Happy b-day, Fermilab Today!

Fermilab Today turns 5.

On July 20, 2003, Fermilab's then Office of Public Affairs launched Fermilab Today, an interactive, online news publication. It brought expanded news of high-energy physics and daily events at the laboratory to Fermilab readers and other subscribers.

Elizabeth Clements, Fermilab Today's first editor, sends out the first issue of Fermilab Today.

With daily delivery, Fermilab Today has become a part of the life of the laboratory. Since its inception, Fermilab Today has highlighted research results, communicated good news and bad, emphasized important activities and deadlines and shared the lives of those who read it.

Fermilab Today publishes regular columns from departments, such as ES&H's "Safety Tip of the Week," the scientific "Result of the Week," which usually alternates between CDF and DZero, and columns from the heads of Fermilab's divisions, sections and centers.

Siri Steiner, Fermilab Today's second editor

Thanks to the help of Fermilab's Visual Media Services, Fermilab Today uses multiple media to build bridges between different parts of the laboratory and help colleagues learn about each others' work. Fermilab Today served as a resource during the recent budget crisis and subsequent furloughs. It has also become a regular resource for reporters seeking science news. Fermilab Today was among the first publications to announce the discovery of the "triple scoop" baryon, measurement of the top mass, ruling out of a fourth neutrino and discovery of the source of the highest-energy cosmic rays.

Current editor Rhianna Wisniewski

To celebrate the past five years, the Office of Communication invites the Fermilab community to a party in the Users' Center today beginning at 4 p.m.

Making art a family affair

Oak Street Beach, a watercolor from artist Mark McMahon. A selection of McMahon's work, and that of his family members, is featured in the Fermilab Art Gallery's current art exhibit.

Most people would feel lucky if their children followed in their footsteps, taking on the family practice or picking up the same trades. But when most of Franklin McMahon's nine children and a few of his 13 grandchildren decided to become artists, he was a little overwhelmed.

"They all learned on their own. Some are artists and some have real jobs," Franklin joked.

Much of the McMahon clan chose art as a career, but they produce works using different media. Sculpture, watercolor paintings, sketches, furniture, Web design, photography and carvings all find a place in the McMahon Family Affair, an art exhibit now on display in Fermilab's Art Gallery.

"I was sort of born into it," said son Mark McMahon. "Art was always around."

Franklin, the 87-year-old patriarch, began sketching cartoons in high school and made a career of painting and sketching. He has captured some of last century's most memorable events on paper, including the opening day of Vatican Council II, the 1960 Democratic and Republican conventions and the first landing on the moon.

Like his father, Mark paints from on-location sketches. His personality-injected watercolors depict events and scenes from locations around the world. Mark's wife, Carolyn, focuses her artistic efforts on sculpting with metal, ceramic and glass, in often overlapping techniques. She also produces sculptures in neon, which she says can combine color and multiple dimensions. Franklin's son Frank spent most of his life as a photographer before turning to Web development. Both elements mingle in his printed pieces.

This is the first time that more than 10 family members have been in the same exhibit.

"These events have kind of substituted for family reunions," said Elise McMahon, daughter of Mark and Carolyn, whose sculpted furniture appears in the exhibit.

The McMahon family's art works will remain on display through Wednesday, Sept. 17. All employees may attend an opening reception today, Aug. 1, from 5-7 p.m. in the Fermilab Art Gallery.

-- Rhianna Wisniewski