Our PASA soccer team had an awesome start to the summer season, with a 4-1 victory over Michael Thwaites’!

Our next game is against Engineering UTD on Monday, June 4th at 6 PM at the soccer fields across from Health Science.  Come on out and bring some P&A spirit to cheer our team on!!!

Have you voted yet?  The Society of Graduate Students (SOGS) presidential elections are still open for voting today and tomorrow.  To vote, go to http://www.uwo.ca/sogs/ and click on “Click here for the online ballot” under the heading “Details of the Presidential Election”.  You will be asked to log in with your university email prefix and password (to ensure that you are a graduate student and that you do not vote more than once).  It takes seconds to do.

Here are some questions you may find yourself asking at the moment, along with answers.

I thought SOGS was just a bus pass and health plan, why does it need a president?
Yes, it is true that you get your health plan and bus pass through SOGS, however, they do much more.  SOGS also advocates on your behalf on university issues (such as Access Copyright and tuition costs), organizes events at the Grad Club and JLC (to mention a few places), and provides bursaries, scholarships, subsidies, and emergency loans to graduate students, among other things.

Why should I care?
The ancillary fees that you pay with tuition include a membership fee to SOGS.  Unless you don’t care where your money goes, you should probably care about this election.

Who should I vote for?
There are three candidates running for presidency (in alphabetical order according to last name):
          Geoffrey Bardwell
          Tom McMurrough
Chris Shirreff
Their one paged platforms are attached below in the same order as above.

SOGS sounds interesting, I want to know more or get involved!  How can I?
You can send either of your SOGS councillors, Mel or Neven, an email (my email is mwrigh58@uwo.ca) or come out to our next meeting–Thursday, May 31st 6 PM in NCB 114. 

Bardwell.pdf Download this file

Interesting paper on ancient Egyptian records of variable star ‘Algol’!

Check it out here!: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Astronomers_discovered_ancient_Egyptian_observations_of_a_variable_star_999.html

The original paper: http://arxiv.org/abs/1204.6206

Image Credit: skyandtelescope.com

It’s time for Eclipse again! Luckily, everyone in Southwestern Ontario will be able to witness Partial Solar Eclipse just before sunset. The eclipse in our area will still be in progress at the sunset.

So everyone get out there and witness this beautiful astronomical phenomenon BUT make sure you have special Solar/Eclipse Glasses! DO NOT LOOK AT THE SUN WITH YOUR NAKED EYE! Looking at the Sun directly can harm your retina and can even cause permanent loss of eye sight. Normal sun glasses WON’T DO! Make sure to explain children about the ill effects of looking at the Sun directly. And no you cannot use Floppy Disk (do they even exist?) and Compact Disks (CDs) to view eclipse. Many indirect methods are also used to view the eclipse.

For people (like me), who are crazy about photography, make sure to use proper solar filter! Camera is your second eye, you do not want to lose your second vision 🙂 For more information on Photography of Eclipse, check this link out!

For more information on May 20th Eclipse, check this link! 

Stay safe, enjoy the beauty of nature!

The Maya civilizations have been known for their astronomical skills. Archeologists have found ancient Maya ruins dating back to early 9^th Century C.E. in Xultun, Guatemala, which include tables concerning the moments of the Moon, and (perhaps) Mars and Venus.

Check out the full article on Science Magazine!!!

Graduation season is upon us and many graduates are planning to celebrate (well at least some, who have found jobs or moving higher in the academic studies!!). Times have changed; unemployment and low income worries the fresh graduates! Here is an interesting article in the TIME magazine on how graduating is not a celebration time anymore!

Here’s the Link: TIME 

Recently there has been media attention surrounding private companies expressing an interest in space “exploration”. Later this month, the company SpaceX hopes to dock their spacecraft with the International Space Station (ISS).

Article: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21428643.000-silicon-valley-reaches-for-the-sky.html

Also, SpaceX Taxi!

Article: http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2012/05/peek-inside-a-next-generation.html