Continuing Resolution
And Effect on Lab Funds

A congressional Continuing Resolution (CR) at the start of FY08 appears to be imminent. While there is some hope that it will be brief, lasting through mid-November, there is a chance it could last three to four months, based on FY07 levels. The Lab’s Office of the Chief Financial Officer will be leading an exercise in the next few weeks to assess the possible impact of a four-month CR at FY07 levels, with funding arriving in monthly increments through January.  It assumes that an Energy and Water Development Bill would be passed and signed by President  Bush sometime during December or January, and that the remainder of the FY08 funding would arrive at the Lab in February.

View Spread Peeks Into Lab’s Obscure Buildings

Mannequin in Bldg. 63 is helping to create healthier offices

Ever wonder what goes on inside some of the Lab’s not-so-familiar buildings? Reporter Ron Kolb and photographer Roy Kaltschmidt entered some of these more obscure locations and found plenty. See their two-page spread (designed by Caitlin Youngquist with the Creative Services Office) in this month’s issue of The View, as well as stories on the 30th annual Runaround on Oct. 19, the world’s smallest piston, and a profile of new Site Access Manager and Purple-Heart award winner Sam Houston. Go here to read the publication, or pick up a copy in the cafeteria or Bldg. 65 bus stop.

Lab Blood Drive
Today, Tomorrow

The Lab’s Philanthropy Club is sponsoring a Red Cross blood drive today and tomorrow, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event takes place in Building 2-100B (Health Services). Go here to register. For more information, call x6489 or x4181.

Lab employees can learn more about the Helios Energy Research Facility and the Computational Research and Theory (CRT) Facility at a brown-bag lunch today at noon in the Building 50 Auditorium. Director Steve Chu and Institutional Assurance Director Jim Krupnick will discuss the importance of the two facilities to the Lab’s research goals, and take questions from the audience. Light refreshments will be served. Go here to learn more about the two proposed facilities.

PUC Approves Funds
For Helios Facility

The Public Utilities Commission last Thursday approved $50 million to pay for research as well as development and demonstration projects related to the California Solar Initiative. Of the total, $10 million will go toward establishing the Helios facility at UC Berkeley and Berkeley Lab. The PUC also opened a discussion that could lead to the creation of the University of California system's California Institute for Climate Solutions. Full story.

Foundry Part of New Nanotech Initiative

Purdue University's Network for Computational Nanotechnology has received a $18.25 million grant from the National Science Foundation to support the U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative with expanded capabilities and services for computer simulations. The project includes partners at UC Berkeley, Berkeley Lab’s Molecular Foundry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Norfolk State University, Northwestern University and University of Texas at El Paso. Full story.