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Director to present 'State of the Laboratory' address today Director John Browne will present his annual "State of the Laboratory" address to employees at 1:10 p.m. today in the Administration Building Auditorium. The Talk is open to all Laboratory badgeholders and will be shown live on LABNET as well as broadcast on the Internet (RealPlayer software required ). |
Association of Chinese-American Engineers and Scientists meets for day-long symposium
The Laboratory's mission will suffer if young Chinese-Americans pass up jobs at Los Alamos due to espionage allegations and perceived racial profiling, Director John Browne told about 100 New Mexico scientists and engineers at a Saturday symposium.
"We're seeing a loss of personnel," Browne told the Association of Chinese-American Engineers and Scientists of New Mexico. "We're having problems both recruiting and retaining staff."
Most important, Browne said, is the recent "precipitous" decline in the number of Asian-Pacific Americans applying for postdoctoral fellowships at Los Alamos. Not one Chinese graduate student applied for the most recent round of director's postdoctoral fellowships. Overall the number of Chinese postdocs at the Laboratory has dropped by 20 percent. However, the overall numbers and caliber of postdoctoral applicants have not declined, Laboratory officials said.
Browne attributed recruiting problems to several factors, including:
"It's been the most difficult year in Los Alamos' 57-year history," Browne declared.
The Laboratory is working on several fronts to solve the problem, he said.
The most important is to build trust and openness among all Laboratory employees. To that end, Browne in recent months has met four times with members of the Laboratory's Asian American Diversity Working Group to hear their concerns.
The director ticked off the "tremendous contributions" made by Asian postdocs at Los Alamos in materials studies, nuclear physics, non-linear science and other fields. More than 325 people of Asian or Pacific Island ethnicity work at the Laboratory, of whom about 140 are UC employees.
Another key effort involves creating a career-track "pipeline" of intermediate steps that will ease the transition for postdocs into permanent jobs as technical staff members, Browne said.
Laboratory management also is examining whether the small number of higher management positions held by Asian Pacific Americans, about one percent, shows evidence of a "glass ceiling." The director said a few staff members who are Asian Pacific American, along with members of other under-represented groups, have received special management training possibly to break the glass ceiling. Others will be offered similar training.
However, Browne said that improving recruitment of top young Asian researchers ultimately depends on what Asians currently on the staff say about the Laboratory to the wider community.
"If people now at the Laboratory feel they have a trust relationship, they will spread the word."
Responding to a question from Ning Li of Condensed Matter and Thermal Physics (MST-10), a member of ACES, Browne added, "It is very important that a national laboratory like Los Alamos have the quality of people like Ning Li to help us solve our national security problems."
Manvendra Dubey of Atmospheric and Climate Sciences (EES-8), who chairs Los Alamos' Asian American Diversity Working Group, told the group that the road to recovery for the Laboratory depends upon an open dialogue between Los Alamos' Asian community and management.
"You can't give up," Dubey said. "The Lab needs us, the country needs us, the world needs us."
Dubey presented a variety of information that demonstrated how the year-long espionage flap had damaged the Laboratory, and how Asian scientists and engineers are crucial to technical success (http://www.lanl.gov/orgs/pa/News/RoadtoRecovery/).
Dubey blamed the drop in postdoc applications on a "harsh and uncertain environment." That combined with outside opportunities in a booming economy make recruiting more difficult.
Dubey said full Laboratory Directed Research and Development funding is essential for the long-term health of the Laboratory's science base. Congress' decision to cut one third of LDRD funds had a critical negative impact on Asians, other foreign nationals and postdocs, Dubey said.
"The future is where the damage is going to be done if you don't fix this," Dubey said of LDRD cuts.
LDRD programs help build a diverse workforce at Los Alamos that would be representative of the demographics seen among U.S. university scientists and engineers, Dubey added. Nelson Dong, legal counsel for the Committee of 100, a Chinese American leadership group, backed up Dubey's argument with statistics showing that one third of doctorates in science and engineering from U.S. universities go to ethnic Asians.
Dubey also insisted that the Department of Energy and Laboratory managers clear up ambiguities in security procedures that make it harder for foreign nationals to work at Los Alamos.
"Everybody is upset because the scientific excellence of the Laboratory is suffering," Dubey concluded.
Dong urged the laboratories to build a "warm, conducive, open environment" in which scientists can flourish, or lose Asian-American scientists to the private sector.
"If the labs continue to run a climate of fear, they will suffer a vast hemorrhage of their best staff," Dong warned.
Dong recounted the history of Chinese immigration, noting that the movement of students, scientists and engineers to the United States from China was recent, chiefly due to a change in U.S. immigration laws in 1965. He also presented an array of facts and statistics that included:
Bob Vrooman, who headed Los Alamos' Operational Security Office from 1987 to 1998, told the group that problems with recent espionage investigations at Los Alamos suffered because investigators ignored a maxim of Goethe: "One man's word is no man's word. We should quietly listen to both sides."
Vrooman recounted the history of counterintelligence at Los Alamos, pointing out that efforts to track foreign national contacts began in 1982. The defense laboratories had counterintelligence programs by 1987. The full text of Vrooman's remarks is available at http://www.lanl.gov/orgs/pa/News/vrooman.html.
Vrooman pointed out that by law, the FBI investigates all espionage allegations at the national laboratories. The labs and the DOE can only make administrative inquiries and turn their findings over to the FBI. He said he was involved in 30 administrative inquiries over 11 years; 28 were cleared of all suspicion and the other two lost their jobs for inappropriate behavior, not espionage.
"We conducted each inquiry in a manner conducive to protecting the subject's privacy, reputation, dignity, character and civil rights," Vrooman said. "In no case was the fact of an investigation or the name of the suspect leaked to the news media."
Edward Curran, head of the DOE's Counterintelligence Program, said counterintelligence efforts were "buried within DOE's security structure" until recently, with an annual budget of $7 million to cover 110,000 cleared DOE and contractor employees. Curran's budget now is $40 million, which has allowed him to hire experienced experts, many of whom are former FBI employees.
Curran said his office has been responsive to security concerns and criticisms raised by the laboratories, including modifications to the DOE's polygraph program. His office currently is using input from the labs to rewrite DOE's guidelines on close and continuing contacts with foreign nationals.
Echoing earlier speakers, Curran asked Asian Pacific scientists and engineers to expand their dialogue with laboratory management and DOE to build greater trust.
"My commitment to you is that I will do everything I can to earn that trust from you," Curran said.
--Jim Danneskiold
SBO program manager named
Bennie Gonzales is the new program manager of the Laboratory's Small Business Office, which earlier this month was elevated from the Procurement Group to report directly to the Business Operations Division (BUS) director.
Gonzales is currently group leader of Business Support Services (BUS-8), a post he has held since 1993. He joined the Lab in 1984 in the former Materials Management (MAT) Division.
"I am really honored by this opportunity," Gonzales said of his new assignment. "One of my goals is to ensure that the office is viewed as very responsive to the needs of the small business community while ensuring that the best interests of the Laboratory and its technical programs are being served."
One of Gonzales' first tasks as Small Business Office program manager is to lead a Northern New Mexico conference for small businesses, March 14 at Northern New Mexico Community College in Española.
"As Los Alamos revamps its Small Business Office to be more active in procurement and economic development in the region, Bennie will play an important role in ensuring that the Laboratory use a best practices approach to meeting these goals," BUS Division Director Allan Johnston said in announcing the appointment.
While at Los Alamos, Gonzales has served as acquisition manager in charge of records management and contracting for the special Nuclear Materials Laboratory Project. From 1991 to 1993, he was special staff assistant to the former Associate Director of Operations for the Lab.
Gonzales also has conducted training courses for small businesses including a very popular two-day workshop on responding to government and Laboratory requests for proposals. He is in the process of publishing a manual that will be available to small businesses on how to respond to such RFPs.
Other achievements include leading the effort to build a community center in his community by writing grant proposals and working closely with legislators and county government officials. He is now working to establish a regional land use project for the several communities adjacent to Tesuque.
Gonzales has received three government special achievement awards, an Air Force Contracting Civilian of the Year Award and three Los Alamos Distinguished Performance Awards.
A Tesuque native, Gonzales graduated from Santa Fe High School in 1968.
Gonzales served in the U.S. Air Force from 1969 to 1973, and was stationed in Germany.
He earned a bachelor's degree in business from Park College while working for the U.S. Air Force. He then served as a civil servant for the Air Force in procurement as a contracting officer for the Nellis Air Force Base Contracting Directorate in support of the tactical Air Command Electronic Warfare Range contracting requirements at Nellis and Tonapah, Nev.
He also attended the Air Force's Air University at the Air Force Institute of Technology, Dayton, Ohio from 1978 through 1980, where was enrolled in the institute's contracting progressive management program.
The Laboratory's Small Business Office employs six people including two students.
Laboratory Deputy Director for Business Administration and Outreach Joe Salgado last week announced changes in its procurement operations to increase opportunities for regional small businesses and to make the Laboratory a better customer for small businesses.
Some of the other changes to the Small Business Office include assigning procurement authority to SBO to enhance opportunities for regional small businesses to contract with the Laboratory; instituting a comprehensive in-house training for buyers to ensure their understanding and support regarding the importance of subcontracting with regional small business; and designating a contact person in the Laboratory's Ombuds Office to provide a confidential, neutral party to assist small businesses with concerns about procurement, technology transfer and other topics.
--Steve Sandoval
New tests will aid beryllium workers
A two-pronged research effort at the Laboratory will make it easier to identify people sensitive to beryllium metal and help prevent workers from developing chronic beryllium disease.
A team led by Babetta Marrone of the Bioscience (B) Division has devised a new, more accurate blood test to identify workers who are sensitized to beryllium. The researchers also have pinpointed genetic markers that indicate increased risk for a small number of workers who are more likely to develop CBD.
"This significant advance will help create an even stronger safety envelope for our workers who handle beryllium," said Energy Secretary Bill Richardson. "By identifying those workers who are more susceptible to being hurt by beryllium exposure, we can find them appropriate work that does not put them at increased risk. Pushing the science of worker safety is something we must do at the same time that we compensate workers harmed by exposure to beryllium from past practices."
The Laboratory maintains the Department of Energy's capabilities for research and development in beryllium, a unique metal used in nuclear weapons, telescope mirrors and other applications.
Roughly 3 to 4 percent of all people are at risk for serious illness from working with beryllium, although the risk is higher for some workers such as machinists. If they inhale beryllium metal in powder form, they can become sensitized to beryllium, that is, their immune systems become allergic when beryllium enters their bodies. Beryllium sensitization can be an early sign of Chronic Beryllium Disease, a disabling and sometimes fatal lung condition. CBD symptoms may not appear for more than 10 years after exposure to the metal. No cure is known.
"Sometimes people call beryllium sensitization an allergy, but it's not like ragweed," Marrone said. "The so-called allergic mechanism found in CBD is a cell-mediated immune response, with a delayed reaction to the allergen. A variety of biochemical events at the molecular level contribute to this immune response. Our blood test identifies these molecular events."
The new blood test and the separate test for genetic markers, when used together, will help predict and diagnose CBD and help to prevent future cases of beryllium disease.
Blood test
An increased sensitization to beryllium currently can be detected with a blood test called the Lymphocyte Proliferation Test, or LPT.
However, not everyone who tests positive for beryllium sensitization on the blood test will develop CBD. The psychological impact of testing positive is high, especially because it can take many years to develop CBD after first exposure to beryllium. What is needed is a blood test that better predicts CBD.
The Laboratory's new test, called the Immuno-LPT, takes advantage of the fact that both sensitization and CBD are responses to beryllium by the immune system.
A specific lymphocyte, the T helper or CD4+ cell, is implicated in CBD. Using flow cytometry, a laser-based cell analysis technique developed and refined over many years by the Lab, the Immuno-LPT detects proliferation of the CD4+ cells in response to beryllium. The Immuno-LPT shows that people who have CBD typically show a CD4+ cell response to beryllium. However, some people who are sensitized but don't have CBD may have another type of response involving proliferation of T suppressor or CD8+ cells.
"Our results suggest that individuals who have CD4+ cell proliferation in response to beryllium have the greatest likelihood of developing chronic beryllium disease, because their responses match those seen in CBD," Marrone said. "So we think the Immuno-LPT may be more accurate than the current test in predicting whether someone will develop CBD."
Results of initial Immuno-LPT studies are scheduled to be published next week in the journal Toxicology. Authors of the paper are Georgia Farris, Yulin Shou, Robert Habbersett and Marrone of B Division and Hugh Smith of Occupational Medicine (ESH-2); Lee Newman, Elizabeth Barker and Lisa Maier of the National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver; and Edward Frome of Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Genetic markers
Scientists have long suspected that a genetic risk factor for CBD makes certain individuals more likely to develop sensitivity and disease when they become exposed to even small amounts of beryllium. Such an effect may explain why CBD is seen in some people with minimal exposure to beryllium, and also why many with high exposure don't develop CBD.
Los Alamos researchers now can locate genetic markers that are present in individuals with CBD but absent in others who don't have the disease.
"Our goal is to identify a panel of markers and the degree of risk associated with each," Marrone said.
Several years ago, researchers discovered tantalizing evidence of a possible genetic marker for susceptibility to chronic beryllium disease, called Glu69. Their discovery couldn't be used to help workers because the marker they identified also occurred frequently in a control population. When projected to the general population, the marker might be present in one in three people who are not susceptible to the disease
"We've been able to pull apart these two populations a lot better," Marrone said.
"We looked more closely at the alleles, the region of the genome around the marker, and we found other contributing genetic factors that help us pinpoint those who are at risk," she said.
For CD4+ cells to proliferate in response to beryllium, the beryllium must be "presented" to them by protein molecules called Human Leukocyte Antigens factors, Marrone said.
Slight differences in the DNA sequence of the gene responsible for making the HLA protein often are found in individuals with CBD. The responsible gene is found in a major histo-compatibility complex region on chromosome 6 that is associated with the immune response.
"Since these differences are inherited, and not caused by beryllium exposure, we could use the genetic markers to identify individuals with greater susceptibility to develop beryllium disease," Marrone explained. "Beryllium workers with greater genetic risk could make more informed decisions about whether they should work with beryllium. They also could be placed on more intensive medical surveillance."
Authors of the initial research paper on the genetic markers, which was published last year in The Journal of Immunology, include Zaolin Wang, Scott White, Michelle Petrovic, Owatha Tatum and Marrone of B Division; and Newman and Maier from the National Jewish Medical and Research Center.
Marrone and her colleagues in B Division are working with industrial hygienists, physicians, environmental scientists, chemists and health physicists to better understand how beryllium damages the immune system, with the ultimate goal of a cure for beryllium disease. Experts in legal and ethical issues also seek to integrate new information about genetic markers into beryllium medical surveillance practices.
"Our approach is based on what we're learning about the mechanisms that make workers susceptible to beryllium disease," Marrone explained. "If we're interested in preventing beryllium disease, we have to consider all the risk factors. That's the only way that we're going to prevent disease and eliminate CBD in the workplace."
Energy Secretary Richardson recently announced proposed legislation that would compensate current and former workers and contractors who are ill because of beryllium exposure at DOE nuclear facilities. DOE has established its Chronic Beryllium Disease Prevention Program, part of federal law 10 CFR Part 850. Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore and Lawrence Berkeley national laboratories are working together with the University of California Operations Office and the DOE on a plan to implement the DOE program.
"Los Alamos hopes to integrate the new tests into this implementation plan, which will provide Los Alamos workers with the most advanced technology available for beryllium health surveillance, " Marrone said.
--Jim Danneskiold
Lab archaeologist discusses Nake'muu ruin
At a recent presentation to the Rotary Club of Los Alamos, Lab archaeologist Bradley Vierra of Ecology (ESH-20) talks about Nake'muu ruin, a prehistoric dwelling located near the Lab's Dual Axis Radiographic Hydrotest Facility. Vierra discussed how Lab achaeologists are monitoring the ruin, which is important to nearby native people, to ensure that Lab operations aren't accelerating the deterioration rate of the fragile dwelling. The program is being implemented as part of the Mitigation Action Plan for the DARHT Environmental Impact Statement. Representatives of nearby pueblos are being kept appraised of the study and its results. Only a few photos of Nake'muu dating from the 1970s exist. Otherwise, the dwelling has not been well documented. Photo by James E. Rickman
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Lab Golf League to meet March
13 for annual meeting
