<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div>************************** GSC ANNOUNCEMENTS *************************</div><div> more extensive announcements online: <a href="http://gsc.mit.edu">http://gsc.mit.edu</a></div><div>------------------------------------------------------------------------</div><div><br></div><div>headlines (details below):</div><div><br></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span> 1. Orientation Logo Contest</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Deadline June 15th!</div><div><br></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span> 2. Cultural Festival</div><div><br></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span> 3. Stratton Student Center Locker Lottery </div><div><br></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span> 4. Barker Reading Room Renovation</div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Student input needed!</div><div><br></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span> 5. 3.5% Stipend Increase for Graduate Students!</div><div><br></div><div>details:</div><div>------------------------------------------------------------------------</div><div><br></div><div>*Orientation Logo Contest!*</div><div><br></div><div>Interested in designing a logo for GSC Orientation? </div><div>It will appear on the Orientation T-shirt, GSN magazine, </div><div>and posters all over campus!</div><div><br></div><div>If your logo is selected, you will get a $100 gift card to </div><div>Cambridgeside Galleria!!! </div><div>Besides, your name will appear on the GSN magazine!</div><div><br></div><div>Deadline to submit: June 15th, 2008</div><div><br></div><div>Please send your logo in the form of a JPG to <a href="mailto:gsc-oc@mit.edu">gsc-oc@mit.edu</a>, </div><div>along with your name, course number and a </div><div>brief description of your logo.</div><div><br></div><div>------------------------------------------------------------------------</div><div><br></div><div>*Cultural Festival*</div><div><br></div><div>[PERFORMANCE + FREE YUMMY FOOD!!!] </div><div>Do you want to have yummy food? </div><div>Do you want to enjoy cultural performance?</div><div>Then, please come to Sidney-Pacific graduate residence hall </div><div>(70 Pacific St.) to enjoy the cultural festival, on June 15th. </div><div>We will have delicious food from 7 countries </div><div>and cultural performance by representatives of 7</div><div>associations at MIT. You will be served yummy food </div><div>and wonderful performance, so don't forget to </div><div>mark a big red circle on your calendar. </div><div>It would be one of great memories which </div><div>you cannot forget in your MIT life.</div><div><br></div><div>When : Sunday, June 15, 1-4pm</div><div>Where : Sidney-Pacific Graduate Residence Hall (Multipurpose room)</div><div><br></div><div>------------------------------------------------------------------------</div><div><br></div><div>*Stratton Student Center Locker Lottery for Summer 2008*</div><div><br></div><div>We have 48 lockers for current, registered MIT students. </div><div>Applications can be found at </div><div><a href="http://web.mit.edu/campus-activities/www">http://web.mit.edu/campus-activities/www</a> </div><div>and are due June 13th.</div><div> </div><div>The Lockers are in the Reading Room and Game Room.</div><div><br></div><div>------------------------------------------------------------------------</div><div><br></div><div>*Barker Reading Room Renovation*</div><div><br></div><div>The Barker Engineering Library will begin modest initial improvements</div><div>to the grand Reading Room under the Great Dome in the coming year.</div><div>We are seeking one graduate student to provide input as we engage</div><div>the services of an architect in creating initial designs.</div><div><br></div><div>This initial phase will involve changing the landscape at the </div><div>floor level in the Reading Room, including furniture and lighting.</div><div>Our vision for this phase of the Reading Room project is to</div><div>enhance the effectiveness of the space as a quiet and inspirational</div><div>place to study and engage in the documents of engineering. </div><div><br></div><div>Student representatives will work with us in the following ways:</div><div>- Attend three meetings with the architect throughout the summer.</div><div>- Participate in preparatory meetings with Libraries staff.</div><div>- Bring other student input to the project to react to and provide </div><div>input to architect-provided designs - be a representative</div><div>for the student population that you represent.</div><div><br></div><div>The Libraries will pay for the time spent in helping us with this project. </div><div>If interested email <a href="mailto:gsc-secretary@mit.edu">gsc-secretary@mit.edu</a></div><div><br></div><div>------------------------------------------------------------------------</div><div><br></div><div>*Stipend Increase for Graduate Students*</div><div> </div><div>As it does every year, the Graduate Student Council made a</div><div>presentation this spring to the Dean’s Group, advocating for an</div><div>increase in graduate student stipends.</div><div> </div><div>To inform our arguments, the GSC conducted a Cost of Living Survey,</div><div>which measured the cash flow of each graduate student to inform</div><div>recommendations on stipends and rents to the administration. </div><div> </div><div>We analyzed the survey data and came to four results. </div><div>First we determined the distribution of respondents of the survey</div><div>to show that the survey was representative of the graduate population.</div><div>Next we determined that the basket of goods and services that make up </div><div>graduate student consumption inflated by 3% over the course of 2007-2008.</div><div>Third, we showed that according to the survey results,</div><div>many graduate students were not making ends meet and used savings,</div><div>credit card debt and gifts from relatives as ways of resolving their budget gap.</div><div>Finally, we showed that the cost of off-campus housing is roughly at par</div><div>with the cost of on-campus housing in January of 2008.</div><div> </div><div>The GSC presented these findings to the Dean's Group meeting</div><div>at the end of February. This resulted in a stipend increase of 3.5%.</div><div><br></div><div>------------------------------------------------------------------------</div><br><br><div> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div>______________________</div><div>Lorenna Lee-Houghton</div><div>GSC Secretary, 2008-2009</div><div><br></div><div><br></div></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></span> </div><br></body></html>