|
Have a safe day!
Tuesday, Jan. 4
3:30 p.m.
DIRECTOR'S COFFEE BREAK - 2nd Flr X-Over
THERE WILL BE NO ACCELERATOR PHYSICS AND TECHNOLOGY SEMINAR TODAY
Wednesday, Jan. 5
1:30 p.m.
Particle Astrophysics Seminar (NOTE DATE and TIME) - One West
Speaker: Reinabelle Reyes, Princeton University
Title: Dark Energy or Modified Gravity? A Proof of Concept of a Robust Observational Test Using Weak Lensing and Redshift Distortions
3:30 p.m.
DIRECTOR'S COFFEE BREAK - 2nd Flr X-Over
4 p.m.
Fermilab Colloquium - One West
Speaker: Roland Horne, Stanford University
Title: The Deepwater Horizon Disaster: What Happened and Why
Click here for NALCAL,
a weekly calendar with links to additional information.
Upcoming conferences
|
|
Tuesday, Jan. 4
- Breakfast: Bagel sandwich
- Creamy turkey vegetable soup
- Chili dog
- Country fried steak
- Chicken cacciatore
- Italian panini w/provolone
- Assorted sliced pizza
- Super Burrito
Wilson Hall Cafe Menu
|
|
Wednesday, Jan. 5
Lunch
- Chicken enchiladas
- Refried beans
- Spanish rice
- Coconut cake
Thursday, Jan. 6
Dinner
- Coquille St. Jacques
- Pork tenderloin w/ marsala sauce
- Steamed broccoli
- Roasted potatoes w/onions
- Apple turnover w/ cream chantilly
Chez Leon Menu
Call x3524 to make your reservation.
|
|
Fermilab welcomes new Office of Communication Director
 |
|
Katie Yurkewicz, former U.S. LHC communicator, takes over as Office of Communication director at Fermilab on Jan. 10. |
Katie Yurkewicz, who has worked for the past four years as the U.S. LHC communicator, will become the new director of Fermilab’s Office of Communication on Jan. 10. She replaces Judy Jackson, who will retire in February after heading the office for 15 years.
After receiving her Ph.D. in nuclear physics from Michigan State University, Yurkewicz decided not to follow the traditional research or teaching career paths. She moved to Fermilab in 2003 to join her husband, Adam, a DZero physicist, and decided to pursue science writing. Jackson hired her to write several articles for Fermilab Today and FermiNews as a freelancer and then hired her as an intern. Realizing her talent for communication and passion for science writing, Jackson offered her a position as the first communicator for computing grid projects spearheaded by the U.S. particle physics community, and founding editor for the newsletter that became International Science Grid This Week. In 2006, Yurkewicz moved to CERN in Geneva, Switzerland, and became the first U.S. LHC communicator.
Jackson said that having a communicator funded by the U.S. and based at CERN was an experiment by Fermilab, CERN, DOE and NSF, born of a strong communication partnership between the two laboratories. Yurkewicz, she said, made the experiment a complete success.
“She’s very levelheaded and has been a great strategic thinker throughout our media events,” said James Gillies, CERN’s head of communication. “She’s a great choice for Fermilab’s office, but we’re sorry to see her go.”
Over the past four years of media swirl surrounding the LHC startup, Yurkewicz has been responsible for coordinating LHC communication in the United States, handling CERN’s queries from U.S. media, training U.S. LHC scientists to communicate with the media, and writing articles about the LHC. She also co-organized the Angels & Demons lecture series, which took advantage of the Hollywood spotlight to promote the LHC and particle physics.
“Her skills were forged in the fire,” Jackson said. “She was involved in the greatest particle physics moment in recent years. I have no doubt she will succeed in this role.”
Read more |
Retirement event
A luncheon to honor AD's Bill Wickenberg, a 40-year employee, will take place at
11:30 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 7, at Riverview Banquets, 1117 North Washington Ave. (Rt.
25) in Batavia. The cost is $20. Today is the final day to sign up. Contact Nancy Sells, x4446, to
RSVP or for more information.
|
Final decisions on FY 2011 appropriations bills delayed until spring
From FYI: The AIP Bulletin of Science Policy News, Dec. 29, 2010
President Obama signed a bill last week to continue funding for almost all federal programs at FY 2010 levels until March 4, 2011. This action was taken because the current Congress could not reach agreement about FY 2011 spending, putting off final decisions about appropriations bills until after the new Congress convenes. In looking ahead to what are expected to be contentious funding debates, the President reiterated his support for science and technology.
Two plans to finish the FY 2011 appropriations cycle failed. The first option was a House-passed bill that would have continued current FY 2010 spending until September 30, 2011.
The second option was an almost 2,000 page omnibus bill drafted by Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-HI) and Ranking Member Thad Cochran (R-MS) that was a compilation of the twelve appropriations bills. The bill was never considered on the Senate floor, in part because of objections that it included $8 billion for over 6,000 earmarks.
With time running out, Congress approved a new Continuing Resolution that provides funding at current spending levels through March 4. The 14-page law contains 21 changes or “anomalies” from existing legislation. One of the most significant is an increase of $624 million for the National Nuclear Security Administration and its activities related to the New START treaty that was ratified by the Senate last week.
Read more
|
|
Best wishes for the New Year!
 |
| Fermilab Director Pier Oddone |
We have closed a great year for the laboratory. Thanks to the efforts of everyone at the laboratory, every program has advanced as planned or faster than planned. Last year's budget miraculously was settled early in the fiscal year. The Tevatron and neutrino programs were the most productive in the world; our particle astrophysics programs made the news and had excellent review by DOE. The LHC turn on was very successful. Mu2e and LBNE both got CD-0, MicroBooNE got CD-1, and the g-2 proposed experiment got top marks and will be done, budgets permitting, setting the pace for our future intensity frontier program. Project X advanced nicely and is likely to achieve CD-0 soon. Two of our theorists were recognized with the Sakurai Prize of the American Physical Society. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act program stayed on schedule and greatly advanced NOvA, LBNE, superconducting radio frequency and several infrastructure programs. All this was recognized in the grades that DOE gave us in December, which were very good and qualified us for a further extension of the DOE contract with Fermi Research Alliance. At this point we are qualified for four years extension beyond the initial contract, taking us to 2016.
Technically we are poised for an equally successful year in 2011. Unfortunately the situation is less predictable, due to uncertainties on the budgetary front. We are living with a continuing resolution through March that does not allow new construction starts. The new congressional members are twirling an ax that may fall even on this fiscal year. We do not know the FY12 budget and its effect on our overall plans, including the Tevatron extension. The recent uncertainties created by the National Science Board action on DUSEL are a major complication in our planning. All of these issues make for a very challenging and demanding year ahead. It is important that in these tense times we bring forward the esprit de corps that characterizes Fermilab. We must all work not only very hard but with understanding and mutual support. I know I will need all your good wishes, support and understanding as I try to guide our institution through the turbulence ahead.
|
|
Dec. 22 - Jan. 3
- Five stores provided ~65.5 hours of luminosity
- T-932 (Diamond) began taking beam at MTest
- Store 8388 quenched due to a vacuum problem
- Cryo system technicians began a warm up of B1 to change out a spool piece
- NuMI and MiniBooNE continued to take beam as it was available
- Beam to T-932 stopped due to accesses into the transfer hall
- Machines conducted maintenance and studies
*The integrated luminosity for the period from 12/22/10 to 1/3/11 was ~53.9 inverse picobarns. NuMI reported receiving 8.8118 protons from 12/27/10 to 1/3/11.
Read the Current Accelerator Update
Read the Early Bird Report
View the Tevatron Luminosity Charts
|
|
Mostly sunny
