New Security Chief
Succeeds Don Bell

Lunsford

With the retirement after 12 years of Don Bell as Group Leader for Security and Emergency Operations, Berkeley Lab has welcomed Dan Lunsford to the position. Lunsford came to the Lab from the City of San Leandro, where he held the position of Emergency Services Manager since 1995. He holds B.S. (business administration) and M.S. (public administration) degrees from San Diego State, and is certified by the International Association of Emergency Management.

Dynes at UC Davis:
Bid for Berkeley Lab

Dynes

University of California President Robert Dynes said he will strongly encourage the UC Board of Regents to bid for the Berkeley Lab contract, according to the UC Davis student newspaper. At "A Dialogue With Robert Dynes," held at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts at Davis last week, Dynes answered a series of questions from members of the California Aggie editorial board in a "Meet the Press"-style forum. He also said he would reconsider pushing for bids on the Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos national labs if the U.S. Department of Energy expects the labs to be used primarily for weapons research. Full story.

Fusion, Nanospheres, Black
Carbon in Newest ‘Beat’

More Genomes, But
Shallower Coverage
By Elizabeth Pennisi

Bat: Next for sequencing?

For the human genome, nothing less than perfection was acceptable: Each DNA base was supposed to be correctly identified and in its proper position. But for a host of other mammals now in sequencers' sights, perfection may be too slow and expensive. The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) is considering a proposal from a new advisory committee to turn its sequencing centers loose on decoding the DNA of a dozen or so mammals, and with only a quick pass at the sequence of each species. "You have the possibility of sequencing lots of organisms quickly," says Berkeley Lab’s Edward Rubin, director of the DOE Joint Genome Institute. Full story.

‘Genomics Grab Bag’
In Science Netwatch

According to the latest issue of Science magazine, if you need help with genome analysis, you might want to take a look at VISTA, a newly revamped site from Berkeley Lab: “Its set of features lets you compare genomes from the site's collection of nine species or plug in your own sequences. Try the mVISTA browser to highlight similar and different regions in, say, a snippet of human DNA compared to that of a chimp's. Another tool locates attachment sites for transcription factors, which are proteins that flick genes up and down.” Go here to read the story, and here for the VISTA web site.

UC Proposes Extension
To Military Pay Policy

Under current University policy, eligible employees who are on active military duty may receive supplemental payments from the University to their military salaries and a continuation of their UC health plan benefits. Because it is the University's continuing desire to assist employees called to active military duty during current and related campaigns, the University is proposing to extend its policy until the end of the employees' active military duty commitment or until June 30, 2005, whichever comes first. To comment on this proposed change, send an e-mail or letter by June 9 to Mary Bishop, at MS 937R0600, or [email protected] Click here to view the full proposed extension.