Efficiency Standards Could
Aid Central America
By Marianne Osterkorn

McNeil

Earlier this year, Mexican finance minister Agustín Carstens made a surprise announcement that his country could become a fully developed nation within 20 years. Improved competitiveness, a stronger inflation and growth record and a rush of investor optimism all confirm that the nation is resting on a much firmer economic platform than it was during the 1990s. Experts have noted that much of the economic recovery in Central America can be traced to production and energy inefficiencies, and that standards are required. “There are standards agencies, but they have focused their actions mainly connected to safety and food issues,” says Michael McNeil, a Berkeley Lab researcher, adding that intricate market barriers need to be removed to encourage energy efficiency. Full story.

State Says No to Coal
But World Disagrees
By Robert Collier

Myer

California took its final step toward weaning itself off coal last week, while the rest of the nation — and the world — continued in the opposite direction. The Bush administration's main coal technology is FutureGen, a program that converts coal into gas and pumps the carbon dioxide into depleted oil and gas formations underground. But a concern with this practice is safety. The Energy Department is conducting a large-scale test called WestCarb that will pump carbon dioxide into depleted gas wells near Thornton, CA. Larry Myer, Berkeley Lab earth scientist and WestCarb technical director, is confident of its safety, but says: "You need to demonstrate it to the public … this can and should be started today, here and around the world." Full story.

Citizenship Question
Reinstituted at Gates

Visitors arriving at Berkeley Lab gates will once again be required to provide citizenship information in accordance with Department of Energy directives. Further processing and DOE approval will be required for citizens of "T-5" countries (Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria). For more information on this policy, contact Maki Tabata or Jim Breckinridge.

Self-Assessment
Writing Class Monday

The Berkeley Lab Institute (BLI) is holding two sessions of "Writing Your Self-Assessment" (BLI1001) on Monday to help employees prepare for the annual performance review process beginning in July. The morning session begins at 10:30 a.m. and the afternoon session at 1 p.m.  Go here for more information and to enroll.

Fairs, Quake Drill, Talks
Set for Emergency Week

Duck, cover and hold

Emergency Preparedness Week at Berkeley Lab kicks off on Monday with an outdoor fair during the noon hour at the cafeteria. That will be followed by daily activities throughout the week, including the annual "drop, cover and hold" earthquake drill for all employees on Wednesday, a Wellness Fair at the cafeteria on Thursday, and two informative safety talks in the Building 50 Auditorium at noon Thursday and Friday. A medical transport helicopter will land and be available for inspection on Tuesday. For a complete list of activities, go here.

Keasling Helios Talk
Downtown on Monday

Keasling

Jay Keasling, director of Berkeley Lab's Physical Biosciences Division, will give the final talk of the Helios lecture series at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre on Monday. The talk begins at 5:30 p.m. at 2025 Addison St. Keasling will discuss "Renewable Energy from Synthetic Biology." The event is free and open to the public.

From l-r, Perlmutter, Desagneaux, Chu

Members of French
Consulate Visit the Lab

Frédéric Desagneaux, the French Consul-General for San Francisco, and a team of consul representatives visited Berkeley Lab on Wednesday. The group met with Lab Director Steve Chu and heard presentations on the Supernova Acceleration Probe (SNAP) from physicist Saul Perlmutter and renewable energy research from Joint Genome Institute and Genomics Division Director Eddy Rubin. The group was also hosted by Steve Selkowitz at the Windows Research Facility and toured the Molecular Foundry with Dmitri Talabin and Ron Zuckerman. SNAP collaborators include France's Centre de Physique des Particules de Marseille, Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille, the University of Paris VI, and the French Space Agency.

Nuclear Sciences School
Held at Lab Last Week

The Lab's Nuclear Sciences Division hosted the second Berkeley School on Collective Dynamics last week. The program focused on chiral symmetry and the properties of hadrons in a modified QCD vacuum. The school, held every two years, attracted 35 graduate students and young post-docs from universities and research institutions around the world. "We pick a topic related to nuclear physics and go a little bit deeper," said school organizer Volker Koch. "We're trying to give participants a broader view of nuclear physics in addition to their specific expertise."