News briefs

16 January 2003 |

Hoffer essay contest deadline is Jan. 31
Many competitive prizes are open to Berkeley students; the Lili Fabilli and Eric Hoffer Essay Prize, however, is open to faculty and staff as well.

This year’s topic is “Self Deception: Benefits and Consequences.” Essays must be 500 words or less. Submit entries in person no later than 4:30 p.m., Friday, Jan. 31, 2003, to the Undergraduate Honors Office, 210 Sproul Hall.

Essays are judged on originality of thought and excellence in writing. Prizes are awarded by the Committee on Prizes, which also selects each year’s topic. The prize total is $3,000, divided among the winners at the judges’ discretion. Last year, two students and two staff each won $750.

For information, see uga.berkeley.edu/fao/Prizes/prose-hoffer.htm.

Regents approve new CAP retirement fund
In an effort to mitigate disappointing 2002-03 salary increases, the UC Regents, at their Nov. 14 meeting, approved additional retirement funds for eligible UC employees. The benefit takes the form of a special retirement account, called a Capital Accumulation Provision (CAP), which will put the equivalent of 5 percent of the employee’s salary into a separate retirement account in the University of California Retirement Plan (UCRP).

Employees who are active members in the UCRP on April 1, 2003 will be eligible for the CAP. In the last 10 years, UC has offered five separate CAP programs.

Feb. 14 is deadline for Educational Initiatives nominations
Departments and units are invited to submit nominations for the 2002-03 Educational Initiatives Award , a campus honor given annually to recognize educational innovation. The $20,000 award honors a Berkeley program or initiative that has had a sustained impact on undergraduate education and can serve as a model for others on campus.

The deadline for nominations is Friday, Feb. 14. For information, see teaching.berkeley.edu/awards.html or contact Michael Hardie of Educational Technology Services, 643-9433 or hardie@uclink.berkeley.edu.

New UC admissions director named
Susan Wilbur has been named director of undergraduate admissions for the University of California system. Wilbur, currently director of admissions and relations with schools at UC Irvine, will assume her new position in January and be based at the UC Office of the President in Oakland. She succeeds Carla Ferri, who recently retired after more than a decade as director of undergraduate admissions for the UC system.

San Francisco–Berkeley van pool seeks riders
There are openings for riders in a UC-sponsored van pool that leaves San Francisco in time to arrive on campus by 8 a.m. Departure from Berkeley is at 5 p.m. For information, contact Deborah Porter at 642-1881 or Olivia Armstrong at 643-7082.

Civil-rights exhibit honors two Berkeley faculty members
Ordinary people did extra-ordinary things during the American civil-rights movement. Two such individuals, from the Berkeley faculty, are featured in a new public arts project to be presented at the San Francisco Public Library and on KQED-TV.

Created by the East Bay nonprofit Community Works, “The Long Walk to Freedom, 1900–Now: Portraits of Civil Rights Activists Then and Now” consists of photographs, archival materials, an interactive DVD, and a 15-minute video on the contributions of 12 activists of the 1960s. Among them are Robert Allen, professor of ethnic and African American studies and editor of The Black Scholar magazine, and Professor Emeritus of Ethnic Studies Carlos Muñoz.

A reception to honor the 12 activists — and to premiere the professional video based on research by students at San Francisco’s George Washington High School — will be held at 2 p.m., Satur-day, Feb. 1, at the San Fran-cisco Public Library’s Koret Auditorium, 100 Larkin St.

The exhibition will remain on display in the library’s Skylight Gallery through March 20, before traveling to locations around the country. The video will be broadcast locally at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 26, on KQED-TV.

For information on “The Long Walk to Freedom,” see www.sfpl.org.

Nominations sought for Faculty Fellows Program
The campus is currently accepting nominations for the 2003-04 Faculty Fellows Program, a postdoctoral teaching and research fellowship open to recent UC PhDs. Fellows teach one course per semester in areas targeted to undergraduate teaching needs. At least one course taught per year must meet the campus’s American Cultures requirement.

The deadline for departments to submit nominations is March 14. Individuals from other UC campuses wishing to be considered for nomination are encouraged to submit materials to the appropriate campus department chair no later than Feb. 14.

For information, or to download a copy of the call for nominations, see education.berkeley.edu/fellows.htm or contact Cynthia Schrager at schrager@uclink.berkeley.edu or 643-7856.