Fermilab TodayTuesday, July 11, 2006
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Tuesday, July 11
12:00 p.m. Summer Lecture Series - Curia II
Speaker: A. Lennox, Fermilab
Title: Neutron Therapy
3:30 p.m. DIRECTOR'S COFFEE BREAK - 2nd Flr X-over
4:00 p.m. Accelerator Physics and Technology Seminar - Curia II (note location)
Speaker: H. J. Kim, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Title: Instability Studies on a Spherical Inertial Electrostatic Confinement

Wednesday, July 12
11:00 a.m. Fermilab ILC R&D Meeting - Curia II (note location)
Speaker: D. Mitchell and T. Arkan, Fermilab
Title: Cryomodule #6 Assembly at DESY
3:30 p.m. DIRECTOR'S COFFEE BREAK 2nd Flr X-Over
4:00 p.m. Fermilab Colloquium - Auditorium (note location)
Speaker: B. Filippone, California Institute of Technology
Title: Ultra-Cold Neutrons: From neV to TeV
Click here for a full calendar with links to additional information.

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Cafeteria
Tuesday, July 11
-Chicken & Rice Soup
-Cowboy Burger
-Baked Meatloaf with a Roasted Tomato Demi-Glace
-Parmesan Baked Fish
-Peppered Beef
-Assorted Slice Pizza
-Chipotle Chili & Queso Nachos Supreme

Wilson Hall Cafe Menu

Cafeteria

Wednesday, July 12
Lunch
-Roasted Vegetables and Cheese Strudel
-Vanilla Custard w/Blueberry Sauce

Thursday, July 13
Dinner
BOOKED

Chez Leon Menu
Call x4598 to make your reservation.

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Ohio grad student tracks Fermilab's egg-snatchers
coyote
"Last year we found 11 pups in a den," said Ohio State graduate student Justin Brown. (Click image for larger version.)
Chicagoland is being invaded by Canada--Canada geese, that is. But despite their exponential growth, Fermilab's population of feathered friends remains unusually stable. Justin Brown, an Ohio State University graduate student, says a year-long study he completed this June offers an answer to the riddle: Coyotes act as a natural population control by finding easy meals in goose nests. "In areas outside Fermilab, [goose] nest success rates are as high as 45 percent," Brown said. "At Fermilab we found only a one percent success rate." Fermilab's high numbers of coyotes, he says, makes them more likely to feed on goose nests.

To track egg-snatchers at Fermilab and in surrounding Cook, DuPage, Kane and Southern Lake counties, Brown used infrared cameras and clay-filled eggs anchored with fishing line. Photographs and bite marks in the clay helped researchers identify predators at 40 nest sites, but only after some trial and error. "The animals kept breaking the fishing line and running off with the [clay-filled] eggs, so we started using 80-pound test," Brown said.

Brown discovered coyotes raided as much as 75 percent of plundered nests while raccoons placed second. Another study, led by one of Brown's colleagues, shows coyote populations are also rising. "In rural areas, the average litter size is about four pups per litter, but around [Chicagoland] it's about seven," Brown said. "Last year we found 11 pups in a den." Although coyotes roaming suburban areas worry some residents, Brown says several locals are open to the option. "If you live next to the wetlands, you can get 100 geese a day in your yard," Brown said. "There are some people who will accept almost anything to get rid of the geese."

The Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation and Cook County Animal & Rabies Control funded Brown's investigation.
--Dave Mosher

DOE Press Release:
DOE Issues Request for Proposals Seeking a Contractor to Manage and Operate Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
WASHINGTON, DC - The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced the issuance of a final Request for Proposals (RFP) for the competitive selection of an approximately $1.58 billion, five-year management and operating contract for Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab). Fermilab is a major DOE Office of Science single program research facility located on 6,800 acres approximately 45 miles west of Chicago, Illinois.

"Fermilab is a world leader in high energy physics, which helps the U.S. maintain global competitiveness," said Under Secretary for Science, Dr. Raymond L. Orbach. "Through this contracting process, DOE seeks the best possible management of this laboratory to sustain our cutting-edge scientific resources in this highly competitive field of research."
Read full press release

Milestones
Q1
John Chapman retires: DOE Contract Specialist John Chapman will retire on July 27 after 11 years of service at Fermilab. Before he came to Fermilab, Chapman worked at the DOE Argonne Site Office after serving in the Air Force and working as a base contracting officer there. "It's been a great experience [at Fermilab], and people here have really been a joy to work with," said Chapman, adding that he'd like to travel and spend more time with his children and grandchildren after retirement.

Chapman's retirement luncheon will take place at the Gaslight Manor on Church Street July 19 and there will be an informal going-away party on Wilson Hall's 2nd floor Crossover on July 27. To reserve a spot at the luncheon, call Katee, x5737, by July 12. (Click on image for larger version.)

 
In the News
Beacon News, July 9, 2006:
Fermilab find reunited with family
The long-lost bank book of A.C. Logan has been reunited with his family.

On June 25, The Beacon News published an article about a pre-Depression "Aurora National Bank" book that literally fell into the hands of a worker doing floor repairs in an 1880s farmhouse, one of the original farmsteads of the 6,800-acre site of Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia

The small brown book has the engraving "Aurora National Bank - The Bank under the Chime Clock," and the ink is a faded gold. The owner's name, "A.C. Logan," printed behind a clear plastic window was all that was known.

A family member has linked the bank book to Arthur Chester Logan, a well-known electrician working for Aurora's wealthy and who grew up on the city's southeast side.

To family, he was Uncle Arthur, and he was greatly loved, especially at Christmas celebrations when he came as Santa Claus.

"He was tops to me," niece Miriam Williams said, clicking her fingers, with her head tilted while sporting a broad smile. "He was a character, and everybody loved him. He had many business friends that called on him."
Read More

Director's Corner
Convergence
This past July 1, I celebrated one year of writing Director's Corners.
Pier Oddone
Pier Oddone
Tempus fugit! I have enjoyed writing these columns, even late on Monday night up against the deadline. When I sit down to write I like to think about what has happened the past week that is worth sharing with all of you, a thread that I can add to the fabric that binds us all to this great institution.

This week's topic was easy. The Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel reported to HEPAP last week recommending running of SLAC's B factory through 2008, as well as the funding of certain projects in FY08, within the context of the roadmap that P5 is creating for the field. Their recommendations concerning the future roadmap are of great interest to Fermilab. Their advice integrates the reports of many other committees such as the Neutrino Advisory Group, the Dark Energy Task Force and most importantly the National Academy EPP2010 Committee that has provided a strategic framework for the whole field. Over the past year many scientists from Fermilab and our user community have made presentations to these committees about the projects that we would like to see in the national program.

HEPAP accepted the recommendations made by P5 and transmitted the recommendations to the DOE. As we had hoped P5 gives top priority to the R&D program for the ILC, devoting 60 percent of the resources that are available (outside of operating facilities) to this task. The other 40 percent are devoted to broadening the field by creating new opportunities for discovery. For FY08, P5 recommended the start of three of the projects that we at Fermilab have developed with our partner institutions. These three projects have very exciting and distinct goals. The Dark Energy Survey using the Blanco telescope in Chile will reduce the uncertainty in the measurements of the mysterious dark energy by a factor of three or more. The Cold Dark Matter Search Experiment (Super CDMS-25kg) uses detectors at nearly absolute zero degrees Kelvin deep underground to search directly for dark matter particles. It is an extension of the present CDMS experiment with potentially two orders of magnitude improvement in the sensitivity and greatly increased potential for new discoveries. The NOvA detector is a massive totally active neutrino detector to study some of the yet-unobserved phenomena expected in the neutrino sector. It is complementary to the T2K program in Japan.

The roadmap provided by P5 includes a truly exciting and challenging program for Fermilab and gives the laboratory great responsibility for supporting the particle physics community. Delivering on the many aspects of ILC R&D, delivering on the vital programs at the Tevatron, helping to commission LHC and CMS, and developing these three projects make up an extraordinary opportunity for new discoveries that we are very fortunate to have.

Photo of the Day
PPD's Boaz Klima caught his airplane's shadow circumscribed by a rainbow on his way to a particle physics conference. "I was very lucky since one needs all the 'stars' to line up nicely..." he writes, "the sun is at my 'back' so I can see the shadow, and there was moisture in the air..." (Click image for larger version.)

Submit questions for ILC meeting by tomorrow, July 12
Do you have a question about the Reference Design Report for the ILC? Or are you wondering about an ILC detector concept? Do you worry about how machine and detectors will work together? Or perhaps you have a question about the proposed timeline for building the ILC? At the Vancouver Linear Collider Workshop 2006, you will have the opportunity to ask your questions about the ILC on Thursday, July 20 at 7:30 p.m. in the Student Union Building Ballroom. If you have a question for the panel, please submit it in advance to communicators@linearcollider.org by Wednesday, July 12.
Read full article in ILC NewsLine
Accelerator Update
July 7 - 10
- Three stores provided 51 hours and 58 minutes of luminosity
- NuMI Horn still off
- TeV RF station trips off
- Booster kicker and chopper trips
- Store 4816 terminated to save lose due to potential quench
- Bad PLC causes Pbar to unstack
Read the Current Accelerator Update
Read the Early Bird Report
View the Tevatron Luminosity Charts

Announcements
Scottish Country Dancing
Scottish Country Dancing will meet Tuesday, July 11, in Ramsey Auditorium in Wilson Hall. Instruction begins at 7:30 p.m. and newcomers are always welcome. Most dances are fully taught and walked through, and you do not need to come with a partner. Dancing will continue in the Auditorium through the summer. Info at 630-840-8194 or 630-584-0825 or folkdance@fnal.gov.

International Folk Dancing
International Folk Dancing will have a special dance party, Thursday, July 13, with live music by accordionist Don Weeda, visiting from Austin,Texas. Dancing is held in the summer in Ramsey Auditorium in Wilson Hall. Dancing begins at 7:30 p.m. and continues until about 10 p.m. Newcomers are welcome and you do not need to come with a partner. Many dances will be taught or are followable. More info at 630-584-0825 or 630-840-8194 or folkdance@fnal.gov.

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