Wednesday, June 16, 1999
A badge of a different color
The Laboratory soon will begin issuing a redesigned, color-coded badge to enhance security throughout the DOE complex.
But the changes go far beyond the cosmetic: larger letters for employee names and colors of dark blue (for "Q"-cleared employee), yellow ("L" or limited clearance), gray (uncleared U.S. citizen) and red (uncleared foreign national employee and foreign national visitor). The Laboratory has redesigned the entire system that links the badges to employee databases in the Enterprise Information Applications system, said Ken Collins, Badge Office team leader.
"By encoding employee information that connects the badges with the EIA system, badges will become powerful access-control tools," Collins said. "In the new badging system, we've tried to address all of the issues that employees, Laboratory management and DOE have raised in the past."
The Laboratory is unveiling the new system during open houses and public meetings in June and plans to begin rebadging this summer. The Badge Office hopes to complete rebadging in the fall. The Badge Office will announce a schedule for rebadging in the Newsbulletin, based on alphabetical order. Employees should wait until they are notified before they try to exchange their old badges for new ones.
The new badge will be the visible representation of an enormous amount of data that is being pulled together from several sources, Collins said. Data that until now was available only in stand-alone systems will be integrated into the Lab's corporate data repository, EIA.
"What people will see is a badge that looks different on the front, but the real power will be in the magnetic stripe on the back," Collins explained.
Access to security areas will be closely tied to data in the EIA system, including clearance status, accuracy of employee information and security education. For example, a worker who is not current in his or her security education will be denied access to security areas. Similarly, access will be denied to subcontractors who change jobs but whose employers don't ask to have their clearances transferred, or to workers who report a legal name change but don't change the names on their badges.
"If a clearance is suspended, the badge readers into security areas throughout the Lab immediately will reject that badge," Collins said.
Some entrances to security areas will continue to be manned by guards, but within the next year badge readers will be installed at all entrances.
The new badges will be
The new badges should remedy the most frequent complaints about the green DOE standard badges: inability to distinguish clearance level or read names, and poor durability. The new badges will use color-coding to indicate clearance level and the worker's name will appear in larger lettering.
The new standard badge will use the letters Q or L instead of numbers to indicate clearance level. University of California employees and Laboratory subcontractors will have a letter "C" to indicate their federal contractor status, while direct DOE employees won't have the contractor designation.
Blue badges will be issued to Q-cleared Laboratory workers. Individuals holding an L-clearance will be issued yellow badges. Uncleared workers who are U.S. citizens will be issued gray badges. The color red will be reserved exclusively for uncleared foreign national employees and visitors. Visitors to the Laboratory will be issued striped badges with colors corresponding to their clearance level.
Although the basic look of the badge will be consistent throughout the DOE complex and will be accepted at any DOE facility, the lower area of the badge will be reserved for Los Alamos-specific information.
Once the new badge system is in place, other major changes will take effect.
Escorting of uncleared individuals into security areas will no longer be coordinated through the Badge Office, and Laboratory Form 864 will be eliminated. The host must coordinate directly with facility managers in the area to be visited. Such site-specific escorting systems, like the ones now in place in areas controlled by the Dynamic Experimentation (DX), Engineering Sciences and Applications (ESA) and Security and Safeguards (S) divisions, will become the norm for most security areas at the Laboratory.
In addition, annual training for Laboratory escorts and escorts provided by contract companies will be required. All trained escorts will have a small "CE" on their badge to indicate they are certified escorts.
Workers in the Personnel Security Assurance Program will be issued numbered, yellow badge straps that cannot be removed from their badges. These yellow straps will serve as visual indicators of PSAP status.
The Laboratory last fall awarded the contract for a new badge fabrication system to Loronix Information Systems of Durango, Colo.
The Badge Office is holding information sessions on the new badging system, along with an open house to show off models of the new badges. The schedule for the initial sessions is as follows:
Information Sessions
Badge Office Open House
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Detailed information about the new badging process and access requirements tied to the new badges will be available over the next few weeks and throughout the rebadging process in the Newsbulletin, including links to useful Web sites.
--Jim Danneskiold
Researchers in Bioscience and Biotechnology (CST-4) have developed a technology for the noninvasive measurement of drug concentrations in tissue. The fiber-optic instrument uses optical spectroscopy to detect changes in tissue in real time and with site specificity. New computational methods allow determination of the pathlengths of photons in tissue based on tissue scattering properties. The analysis of the optical spectra reflected from the tissue enables a determination of the compound or drug concentrations. The system is also being tested to perform pharmacokinetic measurements on tumors following drug administration in animals. Researchers have successfully demonstrated the ability to differentiate between tumor cells and normal cells in bladder, colon and breast cancers. |
Telephone directories on the web
Beginning this month, paper copies of the USWest telephone books no longer will be delivered to Lab employees. In years past, more that 16,000 copies of the Santa Fe directory have been distributed at the Lab. Because so many of these end up in the trash, the Environmental Stewardship Office (EM-ESO) is asking employees to use the many directories that currently are available online instead. Once you try them, EM-ESO is sure you'll agree that they are easy to use and are much more comprehensive than the traditional paper version. All of the directories are accessible by clicking on the blue phone symbol in the upper right corner of the Laboratory home page. This will take you to the LANL phone book page where other directory services -- such as USWest, the LANL Yellow Pages, local maps and other phone directories -- links are listed on the left side of the page. USWest (http://www.uswest.com) offers a complete guide, which allows you to search for people or businesses in all states covered by USWest; locate products and services; or access the news center. Under "other phonebooks," you can access another option called "Database America" (http://www.databaseamerica.com), which allows you to enter a phone number and get the name and address assigned to that number. Many of these services will search for e-mail addresses as well. And you can bookmark any or all of these sites for easy access.
EM-ESO knows it may be hard for many of you to give up your old phone books so you can keep it if you want to. However, when you need a new listing, refer to the online sites for updated versions. For those of you who are ready to give those paper copies the boot, recycle your old phone books by sending them to Mail Stop A1000.
Three fitness walks slated for next week
In today's hustle-and-bustle world, exercising and aerobic activity sometimes take a back seat to more pressing matters. But simply walking for 30 minutes a day can improve a person's overall health.
To encourage Laboratory employees and subcontract personnel to develop a walking habit, Occupational Medicine (ESH-2) is hosting three fitness walks later this month. The walks are free and there is no preregistration. The walks will be held the week of June 21 and are part of the Lab's Safety Days '99 scheduled activities.
The first walk is at 5:30 p.m. June 21 and will be led by Gina Koehler of ESH-2. Participants will meet at the Los Alamos Ice Rink in Los Alamos Canyon and walk to the reservoir and back, said Kisiel.
Kisiel will lead the second walk, which begins at noon June 23 from the Wellness Center reception area. Kisiel said walkers will follow a route toward the Los Alamos Ski Area a short distance before returning to the Wellness Center.
The third walk is at 7 a.m. June 25, also starting at the Wellness Center and following the center's fitness trail loop for about 1.5 miles, and finish with race walking technique demonstrations on the track. It will be led by Phyllis Webb of ESH-2.
"Revised exercise guidelines encourage adults to accumulate 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity every day," said Jessica Kisiel of ESH-2. "Walking is an excellent form of aerobic activity that requires no special equipment and can be done most anywhere," she said.
According to a 1996 Surgeon General's Report on Physical Activity and Health, moderate-intensity physical activity provides important health benefits. Among the report's findings are the following:
"Walking can become a healthy, year-round activity for many people," said Kisiel. "Hopefully these walks will encourage people to start walking for a healthier life.
"The walks also are a warm-up for Walking Month activities at the Laboratory in September," said Kisiel.
For more information, call Kisiel at 5-4368 or write to jkisiel@lanl.gov by e-mail.
Just 'flowing' with cells
Jim Freyer, left, of Cellular and Molecular Biology (LS-4) displays
a jar containing a three-dimensional culture of tumor cells to participants
during last week's Annual Course in Flow Cytometry held in laboratories
and rooms throughout the Life Sciences (LS) Division. The Laboratory sponsored
this year's weeklong event, which covered the latest developments in flow
cytometry from an instrumentation and applications standpoint. The instrumentation
track emphasized the instrumental aspects of flow cytometry and exposed
participants to capabilities unique to the Laboratory; the applications
track focused on the latest techniques and applications of flow cytometry.
This photo was taken during Freyer's lab session titled "Cell Cycle
Antigens/Physiology." More than 50 researchers plus numerous instructors
from around the world attended the workshop. Photo by LeRoy N. Sanchez
Editor's Note: In recognition of National Men's Health Week,
June 14 through 20, the Daily Newsbulletin is publishing a health tip every
day this week. The information will include methods of detecting certain
health problems during early stages. Topics to be covered during Men's Health
Week include heart disease, stroke, blood pressure, cholesterol, colon cancer,
prostate cancer, testicular cancer and alcoholism. National Men's Health
Week was created to increase knowledge of men's health issues, especially
early detection of illness through education and routine medical visits.
For more about Men's Health Week, contact the Wellness Center (ESH-2) at
7-7166. To receive a free health booklet, call 1-800-955-2002.
Physical activity
A proven way to decrease your risk of certain types of heart disease is by participating in aerobic activities, which help increase a person's overall fitness and general well-being. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends participating in aerobic activities at least three times per week for approximately 20 to 60 minutes in order to make noticeable and steady increases in aerobic fitness.
These aerobic sessions should include three major components: the warm-up, the aerobic workout and the cool-down.
Following these guidelines will safely and effectively increase a person's aerobic fitness.
Deadline Friday to vote for 'Safety for Life' posters
Laboratory employees and subcontract personnel can vote for their favorite Safety for Life posters through Friday.
Thirty-seven posters designed by grade-school through high-school students from around Northern New Mexico were submitted to the Lab for judging. The poster contest is part of a number of activities designed to raise awareness of safety Labwide, said Phil Thullen who oversees the Lab's Integrated Safety Management program in the Director's Office.
More than 125 schools in Northern New Mexico received a letter earlier this spring asking them to participate in the poster contest. Flyers announcing the contest also were distributed through mail stops Labwide.
Employees and subcontract personnel can view all the posters at http://www.lanl.gov/orgs/ism/safetyposter99.html online. The posters also will be displayed for viewing in the lobby of the Otowi Building near the entrance to the Human Resources (HR) Division at Technical Area 3. For more information, see the June 15 Daily Newsbulletin.
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