News briefs

04 December 2002 |

Holiday energy curtailment
Heating and ventilation will again be curtailed on the Berkeley campus between Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2002, and Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2003. This year’s curtailment plan includes three days (Dec. 26, 27, and 30) that would be regularly scheduled work days. During the entire curtailment period, faculty and staff are encouraged to plan to be away from campus.

For a list of buildings scheduled for energy curtailment, see berkeley.edu:5027/attachments/021121att1.doc. Only heat and ventilation will be curtailed; normal electric service will be maintained at all times. However, the use of electric space heaters is strongly discouraged.

Charitable Campaign deadline this week
The last day for submitting pledges to the campus Charitable Campaign is Thursday, Dec. 5. Visit www.berkeley.edu/charitable for details about this year’s campaign, or read previous Berkeleyan coverage at www.berkeley.edu/news/berkeleyan/2002/11/13_charit.html.

Last chance for flu shots at Tang
The final drop-in flu-shot clinic at the Tang Center will be Friday, Dec. 6, from noon to 6 p.m. The cost is $20 ($4 for students with the Student Health Insurance Plan). For information, see “Updates” at www.uhs.berkeley.edu.

Astronaut to speak at December Convocation
This year’s December Convocation, honoring students eligible to graduate from Berkeley at midyear, will take place from 5 to 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 6, at Zellerbach Playhouse. The keynote speaker will be NASA mission specialist Rex Walheim, a 1984 Berkeley grad in mechanical engineering who has logged several hundred hours in space, including more than 14 hours of extra-vehicular activity.

Chancellor Robert Berdahl will speak at the convocation.

A reception will follow in the Toll Room at Alumni House. For information, call Janelle Sahouria at 549-0106.

UC grant funds new East Bay AIDS Research Institute
The University of California’s systemwide AIDS Research Program has awarded $757,000 over a three-year period to the East Bay AIDS Center at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center to create the East Bay AIDS Research Institute (EBARI).

EBARI, a new collaboration of researchers and clinicians in Alameda County, will be a client-centered research initiative dedicated to exploring and addressing the critical issues facing underserved people living with HIV. The institute will link the East Bay’s largest HIV medical-care providers with the expertise of renowned research specialists, in studies driven by the priorities of the affected communities.

The University of California established the universitywide AIDS Research Program in 1983 at the request of the state legislature. The program, part of the UC Office of the President, has awarded more than 1,600 research grants to more than 50 California institutions, totaling $156 million to date.

Berkeley Prize competition is on
Sponsored by the Department of Architecture, the Berkeley Prize is an online essay contest open to undergraduate architecture majors worldwide. This year’s competition, the fifth annual, focuses on the work of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention.

A minimum of $3,000 will be awarded to the first-prize winner. Students who wish to submit an essay proposal online must do so by Dec. 10; semi-finalists’ completed essays are due by Jan. 15, 2003. Visit www.berkeleyprize.org for information.

Shuttle service to UCSF canceled
The UCSF shuttle that has served the Berkeley campus has been discontinued. Transit alternatives between the campuses include a BART-to-UCSF shuttle and BART/Muni and AC Transit/Muni options. For further information, visit http://public-safety.berkeley.edu/trip/index.html or the Berkeley TRiP office at 2033 Center St.

Tedford is Pac-10 ‘Coach of the Year’
Head football coaches of the Pacific-10 Conference this week named Jeff Tedford as Pac-10 Coach of the Year. Tedford directed the California Golden Bears to their first winning football season (7-5) in nine years and the second-biggest turnaround in school history.

Tedford, who inherited last season’s 1-10 team, orchestrated victories over UCLA, Washington, Michigan State, and Arizona State in his first season at the helm. The 2002 Bears also won six more games than last year, which equaled the biggest turnaround in NCAA Division I-A football this season.

For the record
An item in the Nov. 14 Berkeleyan gave Nov. 30 as the deadline for faculty and academic employees to submit requests and appeals for service credit under the Academic Service Credit Allocation Program. That date was in fact the suggested OHR-Benefits Unit internal deadline for cases where assistance was needed in gathering documentation in time to meet the final UCOP deadline of December 31.

Anyone still in need of assistance with gathering documentation should e-mail Art Leon ( aleon@uclink.berkeley.edu) by the new internal deadline of Wednesday, Dec. 11. There is no guarantee that requests for documentation received after this date can be met before the Berkeley campus winter break. For information about eligibility, see atyourservice.ucop.edu/news/retirement/servcredit_acad.pdf.