UTM's Association of Graduate Students

Greetings from the UTMAGS!

And now from our news desk…

***Flu Shot Clinic**

Flu clinics for UTM students will be held on November 16 from 10am to 4pm in Coleman Commons for residence students, and for all students on November 22 from 10am to 2pm in the Student Centre Presentation Room and Friday, November 23 from 11am to 3pm in the Davis Bldg in the old library space just off the Meeting Place.  Students should bring their t-card and their health card.

**Grad Pub Quiz Challenge**

Good news, everyone! The Grad Pub Quiz Challenge has returned. Your team of up to 6 people can compete for prizes and eternal bragging rights in a general-knowledge trivia contest. Graduate students can get FREE beverage tickets, but ONLY if you RSVP to kyla.ercit@utoronto.ca before November 25. Here are the vitals:

Where: Blind Duck Pub

When: November 29, starting at 6pm

Who: All UTM graduate students, UTM staff and faculty, and their guests

Why: Great prizes, great company, and a great cause

How much: Suggested donation of $2 or 2 food items per person for the Mississauga Food Bank

**Campus Working Groups**

Want to get more involved on campus? The following working groups will be holding meetings during November. We encourage all interested graduate students to attend and voice their opinions!

Working Groups (meeting dates)

— Health & Counselling , November 14 at 1:00pm (room tba)

— International Centre, November 10 at 2:00pm in room 3129 (Ante Room) Davis Bldg.  Next meeting November 23 at 2:00pm in room 3129, Davis Bldg

— Shuttle Bus, November 10 at 10:00am in room 3131, Davis Bldg

— Career Centre, November 9 at 1:00pm in the Council Chamber (3130 Davis)

—  Child Care – meeting to be scheduled shortly

**Mad Students Society**

Mad Students Society (MSS) is meeting on Saturday, November 12 from 3:30pm to 5:30pm in downtown Toronto. (North York and Hamilton locations coming soon!) MSS is a group of students who are attending institutions of post-secondary or adult education and have past and/or present experiences with the psychiatric and/or mental health systems. MSS members meet monthly to support each other and talk about concerns we share. We also communicate through an email discussion listserv that is open to members from anywhere in the world. New members are always welcome. For more information on meeting location, joining the listserv, requesting brochures, or about the group, please email Elizabeth at outreach@madstudentsociety.com. Our website is being updated but can be found at www.madstudentsociety.com.

Cheers all!

UTMAGS

Fun fact of the week: In a pack of playing cards, the king of hearts is the only king without a moustache. He apparently did not participate in Movember…

Welcome back to the UTMAGS Weekly Newsletter!

Only about 25% of all of the graduate students at UTM are signed up for this listserv, so get your labmates/classmates signed up! Just have them send a message to utmags@utoronto.ca with the subject line “Listserv”, and we’ll add them to the list!

Let’s see here….

**Events**

We have LOTS of events coming up, including…

*Halloween Haunt at Canada’s Wonderland*
– Tickets are $15 each and are yours to use during any Halloween Haunt day (Cheap tickets, yay!).
– A minimum of 20 must be sold so please RSVP to utmags@utoronto.ca by Sunday, October 23rd.

*Pumpkin Carving Contest*
– Draw your blades people and battle it out with our pumpkin carving contest.
– Form teams or go solo and show off your jack-o-lanterns at UTMAGS’ Halloween Party (Details below).
– To enter RSVP to utmags@utoronto.ca by Sunday, October 23rd.
– Each team gets 2 pumpkins. Pumpkins will be delivered on Monday, October 24th.
– PRIZES!!! The winner gets a $20 gift card to Pizza Pizza.

*UTMAGS Halloween Party*
– Free food*, free candy, cool pumpkin-carving and costume contests!
– When: Friday, October 28th, 5pm.
– Where: Grad Lounge, DB1100.
– PRIZES!!! $20 to Pizza Pizza for the pumpkin contest, and $20 to Starbucks for costume winners.

*In exchange for free food, candy and fun, UTMAGS will collect donations of 2 canned food items or $2/student for the United Way.

*Paintball*
– Shoot your lab mates with little pellets of paint on November 4th (we know you want to…)
– 24 spots are available for $5 each, so hurry and RSVP to utmags@utoronto.ca.
– We will be organizing carpooling from campus, leaving at 5pm. Need a ride? Let us know!

*Awesome Trivia Night*
– Week of November 17th.
– Form a team and show off your nerd skills (and your ridiculous amount of pop culture knowledge)
– There will be FOOD, and PRIZES! (More details to come…)

*Laser Tag*
– December 2nd.
– Shooting beams of lasers at each other. Need we say more?
– RSVP to utmags@utoronto.ca.

Cheers!

UTMAGS

Fun fact of the week: In 1675, the King of England banned coffee houses, claiming they were places where people met to conspire against him.

(fact stolen from the hilarious Matthew Inman of theoatmeal.com)

Welcome to the UTMAGS Newsletter, now with 20% more news!*

*Actual increase in news uncalculated.

**Awesome Upcoming Events**

Paintball!

Would you like to hit your lab mates with little pellets of paint?

(We know you do…)

Then join us on October 21st to go paint-balling!

There are 24 spots available, and tickets are $5 each.

Please RSVP now!

We will be organizing carpooling from campus, leaving at 5pm. Need a ride? Let us know!

Questions? Email utmags@utoronto.ca

Winter Sports

Watch the UTMAGS Facebook page for an upcoming poll about which winter pick-up sports we should organize. Have any suggestions? Email us, or post on our wall.

**Wanted**

The Department of Student Housing & Residence Life is seeking a graduate student living in residence who is  interested in participating on the Student Housing Advisory Committee.

The Student Housing Advisory Committee provides students with a forum to voice opinions and ideas for the University of Toronto Mississauga department of Student Housing & Residence Life, and serves to facilitate bi-directional communication between students and housing staff.

Student advisors provide input and feedback on matters pertaining to housing services, programming for students, resources and departmental budget priorities. Areas of interest for which student feedback and discussion is invaluable include:

·    Student needs in various communities, including undergraduate, graduate, bachelor & family communities;

·    Housing policies, services, judiciary structures, and customer service and engagement issues;

·    Budgetary priorities for the department and housing fee consultation;

·    Advocates for positive impact on student behaviour in support of their academic success;

·    Student-focused marketing and communications within housing.

Currently, there is one space on the committee representing the interests of graduate students.  If you are interested in participating, please email me, emma.beamson@utoronto.ca with a short statement outlining your interest and a copy of your availability before Sunday October 16th,11:59 p.m.  We would like to have someone in place by Monday.

Cheers all!

UTMAGS

Fun fact of the week: The original website for “Space Jam” (yes, circa 1996) is still online. The website? http://www2.warnerbros.com/spacejam/movie/jam.htm