The Daily Bruin

The donor-funded scholarship application site on Bruindata is now open. These scholarships are for the 2009-2010 academic year. Apply now through March 1 at 8 a.m. Scholarship requirements and criteria are listed within the site.

The following are the hours the Fitness Center is open for general use during spring semester:

Monday-Wednesday-Friday
5:30-6:30 a.m.
7:30-8:30 a.m.
2:30-11 p.m. (closes Friday at 7 p.m.)

Tuesday-Thursday
5:30-7:30 a.m.
9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
2:30-11 p.m.

Saturday
10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Sunday
2-6 p.m.

Hoping to study abroad next year or in one of the specialized semester programs in the U.S.? Remember to turn in all your application materials to the registrar’s office by the end of the day on Friday, Jan. 16.

If you watched the news this past weekend, certain brands of peanut butter have been recently linked to an outbreak of salmonella in more than 10 states, including Oregon.

Because of that, Bon Appetit will not be serving or providing peanut butter anywhere on campus until the brand we use has been deemed safe by the FDA. Thank you for your understanding, and we will let the campus know when this ban has been lifted. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Denny Lawrence.

Starting this semester, spiritual formation credits for undergraduate students will be monitored by the Office of Spiritual Life, not the Office of Student Life. Questions about chapel credits and exemptions should be directed to Kayin Griffith (Spiritual Life) at spirituallife@georgefox.edu.

Once again, it’s time to prepare and submit your reserves list for the upcoming semester. The reserves Web page and the following instructions will guide you through the process and alert you to possible copyright issues.

• You will need to fill out the Online Reserves Request Form.
• After you fill out and submit the online form, bring your materials (with your name attached) to the library circulation desk for processing. In order for a reserve item to be ready for the first weeks of class, requests must be submitted by Jan. 14. Please remember, the reserves process can take five to seven school days at the beginning of the semester, two to three days during less busy times. We receive hundreds of reserves requests every semester, which we process as quickly as possible. The sooner you turn them in, the sooner they will be available.

A few reminders:

• The MLRC Reserves collection is limited to material that is required reading or in extremely high demand.
• Please let Sarah Eggerichs (Library) know if your request is for a text that is late arriving in the bookstore; these requests receive top priority.
• Keep in mind that reference books are already library use-only and will not be placed on reserve.

If you have any further questions, contact Sarah Eggerichs at ext. 2425 or seggerichs@georgefox.edu.

Thank you,
Sarah Eggerichs

Mileage reimbursement update: For miles driven on or after Jan. 1, 2009, the university will pay a mileage reimbursement rate of 55 cents per mile. The IRS lowered the rate due to the drop in fuel prices effective Jan. 1.

Please go to the Financial Affairs Common Forms page for the updated Employee Reimbursement form which reflects this new rate. If you have any questions, please call Financial Affairs.

In order to better meet the needs of the George Fox community, Bon Appetit has developed a brief Bruin Den customer survey that we’d like everyone to complete. Please access it at this link:

surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=_2biP79VXg0Oh7NIUSQfL_2fSA_3d_3d

Thank you in advance for your participation.

In celebration of the new year, Bon Appetit is introducing several new menu items in the Bruin Den. Starting Monday, Jan. 12, we’re excited to introduce the following:

• Daily “sliders”— mini hot sandwiches for $1.25, with different ones every day
• Expanding our panini sandwiches to every Monday/Wednesday/Friday and wraps every Tuesday and Thursday
• Early-bird specials: 10 percent off all items purchased between 11-11:30 a.m.
• Happy hour: 25 percent off all fountain and specialty coffee drinks between 3-4 p.m. daily

Look for these and other weekly specials on our website: cafebonappetit.com/georgefox.

In the interest of academic pursuit and scientific research, Wheeler Fitness Center access will be impacted on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for the next 10 weeks.

Beginning Monday, Jan. 12, a senior research project will be conducted by health and human performance majors with the help of both student and faculty volunteers. Between 6:30 and 7:30 a.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, all cardio machines will be in use by project participants, with the exception of one elliptical machine, one treadmill, and a limited number of resistance equipment pieces. All other cardio equipment will be reserved for the project.

Also, between 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, the Fitness Center will be closed entirely. There is still some space available for participation in the research project. E-mail jfujita04@georgefox.edu if interested.

Saturday, Jan. 10, 6 p.m. – Women’s basketball vs. Puget Sound, Wheeler Sports Center
Saturday, Jan. 10, 8 p.m. – Men’s basketball vs. Puget Sound, Wheeler Sports Center

Saturday will be “Community Appreciation Night” at the Bruins’ basketball games against UPS. With school still not in session, the department of athletics is opening the doors for free admission to all fans. The athletics administration encourages all faculty and staff to attend the games and invite friends from Newberg and the surrounding communities. For more information, contact the sports information office at ext. 2926.

Effective Jan. 1, Oregon’s minimum wage increased 5.7 percent, from $7.95 to $8.40 per hour. Student employees will receive the new pay rate for any hours worked in 2009. Since the Jan. 10 student pay day is for hours students worked in December 2008, those hours will be paid at $7.95 per hour. Feb. 10 will be the first pay day students will see their pay reflect $8.40 per hour.

An update on textbooks: Due to the severe weather across the country in the last several weeks, several of the university’s textbook shipments have been delayed. We are receiving shipments daily, and as the books arrive they will be available for students to purchase. Our goal is to have all textbooks here before classes begin Monday. Please encourage your students to keep checking our online store (store.georgefox.edu) for textbook availability. Thanks for your help.

– University Store staff

Join Bon Appetit in celebrating 2009 with a 25 percent discount on all coffee drinks in the Bruin Den the rest of this week, Jan. 6-9. Includes brewed coffee, mochas, lattes, cappuccino, etc. Drop by and celebrate the new year with some great Starbucks coffee!

If you have not already done so, please submit your December time sheet (support staff) or time-off report (administrators) this week. Please be sure it is complete, accurate and signed by both you and your supervisor before sending it to HR at Box 6108.

If your supervisor is not available to sign it, please send a copy to HR and keep the original until it has been signed.Now that we are using PeopleSoft, we cannot easily access your record by employee name to do data entry. For this reason, it would be helpful if you added your ID number and cost center number to your time sheet or time-off report. This will save us having to look up this information before doing data entry. By next month, we will try to revise these forms to ask for this information.

A word about the holidays: Do not write any hours on the dates marked holidays unless you worked any of the holidays — Dec. 24, 25, 26.

A word about the campus closures: If you were scheduled to work the days the campuses were closed, record the hours you would have worked (or worked if you came in). It is fine to also note “snow day” or “campus closure” on those dates, too. (We were closed all day on Dec. 15, 22 and 23; closed two hours early on Dec. 17; and opened two hours late on Dec. 18.)

If you were scheduled for vacation or sick day(s) during any of the campus closures, you should record the time off as vacation or sick days. If you were not able to get to campus on any of the days we were open, you should use vacation for the time you missed.For more information about campus closure policy, visit the university’s website. 

The university’s FoxTALE upgrade to Version 1.9 is complete. To read about the upgrade and the version’s new features, visit the IT website. The biggest change is a new grade book scheme. If you would like to view Fall 2008 grades in the old format, go to foxtaleold.georgefox.edu. The old format will be available until Jan. 31.

For information on updating grade books with weighted categories in the new 1.9 version, see the document on the conversion procedure on the FoxTALE upgrade web page.

Three information sessions about the new features have been scheduled. You can sign up for one of the following:

Newberg: Wednesday, Jan. 7, 9 a.m. to noon, Hoover 211 (R.S.V.P. to sabercrombie@georgefox.edu.)
Portland Center: Friday, Jan. 9, 1-4 p.m., PDS 210 (R.S.V.P. to sabercrombie@georgefox.edu.)
Webinar: Wednesday, Jan. 7, 1:30-3 p.m. (Pacific Time). E-mail gdoherty@georgefox.edu to reserve a seat.

If you have not used FoxTALE, you can sign up for one of two FoxTALE training sessions:

Newberg: Tuesday, Jan. 6, 9 a.m. to noon, Hoover 211 (R.S.V.P. to sabercrombie@georgefox.edu.)
Portland Center: Thursday, Jan. 8, 1-4 p.m., PDS 210 (R.S.V.P. to sabercrombie@georgefox.edu.)

Questions? Contact the IT Service Desk.

Start the new year right by attending the staff lunch scheduled from noon to 1 p.m. Monday, Jan. 5, in the Cap and Gown Room. Enjoy food, fellowship, and fun! The cost is $3.

The Bruin Den and Villa Cafe will be closed from Dec. 22 through Jan. 2. We will reopen the Bruin Den Jan. 5-9 from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Both the Bruin Den and Villa Cafe will resume regular hours on Jan. 12, as well as our evening meal service at the Portland Center. We would like extend our thanks for a wonderful 2008 and wishing everyone a blessed and safe Christmas holiday.

The University Store’s book buyback has been extended to Monday and Tuesday, Dec. 22-23. Bookstore hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., weather permitting. The store is closed the rest of the week for Christmas.

Please join the university community in saying farewell to Al Zimmerman (Planned Giving) at a reception from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Monday, Dec. 22, in the Duke Atrium in the Stevens Center. Refreshments will be served. The event was rescheduled for Dec. 22 because of last Monday’s inclement weather.

Al is leaving the university to serve as executive director of the Portland-based Northwest Christian Community Foundation, a conduit for generating gifts in support of a wide range of Christian ministries. Al has worked at George Fox for three years.