Berkeleyan

News Briefs

30 August 2006

UC staff get a seat at the regents' table

The UC Board of Regents now has a formally selected staff adviser - Lynda Brewer, assistant director of capital planning at UC Irvine, who began her two-year appointment July 1. A UC employee for close to three decades, Brewer will attend open sessions of the board, committee meetings, and special regental events. Her position is a non-voting one; she plans, in her words, to "serve as a conduit" between UC staff and the university's governing board. "My responsibility will be to give a staff perspective on the issues," she told the UC Irvine publication Today@UCI. "It's important to put a face and a name on the UC staff."

Fidelity to offer free campus workshops on retirement and investments

Investing for retirement readiness will be covered in a series of hourlong workshops this fall offered by Fidelity Investments Tax-Exempt Services Company (FITSCo) under UC sponsorship. The schedule includes two new workshops, "Achieving a Sound Retirement" and "Connecting With Your Future Online." All sessions are held in 150 University Hall. Due to limited seating, employees need to pre-register at (800) 642-7131. Topics and dates are as follows:

. Enrolling in Your UC Retirement Savings Program (Wednesday, Sept. 20, 9 a.m.; Thursday, Nov. 30, 1:30 p.m.)
. Determining Your Investment Strategy (Wednesday, Sept. 20, 10:30 a.m.)
. Achieving a Sound Retirement (Tuesday, Oct. 24, 3 p.m.; Monday,
Dec. 4, 9 a.m.)
. Fundamentals of Retirement Income Planning (Thursday, Nov. 30,
3 p.m.; Monday, Dec. 4, 10:30 a.m.)
. Connecting With Your Future Online (Wednesday, Aug. 30, 10:30 a.m.; Tuesday, Oct. 24, 1:30 p.m.)

For more information on the workshops, see hrweb.berkeley.edu/benefits/UCB2006Workshops.pdf.

Use a pedometer to 'step up to fitness'

Learn how a pedometer can help you achieve a more active lifestyle, improve health, and manage weight at a "road show" offered by Health*Matters and campus co-sponsors (ALIANZA, the Asian Pacific American Systemwide Alliance, Berkeley Staff Assembly, and the Black Staff and Faculty Organization). All registered participants at this 15-minute orientation will receive a "Step Up to Fitness" drawstring backpack; participants can also purchase high-quality, easy-to-use pedometers (the Accusplit Eagle 120 XL) at cost ($12 including tax).

Step Up to Fitness road shows are scheduled for the following dates and locations: Wednesday, Sept. 13, 177 Life Sciences Addition; Thursday, Sept. 14, Campanile steps; Friday, Sept. 15, 60 Barrows Hall; start times for all locations are 11:10 a.m., 12:10 p.m., and 1:10 p.m. Enroll on ICE (www.hrweb.berkeley.edu/ice/home). For information, contact Health*Matters at 643-4646.

Give blood, save a life (or three)

One blood donation can help save up to three lives. The American Red Cross and UC San Francisco sponsor blood drives on campus throughout the year, with the donations going to East Bay hospitals and the UCSF Medical Center. During September, drives are scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 7; Friday, Sept. 8; and Monday, Sept. 25. For details and a schedule of campus blood drives throughout the year, see www.uhs.berkeley.edu/home/news/bloodrives.shtml. Campus affiliates registering for an American Red Cross drive for the first time can use the sponsor code "UCB."

Online registration now available for ASUC Art Studio's fall semester

Registration is now open - online, in person, or by mail - for fall offerings at the ASUC Art Studio. Classes and workshops - in photography, ceramics, digital imaging, video, drawing and painting, creative writing, book arts, jewelry-making, knitting, and textiles - begin in September and continue throughout the semester. Additionally, the art studio's color and black-and-white darkroom and digital lab are available for use for a fee. See www.asucartstudio.org for course descriptions, dates, and online registration. For information, call 642-3065.

Faculty remembered on In Memoriam website

Memorials for deceased members of the Academic Senate, penned by colleagues, are published online in In Memoriam. The website, which includes new entries for a number of faculty from the Berkeley campus, can be found at universityofcalifornia.edu/senate/inmemoriam/welcome.html.

Another shade of gray

"Seven Decades of Photography," an exhibit of works by William Jolly, an emeritus professor of chemistry, will be on display at the Faculty Club beginning Sept. 1. The exhibit coincides with the Bancroft Library's acquisition of Jolly's images. Jolly uses a process he devised, photographic chemical solarization, to produce unique color and Daguerreotype-like effects that are very different from familiar black-and-white fine-arts photography.

For the record . . .

In last week's issue, a News Brief item regarding the naming of Doe Library's East Reading Room for former Chancellor Roger Heyns included a misspelling of his surname.

In the same issue, a production error snipped off the last line of Ronna Kelly's story about Haas faculty member Waverly Ding's research into the "gender gap" among biotech faculty who patent their discoveries. The story should have concluded: "Young female faculty are similar to their male colleagues: They view patents as accomplishments and as a legitimate means to disseminate research," the authors concluded. "If this trend continues, we may observe further declines in the magnitude of the gender gap in commercializing academic research."