GSO Lobbies for Improvement of IUJ's Gym

Dear Students,

We thank you very much for your support throughout this ongoing Gym Improvement project. Many did not think that the project would ever materialize into real improvements, at least not this decade.

Well with the help of a passionate Gym Improvement committee composed of Students, Staff & Faculty and support from students like you through all the speeches, petitions and surveys, we have finally succeeded in convincing administration of performing a total overhaul and rennovation of the 2nd floor training room of the Gymnasium. The improvements include:

- Brand new Hardwood floor
- New Mirrors
- Wall painting and patching of holes
- New Multi-purpose Mats (Aerobics, Martial Arts)
- Smith Machine
- Free-weights & Rack
- Adjustable Benches (2)
- 2-in-1 Leg Machine
- Cable/Pulley System
- 3-in-1 Apparatus
- Professional Punching Bag

Each of these facility improvements & new pieces of equipment have some important new rules associated with them. Because of this, GSO has created a set of Instructional Videos that EACH STUDENT MUST VIEW BEFORE USING THE NEW GYM.

To view the videos simply hover over the filmstrip to your right, OR, click on a clip to view a larger video. If you are having trouble viewing the videos through the blog you can visit the direct link to the videos.

We thank you very much for taking the time to view these videos, as well as for your respectful use of the new equipment. Treating the new equipment with care and abiding by the usage rules will ensure the gym may be used for many generations to come.

Lastly, we can all thank President Sugihara for believing in & supporting the project, as well as Facility Services for coming through in the end and doing a great job, completing the project on time and on budget.

Sincerely,

GSO-EC

Congratulations Class of 2007

Congratulations to everyone in IUJ's Graduating Classes of 2006-2007.
We wish you all the best in the future, and hope you've enjoyed your stay here at IUJ. As you move on to greener pastures (sure, greener than the rice fields of Niigata could be tough, we know)... please don't forget to stay in touch through the Alumni Directory & Newsletters. You're also welcome to continue using this blog!

Lastly, GSO-EC will be launching a new website by the end of the summer which will act as a portal for any IM accounts (Skype, GoogleTalk, MSN, AIM, Yahoo!IM) any SNS profiles you may have (such as MySpace, Facebook, Mixi, Blogger, Orkut) or any media-sharing services (YouTube, JumpCut, DailyMotion, Flickr, KodakGallery, etc) or any other web services from your own country or elsewhere that you use and would like to share with the IUJ Alumni Community. We sincerely hope that you will use this service, and find it useful as well.

It's been a long road, and through it we've forged lasting memories, world records, friendships, loves, group & team bonds, business partnerships and international connections that would simply not be possible had each of us not chosen to study at the International University of Japan at this particular point in time. Let's stay in touch and build the IUJ network as a useful tool for our careers and lives.

To each of our happiness and future successes,

GSO-EC (2006-2007)

Because we're stronger together, than we could ever hope to be apart.

WANTED - Dead or Alive

This is RyUJ, requesting any information regarding my bicycle, which mysteriously disappeared along with several others within the last week. It does not appear to be on campus, which suggests that someone rode it to town, or elsewhere, and chose not to return on it.

Any information regarding who or where would be greatly appreciated.

And whilst we're at it, how about some suggestions as to who keeps stealing food and utensils from the kitchen? And who stole items from the storage room at the beginning of this academic year?

Come on people - names, wild accusations, anything... Is this is a witchhunt? Sure. Isn't everyone fed up of not being able to put things down, or in the refrigerator, without wondering if they will get stolen?

I encourage a full disclosure of all information regarding IUJ thieves - use the anonymous function to post information on this blog - lets fight them together!!!

Thanks for the Olympics!!!

Hopefully everyone has recovered from the IUJ Olympics by now. We would like to take a moment to thank everyone who participated. It was long, it had ups & it had downs, we laughed & we cried, we played & we argued, we ate BBQ & we drank ocha… but in the end we hope everyone had a great time, and made some terrific memories in the process.

First and foremost, we would like to send our warmest thanks to President Sugihara on behalf of all Students for funding the Sunday afternoon Barbeque. His generosity allowed all us 150 tired and hungry Olympic participants to refuel ourselves for the upcoming difficult final weeks of exams & term projects. To everyone, if you see President Sugihara this week, be sure to thank him!

Next, we have a few other items to take care of in order to properly conclude the Olympics for this year. We have printed certificates for all of the winners in each individual event and group sport, which we would like to give out informally this weekend. We will also announce the overall winners.

Please come to CNP on Saturday at 9pm for an informal ceremony and some refreshments. Because we are focusing our budget on Campus Improvement and the Graduation Party, this one will have to be BYOB (as in Bring your own… Beer, Booze, or other Beverages). But we’ll also be handing out drinks and other prizes to the event winners, and to prove that everyone is a winner, we'll even hand some prizes out to some lucky participants who may not have won but who’s sportsmanship and/or leadership shone through in the Olympics.

It will also be a great chance to gather your team one last time for photos and some good times after all your hard work.

Hope to see you all there!!!

GSO-EC

P.S. We hope you will share any pictures you may have in the public folder under:
\\iuj-home\Public\IUJ Olympics 2007 FH

Yamazaki hours improved!!! (for now)

Dear All,

The Y-shop IUJ will extend its business hours temporarily as follows for students'
benefit and convenience.

Weekdays from June 11 to June 22 --- 8:00am - 9:00pm
Weekends from June 16 to July 1 --- Noon - 5:00pm

Please come to the shop and use it!

Thank you,

Facilities & Property Service Center

We are pleased to announce that your comments and survey responses have been well received by administration. Yamazaki will open with extended hours more similar to the previous ones for a "temporary trial period". A sign that we may in fact see the Yamazaki situation improved in the near future!!!

Now be sure to take advantage of the (temporary) new opening hours, you should visit there and purchase those items you really needed to get on the weekends & evenings but could not because of Yamazaki's closure!

Thanks to all students for your patience and support,

GSO-EC

IUJ Bus

OK guys, it must be time to take some action over the situation of the IUJ Bus.

Last Monday, I arrived back from Tokamachi where I had stayed with a friend for the weekend, and discovered that the IUJ Bus was canceled due to it being 'IUJ Foundation Day', a holiday not even marked on the calendar as it is not national. It was a bright day so I was able to walk back, but more worrying were the people with me at the bus stop who lived in Urasa. They had a choice between a ￥1600 taxi or not going to class - needless to say they decided not to attend.

With our campus being so isolated and in the middle of nowhere, it is imperative that IUJ provides a convenient and frequent bus service. Currently, it stops at 6pm and dosnt run on Sundays, which is just shameful.

What if we want to buy something that we forgot on Sunday? Now, we can just walk to 7/11, but in the winter the 2 meters of snow will put a stop to that. What if we want to eat off campus, away from the "food" that is from Shokudo? Fancy a drink off campus, or a trip to the bowling alley (Muikamachi) or cinema (Nagaoka), then you have to pay for expensive taxis.

This is a problem that has to be dealt with. Our ￥1.9m per year tuition demands a better bus service!

IUJ Olympics: Basketball

Hey everyone,
IUJ Olympics is around the corner, so if you are interested in joining:

-Basketball 5x5 or 3x3 (depends on how many participants)
-3 Pts contest
Please, write your name and email as a comment.

If you have any questions, contact "talal143@iuj.ac.jp"

The rules will be given out after the deadline!

-Al

IUJ Olympics: Football

Dear Students,

I hope you enjoyed the warm-up tournament this past weekend!

This is to let you know that you can sign up here for the IUJ Olympics' Football (Soccer) Tournament. All you need to do is post a comment below including your name & email, and we'll take care of the rest.

"Come get a kick out of life!"
(on behalf of) IUJ Soccer Club

IUJ Olympics: Tennis - Sugihara Cup

Dear IUJ students,

This is a special announcement about the Sugihara Cup which will be the final event to close out the IUJ Olympics.

1. The format will be Doubles (2 players to a side)
2. The first to win 4 sets will win the match
3. Standard Tennis rules of play & conduct apply (will be provided before the event)

Immediately following the Sugihara Cup, there will be a Closing Ceremony / BBQ.

If you would like to compete for the Sugihara Cup please sign up as a team with your names and emails. If you do not have a partner yet, don´t worry, you may submit your name to be placed with a partner.

IUJ Olympics: Ping-Pong

Hey folks,

If you wanna participate in the Ping-Pong Challenge event in the IUJ Olympics, please sign your name here by Thursday, May 31st as a comment:

For example:
Virat Singhal - virat@iuj.ac.jp

Once we have all the names for ping-pong we will send out a list to help you form your teams.

See you at the tables.