staff survey, childcare support for some faculty, research, ZotZeries... and Ginger

[Bill Maurer]

Dear social sciences community,

I have been informed that my Rufus postings, while enjoyed by most,
and anxiety-relieving for many, have put the spotlight on The Dog while
neglecting The Cat. Sorry, cat people! I make up for this today, below,
under my signature line. You're welcome.

Staff: Please take note of the recent email from Becky regarding our
anonymous survey about returning to campus. And as she pointed out,
remember that the goal is still to plan for reduced density all around,
and to minimize the number of people on campus. You'll receive the survey
tomorrow morning. Please take the 10 minutes to complete it!

Faculty with children 6 years old and younger: You have received an
important message from Vice Chancellor Doug Haynes regarding funds
available to support "childcare needs for selected virtual productivity
activities during the funding period of 6/1/20-9/30/20." The deadline
is May 18 and further information is available here.

Research stuff: Mike McBride and Holly Hapke attended a meeting with
the Vice Chancellor for research about research restarting plans. Lots
was discussed for Phase 2 of the campus' plan (like, how many people per
elevator? what protocols for shared spaces?) and a template to help us is
forthcoming in the next few weeks. The assumption is that we gradually
move toward around 30% of normal research activity on campus when we
get to Phase 2--which we are not at yet.

Zot Zeries: Finally, yesterday, our very own Cailin O'Connor and Jim
Weatherall (Logic and the Philosophy of Science) did a really informative
presentation on how mis- and disinformation spreads, with reference to
the coronavirus. It was attended by over 150 people and generated some
terrific questions. (But the answer to the question, "where's my airpod
charger?!" will remain only with Jim and Cailin...) You can watch the
recording here. All of our ZotZeries talks live on remote.socsci.uci.edu
under Events. Stay tuned for the next one, with Tom Boellstorff
(Anthropology), May 20.

Enjoy this sunny Thursday afternoon!

Bill

... and here is Ginger

(and remember, we do not make inquiries regarding her age).