Berkeleyan

News Briefs

25 April 2007

Reminder: Thursday is Take Your Child to Work Day

Thursday, April 26, is nationally recognized as Take Your Child to Work Day. Faculty and staff desiring to participate by bringing a child to work should communicate their intent through their normal administrative channels. Supervisors are encouraged to be flexible to allow participation in the day while being sensitive to others within their units.

There are many areas on campus where children should not be allowed unless special precautions are taken and the usual work activity is curtailed or modified. These areas include operating laboratories and machine shops, chemical-storage rooms, mechanical rooms, areas in close proximity to mechanical equipment, and any area where the work or work environment may pose a risk to the child's health or safety.

A "Chancellor's Picnic" with lunch, activities, and entertainment will take place on the Campanile Esplanade from noon to 1:30 p.m.; all children are welcome.

Sustainability Summit, April 27, to recognize green practices

The Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Sustainability (CACS) is hosting the fourth annual campus Sustainability Summit on Friday, April 27, from 8:30 to 11 a.m. in the Wells Fargo Room (420 Cheit) at the Haas School of Business. Refreshments will be served at 8:30 a.m.; the program begins at 9 a.m. Following the program close at 11:30 a.m., several "sustainability tours" will showcase campus green efforts.

Among the program's highlights will be the presentation of Sustainability Awards by Chancellor Birgeneau; the presentation (by Vice Chancellor Nathan Brostrom) of GreenFund grants to fund campus sustainability projects and initiatives; presentation of the Campus Greenhouse Gas Inventory by by the Cal Climate Action Partnership team; and a review of the accomplishments of this year's cohort of Chancellor's Sustainability Interns.

The event is free and open to the public. For information, visit sustainability.berkeley.edu/summits.

Reduced steam for heat and hot water May 4-6

Physical Plant-Campus Services plans to shut down and repair a 10-inch steam line, one of two steam mains under Campanile Way that serve much of the campus, during the weekend of May 4-6. Repairs will be made to fix conditions resulting from recent seismic activity. The work will reduce the risk of possible future failure of the steam line, which would have serious consequences for the campus. Steam generated in the campus's co-generation plant and distributed via underground pipes is used for building heat and hot water on the central campus.

Work is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. Friday, May 4, and continue until 5 p.m. Sunday, May 6.

As the repair work is being done, a reduction in steam pressure is anticipated that may affect building heat and hot water, especially in buildings on the east side of campus (east of and including Dwinelle Hall and Moffitt Library, but not including the MLK Student Union and César Chávez Center). The affected buildings will include Doe Library, the Gardner Stacks, Moffitt Undergraduate Library, the Haas School of Business, the Law Building (Boalt), Hearst Memorial Mining Building, Calvin Lab, Bechtel Engineering Center, and Barrows, Cory, Davis, Dwinelle, Etcheverry, Evans, Le Conte, McCone, Simon, Soda, Stanley, Wheeler, and Wurster halls.

For more information, contact Wayne Jin in PP-CS at 642-8009 or wjin@berkeley.edu. If you experience problems with hot water, heating, or ventilation during the weekend of May 4-6, contact the PP-CS Call Center at 642-1032.

Surplus sale and computer-recycling event set for May 19

Office furniture, computers, vehicles, and other surplus items from campus departments will be offered at bargain prices the morning of Saturday, May 19, at the Cal Overstock and Surplus Den Showroom Sale and Computer-Recycling Extravaganza. Members of the community are also invited to drop off monitors, laptops, CPUs, TVs, keyboards, mice, power cords, and circuit boards, free of charge, for recycling.

The event starts at 8 a.m. and ends at noon, on the north side of the Marchant Building, 1000 Folger Ave., Berkeley (off San Pablo Avenue, two blocks south of Ashby). Attendees are encouraged to bring trucks and other appropriate vehicles to transport purchased items. Bring a copy of this News Brief for a 15 percent discount on any individual item (except vehicles) the day of the sale. The Den accepts Visa, MasterCard, cashier's checks, and money orders only (no cash).

For information, call 642-1186 or e-mail dclipson@berkeley.edu or sreckler@berkeley.edu.