Berkeley Lab is playing a vital role in a five-laboratory collaboration aimed at bringing the United States back to leadership in neutron science after two decades of playing catch-up with Europe, a goal that Energy Secretary Federico Peña has put at the very top of his list of the department's energy-research priorities.
Members of the Ion Beam Technology Program in the Accelerator and Fusion Research Division (AFRD) will build the "front end"--the ion source, radio-frequency quadrupole, and associated beam transports--of the $1.3 billion accelerator-based Spallation Neutron Source, or SNS, to be located at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.
Testifying before Congress in March of this year, Secretary Peña enumerated some of the fundamental discoveries and practical benefits offered by neutron science: "Chemical companies use neutrons to make better fibers, plastics, and highly efficient and selective catalysts; automobile manufacturers use the penetrating power of neutrons to understand how to cast and forge gears and brake discs...; airplane manufacturers use neutron radiography for nondestructive testing of defects in airplane wings, engines, and turbine blades; and drug companies use neutrons to design drugs with higher potency and fewer side effects."
The primary mission of the SNS is to characterize materials; once in operation, it will have an anticipated 1,000 users a year. AFRD's Jose Alonso, who is coordinating all accelerator and target elements for the SNS project, explains why neutrons are uniquely valuable to materials-sciences investigators.
"The closest analogy is to x-rays, but while photons interact with an atom's electrons, neutrons interact with its nucleus. If you were to look at a uranium-oxygen compound with x-rays, the uranium has so many electrons that the oxygen would disappear in the noise. Neutrons, on the other hand, pick out light elements--hydrogen has a strong signal in neutron scattering--so the oxygen would stand out. Knowing where the oxygen sits is vital to understanding such compounds as high-temperature superconductors of the barium-copper-oxygen type, and indeed, neutrons unraveled that puzzle."
Alonso notes that while x-ray sources will always be much brighter ("neutron sources and bright light sources like the ALS are truly complementary," he said) neutrons have other advantages: "They have a magnetic moment and can measure a material's magnetic properties, something that is very difficult to do with photons. They penetrate more deeply than electrons, so they can look into bulk materials. The effective energies of research neutrons are very low, measured in milli-electron volts, close to the phonon excitation energies in crystals, which means you can look at the dynamics of crystalline materials, not just at their structures." In chemistry, biology, earth and environmental sciences, solid-state physics--virtually every science dealing with real-world problems--neutrons promise to open new research frontiers.
Accelerators were the first sources of copious quantities of the remarkable particle that James Chadwick discovered in 1932, a trend that culminated in the 37-inch cyclotron built by Ernest Lawrence and his colleagues in 1938. During World War II and into the 1970s, U.S. fission reactors dominated the field, notably those built at Oak Ridge and Brookhaven National Laboratory. Inexorably the lead passed to reactors built abroad. Recently, powerful accelerators like ISIS in England and LANSCE at Los Alamos have become important sources of intense neutron beams.
Rick Gough of the Ion Beam Technology Program explains that while reactors are capable of a high-quality, high-flux, continuous flow of neutrons, accelerators complement reactor sources by providing pulsed beams; the pulses are exceedingly bright and, because time-of-flight measurements are possible, the energy and wavelength of the individual neutrons can be determined and selected, making pulsed beams "user friendly" in important ways.
The SNS is poised to begin construction in fiscal year 1999 and is scheduled for completion at the end of 2005. It will be built by what Martha Krebs, Director of the Office of Energy Research, has called "a system of laboratories"--five national labs each taking responsibility for a different piece of the machine. The front-end team led by Gough is responsible for delivering a beam of 2.5 million electron-volt negative hydrogen ions to a half-kilometer-long linac to be built by Los Alamos National Laboratory. After the ions are accelerated to a billion electron-volts they will be transported to an accumulator ring--and stripped of electrons in the process--to be built by Brookhaven. From there a one-megawatt beam of short-pulse protons (less than a microsecond's worth per pulse) will be routed to the target area to be built by Oak Ridge.
Jose Alonso compares the multi-part arrangement to a strobe light: "The linac is the battery, the accumulator ring is the capacitor, and the charge is released all at once in a really bright flash."
The target is a self-cooling flow of liquid mercury circulating past the proton-beam window at a rate that has been described as "a Volkswagen per second." When the protons hit the mercury the result is spallation, a word derived from chipping or cracking a stone but adapted by Glenn Seaborg in the late 1940s to describe what happens when an energetic particle blows a nucleus apart. One result: "You get lots of neutrons," Rick Gough remarks, deadpan.
The business end of the SNS is the research area, with instrument stations built by Oak Ridge and Argonne National Laboratories. The neutron bunches arrive 60 times each second, but to be useful, the neutrons have to be slowed to thermal velocities--reduced to a billionth of their energy--by moderators of water and liquid hydrogen placed around the target. Time-of-flight measurements are used to precisely calibrate the wavelengths of the neutrons arriving at the research instruments, which assures great versatility in meeting research demands. To the 10 instruments available when the source turns on in 2006, one or two others will be added each year, up to a total of 18 beam lines.
The SNS has been designed to upgrade power and capacity quickly and inexpensively so that users experience minimum disruption; even anticipated major upgrades will require no more than six months' downtime. Within that time-frame the power will be increased--first to two, then to four megawatts or more by adding more linac radio-frequency power and a second accumulator ring. A second target and experimental hall will also be added. Such improvements will help the SNS sustain a competitive edge, even if powerful European and Japanese spallation accelerators now on the drawing boards are built in the next century.
The Department of Energy recently gathered a group of 65 reviewers to review the SNS design--"so many we couldn't outnumber them," Gough commented. The group, chaired by the Energy Research Office's Director of Construction Management, Dan Lehman, endorsed the technical choices and agreed with the budget estimates. Thus the SNS is firmly on track.
Rick Gough says the Ion Beam Technology group's expertise with ion sources, radio-frequency quadrupoles, and the manipulation and transport of ion beams at low energies "positioned us well to respond" to the needs of the front end of the SNS. Moreover, Jose Alonso, past manager of the Bevalac and a long time champion of innovative applications of accelerators--including advanced accelerator-based neutron sources--is now commuting between Oak Ridge and Berkeley. Gough says, "We think of him as a kind of personal contribution from Berkeley Lab to the SNS."
Photo: Berkeley Lab's Ion Beam Technology Program is providing the "front end" (inset) of the $1.3 billion accelerator-based Spallation Neutron Source (SNS), to be at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (SNS_Sche)
Responding to a federal advisory committee report which analyzed synchrotron radiation facilities such as the Advanced Light Source, scientists and managers at Berkeley Lab pledged this week to recommit themselves to making the ALS the premier facility of its kind in the world.
The "Birgeneau Report," a Department of Energy-commissioned study of four DOE light sources headed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology Science Dean Robert Birgeneau, urged the continued operation of all four facilities. However, it placed the ALS fourth in funding priority and cited it for shortcomings in its science programs, user relations and institutional support.
"I consider the ALS the top priority activity at this laboratory," Berkeley Lab Director Charles Shank told about 150 attendees of the annual ALS users' meeting on Monday. "I place solutions to these challenges at the top of my responsibility list. My number one goal is to create the most effective program we can. I'm convinced that together we can."
Shank said he is initiating a review of all ALS science "from top to bottom," with the intent of developing a roadmap for dealing with the issues defined in the Birgeneau report. This "focus path," as he called it, will make the case for the ALS as an international leader by "taking the technological excellence and matching it with scientific excellence."
Pat Dehmer, DOE's associate director of the Office of Basic Energy Sciences (BES), affirmed that the ALS "should be the premier soft x-ray EUV (extreme ultraviolet) facility in the country. I am absolutely committed to making it world-class. We're in this together. Let's reflect over the next couple of weeks how to get where we want to be."
What triggered their reaction was the Report to the Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee (BESAC), presented on Oct. 8-9 at a meeting in Washington, D.C. The Synchrotron Radiation Light Source Working Group, convened by Office of Energy Research Director Martha Krebs, had spent a year reviewing the performance of hard x-ray facilities at Brookhaven, Argonne and Stanford and the soft x-ray light source here. Its charge was to reassess the need for such programs in an era of tighter budgets and to make appropriate budget recommendations.
The good news in the report was the panel's unflinching support for light sources: "The Committee concludes unanimously that shutdown of any one of the four DOE/BES synchrotron light sources over the next decade would do significant harm to the nation's science research programs and would weaken our international competitive position in this field," Birgeneau stated as his "most important" recommendation.
The sobering news for Berkeley was the mixed review the ALS received--praised for its technical performance and its aggressive and innovative industrial research programs, but questioned for what the report called "underdeveloped" science programs, user discontent, and levels of support from Lab management and the university.
"It is clear that science was the most important driver," Dehmer said, "and the case wasn't as compelling here as it was at other sources."
In reiterating the ALS priority here, Shank pointed out that while the ALS has represented 10 percent of the overall Lab budget, it has also received 19 percent of Laboratory-Directed Research and Development (LDRD) grants, 25 percent of University of California Directed Research and Development (UCDRD) grants, and 25 percent of General Plant Projects (GPP) for ALS-related property--the most discretionary funding of any activity at Berkeley Lab.
"I'm concerned that the committee didn't have that information," he said.
The Birgeneau report recommended that the ALS receive funding for fiscal year 1998 as requested by the DOE--$35 million. However, it listed as higher priorities the funding of the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lab (SSRL), the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) at Brookhaven, and Argonne's Advanced Photon Source (APS). The report also suggested $3 million to study a fourth-generation light source, $11 million in beamline enhancements at the APS and NSLS, and $27 million in facility upgrades at the NSLS and SSRL--all ahead of the ALS in priority. Its overall budget recommendation of $188.5 million is 11 percent more than the DOE's requested budget for the four light sources.
Dehmer described these suggestions as a "road map" for the long term rather than a directive for the next fiscal year, and emphasized the need for flexibility during budget negotiations for FY98.
ALS Program Director Brian Kincaid reminded the group that the facility has made significant strides in just two years of full-time beam delivery. And he pledged, "We will work arm-in-arm with the user groups to find out the issues and deal with them."
With an eye toward fostering stronger interactions with UC Berkeley in the physical and biological sciences, Lab Director Charles Shank has announced the creation of a new Physical Biosciences Division to replace the old Structural Biology Division. Appointed to head this new division is Graham Fleming, 47, a physical chemist who recently joined the UCB faculty after 18 years at the University of Chicago.
"The Physical Biosciences Division (PBD) is being established to explore the growing synergy between advances in the physical sciences and modern biology," Shank said in a statement. "We intend to bring the tools of the physical sciences to elucidate important problems in biology."
In his announcement, Shank thanked Sung-Hou Kim for his service as director of the Structural Biology Division for the past eight years. Kim will continue to head Structural Biology Research, one of four new departments within PBD. The others are Computational and Theoretical Biology, Advanced Microscopies, and Biological Dynamics.
"We will look to PBD for creating novel approaches and deeper understanding of biological phenomena," Shank said.
A native of England, Fleming obtained his Ph.D. in physical chemistry at the University of London in 1974. He worked as a research fellow at Cal Tech and the University of Melbourne (Australia) before going to the University of Chicago. A stellar career there, which included more than 200 publications and a plethora of honors, stamped him as an international authority on the application of femtosecond spectroscopy to chemical and biological phenomena.
Fleming's latest work has focused on observing the primary energy transfer steps in photosynthesis, a remarkably efficient process that occurs within 200 femtoseconds (a femtosecond is a millionth of a billionth of a second).
"Nature has achieved an energy transfer efficiency of approximately 97 percent, and we'd like to know how this is done," says Fleming, whose new office, fittingly enough, was once the office of Melvin Calvin, winner of the 1961 Nobel prize in chemistry for identifying the role of carbon in photosynthesis.
In applying his femtosecond spectroscopy techniques to large groups of chlorophyll molecules called "light harvesting complexes," Fleming has already gained new insight into their remarkable energy-transfer efficiency and learned how carotenoid molecules help direct incoming energy from sunlight into the optimal electronic pathways.
Fleming is married to Jean McKenzie, a reference librarian. They have a son, Matthew, 9, and currently reside in Oakland. As director of PBD, he looks forward to "broadening divisional interests to bring the full range of physical sciences to bear on important biological problems."
Photo: Graham Fleming, head of the new Physical Biosciences Division, gets settled in his new office--Melvin Calvin's one-time work space. (XBD9710-03843)
Photo: Oakland City Councilman Ignacio de la Fuente (left) met with Director Charles Shank (right) while visiting Berkeley Lab on Sept. 29. De la Fuente came here to learn more about Lab programs and the safe operation of Lab facilities. During his tour of the Lab de la Fuente visited the National Tritium Labeling Facility and the Hazardous Waste Handling Facility, shown in the background. (XBD9709-03764) Photo by Roy Kaltschmidt
Born in Bishop, Calif., in 1924, Patterson served with the Army Air Corps in World War II before enrolling at UC Berkeley, where he earned a bachelor's degree in anthropology in 1947.
To support himself while a student at Cal he worked for Ernest Lawrence's Radiation Laboratory, first as a construction worker and later in the film badge program. In 1947, when Lawrence asked Burton Moyer to establish a radiological safety program for accelerators, Patterson became one of the first members of Moyer's Health Physics Group.
According to Ralph Thomas, Patterson's longtime associate and friend, over the next 20 years "the Health Physics Group at Berkeley established the model followed by most accelerator laboratories around the world." Accomplishments included developing an armory of radiation detectors; exploring and analyzing the radiation fields of the early cyclotrons and the Bevatron; and performing some of the first shielding measurements, including identifying and studying "skyshine." In 1965 Patterson became the group's leader, a post he held until 1973.
Early in his career Patterson performed a wide range of radiological safety studies, which included some of the first measurements of the world's high-radiation areas, such as India and Egypt; studies which improved the safety of dental radiological procedures; measurements of the energy spectrum of neutrons produced in the Earth's atmosphere; and, at Lawrence's request, studies of nuclear fallout in the Bay Area.
In 1966 he helped design and carry out the ambitious shielding experiment performed at the 28 GeV CERN Proton Synchrotron, which produced data invaluable to the design of the third-generation proton synchrotrons, CERN's 300 GeV SPS and the 200 GeV FermiLab synchrotron.
Patterson organized the Berkeley Accelerator Health Physics Training Course, attended by more than one hundred health physicists from the United States and abroad between 1967 and 1971, which he distilled into his well-known text, "Accelerator Health Physics."
In 1973 he left Berkeley to lead the Radiation Safety Division at Livermore, where he later headed the Hazards Control Department. He remained active at LLNL even after retiring in 1984.
During his five-decade career Patterson won many awards and held leadership posts in many professional health physics groups. Never afraid of controversy, he recently chastised the radiation-protection establishment for poor science and compiled dose-effect data intended to establish a more scientific basis for radiological protection standards.
"With Wade's passing the health physics profession loses one of its most significant figures," said Thomas. "He will be sorely missed."
Patterson is survived by his sons, Stephen, Donald, Bruce, and Charles, his daughter Janet, and four grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at the Presbyterian church in Lakeview, Ore., on Friday, Oct. 17.
Photo: Henry Wade Patterson (XBD9710-03820)
"Our legacy systems were on the verge of collapse," says Carl Eben, deputy director of the Information and Computing Sciences Division. "Three years ago we started to modernize our administrative computer systems--which of necessity had been designed for the needs of accountants--into a tool for getting the Lab's work done efficiently."
"PeopleSoft is a world-class general ledger which positions our financial systems for the twenty-first century," says Barry Hotchkies, the Lab's Chief Financial Officer. "The installation was the result of a lot of hard work by staff in CFO, Information Systems and Services, and the divisions. The payoff will be easy access to actual costs and budget information in a `point and click' environment."
Employees will have to adjust to only a few changes right away, with more to come later. Filling out time sheets and purchase orders will not change, except that accounts are now called "projects"--not grab-bag mixtures of activities but jobs to be done, whether ongoing or targeted. The familiar "blue-cover" reports, which for years have provided weekly and monthly snapshots of administrative data, will be replaced by on-line data and on-demand reporting.
While at first most projects will be assigned the same six-digit code numbers as the present accounts, in the future the new financial management system will accommodate 15-character identifiers that will allow detail and cross-referencing now impossible. As the new financial management system comes on line, accounting will become more rational, using new labels such as "projects," "organization codes," and "resource categories" instead of the present catch-all account numbers, payroll accounts, and expense types. Desktop access to the database through reporting tools such as nVision, Crystal and Query, which can extract data in different forms--as spreadsheets or written reports, for example--will make it easy to see how projected costs, or even "heard on the street" rumors about how much is left in a budget, match the actual balance. Performance will become transparent.
Eventually, all the Lab's dozens of "feeder systems"--categories of information such as accounts payable and labor costs--will be integrated to make costing and reporting quick, precise and flexible. Costs can be reported more frequently, with daily posting as a goal; fiscal years, calendar years and project years can be compared; and, through the use of "trees," an organization or project can be viewed at any level of detail.
"This is a dream delayed a long time, but it's finally coming true: the beginning of a modern, user-friendly, flexible financial system," says associate CFO John Patterson.
Rich Nosek, project manager for the ISS department, emphasizes the functional capabilities of the new software. "When you design a system in-house, it does just what you want it to and nothing else. PeopleSoft has capabilities we may not have thought about, already there when we're ready to grow into them."
A series of three FMS overview presentations will be given in the Bldg. 50 auditorium: Thursday, Oct. 30, from 1:30 to 3 p.m.; Tuesday, Nov. 4, from 1:30 to 3 p.m.; and Friday, Nov. 7, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Principal investigators, project managers, project administrators, and other interested employees are encouraged to attend.
Community events like this afford us rare opportunities to communicate directly with some of our most important constituencies -- our neighbors and friends. Geographically remote and, for some, programmatically obscure, Berkeley Lab represents a mystery to many in the Bay Area who have not been exposed to the wealth of scientific achievement that has flowed from our borders in the past 67 years. Rather than a source of curiosity and concern, the Laboratory should be a source of pride for our research contributions, as well as for the many economic resources we bring to the region.
Our analysis of the 1995 event also revealed how impressed visitors were when they departed, not only by the range and quality of our programs, but by the warmth and genuine excitement exuded by our employees. Our own people are our most valued ambassadors, and I greatly appreciate the personal commitment of everyone who will be contributing time and effort to the day.
The role that science plays in our nation's development is a story that needs to be told over and over again to those on whose support we depend to fulfill our mission for the Department of Energy. The 1997 Open House provides an excellent forum for community dialogue and education. I hope to see you there. -- Charles V. Shank
"It was a good race, but tough," said Paul Blodgett, the first man at the Lab to cross the finish line. Blodgett, an industrial hygienist at EH&S, runs with the U.S. Track and Field Team and is a member of the Davis Track Club. He previously won the Lab Runaround in 1992 and 1993.
The women's crown went to Michelle Huesman for the second year in a row. "I'm used to the hill," said the medical researcher who runs the hill almost every day. Besides, she laughed, "My competitor from last year wasn't here."
The winners received trophies and words of praise from Lab Deputy Directors Pier Oddone and Klaus Berkner. Runaround co-coordinator Stephen Derenzo, a champion long distance runner, was recognized with a special plaque for his 18 years of leadership in this event. He, in turn, handed out prizes for such highly enviable distinctions as oldest Runaround T-shirt, shabbiest running shoes, best men's legs, and best women's biceps.
The event was made possible by the hard work of the many volunteers and the generous assistance from the Employees' Activities' Association, the U.S.E. Credit Union, Emergency Services, the Public Information Department, and the Facilities Department.
Photo: A triumphant Paul Blodgett wins his third Lab Runaround. (XBD9710-03928)
Photo: Lab Deputy Director Pier Oddone (right) congratulates Michelle Huesman (left), the first woman to cross the finish line--for the second year in a row. (XBD9710-03927)
Photo: A record 855 participants took to the hills in the twentieth Berkeley Lab Runaround. (XBD9710-03908)
Photo: Andrew, the youngest member of the Runaround, with his mom, Marlene Henriquez of Structural Biology. (XBD9710-03906)
Ulrich Dahmen of Berkeley Lab's National Center for Electron Microscopy (NCEM) and collaborators from the University of Copenhagen have made the surprising discovery that tiny crystals of lead in an aluminum matrix come in only a few specific sizes and avoid others. The discovery sheds new light on the strange behavior of solids at nanometer scale.
Dahmen and his Danish colleagues wanted to know why the properties of nanoscale particles differ so dramatically from those of the same material in bulk. "With free nanoscale particles the melting point may be as little as half that of the bulk material," he explains, while "a crystal embedded in a matrix of a different solid may need to be superheated to melt. This behavior is like an ice cube refusing to melt in boiling water.
"We hypothesized that it was a shape effect," he says. "The smaller the inclusions, the more likely they are to attain perfect shapes, so we set out to measure how size and shape were related at this scale."
After implanting a thin film of aluminum with lead from an ion beam, Dahmen and his colleagues used NCEM's Atomic Resolution Microscope to make micrographs showing numerous nanometer-sized islands of lead in the shallow aluminum sea.
"What surprised us was that some sizes were preferred, while others were avoided. At first it was puzzling, but on reflection it made perfect sense," he says, noting that a lead atom is about 20 percent larger than an aluminum atom. "Putting lead atoms into aluminum has been likened to shoving grapefruits among oranges. If you try to replace oranges with grapefruits three for three, you expend a lot of energy squashing the grapefruits. But replace five oranges with four grapefruits and they fit reasonably well. With lead and aluminum, we found that the most preferred fit was nine for eleven."
The consistently repeating ratio was a clue to the forces at work at the nanoscale. Free crystals take shapes that minimize their surface energy, but embedded crystals have to conform to their neighbors in the solid matrix; "magic sizes" correspond to repeating values of minimal strain energy.
Many of the smaller lead inclusions, while not perfect crystals, were asymmetrical in a way that allowed them to maintain perfectly flat interfaces with the host matrix. This suggests why small inclusions have to be superheated to melt: more heat energy is needed to overcome the constraint at the perfect interface of an asymmetrical, magic-size inclusion than at the imperfect interface of a symmetrical inclusion.
"As a practical result of these observations," Dahmen says, "we can begin to talk about understanding, perhaps even engineering, inclusions with desired shapes and sizes." This, in turn, may effect the electrical, magnetic, optical, mechanic, or thermodynamic properties of many different alloys.
For more information on "magic sizes," including a link to the original report in Physical Review Letters, click Research News on the Berkeley Lab home page, http://www.lbl.gov.
Photo: Ulrich Dahmen, head of the National Center for Electron Microscopy, points out "magic sized" lead inclusions in aluminum in a micrograph made with the Atomic Resolution Microscope. (Uliside)
Open Enrollment period, which begins Nov. 1 and runs through Nov. 21, will be conducted once again by telephone this year using UC's toll-free Open Enrollment Action Line. Over the next several weeks Lab employees will be mailed a personalized information package, which includes a summary of enrollment status along with an information booklet and worksheet for making plan changes. Please review the materials for accuracy and report any errors to the Benefits Office.
The telephone line will be available around the clock during this period, including evenings and weekends. Employees may enroll, change medical, dental, or vision plans, add dependents, enroll or change DepCare contributions, or change TIP participation.
Highlights of plan changes
Please note: Beginning in 1998, employees who add family members during Open Enrollment period will be required to provide documentation verifying dependent eligibility. Ineligible dependents will be retroactively deenrolled, and employees will be responsible for the costs incurred. For detailed information, review the eligibility requirements outlined in the Open Enrollment booklet.
Dental Plan carriers will not change. Delta and PMI Dental Plans will continue to provide services with no monthly premium to the employee. Coverage changes are outlined in the Open Enrollment booklet.
Please review DepCare salary reduction agreements. If no action is taken, existing annual contributions will continue for 1998. Since changes cannot be made during the plan year, please make any adjustments necessary to accommodate events such as children turning 13 or entering school during the year, as tuition is not an eligible expense. Contributions to DepCare will be forfeited if unclaimed by the end of the plan year.
Additional information is available on the bencom website at http://www.ucop.edu/bencom, or by calling bencom at 1-800-888-8267. The Lab Benefits Office can be reached at X6403 or by e-mail at LBL_Benefits @lbl.gov. If you do not receive your Open Enrollment materials by Nov. 5, contact the Benefits Office.
Photo: Five-month old "Mouse" had little idea how much worrying she caused her owner, Dan Miller, who lives in a residential area near the Lab. Startled by construction noise, the Jack Russel Terrier ran off last month and was believed lost. After an unsuccessful search of the neighborhood, Miller alerted his neighbor, Rich McClure of the Lab's Facilities Department, who made inquiries at the Lab.
As it turned out, Mouse--the mascot for Miller's company and his constant companion--had crawled under the Lab fence and, after a short tour of the Lab, ended up in the loving care of Betsy Reyes of the Lab's Facilities Department.
Five days later puppy and owner were happily reunited and are currently vacationing in Maine. (XBD9710-03900)
In order to keep up with rapidly changing computer technology, the Lab is continuing to offer on-site computer classes to all Lab employees. To find out more about the class schedule and how to register, visit the Employee Development and Training website (http://www.lbl.gov/Workplace/EDT/) and click on the computer icon. Additional questions can be directed to the AIM computer help desk at (510) 988-0128.
Stores has announced the removal of about 200 items from its catalog as a result of low demand. As low-use stock is identified, Facilities posts a lists of items targeted for deletion on the web at http://www.lbl.gov/~miller/stores. The list stays online for 30 days, allowing customers to review it and e-mail comments. For more information, look up the website or call George Townes at X5020.
The directors of the Science Exploration Camp (SEC) would like to invite parents whose children were enrolled in last summer's science camp to a meeting to solicit feedback and start planning for next summer's camp. The meeting will be held on Thursday, Oct. 23, from noon. to 1 p.m. in Perseverance Hall. Refreshments will be provided. Parents interested in enrolling their children in next summer's camp are also invited. For more information, please send e-mail to sec@lbl.gov or leave voice mail at X6566.
Election materials are being mailed in early October to active Public Employee Retirement System (PERS) members. Two new representatives will be elected to the PERS Board of Administration. Their terms of office will begin on Jan. 16, 1998. Ballots must be returned directly to PERS and be postmarked no later than Nov. 28 to be counted. If you do not receive election materials by Nov. 7, please contact the Board Elections Office at 1-800-794-2297.
Beginning Nov. 1, the Facilities Work Request Center will take over the scheduling for 17 conference rooms previously handled by individual divisions. These conference rooms will be available labwide and may be reserved through MeetingMaker, by contacting the Work Request Center, or by using the Conference Room Request Center website (go to http://www.lbl.gov/Workplace/Lab-Support/ and click on "Facilities"). The website also allows you to arrange for additional services, including hospitality, reserved parking, audio-visual and other equipment, and special signs.
The conference rooms handled through the Work Request Center are 2-100B, 50 auditorium, 50-5109, 50-5132, 54-2, 54-130 (Perseverance Hall), 54-130B (Perseverance Hall), 62-203, 66 auditorium, 66-316, 70-191, 70A-3377, 90-1099, 90-2063, 90-3148, and 90-4133. Room 84-318 will be added to the list soon.
Scheduling for conference rooms not listed above will continue to be handled by the divisions. For further information, call Betsy Reyes at X7681.
The newly formed LBNL Postdoctoral Society will hold its inaugural welcoming reception and social on Thursday, Oct. 30, from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Bldg. 66 conference room. Everyone is invited to attend.
The meeting will introduce the society's board members and overview activities for the coming year. Mina Bissell, Director of the Life Sciences Division, and Sally Benson, Director of the Earth Sciences Division, will address the event. The reception will also kick off the nomination process for an outstanding mentoring award, to be presented by the society at its January meeting. A social mixer will follow.
For more information, contact Sophie Lelievre (Sophie_Lelievre@macmail4. lbl.gov) or Masoud Nikravesh, (mnikravesh@lbl.gov).
The French Office of Science and Technology is encouraging students working on their doctorates in a variety of scientific disciplines to apply for the 1998-99 Chateaubriand Fellowship Program offered by the French government. For more information, visit the website at http://www.chateaubriand.amb-wash.fr.
In recognition of October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Health Services will have an information table set up at the cafeteria on Tuesday, Oct. 21, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Further information may be obtained from your health care provider or the American Cancer Society.
After a combined 63 years of work here, Lisa and Mike Long are saying good-bye to Berkeley Lab. Lisa works in the Engineering Division and Mike works in the Physics Division. Join us in wishing them both a very happy retirement. A luncheon is being planned in their honor on Nov. 14 at Hs Lordships on the Berkeley Marina. For further information, contact Jacqueline Noble at X4762 by Oct. 31.
A percussion concert will be held at the Lawrence Hall of Science (LHS) on Sunday, Oct. 19, from 1 to 4 p.m. The event is the first in a series of three family concerts that will accompany the new Mostly Music exhibit at LHS. (Additional concerts will be held on Nov. 16 and Dec. 21.
For more information, call (510) 642-5136 or check LHS's website at http://www.lhs.berkeley.edu.
More than 40 wineries and restaurants will participate in the third annual Berkeley Crush Festival, to be held on Sunday, Nov. 9, at the Berkeley Marina Marriott Hotel. The event is presented by the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce, of which Berkeley Lab is a member.
The food and wine extravaganza will be hosted by Alice Walters, owner of Berkeley's renowned Chez Panisse restaurant. Ticket price for the festival is $25. For more information, contact Betty Lofteness at (510) 549-7003.
The full text of each edition of Currents is published on the Lab's home page on the World Wide Web. View it at http://www.lbl.gov/ under "Research News and Publications."
To set up your computer to access the World Wide Web, call the Mac and PC Support Group at X6858.
The Berkeley Lab Calendar is published biweekly here on the World Wide Web and in Currents by the Public Information Department. Employees can list a meeting, class, or event in the Calendar by using this submission form. The deadline for submissions is 5 p.m. on Monday in the week that Currents is published.In addition to the events listed below, Berkeley Lab's Washington, D.C. Projects office is hosting a Science and Technology Seminars series.
Scientific Conferences
October
Energy Awareness Month
Shoemobile
7:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., Bldg. 54 parking lot
Energy Awareness Month Videos
"Energy and Morality" and "Building Green: Audubon House" will be shown
beginning at noon in the Bldg. 50 auditorium.
Postdoctoral Society Inaugural Reception
Welcoming reception for new postdoctoral society, 4 to 6 p.m., Bldg. 66
conference room.
Items for the calendars may be sent via e-mail to currents_calendar@lbl.gov, faxed to X6641 or mailed to Bldg. 65B. The deadline for the Oct. 31 issue is 5 p.m. Monday, Oct 27.
'68 VW Transporter, everyday driver, runs great, recently smogged, gd radial tires, upholstery & brakes, decent sunshine yellow/white paint job, Toshiba AM/FM cass., installed in-dash tachometer, fully carpeted woodpanel int., full bed platform in the back, $2K. D. Busby, X6285
'83 TOYOTA Corolla, 5-spd, 4-dr, cream color, 122K mi., $1500. 528-9904
'85 NISSAN Maxima, 4-dr sedan, a/t, 100K mi., exc. cond., $4200. X6097, 642-1220 (msg.)
'88 DODGE Colt Vista sta. wgn, 105K mi., fully loaded, 3rd seat, $1500/b.o. François, X4213, 235-3992
'88 FORD Tempo GL sedan, 4-dr, exc. cond., 76K mi., new tires, a/t, a/c, stereo w/cass. player, no smokers, $2100/b.o. Tetsuji, X4663
'92 FORD Tempo GL, 1st V6 series, lic. tag Oct. '98, 4-dr, 3.0 liter, 45K mi., orig. owner, serviced quarterly, mocha w/lt. taupe int., a/t, a/c, p/s, pwr windows & locks, new front brakes, rear window defogger, elec. trunk release, tilt wheel, cruise control, stereo AM/FM/cass., $7.4K. Virginia, X4383
MOTORCYCLE, '90 Honda XR250R dirt bike, like new, w/supertrap exhaust system, $2150. Steve, X6598, 689-7213
BIKE RACK, brand new, $40. Barbara, X4694, 527-5940
SNOW CHAINS for 15" tires, $25. 687-3904
WHEELS & TIRES, 4 BF Goodrich 245-50R14 tires w/75% tread, mounted on aluminum mag wheels, $500/b.o., willing to separate. Stephen, 527-8210
SF OPERA, 11/14, Pelleas et Melisande, Grand Tier front row center, 2 tickets, $115 ea. Chorin, X5121
CD, LeAnn Rimes, You Light Up My Life, Inspirational Songs, played twice, $10. Mary, X5771
CHINA CABINET, mahogany, 1950s era, 3 shelves, glass encl. top, 3 drwrs & 2 side doors on bottom, 48-1/2 x 69-1/4 x 16, photo avail., gd cond., $700. Louise, X5547, 254-7670
CLUBHOUSE, Play-n-Fold by Today's Kids, $40; Gerry cradle & changing table, nat. maple finish, $55 ea., all exc. cond. Peter, X7653
COMIC BOOK collection, 900+, featuring Hulk, Batman, Superman, The Flash, X-Men, The Avengers & more, ranging from recent to 20+ yr. old, most in gd to mint cond., $175/b.o.; elec. guitar, 3/4 sz., solid-body, 2 yr. old, used for only 6 mo., perfect for beginner age 9-14, sm. practice amp (Crate), exc. cond. & soft guitar case, all 3 for $150/b.o. Peter, X4157, 525-3290
CRIB/toddler bed, very gd cond., solid natural wood w/mattress, sheets, bumpers, $300/b.o.; rocker w/pads, natural wood, $150; Tandy 1000 RLX 286 computer w/monitor, keyboard & Epson printer, best offer. 741-7732
EASY CHAIRS (2), w/blue brocade cushions, Berkeley, $30 ea. Viki, X5151 (msg.), 549-1876 (after 5 p.m.)
ENTERTAINMENT CENTER, Bush, oak, holds up to 35" TV, rack stereo, VCR shelves, CD storage & hidden video storage, great cond., $165; 2 night stands, gd cond., asking $50/pr. 454-9713
FAX/Modem 28.8 Kbps Quicktel, like new w/software, $75; Smart One modem 2400x BPS, $25. John, X4631
FUTONS, 2 full & 1 queen sz., all beige w/new covers, $80 ea., need to sell ASAP. Fabia, X7734, (415) 751-1407
GARAGE SALE, Sat., 10/25, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Sun., 10/26, 10 a.m.-noon, 1240 Lawrence St., El Cerrito, ladies shoes, clothes, jewelry, housewares, Tupperware, corn popper, knock-knacks, opera glasses, leather goods, new or like new.
MOVING SALE, TV, VCR, household appliances, sm. furniture, microwave oven & more. Melvin, X4316
MOUNTAIN BIKE, Kona Cinder Cone, 18" frame, Shimano XT, Girvin Vector 2 fork, clipless, Titec bars, Azonic stem, gd cond., climbs great, $775. 687-3904
MOVING SALE, table+6 chairs, $150; futon, $40; bed, $200; garden table+4 chairs, $50; shelves (2) $10 ea.; refrig., $170; washer, $100; TV, 24", $150; vac. cleaner, $50; changing table, bike, iron, blender, tools, trimmer & ladder. François, X4213, 235-3992
NORDIC TRACK Pro, $250. Barbara, X4694, 527-5940
OVERSTUFFED COUCH, gray fabric, 7' long, gd cond., $50. Vern, X7504, Lindsay, 528-2951
PIANO, upright, Rohler & Campbell, gd cond., beautiful exterior, bright tone, $900. Peggy, X5560
REFRIGERATOR, Consul propane, 250 L volume, uses approx. 30 L propane/mo., ~20 yr. old, but clean, $500/b.o. Chris, X7028
SADDLE, pony-horse, all leather, $100; boy's mountain bike, $50; girl's tour bike, $65. 210-1119
SPEAKERS, BSR 2-way, $70/pr. Debbey, X6430, 527-8210
TREADMILL w/computer, $50; digital answering machine, $15; queen-sz. headboard w/shelf (modern design, gd cond.), $15. Steve, X7256
TWIN BED FRAME & headboard/ footboard sets, 2 matching, solid maple, $35 ea.; 2 matching twin bed frame & headboard sets, $15 ea.; twin sz. box spring, $35; 1500 watt quarts elec. heater, $25; 8 cup coffee maker (percolator type), $15; 18" scroll saw, $45; 4' and 7' curtain rod assemblies, $5 ea.; 4' molded plastic sandbox w/cover, $20; man's dress leather jacket, sz. 38, $100. 687-3904
WEIGHT BENCH w/weights, $75; Myata men's bike, $100. 528-9904
BERKELEY, Elmwood, studio sublet 11/20 - 1/10, furn. w/kitchen & washer/dryer, $1080 + elec. & phone. Steven, X6966, 204-9494
BERKELEY, Northside, furn. 1-bdrm apt, local phone, cleaning, avail. 12/12 - 1/5, $350/wk or $875/duration. Viki, X5151 (msg.), 549-1876 (after 5 p.m.)
BERKELEY HILLS, rm in house, fully furn. & equipped, walking distance from LBNL shuttle & UCB. 526-2741
NO. BERKELEY, furn. studio apt., Spruce nr Hearst, sublet 10/21 to 12/21, 1 min. walk to LBNL shuttle/UCB, hardwd flr, fully equip. kitchen, laundry fac., TV, prefer neat & responsible person, no pets, non-smoking, $700/mo.+utils. 549-1772
NO. BERKELEY HILLS, nr Rose Garden, partially furn. 2 rm suite in 3-bdrm house, views, decks, hot tub, wash/dry & more, $500/mo. + share utils. David, 525-4470
EL CERRITO HILLS, 1-bdrm apt w/deck, nr #7 bus line & BART, $600/mo., utils. incl. Hester, 232-7294
LAFAYETTE, rms in pvt. home, swimming pool & hot tub in back yd, nr trans., fwy exit, 20 min. from LBNL, $500/mo.+utils. 210-1119
NO. OAKLAND, lg. furn. 1+bdrm apt, 2 public rms, spacious & sunny, off st. parking, nr bus & BART, avail. 11/22 thru 5/1/98, $650/mo., incl. utils, + $400 dep. X6200
EXCHANGE: visiting scientist & family from Paris hope to exchange housing w/LBNL family w/home in the Berkeley area who are wishing to stay in the Paris area for a 2 yr. period starting Aug. '98. Marcella, X6304
WANTED: 2 rms w/kitchen privs. or sm. studios for 2 visiting scientists from China, Oct. 15 to Jan. 15. Barbara, X7438, bamax@lbl.gov
WANTED: fully furn. 2 or 3 bdrm apt/house for visiting scientist & family, from 11/2, for 12 mo.; or will accept any shorter, temp., period if avail. from 11/2. Ian, X4174, 548-7102
WANTED: short term, parents visiting from 10/28 - 11/18, would like to rent a place in No. Berkeley/Albany/El Cerrito. Lisa or Isaac, 528-5451
WANTED: Swiss linguist needs a rm & bath from early Feb. thru late May. Dave, X7344, Dave or Sally, 524-2904, dfstevens@lbl.gov
WANTED: 2 or 3 bedroom house for 6 mo. to 1 yr. rental, within ElCerrito/ Albany/Kensington/Berk/Oak/
Emeryville area. Mary, 642-5205, mpezzuto@socrates. berkeley.edu
SONOMA COAST, 2.16 acres, Timbercove, Ft. Ross area, all utils. Nick, 527-1965
HAWAII, 20 mi. below Hilo on rainy side of Big Island, convenient to Univ. of Hawaii & orchid plantation, unfurn. 2-bdrm, 2-bth house, nr schools, shopping & rec. center, 1 mi. to ocean bluff, $450/mo., possible lease-option to buy for $58K. X6005
SO. LAKE TAHOE, Tahoe Keys, 3-bdrm, 2.5 bth house, on the water, fenced yd, quiet area, nr skiing & attractions, water & mtn. views, $125/night. 376-2211
TRUCKEE, sunny house w/view, skiing, hiking, minimal snow, owner will visit occasional wkends & vacations, $400/mo.+1/2 utils. Heidi, X2946, 666-0624
TONER CARTRIDGES for LaserWriter I/LaserJet I (lg., square, older unit); Gourmet & Bon Appetite magazines. Ken, X7739
ACTING EDITOR: Monica Friedlander, X2248, msfriedlander@lbl.gov
STAFF WRITERS: Jeffery Kahn, X4019; Paul Preuss, X6249; Lynn Yarris, X5375
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Jon Bashor, X5849; Allan Chen, X4210; Monica Friedlander, X5122
PRODUCTION: Alice Ramirez
FLEA MARKET / CALENDAR: Mary Padilla, X5771
fleamarket@lbl.gov / currents_calendar@lbl.gov
Public Information Department, Berkeley Lab, MS 65A
One Cyclotron Road, Berkeley CA 94720
Tel: 510/486-5771 Fax: 510/486-6641
Berkeley Lab is managed by the University of California
for the U.S. Department of Energy
Due to the large volume of ads received each week, ads are accepted only from LBNL employees, retirees, and on-site DOE personnel. No other ads will be accepted. We encourage other readers to use local services such as LBNL's online housing listing (call X6198 for information), and the UC Housing Office.
Please note also:
Published once a month by the Communications Department for the employees and retirees of Berkeley Lab.
Reid Edwards, Public Affairs Department head
Ron Kolb, Communications Department headEDITOR
Pamela Patterson, 486-4045, pjpatterson@lbl.gov
Associate editor
Lyn Hunter, 486-4698, lhunter@lbl.govSTAFF WRITERS
Dan Krotz, 486-4019
Paul Preuss, 486-6249
Lynn Yarris, 486-5375CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Ucilia Wang, 495-2402
Allan Chen, 486-4210
David Gilbert, (925) 296-5643DESIGN
Caitlin Youngquist, 486-4020
Creative Services OfficeBerkeley Lab
Communications Department
MS 65, One Cyclotron Road, Berkeley CA 94720
(510) 486-5771
Fax: (510) 486-6641Berkeley Lab is managed by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy.
Flea Market is now online at www.lbl.gov/fleamarket
