Brinkman to speak at 4 p.m. today at USLUO meeting

This week, Fermilab hosts the Annual Meeting of the US LHC Users Organization from Oct. 28-30. The 2010 meeting comes at the end of the LHC’s first proton-proton run, making it very timely for attendees to review the past year’s results and machine performance.

As part of the meeting, William Brinkman, the Director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science, will speak today at 4 p.m. in Ramsey Auditorium. All Fermilab employees and users are encouraged to attend.

Additional information about the meeting and an agenda are available online.

Fermilab gets new flexible spending account vendor

Fermilab has contracted with PayFlex to administer the laboratory's flexible spending account plan. PayFlex will begin managing Fermilab employees' FSA plans on Jan. 1.

PayFlex offers some enhancements to the FSA plan at Fermilab, including: direct deposit for both health care and dependent care, faster claim turnaround, improved first call resolution for claims issues to the call center, a mobile application and electronic update options.

Changes due to the health care reform include:

• The need for a doctor's prescription and store receipt for reimbursement of most over-the-counter drugs and medicines
• Eligible items, such as insulin or diabetic and first aid supplies will not require a prescription, but a receipt is still required

You can read more about the changes to the 2011 FSA plan here.

Enrollment, or re-enrollment, for Fermilab's FSA will take place Nov. 1-22. Employees must re-enroll every year to maintain a Health Care or Dependent Care account.

A representative from Pay Flex, Shay Butler, will give a series of presentations and will host question and answer sessions in November. Presentations will take place:

• 10-11 a.m. on Nov. 4, in One West
• 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. on Nov. 11 in One West
• 2-3 p.m. on Nov. 17, in CDF's The Big Room conference room

If you have never enrolled in an FSA, this is a good opportunity to become familiar on how you can benefit by setting aside on a pre-tax basis funds to pay for health and/or dependent care claims.

Training requirement for records management

By Monday, Nov. 1, Fermilab employees and other personnel working on the Fermilab site will receive an e-mail about a new online training module on records management.

As a government contractor, Fermilab has special responsibilities for keeping records. This applies to all documents, regardless of physical form, created or received by Fermilab in connection with laboratory business that are worth preserving for their documentary or informational value.

Although most people at the laboratory do not need a detailed understanding of records management, everyone at Fermilab should be familiar with the basics. To ensure this, Fermilab has set up an online training module for records management for everyone working on site. Please check your e-mail and complete this 20-minute course online, which is part of your ITNA requirement.

Specific definitions and examples can be found in the Fermilab Records
Management Handbook. If you have questions or comments, please contact Heath O'Connell, hoc@fnal.gov, head of Fermilab Information Resources.

Help preserve and restore the prairie at event Oct. 30

This year's prairie harvest will take place tomorrow on Saturday, Oct. 30. Fermilab employees are welcome to help collect seeds for re-planting, which is a step in preserving and restoring the prairie. A picnic lunch will be provided. Attendees should wear field clothing – long pants and long sleeves and closed-toed shoes – and gloves. Bring hand clippers and paper bags if possible. The harvest will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on site.

Learn more

Send in the scientists

From Science Progress, Oct. 27, 2010

Why Mobilizing America's Researchers Makes Sense for Diplomacy

Scientists as diplomats? Beyond longstanding cross-border, science-specific collaboration, the role of individual scientists representing the United States abroad would not immediately jump out as the best use of U.S. government resources of U.S. universities’ faculty members. The Obama administration thought otherwise—and is reaping the benefits in the Muslim world. U.S. universities should take notice.

The administration got things started with an address to the National Academy of Sciences in April 2009, during which President Obama announced major initiatives to boost research funding and bolster math and science education. The president called science, “more essential for our prosperity, our security, our health, and our environment than it has ever been.”

In November 2009, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton named three prominent U.S. scientists—professors Ahmed Zewail of the California Institute of Technology, Elias Zerhouni of John Hopkins School of Medicine, and Bruce Alberts of the University of California, San Francisco—to serve as the country’s first three Science Envoys as part of President Obama’s “New Beginning” initiative with Muslim communities around the world. In the year since their appointment, the Science Envoys traveled extensively throughout the Middle East, North Africa, and Southeast Asia to identify opportunities to deepen partnerships in science and technology.

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