News briefs

11 September 2002 |

Workshops address UC estate planning, investment, tax savings
The Office of Human Resources, with Fidelity Investments, is offering a series of educational workshops on the University’s tax-savings plans and the investment opportunities available to staff and faculty.

Enrollment is required. All enrollments will be handled by Fidelity’s central reservation system at (800) 642-7131. from 5 a.m. to p.m. PST, Monday through Friday. You may enroll in one or all workshops (based on availability). Since the number of spaces is limited, notify Fidelity directly if a cancellation is necessary, so that other employees can enroll.

Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act Changes for 2002
Monday, Sept. 23, 1-3 p.m.

Getting Started
Friday, Sept. 27, 10 a.m.-noon

Creating An Investment Strategy
Thursday, Oct. 3, 10 a.m.-noon

Looking Ahead to Retirement
Friday, Oct. 18, 10 a.m.-noon

Estate Planning
Thursday, Oct. 24, 10 a.m.- noon and 5:30-7:30 p.m.

For information, see hrweb.berkeley.edu/benefits/fall02.htm.

Strawberry facilities to close for upgrades
Strawberry Canyon Recreation Area will undergo facility renovations and upgrades beginning Oct. 1, 2002 and extending through January 2003. All facilities will be closed during this period.

Classes that were scheduled in the clubroom after Oct. 1 have been cancelled or relocated.Contact Susanne McQuade at 643-8032 or Kim Nishida at 643-2316 for class details. The fitness center and clubroom will reopen Jan. 23, 2003.

In an attempt to reduce costs, the east and west pools will remain closed until April 1, 2003. In addition, the Hearst facility will undergo renovations and upgrades in the men’s locker room. All buildings and pools will be closed Dec. 21 to Jan. 20, 2003, reopening Jan. 21.

The revised fall 2002 recreation swim schedules are available on the web at www.calbears.berkeley.edu or at the RSF, Hearst, or Golden Bear Recreation Centers.

For information on pool schedules, contact Brigitte Lossing, blossing@uclink4.berkeley.edu or 642-0505. For SCRA renovations, contact Joe Watz at 642-8556.

Experts on bridges, freeways to convene
A daylong symposium, “The Art of Designing Bridges and Freeways,” will be held Friday, Sept. 20 at Alumni House. It will focus not only on recent developments in bridge and freeway construction, but on the aesthetics of freeway, bridge, and overpass design.

The keynote address, by Princeton engineering professor David Billington, will be “The Challenge to Engineers: Bridges as Art.”

The same theme will inform a symposium “prequel” talk by bridge designer Jim Eyre, “Between Nature and Invention,” at 7 p.m., Sept. 19, in 112 Wurster Hall.

Symposium panels will address aesthetic issues in contemporary bridge design and related considerations in freeway design.

Berkeley faculty participating in the symposium include Martin Wachs, director of the Institute of Transportation Studies; Allan Jacobs, professor of city and regional planning; and symposium chair Julia Trilling, research specialist at the University of California Transportation Center.

Guide lists resources for grad-student parents
The Graduate Division has published a new brochure detailing campus resources designed to help graduate student parents meet their family care obligations while pursuing their academic goals.

“Families Matter: A Quick Guide for Graduate Student Parents” includes information on financial aid, health insurance, family student housing, campus childcare options and other programs and services, as well as academic policies affecting student parents.

An estimated 460 to 860 Berkeley graduate students have children. Says Mary Ann Mason, dean of the Graduate Division: “As a professor I have long been interested in student parents and their particular needs.

“As a researcher and dean,” she continues, “our research group has found that the major predictor of why graduate student women are not well represented in the professoriate is motherhood. We need to support our student parents or we will lose some of best and brightest minds.”

For copies of the guide, call 642-5472.

Lawrence Hall of Science seeks docents
Lawrence Hall of Science will hold an orientation day for prospective docents, from 10 a.m. to noon, on Wednesday, Sept. 18. LHS docents assist museum visitors, assist LHS staff in outreach programs, provide tours of exhibits, and provide customer service.

For information, email docents@uclink4.berkeley.edu, or phone 643-5471.

For the record
In a Sept. 5 Berkeleyan article about this coming weekend’s Ethnografeast symposium at International House, an incorrect e-mail address was provided. For information on the symposium, contact Maureen Fesler at maureenf@uclink4.berkeley.edu.