The Daily Bruin

Are you using a United States Postal Service tray to stow away items around the house or office? Do you use any to transport department mail on campus? If so, it’s time to return them to the owner.

Postal inspectors say that, effective Nov. 26, they will resume their efforts to recover missing and stolen Mail Transport Equipment (MTE) and also seek prosecution against offenders. The resumption of criminal enforcement comes after the postal service offered a two-week amnesty period, encouraging anyone who was in possession of postal service equipment to return it – no questions asked.

“Theft of postal equipment is a federal crime. Replacing missing equipment last year cost the postal service $50 million – money that it can ill afford,” said Guy Cottrell, chief postal inspector. U.S.P.S. says previous efforts to recover MTE and prosecute offenders have been successful.

In 2008, postal inspectors launched the Equipment Recovery Project, an effort to return MTE that leaked out of the postal service network. Since then, postal inspectors have recovered almost 200,000 pieces of MTE, including pallets, trays and tubs, worth more than $4 million.

If you have any U.S. Postal Service tubs or trays, please bring them to Mail Services so they can be returned to the U.S.P.S. Thanks for your cooperation.

– Mail Services

As a follow-up to the e-nnouncement sent recently in regards to estate planning resources, Gene Christian will host a gathering this Wednesday, November 14, 4:00 in Room 240.
Over the past couple of years, many faculty and staff have asked Gene how to get their estate planning affairs in order. It’s been a joy for him to connect with so many people on this most important endeavor.
Gene thought it might be helpful to provide everyone a list of resources that can help you in this often complicated area of your life.  He will have these resources available on Wednesday – Estate Planning Resource Guide, Estate Inventory Form, My Going Home Plan, Distribution of Tangible Personal Property.
As followers of Christ we have an obligation to be sure our affairs are in order — thinking deeply about the people and places that mean the most to us. In order to have a complete estate plan, everyone needs to consider developing the following things:
•       A will or living trust
•       Durable power of attorney (for finance)
•       Advanced healthcare directive
•       Disposition of tangible property sheet(s)
•       Expression of last wishes
Gene looks forward to seeing you Wednesday at 4:00.

This is a reminder that Marketing Communications will host a staff/faculty portrait session from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 16, in VAC 101. Portrait sessions are scheduled twice per semester to obtain high-quality studio portraits for use on the university website. The portraits also will be available for professional promotional use.

Please e-mail or call Danette Newkirk (dnewkirk@georgefox.edu) at ext. 2125 to let us know what time you are planning to come. You may still come without prior notice.

All women employees – faculty, administrators and staff – are welcome to a brown-bag lunch with special guest Peggy Fowler from noon to 1:15 p.m. (PST) Thursday, Nov. 17, in the Cap and Gown Room on the Newberg campus. For those at other university sites, the event will be live-streamed at this site.

Fowler retired from Portland General Electric as CEO and president in 2009. She remains on the board of directors and is on the finance committee. Peggy has 35 years of experience in the utility business and, in that time, has managed almost every major area of the company. She earned bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and mathematics from George Fox.

Please don’t miss this opportunity to hear from a significant woman leader as she shares her leadership journey with the women of George Fox.

The Women’s Leadership Development committee invites all women employees to join us for this event as we continue exploring leadership development. For those who attend in person, please bring your own lunch.

There is no U.S. Mail service today (Friday), due to the Veterans Day federal holiday. Regular service will resume on Monday, Nov 14. However, to assist us in processing your mail, please bring your outgoing mail items over to Mail Services today so that we can get them ready to go out on Monday.

There is no delay in UPS or FedEx packages. They are operating as normal on the holiday. We will process these packages as they are received.

The University Mail Services is open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Questions? Contact Sherrie Frost at ext. 2556.

This is a reminder that it’s time again for the faculty/staff campaign! Gifts from faculty/staff members make it possible for students to receive tremendous opportunities for spiritual formation, vocational development and character growth.

On Nov. 1, an e-mail was sent highlighting videos and students’ testimonies of how these types of opportunities at George Fox deepen their relationship with God and prepare them to transform culture.

Many thanks to those who have already responded!

For an easy way to give via payroll deduction, please follow this link.

Thank you so much the difference you make in students’ lives.

If you have any questions, please contact Mandria Montplaisir, director of annual giving, at mmontplaisir@georgefox.edu.

You are invited to join MAT middle level/high school teacher candidates as they read stories and poems Monday, Nov. 14, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Coffee Cottage in Newberg. As part of their coursework, these language arts and social studies teacher candidates will experience firsthand an opportunity to promote the publishing aspect of the writing process as they consider ways to give voice to their middle and high school students.

Additionally, the night is intended to serve as a means to model how teachers can work toward creating partnerships between schools and the communities they serve. Each of the 12 teaching candidates will be sharing up to five minutes of reading from his or her own poetry or narrative writing (perhaps a compelling essay or two). The two-hour sharing will be comprised of two (possibly three) rounds, depending on the time. Please feel free to join us for an enjoyable evening.

Questions? Contact Ken McChesney at kmcchesney@georgefox.edu.

Due to increased charges from our leasing vendor, we have increased the charge for color printing and photocopying from 20 cents-per-page to 25 cents-per-page. The cost of black-and-white printing and photocopying is unchanged. Scanning to e-mail continues to be free in the Portland Center Information Commons.

“Why would Chinese parents, from a secular culture, send their children to a Christian school? I thought the best way to answer this question was to ask them directly.”

So reads the latest blog entry from President Robin Baker, who recently traveled to China to meet with parents of current Chinese students. To read more, visit his blog site and check out the most recent entry posted, “Chinese parents appreciate role of faith in education.”

If you missed our second annual “State of Diversity Address” with Joel Perez during Cultural Celebration Week, it is now available on iTunes U. In it, he speaks about the ongoing work we are doing at the university to make our community more inclusive and welcoming.

If you have questions, please contact Joel, dean of transitions and inclusion (jperez@georgefox.edu) or Shelley Yonemura, director of multicultural student programs (syonemura@georgefox.edu).

The deadlines for shipping those Christmas packages are posted in the lobbies of the SUB and Beebe post offices – as well as at University Mail Services.

We offer the following U.S. Mail Services: Priority, First Class and Parcel Post.

This USPS link contains the deadlines for these services as well as Express Mail. On this link, scroll down and you will see three tabs: One each for Military, International and Domestic.

Questions? Contact Linda Sartwell at lsartwel@georgefox.edu.

We have chrysanthemums left from Family Weekend. They make great hostess gifts or “I am thankful for you” gifts for the season.

Cost is only $3 each. Come to the Pennington House on the Newberg campus to pick up yours. Or call Evangeline Pattison at ext. 2121 to have one set aside.

We are still in need of many willing servants to serve as ushers at the December commencement ceremony on Saturday, Dec. 17. Hand out programs, direct graduates’ family and friends to their seats, and help make graduation a special event for all involved. All employees who participate as ushers will be paid $25 through payroll.

• See that special student graduate
• Be a part of an exciting event
• Volunteer in a much-needed area of service

Please let Lynn Scott (lscott@georgefox.edu) know A.S.A.P. if this is something you would like to be a part of. Thank you for considering being involved in this memorable event.

Tonight (Monday) Kristina Kays (Psychology) and Michael MacLeod (Political Science) will offer strategies from their fields about promoting real change in regards to countering compassion fatigue and consumer apathy as we interact with the majority world.

Join us from 7 to 8 p.m. in Hoover 105. The presentation, entitled “So You Want to Change the World,” is the latest installment of the university’s Liberal Arts and Critical Issues program.

All are welcome. For more information, contact Caitlin Corning at ext. 2673 or ccorning@georgefox.edu.

On Monday, Nov. 21, the 180 seniors in the Liberal Arts and Critical Issues program will present their research projects from noon to 4 p.m. in EHS and Hoover. For this event, we need approximately 23 judges to help evaluate their projects.

Faculty, staff and administrators are all welcome. Each judge will look at five projects and fill out an evaluation form. This should take no more than an hour. We offer a small gift and our appreciation for your help. Judges can come any time between noon and 4 p.m.

If you are interested in helping out, please contact Caitlin Corning at ext. 2673 or ccorning@georgefox.edu.

As calendar year-end approaches, we encourage support staff and administrators to check their vacation balances. Employees are allowed to carry up to one year of vacation accrual into the new calendar year.

To determine your accrual rates and how much you may need to use by Dec. 31, HR has prepared a chart and instructions for both support staff and administrators to be used along with the information on your Oct. 31 pay statement. Links to both can be found on the HR site.

They also provide useful information about the balances on your monthly pay statements. If you have any questions after you have reviewed your vacation balance, please contact HR for assistance.

Mail Services is an unofficial drop site for all Oregon ballots. Arrangements have been made with the Yamhill County Elections Office for us to offer this service. We accept any Oregon ballot (any county), and there is no postage necessary.

The deadline for this drop-off site is 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 8. All out-of-state ballots must be mailed with postage.

Thanks!
– University Mail Services

The Staff Development Committee would like to thank all staff for attending the Fall Staff Conference. We enjoyed hearing from speakers Bill Buhrow, Anna Berardi and Ed Gierok. We would also like to thank NAPA Auto Parts, Ruth Bryant, LMT and Doran Automotive for graciously donating prizes for our prize drawing.

Please go to this page to see photos from the great day which was had by all!

We still have Entertainment® 2012 Books available. These make great gifts at the discounted employee price of $20. Enjoy $30 in bonus savings cards with each edition.

Choose your book – either Portland or Greater Oregon– and purchase it at the Information Desk in the Stevens Center (or contact Barbi Doran to send one to you).

A Muslim perspective on the role of faith in identity formation will be the topic of a George Fox Evangelical Seminary seminar next Friday, Nov. 11, at the  Portland Center. The session runs from 9 a.m. to noon in Room 155.

Maria Ebrahimji, executive editorial producer for CNN and the director of CNN’s booking department, will share her perspective as a Muslim woman working for a major news agency in the United States. Joining her are three Muslim women who live in Oregon: Fatemeh Fakhraie, Muna Idow and Manar Alattar. Together, they will present three sessions: “Personal Faith Journeys” (9 a.m.), “Perceptions of People of Faith” (10 a.m.) and “Faith and Conversion” (11 a.m.).

The event, titled “Who Am I? Who Are You? A Muslim Perspective on the Role of Faith in Identity Formation,” is the latest installment of the seminary’s Ministry in Contemporary Culture Seminar series and seeks to find shared experiences between the Christian and Muslim faiths. The cost is $20 for alumni, students and staff. An optional lunch will be made available for $10 per person.

To learn more about the event or to register, visit seminars.georgefox.edu.