The UCLA Retirees’ Association recently became aware that the Regents are considering an action that could significantly increase health care premiums for UC retirees. Retiree, emeriti, faculty and staff organizations have quickly mobilized to respond to this issue but further action will be required and your help is needed.

An item was included on the July 12, 2017 agenda for the Regents Finance and Capital Strategies Committee to “Rescind the 70 percent Floor for the University’s Aggregate Annual Contribution to the Retiree Health Benefit Program.”

Through swift action, retiree, faculty and staff representatives from across the UC campuses objected vociferously to this agenda item, which was added without any discussion or prior notice. The Council of UC Retiree Associations (CUCRA), The Council of UC Emeriti Associations (CUCEA), the UC system-wide Academic Council and the retiree and emeriti associations on several UC campuses joined in the effort to protest this action item. Their prompt outcry resulted in the removal of the item from the July meeting agenda and a rescheduling to November to allow more time for consultation and analysis.

It’s Renewal Time and Finally,

Credit Cards!

It is time to renew your UCLARA membership and this year we have a surprise for you: For the first time, you will be able to renew online (and register for UCLARA fee-based events) us-ing a credit card.

The Emeriti/Retirees Relations Center (ERRC) staff will be working during the next month to set up and test the credit card pro-cessing procedures. We antici-pate completing testing by the end of August at the latest.

We have included a membership form in this newsletter for those who prefer to pay their renewal fees by check. If you prefer to renew online and have provided your email address to the ERRC, look for renewal instructions via email during the month of Au-gust. If you have an email address and have not provided your most current information to the ERRC,

Those without email will continue to receive annual renewal notices via regular mail.

Your membership renewal helps us to continue providing retirees with opportunities to stay in touch with each other and with the Uni-versity. Annual dues are only $25 per member and $10 for a spouse or partner.

As background, in 2011, UC paid, on average, 86 percent of retiree health care premiums. At that time, in an effort to contain costs for retiree health care and after much discussion and consultation with staff, faculty and retiree representatives, the Regents approved a plan that gradually reduced that amount over several years to a floor of 70 percent. That current cost-sharing formula, whereby the University pays an average of 70 percent of retiree healthcare premiums and retirees pay 30 percent, is in place today. Premiums that retirees pay to Medicare would not be affected.

This action is an erosion of the University’s long history and tradition of shared governance whereby major policy decisions such as this are made only after representatives of the affected parties have been involved in discussions and given the opportunity to analyze the effect of such a change.

You are encouraged to take action by emailing or writing to the Regents about this matter.

UCLARA representatives will continue to work with their colleagues at all of the UC campuses to respond to this issue, but many voices can be more effective than just a few.

Regents Action May Increase Health Premiums

(Continued on Page 2)

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Keeping Up

with the Board

To usher in 2017-18 at UCLARA, the Board of Directors is pleased to announce several changes to the Board:

New to the Board this year is Terry Feuer-born. Terry spent a 43-year career at UCLA, serving as Associate Dean of For-eign Students

and Director of Contracts and Grants, among other positions. He has been serving on several of UCLARA’s committees, and has finally agreed to move up and join the Board.

Judith Tuch has been planning wonderful events as Chair of our Program Committee, and this year she will have a Co-Chair in the person of Sally Stahl. Sally worked for 18-plus years at the Anderson School of Management, retiring in 2015 as director of ca-reer advising. She’s also a UCLA alumna. Sally has been volun-teering on the Program Commit-tee for the past year and is enthu-siastic about getting more in-volved.

Maggie McGinley joined the Board last year, and has recently stepped up to serve as Interest Group Chair. As our interest group offerings grow, with new groups forming every year, they are demanding of a dedicated “parent,” so we are delighted to have Maggie serve in this capaci-ty.

For a complete list of the new po-sitions, see the list of UCLARA Board Members on page 7.

If you contact the Regents, consider the following talking points (use your own words):

• Employees in the University of California system have regularly worked for “under-market” compensation, based on their belief that their pension and health benefits would be there for them in retirement. • The 70 percent floor for UC’s contribution to retiree health benefits was adopted to provide some stability to retiree health care costs. • Except for the annual COLA, retirees have no way to increase their income to fund the increased cost of healthcare. Some retirees already have to choose between healthcare and food. • Although retiree health benefits have never been guaranteed and are not “vested” in the same way pension benefits are, UC needs to maintain the 70% floor of healthcare benefits because of their importance for recruiting and retaining faculty and staff. • Removing the 70% floor could be the first step toward removing this key retirement benefit that retirees counted on during their long careers at the University.

Who to contact:

By email (use the subject line “Retiree health care--rescinding of 70% floor”):

regentsoffice@ucop.edu

By mail:

Office of the Secretary and Chief of Staff to the Regents 1111 Franklin St., 12th floor Oakland, CA 94607

A list of individual Regents can be found at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regents_of_the_University_of_ California#Current_members

(Continued from Page 1)

UCLA Tops 100,000 Applicants

Did you know that our University is the most popular institution of higher learning in the country? In the most competitive year ever at UCLA, the University became the first in the nation to receive more than 100,000 applications from prospective freshmen.

The campus admitted 16,494 ap-plicants to fill only 5,950 spaces this year. The numbers under-score just how difficult it is to be accepted to UCLA, the most pop-ular campus in the most prestig-ious public university system in the country.

The University of California as a whole anticipates enrolling 2,500 more California undergraduates this fall than in 2015, something state lawmakers have been push-ing for. But offers to out-of-state and international freshman appli-cants continued to rise as well.

“We welcome this accomplished, talented group of applicants to the University,” said UC President Janet Napolitano. “All of us – in California and throughout the na-tion and world – will be enriched by their talent, curiosity and drive to learn and succeed.”

In other University news, UCLA is also Number One in helping its faculty to start new businesses and commercialize their research. According to the Los Angeles Times of July 7, 2017, the cam-pus is better at generating new technological and other business-es than Stanford, MIT, Caltech or any of the other 224 universities reviewed in a recent Milken Insti-tute report.

“UCLA provides opportunities to professors and students who are interested in creating a business,” said Urologist Arie Belldegrun. “It’s a win-win because we stay as professors and UCLA benefits because they are also sharehold-ers.”

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UCLARA Around the Town

Save the Date! Here’s what we are planning for your enjoyment with your UCLA family in the coming months. Mark your calendars, watch for invitations, and feel free to share your thoughts and ideas about other types of events that we might plan.

Tuesday, October 24: Visit an exceptional school garden with a Master Gardener at the Carthay Environmental Studies Magnet School, followed by lunch at the Farmers Market with time to take in the history of this landmark.

The Carthay School has a 10,000-ASF teaching garden featuring vegetables, fruit trees, free-range chickens and flowers. The school’s staff, teachers, students and master gardeners will demon-strate how classroom curriculum translates into garden science and environmental awareness. Come and be impressed!

Thursday, December 14: Annu-al Holiday Party at Maggiano’s Little Italy at the Grove. Visit with old friends, make new ones, join in the fun, raffle off baked goodies, and enjoy a three-course lunch. Plan to catch up on your holiday shopping afterwards at either the Grove or the Farmers Market.

February 14 – 16, 2018: Palm Springs Getaway: An exciting itinerary is in the works for the start of Modernism Week, includ-ing the Thursday “Villagefest,” a visit to the Windmill Farm, a de-sert caper and more. Our home will be the Shadow Ridge Resort. Look for a flyer in August.

April 2018: Visit to Lotusland in Santa Barbara. Stay tuned for the exact date.

Win, Place or Show On Saturday, May 6, UCLARA members were off to the races at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia. Rain showers throughout the day did not deter us or the horses.

We were seated on the fifth floor in the Skyview Terrace Sierra Vista room, high atop the race track with a view of the finish line. A delicious buffet lunch was enjoyed by all.

Outrageous hats were the order of the day. Mary Ann Sherritt was ready for her close-up in her Carmen Miranda themed hat.

Sheena Ricchio studied the Of-ficial Daily Racing Program – she was determined to pick a winner.

Maggie McGinley spent some time with the horses in the Pad-dock area.

May 6th was also Kentucky Der-by day, so we placed our bets and viewed the Derby on the moni-tors at our tables.

I bet on Classic Empire (one of the favorites) to win the Ken-tucky Derby. He came in fourth. Oh well, you can’t win them all.

Liz Taylor UCLARA Member

Before You Know It August, September, October, No-vember! Mark the date and place now, Wednesday, November 15, California Room, Faculty Cen-ter, the 13th Annual UCLARA Arts & Crafts Exhibit!

New this year are decorative plates, Christmas crafts, glass works, assemblages, and pen and ink drawings. Tell your col-leagues, friends, and family to join us at this special event, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. If you are inter-ested in helping out the day of the event, please contact me, Nancy Varat, at nvarat@verizon.net.

Photo by Angel Appleton

Assemblage by Fred Rubin

Quilted items by Sue Abeles

4

Staff Scholarship Update

When you were on staff, wouldn’t you have appreciated the oppor-tunity to attend conferences or take educational courses to fur-ther your career? Kristine Jan Espinoza, Patricia Jardack, John-son Lay and Manjula Wick-ramasinghe (see below) are for-tunate enough to have that oppor-tunity – they are the 2017-18 re-cipients of the UCLA Retirees’ Association’s Staff Development Scholarships.

UCLARA created these scholar-ships to support current staff, and an endowment fund to ensure they continue into the future. In order to fund the endowment, we are requesting your support.

We are very proud to be able to offer this worthwhile program.

To those of you who have already given, please accept our deepest appreciation. For everyone else, won’t you join in this effort? Gifts of any size are very much

appreciated. Please consider making a tax-deductible contribu-tion by mailing your check, paya-ble to The UCLA Foundation M-267/820130, to:

UCLA Foundation, P.O. Box 7145, Pasadena, CA 91109-9903

Thank you so much for your sup-port!

Kristine Jan Espinoza: Student Affairs Officer, Asian American Studies The scholarship will allow Kris-tine to attend the National Aca-demic Advising Association in St. Louis in October, where she has been selected to present. “The upcoming conference will culti-vate my professional develop-ment as a student affairs profes-sional moving further in higher education administration,” she says. Patricia Jardack: Nutrition Re-search Manager, Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI)

Patricia will use the scholar-ship to obtain a Certificate of Training in Adult Weight Management. This will help

her prepare and qualify for a Board Certification Specialist in Obesity Weight Management. She says having such a distinct certification “is very desirable for a dietetics practitioner involved in obesity care, and it will help enhance my professional skills and expertise in weight manage-ment.” Johnson Lay: Lab Techni-cian, Molecular and Medical Pharmacology Johnson will apply the scholar-ship to take two certification courses through Coursera. His career plans include applying for the Medical Scientist Training Program as well as being able to interpret genomic data. “Before I attend grad school,” he says, “these courses will give me prior knowledge in the field of cancer research and deeper understand-ing of the field here at UCLA and beyond.”

: Food Service Worker, Dining Services Manjula will use the scholarship to improve her English-speaking skills at the tutoring services of Build My English in Reseda. Her career plans are to continue at the UCLA Housing & Hospitality Services to work as an adminis-trative assistant. “Currently, as a food service worker, I constantly interact with students and guests,” Manjula says. “Improving my conversational English will help greatly with my customer service at UCLA dining services.”

Scholarship recipients (from left) Kristine Jan Espinoza, Johnson Lay, and Manjula Wickramasinghe

5

Interest Groups

Groups and Contacts

Interest groups are open to all UCLARA members. The following groups are accepting new members. If you would like to participate in one, please call or email the contact listed:

Tarzana Book Club, third Wednesdays, 1 p.m. Room for two new members. Club readings are chosen according to a theme. Maggie McGinley, 323-937-1850, maggiemcg@mac.com Intermediate Scrabble, 1st Thursdays, 1:15 p.m., on campus Hallie Masler, 310-446-2090, halliem720@gmail.com Hiking, as scheduled Liz Taylor, 310-836-1073, mtaylora@ucla.edu, or Sheena Ricchio, 310-709-4489, sheenarr@aol.com Valley Intermediate Mah-Jongg, 2nd and 4th Tuesdays, 10 a.m., Henri’s Restaurant, Canoga Park Pat Lotker, 805-492-8087, pathl@verizon.net Intermediate Bridge, 3rd Thursdays, 11:45 a.m., on campus Mary Petersen, 310-459-3646, mary.petersen@anderson.ucla.edu Jewelry Making, occasional Mondays, 10 a.m., var ious locations

Accepting names for wait list. Robin Broudy Johns, 310-488-6864, rbroudyjohns@gmail.com Cooking, as scheduled. Takes place in ’ kitchens October 2: Hauntingly Hilarious Halloween Menu December 12: Cake baking Judy Deutsch, 310-390-3016, jsdeutsch1@yahoo.com Play Reading, 2nd Thursdays, 7 p.m., on campus October 12, “Twelve Angry Men” by Reginald Rose Rochelle Caballero, rrcab90272@cs.com

Interest Group Notes If any of the following opportuni-ties interests you, please contact Interest Group Chair Maggie McGinley at maggiemcg@mac.com:

Exciting New Groups! We are expanding our Interest Group offerings with the formation of two new groups! First is a trav-

Offices Closed

UCLA Administrative Offices will be closed to observe the following holidays:

Monday, September 4 Labor Day

Friday, November 10 Veterans Day

Thursday and Friday, November 23 and 24 Thanksgiving

el group for members who love to travel and share experiences. We will get together periodically, at venues in different areas to share ideas, stimulate interest in great travel experiences, view videos, and share photos. Group will be led by UCLARA Presi-dent Rod Rose.

Also, a new Interest Group in cooking has formed! The group

meets at least once a season, and we are inviting people with large kitchens to volunteer theirs for a cooking demonstration. Number of participants for each meeting will depend on the size of the kitchen. Group is led by UCLARA member Judy Deutsch.

In addition to this and the groups listed above, the UCLA Retirees’ Association is considering form-ing the following new Interest Groups for members. Let us know what interests you! •Photography •Restaurants/Food •Movies •Investments •Golf

About Book Clubs UCLARA sponsors several book clubs in different areas. Howev-er, with the exception of the Tar-zana group, none of them is ac-cepting new members at present. Why not start another? We’re looking for folks who would be interested in coordinating or join-ing a new UCLARA book club. Let us know!

6

News from the ERRC

To all recent retirees, welcome! The Emeriti/Retirees Relations Center (ERRC) is here to serve you and help you continue your connection with UCLA. The ERRC serves all retired UCLA faculty/staff as well as their spouses/partners and provides administrative support to the UCLA Retirees’ Association and the UCLA Emeriti Association.

The ERRC communicates with retirees primarily via email, so to receive the most up-to-date infor-mation on programs and services, please contact the office to pro-vide your most current email ad-dress.

The ERRC is sponsoring the fol-lowing upcoming program:

First Fridays (Friday, October 6, 10 a.m. – noon: Young Research Library, Research Commons)

Bring your smart phones, tablets, laptops, digital cameras, comput-er accessories, etc. and receive one-on-one assistance with a member of UCLA’s technology staff. Consultations are limited to 20 minutes if others are waiting. Register by emailing or calling the ERRC.

*In addition, the ERRC provides the following services and privi-leges:

Retiree Parking Permits—Retired faculty and staff with at least five years of service credit are eligible for discounted park-ing passes (emeriti are eligible for an emeriti pass; privileges for staff vary by years of service credit). The ERRC coordinates with Transportation Services to provide retiree permits. For more details, visit http://www.errc.ucla.edu/Privileges or contact the ERRC.

BruinCards—All retired faculty and staff are eligible for a retiree BruinCard, which acts as a library card and provides discounts at select campus events and venues. The ERRC coordinates with the BruinCard Office to provide this service. For more details, visit http://www.errc.ucla.edu/Privileges or contact the ERRC.

Bruin Online--Staff retirees’ Bruin Online email accounts con-tinue upon retirement. They are not your departmental email ad-dress and do not include other services, such as VPN and se-cured on-campus Wi-Fi access.

Center Notary—The ERRC of-fers complimentary notary ser-vices to retirees. To schedule an appointment, contact Eric Wang at the ERRC. Same-day appoint-ments are not available.

*All ERRC services and privileg-es are also available to surviving spouses/partners.

The ERRC can be reached by email at emeriti@errc.ucla.edu or telephone at (310) 825-7456.

Sue Barnes ERRC Director

In Memoriam

UCOP has reported the death of the following UCLA annuitants. We are grateful for their service and extend condolences to their families.

Akberali, Carrie Barcia, Eva Barton, Maxine Bartos, Ruth Benarrosh, Monique Bergerson, William Brooks, Shelia Rae Brown, Kay Buckman, Trent Coffiel, Lilia Comray, Dorothy Corley Jr., Robert Cummings, Badryeh Davis, Nina Day, Estelle Dizenzo, Rochelle Emerson, Rita Escobar, Raquel Soto Friedman, Patricia Garven, Dorothy Ghent, Martha Gonick, Harvey Hall, Henry Herman, Elizabeth Howard, Fred Jorgenson, Elizabeth Kaneko, Patricia Laoyan, Albina McDonald, Russell Meininger, Helen Melchor, Arturo Sanchez O’Brien, Catherine Orfirer, Lenore Pandolfi, Richard Perry, Carolyn Pinkston, Jerry Rodriguez, Victor Romero, Elizabeth Seymour, Cynthia Sibis, Edward Silva, Nellie Sweeney, Mary Thornbrooke, Myrtha Traut, Margaret Walbert, Virginia Ward, Darlene

7

UCLARA Board Members

President Rod Rose 818-222-8595

Vice-President Sue Abeles 310-398-2481

Past President John Dahl 310-739-8909

Treasurer Elaine Fox 818-366-0731

Recording Secretary Elizabeth Juncosa 310-459-3695

Membership Marketing Chair John Dahl 310-739-8909

Membership Records Chair Mary Petersen 310-459-3646

Co-Program Chairs Judith Tuch 310-552-0928 Sally Stahl 818-986-5927

Hospitality Chair

Newsletter Editor Hallie Masler 310-446-2090

Communications Coordinator Vacant

Volunteer Opportunities Chair Vacant

Arts & Crafts Exhibit Chair Nancy Varat 310-395-9387

Campus & Community Rela-tions Committee Chair Al Aubin 323-731-0166

Nominating Committee Chair John Dahl 310-739-8909

Interest Group Chair

Alumni Affairs Liaison Pat Webber 310-826-7771

Emeriti Liaison Jane Permaul 310-454-2594

Members-at-Large: Dolores Dyer 805-758-0053 Terry Feuerborn 310-450-2068 Maggie McGinley 323-937-1850 Lynn Sasai 310-301-0441

Volunteer

Opportunities

UCLA is all about volunteering to improve our communities. Do your part and add a gratifying ele-ment to your life through these opportunities:

UCLA Volunteer Day Seeks Leaders Saturday, October 7

Help inspire the next generation of Bruins on UCLA Volunteer Day. The Volunteer Center is looking for project leaders and task cap-tains to direct more than 30 ser-vice projects across Greater Los Angeles. For more information, email volunteer@ucla.edu. Thank you for your service!

Literacy Program Volunteers Wanted

Did you know that 13% of adults in Los Angeles are unable to read? Do you want to be part of an inno-vative solution? LAWorks RSVP is partnering with Points of Light to pilot a new adult literacy pro-gram called XPRIZE. Volunteers will be trained to administer an online literacy tool aimed to help low-literacy adults attain basic skills in just one year. Volunteer as little as a few hours or as much as weekly and ongoing. There is a high need for bilingual volunteers as well. Email Nahtahna at nahtahna@laworks.com.

A Special Welcome to New Members

Dorli Buerge Mara Gottesman Nancy Greenstein Sheree Groves Carlos Haro Deloris Hastye Catherine Huffman Madelyn Mescher Bob Nidever Ingrid Schmid Ruth Simon Carol Steinberg Guy Stocks Humphrey Sumner Betty Yee Sue Yudovin

Governmental Advocacy

The UC Advocacy Network (UCAN) is a community of en-gaged UC students, alumni, retir-ees and friends who lend their voices to shape state and federal policies promoting the Universi-ty’s mission of education, re-search and public service.

Thousands strong, these dedicated advocates send letters and emails and call government officials and policymakers to let them know about the positive impact the Uni-versity has had on them and oth-ers. Together, our collective ac-tions help shape state and federal policies that advance the Univer-sity and beyond. Learn about the many ways you can lend your voice and share your passion about issues that are important to you and the University. To sign up, go to:

www.universityofcalifornia.edu/support-uc/ucan/join.

8

UCLARA

C/O UCLA EMERITI/RETIREES

RELATIONS CENTER

1116 ROLFE HALL

BOX 951437

LOS ANGELES CA 90095-1437

PUBLICATIONS BLOCK

UCLARA NEWSLETTER by the University of California, Los Ange-les Retirees’ Association and the Emeriti/Retirees Relations Center at UCLA:

1116 Rolfe Hall, Box 951437

Los Angeles, CA 90095-1437

Phone: 310-825-7456

Fax: 310-825-1572

Email: emeriti@errc.ucla.edu

Web: www.retirees.ucla.edu

Editor: Hallie Masler

Assistant Editor: Mary Miller

Compositor: Eric Wang

ERRC Director: Sue Barnes

ERRC Staff: Maria Lubrano Eric Wang

UCLA RETIREES’ ASSOCIATION

(UCLARA)

MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL (1-year membership: July 1, 2017 – June 30, 2018)

Date:____________________________ Amount Enclosed: $_______________________

Annual Dues: ☐ Member: $25 ☐ Spouse/Partner: $10 ☐ Member and Spouse/Partner: $35

Make check payable to: UCLARA

Send payment to: UCLARA Membership c/o UCLA Emeriti/Retirees Relations Center

1116 Rolfe Hall Box 951437 Los Angeles, California 90095-1437

Member’s Name:_____________________________________________________________________________________

(Circle Dr., Mr., Mrs., Ms., Miss) (Please Print)

Please provide your contact information if it has changed:

Street_________________________________________________________________________________________________

City________________________________________________ State Zip Code____________________________

Phone ( ) Cell Phone ( )___________________________________________

E-mail________________________________________________________________________________________________

Spouse/Partner’s Name:___________________________________________________________________________________

Is your spouse/partner a University retiree? ☐ ☐ Yes No

In order that we may send materials directly to your spouse/partner, please provide contact information indicated below:

Phone and E-mail (if different than above):

Phone: ( ) E-mail:_________________________________________

Would you permit UCLARA to use your contact information in an online Membership Directory? ☐ ☐ Yes No

Visit our Website, www.retirees.ucla.edu. Thank you for your continued support of UCLARA!

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