Robin Staffin, DOE Associate Director of High Energy Physics, told Users: "We need a clear and compelling vision."

"There hasn't been a rush to prioritize in this field, because we don't know what's going to pay off," Staffin said Wednesday morning in Ramsey Auditorium, as the Users Annual Meeting began its first day. "But that puts stresses on the financing. DOE and NSF need to make their [budget] requests with prioritization…We need a clear and compelling vision."

Michael Turner, National Science Foundation Assistant Director for Mathematical and Physical Sciences, reinforced the point with his own "view from Washington," listing the challenges faced by particle physics. Among them: a tight budget, a $500 billion national deficit, higher national priorities, and expensive science with long lead times.

"Things will get more difficult before they get better," Turner warned.

Same message, different topic: Irving Lerch, recently retired after 11 years as American Physical Society Director of International Affairs, described the state of visa delays and backlogs for entering the U.S. as offering "probably no reason for optimism."

Lerch said the impact on the field included research delays, longer times for degree completions, and university classes left without instructors. He noted that in 2003, there were more than 200,000 foreign students in the U.S. in the fields of engineering, math and computing sciences, and the natural sciences. He described the visa situation as especially "choking" the Middle East, which has more than 34,000 students in the U.S.

The abundance of science on the day's program offered more promising prospects. Presentations includes results at both CDF and DZero in Top, Electroweak, B, QCD and New Physics; the strong upward trend in Tevatron luminosity; and Fermilab efforts to increase Linear Collider research and efforts to host the next generation machine.

Fermilab theorist Chris Hill summarized the view of the future: "In 10 years, the written laws of physics will be different than they are now."

Today's program begins with a report from Universities Research Association, Inc., president Fred Bernthal, followed by the presentation of the URA Thesis Award.
More information on the schedule, and access to presenters' slides

"It was neat to have talks by people that are really doing important stuff, instead of the standard kind of thing where you look back at what has been accomplished over the years," said Tollestrup. "It was great that so many people came."

Tollestrup, whose 80th birthday was March 22, began his particle physics career in 1946 as a graduate student at Caltech, where he spent the next 25 years. In 1975 he arrived at Fermilab on sabbatical, intending to stay only six months. He began working on superconducting accelerator technology, and the short stay turned into a 29-year career at the laboratory. Over the years, Tollestrup has worked extensively on the Tevatron magnets, served as co-spokesperson for CDF, and has become involved in the creation of an astrophysics center at the laboratory.