A New Name for SLAC

by David Harris

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has asked the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center to work with them in renaming SLAC. Director Persis Drell has been informing employees of the coming change during her recent meetings with laboratory work groups.

Discussing the proposed name change, Persis said, “SLAC has a long, illustrious history and the name evokes that history. However, our stakeholders have suggested that the name is also no longer fully representative of the laboratory with its increased involvement in photon science and particle astrophysics in addition to our particle physics program.” She emphasizes that changing the name of the laboratory in no way diminishes the historical achievements of which the SLAC community is proud. Rather, she says, this as an opportunity to create a new name that better reflects the broader laboratory SLAC is evolving into.

SLAC is not the first national laboratory to change its name. Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory were all born under different names. Despite name changes, those laboratories have successfully established a continuity of excellence and reputation. Read more...

Lauren Barbieri
Assesses Life

by Calla Cofield

Lauren Barbieri knows how to tackle an adventure.

Lauren Barbieri is committed to leading an interesting life. She can recall a fair share of adventures, and through them she has developed a strong sense of how to handle problems on the spot.

"You have to be able to assess a situation and decide what the best course of action is," she says calmly amid the buzz of activity around her desk in the Human Resources office. In Barbieri's case, assessing situations has meant everything from handling problems in the office to staying calm and alert while traveling alone in Central America. To her, learning how to tackle new challenges is what life is all about.

When her son turned 19 and moved out on his own, Barbieri had enough money saved to go to school at the University of Colorado in Boulder, where she majored in anthropology. During a school research trip to Costa Rica, her more mature assessment skills came in handy. "When we were out in the jungle, I wore these yellow dishwashing gloves all the time. The other students thought it was a hysterical choice of jungle-wear. They couldn't stop laughing. But I was never bitten by anything on my hands and arms. Not once. Others got all kinds of bites." She smiles with fond satisfaction.

After graduation, Barbieri began a road trip to assess as much of America as she could in two months. Instead of heading to the usual tourist traps or visiting often-frequented cities, she looked for small towns and hidden nooks. (The only exception yielded a total of seven passes through Graceland over the course of her travels.) Wherever she went, she says she met down-to-earth people and engaged in wonderful conversations, staying at least a few days in each town. She recalls, "The best meal I had on that entire trip across the country was in a trailer park in Kansas. I had great pork spare ribs, potato salad and chocolate cake. Nothing green."
Read more...

Policy Change for SLAC Cell Phones

by Doug Kreitz

Beginning in late July, SLAC will begin converting to a new policy for provision of services to employees with a business need for cell phone access.

There are several drivers for the new policy. A primary driver is to reduce the cost of administering the cell phone accounts held by SLAC, in order to increase funding available for mission and mission-support activities.

Another major goal is to ensure that a fair and equitable policy is implemented lab-wide. Currently, the criteria for having cell phone support from the lab vary widely across directorates and departments. Read more...

Conservation Tip: Heat Waves

by John Steward

It is so darned hot this week! Here are three very simple tips that can help you save energy and reduce water use during the heat wave. And these quick fixes take little to no time at all—so you won’t get too heated up implementing them. Give them a try, if you haven't already, and stay cool.

In the shower—Why heat water up just to cool it down? If you have to mix hot water with cold, your thermostat could be set lower to save energy. Simply adjust the thermostat in your water heater to your perfect shower temperature.

In the washing machine—Using cold water instead of warm cuts energy use by 90 percent! In fact, using cold water is often better for your clothes. Use eco-friendly detergents such as Seventh Generation.

In the bottle—Buy a water filter and drink water from the tap in a reusable bottle—40 percent of all retail bottled water comes from the tap anyway. Try to avoid buying plastic bottles. The average American drinks 22.6 gallons of bottled water per year. Producing the plastic for all those bottles releases more than four pounds of carbon dioxide per person and consumes a surprising amount of petroleum (0.005 barrels, or nearly a quart of oil per person—yikes!) That’s not to mention the impact to our landfills and ocean waters. Laken—producer of the “world’s finest bottles”—makes a nice drink-safe, lined, aluminum, reusable water bottle that is recommended by the US National Park Service.

Events

Today (1:30 p.m.) AIS: Masaaki Hayashida: Devel. of New Photodetectors for Magic-II Project
Today (12:30 p.m.) SASS: Pizza Planning Meeting
Jul 10 (12:30 p.m.) Experimental Seminar: A measurement of muon neutrino disappearance rate
Jul 10 (04:00 p.m.) PULSE seminar: Nanoscale Transformation in Nanowires and Nanocrystals

Access (see all)

Announcements
(see all | submit)

Lab Announcements

Community Bulletin Board

News (submit)

Einstein Was Right, Astrophysicists Say Science Daily
Scientists Challenge General Relativity. And Mr. Einstein Wins Again. Christian Science Monitor
MIT Reports Finer Lines for Microchips MIT News

<% 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/.

A New Name for SLAC by David Harris The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has asked the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center to work with them in renaming SLAC. Director Persis Drell has been informing employees of the coming change during her recent meetings with laboratory work groups. Discussing the proposed name change, Persis said, “SLAC has a long, illustrious history and the name evokes that history. However, our stakeholders have suggested that the name is also no longer fully representative of the laboratory with its increased involvement in photon science and particle astrophysics in addition to our particle physics program.” She emphasizes that changing the name of the laboratory in no way diminishes the historical achievements of which the SLAC community is proud. Rather, she says, this as an opportunity to create a new name that better reflects the broader laboratory SLAC is evolving into. SLAC is not the first national laboratory to change its name. Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory were all born under different names. Despite name changes, those laboratories have successfully established a continuity of excellence and reputation. Read more...

Lauren Barbieri Assesses Life by Calla Cofield Lauren Barbieri knows how to tackle an adventure. Lauren Barbieri is committed to leading an interesting life. She can recall a fair share of adventures, and through them she has developed a strong sense of how to handle problems on the spot. "You have to be able to assess a situation and decide what the best course of action is," she says calmly amid the buzz of activity around her desk in the Human Resources office. In Barbieri's case, assessing situations has meant everything from handling problems in the office to staying calm and alert while traveling alone in Central America. To her, learning how to tackle new challenges is what life is all about. When her son turned 19 and moved out on his own, Barbieri had enough money saved to go to school at the University of Colorado in Boulder, where she majored in anthropology. During a school research trip to Costa Rica, her more mature assessment skills came in handy. "When we were out in the jungle, I wore these yellow dishwashing gloves all the time. The other students thought it was a hysterical choice of jungle-wear. They couldn't stop laughing. But I was never bitten by anything on my hands and arms. Not once. Others got all kinds of bites." She smiles with fond satisfaction. After graduation, Barbieri began a road trip to assess as much of America as she could in two months. Instead of heading to the usual tourist traps or visiting often-frequented cities, she looked for small towns and hidden nooks. (The only exception yielded a total of seven passes through Graceland over the course of her travels.) Wherever she went, she says she met down-to-earth people and engaged in wonderful conversations, staying at least a few days in each town. She recalls, "The best meal I had on that entire trip across the country was in a trailer park in Kansas. I had great pork spare ribs, potato salad and chocolate cake. Nothing green." Read more...	Policy Change for SLAC Cell Phones by Doug Kreitz Beginning in late July, SLAC will begin converting to a new policy for provision of services to employees with a business need for cell phone access. There are several drivers for the new policy. A primary driver is to reduce the cost of administering the cell phone accounts held by SLAC, in order to increase funding available for mission and mission-support activities. Another major goal is to ensure that a fair and equitable policy is implemented lab-wide. Currently, the criteria for having cell phone support from the lab vary widely across directorates and departments. Read more... Conservation Tip: Heat Waves by John Steward It is so darned hot this week! Here are three very simple tips that can help you save energy and reduce water use during the heat wave. And these quick fixes take little to no time at all—so you won’t get too heated up implementing them. Give them a try, if you haven't already, and stay cool. In the shower—Why heat water up just to cool it down? If you have to mix hot water with cold, your thermostat could be set lower to save energy. Simply adjust the thermostat in your water heater to your perfect shower temperature. In the washing machine—Using cold water instead of warm cuts energy use by 90 percent! In fact, using cold water is often better for your clothes. Use eco-friendly detergents such as Seventh Generation. In the bottle—Buy a water filter and drink water from the tap in a reusable bottle—40 percent of all retail bottled water comes from the tap anyway. Try to avoid buying plastic bottles. The average American drinks 22.6 gallons of bottled water per year. Producing the plastic for all those bottles releases more than four pounds of carbon dioxide per person and consumes a surprising amount of petroleum (0.005 barrels, or nearly a quart of oil per person—yikes!) That’s not to mention the impact to our landfills and ocean waters. Laken—producer of the “world’s finest bottles”—makes a nice drink-safe, lined, aluminum, reusable water bottle that is recommended by the US National Park Service.	Events Today (1:30 p.m.) AIS: Masaaki Hayashida: Devel. of New Photodetectors for Magic-II Project Today (12:30 p.m.) SASS: Pizza Planning Meeting Jul 10 (12:30 p.m.) Experimental Seminar: A measurement of muon neutrino disappearance rate Jul 10 (04:00 p.m.) PULSE seminar: Nanoscale Transformation in Nanowires and Nanocrystals Access (see all) Pedestrian stairs near Loop/South Target Road intersection closed Loop Road traffic restrictions and closures; B040 parking lot closure Partial closure of south side of Loop Road from South Target Road to Bldg 033 Alpine Gate & PEP Ring Road closed Gates 17 & 30 open 24-7 Research Yard bisected Announcements (see all \| submit) Lab Announcements ATOMS: Please update mailstops Let's Celebrate Jonathan Community Bulletin Board Register Now for Kids Day @ SLAC 2008 Spare the Air Today HIP Strength Training Class at SLAC July 10 HIP Registration for Summer Quarter News (submit) Einstein Was Right, Astrophysicists Say Science Daily Scientists Challenge General Relativity. And Mr. Einstein Wins Again. Christian Science Monitor MIT Reports Finer Lines for Microchips MIT News
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<% 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/.