The new Benefits service center opened its virtual doors on October 2. The purpose of BenefitSU is to improve the service provided to Stanford faculty, staff and retirees. To capitalize on these service improvements, the alphabetical split has been eliminated. Please use the new phone number (736-2985) and BenefitSU will make sure the right person responds to your inquiry within one business day.

Here are all the ways for employees to get benefits information:

• Log on to http://benefitsu.stanford.edu for access 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. From there you can do the following:
  • Review your current Educated Choices elections
  • Obtain an overview of the most up-to-date, accurate Stanford benefits program
  • Make a Family Status Change
  • Print on-line forms
  • Access provider web sites (e.g., Blue Shield, Delta Dental)
  • Review detailed benefits information (Summary Plan Descriptions)
  • Use an interactive retirement planning tool on provider web sites such as Vanguard and Fidelity
• Contact BenefitSU via the Web: Use http://benefitsu.stanford.edu/benefits.cgi/ to submit your question and receive a reply within one business day.
• Call BenefitSU locally at (650) 736-2985 or toll-free at (877) 905-2985. Benefits Representatives are available to take your call between 8:00 - 5:00, Monday through Friday. For SLAC inquiries, call (650) 926-2357. During Open Enrollment in November, there may be a volume of calls, so there may be a short waiting period. Stay on line so your question can be answered as soon as possible.
• Visit Benefits at 655 Serra Street between 8:00 - 5:00, Monday through Friday. Make an appointment to schedule a one-on-one information with a Benefits Representative. We encourage you to speak with someone in person when you have a situation that needs special attention.

Your feedback about BenefitSU is welcome. If you have any general questions or comments, please direct them to benefitsu@stanford. Or you can contact Lauren Schlezinger, Benefits Service Manager at 3-3120 or lbs@stanford.edu

Effective November 1, 2000 there will be a new process for verifying salary and employment for Stanford employees; the University Payroll and Records department will no longer handle these requests. Stanford employees are being directed to a new automated system called, "The Work Number For Everyone". This automated system was designed to be more efficient and will be able to provide immediate employment and salary verification for credit and reference requests 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Detailed information about "The Work Number For Everyone" is outlined in a brochure that has been sent out to every employee, and information can be found on the Controller's office Web site by clicking on The Work Number link.

You may have noticed some recent changes in staff in the Monograph Receiving and Payments Departments.

Daisy Chang has left Monograph Receiving to accept a promotion as Payments Specialist. She began her career in Stanford Libraries in 1992 in Binding & Finishing. She later became a Shelf-ready Receiving Specialist and then Receiving/Copy Cataloging Specialist in the Monograph Receiving Department. One of her more recent accomplishments has been her participation in the SUL/AIR Expert Partner program. Both Monograph Receiving and Payments staff benefit from her computer knowledge and skills. And no matter where she works, everyone around her agrees. Daisy is great!

Michele Di Somma has filled Daisy's vacancy in Monograph Receiving. "Mickey" comes to us from Terme, Italy where he has a degree in business and worked in hotel management. For the past year, he has been working at the Stanford Bookstore, most recently in the Textbook Division. They were sorry to lose him, but we are ecstatic that he has joined us in SUL. For a real treat, ask him to show you a photo of Gulia, his beautiful baby girl.

Usha Singh and Zoia Serafimova have both joined the Monograph Receiving Department as Shelf-Ready Receiving Specialists.

Usha has spent her most recent years participating in family activities and has devoted many hours as a Speech and Debate Volunteer and Coach Assistant at a local high school. She is currently taking computer classes at De Anza College. We were fortunate to have found her just when she was ready to reenter the work force.

Zoia and her family moved to Sunnyvale from Sofia, Bulgaria in 1998. She earned a M.A. in Philosophy in Sofia and a Ph.D. in Sociology in Moscow. In rethinking her career prospects, Zoia has enrolled in the Foothill College Library Technology Program and we hope that she is excited about a library career as we are to have her here.

Welcome to all of you!

These titles reflect the compiler's notions of the humorous, wry, ironic or unusual, and should not be construed as reflecting any other opinion or judgment, nor the editorial opinion of SUL/AIR News. Contributions for this feature are eagerly solicited. Submit any oddities to: bkunde@sulmail.stanford.edu

Boys, girls, and E-mail : a case study in Finnish senior secondary schools / Seppo Tella. -- Helsinki : Dept. of Teacher Education, University of Helsinki, 1992. ADU2517 / HE6239.E54 T43 1992 / Education Library.

Dear sir, drop dead! : Hate mail through the ages / edited by Donald Carroll. -- Imprint:New York : Collier Books, c1979. ADU2517 / PN6140.H38.D4 1979 / Green Library.

E-Mail addresses of the rich & famous / Seth Godin. -- Reading, Mass. : Addison-Wesley Pub. Co., 1994. APB6473 / AL YGM CSE / Law Library.

Fredericks of Hollywood, 1947-1973; 26 years of mail order seduction / edited by Laura & Janusz Gottwald. -- New York : Drake Publishers [1973] Title / Author. -- Place : Publisher, date. APY6205 / TT555 .G67 1973 F / Special Collections.

Mailing of matzoh, hearing before the Subcommittee on Postal Facilities and Mail ..., 92-2, April 12, 1972 / [United States. Congress. House. Post Office and Civil Service.] -- 1972. APY6205 / Y 4.P 84/ 10:92-39 / Green Library - Federal Documents.