Fermilab TodayMonday, May 10, 2004  
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Monday, May 10
2:30 p.m. Theoretical Astrophysics Seminar - Curia II
Speaker: D. Scott, University of British Columbia
Title: Dusty Corners of the Universe
3:30 p.m. DIRECTOR'S COFFEE BREAK - 2nd Flr X-Over
4:00 p.m. All Experimenters' Meeting - Curia II
Special Topic: 2.5 MHz Pbar Transfers in MI

Tuesday, May 11
3:30 p.m. DIRECTOR'S COFFEE BREAK - 2nd Flr X-Over
THERE WILL BE NO ACCELERATOR PHYSICS AND TECHNOLOGY SEMINAR TODAY

Cafeteria
Monday, May 10
Wisconsin Cheese soup
Chicken Provencale $3.75
John Wayne Casserole $3.50
BBQ Panini with Pepper Jack Cheese $4.75
Hawaiian Style Deep Dish pizza $2.75
Kung Pao Chicken with Peanuts & Scallions $4.75
Wilson Hall Cafe Menu
Chez Leon
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Weather Thunderstorms Likely 84º/58º

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Electrical Safety Month Profiles
In connection with Electrical Safety Month, Fermilab Today begins a series of profiles recognizing Electrical Safety Managers at Fermilab.

Electrical Safety Manager Jim Garvey
Jim Garvey
Jim Garvey
Jim Garvey's focus on safety has not wavered during his 35 years at Fermilab. In his position as electrical coordinator for the Technical Division and as a qualified Task Manager, he emphasizes safe work practices.

"Safety is a number one priority in TD," said Garvey. "We work on everything from 480 V power supplies to computers using one-millionth of a volt, and we practice the same level of safety throughout."

In TD, many changes have been made that increase worker safety, including rigidly enforcing a ban on "live" electrical work, issuing work permits that include all required personal protective equipment, and completing a five-year short-circuit analysis of all TD buildings. "In large part all of our efforts to improve safety are done with a great deal of support from the TD headquarters office," Garvey said.

Garvey has also worked to increase safety around Fermilab, as a longtime member of the safety committee and as the co-author of many electrical safety documents. His work to instill safe working habits in others has paid off. In his 35 years at the laboratory, none of the workers he's supervised has been shocked or injured.

"Safety is a state of mind-you have to get to the point where you do safe practices without thinking about it," said Garvey. "It can be done."
Next: Electrical Safety Manager Jim Ranson

Accelerator Update
May 5-May 7
- During this period of time Operations established one store that added to an existing store provided approximately 47 hours and 12 minutes of luminosity to the experiments.
- The Main Injector suffered from Lambertson trouble

View the current accelerator update
View the Tevatron Luminosity Charts

In the News
From the New York Times, May 7, 2004
Losing Our Technical Dominance
The United States remains the pre-eminent scientific and technological power in the world, but there are signs that it is losing ground to foreign competitors. To some extent this is inevitable — and even desirable. The greater the diffusion of scientific capabilities, the better off the world will probably be. Still, the situation in the United States is worrisome. Fewer and fewer young Americans seem interested in technical careers, and fewer young foreigners will be arriving to take their places. If this trend is not reversed, the pool of trained scientists and engineers in this country will shrink, and the shortfalls may harm economic growth and the technical underpinnings of national security.

These measures of America's success and decline were laid out in articles this week by William J. Broad of The Times and in a voluminous report by the National Science Foundation. The United States still spends far more on research and development than any other nation. That has enabled this country to dominate high-technology exports, publish more scientific papers and win more Nobel Prizes than other nations, but they are closing the gap.
read more

Safety Tip
Is it de-energized?
Whether at work or at home, it is safe to work on electrical circuits only after they have been de-energized. But it is often difficult to determine whether a particular circuit has been inactivated. In fact, many incidents are caused by circuits that were supposed to be "dead" but were actually energized. Therefore, every electrical circuit should be tested before you touch it.

How can you verify that a circuit is de-energized? A simple voltage detector can be used to determine that electrical equipment is live, without making a physical connection. This device detects electric fields, which are present whenever there is voltage, even if no current is flowing.

GB Instrument
Fermilab currently stocks voltage detectors
Fermilab currently stocks GB Instruments GVD-504A (Stock #1145-501000 @ ~$11.75 each). This device is designed to detect 50-600 volts at switch and receptacle outlets as well as along wiring. Visual flashing and audible beeping signal the presence of voltage. Insulation on a conductor does not interfere with measurement, but shielding does (e.g., on cables used on computers). The detector does not work with DC fields and will sometimes give false positive readings from nearby energized conductors. Although, there is a "safe test" feature to check the batteries and tester, the detector should always be pre-tested on a known energized circuit before use (e.g., hot side of a 120 VAC receptacle).

Keep in mind that a voltage detector only provides an additional check to verify that equipment has been completely de-energized. Workers must still follow procedures for de-energizing and lockout tagout.

Have a great day and let's work safely all week!
Safety Tip of the Week Archive

Announcements
Accelerated C++ Short Course
On June 7,Fermilab will offer "Accelerated C++: A Short Course in Practical Programming by Example." This course is an extended professional development experience that emphasizes computer programming in modern standard C++. No tuition is charged; the only cost is for the required textbook (a URA subsidy is available for qualifying graduate students). Walter Brown, one of Fermilab's representatives to the international C++ standardization effort, is the course instructor. He is a member of the Computing Division's CEPA department.
more information

Upcoming Classes
May 11-13 & May 20-21: Java Intro
May 18 & 19: Access 2000 Application Development
May 24 & 25: Dreamweaver MX 2004 Intro
May 26 & 27: Dreamweaver MX 2004 Advanced
June 15 & 17: HTML Intro, Intro to Web Publishing (two half days)
June 16: Accomplishment Report Writing
June 21-25: LabView Intermediate I: Successful Dev. Prac. - two sessions AM & PM
June 29 - July 1: HTML Intermediate, Enhanced Layout (two half days)
July 8 & 21: Accomplishment Report Writing
more information

Free English Classes
NALWO-sponsored free English language classes for beginning and advanced levels are Mondays at the Users Center from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.



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