CAT | News
The PAGSA website has been completely renovated. We are now using WordPress as our back-end with a database kindly provided by the College of Arts and Sciences. The new WordPress system will allow for easy maintenance, frequent updates to the latest in web technology, and an easy to use interface for all of the PAGSA officers to post news and events. If you would like to be a news and/or events contributor to the website, contact the PAGSA secretary for an account.
Navigating the website
Everything that was available on the old website is available here. Besides the main page links at the top, you can quickly sort through posts using the “Categories” box on the right side bar (you may need to scroll down a bit). In particular, the Resources category contains useful tools and workshops that graduate students should look into. Additionally, there is a list of some of the most important links on the right side bar. If you need help tracking down anything, feel free to Contact Us.
A note on browser compatibility
The website has been tested with Firefox 3.5, Chrome 3, Opera 10, and Internet Explorer 7/8. Internet Explorer 7 (and subsequently IE6) does not render the pages quite right (surprise, surprise…). If you choose to use Internet Explorer, please update to the latest version.
IEEE has announced their “IEEE Presidents’ Change the World Competition” for 2010. From their announcement, “The IEEE Presidents’ Change the World competition recognizes students who develop unique solutions to real-world problems using engineering, science, computing and leadership skills to benefit their community or humanity.” Entries will be accepted between Oct 12, 2009 and March 31, 2010.
On Sep 18, 2009, a speaker from communications will give a presentation tailored to graduate students in science about: “Why are public speaking skills important?”, “What do employers expect from doctorate and masters students in terms of communication?”, and “The basics of public speaking”. This session will occur at 12pm, replacing Journal Club for the week. Free pizza will be provided to attendees.
Please sign up for a journal club date this semester. The schedule of dates is listed on the right, under the “Upcoming Events” box.
The course planning committee has compiled some sample research tracks for various concentrations in Physics. If you are a new graduate student, it would be worthwhile to take a look at the recommended courses (which are additional to the core course requirements). These will be modified over time as courses phase in/out of existence. Find the list on the Resources page.
The first version of the MU Physics Department Graduate Student Handbook has gone live. Grab it here. Revisions, comments, and suggestions should be addressed to Dr. Carsten Ullrich.
Thanks to Michael Mayo for providing a LaTeX skeleton which can be used to write up a thesis or dissertation adhering to the MU graduate school’s requirements. I have updated the package to more closely match current requirements. The package is attached.
A first attempt has been made at adding some color to the website. If you have recently visited the website, you may need to refresh the page to see all the changes. Feedback is greatly appreciated, as programming knowledge and stylistic design don’t always go hand-in-hand. Color combination suggestions would be especially helpful.
(Edit: 7/12/2009) I need your help in selecting a color scheme. I have created a simple bitmap for everyone to play around with. Download pagsa_colors.zip [Edit: Link removed upon transfer to WordPress website] and edit the enclosed pagsa_colors.bmp file with your favorite graphics editor. All you need is MS Paint, or similar, with the paint bucket tool. Find a color combo that works and submit your bitmap (compress in zip) to pagsa@missouri.edu.
PAGSA is still in need of a logo. Banner style, square, circle… any shape that can be incorporated into the website and t-shirts. Submit design ideas if you have them!
Congratulations go out to Haibo Lin, Jacob Burres, Michael Mayo, and Gandhi Kujala for successfully defending their PhD theses. Be sure to wish them luck in their respective careers, as they will all be moving on soon.
As a reminder, PAGSA still has 4 Dominos pizza cards which can be used by both graduate students and faculty: buy 1 large pizza, get another large pizza free. You can check out one of the cards from room 228, by the chalkboard.
If you haven’t heard of it yet, check out WolframAlpha, Wolfram’s computational search engine. You may want to read Stephen Wolfram’s blog post about what WolframAlpha is, and what it hopes to become.
The web based contact form has been reinstated. ReCaptcha is being used to deter lazy spam bots from filling PAGSA’s email inbox. You can use the form for either normal messages or anonymous comments.
