seat that includes University, Manoa, and Moiliili. If you are interested in learning more about the candidates, please see their websites for additional information.

Thanks to the new Representatives

Special thanks to our representatives for 2008-2009:

Melissa Kayongo -- GSO Representative

Rebecca Marrall -- Alternate GSO Rep.

GSO REPRESENTATIVES ELECTION PROTOCOL

GSO REPRESENTATIVES ELECTION PROTOCOL

ELIGIBILITY

To be eligible, the graduate students running for election must be classified graduate students in good standing and cannot be members of the GSO Executive Council.

APPOINTMENT MODALITIES

Before appointing any program GSO representative, the Chair of the graduate program should ensure:

1- That all graduate students currently enrolled in the program be informed of the issue at hand by sending a short announcement stipulating that students interested in running for the positions of GSO representative and alternate representative inform her or him of their candidacy.

2- That within 2 weeks of the announcement the names of the candidates be forwarded by email to all graduate students currently enrolled in the program along with a request for individual vote. All votes are to be sent by e-mail directly to the program Chair within 1 week of this request.

3- That within 2 weeks of the end of the election week the names of the winning candidates be announced via e-mail to all graduate students in the program.

4- That s/he formally appoints the elected candidate(s) as the GSO program representative and alternate representative by sending an e-mail notification to:

- GSO President Marc Le Pape & GSO Secretary Margaret Pulver.

5- Finally, the chair should meet with the newly elected GSO representative and alternate representative to inform them that:

- No GSO program representative or alternate may be part of the GSO grant proposal peer review process whenever themselves are applying for a GSO grant, due to obvious conflict of interest.

- No GSO program representative or alternate may entertain any discussion whatsoever with any graduate students concerning the specifics of a graduate student's grant proposal, as representatives cannot be judge and party in the grant proposals peer review process.

- Should the GSO become aware that any infraction to the aforementioned two rules has occurred, the matter will be referred immediately to the Graduate Dean and the GSO will immediately file a grievance with the office of judicial affairs for Violation of the Student Code of Conduct.

RATIFICATION OF APPOINTMENT(S)

The GSO President will ratify the appointment(s) and the GSO secretary will updates the GSO list of representative as soon as the Dept. Chair confirms to them both that:

- An election following the aforementioned protocol took place before the appointment(s)

- All elected representatives in the program were informed of the consequences attached to any breach of ethical standards.