From the Director: FY09 Continuing Resolution

by Persis Drell

In the last week, the U.S. Congress voted to approve a continuing resolution for fiscal year 2009, providing appropriations through March 6, 2009. The White House signed the bill last night. The continuing resolution maintains funding for science at the FY2008 baseline levels (with no additional supplemental science funding, as was provided in the spring).

It is not a surprise to start the year with a continuing resolution. This plot from the Basic Energy Sciences archives shows the days beyond the start of the fiscal year that an energy and water budget has been appropriated; continuing resolutions are the norm for this decade. The length of this one is unusual. However, the fact that it goes the full 5 months from the onset actually makes planning easier.

The SLAC budget will be tight under the CR, but we are not facing a budget crisis. The difficult actions we all took earlier in the year prepared the lab for lean times. The FY08 reductions at the lab were both to address the budget realities of FY2008 and prepare for an extended continuing resolution in FY2009.

We will have more news about the SLAC budget as information flows through the Department of Energy process to individual labs. My primary concern at this time is to ensure that the funding profiles for Linac Coherent Light Source and LCLS Ultrafast Science Instruments are appropriate to ensure that the projects stick to schedule and we are prepared to deliver LCLS science to the user community starting next year.

With all of your support and good efforts, we will continue to move forward.

Boris Ilinets Learns on the Move

by Calla Cofield

Ilinets on vacation in Bratislava, Slovakia. (Photo courtesy of Boris Ilinets. Click for larger image.)

When Boris Ilinets moved to the United States at the age of 39, he knew only one word in English: OK. "I used it for everything," says the SLAC electrical engineer. Now, after speaking English for 14 years, he says, "I'm still learning this language." Read more...

New Symmetry Online

Internet weatherman Les Cottrell, neutrino mass, the new director of Jefferson lab... The September 2008 issue of symmetry magazine has all this and more, and it's online now. Enjoy!

Celebrate American Archives Month at SLAC and Win!

by Jean Marie Deken

October is American Archives Month! The SLAC Archives and History Office is celebrating with a contest to help complete our collection of SLAC-published newsletters. Staff members have identified gaps in our holdings of SLAC periodicals, including SLAC News, Beam Line, The Interaction Point (TIP), SSRL Users Newsletter, Computing @ SLAC and others. See the entire list of needed issues here.

Check your bottom drawer, your top shelf, the back of your cabinets… and turn in any issues you find that will fill in gaps in our collection. You just might win a prize. (See contest rules below.) And remember, the Archives and History Office is always interested in documenting our lab's history and is happy to consult with you about potentially historic records.

Archives Month contest rules:

Anyone can enter. You need not be a SLAC employee to participate.
Each entry that fills a gap in the Archives Office collection will qualify the submitter for one chance in the end-of-month prize drawing. For example, if you fill three gaps, you get three chances.
Send your submissions with your name and contact information to: SLAC Archives and History Office Contest, MS 82.
All entries must be received by October 30.
Prizewinners will be announced in SLAC Today.

Events (see all | submit)

Today (12:30 p.m.) SASS: Daniel Ratner presents X-ray Lasers and You: An LCLS Primer
Today (1:30 p.m.) AIS: Toshinori Abe presents Hybrid Photon Detectors
Oct 3 (3:00 p.m.) Recent Status and Experience of Demagnetization Experiment at PAL

Access (see all)

Announcements
(see all | submit)

Lab Announcements

Community Bulletin Board

News (submit)

U.S. Science Faces a Flat 2009 Science
Light Throws a Curve Ball physorg.com
Illumination for Atomic Movies Nature
Do We Live in a Giant Cosmic Bubble? USA Today

<% 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: FY09 Continuing Resolution by Persis Drell In the last week, the U.S. Congress voted to approve a continuing resolution for fiscal year 2009, providing appropriations through March 6, 2009. The White House signed the bill last night. The continuing resolution maintains funding for science at the FY2008 baseline levels (with no additional supplemental science funding, as was provided in the spring). It is not a surprise to start the year with a continuing resolution. This plot from the Basic Energy Sciences archives shows the days beyond the start of the fiscal year that an energy and water budget has been appropriated; continuing resolutions are the norm for this decade. The length of this one is unusual. However, the fact that it goes the full 5 months from the onset actually makes planning easier. The SLAC budget will be tight under the CR, but we are not facing a budget crisis. The difficult actions we all took earlier in the year prepared the lab for lean times. The FY08 reductions at the lab were both to address the budget realities of FY2008 and prepare for an extended continuing resolution in FY2009. We will have more news about the SLAC budget as information flows through the Department of Energy process to individual labs. My primary concern at this time is to ensure that the funding profiles for Linac Coherent Light Source and LCLS Ultrafast Science Instruments are appropriate to ensure that the projects stick to schedule and we are prepared to deliver LCLS science to the user community starting next year. With all of your support and good efforts, we will continue to move forward.

Boris Ilinets Learns on the Move by Calla Cofield Ilinets on vacation in Bratislava, Slovakia. (Photo courtesy of Boris Ilinets. Click for larger image.) When Boris Ilinets moved to the United States at the age of 39, he knew only one word in English: OK. "I used it for everything," says the SLAC electrical engineer. Now, after speaking English for 14 years, he says, "I'm still learning this language." Read more... New Symmetry Online Internet weatherman Les Cottrell, neutrino mass, the new director of Jefferson lab... The September 2008 issue of symmetry magazine has all this and more, and it's online now. Enjoy!	Celebrate American Archives Month at SLAC and Win! by Jean Marie Deken October is American Archives Month! The SLAC Archives and History Office is celebrating with a contest to help complete our collection of SLAC-published newsletters. Staff members have identified gaps in our holdings of SLAC periodicals, including SLAC News, Beam Line, The Interaction Point (TIP), SSRL Users Newsletter, Computing @ SLAC and others. See the entire list of needed issues here. Check your bottom drawer, your top shelf, the back of your cabinets… and turn in any issues you find that will fill in gaps in our collection. You just might win a prize. (See contest rules below.) And remember, the Archives and History Office is always interested in documenting our lab's history and is happy to consult with you about potentially historic records. Archives Month contest rules: Anyone can enter. You need not be a SLAC employee to participate. Each entry that fills a gap in the Archives Office collection will qualify the submitter for one chance in the end-of-month prize drawing. For example, if you fill three gaps, you get three chances. Send your submissions with your name and contact information to: SLAC Archives and History Office Contest, MS 82. All entries must be received by October 30. Prizewinners will be announced in SLAC Today.	Events (see all \| submit) Today (12:30 p.m.) SASS: Daniel Ratner presents X-ray Lasers and You: An LCLS Primer Today (1:30 p.m.) AIS: Toshinori Abe presents Hybrid Photon Detectors Oct 3 (3:00 p.m.) Recent Status and Experience of Demagnetization Experiment at PAL Access (see all) Sector 19 Road Closure This Morning Bldg 40 and 84 Parking Lots Closed Sidewalk Project from South Target Road to Bldg 33 PEP Ring Road and Alpine Gate Closed Announcements (see all \| submit) Lab Announcements All Bldg 34 Plumbing Out of Order New ES&H Manual, Ch 11: Excavation Safety Community Bulletin Board Chris Pearson's Retirement Party Oct 2! SLAC Annual Softball Game Oct 5 News (submit) U.S. Science Faces a Flat 2009 Science Light Throws a Curve Ball physorg.com Illumination for Atomic Movies Nature Do We Live in a Giant Cosmic Bubble? USA Today
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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/.