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Osburn sets retirement date

Bennie Osburn, dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine since 1996, will make his retirement official on June 29, and has agreed to come back 30 days later to serve as acting dean until a new dean is named and able to start, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Ralph J. Hexter said.

The 30-day period between retirement and recall is required under UC policy. Hexter said Executive Associate Dean John Pascoe will serve as acting dean until Osburn’s post-retirement hire. Pascoe is a professor of surgical and radiological sciences.

Osburn announced last October that he would retire in the summer of 2011, upon completing his third term as dean.

The recruitment process is well along to replace him, with the recruitment advisory committee having recommended three candidates — as it happens, all external — for campus visits. The visits will be in June and will include opportunities for meetings with School of Veterinary Medicine constituents and public forums open to the entire campus community, Hexter said.

Supply Express closes today

Supply Express, the on-campus retail store operated by Materiel Management, closes its doors today (June 3).

Like many brick-and-mortar businesses, Supply Express predates its online counterpart, , which will now be the primary point of purchase for office supplies, stationery, shipping supplies, packing boxes, laboratory supplies, cleaning supplies, dry ice, zero-waste event supplies and other merchandise — all of which had been Supply Express’ stock in trade. Supply Express, at the southwest corner of parking Lot 41, also served as a drop-off point for FedEx and UPS; will take on that responsibility, in 176 Hoagland Hall.

Using our name, fraudulently

Add the medical center and children’s hospital to the list of �ٺ���Ƶ units whose names have been used in door-to-door fundraising scams.

Dateline �ٺ���Ƶ reported last week on fraudulent fundraising on behalf of the Cal Aggie Marching Band-uh! By the end of the day last Friday (May 27), authorities had added the Department of Music and the Department of Theatre and Dance to the list of victimized units.

Then, on Tuesday (May 31), the �ٺ���Ƶ Health System issued a news release about scammers who said they were collecting money for the �ٺ���Ƶ Medical Center and Children’s Hospital.

“The medical center and children’s hospital do not fundraise door-to-door and have not authorized door-to-door solicitations on their behalf,” the news release stated.

Similarly, the Cal Aggie Marching Band-uh! and the music and theatre and dance departments do not solicit money door-to-door, nor are they raising funds to support a trip to London. The scammers used the “London trip” in their solicitations for donations in the greater Sacramento area.

California State University, Sacramento, issued a similar alert on May 24.

The �ٺ���Ƶ alerts came in response to several inquiries to the university about the door-to-door fundraising. University authorities are advising people to contact their local law enforcement agencies with any information regarding the fraudulent fundraising.

Here are legitimate channels for donating:

• Marching band — Contact Thomas Slabaugh II, band director, (530) 752-9239 or slabaugh@ucdavis.edu.
• Music and theatre and dance — Donations can be made or by mail to the Department of Music, or the Department of Theatre and Dance, 1 Shields Ave., Davis 95616.
• Health system — Contact the Department of Health Sciences Advancement, by telephone (916) 734-9400 or .

Beeman gets 180-day jail sentence

A Yolo County judge this week sentenced former �ٺ���Ƶ employee Jennifer Beeman to 180 days in county jail and five years’ probation for embezzlement in connection with her work as director of the Campus Violence Prevention Program.

She was charged with taking in excess of $10,000 in university funds and
falsifying the university’s records to cover up some of the embezzlement.

At the sentencing hearing June 2 in Superior Court in Woodland, Judge Janet Gaard also ordered Beeman to pay $9,153 in restitution. She has already repaid $1,372.

The judge also ordered her to stay off the UC Davis campus (except for the medical center).

Beeman served as director of the Campus Violence Prevention Program for 16 years until December 2008, when she was placed on administrative leave. She left university employment in June 2009.

She entered no-contest pleas April 14 to a single count of embezzlement and a single count of falsifying government accounts to cover up some of her embezzling. The district attorney's office dropped all other charges, pursuant to her pleas.

With a no-contest plea, a defendant does not admit guilt, but offers no defense, and is subject to the same punishment as if he or she had pleaded guilty or been convicted. District Attorney Jeff Reisig said Beeman faced a maximum of four years in state prison.

Instead, she received jail time — and the sheriff can allow her to serve her time via home detention, an option that drew no objections from either side. The judge ordered her to report to the county jail on July 14.

The campus Police Department and the U.S. Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General investigated the case jointly.

Former student faces 10 felony counts

Arraignment has been delayed twice for the former �ٺ���Ƶ student accused of groping two women and assaulting an officer — and those are only the charges that stem from his arrest by campus police.

Since then, Robert Schaerges allegedly assaulted two custodial officers at the Yolo County Jail.

The bottom line: He now faces 10 felony counts and one misdemeanor. He is next due for arraignment on Tuesday (June 7) in Superior Court in Woodland.

Schaerges is charged with three counts of sexual battery, accused of grabbing a woman’s breasts and buttocks, and another woman’s buttocks — without going under the women’s clothing — around 8:30 p.m. May 24 on a bike path near The Pavilion at the ARC.

Additionally, he is charged with false imprisonment in connection with the restraint of one of his alleged victims.

The district attorney also has charged Schaerges with six other felonies — three counts of battery on a campus police officer and two custodial officers, and three counts of resisting those officers — and a single misdemeanor count of resisting arrest.

University officials said Schaerges started studies in the School of Law in the fall of 2009 and was last enrolled in the fall of 2010.

Reminder: Pension advisory board election ends June 17

E-mail reminders are going out today through Monday (June 3-6) to UC staff members who have not yet voted in the election to fill two open seats on the UC Retirement System Advisory Board.

The election began May 23, and the voting deadline is 5 p.m. Friday, June 17. Seven people are vying for the seats, which are specifically for staff members.

The board meets three times each year to discuss issues pertaining to UC’s retirement plans. In addition, the board shares ideas with President Mark G. Yudof.

The ballot lists seven candidates from the Berkeley, Irvine, Los Angeles and San Diego campuses, plus the UCLA AIDS Institute and the UCLA Medical Center. The candidates are vying for four-year terms.

The electorate comprises all active, eligible UC Retirement Plan members who are not part of the Academic Senate.

VR Election Services is running the election and sent out announcements by e-mail to all staff with e-mail addresses and by regular mail to staff without e-mail.

The reminder e-mail, like the first announcement, includes a link to the online ballot. Voters without e-mail have the option of casting their ballots online or by regular mail.

If staff members have problems with the online ballot or prefer a paper ballot, they can contact VRES by telephone (800) 218-4026 (6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. PDT Monday through Friday), or by e-mail, custserv@vres.us.

Election results are due to be posted on the UCRS Advisory Board election website by the end of June.