More athletics town halls: Oct. 26, Nov. 2, Nov. 16

Student Affairs Vice Chancellor Fred Wood has organized a third forum and the ASUCD has organized one of its own on the future course of UC Davis Intercollegiate Athletics.

This brings to four the number of forums that are being held on the issue. Only two had been scheduled to start with, and the second of those is this week:

• Wednesday, Oct. 26 — 5-6:30 p.m., in the ballroom at the Conference Center, at the campus’s south entry.

In an e-mail Oct. 24 to the campus community, Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi announced that Wood had organized a third forum:

• Wednesday, Nov. 16 — 6-7:30 p.m., Activities and Recreation Center Ballroom.

Word came earlier that the ASUCD had organized a student-focused town hall for next week:

• Wednesday, Nov. 2 — 7-9 p.m., Ballroom A, ARC.

The campus also has set up an e-mail account for thoughts and suggestions: athletics@ucdavis.edu. Katehi announced that the deadline for comments had been extended to Nov. 30.

Comments are being gathered at the forums and by e-mail in connection with the forthcoming recruitment of a new athletics director.

"Our selection of the new director, along with the broader discussions of the direction of our athletics program, will help define the overall reputation of UC Davis as a world-class public research university," Katehi said in her Oct. 24 e-mail. "Your voice is essential to and will have a critical impact on the selection we ultimately make."

Read more about the search for a new athletics director.

Personalized calendars for free

Repro Graphics is once again offering free, personalized wall calendars to staff and faculty. You can pick your favorite campus scene for your 2012 calendar art, and highlight the dates of your choosing — up to four a month — say, to remember your wedding anniversary or your anniversary of coming to UC Davis, or anything else.

The campus’s full-service print shop offers the calendars as a way “to demonstrate the variable data capability on our HP Indigo 5500 digital color press.”

Calendar orders are being taken online; the deadline is Nov. 14.

Telephone scam reported

A telephone scam that cropped up recently on the Davis campus is similar to one that targeted UC Davis Health System employees earlier this year.

Police Sgt. Donald Malloy said the calls to the health system and one to the Davis campus came from the 347 area code, with the callers typically asserting that they are associated with a Brooklyn law firm and advising that the person being called is going to be sued for outstanding debts — unless the person being targeted sends money immediately.

The callers sometimes have personal information such as home addresses and Social Security numbers, Malloy said. He added that the callers can be abusive or threatening, such as saying they will have police come to your home.

If you receive such a call:

• Never give out your credit card number or personal information to someone whom you do not know.
• Ask for the information to be sent to you in writing at your home address. A genuine loan company will have your home address.
• Run the caller’s telephone number through an Internet search to see if the number is associated with scam calls.
• If in doubt, contact the Police Department at (530) 752-1727.

Employees who think they may have been the victims of identity theft should check their bank and credit card accounts, even contact the credit rating agencies.

Another good practice, Malloy advised: Regularly review your checking and credit accounts for unauthorized withdrawals and charges.

UCOP: Lecturers ratify labor deal

The UC Office of the President announced Oct. 17 that the lecturers bargaining unit of the American Federation of Teachers had ratified a three-year labor agreement for the unit's more than 3,000 members.

On Sept. 10, UCOP announced that three other bargaining units had ratified labor agreements:

• American Federation of Teachers, representing the university's more than 350 librarians.
• American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, representing more than 20,000 employees at campuses and medical centers, in two bargaining units, one for patient care staff (such as hospital assistants and hospital laboratory technicians) and the other for service workers (such as custodians and mail processors).

Read the UCOP news releases on the lecturers deal and the librarians deal.

Read the UCOP news release on the AFSCME contracts.

Business Officer Institute deadline extended

Staff Development and Professional Services announced a week’s extension for submitting nominations for the UC's 2011 Business Officer Institute. The new deadline, Tuesday, Nov. 1, applies to nominations from the Davis campus.

Each UC unit — including the campuses and medical centers, and Agriculture and Natural Resources — solicits its own nominations. They must come from supervisors.

The 2011 Business Officer Institute is scheduled from Nov. 28 to Dec. 1 in Irvine.

Read more.

Causeway Classic Blood Drive

UC Davis and California State University, Sacramento, are out for blood, not on the football field, but in the fourth annual Causeway Classic Blood Drive.

The Davis campus’s collection effort is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov. 1 and 2, in Freeborn Hall — in the regularly scheduled ASUCD Blood and Marrow Drive. The Sacramento-based BloodSource blood bank advises prospective donors to drink plenty of fluids and to eat beforehand, and to bring photo identification.

BloodSource is offering a $500 prize to the club, fraternity or sorority with the most participation. If you can’t donate blood, or choose not to, you can still help your favorite group win the prize — by volunteering at the blood draw.

The organizers said every participant will receive a free T-shirt and, while the supply lasts, a coupon for a chicken sandwich at the Chick-fil-A restaurant near the Arden Fair Mall in Sacramento. Participants also will be entered into drawings for an iPod Touch, IKEA gift cards and more.

Years and years (and years) of campus service

The UC Davis Quarter Century Club’s annual dinner meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 1 — this year honoring 228 new members and 52 members who have reached the 50-year milestone. That’s 8,300 years of dedication to UC Davis, a number as remarkable as the men and women who collectively have achieved it.

All employees, regardless of classification — staff, faculty, administrators — who are identified by Human Resources as having been employed by UC Davis for 25 years are invited to the dinner to be recognized and commended for their contributions to the campus, and to share stories and renew acquaintances.

Invitations have gone out, with reservations due by Tuesday (Oct. 25). Existing members are encouraged to invite “newbies” to join the celebration.

For more information about the dinner, call Jean Wigglesworth, Ceremonies and Special Events, (530) 754-2011.

Click here to see the list of this year’s initiates and the members who have reached 50 years.

WorkLife and Wellness: ‘Life Is But a Dream’

The WorkLife and Wellness Brown Bag Series continues next week with an introductory program on understanding dreams.

“Life Is But a Dream: The Place of Dreams In Our Lives” will explore a four-step process in dream work, according to the instructors, Adrian Blissfield and Rory Osborne.

“Dream work allows us to bring our inner and outer, conscious and unconscious worlds together. Through dream work we access our inner wisdom, our creative potential, and make available the healing and transformative power of the personal unconscious,” the workshop description states.

The free program is scheduled from noon to 1 p.m. Thursday (Oct. 27) in the Cabernet Room at the Silo. Preregistration is not necessary.

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