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Friday, March 5, 1999
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Lab director testifies before House Subcommittee on Military Procurement
Laboratory Director John Browne testified Thursday before the House Committee on Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Procurement. A transcript of that testimony is available online on the director's web page under "Congressional statements."
Editor's note: The Laboratory and the Department of Energy have prepared the following fact sheet with the hope that it will clarify Laboratory and DOE issues relating to student housing in Los Alamos.
Fact sheet: student housing questions and answers
Q: How many students come to work at the Laboratory each year?
A: About 1,500 students work at the Laboratory annually, the majority of whom are present during the summer.
Q: What kind of demand do students place on the local housing market?
A: According to Laboratory surveys, living space for about 500 students, postdocs and visiting scientists must be maintained year 'round. Most students stay less than six months at a time. Postdocs and visiting scientists come to the Lab all year.
Q: Why are students important to the Laboratory?
A: The Laboratory's workforce is aging. The average employee age at the Laboratory is 48 years old. Forty percent of the Laboratory's technical staff members are more than 50 years old. This aging trend has continued over the past several years. If the Laboratory is to remain a viable institution, it must be able to attract the best and brightest young people in various scientific disciplines to replace retiring workers. If the Laboratory is to be successful in its mission, it must be able to recruit new scientists who can carry established scientific principles in mission-critical disciplines into the future, and improve on them using the best new research techniques. Some mission-critical expertise (i.e. nuclear weapons work) is not taught in school and must be learned via on-the-job training from scientists who quickly are approaching retirement age.
Q: But if 1,500 students come to Los Alamos each year, how can you say the Laboratory isn't doing a good job recruiting new scientists?
A: Fewer than 5 percent of those students who come to the Laboratory return for permanent full-time employment after they graduate. This retention rate is below the national average for similar institutions and disciplines.
Q: Why aren't more students staying?
A: Surveys of Laboratory students indicate that a major factor in students' decisions to leave the Laboratory and not return is the scarcity, quality and high cost of housing. Last year, dozens of students left the Laboratory within two weeks of starting their appointments; they cited a lack of available housing among their reasons for leaving. What's more, some students report that they choose not to come to Los Alamos for a first time once they learn about the scarcity, quality and cost of housing.
Q: Where are students living?
A: In Laboratory surveys, 38 percent of students reported they were renting rooms in private residences; 19 percent said they were living in some type of housing arranged through the Laboratory (mainly apartments); 7 percent reported living in apartments owned by the University of New Mexico-Los Alamos; and 36 percent said they had some other type of living arrangement.
Unfortunately, some students have reported living through the summer months in nearby wilderness areas in tents, cars or shelters. Some have reported pitching tents in the yards of residences or parking recreational vehicles in residential driveways. Others live six or more to a dwelling. Many who live in private residences report having to contend with curfews, limited cooking and bathroom privileges, limited access to transportation, high rent costs and a lack of privacy.
In addition, most landlords in the community do not offer short-term leases. This creates problems for students who are only here during the summer or for less than three months.
Because students are important to the future, Laboratory officials want the experiences that students have here to be positive and fulfilling. According to surveys of students, positive experiences are more the exception than the norm when it comes to Los Alamos housing prices, quality and availability. Many report that their living arrangements, even if not in the woods or extremely strict homes, are poor.
Q: Why did the Laboratory ask the private sector to help with housing for students, visiting scientists and postdocs?
A: In August 1996, the Laboratory director met with students. At that meeting, students complained vociferously about the quality and availability of housing in Los Alamos. Subsequently, a continuous quality improvement team led by Wes Myers, director of the Laboratory's Earth and Environmental Sciences Division, identified student housing as the major long-term issue for student programs. The CQI team's findings led to the issuance of a request for proposals for student housing in 1998. The RFP was distributed to all local firms involved in the housing industry. The RFP also was advertised nationwide. About a dozen prospective contractors attended a pre-bid conference. Several remarked that they were unable to locate available land in Los Alamos that was suitable for a student-housing project. Others indicated that they couldn't meet the time schedule for completion of the project. One company, Housing Solutions Inc., responded to the RFP.
Q: How would the proposed 168-Unit apartment complex help the housing situation for students, visiting scientists and postdocs?
A: The Laboratory has reached an agreement with Housing Solutions to provide affordable, modern and comfortable housing at the site off Canyon Road near the old Catholic Church.
Q: What type of agreement does the Laboratory have with Housing Solutions?
A: The Laboratory intends to support the project by providing Housing Solutions with a guarantee of 85 percent year-'round occupancy of the complex by students, visiting scientists and postdocs.
Q: If student housing is so critical, why did the Laboratory give away the 9th Street apartments?
A: Several years ago, in an effort to reduce the Laboratory's overhead budget, Lab officials made the decision to get out of the housing-rental business. Unlike colleges or universities, the Laboratory no longer wanted to incur associated liabilities that come with the rental business. The 9th Street apartments needed extensive renovations to allow them to comply with state and local code requirements. The University of New Mexico-Los Alamos expressed an interest in acquiring the 9th Street apartments for their own students and asked the Department of Energy to transfer the apartments to them. DOE agreed to transfer the 64-unit complex.
Even if the Laboratory had kept the 9th Street apartments, the 64 units -- which are very small and require two students to share one room that is used as a common area/bedroom -- they would not have begun to meet the demand for housing that exists. If UNM-LA has surplus space in the 9th Street apartments, the Laboratory will let students know that space is available there if they want it.
In addition to the 30 Laboratory-leased apartments in town, the Lab hopes to lease 32 more apartments from the University of New Mexico, Los Alamos branch. This will provide us with 77 apartments compared with 85 last summer. In addition to the above, we have standby capacity at College of Santa Fe, and the Indian School in Santa Fe.
Q: Why did the Laboratory terminate some of the lease agreements it made with local landlords?
A: Contracts with local apartment managers are written for a one-year commitment. They also require that a 30-day-advance notice be given to the landlord in the event that the contracts would not be extended for another year. While the contracts expire at different times, the earliest contract required its 30-day notice in September 1998. In September, the Laboratory had no indication that a county-passed ordinance relating to student housing later would be repealed. Laboratory officials believed that the project would proceed. Faced with the fact that the Laboratory had a commitment on rents at the proposed apartment complex, officials in the housing office decided not to extend contracts. By the time the Laboratory saw the County repeal the ordinance, it had only one contract in place and decided as a contingency to extend it rather than cancel it.
Q: Why doesn't the Laboratory build the apartment complex on Department of Energy land?
A: The DOE and the Laboratory have identified all parcels of land that are not needed for the Lab's national security mission. These parcels are in the process of environmental review before they are transferred to the county or San Ildefonso Pueblo. Siting student housing on any parcel of land being retained by the DOE for Laboratory operations would compromise operations at the Laboratory by compromising the required environmental, health and safety envelopes.
Q: With the lack of available housing in Los Alamos, why doesn't the Laboratory encourage students to live in Santa Fe?
A: A significant percentage of the housing need is for students who come from outside of Northern New Mexico. Many do not have their own vehicles. Many students work extended hours to get the most out of their experience at the Laboratory. Consequently, the current Park-and-Ride program and other transportation opportunities like the JCI Taxi service are not available during off-hours.
In addition, most students arrive at the Laboratory during the peak of the tourist season. Rentals during tourist season typically must be reserved three to four months in advance.
Recent inquiries for student housing in the Santa Fe area have found a shortage of availability and higher costs than in Los Alamos.
DOE Albuquerque manager to retire in April
Bruce Twining, manager of the Department of Energy Albuquerque Operations Office for the last 11 years, will retire from DOE effective April 3.
"Bruce Twining has provided exceptional leadership and dedication in working on some of the nation's most complex problems," Energy Secretary Bill Richardson said. "During his assignment in Albuquerque, Bruce has managed the transition of the nuclear weapons production complex into the post Cold War era. This has involved moving weapon production missions out of Rocky Flats in Colorado, the Pinellas and Mound plants in Florida and Ohio, and the dismantlement of more than 11,000 weapons at the Pantex Plant in Texas. He has had a distinguished career as a DOE manager. I am pleased to present to Bruce the Secretary's Gold Medal, the highest honorary award given for exemplary service."
Before becoming manager of the Albuquerque office, Twining was deputy manager of the Savannah River Operations office in South Carolina. He has been with DOE and its predecessor agencies for nearly 31 years.
Rush Inlow, the current deputy manager for Albuquerque, will serve as acting manager effective April 3. The Albuquerque office provides oversight for Sandia and Los Alamos national laboratories and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico; the Kansas City Plant in Missouri; the Pantex Plant in Texas; and the Grand Junction Office in Colorado.
--DOE news release
Privately owned vehicles with government parking permits 'won't cut it' in Otowi Building's small east-side lot
Vehicles without white government license plates will be ticketed if they are parked in the small parking lot on the east side of the Otowi Building.
"Preparations for the New Mexico Park-and-Ride program required that the Laboratory make changes to the small parking lot just east of the Otowi Building to provide a safe, unobstructed path for the many buses and taxis servicing the Laboratory," said Steve McCleary of the Business Operations (BUS) Division, who is the facility manager for the Otowi Building.
Consequently, he said, Lab officials decided that parking in the lot would not be permitted during rush periods. In addition, to ensure the safety of pedestrians using the bus service, officials decided to prohibit the entry of privately owned vehicles into the lot.
"Other than buses or taxis, of course, the only vehicles allowed in the lot or in the four parking spaces are government vehicles, the ones with white government license plates," McCleary said. "A privately owned vehicle with a government parking permit won't cut it -- they will be ticketed, make no mistake about it."
Signs at the entrance of the parking lot also should help clear up confusion. The signs clearly state "Private Vehicles Prohibited" and "Buses, Taxis and Government Owned Vehicles Only." Moreover, parking spaces in the lot have signs that read "Government Owned Vehicles 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. only."
McCleary said a number of Lab employees who parked privately owned vehicles in the lot have received tickets and have expressed surprise as a result.
"We want everyone to know what the rules are so there will be no surprises when the rules are applied," he said. "But even more important, we want to ensure that the lot is safe for pedestrians using the park-and-ride program."
--James E. Rickman
Training the Trainers
Spaces still available for March 12 All-Hands Training
Day
Knowledge management and training guru, Jim Botkin, president of InterClass in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is scheduled to give the keynote address at the Laboratory's second annual All-Hands Training Day on Friday, March 12, at the Study Center. The day-long event, that also includes presentations and workshops from trainers across the Lab, builds on the sense of community among workers involved in Laboratory training and is a networking opportunity for training staff dispersed in divisions and facilities throughout the Lab. Although more than 100 employees have signed up for the event, spaces are still available to those interested.
The Training Integration Office (HR-TI) encourages all workers associated or responsible for Laboratory training -- including JCNNM and PTLA employees -- to attend. Employees who are interested in participating can register online at http://www.lanl.gov/internal/training/training.html or by calling Deb Butler at 5-0991. For more information on the event, contact Carol Ann Mullaney at 5-2321 or Jud Morhart at 5-2836.
Anne Khoury, director of training for the Laboratory and office leader of HR-TI, explained, "We're very excited to build on the success of last year's training day, which brought together more than 130 employees, and explored the subject of performance improvement." The theme of this year's training day is "Knowledge Management" -- an emerging hot topic in the world of training.
Botkin, the keynote speaker, has a doctorate from Harvard Business School and has written extensively on the subject of knowledge management. His book, "Smart Business: How Knowledge Communities Can Revolutionize Your Organization," will be published in June. Botkin's talk is titled, "It Takes a Shock: Futures for Training and Transformation."
Botkin's talk will focus on numerous subjects of interest to Lab trainers, such as
The day also will include talks and interactive panel discussions with members of the Laboratory training community. Khoury will deliver a presentation on the "Training State of the Union." For more detailed information on the day's sessions, including a complete agenda, visit the All-Hands Training Day Web site at http://www.lanl.gov/internal/training/training.html.
--David Lyons
ESH-12 issues notice on LPR/LIR discrepancy
Policy and Program Analysis (ESH-12) has issued a notice (Adobe Acrobat required) regarding a recently discovered discrepancy between Laboratory Performance Requirement 402-701.0, "Access Control," and Laboratory Implementation Requirement 402-701-01.0, "Radiological Access Control." The discrepancy concerns when physical access controls must be invoked for high-radiation areas. The notice informs managers and workers that they are to take required actions for ensuring that high radiation areas are properly controlled in accordance with LPR402-701.0, "Access Control." For more information, contact Bill Eisele of ESH-12 at 7-7832.
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