Briefs

US Airways contingencies: As of March 21, US Airways is vowing to shut down its operations at 12:01 a.m. EST Saturday, March 25, if it has not reached a contract with its flight attendants union. The shutdown is aimed at thwarting a threatened job action. The Cornell Travel Office is advising air travelers to have a back-up plan in case the shutdown becomes a reality.

US Airways is the only airline carrier with scheduled service at Tompkins County Airport. If you have travel plans for March 25 through April 9, what actions should you take? US Airways' regional airline affiliates will continue to fly, but schedules may change. US Airways Express flights are identified by numbers ranging from 3000 to 5999. Locally, this includes flights between Ithaca and New York's LaGuardia Airport, Boston's Logan Airport, Philadelphia International and the Washington Dulles Airport. To check the status of your flight, go to www.usairways.com or call US Airways customer service at (800) 428-4322.

The jet service flights to Pittsburgh are operated by US Airways and will not operate if a shutdown occurs. You will need to contact US Airways reservations at (800) 428-4322 to have your flights re-scheduled.

US Airways has not announced what procedures it will use to get passengers to their destinations via other airlines and will not reroute passengers to other carriers until a strike or shutdown is actually in effect.

If you have a full-fare unrestricted ticket, major airlines will accept your ticket. However, US Airways does not have agreements with other airlines to accept restricted fare tickets.

Most other airlines also will not accept an electronic ticket on US Airways. The recommended procedure is to convert electronic tickets to paper tickets prior to March 25. US Airways will staff its airport ticket counters even if the airline shuts down.

For travel to areas in the Northeast, you may decide to drive now that road conditions are good. Hertz and Avis have stations at the airport, and Enterprise and National have offices in the downtown Ithaca area. Check auto insurance and liability coverage prior to starting your engine.

For travelers who reschedule their flights out of the Syracuse airport, local airline limousine service is available on a regular schedule. Also local limousine operators are offering day trip service to cities in the Northeast areas and for transportation to other airports.

Updates concerning the US Airways strike are on the Travel Office home page at http://www.cbs.cornell.edu/travel/usairstrike.html.

Nominations for Cook Award: The Advisory Committee on the Status of Women (ACSW) is requesting nominations for the eighth annual Cook Award. The Constance E. Cook and Alice H. Cook Recognition Award honors individuals in the Cornell community who deserve recognition for their contributions relating to women and/or women's issues. The award is named in honor of Constance Cook, Cornell's first woman vice president, and the late Alice Cook, professor emerita of industrial and labor relations and a founding member of ACSW. To make a nomination for the award, submit the person's name with an explanation of his or her qualifications to Patricia Brown-Mikula, Office of Workforce Diversity, Equity and Life Quality, 234 Day Hall; e-mail: pjb13@cornell.edu ; or fax: 255-7481, by Friday, March 31. An award presentation and luncheon will take place for new award winners, their sponsors and past recipients on April 19.

State retirement system: Statutory employees at Cornell participating in any of the following New York state or New York City retirement systems who left public service for a period of time may be able to reclaim their former tier status due to "tier reinstatement" legislation passed in 1999: New York State Teachers' Retirement System; New York State Employees' Retirement System; New York State Police and Fire Retirement System; New York City Employees' Retirement System; New York City Board of Education Retirement System; New York City Teachers' Retirement System; New York City Police Pension Fund; New York City Fire Pension Fund. If employees' previous dates of membership will move them from Tier 3 or Tier 4 to Tier 1 or Tier 2, they must complete application form RS 5506 (see information below).

If employees' previous dates of membership will move them from Tier 2 to Tier 1, they must complete form RS 5506.

If employees' previous dates of membership will move them from Tier 4 to Tier 3, they need not do anything. They will be notified in advance and may decline the earlier membership if they wish.

If an employee's previous membership date will result in an earlier date of membership in the same tier, that date will be changed automatically. Employees will be notified in advance, and they may decline the earlier membership if they wish.

The tiers employees are in correlate with their membership dates. The tier status dates are as follows:

Tier 1: Prior to July 1, 1973; Tier 2: July 1, 1973, to July 26, 1976; Tier 3: July 27, 1976, to Aug. 31, 1983; and Tier 4: Sept. 1, 1983, to the present.

The tier reinstatement applies only to members of the retirement systems listed above.

On Jan. 12, letters with form RS 5506 enclosed were sent from the New York State Retirement System to many of the employees eligible for the reinstatement discussed above. However, some eligible employees did not receive letters. Therefore, Cornell will be sending more letters with the form soon. If you think you might be eligible and have not received a letter from the New York State Retirement System or from Cornell and/or you are not sure if the earlier membership date will improve your benefits and you need more information, contact the New York State Retirement Systems at: Member Services Bureau, New York State and Local Retirement Systems, Gov. Smith State Office Bldg., Albany, N.Y. 12244-0001; (518) 486-7925; web site: www.osc.state.ny.us/retire/.

An information booklet called "Changing Your Date of Membership, How the Tier Reinstatement Law May Affect You" is available through the address, web site and telephone numbers listed above.

For information about your service dates with Cornell, call Margaret K. Moon in benefit services in the Office of Human Resources, 255-3936.