July 11, 2003
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July 11, 2003 |
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| Director’s
State of the Lab Previews New Frontiers of Science
Director’s State of the Lab Previews New Frontiers of ScienceBy Ron Kolb In five major areas of research — and maybe a sixth — Berkeley Lab expects to be a major player at the frontiers of discovery over the next 20 years, according to a vision outlined by Lab Director Charles Shank to employees on June 26. In his annual State of the Laboratory address, before some 200 onlookers in the Building 50 auditorium and countless others via Internet streaming and the Lab’s video monitors, Shank mapped out a strategy rich with opportunities and built on a foundation of impressive scientific achievements during this past year. Underpinning it all is an atmosphere of interdependence, he said, “a collection of activities that makes this lab unique and gives us the competitive edge in all sorts of scientific disciplines.” The primary fields of interest are nanoscience, observation of matter and energy in the universe, quantitative biology, new energy systems and environmental solutions, and scientific discovery through advanced computing. To those five, he added new x-ray-based science, the centerpieces of which are an upgrade at the Advanced Light Source and a linear accelerator-based ultrafast x-ray source.
“The world that we look at is a dynamic world, with movement and a lot of changing events,” said Shank, himself a world expert on short femtosecond-scale pulses. “The energy and transition phases occur on a timescale of millionths of billionths of a second. Our very interesting and aggressive program (to image these ultrafast events) will take a lot of new thought.” And he outlined the proposal for tunable x-ray beams from undulators integrated with laser systems, called “LUX,” which he hopes will be constructed by the end of the decade. This year marks the end of a decade of what Shank called “enormous contributions” by the ALS, which opened in 1993. Showcasing just one of its capabilities — the rotating tomography of a cell — he described the anticipated upgrade of the machine that will result in three times the current and will allow higher-resolution, lensless 3-D imaging. Imaging will also become smaller and finer at the National Center for Electron Microscopy (NCEM) through a proposed Transmission Electron Aberration-correction Microscope (TEAM). This complex device would reduce resolution to a half-micron and allow for viewing of atom-sized structures in three dimensions. If Berkeley Lab is selected for the project, installation could occur by 2008. The NCEM upgrade is part of the Lab’s nanotechnology initiative that includes building a large nanoscience facility, the Molecular Foundry, on the hillside next to NCEM within the 2007-2008 time period. Shank said he hopes to see the first shovel turn construction dirt in December this year. Other prospective areas of discovery that the Director highlighted were: Astrophysics — The SuperNova/Acceleration Probe (SNAP), a satellite and telescope that will scan the heavens for distant supernova and study the universe’s mysterious “dark energy,” is in line to receive its first significant funding next year ($8.2 million). Launch is projected for 2010. Neutrinos — Fresh from world-class discoveries at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) and KamLAND in Japan, nuclear scientists will investigate the puzzling makeup and behavior of the particles, perhaps at one of Pacific Gas & Electric’s facilities. Genomics — The Joint Genome Institute, of which Berkeley Lab is a primary partner, will shift its emphasis to microbes in the study of the biosphere. Much of the focus will be environmental, in particular bioremediation, as part of DOE’s Genomes to Life program. And its future will be, in large part, as a user facility. Carbon Sequestration — Both monitoring and methods of sequestering
carbon dioxide in the ocean, in the earth, and even in brine (Berkeley
Lab will participate in an experiment in Texas involving brine injection)
will be the focus over the next decade. Shank announced plans for a new research office building just inside the Blackberry gate to alleviate overcrowding, and he noted the impending razing of the Bevatron’s experimental beam hall, another step in his long-term goal of recapturing the land and building on this long-dormant cyclo-tron site.
He also extended thanks and praise in two areas. To the employees of the 88-inch cyclotron, celebrating its 40th year of achievement on the eve of its decommissioning next year, Shank said he wanted to “congratulate all scientists who have made such a contribution there.” And to those business staff members who had to “deal withthe onslaughts of audits and other activities” in the wake of the Los Alamos investigations, he said, “You did a great job. We rede-signed our whole business systems and made them bulletproof and very robust.” The entire State of the Laboratory talk, with accompanying slides, can be viewed with the Virage video program on the web. Go to the video services site and click on “on-line presentations.” Then start the program by clicking on the “State of the Laboratory” link. Videotapes of the talk are also available for loan from the library in Building 50.
Shake, Rattle and FlowBy Dan Krotz To better understand the complex dynamics that play out just beneath the earth’s surface, a growing number of researchers are taking a closer look at how streams and wells respond to earthquakes. Among them is Michael Manga of Berkeley Lab’s Earth Sciences Division and UC Berkeley’s Department of Earth and Planetary Science. He believes that surges in stream flow and fluctuations in wells following earthquakes offer a window into how both hydrological systems and earthquakes work. “The two are connected, and we can exploit their link to learn more about both,” Manga says. In the June 27 issue of Science, Manga and David Montgomery of the University of Washington compile observations from four decades of research on the impact of tremors on streams and wells. They conclude that earthquakes offer a unique way to observe how hydrological systems behave, from small watersheds to vast aquifers.
For centuries, people have witnessed changes in streams and wells following earthquakes. California’s 1989 Loma Prieta quake triggered several Bay Area streams to swell to 15 times their normal capacity. And the great Alaska earthquake of 1964 caused water levels in Florida wells to oscillate by six meters. But these phenomena have been largely dismissed as oddities — interesting, but not important to a better understanding of hydrological systems and earthquakes. After poring over dozens of studies, however, Manga and Montgomery find that the influence of earthquakes on groundwater, long considered a geologic sideshow, may be as essential as seismographs and stream gauges in learning how an earthquake’s energy ripples across a continent, and how streams are fed by water trapped in soil. “People have traditionally viewed how wells and streams respond to earthquakes as a scientific curiosity. But these responses are actually very important,” says Manga. Consider wells. Thousands of kilometers from the epicenter of a strong earthquake, water levels in wells sometimes rise and dip in a wavelike pattern that mirrors the quake’s seismographic readout. The stronger the quake, the farther away this effect is seen. More importantly, a well’s water level may remain permanently changed after the quake subsides, indicating a fundamental shift in underground fluid pressure. Precisely why this occurs remains unclear, but it seems to depend on the magnitude and direction of the seismic waves, and the structure of the aquifer in which the well is located. For example, the water level in a well drilled into bedrock ridges may drop as water seeps into newly formed rock fractures. And wells drilled into unconsolidated, valley-bottom deposits may rise as the loose ground becomes more compact — like shaking a bowl of flour and watching it settle. This consolidation shrinks aquifers and squeezes water toward the surface.
Earthquakes can also transform lazy streams into rushing torrents. But unlike wells, which can respond to seismic waves generated from earthquakes several thousand kilometers away, only streams within a few hundred kilometers of an earthquake are affected. The difference lies in how water gets to streams, and how earthquakes influence this water source. In some cases, streams are fed by shallow groundwater, not the deep aquifers that feed wells. The palpable, up-and-down waves that emanate from an earthquake’s epicenter travel near the earth’s surface, through this soil-trapped groundwater. When the soil is shaken, it becomes more compact, and its water is squeezed into a stream. This explains why some streams surge for only a few days after a quake — once the groundwater is exhausted, stream flow subsides. This process doesn’t account for all earthquake-induced stream flow surges, however. The greatly increased stream flow that persisted for months after the Loma Prieta earthquake suggests a deeper water source than surface groundwater. But it does explain many stream surges, and it also helps researchers better understand streams and predict their response to earthquakes. “By studying how streams respond to earthquakes, we learn how water gets into streams in the first place,” Manga says. “We can also take what we know about how materials respond to dynamic strain, apply it to stream-scale hydrological systems, and predict a stream’s response to a quake.”
Such research may also enable scientists to predict where and how much a watershed will subside following an earthquake. By measuring a stream’s surge, and determining the soil consolidation required to wring out this excess water, they can determine the extent to which the ground deforms, often by sinking several centimeters. Another link between quakes and streams is found in the way seismic waves travel from an earthquake’s epicenter. The waves, which cause dynamic strain, fade rapidly, which explains why surges in stream flow occur hundreds instead of thousands of kilometers from an earthquake. Seismic waves also cause liquefaction, the destructive phenomenon in which dynamic strain makes loosely consolidated, water-saturated soil behave like liquid. The two phenomena often go hand-in-hand. The stronger the earthquake, the greater the distance from the epicenter that both liquefaction and increased stream flow occur. A magnitude 9 tremor, for example, can trigger liquefaction and stream surges up to 600 kilometers away. This doesn’t mean increased stream flow is caused by liquefaction. Rather, it illustrates that both phenomena respond to the same process, dynamic strain. And, more importantly, it reveals yet another tie between quakes and streams. “We want to understand the connections between how hydrological systems work, and earthquakes work,” Manga says. “By studying their relationship, we learn how earthquakes change the landscape, and we learn more about the long-term evolution of hydrological systems.”
Lab Technologies Win 2003 R&D AwardsR&D 100 Honor EnergyPlus Software and Extreme-Ultraviolet LithographyBy Dan Krotz
Simulation Program and extreme-ultraviolet lithography, technologies developed by Berkeley Lab scientists and their collaborators. Established 41 years ago to honor the 100 most technologically significant new products of the year, R&D 100 Awards have earned enough attention, especially within the Department of Energy, to earn the epithet “Oscars of Invention.” The EnergyPlus Building Simulation Program EnergyPlus is a new computer program that helps architects and engineers model the energy use of their designs for commercial and residential buildings. Its predecessor, DOE-2, has already saved an estimated $20 billion in energy costs since 1980; over the next decade EnergyPlus is expected to exceed those savings. Using EnergyPlus to model complex heating, cooling, and lighting systems, architects and building owners can incorporate innovative designs that are more comfortable and more energy efficient, with consequent cost savings. EnergyPlus can also calculate indirect environmental effects like the emission of atmospheric pollutants. More than 12,000 users have downloaded the free software since it was released in April of 2001. Development of the software was led by Fred Buhl, Joe Huang, and Frederick Winkelmann of Berkeley Lab’s Environmental Energy Technologies Division, working with collaborators from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the U.S. Army’s Construction Engineering Research Laboratory, the DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the Florida Solar Energy Center, Oklahoma State University, Pennsylvania State University, the University of Wisconsin, and GARD Analytics, Inc. of Park Ridge, Illinois. Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography
Berkeley Lab scientists joined with scientists from Lawrence Livermore and Sandia National Laboratories to form a Virtual National Laboratory to create a chip-printing “stepper” that uses coated mirrors instead of lenses to bend and focus light. In 2001, a full-scale prototype demonstrated the possibility of making microprocessors with 10 times as many transistors and memory chips as today’s best, operating 10 times as fast and storing 40 times as much information. Last year, Intel Corporation placed an order for the first production model stepper. Berkeley Lab members of the Virtual National Laboratory named in the R&D 100 Award were led by David Attwood and include Erik Anderson, Jeffrey Bokor, Kenneth Goldberg, Eric Gullikson, Brian Hoef, Keith Jackson, Gideon Jones, the late Hector Medecki, Patrick Naulleau, and Ron Tackaberry of the Center for X-Ray Optics in the Materials Sciences Division; James Underwood and Phil Batson of the Advanced Light Source; and Paul Denham, Drew Kemp, and Seno Rekawa of the Engineering Division. The Virtual National Laboratory is affiliated with an industry consortium whose members include Advanced Micro Devices, IBM, Infineon, Intel, Micron Technologies, and Motorola. For more about EnergyPlus Building Energy Simulation Software, visit http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/energyplus/. More about Berkeley Lab’s EUVL program can be found at http://www.lbl.gov/enews/6-4-02.html.
New Laser Lab in Bulding 71By Dan KrotzAt the Center for Beam Physics, the l’OASIS group led by Wim Leemans (shown here) has a new femtosecond laser to continue their laser-plasma wakefield acceleration research. The goal is supercompact high-energy particle acceleration. Leemans’ group has shown that high-powered beams of laser light in combination with a highly dense plasma can energize electrons at a thousand-fold faster rate than today’s microwave-based accelerator technology. Conceivably, a trillion electron volts of energy could be reached in a linac only 30 meters long. Photo by Roy Kaltschmidt.
Grant to Develop Lab’s Solar Cell TechnologyThe Palo Alto company licensed to develop the solar cell technology developed by Berkeley Lab’s Materials Sciences Division has received an $850,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to further develop and commercialize the product. The nano solar cell technology combines self-assembled inorganic semiconductor nanocrystals into a plastic composite to produce lightweight, flexible solar cells of almost any size and shape. Nanosys was so impressed with the work by a team headed by Paul Alivisatos, that it licensed it earlier this year.
Researchers Awarded $5.9 Million Grant for Powerful New NMR Machine
Researchers with Berkeley Lab’s Physical Biosciences Division are part of a collaboration that has just been awarded a five-year, $5.9 million grant this week from the National Institutes of Health for the creation of a powerful new Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) machine for studying the structure and dynamics of biomolecules. The grant was awarded to UC Berkeley and will be administered through the California Institute for Quantitative Biomedical Research or QB3, a collaboration between UC Berkeley, UC San Francisco and UC Santa Cruz. “One of the central themes in QB3 is using structural biology to understand how biological molecules — proteins, nucleic acids and carbohydrates — carry out their function,” said David Wemmer, a chemist holding a joint appointment with PBD and UC Berkeley who is leading this project. “This new NMR system will allow us to push the envelope to see what we can learn about protein structures and the dynamics of structures and how they interact with other things.” Under the grant, project resear-chers will purchase a magnet capable of generating a 21 Tesla field — that’s about 400,000 times more powerful than Earth’s magnetic field and the most powerful field available today for the study of protein structures. The magnet will be incorporated into a 900 Megahertz (MHz) NMR machine which will operate at temperatures just a few degrees above absolute zero. Weighing several tons, the new NMR machine will be housed on the UC Berkeley campus in the basement of the new Stanley Biosciences and Bioengineering Facility, which is now under construction and scheduled for completion in 2006. As a high-resolution imaging technique, NMR offers the advantage of allowing scientists to study biological molecules in solution, which is their natural environment. It also affords scientists the opportunity to study the dynamics of a biological molecule, such as the structural changes that take place as a protein unfolds and refolds in carrying out its function. With the unprecedented power of its magnetic field, the proposed NMR machine is expected to shed new light on proteins that play important roles in cancer and other diseases, and provide new insight into the 3-D structures of RNA and other biological complexes. “Using NMR to probe protein dynamics will complement the structural information now being obtained through x-ray crystallography,” Wemmer said. The challenge has been that large and complicated proteins such as the kinases are hard to get in high enough concentration for NMR studies, Wemmer said, but the high field of the 900 MHz NMR system should be able to meet this challenge. “As NMR magnetic fields have gone up, there is no question that doors have opened to new research,” Wemmer said. “But there is always the issue of cost benefit. NIH is funding [this project] to find out how far you can push the limits.” The $5.9 million grant was awarded through NIH’s National Institute of General Medical Sciences. — Lynn Yarris
City of Berkeley to Name Lab Liaison
The Berkeley City Council passed a resolution directing the City Manager to identify a “lab liaison” who will be responsible for coordinating relations between the city and Berkeley Lab. It also directs city planning and environmental staff to conduct preliminary analyses of all major planned development projects here and to provide a written summary of land use and environmental issues.
Mayor Tom Bates said the action will help the city evaluate Lab proposals
and coordinate city-lab connections “from land use review to fire
safety.”
Top Laboratory Mentors for 2002 HonoredBy Dan Krotz As the next wave of 83 undergraduate students were welcomed into this
summer’s mentor program, eight outstanding mentors from last year’s
program were feted at a June 26 reception.
Run by Berkeley Lab’s CSEE, the summer mentor program offers undergraduate
students an opportunity for hands-on research while guiding them toward
future academic and professional careers in science and engineering. Mentors
are honored based on several criteria, including nominations from their
students, commitment to CSEE and DOE community and student outreach goals,
the number of years they’ve mentored, and how well they relate to
their students. The other honorees were likewise praised by their former students. According to accolades given at the reception, Lara Gundel has been previously acknowledged as an excellent mentor of high school students and teachers, so it’s no surprise that she received the highest recommendations when she shared her talents with undergraduate students. Michael Siminovitch has been mentor to more than 25 undergraduate students over the course of a decade. Many of his students have been hired at Berkeley Lab, and one become a mentor himself. Craig Wray has been an undergraduate mentor for about three years. He has been a thoughtful supporter of the DOE programs, as well as a mentor who continues to help his students even after they leave Berkeley Lab. Priscilla Cooper, senior staff scientist, and Jill Fuss, post-doctoral fellow, constitute an outstanding mentoring team that has been acknowledged by several students. And another outstanding team, Ellie Blakely, senior staff scientist
and Kathy Bjornstad, principal research associate, have been mentoring
students since 1986.
Computational Science Fellows to Spend Summer at Berkeley LabBy Jon Bashor Seven students in DOE’s Computational Science Graduate Fellowship (CSGF) Program are spending their summer doing research at Berkeley Lab. The Department of Energy established its CSGF program 12 years ago to recruit and support graduate students pursuing studies in areas important to DOE’s mission. To date, the fellowship has supported over 120 students at approximately 50 universities. Students are selected through a very competitive process and are supported for four years in graduate school. As part of their participation, students must spend a three-month practicum at one of DOE's national labs. “One of the main reasons we enthusiastically support the CSGF program is that it is helping to develop a new generation of scientists who are well trained in all aspects of computational science, including applied mathematics, computer science and scientific applications,” said Phil Colella, leader of the Applied Numerical Algorithms Group in the Computational Research Division and the Lab’s scientific coordinator for the CSGF program. “This is an intellectually exciting area and it attracts extraordinarily talented young people to the program.” This summer, Michael Barad, who studies environmental modeling at UC Davis, will be working with Colella’s group to develop new solution methods for elliptic partial differential equations using adaptive mesh refinement tools developed by the group. Kristen Grauman, a computer science student at MIT, is working with Bahram Parvin's Imaging and Informatics Research Group in the Computational Research Division, and applying her background in computer vision to help develop techniques for the segmentation of cells from transmission light imaging, the characterization of patterns of protein expression in multicellular systems, and the comparative analysis of observed and simulated data. “Although this is a little different from what I’m doing at school, the Imaging and Informatics Research Group’s work was the best match of the groups I found at the national labs,” said Grauman. The other fellows who chose Berkeley Lab for their practica are: Michael Driscoll, a bioinformatics student at Boston University, who will work with Adam Arkin in the Physical Biosciences Division on a project involving genetic regulatory circuits in E. coli and yeast. Yan Karklin, who studies computational neuroscience at Car-negie Mellon University, is working with Stephen Holbrook in the Physical Biosciences Division on a project related to protein structure and function. Julian Mintseris, who studies bioinformatics at Boston University, is working with Michael Eisen in Life Sciences to develop methods that would allow interpretation of the available data of transcription-factor DNA interactions and infer the interaction rules that would enable the mining of genomic data for new transcription factors and the nature of their control. Greg Novak, who studies theoretical astrophysics at UC Santa Cruz, is working with Martin White in the Physics Division to add a new component to a code for simulating conditions and increasing understanding of the early universe. Joshua Waterfall, who studies biophysics at Cornell University, will work with Daniel Rokhsar of the Joint Genome Institute to examine the gene regulatory networks in Ciona intestinalis, the sea squirt. The Lab’s Computing Sciences organization is trying to increase the number of students who do their practica here, and staff here has been actively recruiting them. Lab scientists interested in learning more about the program are encouraged to visit the fellowship website at http://www.krellinst.org/csgf/ or contact Jon Bashor at JBashor@lbl.gov. The Computational Science Graduate Fellowship program is administered for the DOE by the Krell Institute in Ames, Iowa. Photos: (L-R) barad.tif; grauman.tif; driscoll.tif; karklin.tif; mintseris.tif;
novak.tif; waterfall.tif
Darleane Hoffman Wins Procter Prize
Nuclear chemist Darleane C. Hoffman is the recipient of Sigma Xi's 2003 William Procter Prize for Scientific Achievement. The award honors scientists who have made outstanding research contributions and have demonstrated their ability to communicate the significance of this research to scientists in other disciplines. A recipient of the 1997 National Medal of Science, Hoffman is internationally recognized as an authority on heavy elements. She holds joint appointments in the Lab’s Nuclear Science Division and UC Berkeley’s Chemistry Department. The prize includes a Steuben glass sculpture and a $5,000 grant to a young colleague of the recipient's choice.
EETD Wins Tech AwardLast week Berkeley Lab’s Environmental Energy Technologies Division was named the winner of this year’s World Technology Award for Energy, which honors individuals and corporations from 20 technology-related sectors. The recipients are selected by their peers. The awards are presented by the World Technology Network in association with Nasdaq, Accenture, Microsoft, Genencor International, DuPont Textiles and Interiors, Time magazine, Technology Review, Science, and Business 2.0 magazine.
Summer Lectures Continue with Talks by Blakely, KisielowskiEffects of Space Radiation
Her early radiobiological studies supported a clinical program that used charged particle beams to treat cancer patients at Berkeley Lab, including patients with eye tumors. Particle radiotherapy proved highly effective at destroying tumors while sparing vision. Many of the patients, however, developed radiation-induced cataracts. Blakely and her group developed a culture model of differentiating human lens cells that has been used to study the molecular biology underlying radiation cataractogenesis as a consequence of radiotherapy. The model has also been used to evaluate radiation safety for astronauts during space missions. Because the lens of the eye is one of the most sensitive of all human organs to radiation, shielding on space craft has been designed to protect against late radiation damage such as cataracts. As astronauts spend increasingly longer time in space, the effects of cosmic radiation exposure will become an increasingly important health issue — yet there is little human data on these effects. In her summer lecture, Blakely will review this emerging field and the contributions made at Berkeley Lab. Accounting for Every Atom
The following week, Christian Kisielowski, an expert in electron microscopy, will give a talk entitled “If We Could Only Account for Every Single Atom.” Kisielowski earned his doctorate from the University of Cologne, Germany, in 1985 and began his career investigating semiconductors. While at Bell Labs in the 1990s, he developed electron microscopy techniques based on analyzing lattice images. At UC Berkeley, as head of the gallium nitride group, he pursued both solid state physics and microscopy before joining the National Center for Electron Microscopy in 1998. He has employed improved hardware, like NCEM's record-breaking One Angstrom Microscope; imaginative techniques like electron holography; sophisticated software like the image-analysis programs he and his colleagues developed to enable scientists to extract information about composition and structure of materials from lattice images. He is also a member of the multi-lab group developing the National Transmission Electron Aberration-corrected Microscope (NTEAM). In all these ways and others, Kisielowski continues his efforts to "account for every single atom" in the interiors of both simple and complex materials, like semiconductors and ceramics, including hard-to-image light atoms like oxygen, nitrogen, boron, and carbon. Visitor Access to the Lecture SeriesThe Summer Lecture Series is open to all interested visitors. Because of tightened security, however, the Lab Security notes that to be granted access, visitors will need to provide a valid photo ID (drivers license, DOE badge, UCB student ID, military ID etc.) They will also be asked about their citizenship status. Please allow extra time for possible delays at the gate.
Michelle Flynn Walks for a CureEvery three minutes a woman in the U.S. is diagnosed with breast cancer. And every three minutes during the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in San Francisco last week, someone at the event received a pink banner to wear around their neck. The symbolism had a profound motivating effect on Michelle Flynn, team leader for budget and planning in Waste Management at the Lab, who participated in the 40-mile walk, raising more than $2,500 in pledges to be used in the fight against breast cancer. “I’ve learned just how easy it is to overcome sore legs and blisters when you think about the pain and heartache suffered every day by people with a disease such as this one,” she says.
Flynn was part of a group of 15 friends — including former Olympic
figure skating champion Peggy Fleming — who raised over $45,000 in
the Avon Walk. She decided to walk in support of a friend who underwent
treatment last year and in memory of a relative who died of the disease.
The Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Crusade provides women with access
to care and helps in the search a cure for breast cancer. Over the past
10 years, the organization has raised more than $250 million for breast
cancer medical research, clinical care, support services, education and
early detection programs, with a special emphasis on reaching medically
underserved women. “A coworker told me that my walk reminded her to schedule a mammogram,”
she said. — Monica Friedlander
Meet the Clubs EEA FairBerkeley Lab’s annual “Meet the Clubs” fair, organized by the Employees Activities Association, will be held on Wednesday, July 23 from 12 to 1 p.m. on the cafeteria lawn. Representatives of EEA’s 19 recreational, cultural and wellness clubs will be on hand. Refreshments and entertainment will be provided. For more information, contact EAACoordinator@ lbl.gov or see www.lbl.gov/Workplace/HumanResources/EAA/. Entry Deadline for Runaround T-Shirt Contest Extended The deadline for submitting T-shirt designs for this year's Run-around has been extended to Friday, July 18. Artwork may only be submitted as either JPEG or PDF digital files and should be sent to Angela Dawn, EAACoordinator@ lbl.gov. Pictures of previous years’ T-shirts (1978-2001) can be seen on the Runaround website at http://cfi.lbl.gov/~derenzo/ runaround/. If you submitted artwork in the past and would like it to be reconsidered, let the EAA know. They have previous years’ entries on file.
Lab Hosts State, National EventsState Energy BoardThe State Energy Advisory Board, a national group with a statutory responsibility to advise the Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy program on matters affecting the states, is holding a two-day meeting at the Lab, which began Thursday and continues through today. The organization is made up of about 30 state energy office directors, local weatherization program coordinators, academics, and consultants. The Lab’s Environmental Energy Technologies Division is hosting
the Board in Building 90. The California Energy Commission is also participating
in the agenda.National Academies Workshop Discussions continue today at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.
New Pretax Transit ProgramThe Site Access Office has announced the launch of WageWorks, a new commuter benefit program available to Lab employees. WageWorks will enable employees to purchase transit passes on a pretax basis by ordering online with automated payroll deductions. The money thus set aside is never taxed, saving program participants up to 40 percent of the costs. Transit tickets are mailed to the employee’s home or other chosen address. The program allows participants to select from a wide range of transit options, including AC Transit, Amtrak, BART, Caltrain, Muni, SamTrans, Translink, and Vallejo Transit. For additional carriers, see the WageWorks website at www.wageworks. com. Van pool participants may also take advantage of pretax benefits through the program. See website for more. Enrollment Instructions
Please note the enrollment deadline is 9 p.m. PST on the tenth of the month. Tickets are mailed by the end of that month. For more information see www. wageworks.com. You may also call the customer service line at 1-877-924-3967 or X7572 at the Lab.
Berkeley Lab CurrentsPublished twice a month by the Communications Department for the employees and retirees of Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Ron Kolb, Communications Department head. EDITOR: Monica Friedlander, (510) 495-2248, msfriedlander@lbl.gov STAFF WRITERS: Dan Krotz, 486-4109, Paul Preuss, 486-6249; Lynn Yarris, 486-5375 CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Jon Bashor, 486-5849; Allan Chen, 486-4210 FLEA MARKET / CALENDAR: 486-5771, fleamarket@lbl.gov /currents_calendar@lbl.gov
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley Lab is managed by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy.
FleaMarketAUTOS & SUPPLIES‘01 MAZDA MIATA MX-5 SE, 8.8K mi, crystal blue metallic, hard top, 6 sp, manual, ac, all pwr, cruise, am/fm stereo, single CD, BOSE prem sound, dual frnt airbags, ABS, 4 whl, tan lther, prem whls, sport suspension, car like new, $19,500, Geoffrey, X4626 ‘01 JEEP WRANGLER 60th Anniv, silver w/ blk soft top, 38K miles, ac, cd player, $15,200/bo, Kevin, (925) 756-2278, (510) 773-8261, (510) 708-2972 ‘98 MERCURY VILLAGER LS MINIVAN, 74K mi, white, ac, auto trans, lther seats, recent serv & serv hist, avail end of July, $8,200, Frederic, X4721, 527-3039 ‘97 SEADOO GTX, low mi, 3 seater w/ trailer, lock box, gas cans, $4,200/bo, Kevin, (925) 756-2278, (510) 773-8261, or (510) 708-2972 ‘95 TOYOTA TERCEL, 2 dr sedan, red, 4 cyl/4 sp manual, 115K mi, ac, am/ fm/cd, good mech cond, new clutch, maint records avail, transfer 7/22, date neg, $2,400, Wouter, X2455, 549-2219 ‘95 HONDA ACCORD EX, 72K, emerald green, 4 cyl, auto, sunrf, cruise, alarm, 6 disc CD, clean, new ac, $7,700, Carol, X5234 ‘90 MAZDA MPV minivan, 156K mi, V6 at, all pwr, ac, am/fm/cd, cruise, ABS, roof rack w/ cust top carrier & ski rack, fair cond, $1,500/ bo, Jonah, X5814, 501-9721 ‘90 JEEP CHEROKEE LAREDO 4X4 AT, 4L, tow pkg, loaded, many new parts/brakes, speakers, radio/cd, runs great $4,500/ bo, Terry, X6223, (707) 434-9001 ‘87 MERCEDES BENZ 260E, fair cond, 106K mi, champagne, all pwr, sunrf, air, auto trans, sheepskin seat covers in front, $3,500, Lisa, X6268, 841-4855 HOUSINGALBANY, in-law cottage, furn opt, short or long term, 425 sq ft, priv ent/ bath, 1 blk from Solano, 10 min walk to BART,non-smoker only, $1,000/mo+ utils, water, garbage paid, Martin, mtremblay1@yahoo.com BERKELEY, 1 bdrm/1 bth, apt in vintage bldg near shopping, updated appliances, refin hardwd flrs, complete bthrm w/ tub/ shower, approx 475 sq ft, nr UCB/downtown BART, Carlos F, 325 4921, X4817 BERKELEY, lge rm, priv ent, furn, internet access, priv phone line, washing & cooking util, nr pub trans & shops, offstr parking, quiet area, nr UC, pref gentleman student or visiting scholar, no smoking/ pets, no overnight guests, $600 + internet fees+ dep $650, 524-3780, roomrenting@hotmail.com BERKELEY, 1 blk to UCB, furn 1 bdrm apt, hardwd flrs, $1,575 incl PC, DSL & some util, Paul, 845-5959, jin.young@juno. com, X7363 BERKELEY, Hearst Commons, 1146-1160 Hearst nr University, nr pub trans, res parking, studio townhouses w/ decks, hardwd flrs, skylights, dw, disposals, ac, intercom, sec, Ian, 548-1831, $875/mo, lease through 7/2004, email hearstcommons@jps.net BERKELEY, short-term room for rent in house, furn neg, 2 bth, quiet neighborhd nr Lab/campus/pub trans/shops, w&d, phone, DSL, satellite,parking, no smoking/pets, $650/mo incl util, avail 8/1 to 9/30, 848-8558 BERKELEY, 1 bdrm/1 bth, unfurn apt, faces garden area, $1,400/mo, avail 8/1/03, for more: http:// home.comcast.net/~laxsmio1/Apt4Rent.html, email laxsmio1@comcast. net. EL CERRITO, nr Arlington & Cutting, 2 rms for rent in 4 bdrm/2 bth house, need to 2 more persons to move in by end of 7/03, on top of hill, great view, good room mates, $500/ mo + 25% util, Jade, goodluck_555@yahoo.com. KENSINGTON, fully furn 3 bdrm home, view, quiet setting, avail 8/1 for visiting scientist, $1,400-$1,600/mo dep on family size, Ruth, 526-6730 KENSINGTON, sunny, secluded lge studio, priv entr, semi-furn, $750/mo, first/last mo + sec dep, tenant pays half of electricity; other util incl, nr shopping/trans, cat ok, Dan, (925) 946-1467 eve, X6734 NORTH BERKELEY, fully furn 1 bdrm/1bth, 3 blks from LBL shuttle/UCB, by week/month/semester, gfchew@mindspring.com, 848-1830. NORTH BERKELEY, furn recently remodeled 1 bdrm small cottage, avail 7/4, 1247 Cedar St, nr Bart & bus, laundry, patio, garden, parking on street, no carpets, quiet, lots of light, no pets/smoking, $1,200/mo, 1st & $1,200 to get in MISC FOR SALEDAEWOO, countertop microwave $20, Nancy, X4644, (925) 939-8961 DRESSERS, 1 upright, 1 horizontal, exc cond, $300; crib, maple fin w/ cobalt blue arched headrail, bottom sliding drawer & drop rail, Simmons mattr, perf cond $300; Fisher CD player w/ remote, exc cond, compatible w/ any home stereo, 50/bo, David, (925) 516-2358 GARMIN GPS 12 w/ belt carrying case & manual $50; butcher block din rm table w/ foldout leaf, sits 8 people, $75; bed, double w/ mattr & pad $50, Fred, X4352, 524-6519 KITCHENAID 5-sp electronic blender, orig box, manuals, $50/bo, Sherry, X6972 RECORD TURNTABLE, Kenwood KD291R, cue lift, auto return, 33/45 rpm, 45 rpm spool, clear tilt up cover, blk fin, new belt, exc cond, $40/bo, Peter, X4574, 559-1814, photos avail THOUSAND TRAILS TIME RESORTS, location from Canada to San Diego, adult lodging, family centers, incl moblie home locations, fishing, tennis courts, campsites, swimming pools, canoes, play areas, time shared since 1981, $8,000, Edward, X4575, 276-6953 WANTEDCAT/HOUSE SITTER for 8/8-17 in Oakland nr Mormon Temple, keep 2 cats company & water a few plants, Ken, X7739, 482-3331, kdwoolfe@lbl.gov WEBER kettle grill, 18.5" $40/bo; Schwinn Gremlin 12" child's bike, exc cond, training wheels, $75/bo; maple rocking chair, mint cond, $100/bo, Mark, X6581 FREECOTTON RUG, 6x8 sq ft, light color, good cond, Ruth, 526-6730 LOSTHAND CART, grey handles, 4 wheels, convertable use, upright/hortizontal. left in cafeteria parking lot nr ATM machine, last seen 6/26, John, 299-5131 or Barbara, X6875 VACATIONSO LAKE TAHOE, chalet in Tyrol area, close to Heavenly, peek of lake from front porch, furn, sleeps 8, sunny deck, pool & spa in club house, nr casinos/attractions, $150/ day + $75 clean fee, Angela, X7712, Pat, Maria, 724-9450 TAHOE KEYS at S. Lake Tahoe, 3 bdrm/2.5 bth, fenced yard, quiet sunny., close to attractions, priv dock, great views of water and mountains, $195/ night, 2 night min, Bob (925) 376-2211
Flea Market PolicyAds are accepted only from LBNL employees, retirees, and onsite DOE personnel. Only items of your own personal property may be offered for sale. Submissions must include name, affiliation, extension, and home phone. Ads must be submitted in writing (e-mail: fleamarket@lbl.gov, fax: X6641, or mailed/delivered to Bldg. 65. Ads run one issue only unless resubmitted, and are repeated only as
space permits.
Fire Season Heats Up In the East Bay: Play it Safe!Employees are reminded that Berkeley Lab sits in a fire-prone area. Lab property has been overrun by fire in the past (plus had a few close calls, such as the Tunnel Fire in the Oakland-Berkeley Hills in October 1991)e. With the fire fuel load very high this year, the Lab’s program to manage onsite vegetation is in full swing. Information about the vegetation management program, links to local fire resources, and the Fire Evacuation streaming video "May I have Your Attention, Please" are available online at. https://ehswprod.lbl.gov/ep/Login.asp. Enter your LDAP name and password, and click on "wildland fires." Safety measures to keep in mind during the fire season
If a Fire ApproachesShould it ever become necessary to evacuate buildings:
For more information call Valerie Quigley, Emergency Preparedness program manager, at X7032 or Gary Piermattei, fire marshall, at X6370.
Power Outage Scheduled for July 19Electric power will be turned off to Buildings 55, 55A, 56, 60, 63, 67, 71F, 71J, and 71T on Saturday, July 19, from about 6 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. The outage is necessary to permit maintenance on a primary transformer bank. Contact Jim Murphy at X4175 or X6023 for further information.
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