News briefs

29 November 2001 |

Botanical Garden plant sale is Dec. 1
The UC Botanical Garden holiday plant sale will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 1. Load your trunk with orchids, tillandsias, cacti, ferns, bromeliads and carnivorous plants, or treat your families to books and special presents from the garden’s gift shop. The garden is at 200 Centennial Drive. For information, call 643-2755.

ASUC Art Studio to hold annual crafts sale
The ASUC Art Studio will hold its annual holiday sale from noon to 5 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 4, through Saturday, Dec. 8. The sale features modestly priced ceramics, photography, crafts and cards fashioned by art studio instructors and members. The studio is located on the lower level of the Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union. For information, call 642-3065.

Holiday food, toy drives will support local charities
Two campus food and toy drives collecting donations through early December will continue the tradition of holiday giving to the community.

The Berkeley Staff Assembly’s annual food and toy drive began Nov. 19 and runs through Dec. 13. At press time, there were more than 20 drop-off spots for donations, among them California, Kroeber, Hilgard, Evans, University and Sproul halls. Last year the Staff Assembly collected 798 toys, which went to the Marine Corps’ Toys for Tots program, and 1,963 pounds of food were donated to the Alameda County Food Bank.

To set up a drop-off site in your building, contact Dave Hernes at hernes@math.berkeley.edu or 642-9104.

The Bear Share food, toy and clothing drive, sponsored by ASUC, will be held Dec. 3-7. Donations of clothes, canned food and toys will be given to A Safe Place, the Alameda County Food Bank and the Bay Area Women and Children’s Center. Drop-off sites will be located at Sproul Plaza and in the student residence halls. For information, send e-mail to jenchow333@hotmail.com or call 664-1433.

Drainage, accessibility work at People’s Park
The campus is currently undertaking work to improve drainage, curtail erosion and provide wheelchair access in People’s Park. During the rainy season, the park’s paths become muddy, slippery and rutted, and the basketball court erodes. The project, developed with the People’s Park Community Advisory Board, is designed to improve safety and accessibility, and will not affect the park’s historic features or usage.

Underground drainage pipes and two retaining walls will be installed; the basketball court, office, driveway and some paths will be resurfaced; and the dumpsters will be screened. The work is scheduled to minimize disruption for neighbors and park users, and could be completed by the end of 2001.

During construction, the basketball court will be closed temporarily for construction staging and storage, but the park’s bathroom will remain accessible from Haste Street.

For details, call Rufus Jones, project manager, at 643-2796.

Staffers receive bonus payments from referral program
The Employee Referral Bonus Program pilot — under which Berkeley employees received $500 for a referral leading to a new campus hire and an additional $500 payment if that employee passed the six-month probation period — ended Oct. 31. As a result of the program, 51 staff received $500 payments and 38 staff received $1,000 payments.

The Office of Human Resources plans to evaluate findings from the pilot program over the next few months and to work with campus management to determine the future of the program.

Final Tang flu shot clinic set for Nov. 30
Your last chance to get a flu shot at the Tang Center is Nov. 30. The flu shot clinic, open to faculty, staff, students and the community, will be held from noon until 6 p.m. in the Class of ’42 room on the first floor of University Health Services, 2222 Bancroft Way. The cost is $15; shots are available only to adults. For information, call 642-1814.

Blood drive to collect donations Dec. 6, 10
The Red Cross will hold a blood drive on campus from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Dec. 6, in University Hall, and again from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Dec. 10, in the East Pauley Ballroom, Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union. For information or to schedule an appointment, see the Red Cross web site, www.BeADonor.com.

Comments sought on proposed calendar
A new academic calendar proposed by the campus Strategic Planning Committee, co-chaired by Academic Senate Chair David Dowall and Vice Provost William Webster, would reduce the days of instruction in the academic year from 146 to 140. The new calendar is intended to help the campus accommodate the enrollment growth that the Office of the President has mandated for Berkeley.

Because UCOP approval is necessary to reduce the total instruction days, the earliest the proposed calendar would take effect is the 2003-04 academic year. The proposed calendar is available at www.chance.berkeley.edu/planning/calendar.html.

Comments should be sent to Policy Analyst Sandy Ellison at the Chancellor’s Office, 200 California Hall #1510 or at sellison@ uclink4.berkeley.edu. The deadline for comments is Dec. 21.