News Briefs: May 1, 2009

‘Science and Society’ colloquium program

The Laboratory will host guest speaker J.D. Hokoyama, on Tuesday, May 12, at 1 p.m. in the Bldg. 123 auditorium. Hokoyama is president and CEO of Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics Inc. (LEAP). His talk will mark the second session of the Lab’s "Science and Society" colloquium series launched earlier this year.

LEAP is the nation’s premier organization for leadership and management training designed to address issues unique to the Asian American community. Hokoyama has led the organization since 1988. 

The subject of Hokoyama’s talk will be "One Nation In-di-vis-able – Can Hyphenated Americans Honor Their Heritage and Embrace a New National Unity?" The talk also will recognize Asian American History Month and highlight the contributions that Asian and Pacific Island Americans have made to the American mosaic. All employees are invited to attend this talk. 

Tommy Smith, deputy director of LLNL’s Office of Strategic Diversity Programs said, "The goal of the ‘Science and Society’ colloquium is to foster a continuation of the often difficult conversations surrounding diversity issues."

The program includes a dialogue session following the talk aimed at Laboratory managers and alumni of the Museum of Tolerance program. 

For more information about LEAP, go to the Web.

For more information about the program, of if you have questions, contact smith80 [at] llnl.gov ( Smith ) .

— Linda Lucchetti

Laboratory restricts business travel to Mexico

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends that U.S. travelers avoid all nonessential travel to Mexico.  Investigation is continuing to clarify the spread and severity of the disease in Mexico. Suspect clinical cases have been reported in 19 of the country's 32 states. The World Health Organization (WHO), the Global Alert and Response Network (GOARN), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have sent experts to Mexico to work with health authorities.

Accordingly, the Laboratory is restricting business travel to Mexico unless for essential purposes.  All travel to Mexico must receive prior Director’s Office approval. Travelers should work with Travel Services to coordinate prior approval.  Laboratory employees that do require essential business travel to Mexico need to contact Health Services at 423-6903 for consultation prior to departure.

The CDC has confirmed that seven of 14 respiratory specimens sent to CDC by the Mexican National Influenza Center are positive for swine influenza virus and are similar to the swine influenza viruses recently identified in the United States.  On April 25, the WHO Director-General declared this event a Public Health Emergency of International Concern under the rules of the International Health Regulations. CDC and state public and animal health authorities are currently investigating 20 cases of swine flu in humans in California, Texas, Kansas, Ohio and New York City. Some of the U.S. cases have been linked to travel to Mexico.

Lab to hold Family Days Open House May 30-31

The Laboratory will hold a Family Days Open House from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 30, and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, May 31, for employees, contractors and their invited family and friends.

LLNL retirees also are welcome to attend. But, because of current site access security requirements, retirees will need to find an employee with a current badge to serve as an escort for the visit. A limited number of volunteer escorts will be available to host visitors. Contact information for retirees interested in participating will be provided in the May 8 edition of Newsline .

Employees will be allowed to bring eight guests per visit; a guest card must be filled out by the escorting employee and submitted for each visit. The forms are available to employees on the internal open house Website. Employees planning to invite family or friends who are foreign nationals are reminded that the deadline for submitting "Non-U.S Citizen Forms" is COB Monday, May 4. Foreign nationals include all non-U.S. citizens residing in the United States on a green card. For the event, non-U.S. citizens requiring escort includes foreign national employees.

Additional information/publications for guests will be made available through Newsline as the date of the event approaches.