Heroes answer the call

Today's column is written by Paul Czarapata, deputy division head of the Accelerator Division.

Paul Czarapata

Seeing and hearing the first signs of spring led me to think back to the near blizzard conditions of a few short weeks ago. In recalling those really nasty weather days, I could not help but think of the real "heroes" at the lab, representing a number of divisions and sections. Certainly our Security, Fire Department, and Roads & Grounds personnel respond to the call in horrific weather. Whether plowing snow, or checking on the general welfare of the laboratory and its equipment, all the efforts of these dedicated people focus on preparing the lab and making it safe for the dayshift personnel.

In the Accelerator Division, a myriad of people respond to that phone call at 2:00 a.m. from the Operations Crew Chief. It seems that support personnel, engineers, machine specialists and physicists are all just a phone call away. They have been called after just getting home from their dayshift duties, and asked to return because one of their systems is down. They have been called in the middle of birthday parties and holidays. The Accelerator complex is an unforgiving task master, demanding attention no matter the time of day or weather conditions. Heroes are constantly and consistently responding to the call. They are indispensable for the operation of the machines.

My personal observation is that to many of these heroes, the weekend just represents two more days that they can be called back to work. Many traditional dayshift workers never worry about being called in to work in the dark of the night, or in near blizzard conditions; to the heroes of the lab, however, those calls represent a fact of life.

The pride and ownership demonstrated by these people for their machines and systems is symbolic of a research laboratory environment. This is not your father's factory, after all. I tip my hat and offer my gratitude for these true heroes of the lab.

From The New Yorker
May 7, 2007

Crash Course

Can a seventeen-mile-long collider unlock the universe?

The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN, has its offices on the outskirts of Geneva, in an area once devoted to dairy farms and now given over to sprawl. The offices occupy several dozen buildings, some of them in Switzerland and the remainder, a few hundred yards away, in France. The buildings are reachable by roads with names like Route Bohr, Route Schrödinger, and Route Curie. By the entrance to the complex, there is a museum-nearly empty the day I visited-that attempts to make particle physics comprehensible to the general public. Behind that there is a park where bits of old cyclotrons are displayed, like playground equipment from Mars.

Professional Development
New classes are always being added to the professional development schedule. For the most up-to-date course offerings, go to the web page.

Fermilab Barnstormers meeting Wednesday
The Fermilab Barnstormers will have their regular monthly meeting on Wednesday, May 9 at 5:30 p.m. Assuming the weather cooperates, we will meet at the Frelo Flying Field across from the Pioneer Cemetery for our first outdoor flying meeting of the season. If the weather does not allow us to fly, we will meet at the Users' Center in the Fermilab Village.

Fidelity retirement counselor here Friday
Fermilab's Fidelity retirement counselor, Rodney Weems, will be on site on Friday, May 11, 2007. If you would like to schedule a retirement counseling appointment, please call 1-800-642-7131. Rodney is available from 9:30 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.

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