UC Davis News: Dateline

Pension contribution plan found lacking

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Even with an assumed rate of return of 7.5 percent on the UC Retirement Plan’s investments …

Even with the April 15 restart of contributions as planned (the first contributions in nearly 20 years) and a “gradual” ramping up to 17 percent total from employer and employee …

Even with all that, UC officials are projecting a slide in the plan’s funded status to 61 percent by 2013, down from 95 percent as of July 1, 2009. The 95 percent figure is from the newest actuarial report, which was presented to the UC Board of Regents this week.

The report also shows a 19.2 percent decline in the rate of return on the market value of the plan’s assets in 2008-09. Add in the assumed rate of return of 7.5 percent — and the retirement plan is really looking at a decline of 26.7 percent.

‘Something needs to be done’

“So something does need to be done above and beyond what we are currently talking about,” Randy Scott of the UC Office of the President told an audience of nearly 200 people at UC Davis on Nov. 9.

“What we are currently talking about” is a minimum 4 percent contribution from the university to start with; and 2 percent from most employees, going up “gradually” in annual increments, to 3 percent, then 4 percent and, finally, 5 percent (subject to collective bargaining for represented employees). The 5 percent figure is what state employees put into CalPERS.

Scott spoke at UC Davis as part of a systemwide tour on behalf of the UC President’s Task Force on Post-Employment Benefits, which is exploring all angles to ensure the long-term sustainability of not only the pension plan but retiree health care benefits.

In earlier forums, Scott said, retirees posed a primary question: “ ‘Is this somehow going to take away my pension?’ And the answer to that is, absolutely not.”

Asked if benefits could be changed for new employees, Scott answered: “Yes.” The task force is expected to look into what those changes might be.

For now, the restart of contributions is the only pension change we are sure of — for active employees only, not retirees, Scott emphasized.

The systemwide Academic Senate, for one, is urging accelerated contributions.

Assurances for retirees

Task force representatives conducted two forums on the Davis campus and one in Sacramento. The Davis forums filled the AGR Room at the Buehler Alumni and Visitors Center, for a total audience approaching 400. An estimated 150 people attended the Sacramento session.

Scott began the first forum on the Davis campus with assurances:

“The task force will not be dealing with or trying to reduce the earned, vested pension benefits of active employees,” said Scott, director of Talent Management and Staff Development at the Office of the President.

The same is true for retirees: “Those of you who are retired, you’ve earned your benefit; it cannot be touched in any way by the university.”

As for retiree health care benefits, Scott said UC is reducing the amount of money that the university contributes to retirees’ premiums, from an average of 92 percent in 2009 to 89 percent in 2010.

Still, he said, UC will be paying about $25 million more for retiree health coverage 2010, for a total cost of $250 million. The cost is expected to climb to $373 million in 2013 and $610 million in 2018.

UC’s average contribution for retirees “will be more closely aligned with what active employees pay,” Scott said. For active employees, UC will pay, on average, 88 percent of health care premiums in 2010.

Scott gave two reasons for reducing the university’s contribution to retirees’ health care: budget constraints and financial reporting obligations.

The latter refers to the federal government’s recent mandate on public employers: Their financial statements must include the projected cost of health insurance for the life of all retirees — those who are already retired and those who will retire in the future.

Unfunded liabilities

As of July 1, UC estimates this health insurance liability at $14.5 billion, which is unfunded at this time.

The pension fund is also dealing with unfunded liability, now that the funded status has dipped below 100 percent for the first time. The July 1 report lists an actuarial value of assets of $42.8 billion and accrued actuarial liability of $45.2 billion, for a deficit of $2.4 billion.

In a PowerPoint presentation at the task force forum, UC officials showed their projections for unfunded liabilities by the year 2013: $18.9 billion for retiree health care and $18.1 billion on the pension side, for a total deficit of $37 billion.

“Together, this is the picture that moved the regents in February to say we’ve got to begin to get a handle on this,” said Scott, explaining the genesis of the Task Force on Post-Employment Benefits.

No impact for first 15 months

For most employees, there will be no impact on take-home pay for 15 months, from April 15 to June 30 (the end of the 2009-10 fiscal year) and during all of 2010-11. The 2 percent contribution rate during this period is the same amount that employees already are required to contribute to individual defined contribution plans (DCP).

Starting April 15, all those 2 percent contributions will be redirected to the UC Retirement Plan, which is managed by the university; employees get to keep whatever they have already accumulated in their DCPs, which employees can manage themselves.

The university’s share also would go up annually, from 4 percent to 6 percent to 8 percent to 10 percent to 12 percent. For the employer’s share, the university has been trying unsuccessfully to get the state to pay — just as it does for CalPERS members.

UC first wanted to restart contributions on July 1, 2007 — but failed to get money from the state.

UC next tried for a restart on July 1, 2009, and asked the state for $96 million to cover the employer’s share. The governor agreed to $20 million, but, in the end, UC got nothing. For 2010-11, the university will ask again for $96 million, and hopes UC’s allies will join a lobbying effort to secure the money.

In the meantime, UC will cover its retirement contributions from elsewhere in the already-strapped university budget.

The task force plans more campus forums during the first half of 2010, and is scheduled to deliver a report and recommendations next summer.

“This isn’t about next year’s budget fix; it is about the long-term sustainability of these post-retirement benefits,” Scott said.

Randy Scott’s forum presentation as a webcast, plus the
PowerPoint presentation

The UC Retirement Plan by the numbers

UC Davis representatives on the task force

More about the retirement plan’s future

UC for California advocacy

Global Health Institute launched

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The UC on Nov. 9 launched a new Global Health Institute with nearly $4 million in start-up funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The institute will focus the combined expertise of the university’s 10 campuses on solving increasingly complex global health problems and meeting the health-care needs of the world’s most vulnerable populations.

The institute will include three centers of expertise. Two of the centers will be co-directed by faculty members at UC Davis: one will address the health issues of migrating people, and the other will concentrate on the effects of nutrition, water, animals and the environment on human health.

The new institute was unveiled Nov. 9 during a conference at UC San Francisco that highlighted the $75 billion impact of global health on the California economy. The global health sector, which includes companies that specialize in enterprises ranging from biopharmaceuticals to agriculture and clean energy, also supports 350,000 high-quality jobs in California and provides $19.7 billion in wages and salaries, according to a recent UC study of the effects of global health on the California economy. The study is available online at ucghi.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/eir.

Emerging academic discipline

“I am proud that California is such a leader in the emerging academic discipline of global health,” Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wrote in the foreword for the economic impact report. “The formation of the University of California multi-campus Global Health Institute and the efforts undertaken by other universities, nonprofit organizations and the business sector directly impact the health of California and the world.”

The institute will begin by offering a one-year master’s degree, enrolling its first students in fall 2011. Eventually, it also will offer two-year master’s and doctoral degree programs, granted by the UC campuses at which the students conduct their work. Under the institute’s umbrella, centers of expertise at the individual campuses will spearhead development of the graduate degree programs and design field projects for students at partnership sites throughout the world.

“UC Davis is well-positioned to play a leadership role in creating solutions to the world’s global health challenges,” said Claire Pomeroy, UC Davis vice chancellor for human health sciences and dean of the School of Medicine.

UC San Francisco’s Global Health Sciences is administering the $3.99 million two-year grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to plan the institute, which is intended to become self-supporting through gifts, grants and revenue from enrollment fees.

Veterinarian expertise

The new institute will include three multi-campus, multi-disciplinary centers of expertise: Migration and Health; One Health: Water, Animals, Food and Society; and Women’s Health and Empowerment. The first two centers will be co-directed by faculty members in UC Davis’ School of Medicine and School of Veterinary Medicine, respectively. The third center will be led by faculty members at UCSF and UCLA.

“With experience in wildlife health issues and diseases that spread from animals to people, our veterinary faculty will make a significant contribution to the development of practical solutions to complex health problems involving people, animals, and environmental quality,” said Bennie Osburn, dean of the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. “Working in this multi-campus effort will also help us provide unique opportunities for education and training in holistic health principles and practice.”

The centers were chosen using a competitive application process that involved proposals from 12 teams of faculty across the UC system. During the 2009-2010 academic year, center leaders will work with the institute’s administrative core, based at UC San Francisco, to plan education, research and partnership programs and intervention activities.

Migration and Health center

The Migration and Health center will be led by Marc Schenker, a professor in UC Davis School of Medicine’s Department of Public Health Sciences, in collaboration with Steffanie Strathdee, associate dean of Global Health Sciences at UC San Diego. The eight other UC campuses also will participate in this center.

“Today we live in a vast global community, linked not only by trade and travel, but also by the people who are permanently relocating from their countries of birth,” Schenker said. “They bring with them a rich mix of talents and cultural diversity but all too often they endure higher rates of occupational injuries and illnesses, and yet have less access to health care.”

Some of the problems that are especially of interest to researchers studying the health problems of migrating people include domestic violence; alcohol, tobacco and substance abuse; Type 2 diabetes and other nutrition-related diseases; occupational health and safety; reproductive health; and chronic disorders such as heart and lung disease.

Schenker noted that the new center will work closely with the new Migration and Health Research Center located at UC Davis and UC Berkeley, which was established in September to conduct and sponsor research related to acute and chronic illnesses and injuries among migrating people in California and around the world.

‘Short flight away’

The One Health: Water, Animals, Food and Society center will be led by Patricia Conrad, a professor in the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, in collaboration with Anil Deolalikar, an economics professor and associate dean of the UC Riverside College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. Also participating in this center will be the Berkeley, Irvine, UCLA, San Diego, UCSF, Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz campuses.

“It is becoming very clear that we in the United States both receive and contribute to global health problems,” Conrad said. “This year we saw how new diseases like H1N1 influenza, (“swine flu”), are only a short flight away from us in California and how, within days, they can spread worldwide. We also are seeing how financial decisions made in the United States can profoundly impact the entire world’s economy, just as our carbon use can alter the world’s climate.”

Conrad noted that the new One Health center will capitalize on the success of a new UC Davis-based international effort, named PREDICT, which is aimed at detecting and controlling diseases that move between wildlife and people. That global early warning system was established in October with a $75 million grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development to help the world prevent and prepare for outbreaks of infectious diseases like the H1N1 flu, avian flu, SARS and Ebola.

More information: www.news.ucdavis.edu.

EGGHEADS BACK HOME

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

With a crowd watching and video rolling, a big forklift hoisted two Eggheads atop their new homes in front of Mrak Hall on Nov. 13. The sculptures, titled See No Evil, Hear No Evil, were created by UC Davis art professor Robert Arneson and in 1994 installed on grassy mounds beside King Hall. They were removed in March 2008 to make way for a $30 million expansion and renovation project at the law school. In See No Evil, Hear No Evil, each Egghead has one eye shut, each is talking out of the corner of his or her mouth, and neither has ears. They stand about 5 feet high and weigh a few hundred pounds.

Head librarian’s legacy in expansion, collections

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Overseeing the remodeling and expansion of the Peter J. Shields Library is one of the reasons Marilyn Sharrow came to work as the university librarian in 1985.

She completed that project and many more in the ensuing 24 years, and now she is announcing her retirement effective March 1. She will be university librarian emerita, a title approved by Chancellor Linda Katehi in recognition of Sharrow’s “more than two decades of dedicated and meritorious service to UC Davis” and her “high-profile advocacy of libraries everywhere in the United States and Canada.”

Chancellor Emeritus Larry Vanderhoef, to whom Sharrow reported for most of her career here, added: “Marilyn has been a leader among UC librarians, highly regarded by them all. She brought many things first to UC Davis, as in her program to assist people with disabilities as the campus moved into the digital age.”

With Sharrow’s retirement, the campus is asking the UC Board of Regents to extend the appointment of Helen Henry and Gail Yokote as acting co-university librarians; they have been serving in an acting capacity since January, when Sharrow went on leave.

Henry’s and Yokote’s appointments are expected to run until a new university librarian is hired. A national search is expected to get under way soon.

At the time of Sharrow’s hiring, she recalled. “The university had just hired the architect for the Shields project, and I was very excited about seeing it through.”

She had already been the librarian in charge of three other big projects: a new public library (15,000 square feet) in Roseville, Mich.; a 100,000-square-foot addition to the main library at the University of Manitoba; and the 20,000-square-foot Engineering Library at the University of Toronto.

Then came her biggest job ever: the remodeling of 180,000 square feet and the addition of 150,000 square feet at Shields, in a $43 million project that brought together old and new (and created seating space for 3,391 people), and moved the library’s main entry to the west side. There, the automatic front doors open to the new west wing, featuring a lobby with a grand staircase and a wall of windows overlooking an enclosed courtyard.

“It’s an enormous task for all the people involved, but a lot of fun to see your vision come to be,” she said. The project won eight national and state awards for architecture, design and construction.

The Shields project took eight years, after which Sharrow took on more construction projects: renovating the Physical Sciences and Engineering Library on the Davis campus and the old medical library in Sacramento, and assisting in the planning for the new Blaisdell Medical Library on the Sacramento campus.

All the while, Sharrow ran the University Library, building the collections, updating the technology, raising money and putting on public events — all with the help of “dedicated, excellent colleagues,” in her words.

“It has been very rewarding to work with them and with UC Davis’ senior administration, who have all been supportive of the library,” she said.

Sharrow added: “I’m pleased the library has been able to provide the university community with such a wonderful collection, fine services, cutting-edge technology and superior physical spaces.”

Today, the University Library boasts a total collection of more than 3.6 million volumes and about 32,000 active current serials, and a number of important special collections.

The library acquired several of its special collections during Sharrow’s time as librarian. They include the Michael and Margaret B. Harrison Western Research Center Collection; the Gary Snyder Collection, from the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet who is a UC Davis professor emeritus; and the A.W. Noling Hurty-Peck Collection of more than 6,000 items, including books, pamphlets and ephemera, related to bottling and beverage making.

Library experience includes art

For any rare collection, Sharrow said, “enabling people to come in and find everything they need in one place — that is a wonderful research experience.”

For Sharrow, the library experience extends beyond books and serials and rare collections. It also extends to art — like the paintings and sculptures in Shields Library, more than 90 works altogether by UC Davis artists. They include Wayne Thiebaud and David Hollowell, not to mention Robert Arneson — whose Bookhead Egghead sculpture sits in front of the library.

“Adding such art to the library is a reminder to students of their campus’s heritage, of the people who helped make UC Davis what it is today,” Sharrow said. “It’s important for students to see these works and connect with them.”

Art is a major element of Sharrow’s life. She did her undergraduate work at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in design (with emphases in painting and ceramics) and a minor in art history.

After her graduation in 1967, she designed window and store displays at Crowley’s department store in Detroit.

But becoming a librarian was her ultimate goal, and soon she joined a preprofessional program at the Detroit Public Library, working days and going to school at night at a University of Michigan center across the street.

“I love getting people the information they are looking for,” she said. A love of reading does not hurt, either. In Sharrow’s case, the mystery genre is her favorite.

And, above all else, she said, she began each workday knowing that “libraries change people’s lives.”

She received her Master of Arts degree in library science in 1969, continued working at the Detroit Public Library until 1970, and then joined the Syracuse University Libraries, where she headed the Fine Arts Department until 1973.

She was director of the Roseville Public Library in Michigan from 1973 to 1975, then returned to higher education, working at the University of Washington, the University of Manitoba and the University of Toronto before joining UC Davis.

Altogether, she worked as a librarian for 41 years, compiling a long resume of service on committees and boards around the United States and Canada, publishing articles and giving presentations and speeches — even testifying once on Capitol Hill on behalf of the Library of Congress.

She served a one-year term as president of the Association of Research Libraries and a one-year term as president of the Canadian Association of Research Libraries — elected both times by her colleagues.

Chancellor pauses sciences libraries restructuring.

REMAKING UC: Regental commission to gather campus feedback

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

UC Commission on the Future working group representatives will visit the Davis campus from 1 to 4 p.m. on Nov. 30 in AGR Hall of the Buehler Alumni and Visitors Center to hear from UC Davis community members.

The commission was created by UC Board of Regents Chair Russell Gould to address how UC can best serve the state in the years ahead and maintain access, quality and affordability in a time of diminishing resources.

The commission and its five working groups will meet through March to consider, among other issues:

What is the right size and shape of the university going forward? Where should it grow, or should it?
What educational delivery models will both maintain quality and improve efficiency for UC’s future?
How can UC maximize traditional and alternative revenue streams in support of its mission?

Selected working group co-chairs and members are visiting all of the UC campuses to ensure that they are focusing on the right questions and getting relevant feedback from the UC community.

At the Nov. 30 UC Davis meeting, Chancellor Linda Katehi will offer brief welcoming remarks at 1 p.m., followed by a description of the commission and its working groups by working group representatives.

Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Enrique Lavernia will facilitate the dialogue that will follow with the Academic Senate, 1:30-1:55 p.m.; Academic Federation, 1:55-2:20 p.m.; Staff Assembly, 2:20-2:45 p.m.; undergraduate, graduate/professional student representatives, 2:45-3:10 p.m.; and public comment, 3:10-3:45 p.m.

The meeting will conclude with closing remarks from working group representatives.It will be webcast, accessible from the UC Davis homepage (www.ucdavis.edu).

The commission also welcomes feedback at ucfuture.universityofcalifornia.edu/feedback.html.

The commission’s report is expected to be completed in time for presentation at the March 23-25 regents’ meeting at UCSF Mission Bay.

More information

UC Commission on the Future — ucfuture.universityofcalifornia.edu (click on “calendar” for the commission’s projected timetable.)

NATIVE AMERICAN GARDEN

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

California Indian song, bustling tours and quiet, personal moments were all part of the dedication on Nov. 14 of a new outdoor reflective space honoring the Patwin who once lived on the land that would become UC Davis.

The Native American Contemplative Garden is part of a larger UC Davis project — believed to be the first at any public university in the nation — to honor the land’s original inhabitants and to educate the campus and its visitors about them.

‘A work of spirit’

Ines Hernandez-Avila, a professor of Native American studies and person of Nez Perce and Chicana heritage who collaborated on the garden, calls it “a work of spirit.” Under the guidance of Patwin Elder Bill Wright, she said, work on the garden is fostering healing after campus construction projects disturbed native remains.

“The land that UC Davis sits on is ancestrally Patwin land,” said Hernandez-Avila. “This contemplative garden is a reminder that the connection still exists for the Patwin people who themselves are a living presence in California.”

The garden sits on the bank of the historic Putah Creek channel and within the UC Davis Arboretum, a living museum with 100 acres of gardens and plant collections known internationally as scientific and horticultural resources.

The garden features naturally shaped basalt columns representing the Patwin people and their strength and resilience; trees and other plants used by the Patwin people; a curving path representing the flow of the creek and the flow of time; and a spiral seating area designed after the coiled start of a Patwin basket.

A committee including representatives from UC Davis, its staff and students, and the Patwin community worked together to develop the plan to honor the Patwin heritage. The project also serves to mark the Patwin’s spiritual connection to the land and their ancestors.

$1M gift to benefit grapevine growers

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

A $1 million gift from Trinchero Family Estates, a family-owned wine company in the Napa Valley, will help UC Davis build new facilities for a program that provides disease-free rootstock to California nurseries and is of critical importance to the grape and wine industries.

More information is available at www.news.ucdavis.edu.

LAURELS

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

This column offers a sampling of honors recently awarded to UC Davis faculty, staff and units:

Kenneth Brown and Sonja Hess, both of the Department of Nutrition, and Stephen Vosti of the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, along with Shawn K. Baker of Helen Keller International, recently received a prize of 25,000 Danish kroners ($5,020 U.S.) from the Copenhagen Consensus Center for their paper comparing the cost-effectiveness of different nutritional supplementation strategies for controlling zinc deficiency among children in sub-Saharan Africa. The paper was presented Nov. 9 by Hess at the UNICEF House in New York.

Stanley Sue, professor of psychology, has won two awards. He received a Presidential Citation from the American Psychological Association, and he also received the 2009 Distinguished Service to the Profession of Psychology Award from the Los Angeles County Psychological Association.

Kazuo Yamazaki, professor of mechanical and aeronautical engineering, has been elected as a Fellow of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. He is one of nine industry leaders elected to the Society’s College of fellows this year. Yamazaki’s work focuses on using computers to control machine tools in manufacturing, as well as the design and control of manufacturing processes and development of related software.

Suad Joseph, professor of anthropology and women and gender studies, was elected president-elect of the Middle East Studies Association, the primary scholarly association for scholars who do research on the Middle East. She will serve as president-elect in 2009-2010 and president in 2010-2011.

Lucy Puls, professor of art, recently received a four week residency opportunity at Yaddo in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Residents are provided a studio, private room, meals, and a “supportive environment,” according to Yaddo, an artists’ working community on a 400-acre wooded estate.

Robin Hansen, a professor of pediatrics at UC Davis and founding director of the Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities at the UC Davis MIND Institute, has been appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to the California State Council on Developmental Disabilities. The 29-member council is an independent state agency charged with ensuring that people with developmental disabilities and their families receive the services and supports they need.

Margherita Heyer-Caput, professor of Italian, recently received the 2009 Ennio Flaiano International Prize for Italian Studies for her book Grazia Deledda’s Dance of Modernity (University of Toronto Press 2008). Heyer-Caput’s work examines Deledda, one of the most significant Italian women writers of the 18th and 19th centuries, in the context of European philosophical and literary modernity.

IN MEMORIAM: Marc Blanchard

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Marc Blanchard, distinguished professor of comparative literature at UC Davis, died on Nov. 8 after a long struggle against cancer. He was 67.

A professor at UC Davis for 39 years, Blanchard was a groundbreaking scholar, innovative teacher, sailor, masseur, weaver, salsa dancer, devoted father, loyal friend and loving husband. He will be remembered for charting new ground in relations with Cuba.

While that country was off-limits for academic exchanges, Blanchard forged a relationship with the Cuban government and Casa de las Americas, an organization founded by the Cuban government to promote international cultural exchange. He then steered a complicated course through the U.S. State Department to establish a study abroad program in Cuba in 2001, one of only six such programs offered by U.S. institutions at the time. As a result, UC Davis is among a small number of universities that still offer a program in Cuba.

Family fled Nazi threat

Born on Oct. 12, 1942, in Portugal as his French father and French Jewish mother were fleeing the Nazi threat during World War II, Blanchard spent his earliest years in Argentina. From there, the family moved to Egypt. After the war, they returned to Paris. In 1965, he completed his education at the Sorbonne, where he earned that university’s highest degree in romance languages, comparative literature and classics.

Also fluent in Spanish and German, Blanchard became a world-renowned scholar in critical theory in the 1970s and 1980s and, later, a specialist in Latin American literature and culture and Caribbean studies.

He was a founding member of the Comparative Literature and Critical Theory programs at UC Davis, and also taught French, Spanish and courses in cultural studies and community development.

Blanchard is survived by his wife, Raquel Salgado Scherr, and daughter, Lauren Blanchard.

A public memorial service for Blanchard will take place from 4 to 6 p.m. Jan. 7 in the AGR Room at the Buehler Alumni and Visitors Center.

IN BRIEF

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Repro Graphics advises: The earlier the better

Repro Graphics Director Brian Wadell is advising faculty that, despite the Dec. 24-Jan. 3 campus closure, his unit “will be able to produce all your course materials in time for the start of winter quarter, including those sold through the UC Davis Bookstore.”

He added: “While we have no strict deadlines for submitting work, we would ask that you allow as much time as possible to produce the quality work you expect.”

The normal, suggested “deadline” for winter quarter work is Dec. 15 — and that still holds true for “fair use” materials. For material that may need copyright clearance, Wadell asks for submission as soon as possible.

Starting with winter quarter, Repro Graphics will provide one desk copy per order at no extra charge. And, as an early submission incentive, two desk copies will be provided for all materials submitted before Nov. 30.

Open enrollment wanes

Open enrollment lasts just a few more days — until Nov. 24. The deadline is 5 p.m., not midnight as in past years.

If you are making no changes or additions, or not re-enrolling in tax-saving flexible spending accounts for dependant care and-or health care, then relax — you need not do anything.

Otherwise, get to a computer, because everything you need to do for open enrollment is explained at atyourservice.ucop.edu. Employees without computer access should contact their unit offices or Human Resources, (530) 752-0530 on the Davis campus, or the HR benefits department, (916) 734-8099, on the Sacramento campus.

Senate awards

The Davis Division of the Academic Senate has called upon its members to nominate their colleagues for the 2009-10 Distinguished Scholarly Public Service awards and the Faculty Research Lecture Award.

The nomination deadlines are 5 p.m. Nov. 30 for the Distinguished Public Service awards and 5 p.m. Dec. 4 for the Faculty Research Lecture Award.

More information is available online: academicsenate.ucdavis.edu (look under Awards in the left-hand menu).

State tax withholding increases

State income tax withholding is going up by 10 percent as of Nov. 1—to be reflected on your Nov. 25 paycheck, if you are paid biweekly, or your Dec. 1 check, if you are paid monthly.

This is not a tax increase, campus officials advise, but the state’s way of bringing in cash more quickly to address the budget shortage.

Your state income tax bill will not increase, and the amount that you owe or the amount that will be refunded will be adjusted accordingly at the time you file your 2009 tax return.

Santa Paws benefit

Ever wonder if Santa Claus is a dog person or a cat person? Well, he is both—and he would love for you to bring your pet for a visit and a photo.

Your opportunity comes during the annual Santa Paws event, a benefit for UC Davis’ Mercer Veterinary Clinic for the Homeless. The nonprofit clinic, run by veterinary students, provides services for pets belonging to homeless people in Sacramento.

This year’s Santa Paws event is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Dec. 6 at the Arden Animal Hospital, 1823 Fulton Ave., Sacramento. You can arrange an appointment by calling (916) 485-5412; walk-ins also are welcome.

Suggested donations: $20 for a photo or CD of your pet with Santa; $5 more for both photo and CD.

BANG THE DRUM FOR UC

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

In an e-mail message this week, Chancellor Linda Katehi urged students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends to join UC’s systemwide push for more state funding.

“It is vital that our UC Davis community do what it can to support this statewide effort to protect the integrity of the UC system,” Katehi said.

The effort begins as Gov. Schwarzenegger and legislators gear up for the next budget cycle. Come January, Gov. Schwarzenegger is due to release his 2010-11 budget proposal — and UC is urging its allies to get started now on lobbying the governor and lawmakers to tell them how critical support is in preserving the university’s commitment to quality and student access.

The campaign seeks to build the ranks of the nearly 200,000 advocates who already have lent their support to UC. Through advertising in student publications and on Facebook, the university is encouraging people to sign up on the UC for California Web site and join an e-mail- and letter-writing campaign. No taxpayer funds are being used in the advertising.

“While I appreciate the fiscal challenges that confront California, it must be made clear that UC is not a luxury,” UC President Mark G. Yudof said. “It is an investment — the best investment this state can make in its future.”

Funding restoration sought

At its meeting this week, the UC Board of Regents was expected to vote on a 2010-11 budget proposal that asks the state for an additional $913 million to make up for deep cuts the last two years, and to cover additional mandatory costs that the state has left unfunded.

Yudof said his budget plan, with the added state money, would allow the end of employee furloughs (and pay cuts) next summer and protect faculty merit raises.

Katehi commented: “President Yudof’s budget proposal for 2010-11 is an ambitious one, but the good news is that a majority of Californians today agree with us that higher education in general, and the University of California system in particular, are institutions worth fighting for.”

Katehi noted new poll results from the independent Public Policy Institute of California: 62 percent of the state’s residents think the University of California does a good or excellent job, and 59 percent say the state’s public colleges and universities should be a high or very high priority for state funding during the budget crisis.

“Our challenge and our mandate now is to harness that sentiment and support and channel it toward Sacramento, to the attention of the policymakers who will be shaping our budget for the coming year,” Katehi said. “But we must begin by building the support at home, right here within the broader UC Davis community.”

UC for California

New uniforms for Band-uh!

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The Cal Aggie Marching Band-uh! is wearing “cool” new uniforms — featuring the first redesign since 1982. The band debuted the new uniforms at last weekend’s football game in Aggie Stadium.

Still to come are new hats; in the interim, the band is wearing ballcaps.

The Campus Recreation-sponsored band acquired its 200 uniforms at a cost of $124,000.

Much has changed in UC Davis identifying marks in the more than 25 years since the last design. Therefore, the new uniforms feature the latest logos for the university and athletics along with the band’s traditional capital C around the letter A.

The uniforms also feature more dynamic colors, including gold accents and even some sequins in the chest trim.

The new uniforms are two-piece, made from polyester gabardine with venting — definitely a cooler alternative to the old, three-piece uniforms made of wool.

“It’s like Christmas,” band Director Thomas Slabaugh II said the day the uniforms arrived. “The new uniforms are lighter, more comfortable, and will inspire greater performances. Morale will greatly improve, and the Band-uh! will provide much better representation of UC Davis.”

The uniforms arrived Nov. 10, allowing their debut during the last home football game of the season.

Had the uniforms arrived this week, the debut would have come at an away game. And not just any away game. This weekend brings the 56th annual Causeway Classic, Nov. 21, at California State University, Sacramento. Kickoff is set for 2:05 p.m. at Hornet Stadium.