(1) Please email your arrival times at Easterwood Airport in College Station to the appropriate people.
The residence hall is the best one on our campus for this purpose, because it is close to the Physics Building and Institute for Quantum Studies (as well as other science and engineering facilities) and is the nicest residence hall in this area.
Here is the web site so you can have a look:
http://reslife.tamu.edu/housing/halls/hobby/ .
This residence hall is named after Oveta Culp Hobby, one of the great women in Texas history, and our nation's first Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare.
We will have double rooms in this residence hall.
(2) A word of warning about obeying all the rules and the law. (I have been warned that in every sizable group there will be several people who will try to test the limits, thereby driving everybody else crazy.) Of course we expect people to respect the rights of others, not making noise at night when others are sleeping, not doing anything offensive, etc.
One Texas law you should know: It is illegal to purchase or publicly drink alcohol if you are under 21. President George W. Bush's twin daughters got into trouble in Austin, very publicly, when they were caught drinking at age 19.
We should probably add that alcohol is illegal on campus for anyone of any age, and that smoking is prohibited indoors in all buildings, and within a few feet of the entrances to buildings.
(3) Pillows and blankets are provided, but unfortunately you will need to bring your own towels, pillowcases, and sheets.
You will also need to bring all the other things required for dorm life: slippers if you need them, soap, shampoo, alarm clock, etc.
I expect that you will have many stimulating discussions with some very interesting people (junior and senior physics majors) from all over the United States.
(4) Be sure to bring appropriate clothing and shoes, sun lotion, a hat, etc. (as you desire) for outdoor fun.
We are required by the university to get a standard release signed by you, in case some overly zealous hiker breaks a leg (as I once did while hiking down a mountain, requiring a helicopter rescue) or some overly zealous person in a canoe encounters analogous difficulties.
(5) The group will take a large bus from College Station to Casper, and another large bus from Casper to Jackson Hole. It should be a comfortable, safe, and eminently enjoyable experience.
The bus will leave fairly early in the morning on Saturday, June 21, and arrive on Sunday, June 22, after a long sustained drive.
(6) At Casper College you will live in a residence hall in circumstances very similar to those at Texas A&M.
The computer facilities are quite good at both Texas A&M and Casper College.
There is an excellent Recreation Center within walking distance at Texas A&M, and I believe that there are also accessible exercise facilities at Casper College, but the great outdoors may be a better choice.
(7) In Jackson Hole, we will be living at conference rates in the conference hotel, the Grand Targhee, which can be seen at
http://grandtarghee.com/summer/lodging.html .
We must reserve the room for you, and deduct the cost from your stipend. As was agreed earlier by consensus, you will stay in a room with two other people of the same gender (three people altogether). Each room for 3 will be a nice condo.
_______________________________________________________________________
A sizable number of faculty members have indicated that they are willing to have the participants in the RUG program work in their labs during the weekday afternoons of June 9 - 20, learning something about the areas of physics or electrical engineering related to their research.
Those who seize this opportunity will then have the further opportunity to present a poster at the Jackson Hole conference, in collaboration with the faculty member and any appropriate members or his or her research group.
Both the laboratory work and the presentation will be experiences that you will never forget.
Each lab can accommodate only one or two student participants. After a few days the available slots will probably be filled. You will therefore want to immediately contact the most relevant faculty member by email and see if your interests are compatible.
_________________________________________________________________________
In our morning sessions, all of the above leaders of research programs are also going to give talks to our whole group on their experimental research, and conduct tours of their labs.
Let me emphasize one point: We are guests in their labs, and it goes without saying that we will conduct ourselves like visitors in someone's home.
________________________________________________________________________
Airfare assistance will be available to students attending this workshop. The tickets will be purchased up front by the Institute for Quantum Studies at Texas A&M University. The cost of the tickets will be subtracted from the stipend that you will receive. This is not additional funding but a way to defer the upfront costs for students. The following guidelines must be followed in order to receive the upfront assistance.
(1) Tickets must be purchased from the following Travel Agency. This is primarily for TAMU accounting procedures.
World Travel
Janet Lehtonen
4604 Slice CT
College Station, TX 77845
Phone: (979) 690 - 7226
Fax: (979) 690 - 3773
Email: lehtonen@tca.net
(2) Tickets must be REFUNDABLE. TAMU will not pay for nonrefundable tickets.
How to receive upfront airfare assistance:
1) Call the above travel agent and set up flight arrangements.
2) Tell the travel agent that the tickets will be paid for by a Texas A&M University CBA.
3) Give the travel agent the name and number listed below and have her contact us to verify account numbers and other purchasing information.
Things to remember:
1) This ticket purchase will be subtracted from your stipend.
2) Tickets must be REFUNDABLE.
3) You must set up travel arrangements.
4) Any agency fees will also be deducted from the stipend.
5) This assistance applies to tickets into College Station and out
of Jackson Hole.
_______________________________________________________________________
Although the document below (which the university requires us to ask you to sign) may seem rather legalistic and harsh, it is a standard form, and most of us have signed similar forms numerous times.
Note the clause "This Assumption of Risk/Release of Liability/Indemnity does not apply to acts of gross negligence nor intentional torts committed by any person against me." (We will let you look up the meaning of "tort"!)
INSTITUTE FOR QUANTUM STUDY ("IQS")
ASSUMPTION OF RISK/RELEASE OF LIABILITY/INDEMNITY
I, __________________________________________, the undersigned student described below, understand and agree that the activities of the Institute For Quantum Study, commonly called the "IQS", a program within the Department of Physics, Texas A&M University, in which I am a participant, involve certain known and unknown risks and that regardless of the precautions taken by the faculty, staff, and student mentors of the IQS, property damage and/or personal injury may occur to me and/or others.
Specific risks/hazards may include but are not limited to the following: Driving or riding as a passenger in a motor vehicle, participating in team-building games and exercises; and participating in off-campus field trips. The probability of injuries may be lessened by my adhering to these safety guidelines: Safe driving and passenger practices; following instructions from faculty, staff, and student mentors; abstaining from risky horse-play; and notifying faculty, staff, and student mentors promptly of any potentially dangerous condition.
Knowing this information and in consideration of my participation in the IQS and its related activities, I expressly and knowingly assume the risks associated with my participation in the IQS and expressly release the faculty, staff, and student mentors of IQS, Texas A&M University, its regents, directors, officers, faculty, staff, employees, and agents from any and all claims and causes of action for property damage, personal injury, or death sustained by me arising out of any activity of or related to the IQS caused by risks associated with said activity and/or the negligence of the IQS, faculty, staff, or student mentors.
In addition, I understand and agree that the IQS faculty, staff, and student mentors cannot be expected to anticipate or to control all of the risks mentioned in this form but that they may need to respond to accidents and potential emergency situations. Therefore, I hereby give my consent for any medical treatment that may be required during my participation in the activities of the IQS with the express agreement that the cost of any such treatment will be my responsibility. I am informed that neither the Texas A&M University, the Department of Physics, nor the IQS carry medical or accident insurance for the activities of the IQS; therefore, I expressly agree to look to my own policies of health/accident insurance, if any.
Finally, I voluntarily, knowingly, and expressly agree to protect, hold harmless, and indemnify Texas A&M University, the Department of Physics, faculty, staff, and student mentors against all claims, demands, or causes of action for property damage, personal injury, or death, including defense costs and attorney's fees, arising out of my participation in the IQS, including but not limited to claims made by me, my estate, other participants, and their estates. It is my express intent that this release, indemnity, and hold harmless shall bind me and the members of my family if I am alive and my heirs, assigns and legal representative, if I am deceased, and shall be governed by the laws of Texas.
This Assumption of Risk/Release of Liability/Indemnity does not apply to acts of gross negligence nor intentional torts committed by any person against me. I understand and agree that I am responsible for my own acts of negligence and intentional torts committed by me against another person.
I have read this Assumption of Risk/Release of Liability/Indemnity and have willingly signed it with a full understanding of its purpose. I represent that I am eighteen (18) years of age or older and am otherwise competent to execute this agreement; otherwise my legal guardian shall also sign this Release/Indemnity.
Date:_________________________ DOB:_____________________________
Print Name:______________________________________
Student ID #:_______________________
Local Address:________________________________________________________________________
Local Phone Number:_____________________
__________________________________________
Signature of Student
Parent's Names: _____________________________________________________________________
Address: __________________________________________________________________________
Phone Number(s) ____________________________________________________________________