Posted September 8, 1999

Medical Plan Troubles? Help Is on the Way

Trouble with your medical plan?

The Berkeley campus, under a new one-year pilot program, now has a health care facilitator to help members of the campus community make full use of their UC-sponsored medical benefits.

The new health care facilitator, Deborah Lloyd, can help explain UC medical plan coverage and rights and how Medicare benefits coordinate with the UC-sponsored medical plans. She can help medical plan participants navigate the health care system, provide referrals to campus or community agencies, and -- if necessary -- work with health care providers or government agencies, such as Medicare, to resolve medical care, service or billing issues.

Active and retired faculty and staff, their dependents, surviving spouses and beneficiaries and other annuitants enrolled in the UC-sponsored medical plans are eligible for this confidential one-on-one assistance.

Lloyd is located in the UC Berkeley Human Resources Benefits Unit, and can be reached at dblloyd@uclink4.berkeley.edu or 643-7547.

Sophisticated Suburban Housing on Display

While many consider the advent of suburban housing in the 1950s one of the lowest points in architectural history, developer Joseph Eichler raised the genre to new heights of sophistication and creativity.

Known for his open, airy structures, Eichler homes define a distinctly modern vision of California living. He built nearly 12,000 of these homes, most of them in the Bay Area.

"Building the California Dream: The Eichler Homes," a collection of more than 70 photographs of these houses, will be on display at the Worth Ryder Gallery beginning Sept. 14.

The photographs, taken by Ernest Braun during the 50s and 60s, originally served as promotional materials for the homes. But the creative composition, utilization of natural light and depictions of social situations in the images, offers a fascinating perspective of mid-century America.

An opening reception for the exhibit takes place Tuesday, Sept. 14, at 5:30 p.m. A lecture by the curators and Eichler's son, Edward, will be given Friday, Sept. 17, at 7 p.m., in 1 Pimentel Hall. For information, call 642-0831.

Research Professionals Approve New Contract

By a vote of 310 to 4, research support professionals from throughout the UC system approved a new contract with the university Aug. 20.

Under the agreement between UC and University Professional and Technical Employees-Communications Workers of America, approximately 3,800 UC employees (about 200 of them at Berkeley) will receive a combination of lump sums and base pay increases for 1997-98 and 1998-99, as well as regular merit and step increases for 1999-2000.

In effect through June 2002, the contract includes articles on time off for job-related training and development, grievance and arbitration, layoff procedures and others.

For details, see www.ucop.edu/hures/labor/rx.html and select the July 9 and July 22 bargaining updates.

Public Invited to Sept. 9 Southside Safety Summit

The Southside Community Safety Partnership will hold a public "summit" on community safety issues, Thursday, Sept. 9, from 7 to 9 p.m. The meeting will be held at 2650 Haste St., in the Unit 2 central commons, upstairs.

The partnership is a collaboration between campus's Office of Community Relations and the Telegraph Area Association, in cooperation with UC and city police departments. It helps to develop and publicize crime prevention and emergency preparedness programs in the south-of-campus area.

For information, call 642-7860.

September 8 - 14, 1999 (Volume 28, Number 5)
Copyright 1999, The Regents of the University of California.
Produced and maintained by the Office of Public Affairs at UC Berkeley.
Comments? E-mail berkeleyan@pa.urel.berkeley.edu.