To ensure reimbursement in a January paycheck, turn in health care and/or dependent care reimbursement account(s) claims by Jan. 18. Drop off or mail claims, allowing sufficient time for delivery, to the Benefits Office (Central Campus), Wolverine Tower-Low Rise G405, 3003 South State St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1278. Claims are considered within the deadline based on the date received in the Benefits Office. Forms and a list of due dates are available on the Web ( www.umich.edu/~benefits/) and in the Reimbursement Account Claims Kit.
For more information, contact any Benefits Office: Central Campus, 763-1214; Medical Campus, 764-6584; Flint, (810) 766-6845; or Dearborn, (313) 593-5192.
No Police Beat this month
Technical difficulties prevent publication of the crime statistics in this issue. Police Beat, usually found in the Record mid-month, will return in January, when the statistics and incident reports will cover crimes reported in November and December.
INS temporarily halts H-1B immigration petitions processing
The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) recently advised its four regional service centers to temporarily halt processing on cap-subject H-1B immigration petitions filed after Oct. 25, 1999. INS indicates this was part of an effort to bring all the service centers closer together in processing time and to obtain an accurate count of the FY 2000 H-1B cap. As of Dec. 15, INS has started processing petitions again, but further halts are to be expected.
INS has not yet released any information on the status of the H-1B cap for the last fiscal year (FY 1999, where questions have been raised about whether INS inadvertently issued several thousand too many H-1B approvals), or for the current fiscal year (FY 2000, which began Oct. 1). INS intends to implement this halt on a monthly basis if it is found useful in regularizing the counting process.
Departments that want to sponsor foreign-born employees for H-1B status are advised to submit their requests to the faculty/staff immigration advisers as soon as possible. It is clear that the H-1B quota will be exhausted before the end of the second quarter of the fiscal year (March 2000).
The International Center will continue to process H-1B applications until the cap has been reached, but cannot guarantee that new cases will not get caught in the cap. Cases caught in the cap will be subject to approval against the quota for FY 2001, which begins Oct. 1, 2000. Because of the temporary halts on petitions, H-1B approval will be a longer process.
For more information, call 763-4081.
Have a great holiday break
The next issue of the Record will be Jan. 10. Briefings, Calendar, Applause and Studies submissions must be sent to urecord@umich.edu by 5 p.m. Jan. 4 to be included in the Jan. 10 issue.
See Web for bus schedule
Parking and Transportation Services listed special holiday hours in the Dec. 13 issue of the Record for bus service on campus and dates of relaxed parking enforcement in University lots. The information is available on the Web at www.umich.edu/~urecord/9900/Dec13_99/19.htm.
LIR hosts ethics lecture series
The Learning in Retirement (LIR) program of the Geriatrics Center will host a weekly lecture series 10–11:30 a.m., open to individuals age 55 and older, on “Ethical Issues” beginning Jan. 6 in the Kellogg Eye Center Auditorium. Lectures include:
The series is $25 for LIR members. The LIR annual dues are $5. For more information, call 998-9353.
‘Mock of the Times’ to open Jan. 6
The exhibition “Richard Mock: Mock of the Times” will be on display Jan. 6–28 at the Jean Paul Slusser Gallery, Art and Architecture Bldg. Sixty of U-M alumnus Richard Mock’s linocuts from the op-ed page of The New York Times will be featured. The prints, which illustrated articles and letters to the editor, accompanied, interpreted and sometimes lampooned letters on a wide range of subjects.
Mock’s work has been shown at such national venues as A Clean, Well-Lighted Place Gallery in Austin, Texas; the Art Institute of Chicago; the Detroit Institute of Art; and the 1973 Whitney Biennial.
Mock will be present for a reception 7–9 p.m. Jan. 6. The Slusser Gallery is open 11 a.m.–4 p.m. Mon.–Sun. For more information, call 936-2082.
CAMRC meeting is Jan. 7
The Complementary and Alternative Medicine Research Center (CAMRC) will hold an open research meeting at 4 p.m. Jan. 7 in Room 6319, Medical Science I. Lisa Kane Low, clinical nurse specialist, Pediatric/Perinatal/Psychiatric Nursing, and graduate student instructor, School of Nursing, and Leslie Shimp, associate professor of pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, and assistant professor of pharmacy, Department of Family Medicine, will discuss “The Use of Herbs by Midwives in Michigan: Results of a Statewide Survey.”
CAMRC open research meetings take place the first Friday of every month and include short presentations followed by questions and discussion. For more information, send e-mail to camrc@umich.edu or call 998-7715.
Sign up for IM ice hockey
The Intramural Sports (IM) Program will accept entries for the winter term ice hockey tournament 11 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Jan. 6, IM Sports Bldg. The entry fee is $395 per team.
Team managers are required to attend a meeting at 6 p.m. Jan. 6 in Cliff Keen Arena. Games, beginning Jan. 9, will be played 10 p.m.–1 a.m. Sun.–Thurs. at the Yost Ice Arena. For more information, call 763-3562.