July 28, 2000

 

Genomics Division Established

Bringing Energy Efficiency To the Developing World


Genomics Division Established Trevor Hawkins Named its First Director

By Ron Kolb



Trevor Hawkins, now deputy director of the Joint Genome Institute (JGI), was named director of the new Genomics Division. He is shown here at last year's dedication of JGI's Production Sequencing Facility. Photo by Roy Kaltschmidt

The explosion of interest and attention given to genomics and the potential applications of research flowing from the sequencing of the human genome has resulted in the creation of Berkeley Lab's 15th scientific division.

The new Genomics Division has been established by Laboratory Director Charles Shank, who also named Trevor Hawkins, now deputy director of the Joint Genome Institute, as the division's inaugural director. Genomics will join the Life Sciences and Physical Biosciences divisions within the biosciences research program represented by Associate Laboratory Director Mina Bissell.

The new division has been formed "to take advantage of the unique opportunities presented by the sequencing accomplishments of the Joint Genome Institute," Shank said. The JGI in Walnut Creek, a Department of Energy collaboration among Berkeley, Livermore and Los Alamos laboratories, was a major contributor to the recent announcement of the completion of the draft sequence of the human genome by an international public consortium.

Hawkins, 32, widely recognized for his decade-long contributions as a pioneer in the field of genetic sequencing technology and analysis, is being asked to do three things as division director: lead the sequencing and associated efforts at the JGI, facilitate scientific collaborations with research efforts nationwide, and facilitate cooperative scientific efforts in partnership with Berkeley Lab.

"Our laboratory is well positioned to take advantage of the truly revolutionary opportunities in this exciting field," Shank said. "I am delighted that Dr. Hawkins has joined Dr. Mina Bissell and Dr. Graham Fleming (of Physical Biosciences) in this important endeavor."



Genomics Director Trevor Hawkins
Hawkins, a native of Poole, England, has been with the JGI since March of 1999, when he was named Director of Sequencing. It was under his direction that the JGI finished the draft sequence of three chromosomes faster than any other participant in the public human genome consortium.

"We're really looking to develop better collaborations and joint work between the JGI and programs at Berkeley Lab and on campus, including NERSC (the DOE's national supercomputing center at Berkeley Lab) and the ALS (Advanced Light Source)," Hawkins said.

Once the genome is sequenced, bioscientists will be addressing the next "layers of the cake," in Hawkins' words -- the completed sequence of genes (human, mouse, chicken, dog, etc.) on the bottom, then expression information from those genes, then data on proteins and what they do, and then structural analysis.

"And who knows what the `frosting' on the top will be?," he said. "This is 30 or 40 years' worth of work, but this is the direction we're headed, and there's no time to lose."

Hawkins has already begun putting together a collaboration with NERSC and the campus to build a genome "portal," which he says will be a window to the world for DOE's genomic science programs. And, at the ALS, another partnership is addressing protein structure.

Hawkins earned his bachelor's degree at the University of Sussex in 1989 and his Ph.D. in biochemistry at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology at Cambridge in 1993. For four years he served the Whitehead Institute at MIT, one of the human genome partners in the public consortium.

As director of the Human Genome Project and assistant director of the Institute, he built the sequencing program from a one-person operation to a world-leading 80-person center. He was also an assistant professor there.

In 1998 he moved to CuraGen Corporation, a genomics company, where he served as director of CuraGen Florida, director of advanced technologies, and vice president of genomics. At the same time, he was on the faculty as associate professor in the College of Medicine at the University of Florida, and he was a board member and secretary of BioFlorida.

"The research programs in Berkeley Lab's biosciences divisions are evolving rapidly as biology reaps the enormous benefits of computation and other cutting-edge technologies," Shank said. The new Genomics Division will play a major role in matching the technologies with the research challenges that the post-sequencing environment will present.

This is the first division to be added at Berkeley Lab since the Physical Biosciences and Advanced Light Source divisions were organized in late 1997.

Bringing Energy Efficiency To the Developing World

By Allan Chen and Monica friedlander


The rapidly rising demand for energy is placing an enormous strain on the economies of the world's developing nations. A new organization, of which Berkeley Lab's Environmental Energy Technologies Division (EETD) is a founding partner, has recently received United Nations funding to help these countries implement energy performance standards that will alleviate the problems caused by energy demands.

The Collaborative Labeling and Appliance Standards Program, or CLASP, is a collaboration between Berkeley Lab, the Alliance to Save Energy, and the International Institute for Energy Conservation. The three organizations have received a two-year, $4 million grant from the U.N. Foundation to work on this ambitious project.

"The goal of the U.N. funding is to significantly reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases and energy use," says Stephen Wiel, head of EETD's Energy Analysis Department. "Our estimates suggest that energy efficiency standards and labeling can reduce emissions anywhere from 25 to 40 percent within the next three decades."

CLASP was founded in 1999 with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the UN Foundation, the Energy Foundation, and U.S. Department of Energy.

Its mission, however, is not new to Berkeley Lab. Since 1996 EETD staff members have worked with the governments of China, India, Mexico, the Philippines, Ghana, and Sri Lanka through the International Building and Appliance Standards (IBAS) initiative. EETD Projects ranged from the development of motor efficiency standards for the Philippines to appliance efficiency standards in Ghana. Substantial funding for this work has come from USAID.

A project concluded in 1999, for example, found that the setting of minimum energy performance standards for refrigerators alone could save consumers in Ghana $50 million by 2010. The government of Ghana is now discussing ways to implement the standards.

David Fridley and other EETD researchers are now working with the Chinese government to develop energy efficiency appliance standards, labeling, and purchasing programs in China, where the skyrocketing demand for consumer products has resulted in 16 percent annual rise in residential electricity use.

EETS's Laura Van Wie is coordinating CLASP efforts in Mexico, where the government's energy agency has agreed to become the Latin American regional partner for CLASP, and will fund a staff person to provide technical advice and outreach to Latin American nations.

With technical support from the EETD, the agency will also conduct an assessment of the impact of appliance standards on energy use in Mexico. Division researcher Joe Huang has worked with Mexico on building codes, and Jeff Harris is helping develop an energy-efficient equipment procurement program for the Mexican government.

CLASP is developing an ambitious program of technical assistance, drawing on experts from the three founding partners as well as a network of other institutions throughout the world. The CLASP staff will work with host agencies of interested nations to develop a customized technical assistance program to create an energy standards and labeling program. Several regional workshops are in the planning stage, including one for Latin America in August and one for Asia in 2001.

Also in the works are a guidebook addressing policy, legal, and regulatory actions necessary to implement the program; a toolkit of training and marketing materials; and a website with relevant information and reports.

CLASP hopes to continue forming partnerships with organizations in developing countries from around the world. Says Sachu Constantine of the Alliance to Save Energy, "By bringing together policy and technical specialists, research organizations and universities, we will be building solid institutional capacities and expertise for managing energy efficiency programs in these countries."

Secrets of Antiferromagnetism: An Opera in Many Acts

By Paul Preuss

Using "stage machinery" unique to the Advanced Light Source, a cast of players from Berkeley Lab, IBM Corporation, Stanford University, and other institutions are mounting what one of their number, Frithjof Nolting, calls "an opera in many acts" -- an opera that goes by the title Secrets of Antiferromagnetism.

Not as catchy as The Magic Flute, but a lot more practical: antiferromagnetism is a phenomenon vital to the layered structures of today's advanced computer hard-disk read heads and to the memory devices of the future.

"A modern read head uses layers of very thin films with different magnetic properties," explains Andreas Scholl of the ALS. "As the head passes over the hard disk, these layers sense the orientation of the domains on the disk and cause the head's electrical resistance to change in response."

At normal temperatures, the electronic spins in the magnetic domains of ferromagnetic materials such as iron or cobalt are parallel and point in the same direction; the domains change their orientation in the presence of an applied magnetic field. A read head takes advantage of the fact that if two ferromagnetic layers share the same orientation, they exhibit less electrical resistance than when they are opposed.



Images made by the PEEM2 microscope show that at the interface of a thin layer of cobalt, a ferromagnet, and lanthanum iron oxide, an antiferromagnet, magnetic domains are precisely aligned.
While spins in the magnetic domains of antiferromagnetic materials are also parallel, they alternately point in opposite directions, so on average the material is insensitive to applied magnetic fields. This comes in handy for read heads: in order for one of the ferromagnetic layers in a read head to switch independently of the other, one of them must be "pinned" by an underlying antiferromagnetic layer.

The more formal term for pinning is "exchange bias" -- a phenomenon known for more than 45 years. "Even though we have used the effect and even built devices by trial and error, we haven't understood how it works," says Frithjof Nolting, an ALS researcher visiting from Stanford University.

Two things were needed for a better understanding, Nolting says: "first, a method of imaging the configuration of domains in antiferromagnetic thin films, which requires a resolution better than 100 nanometers" (100 billionths of a meter) "and second, a way to image the interface between ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic domains in adjacent layers," which requires distinguishing between layers containing different chemical elements.

"The only method that can do all this is photo-electron emission microscopy, or PEEM," says Simone Anders, leader of the team that built the PEEM2 microscope on ALS beamline 7.3.1.1. (See Currents, February 26, 1999.) When an x-ray beam is incident upon a sample, PEEM2 uses electrons ejected from the sample to form an image with ten-thousand-fold magnification and a resolution of 20 nanometers.

X-rays of different energies stimulate photoelectrons characteristic of different elements; thus by tuning the energy of the beam, layers containing different elements can be distinguished. And if the beam is polarized, it can reveal magnetic domains: linear polarization yields images of antiferromagnetic domains, while circular polarization reveals ferromagnetic domains.

With PEEM2 in place at the ALS, the curtain was set to rise. Act 1 appeared in Science magazine this February, when the researchers reported the first images that clearly revealed the alignment of domains in an antiferromagnetic thin film. When these PEEM2 images, each only a few hundred nanometers in area, were compared to transmission electron microscope images of the same sample, the magnetic domains corresponded exactly to the orientation of its crystals.

Act 2 was a letter to Nature in June, when the researchers announced another first: direct images of the alignment of magnetic domains on both sides of an interface between ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic layers.

In this work the sample was a ferromagnetic cobalt film, less than three nanometers thick, deposited on a film of antiferromagnetic lanthanum iron oxide. "By tuning the photon energy of the beam, we were able to record separate images of the antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic layers in exactly the same place," Nolting says.

The perfectly registered images show precise correspondence between the spin orientation of microscopic domains in the lanthanum iron oxide layer and the domains of the cobalt layer immediately adjacent to them, demonstrating that exchange coupling aligns the magnetic structure of both layers, domain by domain.



The front layer in this read head is a ferromagnet whose magnetic domains are free to respond to the external field of a bit passing beneath on the hard disk. In the second ferromagnetic layer, domains are pinned by the antiferromagnet in back. When the domains in the ferromagnetic layers are oriented differently, electrical resistance increases greatly.
But the end of Act 2 held a surprise: when the researchers measured the strength of the coupling by applying a magnetic field, they discovered an unexpected phenomenon.

Because exchange-bias devices such as read heads depend upon an overall preferred magnetic orientation in a ferromagnetic layer coupled to an antiferromagnet layer, a "bias" is set during the manufacturing process.

"The usual method is to set a bias by annealing the multilayer in a magnetic field," Nolting explains, which takes advantage of the fact that magnetic materials lose their magnetism above a critical temperature, then regain it as they cool. However, Nolting says, "we imaged samples just as they were grown, without any additional processing."

The surpise: "We found that prior to any setting procedure, there is already a bias locally, within each individual domain. Apparently exchange bias is an intrinsic property of the interface, caused by the common alignment of the magnetic structure of both materials, even though initially there may be no total bias, averaged over a large area."

Says Nolting, "This opens the door to new investigations, which may affect the way devices based on the exchange bias effect are manufactured" -- as well as the materials chosen to make them.

Thus the latest plot twist suggests that many more surprises are in store, in the ongoing drama of antiferromagnetism's secrets.

In addition to Andreas Scholl, Frithjof Nolting and Simone Anders, other members of the research team are Joachim Stöhr of Stanford University, formerly of the IBM Almaden Research Center in San Jose, who led the project; Jin Won Seo of the University of Neuchâtel and IBM's Zürich Research Laboratory; Jean Fompeyrine, Heinz Siegwart, and Jean-Pierre Locquet of IBM's Zürich Research Laboratory; Jan Lüning, now with the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, Eric. E. Fullerton, and Michael F. Toney of IBM's Almaden Research Center; Michael R. Scheinfeld of Arizona State University; and Howard A. Padmore of the ALS. PEEM2 was built under a corporate research and development agreement (CRADA) between IBM and Berkeley Lab, in collaboration with Arizona State University.

An excellent animation explaining the function of multilayered magnetic devices in read heads can be found on the web at http://www.research.ibm.com/research/demos/gmr/index.html.

Summer Lectures Continue with Look at Cell Behavior



While human cells were the focus of the last two summer lectures, the two talks addressed very different aspects of cell biology and chemistry.

On July 19, Mary Helen Barcellos-Hoff of the Life Sciences Division described her lab's approach to analyzing the response of human tissue to ionizing radiation and the subsequent perturbations that may ultimately contribute to tumor growth. This coordinated program takes into account the conditions both inside and outside the cell. By studying these cell culture system "in context" (that is, in a petri dish with an appropriate mix of biological factors) her group has been able to recapitulate the organization of cells in the body. The response from this model to radiation may shed light on how breast cancer develops.

And on July 26, Carolyn Bertozzi described pioneering work combining chemistry and biology that has emanated from the campus lab group of over 30 postdocs and students she leads. In a fast-paced talk she described several methods for "tricking" human cells into marking themselves as targets for drugs, diagnostics, and gene-therapy vectors, and she presented recent work on synthesis of glycoproteins.

Bertozzi is a MacArthur Fellow and member of the Materials Sciences and Physical Bioscience Divisions

First Direct Evidence for Tau Neutrino Found at Fermila

By Monica friedlander

An international collaboration of scientists at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory outside Chicago announced on July 21 the first direct evidence for the tau neutrino, a massless or almost massless subatomic particle carrying no electric charge and barely interacting with surrounding matter.

Although earlier experiments had produced convincing indirect evidence for the particle's existence, no one had directly observed it. At Fermilab scientists reported four instances of a neutrino interacting with an atomic nucleus to produce a charged particle called a tau lepton, the signature of a tau neutrino.

"We finally have direct evidence that the tau neutrino is one of the building blocks of nature and that it reacts with other particles in accordance with our current scientific theory of particle interactions," said Byron Lundberg, spokesman of the Direct Observation of the Nu Tau (DONUT) international experiment.

The tau neutrino is the third neutrino of the Standard Model of elementary particles. First-generation electron neutrinos and their second-generation cousins, muon neutrinos, are easier to produce and detect and were identified in 1956 and 1962, respectively.

Physicists worked for about three years to identify the tracks of a tau lepton and its decay in the layers of a nuclear emulsion. Back in 1997, using Fermilab's Tevatron accelerator, scientists produced an intense neutrino beam that crossed the target iron plates sandwiched with layers of emulsion which recorded the particle interactions.

Scientists noted the experiment's distinctive technology, confirming the value of advanced emulsion technology for today's particle physics experiments.

Washington Column

Gender Parity in Science Sparks Talk on Capitol Hill

The report was presented by the Commission on the Advancement of Women and Minorities in Science, Engineering, and Technology Development (CAWMSET). And while it did touch on the paucity of African Americans and Hispanics in science and engineering, the emphasis was clearly on the lack of parity with regards to gender. Less than a quarter of U.S. scientists and engineers are women, and the CAWMSET report says this percentage must be doubled to reflect the overall employment work pool.

"Our report documents the barriers that keep minorities, women, and people with disabilities from participating proportionally in science and engineering -- from discrimination and bias to financial constraints and family responsibilities," said Elaine Mendoza, CAWMSET chair and CEO of Texas software company Conceptual Mindworks Inc. "Our goal is to achieve real, measurable progress toward a scientific enterprise empowered by its best minds, rather than the traditional labor force."

The report's major recommendation included: adoption and implementation of high-quality state education standards in math and science, teacher training, and facilities; aggressive intervention to prepare students for postsecondary education; expanded federal support for college scholarships and fellowships; holding employers accountable for the career development of underrepresented groups; efforts to improve the public image of scientists and engineers; and a public-private body to continue CAWMSET's efforts.

CAWMSET was created in 1998 following the persistent lobbying of Rep. Connie Morella (R-MD). Her call for a panel on women fell on deaf ears in Congress until she broadened her proposal to include other underrepresented groups. Still, the commission's membership -- nine women and two men appointed by Congress, the White House and the National Governors Association -- was a sign that Morella's original concerns were at the forefront. CAWMSET's report and the discussion that followed it at a hearing on Capitol Hill reinforced the emphasis on cultural stereotypes and the hostile climate that many argue serve to discourage women from pursuing scientific careers.

"We as a society haven't made as much progress on this topic as we might have," says NSF's Sue Kemnitzer, who chaired a 1988 Congressional report on the underrepresentation of women and minorities in science and engineering.

The hearing on the CAWMSET report was packed with women who are leaders in government, academia, and private industry. But not all of them agreed with demands for programs targeted at achieving gender parity. Citing the near-parity of women in the life sciences and their majority status in psychology and veterinary medicine, Patti Hausman, a social scientist at Georgia Tech said: "The question of why more women don't choose careers in engineering has a rather obvious answer: because they don't want to." -- Lynn Yarris

Lab Animals Win Round in Court

The cost of working with rodents and birds in the laboratory may be headed for a dramatic increase. A federal judge has ruled that animal-rights activists have the legal right to challenge U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) rules which exempt most research animals from federal regulation.

Although USDA officials have yet to respond to this ruling, department spokespersons have said their agency will almost certainly extend regulations governing animal handling and housing to thousands of academic and industry laboratories that work with rodents and birds. Those new rules, say animal-care experts, could impose costly new requirements on labs that don't meet standards set by the private Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care.

The federal judge's ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed last year by a coalition led by the Alternatives Research and Development Foundation (ARDF) of Eden Prairie, Minnesota. The suit sought to reverse a 1972 USDA decision to leave mice, rats and birds -- which account for more than 95 percent of all research animals -- off a list of laboratory animals regulated under the 1966 Animal Welfare Act.

USDA has claimed discretion to decide which animals are exempt from regulations that require researchers to open their facilities to annual surprise inspections and to consider alternatives when designing experiments.

Writing and implementing any new rules is expected to take years and will certainly require USDA to substantially increase its current $10 million animal-care budget and staff of 70 inspectors.

Computer Corner

Clean Up Your IMAP E-mail -- Or Pay

Starting Aug. 1, IMAP e-mail users who exceed their allocated 100 megabytes (MBs) of disk space on the Laboratory's IMAP server will be charged $2 per MB per month, as planned since the outset of the program a couple of years ago.

A good place to start cleaning up is with your trash. What many users may not realize is that all "trashed" e-mails -- the ones you delete -- in fact remain on the disk until the the trash file is emptied. In fact, more than a quarter of the current disk space used for IMAP mail lies in users' trash folders.

To empty the trash from Netscape Messenger, click on "File" and "Empty Trash on imap4.lbl.gov." Please note that it may take up to 24 hours before the disk space reduction is reflected in the total on the web page.

To find out how much space you are using, log in and click on the "Folders" tab at the top of the page. This will bring up a screen listing the disk space used by each folder, with total usage at the bottom.

But not all old files should be deleted. The Archives and Records Group reminds users that it is in fact a federal requirement to keep "record material," which is defined as:

  • material that documents projects, research, position papers;

  • material that describes official actions taken in the course of conducting Lab or DOE business;

  • material that provides evidence of the Laboratory's organization, functions, procedures, activities, decisions, essential transactions, or has technical, administrative, historical, and/or legal value.

    For more information contact the Help Desk at 486-HELP.

UC Retirement Plan Reexamines Retirement Benefits

At its June 23 meeting, the UC Retirement System (UCRS) Advisory Board endorsed a change in age factors that would enhance retirement benefits from the UC Retirement Plan (UCRP) for employees retiring Jan. 1, 2001 and later.

For UCRP members with Social Security and members without Social Security, the recommended change would improve the factors at all ages, beginning at age 50 with 1.1 percent -- same as PERS (Public Employees Retirement System) -- and increasing 0.14 percent each year to a maximum of 2.5 percent at age 60 (better than PERS).

This set of alternative age factors falls between the current UCRP age factors and the new PERS age factors up to age 57, and then is equal to or above both the current UCRP and PERS age factors from the ages of 58 to 63.

Of the several age factor alternatives considered over the past year, this one increases all the UCRP factors, applies the PERS maximum factor (2.5 percent at 63) to age 60, and provides increases in even gradations from ages 50 to 60.

For safety members (police officers and firefighters), the proposed age factors would be increased to match the new age factors for CalPERS state peace officers or firefighters, and would maximize at 3 percent at age 55.

The UCRS Board is an advisory to the UC President on retirement matters. Any changes to the UCRP age factors must be approved by the UC Regents.

An information item is expected to be on the agenda for the September UC Regents meeting, and an action item is expected to be presented at the November Regents meeting.

In the interim, consultation and discussions continue with various segments of the UC community. The Office of the President will continue to issue updates regarding possible benefit changes on its benefits website at http://www.ucop.edu/bencom/ and in employee publications.

Interns Celebrate Summer Experience at Annual Picnic

By Lisa Gonzales



Students and Lab employees gathered on the patio behind Bldg. 2 for Berkeley Lab's annual intern celebration.

Dozens of students and their mentors took a break from their research last Friday to enjoy live music and barbecue food on the patio between Bldgs. 2 and 6 during Berkeley Lab's seventh annual intern picnic.

"There is so much energy around the summer with all the young people," says Rollie Otto, head of the Center for Science and Engineering Education (CSEE) who oversees the internship program.

"This summer, we've had the largest group of interns at the Lab since the program started," he added. The number of students increased from 50 last year to 95 now, a jump he credited to increased funding from the Department of Energy and heightened participation from the LBNL community.

"Many new members of the scientific staff came forward to serve as mentors," Otto says.



Four-year-old Johannes enjoys the picnic with his father Peter Fischer, a visiting scientist from the Unversity of Würtzburg in Germany.
Interns were brought in under three undergraduate programs. Six interns participated in a brand new DOE program -- the Pre-Service Teacher Training Program, designed for science majors who intend to become teachers. They work with both scientists and a master teacher to develop lesson plans based on their research assignments. Nineteen interns were sponsored by the Community College Initiative, a program so successful that during the two years the initiative has been in place several interns have been invited to stay at the Lab beyond the summer.

The rest of the interns are here through the Energy Research Undergraduate Laboratory Fellowships (ERULF), a DOE program for upper division science and engineering majors enrolled in colleges and universities across the U.S.

Interns gain valuable experience at Berkeley Lab as they learn about the leading edge research being conducted here and about multidisciplinary approaches that are often missing from their academic experience. In turn, the Lab gains from their contributions and enthusiasm

The picnic was sponsored by the Employees' Activities Association, the Latino and Native-American Association (LANA), the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transsexual and Friends (GLBTF) Association, and the African American Employee Association (AAEA).

Student Poster Session on Aug. 3

On Thursday, Aug. 3, summer students will present their research during the annual poster session, to be held from 3 to 5 p.m. in the Lab cafeteria. The event is sponsored by the Center for Science and Engineering Education. Ninety-three students are expected to participate.

Vallejo Teachers Participate in Science Partnership Program

By Lisa Gonzales

Have you ever attended a conference that ended with the audience drinking the algae Spirulina? That's exactly what happened last Friday in the Bldg. 66 auditorium during the closing presentations for the Integrated Science Partnership Project (ISPP), a four-week program for Vallejo science teachers conducted at Berkeley Lab. Michael Clause and Carollyn Warlick, teachers from Hogan High School in Vallejo, interrupted their presentation on the freezing of Spirulina to pass out paper cups filled halfway with a thick green liquid. Only a few brave souls took sips.

Over the past three years, the California Postsecondary Education Commission provided the ISPP with funding for 40 science teachers from Vallejo middle- and high-schools to come and work at Berkeley Lab. Half of them worked directly with resource scientists and half compiled curriculum materials to meet the district science standards for each grade.

As part of her presentation, teacher Carolyn Warlick of Hogan High School (right) passes out Spirulina juice to the audience, while Ken Tosch of Springtown Middle School (above) sticks to a more traditional approach. Photos by Roy Kaltschmidt

"The science teachers (in Vallejo) now have a common set of resources for their three high schools and four middle schools," says Don Hubbard, co-director of ISPP.

These materials will also supplement the district's textbooks, Hubbard says, to provide students with information on the most current research frontiers.

For the teachers participanting in the program, working at the Lab has provided a solid foundation for the future. Not only did they enhance their base of scientific knowledge, but the work done here over the past three years has established a model for creating a network of teachers who also function as investigators in a research setting.

"Conversations have begun here," Hubbard says, "that can only enhance the experience of the students in Vallejo's classrooms."

The teachers will continue to meet regularly at home throughout the school year to discuss their progress with implementing the new curriculum resources. Furthermore, each school has several lead teachers to assist their colleagues in focusing their materials to meet the standards for each grade level. The impact of ISPP's work at the Lab will be gauged by student achievement in the classroom and on standardized tests.

The first round of testing took place at the end of the academic year, and these these tests will be evaluated over the next few months.

Meanwhile, at the end of their closing presentation last Friday, Clause and Warlick informed the audience of the extensive health benefits of Spirulina, explaining that the green liquid in their cups was in fact a juice made by Odwalla.

The audience raised their glasses to the innovative science teachers of ISPP -- and drank.

Bulletin Board

Novelties Galore at Ergonomic Fair

It wasn't so long ago that a mouse that didn't look like a mouse or a split keyboard for the right and left hand seemed revolutionary. These days our familiar computer tools look more like gadgets off a space shuttle's control board. Curved, concave or all-out flat keyboards, and mice that look like joysticks are par for the course. Even more so are chairs and desks that adjust more ways than there are bones or joints in our bodies. And these are but a sample of the offerings at this year's Ergonomics Fair, held on Monday and Tuesday in Perseverance Hall. Dozens of company representatives were onsite to demonstrate the latest ways to keep us comfortable and prevent us from getting injured at our workstations. A few of the ergonomic products at the fair can be seen or tried out in the ergonomics display room in Bldg. 29 (Health Services). Photo by Roy Kaltschmidt

Lab Hosts EPSCoR Workshop

Aug. 16-17 -- Radisson Hotel

More than 150 investigators will come to Berkeley next month to participate in a two-day DOE-sponsored event -- the EPSCoR (Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) Workshop -- hosted by Berkeley Lab. Entitled "Advancing Energy Science and Technology Through Partnerships," the event will be held at the Berkeley Marina Radisson Hotel on Aug. 16 and 17.

Participants will visit Berkeley Lab each day for tours of the national user facilities on the Hill.

Lab Director Charles Shank will address the gathering on Wednesday, Aug. 16, and a reception will be held that day in the cafeteria from 5 to 6 p.m. A poster session will be part of Thursday's program.

The workshop seeks to promote the formation of research partnerships between the faculty at colleges and universities and scientific staff at DOE national laboratories and facilities. Investigators from the EPSCoR states are eligible to apply for Laboratory Partnership Awards.

The workshop and EPSCoR program are cosponsored by the National Science Foundation.

More information about the workshop may be found at http://www.lbl.gov/conferences/EPSCoR/.

Student Poster Session Next Week

On Aug. 3 the Center for Science and Engineering Education is organizing its largest summer undergraduate student research poster session ever. Nintety-three students from DOE's Energy Research Undergraduate Research Laboratory Fellowship, Community College Initiative in Biotechnology, Environmental Science and Computing, and from the Pre-Service Teacher Training Program will present their Summer 2000 research

Nearly all the Laboratory's scientific divisions will be represented.

The event will be held from 3 to 5 p.m. in the cafeteria dining area. Refreshments will be provided.

New Dance Series Starts on Monday

Night Club 2-Step will be the featured dance of the new four-week dance lessons series, which starts on Monday, July 31. The essons are held at noon on the lower level of Bldg. 51 (the Bevatron). No previous dance experience is required. Free practice sessions are held every Wednesday at noon. The lessons are taught by professional dance instructor Charlene Van Ness.

The cost is $20 for the four-week session or $6 per lesson. Please arrive 10 minutes early to register. For further information contact Joy Kono at jnkono@ lbl.gov or Sharon Fujimura at [email protected].

Runaround 2000: In Search of New Ideas

With the 23rd LBNL Runaround less than three months away (Oct. 13) organizers are looking for new ideas for this most popular annual labwide event. Suggestions will be welcomed for prize categories, T-shirt design, or anything else that would make the event a more enjoyable, all-around fun experience.

Comments and suggestions may be sent to [email protected] -- or better yet, everyone is invited to a special brainstorming session to be held at noon on Aug. 4 on the lower level of the cafeteria.

Docent-Led Tour of Chinese Exhibit

Berkeley Lab's Employees Arts Council (EAC) has arranged a docent-led tour of "The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology" exhibit, to be held on Saturday, Aug. 26 at the Asian Art Museum in Golden Gate Park. Two tours are scheduled at 8:15 a.m. and 8:30 a.m., each limited to 25 people, which will take place before the museum opens to the public.

Discounted admission tickets are available through the EAC for $23 each ($18 for members of the Asian Art Museum). For reservations contact Mary Clary at [email protected] or X4940.

This is the most extensive exhibition of ancient Chinese art shown in the United States in the past 50 years. The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology offers visitors a rare glimpse of nearly 240 artifacts recently unearthed throughout China.

More than 30 Chinese museums have contributed national treasures spanning 6000 years of history. Included are intricately carved jades, immense bronze sculptures, ornate silver and gold vessels, as well as several of the famous life-size terra-cotta warriors from Xi'an. The exhibit is open through Sept. 11.

CalPERS Long Term Care Deadline Extended to July 31

The application deadline for the CalPERS Long Term Care plan has been extended to July 31. The program offers employees the option of obtaining long-term care coverage that may not be available through other plans.

To find out more about the program visit the CalPERS website at http://www.calpers.ca.gov/longtermcare/. Application packets are available at the Benefits Office, X6403.

Mac Users Meeting Changes Topic

The Aug. 9 meeting of the Macintosh Users Group (LBNL MUG) will take a close look at Apple's new hardware offerings, instead of the scheduled talk by an Apple representative.

The Apple rep's presentation has been canceled due to the postponment of the release date for Mac OS X beta to September.

The MUG meeting will be held as scheduled in Bldg. 90-3148, starting at 11 a.m.

Kites and Culture: The Spirit of Indonesia

From a kite so large it take 20 people to launch it, to delicate kites made from bamboo and leaves, LHS visitors will discover a rare display of Indonesian kites and artifacts during a special exhibit at the Lawrence Hall of Science from July 29 through Aug. 20. The event opens a window to a culture where kite making is an important part of village life, arts, sports, worship, and work.

Special events will include:

  • Kites Kaleidoscope, Aug. 9;

  • A weekend celebration of Indonesian dancing, music, food, and kite making, Aug. 19-20;
For more information on the exhibit and summer programs visit the LHS website at http://www.lhs.berkeley.edu.

Sports Results

LBNL Golf Club Defeats UC

The LBNL Golf Club broke an eight-year losing streak by defeating the UC Golf Club 18.5 to 14.5 in the annual two-person better ball tournament, held on July 8 at the Tilden Park Golf Course. Twenty-two club members participated. UC leads the 17-year competition 10-6-1.

The top finishing pairs are:

  • Rob Duarte/Ted Lauritzen
  • Ed Miller/Eric Van Nieuwburg
  • Gilbert Goo/Gary Zeman
  • Nancy Sallee/Ralph Sallee

Softball Club

Week 9

Animals - Pedal Pushers (10-0)
Rated X - PCT (12-4)
Environmets - Collisions (13-12)
Drosoftballa - Harddrives (18-4)
Camshafts - Las Chupacabras (18-7)
Ballpark Estimates - SUDZ (18-4)

Standings

1. Ballpark Estimates -- 8-1
2. Animals -- 7-2
3. Rated X -- 7-2
4. Collisions -- 6-3
5. Camshafts -- 4
6. Environmets -- 5-4
7. SUDZ -- 4-5
8. Las Chupacabras -- 3-6
9. Pedal Pushers -- 3-6
10. Drosoftballa -- 3-6
11. Hard Drives -- 2-7
12. PCT -- 1-8

Calendar of Events

July 28 - Aug. 11, 2000

General Interest Calendar

MON., JULY 31

NEW DANCE SERIES STARTS
Nightclub 2-Step
12 p.m., Bldg. 51 lower level

WED., AUGUST 2

SUMMER LECTURES SERIES CONCLUDES
Jim Bishop on new techniques for carbon sequestration
12 p.m., Bldg. 50 auditorium

THURS., AUGUST 3

STUDENT POSTER SESSION
12 p.m., Bldg. 54 (cafeteria)

FRI., AUGUST 4

CAL STATE 9 REP ONSITE
10 a.m. - 1 p.m., cafeteria entrance

FRI., AUGUST 9

MAC USERS GROUP MEETING
11 a.m., Bldg. 90-3148

FRI., AUGUST 11

FIDELITY RETIREMENT SESSION
Cafeteria, lower conference room
7 a.m. - 1 p.m., Bldg. 70A-3377

Please e-mail announcements and items for the General Calendar to [email protected]. You may also fax them to X6641 or mail them to Bldg. 65B. The deadline for the Aug. 11 issue is 5 p.m. Monday, Aug. 7.

Seminars & Lectures

FRIDAY, JULY 28

CENTER FOR BEAM PHYSICS SEMINAR
"Theory of Self-Amplified Spontaneous Emission" will be presented by Ming Xie of AFRD.
10:30 a.m., Bldg. 71 conf. Rm.
Refreshments will be served.

MONDAY, JULY 31

AFRD COLLOQUIUM
"Washington Buzz: It Ain't Over Until the Fat Lady Sings" will be presented by Michael Lubell of CCNY.

12 p.m., Bldg. 50 auditorium

TUESDAY, AUGUST 1

SPECIAL NUCLEAR SCIENCE DIVISION SEMINAR
"The Oak Ridge Lab for Neutrino Detectors: Status" will be presented by Frank Avignone of Oak Ridge.
11 a.m., Perseverance Hall
Refreshments at 10:45

FRIDAY, AUGUST 11

CENTER FOR BEAM PHYSICS SEMINAR
"An X-band Photoinjector for Thomson Scattering" will be presented by Eric Landahl of UC Davis and Lawrence Livermore Lab.
10:30 a.m., Bldg. 71 conf. Rm.
Refreshments will be served.

PHYSICS DIVISION RESEARCH PROGRESS MEETING
"W Mass Measurement in ALEPH" will be presented by Lluisa Mir of the Institute of High Energy Physics (IFAE), Barcelona, Spain.
2 p.m., Bldg. 50A-5132

Items for Seminars & Lectures may be e-mailed to currents_calendar@ lbl.gov, faxed to X6641, or mailed to Bldg. 65B. The deadline for the Aug. 11 issue is 5 p.m. Monday, Aug. 7.

EH&S Classes - August 2000

* Includes EHS 392/405, followed by the orientation. Please arrive at 8:15 for sign-in.
** Subject to confirmation

For more information or to enroll, contact Susan Aberg at [email protected] or enroll via the web at http://www-ehs.lbl.gov/ehstraining/registration/. Preregistration is required for all courses except EHS 10 (Introduction to EH&S). Times and locations are subject to change. For a full, updated schedule of EH&S training sessions see http://www-ehs.lbl.gov/schedule/.

Flea Market

Autos / Supplies

`99 Isuzu Rodeo LSE, lux SUV, exc cond, silver, leather int, V6, ac, pwr steer/win/door/moonroof, alarm, 6-disc changer, cass player, roof rack, cruise, dual airbags, $24,500, Claudio, 504-3814

`94 NISSAN XE Kingcab pickup, 2 WD, 5 speed, 4 cyl, 83K mi, clean, extr well maint, mechanically perfect, ac, pwr steer, anti-lock brakes, am/fm/cass, dark green, matching shell, bed mat, carpet kit, $7,500/bo, Deb, X7258, (415) 457-7017

`90 MERCEDES 190.E, 4 dr sedan, low miles, immaculate, champagne ext, leather int, airbag, alarm, CD, moonroof, pwr everything, reg to 2001, only $9,499, (925) 982-4527

`88 HONDA ACCORD, 5 spd, 130K mi, 4 dr, runs fine but needs some work on engine/carburetor, $2,500/bo, Lawrence, X7680, 524-6083

`87 TOYOTA CELICA CP, 2 dr, 5 spd, sunroof, 168K mi, runs great, uses oil, $1,500, Guy, X4703, Hillary, 482-1777

`87 DODGE made by Mitsubishi, Colt E, 4 dr sedan, 100K mi, auto, ac, pwr steer, am/fm/cass, 4 spkrs (Sanyo), light blue, clean, runs great, reg to 7/01, timing belt renewed 12/99, new brakes & tires, $1,350/bo, Yi Dong, X5315, 527-9178

`85 TOYOTA CAMRY DX, 4 dr sedan, 4 cyl, auto trans, 83K mi, runs ok but needs some work, $1,600/bo, Steve, X5064, 655-8379

`85 PONTIAC GRAND AM, 2.5-l 4-cyl, auto, ps, ac, cruise, tilt, frnt wd, am/fm/cass, prem sound, shop man, maint, hist, full-size spare, snow cables, clean, no problems, sec owner, 205K mi, $1,400, Peter, X457, 528-9381

`82 HONDA ACCORD LX hatchback, 191K mi, 69K on rebuilt engine, compression: 193, 187, 185, 181, 5 spd, ac, cruise, rec's since new, $1,150/bo, Jonathan, X4148, 525-5540

`81 MERCEDES 240D, good around town, $2,000/bo, Katrinka, 644-0364

`69 VW BUS, Type 2, rebuilt engine, new brakes & tires, receipts avail, clean, $2,500/bo, 787-1596, 707-425-1731, Diana, X4070

CAMPER SHELL from 87 Ford Ranger, fits standard bed truck, beige, has screened windows and boot to cab, $200/bo, Don, X5206, 527-3930

Motorcycles

`94 KAWASAKI EX500 NINJA, bought new May `95, exc cond, custom front disc brake, roller bearing steering head conversion, new tires, Metzler Me33 comp K front, Dunlop K591SP rear, very good mileage, very reliable, adult owned, $2,200/bo, Rich, X7031, 925-689-1714

Housing

BERKELEY, lovely furn room on Walnut Street, bicycle avail, $40/ day or $700/month, Helen, 527-3252

KENSINGTON, nice 1 bdrm cottage avail from Sept.1 for short-term rent, $550/mo, incl util & parking, BB, 558-0210

NORTH BERKELEY, 1+ bdrm/ 1 bath upper flat, fully furn incl dishes and linens, b&w TV, fireplace, some view, laundry, off-street parking for 1 car, carpet, on #8 bus line, lge master bdrm + 2 very small rooms, near park, non-smoking, avail 8/1, $1,250/ mo + util, Rachelle, (415) 435-7539

Housing Wanted

BERKELEY, visiting Korean research scientist looking for fully furn 1 bdrm/studio for 1 yr starting 9/1, up to $1,000/mo, max dist 20 minutes from LBNL by car, Bill, X5910 or X6591

POSTDOC, responsible, quiet female, looking for studio or room in a house, pref separate bath & kitchen privil, near campus or close to bus/BART, Vinita, vsingh @lbl.gov, X4335

VISITING RESEARCHER seeks furn house or apt starting Aug 14 for 2 mos, Julie, X4058

VISITING SCIENTIST from Germany, wife & 2 daughters, (3 & 5 yrs old), seek sublet of furn 2 bdrm apt/house for 2 mos, 8/24 - 11/1, partial or longer, schueller@ physnet.uni-hamburg.de

VISITING SCIENTIST w/ wife & child seek furn 2 bdrm house or apt starting Aug. 14 for 2 mos, Julie, X4058

Misc Items for Sale

4 BRITNEY SPEARS concert tickets , Aug 1, 7:30 pm, Concord Pavilion, $60/ea, MS, (925) 631-0510

49ER SEASON TICKETS, $150, cash only for both tix, lower reserved/sec 6/row 2/seats 18 & 19, 49ers v Denver, 8/25, 49ers v Cardinals,10/1, 49ers v Rams 10/29, 49ers v Chiefs, 11/12, 49ers v Falcons, 11/19, 49ers v Saints 12/10, 49ers v Bears 12/17, Sheryl, X5126

ANTIQUE CHERRY WOOD DRESSER, 3 drawers w/ mirror, $200/bo, twin bed w/ brass head & foot boards, $175/bo, 19" Zenith TV, color, cable ready, $150/bo, Quizar VCR, $75/bo, set of white American Tourister luggage, 2 suitcases & 1 make-up suitcase, $75/bo, Sandi, X6931, 531-3195

EL TORO SAILBOAT, teak, needs work, $250, Guy, X4703, Kathy, 482-1777

ESTATE/GARAGE SALE, maple dinette set & chairs $80, component set w/ tape recorder & 4 speakers, exc cond, $75; electric BBQ Weber, $25; ladder, $10; gardening tools, chairs, humidifier, luggage, other items at reasonable prices, July 29, 12-4 pm, 2018 Coalinga Ave, Richmond, 653-6964 or 235-2136

FAX/MODEM, ext 56K Zoom brand, has cables & software for Mac, can also be used for PC, $50, Rich, X5896, 524-8897

FULL SIZE FUTON & pad, 2 covers incl, artsy motif & cream lunar/sun pattern $275, wood-stained coffee table, $70, X4530

FUTON mattress & bed frame, like new, good looking frame, $150/bo, Eric, X4634

LITTLE TYKES sport utility vehicle, red, like new, $25; Little Tykes toddler/ preschool basketball hoop, $10; Gerry child's bicycle seat w/ mount for back of bike, $20, Don, X5206, 527-3930

LUGGAGE SALE, black suitcase,13 x 20", shoulder strap, extra zip & inside pockets, good cond, Ricardo of B Hills, $15/bo; duffel bag, med, black, good cond, $10/bo; luggage cart, Samsonite, up to 75 lbs, exc cond, nearly new, compact, black metal, $15/bo, Melissa, 665-5572, lve msg

METAL PATIO FURNITURE, table, 4 chairs & matching bench, $80/bo, Loretta, X5200, 530-7112

MOTOROLA TALKABOUT DISTANCE, new, yellow, 5 mi range, 10 ch, 38 privacy codes, 2 avail, $160/ea, X6464

MOVING SALE, July 30, king sz bed, oak tea table, wicker baskets, lamps, card tables, chairs, plants, full sz futon, telephone and TV tables, more, all in exc cond, Alfonso, X4332, 558-9246

SET OF IRON WEIGHTS and weight bench, $400 new, asking $225, Carol, X4848

SOFA, beige, very good cond, $90; matching loveseat, $60; big whirlpool ref/freezer, exc cond, $180, MS, (925) 631-0510, lve mess & phone #

SOFABED, queen sz, good cond, you pick up, $200/bo, kids' climbing structure, metal tubular frame, approx 10ft x 4ft, w/ slide, rings, bar and swings, $50; 15" NEC Multisync monitor 2A, PC or Mac, $60; old steamer trunk, $75/bo; Steve, X5064, 655-8379

TICKETS (2) for B-52s/Go-Gos/Psychedelic Furs concert on July 31, Shoreline Amphitheatre in Palo Alto, front row but not on center row, $48/ea, Ben, X6326

WOODEN BLINDS, 2" white Graber, 1 blind 65 3/4"W X 58 3/8"H, 2 blinds 25 1/2"W X 58 3/8"H, $50/bo for all 3 blinds, Sara/Harvard, 526-5347

Wanted

BIKE, good cond, X6878

SVGA MONITOR, 15", $40 or less, Gloria Bayne, 524-0937

Vacation

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, spacious chalet in Tyrol area, close to Heavenly, fully furn, sleeps 8+, sunny deck, pool and spa in Club House, close to casinos & other attractions, $155/night, Angela, X7712, Pat/Maria, 724-9450

TAHOE KEYS at S. Lake Tahoe, 3 bdrm house, 2-1/2 bth, fenced yard, quiet, sunny, close to attractions, private dock, great view, $150/night, 2 night min, Bob, 925-376-2211

Free

FIREWOOD, various lengths, 45 cu ft, all or part, you pick-up, Kensington area, Nancy, X7471

Lost & Found

FOUND: headphones outside lower level exit of Bldg 50A, Damon, X5230, identify & they are yours

Flea Market Policy

Ads are accepted only from LBNL employees, retirees, and onsite DOE personnel. Only items of your own personal property may be offered for sale.

Submissions must include name, affiliation, extension, and home phone number. Ads must be submitted in writing: via e-mail ([email protected]), fax (X6641), or delivered/mailed to Bldg. 65B.

Ads run one week only unless resubmitted in writing, and are repeated only as space permits.

Currents reserves the right to edit ads for space and style. Once submitted for publication, ads may not be retracted for any reason.

The deadline for the Aug. 11 issue is Thursday, Aug. 3.