AMSA

Hello all current and prospective GT AMSA members,

We have had a lot of people join AMSA this semester; we are all really excited to have you become a part of our club! However, a number of people who said that they were interested in becoming AMSA members have yet to officially join. We think that there may be less people joining AMSA because of the price of dues. We realize that $90 for freshmen and first time national members is a big upfront cost but remember that after this year, you will only have to pay $15 total for the remainder of your time at Georgia Tech, since that includes your $75 dues for 5 years of membership to national AMSA. For upperclassmen, your national membership benefits are valid for 5 years; an important benefit of membership after you graduate will be the option of student health insurance from United Healthcare. Unfortunately, the $75 national dues are not optional and we have no way of altering that amount so we wanted to remind all of you just exactly what that money goes towards. The Kaplan discount is valid during your 5 year membership in AMSA. As you can see, your AMSA dues pay for themselves when you consider the discount off of your test prep!

National Benefits:
$200 Stackable Discount Off a Kaplan MCAT Prep Course (combined with their current promotion, one could save up to $400 which by itself makes up for the $75 dues)

5% Off Discount and Free Shipping from the AMSA/Barnes&Noble.com Bookstore

Student Health Insurance from United Healthcare (once graduated, students no longer have access to Stamps Health Services at Georgia Tech so having insurance is vital)

Up to 8% off Auto Insurance from Geico

Up to 70% off Contact Lenses from VisionDirect.com

15% Off and More from Choice Hotels (includes over 6,000 locations at hotels such as Comfort Inn, Quality Inn, Clarion, etc.)

Up to 20% Discount and Free Day Rental from National and Alamo Car Rental

5 Year Subscription to New Physician Magazine

Opportunities to attend National and Regional Medical Conferences

Access to AMSA-Sponsored Internships around the nation (included are the Education & Advocacy Internship and Health Justice Internship)

Information about the above benefits and more can be found here: http://www.amsa.org/amsa/homepage/membercenter/memberbenefits.aspx

For those of you who were members of AMSA in the past, you may have noticed that we changed our local dues system. This was done in response to the change in the National due system. We also set it up in the tiered system so as to promote retention of upperclassman. By decreasing GT AMSA dues each year that you belong to National AMSA, we are rewarding you for staying committed to the organization! By paying your local dues, we are able to provide professional, social, and fun benefits to our members. Many of the opportunities afforded to you by GT AMSA are invaluable in themselves but several come with a price tag. Below is an outline of these opportunities:

Local Benefits:

$200 Stackable Discount Off Atlanta-area Princeton Review MCAT Prep Course (for more information email Hally Pinaud at hpinaud@review.com)
Opportunity to Win a $250 Scholarship from GT AMSA (rewarded to those most involved in AMSA)

Food and Drinks at All Meetings, as well as Our Two Formal Banquets Held Each Year
One-on-one Contact with Professional and Graduate School Admissions Directors and Current Students (it is never too early to get your name out there!)
Discount on Registration Fee for Annual Pre-Health Conference in the Spring
Trips to Volunteering Organizations Around Atlanta Including MedShare, Trinity Soup Kitchen, and others

Chances to Perform Job Shadowing in Clinical Settings (extremely important for applications!)
Opportunity to Participate in International and Local Mission Trips (for more information, email our Mission Trips Coordinator Melissa Parham at mmparham@gatech.edu)
Ability to Join our Mentorship Program that Connects Underclassman with Upperclassman to Provide Access to the Invaluable Knowledge of Upperclassman

Access to Our Ever-growing Network of Pre-Health Students Here at Georgia Tech!
Hopefully, by seeing exactly where your dues are going, you all will be more eager to join! The benefits clearly outweigh the costs, and that does not even include the amount of fun that you will have during all the meetings and events.


As always, feel free to email anyone of us about information regarding local or national AMSA:
Robin Jacob (Co-President) - rjacob3@gatech.edu
Karan Patel (Co-President) - kpatel@gatech.edu
Chris Lane (Co-Recruitment Chair) - clane9@gatech.edu
Naman Kanakiya (Co-Recruitment Chair) - naman@gatech.edu

KAPLAN Test Prep--Master of Engineering

Reserve your seat for the FREE event on October 7th at 9pm EST at kaplanGRE.com/greevents

This month's focus is the Master of Engineering.

• Learn about top programs
• Discover how to stand out and shine in the admissions process
• Understand your post-degree career options
  

CULC Student Advisory Board

Hello Fellow Yellow Jackets!

I'd like to invite you to apply to a new and exciting committee - the Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons (CULC) Student Advisory Board. We're looking for a great mix of students, so whether you're a first semester Freshman or a super Senior, I hope you'll keep reading to learn more!

As you are probably aware, the CULC will be opening in the Fall of 2010 for all students. Between now and the time of the grand opening, there are many aspects of the CULC that will require student input and student feedback!

As a member of the Student Advisory Board, you'll guide the decisions of campus faculty and staff that will allow the CULC to become an amazing asset to Georgia Tech. You'll have the opportunity to expand upon your leadership skills, serve the Tech community, and - most of all - impact Tech's campus in a HUGE way.

I hope you'll take the time to read through the attached document to gather a bit more info about being a member of the CULC Student Advisory Board. If you have any questions whatsoever, please do not hesitate to email Dana Hartley, Director of Undergraduate Studies
(dana.hartley@carnegie.gatech.edu) or myself (matt.lebrun@gatech.edu).

Visit www.culc.gatech.edu/apply to submit your application, as well as to learn more. If you'd like to learn about the CULC Building itself, check out www.culc.gatech.edu. Applications will be accepted through 9/20 at 11:59 p.m.

Happy applying!

Yours in Service,
Matt LeBrun

University of Virginia Graduate Program

The University of Virginia seeks outstanding candidates for the graduate program in chemistry and biochemistry (http://chem.virginia.edu). The program combines a university-wide tradition of excellence with a diverse graduate research program, thereby offering outstanding educational opportunities. The historic Charlottesville area is a scenic environ which provides an
excellent quality of life (http://www.charlottesville.org). In addition to research opportunities in all areas of chemistry -- including many exciting cross-disciplinary research programs -- our graduate students have access to state-of-the art research instrumentation. For example, our department offers a first-class NMR facility, a small-molecule X-ray diffraction and molecular modeling facility, access to synchrotron X-ray facilities via SER-CAT, superb mass spectrometry facilities, and a support staff that maintains instrumentation and provides students with
detailed training. Several members of our faculty are cross-appointed with other departments, including those of Pharmacology, Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics, Pathology, Mechanical Engineering, and Chemical Engineering, which provides a rich and diverse environment for graduate student training. Exciting recent developments include
funding for two large research centers: a DOE-funded Center for Catalytic Hydrocarbon Functionalization, and an NSF-funded Center for Chemistry of the Universe.

Our research-active faculty includes six chaired positions, consisting of the Commonwealth Professor, the Alfred Burger Professor of Chemistry, the University Professor, the Thomas Jefferson Professorship, and the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor. In addition, several new faculty recently have been recruited to our department, including Jason Chruma (Asst Prof, synthetic methodology & bioorganic), Linda Columbus (Asst Prof, structural biology & biophysical chemistry), Brent Gunnoe (Prof, organometallic chemistry & homogeneous catalysis), Kevin Lehmann (Prof, physical chemistry & spectroscopy), Cameron Mura (Asst Prof, structural biology & biophysical chemistry), Jill Venton (Asst Prof, analytical neurochemistry) and John Yates, Jr. (Prof, member National Academy of the Sciences, physical chemistry & spectroscopy). The combination of exceptional facilities and respected faculty provide an exciting research community in which students can grow into independent and creative scientists, while gaining the experience and skills necessary to excel in major chemical industries as well as in government, national lab, and academic settings.

Specific research programs in the fields of biochemistry and structural biology include:

* A long-term program centered on magnetic resonance studies of protein dynamics and hydration (Bryant lab)

* Efforts aimed at understanding membrane protein structure and dynamics via NMR and EPR spectroscopic methods, as well as X-ray crystallography and biophysical methods (Cafiso, Columbus labs)

* A sustained focus on the development of mass-spectrometric methods for proteomics (Hunt lab)

* Research aimed at understanding the structure, function, and evolution of protein/RNA complexes via experimental (e.g.,crystallography) and computational (e.g., MD simulations)
approaches in the Mura lab

We provide all of our full-time graduate students with teaching or research assistantships, as well as tuition and health insurance at no expense to the student. Please note that domestic applicants are not required to pay an application fee. Applicants who have been admitted to our program are invited to visit our department, with expenses covered by us. More information about our department and individual faculty research interests can be found online at:

http://chem.virginia.edu

Should any potentially interested students have questions about our program or the application process, please encourage them to contact either Ms. Susie Marshall (sem8h@virginia.edu; tel: 434-924-7014) or Prof Brent Gunnoe (tbg7h@virginia.edu). In addition, potential applicants
interested in computational or biological areas (biochemistry, biophysical chemistry, structural biology, bioinformatics, etc.) should feel free to contact Dr. Cameron Mura (a Tech alum!) at cmura@virginia.edu.

Celanese Scholarship Opportunity

Dear Chemistry and Biochemistry Undergraduate Students,

Celanese Corp, a global leader in the chemicals industry and world's largest producer of acetic acid, is offering you an opportunity to earn a $1000 scholarship.

A $1000 scholarship is offered to the undergraduate student or group of students (max 3 students per group) who designs the best process in response to the prompt given. An outline (structure provided) of your process will be due September 29, 2010. The top five outlines will be selected as finalists and asked to give a presentation on their process on October 6, 2010 to on-campus Celanese and Georgia Tech representatives. The winning group will be awarded the $1000 scholarship.

Please see Dr. Shepler for more information. For questions, please email Tatiana Sonnenberg at tatiana.sonnenberg@celanese.com.

Best wishes!
Celanese