---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rains E-Drops: Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Online version at http://rains.stanford.edu
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

CONTENTS

RAINS EVENTS

1. Movie Night:  Bee Movie - Wednesday 04/30/2008
Willis Lounge
Don't Bee Afraid to Check Out  this Beedazzling Flick

2. Rains Presents: First Annual Croquet Tournament - Saturday 05/03/2008
Registration starts at 1130 at Willis Lounge, Teeing off at 1200
You don't look so good, are you croquet?

3. Free Swing Dance Lesson Series  - Monday 05/05/2008
Learn to swing dance for free!
Roble Gym, Room 42, 5-7 PM

4. Asian Liver Center's LIVERight 2008 5K Run/Walk - Saturday 05/10/2008
San Francisco Golden Gate Park! Race begins at 8 AM.
Raise awareness @ Hepatitis B, Liver cancer among Asian Americans

5. Bay to Breakers! - Sunday 05/18/2008
Sunday May 18th, 2008
Rainswide Registration Closed - see website to register yourself!

6. Live 105's BFD 2008 - Saturday 06/07/2008
Shoreline Amphitheater - Meet in Willis at 11:30am  to Carpool!
Come Enjoy a Big F-ing Day of Music!

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

7.GSC Events Announcements
Can't get enough events?
See below!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
RAINS EVENTS:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Movie Night:  Bee Movie
Wednesday 04/30/2008 at 9:00pm
CA Contact: Nate (nan4@stanford.edu)

Q. What did the boy bee say to the girl bee on their first date?
A. You look simply bee-autiful!

Q. What did the bee say to the flower?
A. Hello honey!

There's been a lot of buzz about this movie.  Come check it out.

From IMDB:
Barry B. Benson, a bee who has just graduated from college, is
disillusioned at his lone career choice: making honey. On a special
trip outside the hive, Barry's life is saved by Vanessa, a florist in
New York City. As their relationship blossoms, he discovers humans
actually eat honey, and subsequently decides to sue us.

See http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0389790/

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. Rains Presents: First Annual Croquet Tournament
Saturday 05/03/2008 at 11:30am
CA Contact: Nate (nan4@stanford.edu)

Competitive Croquet is the latest trend about to sweep the nation.  As
trailblazers here in Rains, we decided to jump the gun and present the
Inaugural Rains Annual Croquet Tournament coming to a lawn near Willis
Lounge on May 3rd.  Registration begins at 1130 with the first tee off
scheduled for 1200.

The weather will be beautiful.  The lawns will be manicured.  The
mallets will be new.  The balls will be freshly polished.   The drinks
will be cold.  The snacks will be fresh.  Bring forth your best.

Prizes worth winning will be given to the top 2 finishers. 
Impressions are everything in competitive croquet so please brush up
on your terminology: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croquet#Croquet_terms

In order to gauge demand, if you are interested in attending, please
email Nate at nan4@stanford.edu.  Official registration will take
place at 1130 at Willis Lounge on May 3rd.

Please note, we will be following official USCA 9 wicket rules linked
below.


See http://www.croquetamerica.com/croquet/rules/backyard/

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. Free Swing Dance Lesson Series 
Monday 05/05/2008 at 5:00pm
CA Contact: Julie (jlitze@stanford.edu)

Ever wanted to learn swing dancing?  Swingkids, the Stanford swing
dance club is presenting two exciting FREE lesson series!  The first
series (5-6PM) is an introduction to Lindy Hop, which will include
both 6-count ("east coast") swing and 8-count swingouts.  If you 
don't know what this means, fantastic!  The class is geared towards
beginners with no dance experience at all.

The second series (6-7PM) is a beginning Charleston class. Charleston
is a dance from the 1920s that evolved to become a part of swing 
dancing.  In this class you will learn to add sweet Charleston moves
to spice up your swing!  This class is also at the beginning level,
though if you are a complete beginner, it is recommended that you 
take both classes together.

See http://swingkids.stanford.edu/classDescriptions.htm for more 
info!


---------------------------------------------------------------------------

4. Asian Liver Center's LIVERight 2008 5K Run/Walk
Saturday 05/10/2008 at 8:00am
CA Contact: Judy (yjhsu@stanford.edu)

The Asian Liver Center's LIVERight 2008 5K Run/Walk is coming up on
Saturday, May 10 at San Francisco Golden Gate Park. The event is meant
to raise awareness about the high incidence of hepatitis B and liver
cancer among Asian Americans. Food, games, performances, and prizes
available.  

Registration begins at 8 AM, the race begins at 9 AM. Registration fee
varies from $20-$30.  For more information, go to:
http://liver.stanford.edu.  

Questions?  Contact: trinxile@stanford.edu


---------------------------------------------------------------------------

5. Bay to Breakers!
Sunday 05/18/2008 at 8:00am
CA Contact: Jennifer (jerhart@stanford.edu)

Rainswide registration has closed - but if you're interested please 
see the website and information below.  Thanks!

Bay to Breakers
When: Sunday May 18th @ 8 am
Where: San Francisco


Bay to Breakers is here again. For those of you who did it with
Rains last year, or have done it in the past - you know what a
fun/crazy race it is. The course description is below - it's a
12k race through San Francisco. You can run it, walk it, dress up
in a costume or in nothing at all (yep there are definitely naked
people running it).

If you are interested, email Jenny by no later than WEDNESDAY MARCH
19th (jerhart@stanford.edu) to get instructions on how to register
and get some reimbursement.

Registration is $44, of which Rains will subsidize $10 each. Race
fees include race entry, chip timing with a collectible souvenir
chip (the second in a series of five leading to the 100-year
anniversary), participant T-shirt, printable on-line finishers
certificate & entrance to ING Footstock.

You will be responsible for getting yourself to San Francisco
(CalTrain is a very easy way to do this - they have special trains
that run early to get you there).

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
ING Bay to Breakers is a 12K (7.46 miles) course. From sea level at
the Embarcadero the course rises steeply along Hayes Street Hill.
Around the 2.5-mile mark runners climb an 11.15% grade between
Fillmore and Steiner, bringing them to the highest point in the
race, approximately 215 feet above sea level. The remainder of the
course gradually flows alongside the Panhandle and through Golden
Gate Park.


See http://www.ingbaytobreakers.com/main.html

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

6. Live 105's BFD 2008
Saturday 06/07/2008 at 12:00-noon
CA Contact: Lisa (lseeman@stanford.edu)

If you like alternative rock music, come hang out with your Rains neighbors while enjoying 
over 30 musical acts.  The lineup is:

BUDLIGHT FESTIVAL STAGE (noon-8:30pm)
Cypress Hill | Pennywise | Flogging Molly | Alkaline Trio 
The Kooks | Everlast | Anti-Flag | MGMT | Atreyu 
Airborne Toxic Event | Flobots | The Whigs | Middle Class Rut

SUBSONIC TENT (3pm-11pm)
Moby | MSTRKRFT | DJ AM | Santogold | Steve Aoki | Lyrics Born 
Mike Relm | PlayRadioPlay | DJ Omar | Richard Oh | Hot Tub | DJ Miles

SOUNDCHECK LOCAL MUSIC STAGE (1pm-6pm)
The Phenomenauts | Love Like Fire | Here Here | Magic Bullets 
Apside | The Hundred Days | Federalists | The Action Design


Tickets are FREE for Rains residents, $10 for guests.   To reserve a ticket, please RSVP to 
lseeman@stanford.edu.    We will be meeting Willis lounge at 11:30 am to arrange carpools 
and will return around 11:30 pm. 



See http://www.live105.com/pages/1989575.php

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

o 19th annual Charity Fashion Show
Saturday, May 3, 5PM ($5) and 8PM ($8)
Tresidder Oak Lounge
All proceeds go to Doctors without Borders
Contact Marc at cstr@stanford.edu for tickets
http://charityfashionshow.stanford.edu
 

o Graduate Family Carnival
- Fun for everyone
Where: Escondido Village Hulme Field
Date: Sat. May 17, 2008
Time: 10am-1pm.


o Interested in better food options on campus? Would you like to see graduate 
stipends increased? Do you want to change the health plan? Do you have ideas 
about environmental sustainability?  Do you simply like Stanford and want to 
make sure it continues to be a wonderful place?

There's no better way than to serve on University Committees for the upcoming 
year. The Nominations Commission will be appointing students to over 50 
committees in the coming weeks, with topics ranging from physical education to 
the physical plant, from serving with the Board of Trustees to advising the 
alumni office on wills and trusts. Any interest you have, we are recruiting 
students for.

Applications and information can be found at the NomCom website.
nomcom.stanford.edu

Questions? Email nomcom0809@stanford.edu


o GRADUATION HOTEL 2008

WHAT IS IT? On campus housing for parents and guests of graduating students
WHEN IS IT? During commencement weekend (June 13th, 5:00 pm through
June 16th, 10:00 am)

RESERVATION DATES:   
May 1st and 2nd from 11:00am to 1:00pm
In front of Wilbur Housing Front Desk
658 Escondido Road
Graduating student must make reservation in-person
First-come, first-served basis

ROOM RATES:    
Single:        $66.00 per night    1 twin bed
Double:      $88.00 per night    2 twin beds
Triple:      $127.00 per night    2 beds bunked and one twin

Credit/Debit Cards preferred; Cash not accepted

For more information please go to:  http://commencement.stanford.edu/housing/


o A Stanford Graduate Student Institute
I-RITE/I-SPEAK
Learn to Communicate Your Research Effectively, Clearly, and Succinctly
This Stanford program assists graduate and postdoctoral students in 
developing highly understandable, compelling oral and written accounts 
of their research for nonspecialized audiences. As a result of this time-
efficient and focused approach, participants will experience greater success 
during job talks, when writing grant requests or proposals, when communicating 
with the media, and during informal conversations with professional and 
personal contacts.

The I-RITE/I-SPEAK workshop will be held daily, September 8-12, during the 
SGSI from 9:30 am to 12:00 noon.  Since peer feedback is an important 
element of the workshop, participants are expected to take part in all 
sessions.  For the first session, attendees should bring a 250-word draft 
summary of their research, written for a lay audience. We will refine this 
first draft during the first meeting and part of the second; we will focus 
on public speaking skills during the second and third classes. The last two 
classes will be devoted to strategies for understanding and communicating with 
journalists and other media personnel.

For  more information, go to http://workshop.stanford.edu/irite