Minutes of the UEC meeting of 1 March 2003

Present:   Chris White        UEC Chair           
           John Conway        UEC                     
           Sharon Hagopian    UEC
	   Martin Hennecke    GSA-FNAL
	   Joey Huston        UEC	   
           Rob Plunkett       UEC
	   Paul Sheldon       UEC                      
	   Eric Zimmermann    UEC
	             
Absent:    Fernanda Garcia    UEC
           Leslie Groer       UEC 
	   Benn Tannenbaum    UEC
           Wendy Taylor       UEC           
           Sherry Towers      UEC           
           Bob Tschirhart     UEC 
	   
SLAC Users Organization (SLUO) phone participants:
           Eli Rosenberg      SLUO Chair
           Chris Potter       
	   Gabriella Sciolla  
	   Amanda Weinstein   
	   Michael Wilson   
	
 1. Next HEPAP meeting   
   	
   Chris White has been asked to make a presentation at the March 6-7 HEPAP
   meeting.  Concerns to be raised include the FY04 HEP budget and security
   issues at national laboratories.
   
2. UEC Web Pages

   The UEC web pages do not meet the Fermilab standards. Sharon Hagopian
   will work with Elizabeth Clements of the Fermilab Public Affairs Office
   to bring them into compliance.
   
3. Annual Users Meeting

   John Conway has a draft agenda for the next Fermilab Annual Users Meeting,
   which will be held June 2-3, 2003, to be followed by the New Perspectives
   Graduate Student Conference. The Annual Meeting will include a panel
   discussion on the future of Fermilab. Suggestions for panel members are
   welcome. It is very important for both US and non-US users to attend this
   meeting. It should be publicized in FermiNews and other appropriate places. 
   
4. Fermilab  Funding 

   Chris White reported on a discussion he had  with Mike Witherell on February
   28. The FY03 funding from the Omnibus Appropriations Bill is $1.5 million
   less than the Fermilab planning budget and actually decreased by 0.5%
   relative to FY02. Various categories will be squeezed, but there will be
   no layoffs or program cancellations. The President's proposed budget for
   FY04 has a 0.8% increase for Fermilab relative to FY02. 
   
   
5. Non-US Issues

   Chris White, UEC chair and Rob Plunkett, non-US subcommittee chair, met with
   Bruce Chrisman last week to discuss access problems for non-US physicists.
   Proposed procedures for lab access  on evenings and weekends  for those
   non-US users with expired ID  badges are being considered. These would apply
   to those who are in the database (i.e. have gone through the new ID badge
   procedures at least once since February 4, 2003.)
   
   Those Fermilab users with visa problems should send information concerning
   this to Roy Rubinstein.
 
  

6. Washington trip planning

   Joey Huston is coordinating the 26-27 March trip to Washington, DC. UEC
   members planning to go should send their hotel requests to him. SLUO members
   going should send their hotel requests to Chris Potter. Amanda and Chris
   circulated a draft of the one page flier to be given to members of congress
   and staff members who are visited. It was suggested that a photograph of a
   physicist with a detector be added for visual impact. Joey will make a 
   tentative list of the contents of the packet to be left at each  visit.
   This should include Quarknet information and a E-MAIL list of SLAC and
   Fermilab Users. A glossy page with site photos of SLAC and Fermilab should
   be made. The SLUO group is also working on a FAQ sheet.  There will be a
   special UEC meeting on March 22 to finalize assignments for the DC trip.

 
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     | The next UEC meeting is scheduled for March 22. | 
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