Wednesday, Sept. 17, 1997
Sept. 16, 1997
News release from the University of California Office of the President
Regents to consider national laboratory contracts
Proposed contracts that would continue the University of California's half-century management of three national laboratories will be presented to the UC Board of Regents for approval at a meeting Thursday (Sept. 18) in San Francisco.
The Regents will consider the proposed contracts in special meetings scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. at UC San Francisco-Laurel Heights, 3333 California St., in conjunction with the board's September 17-19 business meeting.
The proposed contracts -- one each for Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, both in California, and Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico -- are the result of more than a year of negotiation between the university and the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE). If approved by the Regents and the DOE, the contracts would run concurrently for five years, as they have in the past; they would expire in September 2002.
UC President Richard C. Atkinson, who will recommend that the Regents approve the contracts, said:
"The Berkeley, Livermore and Los Alamos laboratories are uniquely valuable resources. Today, more than ever, the historic partnership we share with the federal government contributes in increasingly important and diverse ways to our society and our future. We are proud of our historic association with the national laboratories and encouraged by the prospect of continuing this service to the nation."
The university has been asked by the federal government to manage the three laboratories since their inception. The partnership began in 1943, with the establishment of the Berkeley laboratory as a federal facility -- it is the first laboratory in the DOE complex -- and the founding of the Los Alamos laboratory that same year; the Livermore laboratory was founded 1952.
Today the three laboratories are widely recognized for their research and development in such areas as energy, environment and health, with the Livermore and Los Alamos laboratories also providing leadership in national security. The three laboratories also contribute to the nation's economic competitiveness through research partnerships with industry, and all engage in math and science education for students and teachers at all levels.
The laboratories employ a combined UC workforce of more than 17,000 people and operate on federally funded budgets totaling about $2.4 billion.
Senior Vice President V. Wayne Kennedy, UC's lead representative in negotiations with the DOE, noted that the proposed contracts will preserve and strengthen the performance-based management system introduced for the laboratories under the current contracts, which took effect in 1992.
"Our goal has been to balance the laboratories' consistently outstanding performance in science and technology with the highest possible degree of business management and accountability," Kennedy said.
"Working with the Department of Energy, we have achieved increasingly strong results in recent years. We intend to build upon this success in the future."
A recent government-wide study sponsored by Vice President Al Gore's National Performance Review identified the DOE/UC relationship -- dubbed the "Partnership for Performance" program -- as an exemplary model of performance-based management.
Objectives of the process, which is consistent with the DOE's contract reform initiative, are to improve the laboratories' support of research, decrease costs of operations and reduce the need for frequent DOE audits at the laboratories. The process measures performance at each of the laboratories against jointly established metrics in several administrative and operational areas. Also evaluated is the quality of science, engineering and technical work at each of the laboratories.
The proposed contracts continue to reflect principles fundamental to UC's management the laboratories. Inherent to these principles are the preservation of scientific and intellectual freedom at the laboratories; the administration by UC of benefit and retirement plans for laboratory employees; the continuation of collaborative research opportunities among UC campuses, other academic institutions and the laboratories in non-classified areas of benefit to the nation; and the stipulation that UC manages the laboratories as a public service.
Under the proposed contracts UC would receive $14 million a year as a program performance fee. This is used by the university for any operating costs arising from the laboratories not otherwise reimbursed by the government or for discretionary research by or at the laboratories. This fee may be increased or decreased based on results of the laboratories' annual performance appraisals.
The DOE also would provide $11 million annually as a fixed payment for the indirect costs of managing the laboratories and up to $4.5 million a year to fund the UC Laboratory Administration Office, which implements the performance-based management system established for the laboratories.
The proposed contracts include the right for UC to terminate one or more of the agreements upon 18 months' notice.
In addition, the Los Alamos contract includes a provision allowing for a special DOE assessment of the laboratory's performance in programs and activities related to environment, safety and health, environmental restoration and waste management, and community participation on the part of UC and the laboratory. Also included in the Los Alamos contract are provisions addressing needs and circumstances specific to northern New Mexico regarding economic development and regional community and educational outreach by UC and the laboratory.
In acting on the contract extensions for the Berkeley and Livermore laboratories, the Regents also will consider certifying addenda to environmental impact reports previously conducted for each of the California laboratories under the state's Environmental Quality Act.
Note: More information on UC's management of the national laboratories is available on the World Wide Web at labs.ucop.edu Pending the Regents' action Thursday, the laboratory management contracts also will be available on the Web at http://llnl.gov/comix/comix/
Economic development a key provision of proposed management contract for Lab
The proposed contract for continued University of California management of the Laboratory contains provisions to stimulate economic development in Northern New Mexico, reduce the region's reliance on federal investment and increase regional community and educational outreach by the Laboratory and the university. For more information on the contract provided by the UC Office of the President, go to.
Chinese Mid-Autumn Moon Festival celebration Saturday
The Laboratory's Chinese Student and Scholar Association is sponsoring a traditional Chinese Mid-Autumn Moon Festival celebration Saturday at the Los Alamos Community Center located at 475 20th Street.
The festival begins at 6 p.m. and features traditional Chinese food, mooncakes and entertainment, said Zhong Ding of Chemical Reactions, Kinetics and Dynamics (CST-6).
There is a $6 admission fee and reservations are required by Thursday, said Ding. Employees can make a reservation by calling Ding at 7-5111 or by writing to zyd@lanl.gov by electronic mail.
The Chinese Student and Scholar Association is a Laboratory-sanctioned organization. The Lab's Diversity (DV) Office is co-sponsoring the event.
According to Ding, the Chinese Mid-Autumn Moon Festival originates from the legend Chang O Ascends to the Moon. Chang O was the wife of the god Hou Yi.
Legend has it that long ago, the Earth was in a state of havoc because there were 10 suns in the sky; these were the sons of the Jade Emperor. The 10 suns caused rivers to dry, the land became barren and many people died. Seeing the death and destruction caused by his sons, the Jade Emperor took this matter to the god Hou Yi. The Emperor asked Hou Yi to persuade his sons to rise up away from the Earth to end the catastrophe. When Hou Yi asked the suns to leave the sky, they refused. Made angry by their defiance, Hou Yi, a great archer, launched arrows at the suns, shooting them down one by one until his wife, Chang O, pleaded with him to save one sun to keep the Earth warm and bright.
Knowing that the Jade Emperor was furious at the slaying of his sons, Hou Yi and Chang O were forced to stay on Earth. Chang O was unhappy, so Hou Yi tried to win back her favor by gathering herbs that would once again give them the power to ascend to heaven. Chang O remained angry, however, and ate all the herbs herself. She flew up to the moon, where she remains alone, living in the Moon Palace.
Ding said that during the Tang Dynasty (618-906 A.D.) the 15th day of the eighth lunar month was made an official holiday, Moon Festival, in memory of Chang O and Hou Yi.
More information about Chang O and the Chinese Moon Festival celebration can be found at http://peacock.tnjc.edu.tw/MOON/story.html online.
--Steve Sandoval
'Memory Walk' to benefit Alzheimer's slated for
Saturday
The first Memory Walk to raise money for local programs and services for persons with Alzheimer's disease is Saturday in Española.
The walk is a Laboratory-sanctioned event and employees and subcontract personnel are invited to participate. Employee participants also may include it as part of their September Walking Month walking totals.
The walk is the only nationwide fundraising event for Alzheimer's disease, said Ruth Gibson of the Human Resources (HR) Division.
The walk begins at 9 a.m. at Northern New Mexico Community College on North Oñate Road and ends with a celebration on the Española plaza, a distance of 1.1 miles, said Gibson.
After the walk, Sally Moore, a health-policy consultant and health-education specialist, will speak about Alzheimer's disease.
Moore was previously a health-promotion manager and educator with the state Agency on Aging, director of Health Net New Mexico and director of a residential home for persons with dementia. She has a bachelor's degree in public affairs and community service from the University of Oregon and a master's degree in public administration from the University of New Mexico.
Moore chaired a state task force on Alzheimer's disease and related disorders in 1992 and 1993 and has served on several other task forces and commissions dealing with geriatric health and mental health and mental-health care.
Gibson said there also will be brochures with information about the disease.
Registration begins at 8 a.m. and anyone making at least a $25 donation will receive a T-shirt, said Gibson.
Alzheimer's is a progressive, degenerative disease of the brain; it is the most common form of dementia. Some 4 million Americans have it and 19 million Americans say they have a family member with Alzheimer's disease, according to statistics from the National Alzheimer's Association.
The Alzheimer's Association also offers these statistics about the disease:
The New Mexico chapter of National Alzheimer's Association phone number is (505) 266-2195 or 1-800-777-8155. The National Alzheimer's Association toll free number is 1-800-621-0379.
A number of support groups have been formed locally for families affected by the disease. In Los Alamos, call 662-7549; in Española, call 753-5846 or 753-8531; in Santa Fe, call 982-5906 or 982-4258; and in Taos, call 758-4091 or 758-2300.
Questions about Alzheimer's disease also can be sent to webmaster@alz.org by electronic mail. More information about Alzheimer's disease also can be found at http://www.pslgroup.com/ALZHEIMER.HTM or http://dsmallpc2.path.unimelb.edu.au/ad.html online.
For more information about the 1997 Memory Walk, call Gibson at 7-1887.
--Steve Sandoval
Pinellas Plant transferred to community
The Department of Energy announced last week that it has transferred the Pinellas Plant in Largo, Fla., back to the community. The Pinellas Plant is the first major facility that has been cleaned up and transferred to a community. The DOE news release noted that the successful cleanup and transfer of this facility from the federal government to county government emphasizes the new direction the federal government and the DOE are taking in transferring facilities to local control. See the news release for more information
CIO director interviewed on local radio station
Leroy Apodaca, right, director of the Laboratory's Community Involvement and Outreach (CIO) Office, talks with Mark Bentley of radio station KRSN on Friday. Apodaca talked about the Lab's economic development initiatives in Northern New Mexico and Laboratory community involvement and outreach programs, including the Lab's outreach centers in Los Alamos, Española and Taos. Photo by Mike Kolb, CIO
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