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Feature Article  |  UC People  |  Briefs  |  Benefits Q&A

CAMPING IN: Kids' Summer Programs Good for Parents, Too
The thought of longer, sunny days, vacations and generally a more relaxed pace of life gives most people a warm feeling inside. But summer can send shivers through working parents of school age children as they try to figure out how to keep their children occupied and happy once school is out.

Many UC employees have found the solution right on campus: summer camp.
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San Francisco
Olympic Torchbearer
Lisa Hartmayer, a nurse at the UCSF Medical Center who in April ran a leg of the Olympic torch relay - its only trek in the US -- is proud of her moment in history. She was selected for the much publicized event in San Francisco because of her essay about caring for the community and making it a better place.

Santa Barbara
Getting Beneath Tattoos
Once an art form restricted to sailors, soldiers and people on the fringe of society, tattooing has become a cultural phenomenon. More than 45 million people in the United States have tattoos, many of them using the indelible images as a means of sharing their own personal messages. In his new book, "Permanence: Tattoo Portraits," Kip Fulbeck, a professor of art at UC Santa Barbara, combines photographic tattoo portraits with stories about these images told in the subjects' own words and handwriting.

Go to the Top

Your Mind and Your Body - An Important Partnership
Your mind and your body are very close partners. So are your UC health and welfare plans, which are designed to work together to provide total care--medical, pharmacy, behavioral health and wellness - to UC employees and family members.
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University Announces New START Program
In an effort to address the budget deficit facing the University as a result of the State of California budget crisis and other budget reductions, UC is offering a new Staff and Academic Reduction in Time (START) program. As in the past, START is one way to help UC cope with budget cuts in an attempt to minimize the need for layoffs.
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State Budget Restores Some UC Funding
The May revision to Governor Schwarzenegger's January California state budget proposal for 2008-09, which he released on May 14, restores $98.5 million of the UC funding that the January budget proposed cutting.
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Policy on Supplement to Military Pay Extended
In keeping with the University's intention to assist employees who are called to active military duty during the U.S. military campaigns pertaining to anti-terrorism, homeland defense, Iraqi freedom, and the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, the UC Policy on Supplement to Military Pay has been extended for two years from July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2010.
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Briefing Now Available Electronically
Employees now have the option of reading an electronic version of HRB Briefing rather than receiving the paper version through the mail. To discontinue receiving the paper version, sign in to your personal account on At Your Service Online.
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Q. The University gave employees the choice to go on Social Security or not during the 1970's. The employees decision was apparently irrevocable and anyone hired I believe after April 1, 1976 did not have a choice. I was hired in 1971 and was in my 20's when asked to make this decision. My question is this: why was the decision irrevocable? It would seem that a retiree on Medicare is cheaper for the University retirement system. Is the reason simply that the University did not want to pay the social security tax for more employees? S. A., UC Berkeley
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Do you have a question about your benefits that you’d like to have answered here? Send your questions to HRBBriefing-L@ucop.edu or UC HR/Benefits, HRB Briefing editor, 300 Lakeside Drive, 12th Floor, Oakland CA 94612. We will provide answers in a future issue of HRB Briefing.