Staff picnic, sports and pins

Ready for a picnic with your colleagues? It is that time of year again, time for the Thank Goodness for Staff Picnic, set for May 9. It is free for all staff, but tickets are required. Staff Assembly is finalizing its department list, and tickets are due to be available soon online.

People interested in volunteering to help with the event are asked to contact Staff Assembly.

The assembly also is looking for employees for the TGFS Idol contest during the picnic. Singers, dancers, jugglers, musicians and the like are encouraged to register online. A prize will be awarded to the most entertaining entry.

TGFS-related recreation includes a bowling tournament, April 24 to May 8; a golf tournament, May 5, Davis Golf Course (the participant number is limited, so register early), and fun run-walk, May 2. (look for details soon on the Staff Assembly Web site).

TGFS merchandise (T-shirts, buttons and water bottles) is being sold online, with limited quantities to be available at the picnic.

Also available are UC Davis Staff lapel pins for $5, with the proceeds going to Staff Assembly activities, including the new scholarship program for staff dependents. Scholarship applications for this program are due by April 30.

For everything TGFS-related, go to staff.ucdavis.edu and click on "TGFS." There you will find entry forms and merchandise sales, plus information on purchasing raffle tickets and Gunrock Bingo squares, and the logo contest for next year's TGFS.

Power outages to continue

Planned power outages were scheduled to continue today and April 26 in conjunction with an upgrade of the main campus's electrical substation. The work schedule calls for outages in every building on campus for one to five minutes, one time only per building, mostly during regular business hours. The work is scheduled to conclude April 26. The Facilities Operations & Maintenance Web site offers more information, plus a schedule that will tell you exactly when your building is due to go offline. The Web address is http://facilities.ucdavis.edu.

Meyer award nominations

Nominations are due by May 1 for the 35th annual James H. Meyer Distinguished Achievement Award, given by the Academic Federation. The recipient must be a federation member, but anyone — federation members, Academic Senate members, students and staff — may submit nominations.

Federation members include lecturers in undergraduate courses, researchers, writing program teachers, Cooperative Extension specialists, academic administrators and academic coordinators — some 1,200 people in all.

Each nomination must include a curriculum vitae, including a complete list of publications and contributions to university and public service; a statement or no more than three pages outlining the nominee's achievements; and the nominator's name and contact information. The statement may be prepared by the nominator and-or the department head-supervisor.

Nominations should be sent electronically to Shelley Lopez-Emerson, skemerson@ucdavis.edu. For details, contact Lopez-Emerson at the e-mail above or (530) 752-2231.

Med center theft

UC Davis police report that burglars stole video and computer equipment valued at $40,000 from the UC Davis MIND Institute in Sacramento over the weekend of April 14-15. The equipment did not contain any patient personal health information, or patient visits to the MIND Institute. The items taken were computer monitors, a video camera and other electronic equipment.

The primary areas of the institute targeted by the burglars were patient-observation and storage areas of the research clinic, two staff offices and an area that houses audio-visual equipment. According to the clinic manager, only one early morning research clinic appointment was postponed and remaining appointments were moved to the evaluation clinic in the same building.

Signs have been posted to warn drivers that street parking will be prohibited at the southern end of La Rue Road starting today, April 23. Also, Lot 47A at La Rue and Dairy roads will be closed to parking.

All this is for a massive underground construction project expected to begin on April 30. Crews will be putting in utility lines for the new Robert Mondavi Institute of Wine and Food Science, now under construction on Old Davis Road, and the forthcoming Physical Sciences Expansion at La Rue and California Avenue.

The utility work means traffic slowdowns, road closures and detours for drivers who normally use the campus's south entry off Interstate 80. Pedestrians and bicyclists can expect to see detours, too, especially along the arboretum in the vicinity of the California Avenue bridge.

The work could last for a year or more, and this summer is expected to be especially rough, when the California Avenue bridge and a portion of Old Davis Road will be closed. During that time, Old Davis Road traffic will be diverted onto "Old" Old Davis Road, behind the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts. For drivers who normally use the California Avenue bridge between Old Davis Road and La Rue Road — they will have to go a different way. The best bet: Highway 113 to Hutchison Drive.