In Brief

Olson to Speak November 10 in Faculty Lecture Series
Scripps Research Professor Art Olson will speak on "The Science and Art of Biomolecular Interaction" as part of the ongoing Faculty Lecture Series on Wednesday, November 10 (changed from October 27). The lecture will be held at 5 PM in the Timken Amphitheater, Scripps Clinic, 10666 North Torrey Pines Road.

Merck Recruiter to Visit Campus
P.K. Tsai, director of the Bioprocess & Bioanalytical Department at Merck Research Labs in West Point, PA, will be on campus on Thursday, October 21 and Friday, October 22, 2004. He will give a presentation at 3 PM on Thursday, October 21 in the Keck Amphitheater followed by an informal mixer, in which Tsai looks forward to meeting all interested Scripps Research scientists. Tsai will also hold job interviews with pre-selected postdocs and graduate students.

To be considered for an interview, e-mail or fax your CV to: Dr. P.K. Tsai Bioprocess & Bioanalytical Research Merck & Company, Inc., WP17-101 West Point, PA 19486, Fax: (215) 993-4849, E-mail: p_tsai@merck.com. While only scientists with a biology background will be selected for this round of interviews, scientists from all areas of research are invited to submit their CVs. The submission deadline for the interviews is Tuesday, October 12. Candidates will be notified if they are selected for an interview by Monday, October 18. For more information, contact the Society of Fellows' Becky Fraser, rfraser@scripps.edu.

Traffic Update
Work will continue on the La Jolla sewer system project. In addition to construction along Salk Institute Road, the contractor plans to repair surface improvements along North Torrey Pines Road through Friday, October 15.

Don't Let the Flu Strike You
Make prevention your priority. Human Resources is hosting flu and pneumonia immunization clinic for Scripps Research employees on Wednesday, October 13 and Thursday, October 14 from 9 AM to 4 PM in Room 205, 3377 North Torrey Pines Court. Flu immunization is free. Pneumonia immunization costs $35 (cash or checks made payable to "HealthFax, Inc." will be accepted). Scripps Research employees only. For more information, contact Nancy Boccio, x4-8293.

Open Enrollment: Domestic Partner Eligibility
Open Enrollment will be held via an online system from October 25 through November 12. This is the annual opportunity to make changes to your benefit selections and, if eligible, re-enroll (or enroll) in the health care or dependent care spending accounts for the 2005 plan year.  Benefits Administration will be sending out a series of announcements over the next several weeks with important information you need to know regarding your benefits in 2005.

This week’s topic: domestic partner eligibility. Effective with changes made during Open Enrollment and with the new plan year starting January 1, 2005, only same gender domestic partners or opposite gender domestic partners age 62 or over will be eligible for coverage. Employees in California will be required to register with the State of California's Domestic Partner Registry and provide their certificate as proof. For more information regarding the criteria, and to obtain the necessary forms and information on how to register with the State of California, see the state's web site. Since Florida State does not have a similar registry program, Florida employees with domestic partners on the plan will be required to sign an affidavit that they meet the California requirements. More information on domestic partnership can be found on the Domestic Partner Benefit Facts sheet.

Same or opposite gender domestic partners currently on the Scripps Research health plans will be grandfathered into the plan and eligible to continue coverage without meeting the above requirements. If a domestic partner is later removed from your coverage and then wishes to come back on to the Scripps Research plan (in the case of a status change for example), they must meet the new domestic partner eligibility requirements.

If you have any questions regarding the new domestic partner eligibility requirements, please contact Benefits Administration at x4-8487.

On-Site Clinics Find New Home
On Monday, October 18, Wednesday, October 20, and Friday, October 22, personnel from Sharp Rees-Stealy Medical Group will be on-site to conduct TB screenings, Hepatitis B immunizations, serum draws, and tetanus immunizations. Please note that the location for the clinics has changed. The clinics will be conducted at the CVN Building in Room 209, from 11 AM to 2 PM. No appointments are necessary.

TB screening requires a 48 to 72 hour follow-up.  Individuals receiving the TB screen on Monday will need to return on Wednesday, and individuals screened on Wednesday, will need to return on Friday. Initiation of the TB screening process will not be available on Friday, but Hepatitis B immunization, serum draws, and Tetanus immunizations will be. To learn more about these programs, see the Environmental Health & Safety Occupational Medicine web page which includes a map and patient information sheets.

Send comments to: mikaono[at]scripps.edu