The annual employee holiday party hosted by Director Steve Chu takes place today from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in the cafeteria. Employees are invited to enjoy refreshments, entertainment, and remarks by the Director.

Breakthrough Achieved
In Molecular Calculation

A hydrogen particle is blasted by an energetic photon

An international group of collaborators, including Berkeley Lab chemical scientists Thomas Rescigno and William McCurdy, have developed the first-ever complete quantum-mechanical solution of a system with four charged particles. The process — which, in effect, calculates what happens to the pieces after a molecule is blown to bits — will help researchers understand how a molecule is put together, the effects of the dance electrons perform to make a chemical bond. Full story.

UC Sexual Harassment
Policy Applies to Lab

The University of California is committed to creating and maintaining a community where all persons who participate in University programs and activities can work and learn together in an atmosphere free of all forms of harassment, exploitation, or intimidation. Every member of the University community should be aware that the University is strongly opposed to sexual harassment, and that such behavior is prohibited both by law and by University policy. The University will respond promptly and effectively to reports of sexual harassment, and will take appropriate action to prevent, to correct, and if necessary, to discipline behavior that violates this policy.  The University of California's policy and procedures concerning sexual harassment apply to Berkeley Lab and are part of RPM §§2.01(A)(1)(b) and 2.05(C). Additional information on reporting sexual harassment specific may be found here.

Big Blue to Simplify
Supercomputing

Kramer

IBM recently announced a software strategy in supercomputing, allowing customers to leverage its leading file system across mixed-vendor systems, dramatically simplifying the management of vast stores of data created through high performance computing. The product is called General Parallel File System, or GPFS. Bill Kramer, head of High Performance Computing at Berkeley Lab, says the new software has helped "change the very way science and engineering are conducted." Full story.

Lab's Classified Ads
Move to New Website

The Flea Market, the Lab's classified ad service for employees, is now online. Listings will no longer appear in the monthly edition of The View. To submit a listing, click the "Place an Ad" link on the Flea Market homepage. An LDAP password is required. Images of items can be included. Ads will remain online for up to 30 days. Go here to view the new site and post ads. In addition to a listing in the A-Z directory, a link to the Flea Market will appear in the info box located at the bottom of each issue of Today at Berkeley Lab.

Lawrence Road
Closure Tomorrow

A section of Lawrence Road near Building 72 will be closed from 6 a.m. to noon tomorrow. Strawberry Gate will be open during that time to accommodate traffic flow.

Voice Mail Glitch
Has Been Fixed

Due to a voice mail message disk failure yesterday, the voice mail system required emergency maintenance last night. This required the system to be off-line from 5:30 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. during which time callers were given an out of service message to call back later. As a result of the disk failure an unknown number of messages were not retrievable yesterday. However, the system has been fully restored and all voice mail messages can now be retrieved from your telephone. No messages were deleted. Direct questions to Cindy Wood (x4777).