Governor to Make Brief
Stop at Laboratory Today

Schwarzenegger

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will be making his first visit to Berkeley Lab this afternoon. His one-hour stop will include a tour of the Advanced Light Source and discussions with Lab Director Steve Chu, University of California President Robert Dynes, and UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau, all of which will be private. A press conference at the ALS will follow the tour. A report on the visit will be published in Monday's edition of Today at Berkeley Lab.

Electrical Safety
Manual Updated

The electrical safety chapter of Berkeley Lab’s Health and Safety Manual has been updated and was issued on August 15. Because of lessons learned from the electrical accident at the Stanford Linear Accelerator in October 2004, DOE’s science labs have been working to upgrade their electrical safety programs. Go here for more information and to review the updated chapter.

Following the completion of three pilot projects on a 9-day 80-hour (9/80) work schedule, Laboratory management has decided that, due to current business needs, this workplace option will not be offered at this time. The current Laboratory procedures on flexible hours and telecommuting will continue to offer employees the opportunity to adjust their work schedules based upon specific personal or business considerations (RPM Section 2.23). Management will review periodically, and may revisit the issue, depending upon results of an upcoming work climate survey this fall. Read more about the decision here.

Global Warming: Some
Insurers Predict Storms

Looking ahead at a warmer planet, British insurers see more frequent and severe storms ahead, with losses on insured property perhaps rising 65 percent by 2080 compared with losses now. Japanese insurers are coming to similar conclusions. But climate change is barely on the radar for the U.S. insurance industry, rating far less attention than asbestos and terrorist attacks. Unlike their counterparts overseas, American insurers suggest that climate change, while probably a very real phenomenon, isn't such a big deal. That could be a costly gamble, said Evan Mills, a Berkeley Lab physicist and energy-policy analyst. Full story.