Berkeleyan

News Briefs

14 September 2005

Ground rules set for salary increases

The Berkeley campus will be implementing a salary-increase program for employees in positions covered by the Personnel Policies for Staff Members (PPSM). The plan calls for an increase of 3 percent for eligible employees in positions covered by PPSM. Eligibility requirements include: appointment to a career position covered by PPSM on or before July 1, 2005; employment in a PPSM-covered career position as of Oct. 1 and at the time the merit rosters are issued to departments; a documented performance evaluation rating of satisfactory or higher for the period Oct. 1, 2004, to Sept. 30, 2005; and no formal written disciplinary action during the evaluation period. (Total increases for individual employees including merit, promotional, equity, or reclassification adjustments may not exceed 25 percent of the individual employee's salary as of June 30, 2005, unless approved by the chancellor, and salaries resulting from merit increases may not cause the individual's resultant salary to exceed the maximum of the salary range.)

Limited funding will also be made available to provide additional increases to exceptional performers. Another component of the program will entail allocation of funds for salary equity in key areas.

If you have questions, concerns, or comments about the salary-increase program for employees covered by the PPSM program, send e-mail to merits05@berkeley.edu by Oct. 11, 2005.

Cal breast-cancer awareness walk is Oct. 5

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and faculty, staff, and students are invited to join the Cal for the Cure Campus Walk for Breast Cancer on Wednesday, Oct. 5. Sponsored by the campus Breast Health Committee and Health*Matters, the walk is an opportunity to honor co-workers, family, and friends touched by breast cancer and to raise awareness of the importance of early detection in combating the disease.

The 20-minute walk begins at 12:10 pm on the south side of the Campanile; no enrollment is required. For information, see uhs.berkeley.edu/facstaff/healthmatters/calforthecure.shtml or call 643-4646.

Free tickets to Sept. 26 conversation on Doctor Atomic

Tickets are available starting next week for a discussion of the San Francisco Opera's new opera on physicist Robert Oppenheimer and the making of the atomic bomb. Titled "Science and the Soul: J. Robert Oppenheimer and Doctor Atomic," the event will feature Peter Sellars and John Adams (stage director and composer, respectively) along with S.F. Opera General Director Pamela Rosenberg. University Professor of Physics Marvin Cohen and Mark Richards, dean of physical sciences, will help shed light on the historical and scientific background of the Manhattan Project. The evening will include an exclusive musical preview of Doctor Atomic, which premieres Oct. 1.

Presented by the College of Letters and Science, "Science and the Soul" takes place at 8 p.m., Monday, Sept. 26, in Wheeler Auditorium. Free tickets are available at the Zellerbach Hall ticket office from Tuesday through Sunday, Sept. 20 to 25. Box-office hours are 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays and 1 to 5 p.m. weekends. Tickets will also be available at the door of Wheeler the night of the event, starting at 7 p.m.

For information, see LS.berkeley.edu/CollegePresents or call 643-1964.

Discounts offered for Doctor Atomic

The San Francisco Opera is extending an online promotional offer to members of the Berkeley campus community for Doctor Atomic - its new opera on physicist Robert Oppenheimer and the invention of the atomic bomb, composed by John Adams and directed by Peter Sellars. Tickets ordered through Sept. 30 will receive a 15-percent discount; from Oct. 1 to Oct. 15, the discount is 10 percent. To redeem this offer, visit sfopera.com/offer and enter "CAL" as the promotion code.

Experts discuss Bay Bridge troubles Sept. 16

Experts on the design, engineering, and political issues related to the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, including reconstruction of the aging and earthquake-vulnerable eastern span, will convene on Friday, Sept. 16, for a workshop titled "Troubled Bridge Over Water." The event, to be held from 1 to 4 p.m. in 112 Wurster, is the first in a new series - on current issues facing the Bay Area - organized by the College of Environmental Design Alumni Association, in cooperation with the architecture department.

Panelists include Randy Rentschler, director of legislation and public affairs for the Bay Area's Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC); Ephraim Hirsch, Berkeley alumnus and a structural engineer on the MTC Engineering and Design Advisory Panel; John King, San Francisco Chronicle urban-design writer; architect Donald MacDonald, whose team created the winning design for a new eastern span; and Steve Schnaidt of the California State Senate Transportation Committee.

All workshops in the Friday Afternoon Workshop Series are free and open to the public, with preferential seating for CED students, faculty, and alumni.