Formal Call for LDRD Directed Research Pre-proposals The Laboratory Directed Research and Development office is accepting pre-proposals for fiscal year 2002 funding. The deadline for submitting pre-proposals is 5 p.m. Wednesday. They should be submitted to the LDRD office, room 156 of the Canyon School Complex. For more information, call 7-1235 and/or see the master management memo. (Adobe Acrobat required.)

FEMA hosts public meeting Wednesday in Los Alamos

The Office of Cerro Grande Fire Claims is hosting a public meeting on Wednesday to talk about the economic impact of the fire on Los Alamos and surrounding communities.

Officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and PriceWaterhouseCoopers, which wrote a report on the economic impact of the fire, will discuss the report and be available to answer questions, said Noel Boxer of FEMA's Office of Cerro Grande Fire Claims.

The town meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the Betty Ehart Senior Center, 1000 Oppenheimer Drive in Los Alamos. For more information, see Feb. 1 Daily Newsbulletin.

QIO inventorying all Lab policies and procedures

The Laboratory's Quality Improvement Office (QIO) is inventorying all Lab policies and procedures as part of a Senior Executive Team goal of an effective and efficient integrated management system.

The Quality Improvement Office will recommend a strategy for consolidating Lab policies and procedures that have developed over the years, examining the scope, lack of centralization and potential for conflicts among them.

Judith Kaye of QIO is leading the effort.

Joe Salgado, the Lab's deputy director for business administration and outreach, sent a note to Laboratory leaders recently asking them to identify all of the current policies and procedures generated by their organizations -- either for the institution or for the division or office and submit them by March 8, 2001. Salgado noted that in order to accomplish this task, some divisions or offices may have to complete their own inventory.

Creative ways to minimize waste

Have you ever wondered about the plastic knives, forks and spoons Laboratory workers use at the cafeteria or at catered meals? Someone has, and it has caused them to think about that volume going into the trash then on to a landfill.

Aramark Corp., in conjunction with Materials Handling (BUS-4), has devised a way to reuse plastic serving utensils, thus saving both money and landfill space. The larger black plastic serving utensils, which are distributed with Aramark's catered fare, can now be placed in inter-office mail envelopes and sent back to the cafeteria. Once there, they are sanitized and reused.

Currently Aramark uses approximately one case of utensils every month at a cost of about $500 according to Bruce Reed, Aramark's Food Services director. Over a year if, everyone participates, the potential saving is an average of $5,000 and 25 cubic feet of landfill space a year.

"We like to help with projects like this, especially when they are simple," said Anthony Garcia, BUS-4 team leader.

To send the utensils via inter-office mail, please wash them thoroughly; place them securely in an envelope and mail to Mail Stop P279.

This action is just one of a number of successes for Aramark in pollution prevention, according to Brian Thompson (E-ESO), Green Zia Program coordinator. Last year, Aramark was presented with the Green Zia commitment award, which is given to groups or businesses that have shown a commitment to the environment.

Recently, Aramark sponsored a reusable cup program to help minimize the amount of paper and styrofoam waste that it produces. For a $3 purchase, these 16-ounce plastic mugs can be used in place of disposable styrofoam cups. Also, it's free to fill them up with coffee or soft drinks. Starbucks coffee and juices are not included. The offer is good until May 31. For more information see the January 23 issue of the Daily NewsBulletin.

--John Bass

Pressure system inventory

This notice provides requirements that shall be implemented for performing pressure system inventories. All pressure systems must be inventoried, categorized, and the results forwarded to the Pressure Vessel and Piping Committee. The inventories shall be used to assess the quality and adequacy of design, construction and use of systems for the work being accomplished.

Additional information is available at http://labreq.lanl.gov/pdfs/ops/alerts/Notice0068.pdf online. (Adobe Acrobat required)

On today's bulletin board
Commuter's Corner | Parking areas around TA-3 | Parking shuttle routes (pdf) or jpeg
Lost: Nokia cell phone Lost: black Isotoner glove Found: man's wrist watch Valentines for Vets Wellness Center locker room construction continues Stress Proofing class offered on Feb. 8 Found: heart-shaped necklace Lost: pair of ladies' reading glasses Lost: keys BUS-5 awards additional safety and computer glasses vendor agreement Family Strengths Network classes Leadership Institute final call for nominations Hunter Education Instructor course to be offered in March	Volunteer Opportunities Retention disposition of Laboratory records Los Alamos Little Theater reading The Tempest on Feb. 7 Mesa Public Library activities YMCA to offer Swing and Beginning Country dance lessons in Feb. Wellness Center classes Advanced MCNP Topics class offered by X-5 code developers Fidelity Investments at Lab on Feb. 13-15 Retirement party for Cheryl Rofer is today Data Acquisition courses offered by Interfacing Concepts, Inc. Skolnik training classes available in Albuquerque Fire Survivors can order garden seeds at 70 percent discount Employees leaving Lab must attend termination presentation