Calling the scientific and technical work of the three UC-managed DOE laboratories "top notch" and "a credit to the University," Sidney Drell, chairman of the UC President's Council on the National Laboratories, strongly urged the Board of Regents to continue its management of the labs.
Addressing the Regents at their meeting in San Francisco last week, Drell said on behalf of the advisory council, "Your oversight and management assure the laboratories' independence and high standards of work that, in our view, are essential to protect the very high quality that makes these three labs such outstanding technical and scientific institutions."
Regent Frank Clark told Drell, "We are immensely proud of these three laboratories and our association with them. We are also dedicated to continuing, to the best of our ability, the University's management of the laboratories." Regent and Lt. Governor Gray Davis also said he was hopeful the contracts would be renewed.
The University has operated the three laboratories on a not-for-profit basis since their inception, for a total of more than 50 years. The current management contracts, enacted in 1992, expire in September 1997, and DOE is considering whether to extend UC management of the labs another five years or compete the contracts nationally. Its decision is expected within the new few months.
Drell's presentation to the Board of Regents centered on the annual report of the 19-member president's council, which rates each program at each of the three labs. Possible grades range from unsatisfactory to outstanding. Overall, the laboratories were rated "excellent to outstanding," which Drell noted, allows that there is always room for improvement.
The council's Science and Technology Panel assesses lab programs on the quality of science, relevance to national needs and missions, lab performance in constructing and operating major facilities, and the lab's programmatic performance and planning.
Drell praised the "excellent and broad" work at Berkeley Lab. He cited in particular the laboratory's Advanced Light Source as "a grand new facility of major importance for many fields of pure and applied science from medical and industrial applications to basic atomic physics."
Referring to the Livermore and Los Alamos laboratories, Drell said that the UC advisory panel was instrumental in President Clinton's announcement last September affirming the need for "the continued vitality" of both facilities and a continuing nuclear defense role for Livermore in particular.
"Beyond the strengths of the laboratories themselves," Drell told the Regents, "I can report to you that the University of California and its oversight processes of the two defense laboratories contributed importantly to this decision."
How Berkeley Lab fared
In its assessment of the three labs, the council looked at each Lab's science and technology performance at both the divisional and institutional levels. According to the report, the ratings were based heavily on the laboratories' peer review reports, with input from the Labs' self-assessments, and information gained by the council and its panels in their interactions with the Labs.
The council gave Berkeley Lab an overall rating of Outstanding/Excellent, with each division receiving a rating of Excellent, Outstanding, or Outstanding/Excellent. In its report, the council highlighted the excellent and outstanding work of each division, and when applicable, provided suggested areas of improvement.
At the institutional level, the council commended the Lab for its collaborations with the Berkeley campus, stating that the "particularly close and effective partnership has greatly contributed to the scientific strength and vitality of the Laboratory."
The council also applauded the Lab's strategic planning efforts, and commended the "maturation" of the Lab's industrial and commercial partnership efforts. The report acknowledged the "multiple and significant negative influences and pressures that the Laboratory feels in the current political and budgetary environment," and commended the Lab for the steps it has taken to mitigate these influences, such as the establishment of focus groups and other means of increasing communications throughout the Lab, and institution of a productivity initiative designed to optimize work efficiencies.
A copy of the council's report is available for viewing in the Bldg. 50 library.
Almost two decades ago, three Berkeley Lab computer scientists popularized a suite of software tools that many computing professionals considered revolutionary and maybe even subversive. This week, their work is being recognized with Lifetime Achievement Awards by one of their profession's most prestigious associations.
It was 1978, a time when mainframes ruled the world. Computer operating systems were designed to squeeze the maximum efficiency out of the computer. Never mind that they did not maximize the efficiency of the people using the machine. As Dennis Hall, one of the software "revolutionaries" recalls, "These were the days when people practically bowed down to computers." The machine was master.
Hall and two of his Berkeley Lab colleagues, Deborah Scherrer and Joseph Sventek, helped to change that, presumably forever. They founded the Software Tools Project, which over the course of several years blossomed into a movement that helped transform computer operating systems by empowering the people who use them.
On Jan. 24, Hall, a member of the Information and Computing Sciences Division, and Scherrer and Sventek, no longer with the Lab, were presented with Lifetime Achievement Awards by the USENIX Association. USENIX is the Unix and advanced computing systems technical and professional association. Since 1975, it has united the community of software engineers and computer scientists working on the cutting edge of the computing world.
In honoring the three, USENIX said, "Before the general availability of Unix, the Software Tools project popularized a new vision of operating system software, offering a bridge to portability and power for those beleaguered by limited, proprietary operating systems. With its extraordinary focus on building clean, portable, reusable code, shared amongst multiple applications and runnable on virtually any system, the Software Tools movement established the tradition of empowering users to define, develop, control, and freely distribute their computing environment."
USENIX also recognized Brian Kernighan and P.J. Plauger for having inspired the Software Tools movement.
The Unix operating system was developed in the early 1970s at AT&T Bell Labs. "When it came to maximizing efficiency," Hall said, "Unix favored the software developer rather than the hardware. This was controversial. It was part of the reason that Unix gained a reputation as being academic in nature and not suitable for commercial usage."
Not long after the debut of Unix, Kernighan and Plauger authored an instructional manual for writing software called "Software Tools." Hall bought the book along with a tape of development tools. He says mastering what was contained in this package inspired the Software Tools project.
In 1978, Hall, Scherrer, and Sventek moved the Software Tools development code onto a Berkeley Lab mainframe, the CDC 6600. The 6600 was not running Unix, but with Software Tools, it looked like it was Unix-based. With no loss of efficiency, the 6600 became more user friendly and efficient. The experiment was repeated for DEC machines running both VMS and Berkeley Unix. Berkeley Lab's Van Jacobson and Bob Upshaw added many new tools to the collection, and Sventek added an electronic mail system.
The three developers described their work in a September 1980 paper, and formed the Software Tools Users Group. Within several years, the users group had some 2,000 participants internationally.
Through the users group, the Software Tools were eventually installed on a wide range of systems, including Cray, IBM, Hitachi, CDC Data General, DEC and IBM XTs running DOS and CP/M. By the late 1970s and early 1980s the Software Tools spanned more than 50 distinct machine architectures and their operating systems. Apollo, later bought out by Hewlett Packard, took the tools and developed their first operating system from them.
"Over its five-year heyday," says Hall, "the Software Tools movement trained many people in Unix who would otherwise not have had this exposure. This influenced the evolution and improvement of Unix, and contributed to its eventual success in the commercial world. The Software Tools movement was fun. It definitely felt like a revolution. It put the machine to work for you."
Where are they now?
Dennis Hall currently heads the Information Systems Projects group in ICSD's Technical and Electronic Information Department. Joe Sventek is Hewlett Packard's Distinguished Engineer for Distributed and Object-Oriented Computing, based at Hewlett Packard's Corporate Research Laboratories. Deborah Scherrer went on to become president of Mt. Xinu, one of the first UNIX software companies.
CAPTION: CSD's Dennis Hall and colleagues have been recognized for their development of the Software Tools Project. Photo by Don Fike
Reduction of cyanide plating solution by 95% in 1994
Al Harcourt, Engineering
Rudy Robles, Engineering
Elimination of coolant waste by 32.4% in 1994
Dick Johnson, Engineering
Gary GeRue, Engineering
Les Lewicki, Engineering
93% acid wastewater reduction at photo fabrication shop
Rudy Bartolo, Engineering
Li-Yang Chang, EH&S
Al Kanzaki, Engineering
Zero waste generation of photographic operations
Steve Adams, ICSD
Don Fike, ICSD
Paul Hames, ICSD
Gus Lockhart, ICSD
Joe Moore, ICSD
Beneficial reuse of shielding blocks at Brookhaven
Arnie Edelman, DOE
Tanya Goldman, Berkeley , Site Office
Richard Gough, AFRD
Mary Gross, DOE/Oakland
Stephen Musolino, Brookhaven
Brian Smith, EH&S
CAPTION: Recipients of 1995 White House Closing the Circle Awards were (from left) Dick Johnson, Gary GeRue, Li-Yang Chang, Rick Gough, Tanya Goldman, Brian Smith, Don Fike, Al Kanzaki, Al Harcourt, Rudy Bartolo, and Joe Moore.
Progress toward information management (Carl Eben and Daisy Guerrero)
Berkeley Lab's World Wide Web site has been named a "four-star" site (the highest rating) by The McKinley Group Internet publishers. McKinley, which operates the Magellan Web Directory of over 1.5 million sites (http://www.mckinley.com/), has reviewed 40,000 sites. It says the four-star rating it awarded the Lab was based on "depth of content, ease of exploration, and Net appeal." Jeffery Kahn of the Public Information Department coordinates the content of the Lab's main Web site and Martin Gelbaum of ICSD's Computing Services Department is in charge of the technical side of the site.
CONSORTIUM EYES LANL:
A consortium of universities led by the University of Texas has officially notified DOE that it would like to challenge UC for the Los Alamos National Laboratory contract. In a Dec. 29 letter to Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary, UT Chancellor William Cunningham said a group of universities is interested "in ascertaining . . . the proper procedure whereby we may compete for the contract to operate [LANL]. We have been significantly involved in the work of the nuclear weapons complex and offer a wealth of resources and world-class programs to [DOE]." The consortium includes New Mexico State University, Texas Tech University and the Texas A&M University system.
DOE has yet to decide whether to compete or extend the contracts now held by UC at Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Berkeley Lab. Under the terms of the contracts, the department must notify UC of its intentions by March. All three contracts expire Sept. 30, 1997. Of the three labs, Los Alamos is considered to be the most vulnerable, because it is not in California. UC has held the Los Alamos contract since the lab's inception during the Manhattan Project.
Chairman of the UC President's Council on the National Laboratories Sidney Drell commented on the letter at last week's UC Regents meeting, saying such a contract change would undermine the progress made in the past few years to create the "highly integrated national program" at Livermore and Los Alamos. Asked about the importance of both LANL and LLNL being managed by one entity, Drell said, "In my opinion this is important to the point of being critical. We can't afford to have two labs that are competing with each other and contradicting each other. This is no time to require new management and disrupt the sense of common oversight with new rules of the road."
The Lab has taken another step towards the paperless office, this time in procurement. Implemented by a team from Information Systems and Services and Procurement, a new electronic purchasing system now processes about 70 percent of the purchase orders on the Hill--about 2,700 orders each month.
The benefits go beyond saving paper. With much of the repetitive work either eliminated or taken over by computers, Procurement can process orders more reliably. Electronic routing moves requisitions through the system more quickly, and it gets around the problem of illegibly written orders.
Perhaps the best thing about the process is that purchase orders can be tracked electronically as they move through the system, eliminating the need to call Procurement or Receiving.
"It really cuts down on the phone tag," says Procurement's Maureen Cowger, who was one of the first on the Hill to begin using the system.
The biggest advantage from a processing standpoint, says Steve Abraham of Information Systems and Services, is how the system has eliminated repetition. Previously, the purchasing information and product descriptions might have been filled in by hand as many as six times along the way. Now they are only entered once, by the original requester.
The system also has advantages from a budgeting perspective. Departments can receive on-line, real-time updates from the system about their purchases. The reports show how much they have spent on purchases, what has and has not been received--information that is especially crucial at year end.
"Being able to access this information anytime I need it gives me a better handle on my Division's expenses," says Physics Division administrator Pauline Fong. Since purchase orders are sent to Accounts Payable on a daily basis, she gets more current information on her accounting reports as well.
Cowger admits that the new system--like anything "new"--takes some getting used to. The electronic interface can be daunting for someone who is used to doing pen-to-paper purchase requisitions.
"There is a learning curve," she says. "But once people take the time to learn it, the results are really worth the effort."
The system is one of the Lab's first purchased administrative software packages. It was furnished from Oracle Corporation and represents the first Lab-wide use of the Oracle database system.
The time the system saves should also translate into money saved at the end of the process. "Now we're able to get the orders from Procurement to Accounts Payable overnight," Abraham says. "This should help the Lab get more discounts."
By the end of the fiscal year, Procurement expects to have the system in full swing. There are currently more than 350 users on the system.
Procurement encourages all requesters to enter requisitions on-line. For assistance, contact Procurement's Maureen Cowger at X4121.
MON., JAN. 29
BODYWORKS
General meeting at noon in the lower cafeteria.
PHYSICS DEPARTMENT COLLOQUIUM
"Adaptive Optics and Laser Guide Stars For Ground-based Telescopes: Matching the Hubble Space Telescope at a Bargain Price" will be presented by Claire Max of LLNL at 4:30 p.m. in 1 Le Conte.
TUES., JAN. 30
MATERIALS SCIENCE SPECIAL SEMINAR
"III/V Nitride Light Emitting Diodes and Laser Diodes" will be presented by Shuji Nakamura of Nichia Chemical at 1:30 p.m. in the Bldg. 66 Auditorium.
MSME & MSD SPECIAL SEMINAR
Shuji Nakamura of Nichia Chemical Industries LTD of Anan, Japan, will give a talk on "III/V Nitride Light Emitting Diodes and Laser Diodes" at 1:30 p.m. in Bldg. 66-316.
PHYSICS DIVISION RESEARCH PROGRESS MEETING
"Top Production and Mass Measurement at D0" will be presented by Meena Narain of Fermilab at 4 p.m. in Bldg. 50A-5132; refreshments, 3:40 p.m.
WED., JAN. 31
EH&S CLASS
Forklift Recertification (EHS 226) at 8-9 a.m. in Bldg. 70A-3377
DATABASE FORUM
10:30 a.m., Bldg. 50A-5132
TOASTMASTERS' MEETING
12:10-1 p.m., Bldg. 2-100.
SURFACE SCIENCE AND CATALYSIS SCIENCE SPECIAL SEMINAR
"Motion, Decay and Ripening of 2D Islands on Ag(111)" will be presented by Georg Rosenfeld of IGV-KFA, Juelich, Germany, at 1:30 p.m. in the Bldg. 66 Auditorium.
THURS., FEB. 1
SURFACE SCIENCE AND CATALYSIS SCIENCE SEMINARS
"The Effect of Local Adsorption Environments on the Kinetics of Surface Reactions" will presented by Francisco Zaera of UCR at 1:30 p.m. in the Bldg. 66 Auditorium.
DEPARTMENT OF ASTRONOMY COLLOQUIUM
"The Second Palomar Sky Survey" will be presented by George Djorgovski of CIT/UCB at 4 p.m. in 1 Le Conte; refreshments, 3:30 p.m., 661 Campbell Hall.
PHYSICS DIVISION RESEARCH PROGRESS MEETING
"Measurement of the W Mass With the D0 Detector" will be presented by Ulrich Heintz of Fermilab at 4 p.m. in Bldg. 50A-5132; refreshments, 3:40 p.m.
FRI., FEB. 2
JEWELRY SALE
8 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the cafeteria foyer.
MON., FEB. 5
PHYSICS DEPARTMENT COLLOQUIUM
"What Can Heavy Quarks on the Lattice Tell Us About the Standard Model of Particle Physics?" will be presented by Junko Shigemitsu of the University of Chicago at 4:30 p.m. in 1 Le Conte.
TUES., FEB. 6
EH&S CLASSES
Chemical Hygiene and Safety Training (EHS 348), 8:30 a.m.-noon, Bldg. 51-201
Laser Safety (EHS 280), 1-3:30 p.m., Bldg. 51-201
LIFE SCIENCES DIVISION SEMINAR
"Synchrotron Radiation: What's in it for You?" will be presented by Neville V. Smith of LBL at 4 p.m. in Bldg. 66-316.
THURS., FEB. 8
SHOEMOBILE
7:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., near Bldg. 77.
EH&S CLASS
First Aid (EHS 116) at 8 a.m.-noon in Bldg. 48-109
AFRICAN AMERICAN EMPLOYEE ASSOCIATION
General meeting at noon in Bldg. 90-1099.
SURFACE SCIENCE AND CATALYSIS SCIENCE SEMINARS
"Electropolymerization" will be presented by Rene Winand of the Free University of Brussels, Belgium, at 1:30 p.m. in the Bldg. 66.
DEPARTMENT OF ASTRONOMY COLLOQUIUM
"The Ghost of Ly[[alpha]] Evidence for Radiation Acceleration in Quasars" will be presented by Nahum Arav of CIT at 4 p.m. in 1 Le Conte; refreshments, 3:30 p.m., 661 Campbell Hall.
FRI., FEB. 9
THE CENTER FOR BEAM PHYSICS SEMINAR
"The Electron-Cloud Effect In Bunched Positive Beams" will be presented by Miguel Furman of LBL at 10:30 a.m. in the Bldg. 71 Conference Room.
The Department of Energy, through BASTEC, the 6-year-old collaborative program with the Oakland public schools, is planning to participate in NetDay in Oakland. Volunteers are urgently needed. If you would like to participate, please contact Peter Hutcher by Monday, Feb. 5, at 836-8253 or [email protected]. Information is also available through the following web site: http://ousd.k12.ca.us/netday.oak.html.
For information on participating in other area schools, check the following web site: http://www.netday96.com/. Questions may be sent to: [email protected].
'84 TOYOTA Corolla hatchbk, 5-dr, 93K mi., silver-gray, gd cond., a/t, a/c, AM-FM cass., $2500/b.o. X4149, 845-5643
'87 MERCURY Lynx, needs clutch & battery, gd engine & tires, 70K mi., $800/b.o. 635-4417 (after 6 p.m.)
'88 TOYOTA Corolla FX, 3-dr hatchbk, a/t, 40K mi., exc. cond., new tires w/lifetime warranty, white, $3900/b.o. (negot.). Alex, 644-0864
'92 GEO Metro hatchbk, 5-dr, 60K mi., a/t, a/c, AM/FM, garaged, great cond., $4900/b.o. 528-4158
VANPOOL, riders wanted from Rohnert Park - stopping at Petaluma and Novato - ending at Berkeley BART, Commuter Checks accepted. Shirley, X4521
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, equip. & accessories, donations, for Employee Music Club. Larry, X5406, 283-2791
TECH MANUALS for Hewlett Packard RF Gen 606A, dist analyzer 331A, buy or borrow to copy. John, X6533, 849-1051
COMPUTER, Mac-II, 2Mb/40Mb, 12" BW monitor, 101 keyboard, Kensington trackball, two 800K drives, one 5-1/4 floppy drive w/interface, manuals, software, $350; Imagewriter II, $60. Dennis, X7859, 939-2006
DESK, $50; corner desk; $50; computer table, $50; book cases, $30/ea.; chairs, TV stand, $10, all in exc. cond. Rose, X7554, 233-8620 (eve.)
EXERCISE BICYCLE, variable resistance, $400 new, sell for $50/b.o. Mark, X6781, 524-5234
FUTON, queen sz., solid wood frame w/ethnic print mattress & cover, $400; Zenith 25" TV & VCR, both stereo, $550; telephone w/answering machine, $50; standing lamp, $15; dining table w/4 chairs, $150; bookcase, PVC, $10; ironing board, $10, all less than 9 mos. old, exc. cond. ; antique writing table w/chair & sm. writing table, $60 prices negot. 528-4158
GAS RANGE, Wedgewood, 4 burners, griddle, oven on 1 side, storage on the other, perfect cond., clock, flip top, white, best offer. Joyce, X5016, (707) 429-9243
JUICE EXTRACTOR for grass/wheat, almost new, w/orig. carton, paid $150, asking $85. Anne/Peter, X7337, 531-7837
LIFT TICKET VOUCHERS, Squaw Valley, $40 (reg. $45); ladies ski jump suit, white w/other colors, sz. 10, $60; men's ski boots, Nordica, blk, sz. 11, $125; mountain bike, Cannondale V700, exc. cond., new over $1400, $860; water filters, NSA, model 50C & 100S. Marek, X5029, 582-5867
MTB BIKE PARTS, MAG-20, just rebuilt, 1-1/4 dia., 15 cm threaded; XT front derailleur, 1-1/2 dia.; Tange Evolution fork, 1-1/4 dia., 16 cm threaded; Control Tech Aluminum alloy seat post, 1-1/4 dia., best offer. Tim, X5304
OUTBOARD MOTOR, 9.5 HP, Evinrude Sportwin, 6 gal. gas tank, $475. Al, X7660
PERSIAN RUG, antique, 60 yrs. in the family, perfect cond., hand-knotted Hammedan, 5'X7', predominately red/multi, $800/b.o. 883-1652
REFRIGERATOR, side-by-side, water & ice dispenser in door, almond, Sears Kenmore, 6 yrs. old, missing one shelf, $500/b.o. Madeleine, X4859, 231-0237
STEREO TUNER, Luxman T117, $600 list, $300; Hitachi 13" color TV, 11 yrs. old, in storage past 6 yrs., works like new, $50; Philips Pro-Logic Surround Sound Processor, use w/stereo receiver to create Dolby surround sound, $400 list, $50; putter, Raymond Cooke, unused, mint, $25; elec. typewriter, '84 Smith Corona, little use, exc. cond. $50. Dave, X4506
TONER CARTRIDGES for LaserWriter/LaserJet Plus (older unit), $25. Ken, X7739
WASHER & DRYER, portable, washer hooks up to faucet, Kenmore, $300/b.o. 204-9356
WATERBED, Calif. single, bookshelf headboard, 6-drwr base, new heater w/5 yr. warranty, extras, $75; movie projector, Bell & Howell, super 8, autoload, $30. Larry, X5262
BERKELEY, furn., new, studio apt, kitchen, bth, patio, off-st. parking, amenities, nr Tilden Pk, 10 min. to UCB/LBL, $550/mo. incl. utils. Chris, 524-9655
BERKELEY HILLS, 4-bdrm, 4 studies, new house w/bay & canyon views, hardwd flr, 3 decks, 2-car garage, slate frpl & more, 1 yr. lease, $2600/mo. Nancy, 848-4330
CASTRO VALLEY, roommate for home, bdrm w/pvt. bth, laundry & kitchen privs., rent & dep. negot. Marek, X5029, 582-5867
KENSINGTON HILLS, 1-bdrm in-law w/pvt. bth, kitchen & entrance, nr bus & nature, share house & laundry w/LBL scientists, prefer researcher or visiting scholar, avail. 3/1, 1 yr. lease, $750/mo. Nancy, 848-4330
SAN LEANDRO, Assumption Dist., rm for rent (2 ea.), shared housing, nr hwy 580, no pets/alcohol, $425/mo., utils. incl. Marilyn, 351-2288
WANTED: furn. 2-3 bdrms, for visiting physicists, 2/5-3/22. Jinghua, [email protected]
WANTED: 2-bdrm house in safe area for couple, Lab researchers, non-smokers, no pets, will sign long lease for right house, $800-$1K/mo. range. Katie/Scott, X4132, 559-8071
WANTED: furn./unfurn.1-bdrm house, cottage, apt or share, for LBL employee. Steven, X6966
WANTED: furn. 1 or 2 bdrm apt in Berkeley for visiting researcher from Denmark, from Feb.-Apr. Kelly, X4523
WANTED: furn. 1-bdrm apt/studio for visiting scientist & wife from Sweden, no children, from 2/1/96 - 1/31/97. Jahan, X4905
WANTED: 1-2 bdrm, No. Berkeley/Berkeley Hills for LBL researcher, willing to sign long lease for right house/apt, great refs., $700-$800/mo. range. Erik, X6435, 595-1558
WANTED: furn. 1-bdrm in shared house, walking distance from LBL shuttle route, for French LBL employee until Apr. '97, non-smoker. Vincent, X4401
SINGLE BED. Rose, X7554, 233-8620 (eve.)