Ion Garate
I am a third year graduate student working in condensed matter theory. During the past year I have enjoyed serving in the Physics Graduate Student Representative Board in colaboration with some great people. In general, my efforts have been focused in enhancing the academic level of our department, so that current and prospective students can benefit from a more complete and prestigious education. In particular, I have led
- the opening of a new course for Fall 2005 (many-body physics)
- a proposal for the renovation and upgrade of the physics department website (ongoing).
I will continue serving the committe by aiming at a better department in which your voice would have a strong representation.
Jesse Pino
Plasma Theory
I'm a recovering Yankee, raised in Vermont and NY. I escaped to California (B.S. Physics, Caltech '03) for an undergraduate degree and am here because Austin is a great (and warm) place to do grad work.
I will work on academic concerns. I'd also like to increase the number of graduate social events, and improve our involvement with recruitment.
Stacy Sidle
Stacy is a second-year graduate student from Memphis, TN. She attended Rhodes College where she was president of SPS, treasurer of her sorority, and a representative in the college admissions office. She doesn’t know exactly what her research here at UT will be, but she does know that she is incredibly interested in serving as a representative to the Graduate Welfare Committee. She has a lot to offer the committee, most importantly the perspectives of first-year and women graduate students. In addition, she’s outgoing, enthusiastic, and very approachable, making her a good choice for a liaison between the graduate student community and the rest of the department.
She also happens to make very good cookies.
P.J. Smith
I joined the GWC because I've made just about every mistake possible here in grad school and I'd like to help others avoid the pitfalls I've stumbled into. I don't feel that the department does enough to help out students with less than stellar academic backgrounds even though we're very capable of doing quality research. We shouldn't be penalized for the poor course offerings and preparation a smaller undergrad program may have provided, at least not once we've been accepted into this excellent program.
Some questions I'd like answered: *Why are core courses graded so differently between professors, yet we're always required a B+ average to qualify? *What's the purpose of taking the physics GRE subject test if it isn't used to help place us in classes that might help fill in the holes in our background? *If half the class (it feels like half) already has a masters degree or has taken an equivalent grad school core course, why are our grades part of that distribution?
And others…