UW News

April 7, 2014

News digest: Students at Town Hall, home fair, renew passes and permits

Illustration of head with ideas of lightening and DNA pouring forthUW student series at Town Hall starts Wednesday with two speakers
The 2014 season of UW Science Now, which trains University of Washington graduate students to communicate their research to the general public, kicks off with speakers at Seattle’s Town Hall April 9 and 11. UW students get in free with student ID, others pay $5.

UW speakers Wednesday are Ian Johnson, aeronautics and astronautics, who will describe tiny rockets for carrying satellites into space and Michael Hutchins, Earth & space sciences, who will talk about the 30 countries where he is tracking lightning storms. They speak from 7 to 8 p.m., downstairs at Town Hall. Admission includes a 7:30 talk on the future of transportation.

Friday’s speakers will be Christina Jones, pharmacology, talking about how stem cells use communication to develop into different cell types and Jesse Macadangdang, bioengineering, who will talk about building hearts in dishes. Their session will be from 7:30 to 8:30,  also downstairs.

Fourteen UW graduate students are scheduled to present talks, often before or after other science talks by local and national speakers that have been scheduled at Town Hall. The students are part of the UW class “Engage: The Science Speaker Series and Seminar,”  meant to help them explain their research to non-specialists.

Home Improvement Fair Thursday
Drop by the Husky Union Building, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.,  Thursday, April 10 for the UW Home Improvement Fair. Find creative ideas for your living spaces and chat with interior designers, landscapers, remodelers and home-energy experts.

Exhibitors include GreenHomes, Metropolitan Appliance, Rainier Roof Restoration, BPT Architecture, Seattle Architecture Foundation, UW Surplus and the Phinney Neighborhood Association’s community tool lending library.

The fair takes place in the HUB Lyceum and is sponsored by HomeStreet Bank in partnership with UW’s Human Resources Benefits Office. More information online or email benefits@uw.edu.

Time to renew annual parking permits, U-Pass
E
mployees using payroll deductions to pay for  one or more Transportation Services products – such as an annual parking permit, U-PASS, pay-per-use parking, a private bicycle locker or access to a secure bike enclosure – need to renew annual commuter products online by April 30, or in person by June 30, in order to maintain uninterrupted use.

“Last year more than 12,000 employees renewed their products during our annual renewal process, unfortunately nearly 3,000 employees failed to renew online last year, which means they had to come in to our office and endure long lines during our busiest time of the year,” said Alicia Halberg with UW Transportation Services.

Similar to last year, all renewed permits will be delivered via the U.S. Postal Service to the  home mailing address as specified in Employee Self-Service. Customers may also elect to pick up permits in-person at the Transportation Services office on or after June 16 and 30.

Renew items online by 11:59 p.m. April 30. After that, renewals can only be requested in person at the Transportation Services office between June 16, 2014.