From the Director: The Laboratory Vision, Mission and Core Values

by Persis Drell

On November 14, I posted a draft version of the laboratory Vision, Mission and Core Values for the SLAC community to read and comment upon. Many in the SLAC community took the time to consider this draft in detail, and I received a substantial number of responses. The feedback ran the gamut from suggested rewordings to suggested overhauls, with the most common response being to include activities at the lab in the mission that had been left out.

The Senior Management team, with help from the Communications Office, sifted through the input and incorporated it. Early this year we had Vision, Mission and Core Values statements that included all the suggestions addressed but read as though it was written by a committee. The next step was to go back and pare out all the non essential words and try to distill from that a true Vision for the laboratory, a Mission that would address what we needed to do to achieve the Vision, and the Core Values by which we wanted to operate. To avoid a long mission statement that mentioned every program at the lab, we decided to explicitly list the laboratory programs as structured in the organization chart separately from the mission, and we also listed what we believed were the four essential core competencies of the laboratory that enable the Mission and Vision.

The new documents are now ready for your review and comment. They are posted on the Director's Office webpage. These documents will help align the laboratory as we move forward. I will look forward to your input.

SLAC Employee
Lowell "Shep" Shepard
Passes Away

by Matt Cunningham

Lowell "Shep" Shepard

Services will be held next Saturday for SLAC employee Lowell "Shep" Shepard, who passed away last weekend.

As a Science and Engineering Technician, Shep was known at SLAC for performing various roles. In the mid-90s, he worked at the Computer Center Help Desk, where he was responsible for loaner equipment, cellular phones, and equipment moves and set-up. In 2003 he moved to Network Operations, supporting land-based radios.

Friends and coworkers will remember his vibrant spirit and hard-work ethic, both of which related back to his days of professional roller derby. As a "jammer" he would try to lap members of the opposing side to rack up points for his team. This often meant attempting to out-maneuver bigger guys, and sometimes getting bumped, shoved and knocked into rails, even into the stands. It's all in the way you land, Shep's Supervisor Fred Hooker recalls him saying.

"He could always be counted on to step in and do whatever it took to keep things running smoothly," Hooker said. "He tried hard to put on a gruff front, but everybody who ever worked with him found out what a sweet man he was. He was one of our favorites around here."

The memorial service is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 26, at Duggan's Funeral Service in San Francisco. It will be immediately followed by a Repast Celebration around the corner at Grace Urban Ministries.

Word of the Week:
S-Band

by Brad Plummer

Bands of the radio frequency spectrum in the microwave region are designated by a letter, and the term "S-band" refers to a slice of that spectrum from 2 to 4 gigahertz. SLAC's main linac accelerates electrons and positrons with klystron-generated S-band microwaves. This is the same band used for communication by the space shuttle and international space station, as well as in home microwave ovens.

Building the LCLS: Weekly Update

by Brad Plummer

Building 3.1 on the LCLS construction site, which carries utilities to the Undulator Hall below.
(Click on image for larger version.)

Construction highlights from the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) this week include:

- Epoxy floor finish in service building 3.1, which provides utilities to the Undulator Hall, is complete. Wiring installations are underway.

- A shell of reinforcing heavy steel rebar is being installed in the Far Experimental Hall.

- Final surface flattening of the floor in the Undulator Hall is complete, and the epoxy finish is scheduled for installation next week.

Events

April 18: (7:30 a.m.) Proton and Particle Beams in Cancer Management

Access (see all)

Announcements
(see all | submit)

Lab Announcements

Community Bulletin Board

News (see all | submit)

The Ultimate Test of Atom and Neutron Neutrality PhysOrg.com
Physicists Renew Claim, in New Experiment, of Detecting Dark Matter Particles NY Times

<% Response.AddHeader "Last-modified", getArticleDate() 'Response.AddHeader "Last-modified","Mon, 01 Sep 1997 01:03:33 GMT" 'Monday, December 06, 2010 %>

View online at http://today.slac.stanford.edu/.

From the Director: The Laboratory Vision, Mission and Core Values by Persis Drell On November 14, I posted a draft version of the laboratory Vision, Mission and Core Values for the SLAC community to read and comment upon. Many in the SLAC community took the time to consider this draft in detail, and I received a substantial number of responses. The feedback ran the gamut from suggested rewordings to suggested overhauls, with the most common response being to include activities at the lab in the mission that had been left out. The Senior Management team, with help from the Communications Office, sifted through the input and incorporated it. Early this year we had Vision, Mission and Core Values statements that included all the suggestions addressed but read as though it was written by a committee. The next step was to go back and pare out all the non essential words and try to distill from that a true Vision for the laboratory, a Mission that would address what we needed to do to achieve the Vision, and the Core Values by which we wanted to operate. To avoid a long mission statement that mentioned every program at the lab, we decided to explicitly list the laboratory programs as structured in the organization chart separately from the mission, and we also listed what we believed were the four essential core competencies of the laboratory that enable the Mission and Vision. The new documents are now ready for your review and comment. They are posted on the Director's Office webpage. These documents will help align the laboratory as we move forward. I will look forward to your input.

SLAC Employee Lowell "Shep" Shepard Passes Away by Matt Cunningham Lowell "Shep" Shepard Services will be held next Saturday for SLAC employee Lowell "Shep" Shepard, who passed away last weekend. As a Science and Engineering Technician, Shep was known at SLAC for performing various roles. In the mid-90s, he worked at the Computer Center Help Desk, where he was responsible for loaner equipment, cellular phones, and equipment moves and set-up. In 2003 he moved to Network Operations, supporting land-based radios. Friends and coworkers will remember his vibrant spirit and hard-work ethic, both of which related back to his days of professional roller derby. As a "jammer" he would try to lap members of the opposing side to rack up points for his team. This often meant attempting to out-maneuver bigger guys, and sometimes getting bumped, shoved and knocked into rails, even into the stands. It's all in the way you land, Shep's Supervisor Fred Hooker recalls him saying. "He could always be counted on to step in and do whatever it took to keep things running smoothly," Hooker said. "He tried hard to put on a gruff front, but everybody who ever worked with him found out what a sweet man he was. He was one of our favorites around here." The memorial service is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 26, at Duggan's Funeral Service in San Francisco. It will be immediately followed by a Repast Celebration around the corner at Grace Urban Ministries.	Word of the Week: S-Band by Brad Plummer Bands of the radio frequency spectrum in the microwave region are designated by a letter, and the term "S-band" refers to a slice of that spectrum from 2 to 4 gigahertz. SLAC's main linac accelerates electrons and positrons with klystron-generated S-band microwaves. This is the same band used for communication by the space shuttle and international space station, as well as in home microwave ovens. Building the LCLS: Weekly Update by Brad Plummer Building 3.1 on the LCLS construction site, which carries utilities to the Undulator Hall below. (Click on image for larger version.) Construction highlights from the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) this week include: - Epoxy floor finish in service building 3.1, which provides utilities to the Undulator Hall, is complete. Wiring installations are underway. - A shell of reinforcing heavy steel rebar is being installed in the Far Experimental Hall. - Final surface flattening of the floor in the Undulator Hall is complete, and the epoxy finish is scheduled for installation next week.	Events April 18: (7:30 a.m.) Proton and Particle Beams in Cancer Management Access (see all) Alpine Gate & PEP Ring Road closed Gates 17 & 30 open 24-7 Research Yard bisected Announcements (see all \| submit) Lab Announcements Public Lecture - April 29 - "Cosmic Dawn: The First Star in the Universe" (Tom Abel) VMWare Classes L&D's Spring Quarter Courses Community Bulletin Board New Weight Management Program to start at SLAC - STAP Stanford Wellness Fair - May 1 Jamie Davis Concert - May 3 News (see all \| submit) The Ultimate Test of Atom and Neutron Neutrality PhysOrg.com Physicists Renew Claim, in New Experiment, of Detecting Dark Matter Particles NY Times
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	Friday - April 18, 2008