Weekly Bulletin

On-campus applications for classified posts

Any campus employee who wishes to apply for a classified position during the period from June 29 to Dec. 31, 2003 must submit a new Employee Application for a Classified Job Vacancy.

Applications will remain in effect for a six-month period.

University Club closes for summer

The University Club's last day of service for the academic year will be June 27.

The club will reopen Sept. 2.

Winter School for Turf Managers

The Winter School for Turf Managers is now accepting applications for the 2004 session, scheduled for Jan. 5 to Feb. 20. The seven-week course provides students with the concepts essential to professional maintenance of high quality turf.

The deadline for application is Sept. 15.

The Winter School for Turf Managers is intended especially for professionals who want to expand their skills and advance in their career, but cannot schedule a two- or four-year program. Winter School is most appropriate for men and women associated with the management of golf courses, athletic fields, parks, industrial grounds, municipal and private grounds, fine lawns, and other fine quality turf situations. Winter School classes are taught by University faculty and staff as well as renowned turf industry professionals.

Space is limited, and a high school diploma is required. Twenty-one Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are available upon successful completion of the course.

The CEUs can be applied towards GCSAA renewal of certification. In addition, this course has been approved for pesticide applicator contact hours in the New England states. Most other states accept this approval towards their own applicator licensing and certification programs.

For a brochure and applications, contact Winter School for Turf Managers, Division of Continuing Education, at 5-2484 or by e-mail (goodchild@contined.umass.edu). Information also is available online (www.umassturf.org).

Limited licenses for Adobe Acrobat 6.0 Pro available

The Office of Information Technologies has purchased a limited number of Adobe Acrobat 6.0 Pro licenses for redistribution to faculty, staff and graduate students.
Acrobat is used to produce PDF files for National Science Foundation and other grant proposal submissions. The full product price for this new version is $400, upgrade price $135. OIT has 100 licenses available at the one-time price of $25 per license.

Call 5-9730 for details on acquiring a copy. Product details are available at the Adobe website (www.adobe.com/products/acrobatpro/main.html).

Subjects wanted for driving simulation

The Human Performance Lab is carrying out an experiment on its driving simulator and a number of subjects are to help in the study.

The experiment takes about 1 hour, 25 minutes and participants will be paid $15 in cash. Subjects must be at least 18 who have held a valid U.S. driver's license for at least one year.

The lab is located in a white trailer at the west end of Marston Hall.

To schedule a time, call 5-3393 or 6-3053 and leave a message or send an e-mail (bwaraich@ecs.umass.edu).

Volunteers needed for therapeutic riding program

The Pioneer Valley Therapeutic Riding Association is looking for volunteers to assist with its summer program for riders with disabilities.

Help is needed Tuesday and Thursday mornings at the Hadley Farm, starting July 8. Volunteers also are needed Monday through Thursday in Belchertown. The times vary.

Volunteer orientation will be held the week of June 30.

For information, call Pat Barry at 283-9912.

Library hours to change for second summer session

Library hours for the second Summer Session, which begins July 14, are expected to change. Patrons should check the Library website (www.library.umass.edu) or call 5-0414 for updates.

Electronics, batteries, toner cartridges can be recycled

The Office of Waste Management's Intermediate Processing Facility can recycle a number of unusual items from campus offices.

Batteries, which contain heavy metals and toxins, should be packaged and sent via Campus Mail to "Recycling -- IPF."

For electronic equipment, such as computers, televisions and lab instruments, offices should complete an Equipment Inventory Change Form available from Karen Roy (7-1597). OWM will arrange a pickup.

Toner cartridges should be placed in the original box or an envelope and sent to the IPF.

HomeSharing participants wanted

If you are a friendly, upbeat person looking for affordable housing or if you live in a home with extra space and would like to accommodate someone to help with overnight presence, childcare, elder care, yard work, housework, etc., you might benefit from the HomeSharing Program.

The program helps people match needs with assets and abilities. Anyone interested in elder care matches should call Paulie Sicard (773-5555, x297); those seeking a child care match should call Ashleigh Sullivan (5-4466). Either person can answer general questions about the program.

HomeSharing is funded by the Town of Amherst, Franklin County Home Care Corporation, Highland Valley Elder Services and undergraduate trust funds.

Independence Day

Independence Day will be observed as a holiday on Friday, July 4. Most University offices will be closed.

Big Thursday

Due to the observance of the Independence Day holiday on Friday, July 4, paychecks will be issued on Thursday, July 3. The checks are for the pay period of June 15-28.

TIAA-CREF counseling sessions

TIAA-CREF is offering one-on-one counseling appointments at the Treasurer's Office, Presidents Building, 2nd floor, 100 Venture Way in Hadley on the following dates:

July 23, 24; Aug. 13, 14; Sept. 10, 11; Oct. 8, 9; Nov. 5, 6; or Dec. 10 and 11.
This is an opportunity for employees to meet with a TIAA-CREF individual consultant who can assist in planning their financial future. The consultant will answer any questions about TIAA-CREF accounts, including investment allocation, distribution options, projected retirement benefits and loans.

In addition, employees can discuss additional investment opportunities with TIAA-CREF, such as tuition savings programs, mutual funds, and IRAs.

To schedule a counseling appointment, visit the TIAA-CREF website (www.tiaa-cref.org/moc/index.shtml) or call Marian Morgante at TIAA-CREF's New England Regional Office at (800) 842-2004.

Appointments are scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis.

Town water line improvements affect traffic north of campus

The Amherst Department of Public Works is cleaning and cement-lining 9,600 feet of water mains along three roads north of campus.

Commuters are advised that the work is scheduled for North Pleasant Street from Eastman Lane north to Pine Street, Sunder-land Road from Pine Street to Cowls Road and all of Cowls Road.

The project will be done in 500-foot sections and traffic will be disrupted in the construction zone, according to DPW officials.

The work, which is intended to improve water quality, may cause temporary interruptions in service or discoloration of water. Flushing a faucet for several minutes should clear the water up.

People living in the affected area should monitor channel 17 ACTV where the DPW will post and update the construction schedule.

For more information, call or e-mail Bob Pariseau at 256-4050, ext. 13, (pariseau@ town.amherst.ma.us)

WFCR hosts nine-day trip to Berlin in October

Public radio station WFCR-FM, in partnership with Cross-Culture of Amherst, is hosting a nine-day trip to Berlin, Germany from Oct. 11-19.

In the company of an expert guide and WFCR music director John Montanari, participants will visit Berlin's great concert halls, and the city's famed museums that house the treasures of centuries.

Highlights of the trip will include guided bus and walking tours of Berlin, including an afternoon on Museum Island, with its famous Pergamon Museum; a day in Potsdam with a guided tour of Sans Souci Palace, the historic center of Old Potsdam, and the Cecilienhof Palace, site of the 1945 Potsdam Conference; internationally renowned, exciting contemporary architecture such as Frank Gehry's DG Bank Building, British architect Sir Norman Foster's glass dome of the Reichstag, Daniel Liebeskind's Jewish Museum and Renzo Piano's work in the Sony Center.

Participants also will enjoy three concerts in Berlin's finest concert halls, including the opera "Elektra," by Richard Strauss and the ballet "La Bayadère," with music by Ludwig Minkus, both at the Berlin Staatsoper unter den Linden, and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under André Previn, performing at the Philharmonie in a program that includes the Beethoven Violin Concerto with Anne-Sophie Mutter and Richard Strauss's "Symphonia Domestica."

Information is available online (www.wfcr.org) or by calling Katie Wright at 5- 4213.

Summer tour schedule

Campus tours leave from the Robsham Visitors Center at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Information sessions also are being held weekdays at 12:30 p.m. during June, July and August. The sessions are usually held in the Lincoln Campus Center, but guests should call the Visitors Center (5-0306) for the daily room location.

The Visitors Center is open weekdays from 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

Campus mail use policy

Campus mail service is provided to students, faculty and staff of the Five College community for correspondence and University-related business.

Outside groups, businesses, charities and other unrelated agencies may not use the campus mail.

Contract vendors may be granted certain mailing privileges if proper approval is acquired from the Procurement office.

Chain letters of any kind are expressly prohibited.

Parking Services summer office hours

Parking Services is open Monday to Friday, 8 a.m.-3:45 p.m, through Aug. 29.