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News Briefs: December 19, 2008

TID puts on the dog with 'best of show' at STC

The Phoenix Chapter of the Society for Technical Communication (STC) recently announced the winners of their 2008 regional competition. The Laboratory's magazine, Science & Technology Review, won a distinguished award and also was named Best of Show. The magazine is sponsored by the Director's Office. It is edited and produced by the Technical Information Department (TID).

TID has won the Best of Show award for three years in a row at the Southwest Regional competition. Winners of a distinguished award at the regional level are automatically entered in the STC's international competition.

TID won six additional regional awards: three excellence awards and three merit awards. Excellence awards were granted for the 2007 Laboratory Annual Report; the Power of Light Website; and the Bioenergy brochure. A recruiting brochure, Lawrence Fellowship poster, and LDRD Website won merit awards.

Distinguished Award Science and Technology Review Magazine (Best of Show)

    S&TR Staff Jane P. Bearinger Paul Chrzanowski

Excellence Awards 2007 Annual Report

    Katie Walter George Kitrinos Paul Chrzanowski

The Power of Light Website

    Jill Garland Damien Jemison Charles Osolin

Bioenergy Brochure

    Kevin Melissare Stephanie Shang

Merit Awards Do you Have What It Takes? Recruiting Brochure

    George Kitrinos Lauren DeVore Linnea Cook

Lawrence Fellowship Poster

    George Kitrinos Christine Zachow Kristen Kulp

LDRD Website

    Jeff Sketchley Paul Kotta Denise Kellom

Lab to launch 'Science and Society' colloquium

The Laboratory will host guest speaker Mitchell Kapor on Jan. 14 at 1 p.m. in the Bldg. 123 auditorium. Kapor, founder of Lotus Development Corporation and the developer of Lotus 1-2-3, will launch the first session of a new Lab program, "Science and Society," a colloquium series.

The subject of Kapor's talk will be "Leveling the Playing Field — Addressing Economic Dimensions of Opportunity and Access."

After achieving financial success with Lotus Development, Kapor and his wife founded a number of philanthropic ventures, one of which is the Level Playing Field Institute (LPFI).

The organization identifies underrepresented students who have been admitted to UC Berkeley on academic merit but lack the financial means to attend. Last year, the Lab employed one of the LPFI students as a summer intern. The student later won an award for the research he was involved in at the Lab.

The "Science and Society" program is being established as the follow-up component to the Museum of Tolerance (MOT) leadership development program held in Los Angeles, which many Lab managers have participated in since 2006.

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

The controlled setting of the MOT program helped us to get these conversations started. Hopefully, this follow-on effort will make it easier to continue these discussions here in our own Lab environment."

The format for the one and one-half hour colloquium will be a brief introduction followed by the speaker's presentation (approximately 30-40 minutes). The remainder of the time will be devoted to an extended Q&A and discussion session.

The program is aimed at Laboratory managers, particularly those who are alumni of the Museum of Tolerance program.

Newsline's 'Look Back at 2008' to be printed

Exceptionally, Newsline will print its annual year-in-review edition, which will appear Friday, Jan. 9. Bundles of Newsline 's printed Look Back at 2008 will be distributed to Lab L mail stops. Newsline will resume regular Web-based publication with its Friday, Jan. 16 edition.

Many employees find this month-by-month listing of important events (Science & Technology, Operations and People) a useful reference.

A limited number of the printed editions will be made available to retirees in the Discovery Center and the Livermore Public Library on Livermore Avenue. This special edition also will be available in pdf format online.

Season's greetings from the fall guys

Tri Delta Transit bus line needs more riders

The Delta Transit bus line is looking for more riders on the Antioch to LLNL route so that it can continue to operate.

Ridership on the line that began in 1991 has continually dwindled and the line is now in jeopardy of being eliminated, according to Mike Furnary, director of marketing for Tri Delta Transit. Furnary said the transit line needs to increase the number of trips by close to 30 to make the line more cost-effective.

Employees in eastern Contra Costa County can ride the line for $6 for a one-way trip to or from the Lab or $110 for a monthly pass. The line begins in Antioch and makes stops in Brentwood, Oakley, Discovery Bay and Mountain House before heading to the Lab. Effective Dec. 28, the bus will no longer stop in Mountain House. Employees who board the bus in Mountain House are encouraged to board the bus at the Discovery Bay Park & Ride on Bixler Road. The cost of the Tri Delta Transit monthly pass would fit in well with the Lab's pre-tax transportation program, which is increasing to $120 per month in 2009.

The bus offers:

  • Airplane-style reclining seats
  • Footrests and drop down work surface for each seat
  • TV/Radio with headset plug in
  • WiFi internet connections
  • Flexible bus schedules and multiple pickup points along the route
  • Guaranteed ride home program (if needed)

Furnary said transit officials are looking at making some changes in the line so the trip is faster to and from the Lab. The group offers a free trial with one round-trip ticket for anyone who has never ridden the Delta Express.

Employees interested in participating in an upcoming route planning meeting can contact Steve Ponte, Tri Delta Transit chief operating officer, at 925-754-6622.

For more information or for a free trial, call 925-754-6622 or go to the Tri Delta Transit Website.

For tickets, go to the locations on this Ticket Location page.

Year-end café service hours limited

Due to the decreased patronage during the Christmas and New Years holidays, Sodexo will be modifying their service schedule the last two weeks of 2008. The West Café will be closed the weeks of Dec. 22 and 29.

At the Central Café, all stations will be open except the Mexican station on Dec. 22, 23, 29 and 30. Normal operating hours will remain in effect.

All stations will be open except the Action and Mexican stations on Dec. 24 and 31. The café and Starbucks coffee service will close at 1 p.m.

Holiday safety tips

The winter holiday season is upon us. Decorations and light strings are being put up throughout buildings and homes.

Please keep in mind "Safety First" when choosing decorations and extensions cords. The following recommended actions were taken from Lessons Learned (LL).

  • Inspect all decorative holiday lights for damage prior to use at work/home. Do not use lights with damaged cords, plugs or bulbs.
  • Use electrical devices according to the NRTL (Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory) listing, design and product instructions. Carefully read the instructions for any warnings.
  • Do not obscure or block exits with holiday decorations, including decorated trees.
  • Remember to turn off decorative lighting when leaving your office/home for extended periods of time.
  • Do not exceed manufacturer's maximum number of light strands strung together.

Click the links below for the LL Site, some specific LL and a video clip of a tree fire.

Also with the cooler days, many people turn to space heaters for extra warmth. Please remember that space heaters can not be plugged into multi-outlet boxes. They must be plugged directly into a wall outlet whenever possible or, temporarily into an appropriately rated three-prong extension cord (ref.: Section 3.8 of Document 16.1,Electrical Safety Program of the ES&H Manual ).

If you have any questions regarding your decorations, extension cords, or space heaters at work, contact your building coordinator/facility point of contact (see posted names/phone numbers at each facility entrance).

Dec. 19, 2008