History of the MGSA

Refounded in Spring 93 upon initiative by Daniel Kern.
Original constitution written by Irene Tsapara and Arek Goetz with the help of Daniel Kern, Volker Kleinschmidt, David Krebes, Silvia La Falce.
Registered as student organization with Campus Programs.

1993/94:
Under first president Arek Goetz, the MGSA computer questionnaire showed universal demand for access to the UNIX-workstations to the graduate students, which was granted by the department. Other items on the wishlist, like departmental PCs and better furniture, were not granted.

1994/95:
  • Second president Matt Bardoe emphasized social activities among the graduate students and worked on improving the first weeks of incoming students. The Friday Teas and Wine-and-Cheese parties were now held regularly.
  • The MATHGRAD email-list was created to allow easy announcements to all graduate students without fliers, and as a platform for discussion and communication among graduate students.

1995/96:
  • Third president Volker Kleinschmidt set up the MGSA's webpage and worked on improving the flow of information between department and students. Especially for incoming students, a lot of help now became available.
  • The departmental move was organized with some help from the MGSA. All faculty received PCs/Macs through the campuswide ITIP-initiative. The old departmental CMS-terminals were removed.
  • Another computer questionnaire showed continuous high demand for PCs, as well as for more UNIX workstations. The department decided to buy a few more of the latter, while refusing to make PCs or Macs available to students. The worn-out X-terminals were also removed.
  • A new constitution was written and discussed.

1996/97:
  • Fourth president Pedro Freitas had the constitution approved and re-registered the MGSA as student organization.
  • The new common room SEO 300 now served for all departmental festivities.
  • A computing committee was founded to discuss computing-related issues and organize improvements in the departmental computing situation.