[Bgsa] news from Biology faculty meeting

[Carla Essenberg]

Hi Folks,

A few things came up at the faculty meeting yesterday that you may
want to know about.

1.  Possible water shut-downs and power cuts
A utilities clean-up will be starting in a few weeks (clearing out
stuff left over from the old Entomology building, I think).  This will
involve periodic water shut-downs, at least in ULB, and may cause
power cuts as well.  Bev McNeil and Mark Chappell (who is currently
the vice dept. chair) know more details about this.

2. No emergency power supply in Spieth
Apparently the emergency generator for Spieth does not work and there
does not appear to be any intention by the university to fix it.  This
means that if there is a power cut, there will be no emergency
lighting or any other back-up power (at least for several hours - they
do have a portable generator that they can move into the building
within a few hours, assuming no other buildings need it).  If you work
in the vivarium, it would be a wise precaution to carry a flash-light
with you.

3. Labs being moved out of 1st floor ULB
We will be vacating the labs on the first floor of the University Lab
Building to make room for a new faculty member in Botany.  It's not
clear where they will be going yet.

4. Changes to the faculty
Helen Regan has received tenure.
Doug Altshuler has accepted a post elsewhere and will be leaving at
the end of the next academic year.  There may be a search starting as
early as this summer to replace him.

5. Students may be getting better?
The powers that be have finally decided to cap undergraduate
enrollment to UCR by raising the entrance requirements somewhat.

Cheers,

Carla

-- 
Carla Essenberg
PhD Candidate and EEOBGSA President
Department of Biology
University of California, Riverside