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Friday, Aug. 22, 1997

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Updated at 10:25 a.m.

Norris Bradbury remembered as architect of the Lab

Former Laboratory Director Norris Bradbury, who died this week (see Aug. 21 Daily Newsbulletin.), was remembered as the architect of the modern Los Alamos National Laboratory by one of his successors, current Director Sig Hecker.

Bradbury, who succeeded J. Robert Oppenheimer as director in 1945 and served until his retirement in 1970, died at his Los Alamos home Wednesday night following a lengthy illness. Services for Norris Bradbury, the former Laboratory director who died this week, will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Trinity on the Hill Episcopal Church in Los Alamos. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be sent to the Los Alamos Visiting Nurse Service or the donor's favorite charity.

Hecker recalled that when Bradbury became director in 1945, most of the nation's scientific and political leadership thought the role of the Laboratory ended with the success of the Manhattan Project.

"Norris had the vision and the foresight to recognize that the national security job of the Laboratory was not over, but only beginning," Hecker said. "Furthermore, he had the wisdom to recognize the value of laboratories like Los Alamos to the nation in areas broader than national security -- helping to strengthen the nation's world position in basic science plus contributing to civilian challenges such as nuclear energy, magnetic fusion and the Rover nuclear rocket program.

"The nation's laboratory system of today owes in no small measure its foundation to Norris Bradbury."

Bradbury's energetic support for maintaining a broad range of research at the Laboratory was also recalled by Senior Fellow Louis Rosen, a longtime colleague.

"Norris diversified the Lab to give it a broader science and technology base," said Rosen, noting that the Laboratory's wide technical competence is a key factor in the success of one of its major current missions -- science-based stockpile stewardship.

Raemer Schreiber, who worked closely with Bradbury for years, said Bradbury did not overrate his importance. "He was just a plain guy," he said, "until questions came up when he had to make a decision. Then he became director."

Schreiber said Bradbury liked to push his chair back and listen to whatever people had to say, no matter how long it took. "Then when people got through talking, he'd come down off his tilted-back chair and make a pronouncement. There was no shilly-shallying."

He noted that Bradbury took over the Lab at a time when "about half of the civilians wanted to go back to their home laboratories and a lot of the military personnel ... just wanted to get out" and converted it into a world-class research institution.

"He also helped build up the town," he said. "The community then was just a bunch of government buildings, and the need to establish a town that had proper facilities and schools was part of his objectives. He looked at the whole thing as a necessary combination of facilities to attract very good scientists from all over the world."

Bradbury's immediate successor as director, Harold Agnew, said Bradbury was a person of great integrity and high ethical standards who helped keep the Lab from making promises it could not fulfill, particularly when promoting its abilities.

Agnew said he and Bradbury had an excellent relationship for many years, including serving together on the local school board, but they never discussed the problems or the rewards of running the Lab.

"I wanted him to come back as a senior adviser [after I became director]," Agnew said. "But he said: 'You wanted it, you got it,' and he never came back in any capacity. I guess he felt that I knew what I was doing."

--John A. Webster

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Fear or loathing of change is biggest "ism" Lab has to overcome, says diversity director

Organizations and people often fall into one of several traps when it comes to issues of diversity and the possibility of change, according to Diversity (DV) Office Director Marion Timm.

One of the traps, Timm said Wednesday during the opening of the Laboratory's first ever Diversity Leadership Conference at the Fechin Inn in Taos, is that if an organization is experiencing problems, its diversity office is supposed to fix them. But diversity issues are far reaching and require more than just one person or one office to address.

"I've said this before," Timm said. "The biggest 'ism' we have to overcome is misoneism, or the fear or loathing of change."

But it's unrealistic to expect a quick fix, said Timm. "Diversity is an organizational issue and no single person can fix it," she said.

Her talk, "Divisiveness: the Politics of Diversity," was followed by brief comments from the workshop presenters. The conference is sponsored by the Diversity Office and continues today with concurrent workshops on team building in a diverse world, making meetings work and training for leadership. The concurrent workshops allowed the 50 Lab employees who sit on one of the diversity working groups and the Lab's Diversity Council to participate in all three topics, explained Debbi Wersonick of the Diversity Office and coordinator of the conference.

Other traps people fall into include organizations using data or numbers to show that their workforce is diverse. "Organizations feel the need to pay attention to numbers," said Timm, when they really should be listening to the testimonies of their employees. "Looking at [the numbers] won't help you understand the trauma of oppression," she explained.

Timm used a personal experience to describe a trap she called "barbecuing the diversity director." She said she was called into a former manager's office and was asked to look for another job because he thought someone else who wasn't "a person of color" could do a better job.

Timm used the story to explain that organizations need to make a systemwide effort to address issues related to diversity, and not pin all its problems on the diversity director. And, she added, diversity directors need to be given authority to make decisions.

Timm also said that organizations should focus on results when trying to improve diversity in the workplace. "Intentions alone are a beginning, but they're not enough," she said. "We must focus on results."

Other traps Timm described involve the unwillingness by a person or organization to do something unless another person or organization does likewise. This hinders a person or organization's ability to change, she said. "Change begins with each and every one of us."

Timm also said some organizations don't realize change has occurred, but rather focus on what hasn't occurred. This breeds frustration and negativity, she said. "As change takes place, many people are quicker to see what isn't happening than what is. Change can be very subtle," she said.

Timm used the Lab's diversity working groups to describe another trap, which she called "divide and conquer." Timm noted that some of the diversity working groups weren't cooperating or were trying to outdo each other. "This is a way to make sure nothing happens," said Timm.

The groups, she said, should strive for inclusion and work together.

Some people or organizations also will claim they are more oppressed than others, said Timm. The " I'm more disabled than you" ism is how Timm described it. Organizations, she said, should work to address all issues of concern.

Timm also said it's unrealistic to believe that everyone will live happily ever after. "Some organizations think you put one program in place, you have one retreat, and it's fixed," said Timm. "The fact of the matter is we never will be finished working on diversity issues and go riding off into the sunset happily ever after as we ride across the Sangre de Cristos."

Session presenters included Santo Albano, director of the New York state Employee Assistance Program, and his wife, Judith. They lead the session on team building. Joanne Coleman, a certified trainer in situational leadership, lead a workshop on making meetings work. And Hadidjah Rivera, of the University of California, Los Angeles' Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention in the School of Medicine and Public Health, lead a workshop on training for leadership.

--Steve Sandoval

 

 Team-building skills examined during Lab's Diversity Leadership Conference

Fifteen Laboratory employees were lost at sea Thursday during a workshop on team building in a diverse world.

Their goal? To come to consensus on what was most important to ensure their survival. The role-playing exercise illustrated how personal beliefs or priorities must sometimes be put aside for the common good.

The group was part of 50 Lab employees who attended the Lab's first ever Diversity Leadership Conference at the Fechin Inn in Taos. The workshop continues today.

"Any group requires a certain agreement, certain ground rules, so that it becomes fully human ... so that it takes risks ... makes mistakes," said workshop presenter Santo Albano, director of the New York state Employee Assistance Program.

When trying to build a team, groups can't be afraid to make mistakes," he said.

In this team-building workshop, the 15 lost-at-sea Lab employees were divided into three groups and asked to rank in order of priority what items were most important to them. They assumed they were on a private yacht that was disabled in the South Pacific because of a fire onboard.

After the employees ranked their individual priorities, they then had to rank priorities as a group. The exercise, Albano said, illustrates how individuals' priorities differ and how to build consensus through discussion and interaction.

"Everyone has their own feelings and opinions," said Judith Albano, a teacher at Three Village School in Selauket, N.Y., and co-workshop presenter. "Experiences are hidden and sometimes groups bring them out," she said.

Ruben Rangel of Ecology (ESH-20) ranked the five-gallon container of water as his top priority. Eugene Farnum of Ceramic Science and Technology (MST-4) agreed. They both ranked water higher than U.S. Army C rations and two boxes of chocolate bars.

Mike Maloney of Design Engineering (ESA-DE) ranked a fishing kit as his highest priority item. He said the kit was needed to catch food, assuming the yacht would remain lost at sea for an extended period of time.

And, Farnum ranked a 20-square-foot piece of opaque plastic higher than others in his group, saying it could be used to make a sail, for shade and as a solar still to heat water, among other things.

Larry Avens of Advanced Technology (NMT-6) thought a sextant, which is like a compass but uses stars as its directional points, and maps of the Pacific Ocean should be ranked higher.

This group also ranked a shaving mirror, which can be used as a signaling device, higher than the box of chocolate bars, the fishing kit, a two-gallon can of oil and gas mixture and a quart of Puerto Rican rum.

The exercise, Judith Albano said, also illustrates how group discussion and interaction may help more clearly define a solution. "When you work in groups you outline your focus and your goals," she said.

The employees also did a brainstorming exercise in which far-fetched ideas were encouraged and no ideas were criticized. Employees had to develop a plan on how to attract 50 top, young scientists to the Lab.

"Far-fetched ideas are encouraged because they may trigger other practical ideas," said Santo Albano. "One of the major effects of an outrageous idea is it loosens the group up and makes ideas start to flow."

John Viechec of the Institutional Facilities Management (FSS/IFMPO) Program Office and chairman of the Lab's Diversity Council, said the Lab should recruit potential new scientists from the private sector, as well as recruiting internationally. Barbara Grimes of the Community Involvement and Outreach (CIO) Office said universities with a significant number of minority students should be targeted.

Albert Jiron, also of CIO, said the Lab should pay bonuses to top young scientists as an inducement to come to the Lab.

And Robert Romero of Facility Operations/CMR (CST-26) said the Lab should re-evaluate its procedures for granting security clearances to assist minority, foreign students.

The exercise, Santo Albano said, also illustrates how ideas often are evaluated and dismissed before they are discussed and given a chance. "We're always putting the cart before the horse," he said.

In closing the workshop, Judith Albano reminded Lab employees who sit on diversity working groups that it may take time to implement change at the Lab. "You can't conquer Mount Everest in an hour-and-a-half," she said.

And Santo Albano said not everyone will agree that diversity is important. "You don't have to have complete agreement. You can have substantial agreement, and that's good enough," he said. "Go for being a good enough diversity council, and you'll accomplish a lot."

A workshop on how to make meetings work conducted by Joanne Coleman, a certified trainer in situational leadership, and a workshop on training for leadership, directed by Hadidjah Rivera, of the University of California, Los Angeles' Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention in the School of Medicine and Public Health also were held during the conference.

-- Steve Sandoval

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New acting Laboratory Counsel named

Sheila Brown of General Law (LC-GL) recently was named the new acting Laboratory Counsel. Brown replaces Ed Walterscheid, who served in this capacity since former Lab Counsel Reggie Hughes retired in April. Brown's new assignment became effective on Tuesday.

Brown will remain acting Laboratory Counsel until a permanent replacement for Hughes is selected. Brown has been at the Lab more than 10 years. Before that, she was director of the Environmental and Natural Resource Office in the state Attorney General's Office.

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New Laboratory-developed educational resource unveiled today

Members of the Laboratory's Science Education (STB/SE) team will be in Window Rock, Ariz., today to join officials and educators from the Navajo Nation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the U.S. Air Force to unveil a new educational resource developed at the Lab.

At the ceremony at the Navajo Nation Inn in Window Rock, a teachers' guide, multimedia interactive program and an hour-long video about the hantavirus outbreak in the Four Corners area in 1993 will be shown, said Dolores Jacobs, team leader in STB/SE. The hantavirus illness, believed to have been identified first in South Korea, is spread by contact with rodent urine and feces and causes flulike symptoms and sometimes fatal lung or kidney disease.

The virus is normally found only in rodents, especially deer mice. People can contract hantavirus illness when they breathe in the virus that is found in the urine, saliva or droppings or infected rodents. It may also be possible to catch the virus by eating or drinking food or water soiled by rodents.

The educational material , all in the Navajo language, will be piloted this fall in the Navajo Nation schools. "This represents a year-long project that was done in collaboration with teachers and other educators from the Navajo community," said Jacobs.

"What this does is establish Los Alamos as a valuable resource for Native American education and opens the door to collaborations with other national projects targeted to Native Americans," she said.

"Native Americans will now have in their native language an effective science education curriculum developed for Native Americans."

The Lab became involved in the translation project three years ago when NASA wanted to do a project that would benefit Native Americans around the country, Jacobs said. NASA's Life Sciences Division contacted Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago, which in turn contacted the Lab; NASA gave the Department of Energy $60,000 for the project.

Because the Laboratory has a long history of working with Native American populations, and through its working relationship with Argonne, the Lab and Navajo educators produced the instructional material on the hantavirus illness in the native Navajo language, said Jacobs.

The Lab used a Public Broadcasting Service "New Explorers" video documentary on hantavirus called "On the Trail of a Killer Virus," and an Argonne-produced teacher's guide in English on the illness called "On the Trail," which closely followed the video documentary, and worked with Navajo educators to translate it into Navajo.

Last year, teachers and other specialists from the Navajo Nation came to the Lab for a workshop on how to use Hyperstudio authoring software. The software, Jacobs explained, allows the information on hantavirus to be translated in stacks, "like a bunch of index cards" with text, voice and graphics embedded. The translated product can be accessed on a desktop computer, she said.

A medical translator at Gallup Medical Center, an independent business person, two teachers and a consultant who is a linguist by profession at Santa Monica College in California, formed the team that completed the project.

Several additional meetings were held in Gallup to continue working on the project.

The Lab and NASA also hopes to turn information based on Lab research on the hantavirus illness into additional classroom material, she added.

"The Laboratory is still very interested in this research and so it makes sense to do this type of translation project," Jacobs said. "Not only is it a literacy project whereby students actually learn about the topic and the medical and scientific aspects of the hantavirus, but they'll also enhance their capability of speaking their native language. The loss of this capability is a grave concern to Native Americans."

The collaborative effort has other benefits besides in the classroom, Jacobs added. She said the project exposes the Navajo Nation students to potential careers in the health field, citing continued interest in the hantavirus disease by the National Institutes of Health, local medical centers, the federal Centers for Disease Control and the Lab.

--Steve Sandoval

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Lab/UC Northern New Mexico Office to sponsor a booth at Spirit Day in Española

The Laboratory and the University of California's Northern New Mexico Office are sponsoring a booth at the fifth Annual Spirit Day Saturday in Española.

Spirit Day is sponsored by the Española Valley Chamber of Commerce and takes place on the new Española Valley Plaza on the city's west side, said Sandra Martinez of the UC Northern New Mexico Office.

Lab and UC employees will staff the booth from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Lab and UC materials will be available, said Martinez. A raffle will be held for several prizes, including UC books, T-shirts, coffee mugs and science projects for kids, she said.

The Lab and university staff will participate in Spirit Day team competitions, including a wheel-barrow-decorating contest, wheel barrow relay, balloon relay and three-legged race.

For more information, call Martinez at 7-3232.

--Steve Sandoval

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'You see, it works like this ...'

Left to right: Karen Rau of Chemical and Environmental Research and Development (CST-18) explains to fellow group members Deborah Needham and Deb Ehler her work involving water-soluble polymers to remove toxic metals from water during the first annual All-student Poster Session held Wednesday in the Bradbury Science Museum. Sponsored by the Student Association, the poster session featured 16 poster displays from students in the High School Co-op, Undergraduate Student and Graduate Research Assistant programs, representing nine Lab divisions. Students working on the Yucca Mountain Project in Nevada also had a display. Other subjects covered in the displays included data mining with genetic algorithms, gamma-ray spectroscopy, electrochemical paint removal and decontamination, and DNA-based detection and identification of bacteria. The Student Association hopes to hold subsequent poster sessions earlier in the year and in the J. Robert Oppenheimer Study Center in order to involve more students. Photo by Fred Rick

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