June 18-24, 2012

1. WEEKLY SERVICES IN THE GLC
Weekly services are on hiatus for the summer, except for GLC Café and Statistical Consulting:

  • GLC Café: AM 9-10 on first and last Thursdays; PM 3:30-5:00 every Thursday, Reading Room
  • Statistical consulting by LISA: Weekdays, 1:00-3:00pm, GLC Videoconference Room

2. FREE SUMMER YOGA IN THE GLC – UPDATED DETAILS!
Mondays and Wednesdays 12:00-1:00pm, GLC Multipurpose Room
Yoga will be on Mondays and Wednesdays in the GLC Multipurpose Room, starting on Monday, Jun 18 through second summer. Yoga WILL NOT be held on the following dates: Jun 27, Jul 4, 11, 16, 18 and Aug 13. Participants are asked to bring their own yoga mat, water, towel, strap, or any props they want. Some yoga mats may be checked out at the Information Desk while supplies last. Any changes to the schedule or other details will be announced on this listserv.

3. SHORT STAT COURSE: INTRO TO JMP
Monday, Jun 18; 4:00-6:00PM
Instructor: Yiming Peng. This short course provides an introduction to JMP statistical software and is designed for people who are not familiar with JMP. It starts with basic data manipulation and moves to some advanced features. Topics covered in this course include importing data, graphing data, descriptive statistics such as numerical summaries, and inferential statistics such as t-tests, ANOVA, and regression. Register at www.lisa.stat.vt.edu/?q=short_courses.

4. GLC CAFÉ PM: MUPCAKES OR CUFFINS?
Thursday, Jun 21, 3:30-5:00pm, GLC Reading Room   
To follow up on last week’s discussion, this week’s café will be dedicated to the exploration of the differences between muffins and cupcakes, and what would happen if you crossed them (would they be able to reproduce?) If you feel like experimenting a little, try your hand at crossing a muffin with a cupcake and bring the results to Thursday’s café. The GLC Café continues throughout the summer with coffee and tea in the wonderful company of your graduate-student and Grad-School colleagues. Bring your own mug if you can.  Free coffee, tea and light snacks provided every week.

5. SHORT STAT COURSE: JMP CAPABILITIES IN DESIGN OF EXPERIMENTS
Thursday, Jun 21; 4:00-6:00pm, 3060 Torg
Instructor: Liaosa Xu. The classical design (factorial design, response surface design, etc.) may fail to meet our requirements due to an irregular design space, involving categorical variables, a nonstandard model, or unusual requirements of sample size. The presenter will introduce how to use JMP to tackle these design challenges within a unified framework and make best use of your design budget. The topics covered include: computer generated design, augmenting an existing design, and design from a candidate set. Note: The prerequisite for this course is that the audience has taken Statistics in Research (STAT 5616) or has attended or watched a LISA short course on design of experiments: http://www.lisa.stat.vt.edu/?q=node/3374. Register at www.lisa.stat.vt.edu/?q=short_courses.

6. SUMMER SHORT COURSES IN STATS
LISA (Laboratory for Interdisciplinary Statistical Analysis) is providing a series of evening short courses to help graduate students use statistics in their research. The focus of these two-hour courses is on teaching practical statistical techniques for analyzing or collecting data. See www.lisa.stat.vt.edu/?q=short_courses for instructions on how to register and to learn more. Short courses will be held from 4-6 pm in 3060 Torg except 7/16. Summer 2012 Schedule:
– Jun 18: Introduction to JMP;
– Jun 21: Explore JMP Capabilities in Design of Experiments;
– Jun 25: Structural Equation Modeling (SEM);
– July 16: Designing Surveys and Interpreting the Results*;
– July 17: Introduction to R, Part I;
– July 19: Introduction to R, Part II;
– July 23 & 26: Fixed Effects, Random Effects, and Correlated Data;
*This course will be held in Fralin Auditorium

7. VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR SUMMER WINE SOCIAL – 1st posting
Be a part of the action! The Graduate Student Assembly (GSA) is looking for volunteers to make this year’s Summer Wine Social a hit. This summer event fundraiser will be held on Saturday, Jul 14 at the University Club. Volunteers may sign up for a 2 hour or longer shift to assist with set-up, ID check, entry fee collection, wine pouring, food prep, and more. Free food and entry provided for all volunteers. Please contact Cory Brozina (sbrozina@vt.edu) for more information and to sign up.

8. PARTICIPANTS SOUGHT FOR ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS AND ANGER STUDY – 1st posting
Participants are needed for a research study about young women’s anger in romantic relationships.  Participants must be women 18-25 years old living in the New River Valley and currently involved in a romantic relationship for at least 4 months. Participants will receive a $20 gift card for completing an interview and a short survey. For more information contact Ana Jaramillo at youngwomen.research@gmail.com, or at (540) 598-1413. 

9. PARTICIPANTS NEEDED FOR STUDY ON HISTORIC BATTLEFIELDS"
Participants are needed for a survey on the public education and perception of historic battlefields among the VT community. As a potential participant, your opinions may be important. Your involvement is entirely voluntary and there are no known or anticipated risks by participating in this study. The survey should take less than 20 minutes and you will receive $5.00 as compensation. If you have any questions about this study or would like additional information, please contact Shamsul Abu Bakar (shunown1@vt.edu/540-449-9174). This study has been approved by the VT-IRB.

10. VT CLUB CREW TEAM IS IN NEED OF COACHES – 2nd posting
The VT Club Crew team lost its entire coaching staff this semester and is looking for interested people with coxing/rowing experience (coaching experience not necessary). If anyone is interested/would like more information, please contact Sarah Nolta at snolta92@vt.edu. Please pass this on to anyone else you may know who might be interested.

11. PARTICIPANTS SOUGHT FOR WALKING STUDY – 2nd posting
Subjects are needed for a study investigating walking. The study will take place in the Kevin P. Granata Biomechanics Lab in 208 Norris Hall, and will take 1-1.5 hours to complete. Subjects will be paid $20 for their participation. If you are interested, please email your name, age, height, weight, and days/times during the week you are available to participate: biomechanics.esm@gmail.com.

12. PARTICIPANTS SOUGHT FOR STUDY OF SPACIAL LEARNING IN 3D IMMERSIVE VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS – 2nd posting
Researchers are seeking 16 participants for a study to compare navigation techniques in 3D immersive virtual environments. Participants will navigate the virtual maze with either a traditional interface (i.e. joystick of a wand device) or a new interface (for which you will use your own body, such as fingers or legs). Due to the tasks that may require some physical activities, you should have no problem with standing and moving your body, e.g., head, arm/hand/finger and leg/foot, including turning your upper body. The study takes about 90 minutes, including filling out questionnaires and short breaks. Must be 17 or older; study takes place in the CAVE lab (3050 Torg). Please look at this calendar for available dates and times. If you are interested, please email to Ji-Sun Kim at hideaway@vt.edu with a few time-slots that work for you.

13. UPCOMING EVENTS:

NANO-VT SUMMER SEMINAR

Monday, Jun 25, 11:00am–12:00pm, Holden Auditorium
The speaker, Dr. Ali Khademhosseini, an Associate Professor at Harvard-MIT’s Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Harvard Medical School, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital will discuss "Microengineered hydrogels for stem cell bioengineering and tissue regeneration". The seminar is open to public. Snacks and refreshments will be provided. This event is hosted by NanoVT, a registered student organization.