By Vic Cox

Next Monday, the traditional noontime ice cream social in Cheadle Hall courtyard kicks off Staff Celebration Week 2005, but new events this year will add surprises to the mix. One of these is the band, Instant Grassification, that will play at the Chancellor’s Barbecue on May 13.

Another will be the launch of the Staff Arts and Craft Show on May 9. Featuring the work of more than 25 staff employees, the display will run the full week inside the Faculty Club.

Also at the Faculty Club from Monday through Thursday will be breakfast buffets between 7:30 and 9 a.m. for $7.75 a person. Reservations must be made by this Friday, May 6, by calling x3096.

A Faculty Club special allows staff with I.D. to save 15 percent on each lunch during the week. Join the club (staff are eligible) during this week and the $50 membership fee is waived.

Another weeklong opportunity is free admission to the Recreation Center and the new MultiActivities Center (MAC) that serves as the annex. Call Manager Emily Moffitt (x7618) for details.

Entries to Staff Assembly’s free drawing must be turned in by May 11 to Greta Halle (x2844) in the Psychology Department. If you have lost (or never got) the entry form in the staff newsletter you can download it at <www.staffassembly.ucsb.edu/pdfs/newsletterarchive/s05-newsletter2.pdf>, but only one entry is allowed per person.

Also on May 11 is a shopping opportunity at the UCSB Bookstore: 20 percent discount on many selected items for staff.

Special tours for staff are available throughout the week, ranging from the new Intercollegiate Athletics Building (contact: Diane O’Brien. x8603) to a behind-the-scenes look at Davidson Library (contact: Paul Gritt, 451-8991).

May 12 has so much going on it will be difficult to decide which to attend: That morning, there is bird-watching with Patrick McNulty (call x4165), and overlapping tours of the main library and the new Engineering Science Building (contact: Dave Bothman, x4125).

At noon, Richard Hecht, professor of religious studies, leads a brown-bag discussion on ”Transformation of America’s Religions” in HSSB 3041 (call x7136). At the same time, a CSAC panel discussion on “Advancing Your Career at UCSB” will be held at the MultiCultural Center Theater, while Staff Assembly sponsors a Cookie Taste-Off in the MCC Lounge. The Staff Assembly drawing will also be held at the cookie contest, though winners not present will be notified.

Besides the food and drink at the May 13 barbecue on the Faculty Club lawn, a pottery sale will also be held on the lawn. These items generally are staff created and come from the campus kiln. The BBQ traditionally features the Staff Citation of Excellence Awards and presentations of certificates of completion for supervisory training.

And the band, composed of mostly doctoral candidate graduate students, will play their hearts out, promises Rami Gabriel, who plays guitar. Other musicians are Gary Williams, mandolin; Lisa Pattison, fiddle; Phil Salazar, fiddle and dobro; and Nina Weisman, mandolin. Weisman is a forest ranger in Sequoia National Park.