March 20, 2007 UC Families Newsletter Circulation: 960 Moderator: Karie Frasch email: ucfam@lists.berkeley.edu Website: http://parents.berkeley.edu/ucfamilies Post a Message or a Reply: http://parents.berkeley.edu/post_ucfam.html Moderator Note: Consider writing a response to one of the new postings in today’s newsletter. Or post a new question or comment of your own! ----------------------------------------- * Contents ----------------------------------------- New Postings *Graduation regalia-rent or buy? where? *Living in SF, studying at UCB with a baby *Cal offers maternity leave to doctoral students *Non profit consulting business *Childbirth Education Study/Free Childbirth Class *Divorced parents and the academic job market *MATURE PROFESSIONAL WOMAN AVAILABLE TO HOUSESIT! Responses *Health insurance for high risk pregnancy Media *Bring the Kids *Two Careers, One Offer New members ----------------------------------------- * New Postings ----------------------------------------- Graduation regalia-rent or buy? where? ------------------------------------------- Hi, I'll be receiving my doctorate in May, and wonder if it'd make more sense to purchase than rent regalia. I intend to teach eventually. But online prices are $500 to purchase! Rentals thru Cal are only $70. Any advice? Did you purchase your regalia for less than $250? Where?! All advice greatly appreciated. Hoods and tams and tassels, oh my! Living in SF, studying at UCB with a baby ------------------------------------------- Hello, I'm a third-year graduate student, six months' pregnant with my first child. Before the due date, my husband and I need to move from our current home in Oakland to San Francisco to accommodate a new job he just started in northwest SF. We have two questions: 1. We'd like to hear from other student parents about their experiences living in SF and attending Berkeley, especially if you've gone through this with a newborn. Any insights, recommendations, etc. are welcome. 2. Could SF-based parents recommend some family-friendly, BART-adjacent neighborhoods in the city for us to look for apartments? Many thanks! Adeline Cal offers maternity leave to doctoral students ------------------------------------------- CAMPUS WILL GRANT PAID MATERNITY LEAVE TO WOMEN DOCTORAL STUDENTS As one of only a handful of universities across the country to offer paid pregnancy leave for doctoral students, Berkeley is 'on the cutting edge' of family- friendly benefits. The full story is online at http://www.berkeley.edu/news/berkeleyan/2007/03/07_maternity.shtml thought you'd like to know Non profit consulting business ----------------------------------------- Thought I would post my business that I am doing while trying to complete my Ph.D. at Graduate Theological Union and UC Berkeley -- non profit consulting.  I work with small and medium-size non profits to help them set up their organization, fundraising and development parts of their non profit -- all customized and in a coaching model.  I also do grant writing and teach others how to do this as well. Reasonable rates! Please e-mail me at EileenMHarrington@hotmail.com or call me at (510) 520-4251 for futher info and references. Eileen M. Harrington Harrington Non Profit Consulting 1798 Scenic Avenue #407 Berkeley, CA 94709 Childbirth Education Study/Free Childbirth Class ------------------------------------------- Are you pregnant for the first time? Are you interested in making a difference in the lives of all families? We're a group of women scientists from the psychology and neuroscience departments at UC Berkeley, and we're seeking local couples to participate in our childbirth education study. We're looking at the connections between couples' transitions to parenthood and the childbirth education they receive. All enrolled couples will participate in a FREE comprehensive childbirth education class taught by a highly-trained, ethical, local female instructor whose classes are in-demand in Berkeley. Classes will meet once per week for eight weeks. The study also pays $150 per couple because it requires 3 visits to our office on the UC campus. To be eligible, you must be expecting your first child, due between late June and late July, 2007. Both partners need to participate (we regret that we have space only for heterosexual couples at this time).transition in your life and the lives of other families-to-be, please contact Elizabeth or email childbirthprep@gmail.com. Classes begin April 15th, which is coming up fast! I hope you will consider joining us. Also, feel free to forward this announcement to anyone who might be interested. With sincere thanks, Elizabeth Bremner Doctoral candidate, Neuroscience Divorced parents and the academic job market ------------------------------------------- I'm working on my PdD and would like to hear from other parents who are divorced or who have never been married to their child's other parent how they handle the academic job market. What if the only job offers I get would require for me to move out of the area, thus making it necessary for me to seek legal permission from the courts to move out of the area without losing custody and renegotiate the children's schedule with my ex spouse? I love my children dearly, and I want my future career as an academic to be a blessing to them rather than a burden. but I keep turning over in my head these two opposite scenarios: the happy dream of getting a local job offer so that our children can keep the same schedule with me and my ex and stay at their great school and keep all their friends while our quality of life goes up because I have a job; and the terrible nightmare of getting a job somewhere far away, so that the children possibly end up with much less time with one of us, or having to give up on my career in order to be there for the children. My ex is fairly aggressive and hostile, which doesn't help my morale much when I think of the nightmare scenario... Thanks in advance for your responses. Thanks! MATURE PROFESSIONAL WOMAN AVAILABLE TO HOUSESIT! ------------------------------------------- 35 year old therapist available to housesit for your sabbatical or fellowship, or other extended trip taking you out of town. I am an avid animal lover, and have lived and worked with animals from a young age, including now as a volunteer with animal shelters, and local petsitting. I also have many references for housesitting, and will care for your garden, forward mail, and treat your home as the sanctuary it is while you are away. Email me and we can talk more! Thank you, Kathryn --------------------------------------------- Responses --------------------------------------------- Original post: Health insurance for high risk pregnancy ------------------------------------------- I am over 40 and trying to figure out the best health insurance for what is considered a ''high risk'' pregnancy. I am drawn to Blue Cross Plus (POS) because of the combined HMO and PPO aspects. However, I have heard some horror stories. One woman told me that Brown and Towloand (through Blue Cross Plus) approved some tests/procedures at Pacific Fertility Center. the woman did the procedure and then B&T they disapproved it. She said she's also heard of others where this happened. I am also considering kaiser, health net and pacific care HMOs. Anyone who can help through this complicated mess of insurance would be greatly appreciated. I need to sign up by end of day tomorrow, so time is of the essence. Eve Response: insurance for high risk pregnancy ------------------------------------------- Hi there- I had a high risk pregnancy too and eventually gave birth to a preemie and had to have a c-section because my water broke too early and he was breech. Since then, my son has been diagnosed with a serious and life threatening medical condition (NOT related to the pregnancy). He is now 2. I have Kaiser and I have had the most AMAZING care. I wasn't sure where you were located but we are in Northern CA and Kaiser Oakland is seriously great. My son has wonderful specialists who are not only great physicians but they advocate on his behalf for lots of different things. They assigned our family a social worker to get through the difficulty of adjusting to having a child with this illness and to make sure they are taking care of our ENTIRE family and not just my son. As for my pregnancy/birth, I had wonderful prenatal care and a wonderful birth experience (save for the fact that it was a c-section). I am a HUGE Kaiser fan, not the least of which because I've seen other parents who chose a PPO because they had misperceptions of Kaiser because of the HMO stigma. The parents to which I refer are parents of children with cerebral palsy and their medical bills are through the roof and it doesn't appear their care is any better. In fact, my son's best buddy, a 2 year old who has cerebral palsy, has had AMAZING care at Kaiser Oakland. I met this little boy's mommy through the Kaiser mom's drop in class called ''Baby and Me.'' It is a group meeting held every thursday for a couple of hours and it is facilitated by a lactation consultant. moms go there to talk about issues or concerns that they have and they share strategies and get further advice from the lactation consultant and pediatric interns who occasionally drop into the group. I became close with a few of the moms that were regulars to the group and we formed our own mommy group from there. And everyone is still friends! We see each other each friday and my son has a network of friends he's known since he was 3 months old. Kaiser also has a health education center and I've dropped in a few times to borrow books on different health-related subjects and it's been great. Ok, I guess it's clear I'm a HUGE fan. Of course, I must say this is Kaiser Oakland. Not all Kaisers are the same but you could certainly check out the one nearest you and see what they provide, etc. They offer classes that are open to the public where they tell you everything they offer in terms of birthing so you know what to expect in terms of your care, should you decide to choose them. They have tours of their facilities and they also have sessions called ''meet the doctors'' which happen once a month so you can meet the OBs and ask questions of them. Good luck and I wish you well on the rest of your pregnancy and your upcoming birth! -Rachel Happy Kaiser Mama ----------------------------------------- Media ----------------------------------------- 1. “Bring the Kids,” By Megan Pincus Kajitani. March 9, 2007. The Chronicle of Higher Education. http://chronicle.com/jobs/news/2007/03/2007030901c/careers.html A look at how a small group of professors set up a child-care program to serve participants at their discipline's annual meeting. 2. “Two Careers, One Offer,” By Rebecca Manderlay. March 1, 2007. The Chronicle of Higher Education. http://chronicle.com/jobs/news/2007/03/2007030101c/careers.html An academic couple turns down the perfect job for him because the university had nothing to offer her. --------------------------------------------------------------------- - Post a message * http://parents.berkeley.edu/post.html - Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Address Changes, Help * http://parents.berkeley.edu/subscribers.html