Minutes of the January 12 2002 Meeting of the Fermilab Users' Executive Committee (UEC) Attendees: John Conway(conway@fnal.gov) Robin Erbacher(robine@fnal.gov) Joey Huston(huston@pa.msu.edu) Sally Koutsoliotas(koutslts@bucknell.edu) Larry Nodulman(ljn@fnal.gov) Rob Plunkett(plunk@fnal.gov) Rick St. Denis(stdenis@fnal.gov) Benn Tannenbaum(benn@physics.ucla.edu) Sherry Towers(smjt@fnal.go) Gordon Watts(gwatts@fnal.gov) Chris White(cwhite@fnal.gov) Nate Goldschmidt (GSA) Absent: Roger Rusack(rusack@hep.umn.edu) Wendy Taylor{wendyt@fnal.gov) Freya Blekman(GSA) Mike Kirby (GSA) Heather Ray (GSA) Michel Sorel (GSA) Guests Mike Witherell, Sridhara Dasu (phone) NEWS items: DC trip April 24/5, Users Meeting June 10/11 The uec web page is up to date: http://www.fnal.gov/orgs/fermilab_users_org/ Benn called the meeting to order at 10 AM. He started by discussing issues raised in the HEPAP sub-panel report and the reaction to it; Chris received several e-mails which were forwarded, which were noted by the subpanel. The committee then took up selecting names (7) to suggest for HEPAP membership. We discussed that as a guideline, our suggestions should be from the Fermilab user community. We voted a selection to forward. We have also been asked for Fermilab PAC suggestions (3), and we are to send in suggestions with the selection to take place at the next meeting. We discussed possible dates for the Users Meeting and settled on: Users Meeting June 10/11, New Perspective to follow. Mike Witherell: Developments: NUMI re-baseline has been approved. The new URA contract was signed Dec. 27, there was a ceremony, Rep. (Speaker) Hastert attended, turnout was good, coverage was reasonable. The contract is for five years. Tevatron luminosity: Mike Church has a plan with steps (milestones) for scenarios of luminosity growth. The Tevatron operations budget is OK, there are some open Beams Division positions. The recycler had antiprotons stored, lifetime was 40 hours. Lots of attention and work is going into luminosity issues. Run IIb: Detector plans were reviewed, they are preparing for a Lehmann review, Ed Temple is helping. The accelerator has several parallel projects at the ~%M$ level which add up to about 30M$ described in a TDR: http://cosmo.fnal.gov/run2b/Documents/TDR/tdr.pdf Miniboone: expect to turn on mid 02. They loaded scintillator, had to unload back into the railroad car to fix a leak, now seems OK. Security: the lab is working on allowing neighbors in, fishing, biking, may be possible. Card readers are being installed at 8 spots to define secure areas, this was in the plan before last September, for property security. The June 10 Users meeting date fits in with Aspen and other meetings. The Linear Collider workshop in Chicago was well attended. Discussion - selection process for HEPAP and the PAC: For HEPAP there is a meeting of the chair, DOE and NSF representatives, and DPF perhaps to arrive at a balanced list - need balance in geography, women and minorities, DOE and NSF. For the PAC, need new people for the April meeting. Program Planning collects suggestions, the directorate goes over them, departing expertise needs to be replaced. The current PAC is a good group, no-one turns down membership. On the P5 committee, the subpanel report has been fleshed out. It will not replace lab PACs or redo their work. It should include PAC people, there will be a subpanel like process to choose members. Not clear if standing committee or subpanel like. NSF seems unenthusiastic about P5 - if you say no, the money goes away. RSVP (Kaon fixed target at Brookhaven) has been approved by NSF but not funded. The review of bTeV beyond the PAC is being worked on, may come soon. Rumblings about the 03 budget have DOE OoS flat in dollars, HEP similar, similar to 711M$ -> 711M$ 01 to 02. Since there are not many projects finishing, it is likely to be equally painful. Day Care discussion (Sherry): Sixteen people responded, mostly reasonably happy with day care, wait time not too bad. They were happy with the indoor facilities, except one room, and with the outdoor facilities. Staffing level was considered barely adequate. Hours were a problem, particularly creating a traffic jam after the wine and cheese. People liked the low turnover rate and thought the price competitive. There were complaints about geese in the playground and wishes that the summer day camp could be expanded. Patty will be invited to our next meeting. Robin: Mailing list problem of names dropped of in mid November is not understood. Recovery is under way. Washington trip: Before connecting with SLUO people, we wondered if a local party line was needed with respect to the Linear Collider (LC), but it seemed unlikely to be a primary concern for the 03 budget cycle, rather an agreed upon long term objective. Conference call joined Sally along with Sridhara (SLUO chair); could not find Homer Neal (contacted briefly eventually). Sridhara expected at least five from SLAC including two students, will try to bring along as many as possible. Joey went over calendar issues and we selected April 24/25 as our target for the DC trip. We will attempt to meet with appropriators, authorizers, insiders (administration people) and (new) international relations specialists. A web site is getting going and contacts should get going in early March. Homer Neal had listed some issues for us to think about: the deficit, the LHC budget problem, LC, education connection, physics (not so specialized), and damage from cuts. There is a very good article in the Economist (will expire) http://www.economist.com/surveys/displaystory.cfm?story_id=922278 UEC, GSA and relevant SLUO people should send Joey (or Sridhara) their home congressional district, and whatever comments about last year's contacts they may have. Committee reports: PACE is attempting to organize van pools at Fermilab, notices have been distributed. Inreach and outreach have not yet met. Chris reported that he and IIT are looking at developing a MINOS display for the Museum of Science and Industry. Planning is done with the University and museum staff helps. GSA - Nate: The LC symposium will be March 25th, so far they have recruited Peskin and D. Gerdes. Next UEC meeting will be February 9. Tentatively, the following meeting will be March 9.