Fire danger: Low
Polygraph 'hearing' today at the Lab
A polygraph "hearing" is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 3 to 6 p.m. today in the Administration Building Main Auditorium. The sessions, which are open to the public, stem from the notice of proposed rulemaking concerning polygraph examinations that the Department of Energy published in the Federal Register on Aug. 18.
Requests to present and comments were due Wednesday. Each presentation is limited to five minutes to ensure that all persons have an opportunity to speak. Only those who have requested time will be allowed to speak during the hearing.
The Federal Register notice and supporting information on public hearings can be found at http://home.doe.gov/news/fedreg.htm on the World Wide Web. More information also is available in an all-employee memo.
Legislation could end most visits by foreign nationals from sensitive countries
Pending legislation would end most visits to the Laboratory by foreign nationals from sensitive countries for an undefined period, Laboratory Director John Browne told employees at a special town-hall meeting on Wednesday.
Foreign nationals from sensitive countries who now work at the Laboratory and have approved status as assignees or employees won't be affected by the legislation, which is part of Senate Bill S1059, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2000.
However, no new visits will be permitted for at least several months, except those that take place through the threat reduction programs with states of the former Soviet Union, such as lab-to-lab and materials control, protection and accountability.
"Thirty days after this bill is enacted, we will not be able to bring anybody new to the Laboratory, with rare exceptions," Browne explained.
The congressional moratorium is spelled out in Section 3146 of the Authorization Act, entitled, "Restrictions on Access to National Laboratories by Foreign Visitors from Sensitive Countries."
For at least three months after the legislation is enacted, new foreign nationals from sensitive countries won't have access to the Laboratory.
The law will require successful completion of an audit of Los Alamos' Foreign Visits and Assignments program. That audit must demonstrate that the program
The Laboratory is in compliance with all of these requirements, but DOE Secretary Bill Richardson and the directors of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Central Intelligence Agency all must formally certify that compliance. Obtaining that certification could take a long time, although the Laboratory already has begun discussions on the best way to facilitate the certification process.
The Laboratory's Internal Security Office (ISEC) has asked managers and escorts of foreign nationals from sensitive countries to make sure that required background or indices checks have been completed for the assignees and employees for whom they are responsible. ISEC Director Ken Schiffer said the remaining background checks have been submitted and should be completed before the end of the 30-day grace period.
"We're coordinating with the Human Resources Division (HR) and with all the line and program organizations to make sure that all the Laboratory's sensitive country foreign nationals have current background checks or that their background checks have been initiated," Schiffer said. "We expect to have 100 percent compliance of our onboard foreign nationals from sensitive countries in a reasonable time."
Under the pending legislation, Richardson can permit visits by sensitive country foreign nationals on a case-by-case basis, but he must report the waiver to Congress and certify that the visit poses no risks to national security.
In the meantime, Laboratory management is studying several issues connected with the moratorium:
Under the moratorium, foreign nationals from sensitive countries can be permitted access to two recognized public areas at the Laboratory: the first floor of J. Robert Oppenheimer Study Center and the Otowi Cafeteria and side dining rooms.
--Jim Danneskiold
New escort process and form goes into
effect Monday
Beginning Monday, Laboratory employees will need to complete a new form before escorting uncleared Laboratory employees, subcontract personnel and visitors to secure areas. In addition, escort procedures no longer involve the Badge Office.
Form 1812, Pre-Notification for Unclassified Visits by Uncleared U.S. Citizens to Security Areas, replaces Lab Form 864. A master management memo from Gene Tucker, deputy director of the Security and Safeguards (S) Division Office, has been issued.
The memo and supporting documents provide justification for the new form and specific details on the new procedures for completing the form.
The main change in procedure from the present escort process is that Form 1812 will no longer be routed through the Badge Office, according to Tucker. Group leaders or above will have to approve visits to their secure areas and ensure that all pertinent details of an escort to a secured area are completed.
For example, the form must indicate the security post through which an uncleared individual will pass through. If this information isn't on the form, the uncleared individual won't be permitted into the secure area.
Any additional administrative escort procedures for specific areas still must be followed, the memo notes.
Form 1812 can be accessed electronically from the Laboratory's World Wide Web site (Adobe Acrobat Reader required to view form).
For more information, call Sharon Daly of Program Integration (S-2) at 5-7281 or write to daly@lanl.gov by e-mail.
--Steve Sandoval
NASA space station engineer to speak at Lab
Fernando Rico-Cusi of the NASA Kennedy Space Center will speak at the Laboratory Monday at 9 a.m. in the Physics Building Auditorium on "The International Space Station." The talk is jointly sponsored by the Nonproliferation and International Security (NIS) Division Center for Space Science and Exploration and The Society of Mexican American Engineers and Scientists (MAES) Northern New Mexico. David McComas, director of the NIS space center, will introduce the speaker. Rico-Cusi will be available for questions on the space station following the talk.
A graduate of the University of Texas, El Paso, Rico-Cusi joined NASA in 1985 and has served in a number of capacities, including managing the Design Engineering Directorates VAX and Shuttle Data Processing systems, In 1997, he joined NASA's Payloads Directorate, where he now works as lead engineer for the Space Station Power/Electrical Systems group.
While in New Mexico, Rico-Cusi will speak to area high school students as part of the MAES educational outreach program. The talk at the Laboratory is open to the public.
Lab employee elected president of the
New Mexico Municipal League
Laboratory employee Chris Roybal has been elected president of the New Mexico Municipal League.
Roybal is a communications security specialist in Computer and Technical Security (S-5). Roybal was elected to the post at the New Mexico Municipal League's 42nd annual conference earlier this month in Albuquerque. He assumes the president's post on Oct. 1 and will serve a one-year term.
The New Mexico Municipal League is a not-for-profit, nonpartisan organization that represents 102 incorporated municipalities in New Mexico. Its offices are in Santa Fe.
The opportunity to continue to serve the citizens of Española and now the citizens of the different municipalities throughout the state is one that will benefit municipal governments and the Laboratory through my service as a quasi ambassador to New Mexico municipalities when Laboratory issues arise," said Roybal. "Laboratory management has always supported me in my political endeavors and now I have the opportunity to help the Laboratory and its employees in matters that may impact us via state legislation or local/municipal ordinances."
Roybal was elected to the Española City Council in 1990 and currently serves as Mayor Pro Tempore. He also is chairman of the city's Public Safety Committee and chairman of the Rio Arriba County/city of Española E911 Authority.
Roybal previously has been a board member, treasurer and vice-president of the New Mexico Municipal League. He has worked at the Laboratory 20 years.
Roybal, a graduate of McCurdy School in Española, is married and has two daughters.
--Steve Sandoval
Nobel laureate to speak in Los Alamos
James Watson, Nobel laureate and co-discoverer of the structure of DNA, will deliver a free public lecture in Los Alamos at 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Duane Smith Auditorium.
Watson's talk, sponsored by the J. Robert Oppenheimer Memorial Committee, is titled "From the Double Helix to the Human Genome Project."
Watson was director of the National Center for Human Genome Research at the National Institutes of Health from 1989 to 1992 and is credited with launching the worldwide effort to map and sequence the human genome, the DNA blueprint for human life.
Watson currently is president of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a small research center on Long Island, N.Y., that functions as a postgraduate university on DNA science. Researchers at the laboratory investigate the molecular basis of cancer, cell biochemistry, neuroscience and other topics.
Though Cold Springs Harbor is relatively small -- less than 600 employees -- it exerts a strong influence on biological research by sponsoring a series of professional meetings and advanced courses.
The J. Robert Oppenheimer Memorial Committee is a private, nonprofit, philanthropic organization that creates and administers scholarships for promising, college-bound students and sponsors lectures for community enrichment.
Renowned paleontologist to discuss discoveries of early man
Professor Tim White will speak about his research team's most recent discoveries in Ethiopia and what they have revealed about the origins of man at a Director's Colloquium Tuesday.
The talk will begin at 1:10 p.m. in the Physics Building Auditorium. It is open to the public and will be broadcast on LABNET. For more information, see the Sept. 15 Newsbulletin.
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Bradford Sturtevant, a professor of aeronautics at the California Institute of Technology, spoke Tuesday about methods of conducting laboratory experiments that simulate volcanic processes, including both slow and fast lava flows. Understanding the chemo-thermo-mechanics of volcanoes through experimentation is vital to our understanding of the history of the earth and for assessment of volcanic hazards, Sturtevant said. Some of the earliest experimental volcanology studies were conducted 20 years ago at the Laboratory. Photo by LeRoy N. Sanchez |
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Lab Counsel offers guidance on dealings with investigators The Laboratory Counsel Office has issued a memorandum that provides guidance to employees who might be asked for documents or interviews by investigators with the Federal Bureau of Investigation or U.S. Attorney's Office. Click here for the memo. |
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Simulating volcanic processes discussed
at Director's Colloquium
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