Amber Jenkins Fermilab Graduate Student Association Imperial College, London Annual Fermilab Users’ Meeting June 2, GSA Report GSA

Amber Jenkins, GSA Report Users' Meeting, June 2, 2003 What is the Graduate Student Association (GSA)? The voice of the graduate students at Fermilab GSA reps elected every year in October: Amber Jenkins (Imperial College, London) Andy Haas (University of Washington) Martin Hennecke (Karlsruhe University) Reid Mumford (Johns Hopkins University) Jun Zhang (Columbia University) D0 CDF Astro-theory 2 GSA

Amber Jenkins, GSA Report Users' Meeting, June 2, 2003 Our Mission To represent the needs of the grad students to the Lab To act as a liaison between students & Lab Directorate, experiments & UEC To continue the education of the graduate student population To organize social events for the younger physics community; encourage interactions between students from different areas 3 GSA

Amber Jenkins, GSA Report Users' Meeting, June 2, 2003 Important Issues Visas Medical insurance Childcare Bike path & taxi access at the Lab Future of HEP GSA 4

Amber Jenkins, GSA Report Users' Meeting, June 2, 2003 Visas Post 9/11 security restrictions make life difficult for foreign scientists Significant problem: Foreigners make up > 30% of science & engineering doctorate-recipients in US Requirements for detailed personal info found intrusive Visa renewal can take many months – in the meantime research is disrupted Visa status in turn affects the Social Security Number, drivers’ licence, car insurance, banking… GSA 5

Amber Jenkins, GSA Report Users' Meeting, June 2, 2003 Medical Insurance Crucial issue Affects those who can least afford to pay – i.e. grad students & foreign visitors Would like to see all students with adequate medical coverage Currently conducting Medical Insurance Survey 2003 Working with URA, Benefits & insurance brokers to try to improve situation GSA 6

Amber Jenkins, GSA Report Users' Meeting, June 2, 2003 Washington DC Trip GSA accompanied UEC to Washington DC in March 2003 Met with Senators & Representatives Lobby for increased funding for HEP Funding situation is critical: over the past 12 years, funding by 25%. Certainly affects students making decisions about their future career. Important to represent perspective of young physicists in Washington GSA 7

Amber Jenkins, GSA Report Users' Meeting, June 2, 2003 Other Issues Childcare – affects small proportion of students, but for those affected it is a significant problem Bike Access at the Lab – for many years, campaigns to improve bike access at Fermilab Taxi Service – students who don’t have cars are dependent on Lab taxis and taxi service hours GSA 8

Amber Jenkins, GSA Report Users' Meeting, June 2, 2003 Education “Status of the Lab” – Mike Witherell U-Dzero talks CDF grad student talks UTeV – organized by UEC Career Night - July very useful for students - speakers from Lab, universities, industry - advice & info about career options available GSA 9

Amber Jenkins, GSA Report Users' Meeting, June 2, 2003 Social Life… Hallowe’en Party 2002 – ~120 people partied in the barn, our resident DJ, fantastic costumes, pumpkin carving, apple- bobbing… Bingo Night – our very own Fermi bingo! LHC Symposium ’03 Party Pachanga season has begun! New Perspectives Party this week… 10 GSA

Amber Jenkins, GSA Report Users' Meeting, June 2, 2003 New Perspectives 2003 GSA June 3-5, 2003 Annual student conference at Fermilab A great line-up…. - 4 guest speakers - 6 posters - 16 student talks (D0, CDF, MINOS, MiniBooNE, Muon Project, Computing Division, Beams Division, SDSS..) - 1 black-belt karate demonstration!! Come and hear about the physics that’s really being done! 11

Amber Jenkins, GSA Report Users' Meeting, June 2, 2003 Conclusions… Our job is to represent the grad student population at the Lab We can do this in big and small ways It is important, now more than ever, that younger physicists’ voices are heard To help us do a good job we strongly encourage people to get involved! We’ve had a lot of fun and there’s a lot more to come!! GSA 12