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Friday, Sept. 12, 2008


user facilityLRDP:  Court Rules in Favor of Lab’s Development Plan

Last week, the Alameda County Superior Court issued its decision on a lawsuit challenging the University of California Board of Regents’ approval of the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for Berkeley Lab’s 2006 Long Range Development Plan (LRDP). In the Sept. 5 decision, the court ruled in the Regents’ favor on nearly every point. The court did, however, rule that Berkeley Lab is required to recirculate for public comment its analysis of the potential impact of 2006 LRDP implementation on climate change. More>


LHS celebrationLHC Launch: Scientists, Engineers Celebrate in San Francisco

CERN is a European laboratory, but more than 1,700 people from DOE national laboratories and American universities are contributors to the Large Hadron Collider. On Wednesday night hundreds of Bay Area engineers, physicists, computer scientists and their guests celebrated the successful startup of the LHC at a party in downtown San Francisco sponsored by the Swiss outreach agency, swissnex. Go here for more on the celebration and to view a photo slideshow of the event.


white roofResearch News: ‘Global Cooling’ with White Roofs and Cool Pavements

California scientists recently announced a formula to calculate how much carbon dioxide can be offset by increasing the reflectivity of rooftops and other urban surfaces. "The potential energy savings in the U.S. is in excess of $1 billion annually,” says California Energy Commissioner and former Lab scientist Art Rosenfeld. Together with Rosenfeld, Hashem Akbari and Surabi Menon (Environmental Energy Technologies Division) have successfully quantified the effects of white roofs in populated settings in terms of CO2 offset. Go here for the California Energy Commission press release and here for an LA Times story on the research.


richard sakallygraham flemingPeople: Lab Scientists are ACS 2009 National Award Winners

Winners of the American Chemical Society’s 2009 national awards included Berkeley Lab’s Graham Fleming (right), who won the Joel Henry Hildebrand Award in the Theoretical & Experimental Chemistry of Liquids, and Richard Saykally (far right), who won the Peter Debye Award in Physical Chemistry. The recipients will be honored at the Awards Ceremony on March 24, 2009, in conjunction with the ACS national meeting in Salt Lake City.


Special Event: Scientists Needed To Staff Lab’s Solano Stroll Booth on Sunday

While many staff have volunteered to assist with the Lab’s Solano Stroll Booth this Sunday, organizers say more scientists are needed. Help the Lab share its story with the community by spending an hour or two at the booth. Free t-shirts will be provided. Contact Beverly Harris to sign-up.


Facilities Update: Various Projects Will Affect Lab Traffic Tomorrow

Various work projects, including tree removal, paving, and line painting on roadways, will affect traffic near Building 76, Alvarez Road between Buildings 55 and 90, the bus turnaround near Buildings 62 and 66, and crosswalks throughout the Lab tomorrow. Pedestrians and drivers are urged to use caution when traversing these areas.


Policy Note: Technical Clarification to Work Deferment Policy

On August 18, the new Work Deferment Policy (RPM Section 2.29) became effective.  In circumstances when funding is limited for a temporary period of time, this new policy would provide an alternative strategy to avoid permanent layoffs. The policy allows for temporary work deferment or temporary reduction in time as an option. Such arrangements can retain the valuable skills of existing employees while responding to short-term critical budget or work shortage issues. The new policy is applicable to all Career and Term Appointment employees.  This policy is not applicable to all other employee classifications, including Faculty, Postdoctoral Fellows, Visiting Researchers, Limited, Rehired Retiree, Graduate Student Research Assistants (GSRAs), and Student Assistants. Represented employees should contact their union representative or consult their collective bargaining agreement.