10.22.08

Our Election Guide is finally finished and on its way to the printer!  I, the Publications Director, would like to thank everyone who worked on it as well as our Presidents both past and present; Billy Bender and Lisa Lederberger.  Without all of your direction and contributions this would not have been possible.

We have established an online "Elections Center" for the Beta Gamma chapter of PSA.  We plan on this endeavour developing into a recurring theme for the chapter and this web portal its public outlet.  If you'd like to stay up-to-date on local issues, political events, and political races please visit:
http://grove.ufl.edu/~pisigma/guide/

You can find the newest edition of our Elections Guide by going to "Publications" and then opening the Adobe PDF of the "November 4, 2008 Elections Guide"!  Please tell all your friends and family.  It truly is a GREAT source of information!

2008/2009 Committee Applications

This year we will be utilizing our meeting times to focus on the different functions, projects, and goals of the club.  In order to do this in a organized and effective manner we will be establishing small groups of active and dedicated people to hammer out the work for our specific areas of interest.  We will be accepting applications to the different committees in order to both better inform you about the committee as well as the Executive Board about your qualifications and interests.  This will allow all of us to conduct ourselves in the most effective manner.  If you are interested in being an active member of PSA please fill out an application for the committee you feel most suits you and turn it in to any of the Exec. Board members (during meeting or otherwise) or our mailbox in the Political Science office in Anderson Hall room 234.

Debate Committee
Fundraising Committee
Public Relations Committee
Publications Committee
Socials Banquet Committee
Volunteer Services Committee

09.15.08

Sorry for the lack of updates during this crucial period at the beginning of the semester.  UF systems wanted us to jump through some red tape before we could have access to this thing again.  Anyway, there are several updates to the web site that are worth mentioning.  We are utilizing a new interactive calendar system provided by Google for now.  If you have any suggestions for increased functionality please voice them to me.  The committee applications have been added to the site and stickied to the top of this blog.  The membership applications have been updated to reflect minor changes in our chapters bylaws.  Pretty much me are making it a more simplified process to 1) fill out an application, and 2) pay membership dues.  Also, information about the Executive Board has been updated to reflect the elections that took place at the end of last year.  This should make it easier for you to find the right person to answer your specific questions... and please... don't be shy.

See you at our regular meeting.  Same time and place.  Wednesdays at 7:00 pm, Anderson Hall room 034.

04.16.08

Since we were able to get all of the elections for next years officers done during last meeting we will be canceling our general meeting that was scheduled for the 23rd.  This should give everybody a little more time to either prepare for their finals or relax with family.

I'd just like to thank everyone that stuck with us this year, especially those of you who became full members and graduated.  We would like to congratulate all of you and wish you the best.

04.09.08

At our meeting tonight we will be holding elections for next year's (Fall 08' and Spring 09') Executive Board of PSA.

The Executive Board positions available are President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, Public Relations Director, Historian, and Volunteer Services Director.

If you would like to run, please send Billy Bender your name and the position that you'd like to run for.  The elections will be held utilizing a sliding scale, so if you run for president and lose, then you can run for VP.  If you lose at VP you can slide down and run for Treasurer, and so on and so forth.

Otherwise, you can also turn in your nomination at the beginning of Wednesday's meeting.  Be prepared to give a 2-minute speech to club members regarding your experience and intentions if you were to be elected.

04.08.08

So we had our end of the year social at Lake Wauburg (North) this past Saturday.  Our organization paired up with the UF Model United Nations club in order to provide a wider range of sand which toppings and condiments as well as increased amounts of conversation.  It went off without a hitch; except for all the rain in the beginning.  It was a grand ole' time... especially when all of us with our recently stuffed bellies tried to play a game of touch football.  And by the way, my team WON! (not really, we didn't even keep score)

04.01.08

This is not a April fools joke.  Pi Sigma Alpha was invited to the Student Involvement Awards that took place last night.  This awards ceremony is put on once a year by IDEAL to celebrate the great things that student organizations bring to the University of Florida experience.  Pi Sigma Alpha was nominated for two awards, but unfortunately we didn't take home any medals or gold men with baseball bats in their hands.  We however did a great job in just getting the two nomination seeing as how there are roughly a million student groups on our campus, and apparently IDEAL got a record number of applications this year.

01.26.08

The long awaited Elections Guide is ready.  It is at the printer as we speak, and will be ready to pick up later today.  Unfortunately, we were forced to print the pamphlet in grayscale because of dramatically higher printing costs due to the quick turn-around needed.  However, the PDF that is available through this web site is the full color version... the way we would have liked to print it.  I think it turned out magnificently, and want to give thanks to everyone that helped in its production.  Thank you very much.

Also, if anybody would like to help distribute this pamphlet please e-mail Alex Kio at alexkio@ufl.edu.  I am tentatively planning to distribute this to University of Florida students at Turlington Plaza, the Plaza de Americas, and the Reitz Union on Sunday (01/27), Monday (01/28), and Tuesday (01/29).

Oh yeah, go vote!  Let's beat Leon County's % voter turnout this time!

01.26.08

We will be holding our next general meeting Wednesday, January 30th, in Anderson Hall room number 034 at 7:30pm.

01.19.08

A few quick announcements:

First, full-members of Pi Sigma Alpha are eligible for a tuition reduction from the Washington Internship Institute.  This tuition reduction is the result of PSA's membership in the Association of College Honor Societies.  So if you would ever like to internship in Washington, D.C. at some point I would definitely check this out.

Also, everyone is invited to come join the UF's Model United Nations club in a special screening of Sand and Sorrow, a new HBO documentary about the situation in Darfur, Sudan.  This screening will be taking place at 8pm on Tuesday, January 22nd at the New Physics Building (NPB) in room 1002.  Also, the film is narrated by George Clooney!  Find out more about the film from the links below:
Official site: http://www.sandandsorrow.org/
HBO site: http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/sandandsorrow/

01.15.08

Pi Sigma Alpha will be holding our first general meeting of the Spring 08 semester tomorrow, Wednesday January 16th, in Anderson Hall room number 034 at 7:30pm.  We will be discussing some very exciting upcoming events for this semester.

01.10.08

I just got an e-mail with links to two web sites that forms that tell you which candidate most matches your views.  Go see if it's the one you think you are going to vote for.
http://www.selectsmart.com/president/2008.html
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/projects/ongoing/select_a_candidate/poll.php?race_id=13

01.07.08

The Zeta Upsilon chapter of Pi Sigma Alpha, located at Union College in New York, is now accepting submissions for the Spring 2008 issue of The Pi Sigma Alpha Undergraduate Journal of Politics.  This journal is sponsored by the national chapter of Pi Sigma Alpha.  Submissions will be accepted by undergraduates on all topics related to political science, and membership to the Beta Gamma chapter is not necessary.  The deadline for paper submissions in February 15, 2008.  For more information please go to http://www.apsanet.org/~psa/section_196.cfm.

01.06.08

So the new web site is a realization.  It is not entirely completed and will fill in as information is collected and pictures are taken.  There are exciting developments taking place on behalf of Pi Sigma Alpha: Beta Gamma.  Our Beta Gamma chapter won both of our grant proposals to the national chapter for the maximum $2,000!  As per the proposals, $1,500 will be used for the printing costs of the elections pamphlet to be distributed in time for the shortly coming Florida primaries, and $500 will be used to help subsidize a club trip to D.C.  We are also working hard to organize and promote our anticipated "Mock Presidential Debates" which will also be prior to the Florida primaries.

If you have any questions, comments, or would like to get involved in some of our upcoming activities give the group an e-mail at pisigma@grove.ufl.edu.

If you find any problems with the web site please e-mail alexkio@ufl.edu. Please include the page, the problem, the browser were using and its version #. Thanks.