- June 29, 2012
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Some unrelated things:
- Be sure that you have Coq 8.3 installed on your laptop by July 19.
- If you haven't already, give me your arrival time, and how you will be getting here. Detailed instructions can be found here
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When you get here, the building you will be staying in is:
1599 E. 15th Street Eugene OR 97403However, do not send mail to that address. All university mail is given by the post office to the university mail room and distributed to university departments, who distribute it to the person to whom it is addressed. So, if you must have mail sent to you while you are here, you will have to address it to me:Jim Allen Dept of Computer and Info Science 1202 University of Oregon Eugene, OR 97403-1202
- June 27, 2012
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If you haven't already, you should visit the venue page.
What it doesn't say is where you will be staying.
We are in Smith and Sweetser; however, your check-in instructions
will vary depending on what time you will arrive.
When you send me your travel plans, I will respond with check-in
instructions.
Please send me your travel plans by July 6.
You can see our accomodations by going to the
housing website.
Points of interest on the housing map:
- Walton Complex (green) - possibly where you will check in
- LLC North (green) - possibly where you will check in
- Carson Hall (green) - where we will be eating
- Knight Law (grey) - where the lectures are
- June 26, 2012
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Things to bring to the summer school:
- A laptop if you have it, with an ethernet cable. The UO has 100% wireless coverage, but it requires authentication. The classroom has ethernet jacks at each seat, and direct connections do not require authentication.
- Typically, I tell everyone to bring allergy medication. The main agricultural product in the Willamette Valley is grass seed, so if you are allergic to grass pollen, expect to feel the effects while you are here. In particular, Asian students usually have bad reactions to the pollen in the air here because of lack of exposure in Asia. Some students travelling to the summerschool experience pollen allergies for the first time. You can see a complete pollen report at www.weather.com, zip code: 97403
- Soap, shampoo and other personal grooming items.
- For Foreign Participants: Also, if you are not from the Americas, bring a power converter for your laptop. US power outlets are not compatible with European power cords. If you come here without a power adapter, it may take you a number of phone calls and missed lectures to figure out where to get one, so it is probably easier to obtain one before coming.
- You should not bring pillows, blankets or towels
- May 21, 2012
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To travel to Eugene, you can either take a plane to Portland (pdx) and then
take a
train
or
bus
to Eugene, or you can fly directly to Eugene (eug).
Once you have your flight, let me know when you will be arriving at pdx or eug,
and I will put you into a group of other students who are also arriving at
that time. This will allow you to share a taxi, or just generally be
less likely to get lost.
I pride myself on giving good directions and getting no one lost, so help me to help you to help me.
The University has a directions site. It has driving directions and links to train, bus, etc. You can get there from the maps page.Regardless of what time you arrive, I will have some way of getting your room keys to you.
- May 21, 2012 — For European Participants:
- You probably do not need a visa. Check the Visa Waiver Program website. If you do need a visa, it will be a tourist visa. (see US state dept website) However, you do need a passport. Also, be sure that you do NOT use the word "summerschool" when talking to INS officials. Since the summerschool gives no academic credit, the INS views it as an academic conference. There have been cases of people coming from innocuous European countries who have been held up at the border because they said "summerschool" and were then unable to produce documents showing that they were enrolled for university credit. So, be careful because the US government has a very limited semantic for the word "school".
- April 2, 2012 — For Foreign Participants:
- It is never too early to work on obtaining travel papers to the US. Since the summerschool does not give academic credit, you will have to obtain a tourist visa to the US. When you go to the embassy for your interview, the main thing you will need to prove is that you are not a risk to emigrate to the United States. This may be difficult for a graduate student, since you don't have a high paying job. This is unofficial advice, but I would suggest taking letters from your family and academic advisors explaining why you would be unlikely to want to stay in the US. The decision is left up to the ambassador to your country and there is no appeal, so be prepared. Talk to other students from your country who have attended conferences in the US.
- April 2, 2012
- Check here later for updates before you arrive. I will be posting updates on registration deadlines, when you should expect to be notified, how to get here, and what to bring. If you applied (with a recommendation) before April 1, you should hear back from us by April 3. If not, please send me an email asking what happened to your application.
