Last updated October 20, 2003

Ask the Directorate

[Go straight to the answers]

"Ask the Directorate" gives employees an opportunity to ask senior Argonne management about the laboratory's operations, policy, strategy, mission, budget, and goals.

Employees should continue to refer job- or workplace-specific questions to their immediate supervisors.

Employees may submit questions to askthedirectorate@anl.gov or fax them to 2-5274. Only questions that include the name of the questioner and contact information, such as email address, office extension or fax number, will be answered.

An appropriate member of the Argonne Directorate -- Argonne Director Hermann Grunder, Chief Scientist Robert Rosner, Deputy Laboratory Director Don Joyce or Chief Operating Officer Mike Derbidge -- will answer each question, and the answer will be sent directly to the employee.

In addition, the Argonne News will periodically print selected responses, and all answers will be posted on this page. Questioners will remain anonymous in the Argonne News and on the Web.

Answers

Oct. 20, 2003

Q: It would be nice if the Argonne-East post office could open at 8 a.m. instead of 10 a.m. If it opened at 8, most people could get things done at the post office before reporting to work instead of having to step away from work.

A: While your suggestion would be a nice convenience, the mailroom does not have the resources to provide an earlier opening of the Branch Post Office. As an alternative, may we suggest the U. S. post office located at 42 Stephen St., Lemont, Ill. They open at 8 a.m. and could assist you in conducting your early morning postal business. For more information on times and locations of the post office nearest you please go to www.usps.com.

Sept. 8, 2003

Q: I think a jogging path around the APS perimeter is needed. These folks who exercise outside are road hazards, as they are often in the street, and as a car approaches from beyond a hill it is impossible to see them until you are right at their footsteps. You can avoid an accident because the speed limit is so low on-site, but the fact that joggers/walkers are in the way and startle me is the point. Also, if they would move, the cars could accelerate to an ergonomically feasible speed (i.e. it is awkward and hurts my foot to go less than 30 mph -- cars aren’t designed for extended driving like that).

A: While a jogging path would reduce the likelihood of a meeting between a car and a jogger or walker, such a decision needs to be based on risk, and the value to Argonne’s site as a whole needs to be balanced with the limited resources available.  There are currently several approaches to reducing the safety risk without the expenditure of significant funds for a jogging path. There are already several paths available around the site that can be used for walking and jogging, and several of the roads, particularly on the south end of the site, are less traveled and thus present less risk to those participating in recreational activities.

Further, there are actions the lab can and has taken to improve visibility of joggers and walkers when using the roads, for example, recommending wearing reflective gear. In addition, an article is published in the Argonne News annually to remind people of ways to be safe when using the roads for recreation and to encourage them to avoid certain high traffic areas.

Finally, the speed limit on the site needs to be maintained.  I understand that the speed limit may seem low; however, it is consistent with the guidelines for speed limits in Illinois when the level of use, construction of the road, and visibility are taken into account. If ergonomic difficulty is an issue in the workplace (including getting to and from the work site), Argonne does have an ergonomic subject matter expert (Carol Giles, EQO, ext. 2-3427) who is available to address specific concerns, and further, the Medical Department can be consulted for advice.

Sept. 2, 2003

Q: It would be great to have access to our vacation and sick-leave balances 24/7. Why not make it available to all employees via the Web using our payroll number?

A: In FY 2004, a new time reporting system will be implemented for all employees. The system will be Web-based and employees will be allowed the 24/7 access you ask about. The system will include vacation and sick balances.

Aug. 25, 2003

Q: I believe it would benefit the laboratory to open the west gate at 6 a.m. instead of the current time of 6:15. I feel it is losing too many man-minutes that add up to a lot of man-hours wasted waiting for the gate to open. Many a day, I have waited in a long line of cars. I am an early bird and travel a long distance to get to the lab, and the two extra miles it would take to enter the main gate adds just that much more mileage I put on my car each year. Can something be done about this matter?

A: The posted, published and contractual scope of work for the protective force subcontractor calls for manning and operating Westgate from 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays. However, when the laboratory assumed responsibility for the protective force contractor 21/2 years ago, we informally adjusted the opening time to approximately 6:15 a.m. to accommodate early arrivers. In response to your request for a 6 a.m. opening of the West Gate, we have determined that this change in the scope of work can be accommodated without modification of the contract and at minimal additional cost to the laboratory. The PROFORCE contractor has adjusted schedules and guidance and implemented a 6 a.m. weekday opening of Westgate. This administrative change is being implemented on a temporary basis subject to review in six months to validate the cost-effectiveness of the change. In six months, if the volume substantiates continuation of this change, the protective force contract and posted hours of Westgate will be formally amended or revised to make this change permanent.

May 19, 2003

Q: Occasionally, employees are encouraged to car-pool in the interests of energy conservation. This would be a more attractive option if it were easier to travel around the Argonne site without a car. Unfortunately, there are no sidewalks from the main gate, APS, or Guest House to the 200 area, and there is no internal shuttle. Further, employees who exercise by running on site must deal with a lot of traffic, which creates an inconvenience for everyone and also a safety hazard. Are there any plans to address these issues?

A: This year, funding has been allocated for a walkway to connect the 400 area to the 200 area. Future plans include paths from the 200 area to North Gate and the 200 area to West Gate and the Forest Preserve. Work will be scheduled as funds become available. In the meantime, since safety is always our number one concern, we remind employees who jog, walk or engage in other outdoor activities to follow the rules of the road and use all due caution when using any streets with vehicular traffic. Regarding taxi or shuttle service, the laboratory at one time offered both on-call and scheduled taxi service. They were discontinued because low usage did not justify the cost. In recent years, we have seen little interest in resuming shuttle service, but we monitor this issue and would take action if circumstances warranted.

May 12, 2003

Q: Why, when they have security guard uniforms, are some of our Security Force allowed to wear military camo uniforms when they are not in the military? I, as a mother of an active military professional, i.e., Green Beret, am offended by this, as I think other people are also. The uniform of the United States military personnel is an earned privilege.

A: We can well appreciate your feelings, and want to reassure you that while we do have members on the Protective Force who have earned the right to wear the uniforms you refer to, the uniforms themselves are not military but rather approved camouflage protective force uniforms.

May 5, 2003

Q: What is the procedure for screening individuals who have recently traveled to China and are returning to work? Are these people required to get a medical clearance? What is being done to protect the health of employees at Argonne?

A: At the present time, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) does not recommend quarantining individuals returning from China. Thus, individuals returning from affected areas who are not sick and who have not been in contact with individuals suffering from SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) may return directly to duty. Individuals from China or other SARS hotspots who have symptoms of the disease should not return to the laboratory. These symptoms include any combination of aching joints, headache, fever of over 100.4 degrees, dry cough, shortness of breath, or other respiratory symptoms. Instead, they should call (630) 252-2800 and ask a staff physician how to proceed.

If someone was unknowingly exposed during the preceding 10 to 12 days, they still may become ill with SARS after they return to work. Such individuals who become ill while on duty should call ext. 2-2800 and ask a staff physician for instructions before leaving their work stations. In line with CDC instructions, the Argonne Medical Department is advising people planning elective or non-essential travel to such SARS hotspots as Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanxi and Guangdong provinces in China, Singapore, Hanoi in Vietnam, and Toronto in Canada to postpone their trips until further notice.

If going to one of these locations is a necessity, talk to a staff physician. At the present time, there is no satisfactory approved treatment for SARS. The medical department will be referring individuals to their own practitioners for personal care. Since there has not been enough time since the outbreak of SARS for medical literature to appear, the best resource for information is the CDC Web site. There are reports that combinations of ribovin and steroids are being used in individuals with progressive SARS, but this is an unproven treatment. The medical department staff will be pleased to work with any individual who has concerns about travel, visitors or questions of personal exposure.

March 17, 2003

Q: What security changes can we expect at Argonne-East if the terror alert level changes to red?

A: Terror alert level red is similar to the Department of Energy’s Security Condition (SECON) level 1, Threat Critical, but is not quite the same. This rough correlation is true of all five SECON levels. A chart of the security action plans that go with each of the SECON levels is online.

The main difference between Homeland Security Alert Advisory level red and SECON-1 is that SECON-1 refers to incidents in the “immediate area where a malevolent or terrorist attack has occurred which may affect the site, or when an attack is initiated on the site ...” Thus, where the Homeland Security level might escalate to red for the nation as a whole, we expect DOE would implement SECON-1 on a site-by-site basis based on the local situation.

At SECON-1, DOE-HQ, Chicago Operations, Argonne Area Office, and Argonne management would jointly activate an Emergency Operations Center, assess the threat to the site and occupants, and implement additional protective measures. These measures could include limiting the presence of personnel on site to critical and essential program and operations staff, reducing all after-hours access and activities, increasing local law enforcement presence on site, gracefully shutting down non-essential and non-critical experiments and research activities, and staggering arrival and departure schedules.

Following the DOE directive, we would implement a full search and inspection of all vehicles, suitcases, briefcases, packages and hand-carried items, without exception. It is likely we would close Westgate and Eastgate with barriers so all site access would be through Northgate.

Again, SECON-1 is called for in the event of a specific local or regional attack that would impact the site and would not necessarily be implemented because of a red alert or advisory.

With this said, note that with the nation recently at orange, security inspected all visitors, guests, and delivery vehicles plus random employee vehicles. If the nation went to red, even without SECON-1, we would anticipate that more employee vehicles would be searched and that we would recommend staggered arrival and departure schedules. In preparation for other actions, we would advise facility and program mangers and supervisory personnel to identify critical and essential personnel and implement their own local patrols, inspections, walk-throughs and protective measures within their facilities.

March 3, 2003

Q: There is plenty of documentation on how a good policy that allows telecommuting can benefit both the employer and employees. A prime example is increased productivity for the employer and increased free time for the employee. Telecommuting also benefits the local community by helping reduce local traffic congestion as well as maintaining the environment. Does Argonne have a telecommuting policy?

A: There are certainly cases, when a mutually beneficial situation exists, in which Argonne employees work at alternative work locations, including their homes. These are set up on a case-by-case basis. If you believe working from home may be of mutual benefit to you and the laboratory, please follow these steps:

1. Discuss the situation with your supervisor. If your supervisor supports a telecommuting arrangement, proceed to Step 2.

2. Obtain an "ANL Work-At-Home/Alternative Work Location Agreement" from Human Resources - Employment and Placement. You and your supervisor should then complete this form together.

3. Obtain division director and associate laboratory director approval signatures on the agreement.

4. Submit the agreement to Human Resources for final approval.

Feb. 17, 2003

Q: What are the responsibilities of the Chief of Staff? Job description?

A: The position of chief of staff was added to the Directorate this past autumn to coordinate its many activities. Jill Morgenthaler was named to the post. She supports Argonne Director Hermann Grunder by monitoring the progress of assignments and making sure everyone has the resources they need. She works with the other members of the Directorate and their staffs to maintain scientific, programmatic, operational and administrative visions, and reports on progress and problems. The chief of staff also handles special assignments on the director’s behalf.

As part of these responsibilities, the chief of staff participates in strategic planning and setting of priorities, transmits plans and recommendations of the Directorate to the laboratory director, advises him about such plans and recommendations and acts as his agent in carrying them out. She sometimes represents him at events, including speaking engagements. Such representation may be with local and community groups, foreign dignitaries, and other VIPs.

Oct. 28, 2002

Q. With the heightened security, site access has been made very inconvenient for an employee's spouse. There are many times when I wish to make a quick stop at the lab during a weekend or a late hour but cannot do so because my wife is with me. I realize that a temporary pass can be obtained, but would like to suggest an alternate, and I believe equally secure, method.

If an employee wishes to enter the site accompanied by his/her spouse and if both have a current driver's license and if both licenses have the same home address and if both photos match the persons involved, and if one of the persons has an Argonne photo ID badge, then a one-day pass could be provided by the gate guard.

This would seem to limit access to those who would be guaranteed to be granted a pass if the visitor's reception center were open.

A. For frequent (weekly or more often) site access by a spouse, the best and easiest solution is for an employee to request a long-term pass for the spouse from a division director (laminated to distinguish it from the regular gate pass). As long as they have the pass and their photo ID, the spouse will be allowed site access with or without the employee as well as on weekends and after hours. If the spouse forgets the pass, and the Visitor Center is closed, the officer on duty may issue a temporary pass to the spouse upon the request of the badged employee, providing the spouse is a U.S. citizen and provides positive identification.

For occasional (once every month or so) site access the regular gate pass request can be faxed or e-mailed by any badged employee and picked up by the spouse at the VRC with photo identification and signed receipt of the pass.

Finally, per our existing procedures for the Protective Force, if a badged employee arrives after hours and has his or her spouse or other visitors with them, the officer on duty may issue a temporary pass to the spouse or visitors upon the request of the employee, providing the spouse or visitors are U.S. citizens and possess positive identification. This has been in place since last year.

Aug. 12, 2002

Q: Because of the on-going road construction on I-55 during the off hours, in which travel is down to one lane or the (exits to) Lemont and Cass avenues have been closed off, those of us who work during those "off-hours" have to find alternate routes to get to the lab.

Could it be possible to open the Westgate entrance between the hours of, say, 11:30 p.m. and 12:30 a.m. to accommodate those of us who live south and west of the laboratory? It can help to cut down the travel time to work.

A: As in previous years, commuters throughout the Chicago metro area, at all times of the day, are experiencing pain and frustration about finding alternate routes and allowing for the extra time of traffic delays due to road construction and renovation. Many individuals from the south and west of the laboratory have indicated that even at 7 a.m., what was normally a 20- or 30-minute commute is now requiring that they start an hour earlier to get to work before 8 a.m.

While we sympathize with your situation, the suggestion of posting security officers at Westgate to permit late night access cannot be accommodated under heightened security requirements and our obligations to protect the site, the site occupants, and the resources of DOE and the laboratory. Even under normal circumstances, the protective force is fully engaged with increased patrols during off hours and reducing and restricting off-hours site access and activities through a single point.

To open up additional entry points during the middle of the night or to divert security personnel from patrols and site surveillance activities would not be prudent stewardship of DOE and laboratory resources.

July 15, 2002

Q: A poster on display in 201 showing plans for the RIA indicates it will extend to site property that the northwest corner of Outer Circle Road currently passes through. Will the road be closed, or rerouted?

A: RIA is still in the early design stage. Plans include rerouting Meridian Road to follow a more graceful and direct route into Outer Circle Road. The rerouting of Outer Circle around the back of RIA has not been decided.

June 17, 2002

Q: In regards to HR Policy & Procedures #2250.1 & 2250.2, is it possible when two technicians who are brothers and work in the same division -- same section -- same work area, under the same manager, that one of the brothers can be promoted to a supervisory (chief) position over the other?

A: A chief technician does not have hire, fire or disciplinary responsibilities over their technicians; hire/fire/discipline is done by either the section group manager in cooperation with or by the division director. A chief technician does not have a say as to pay because technicians' pay is negotiated as part of the collective bargaining agreement. A chief technician primarily assigns work, trains employees, makes sure that the work is performed satisfactorily, schedules the work and makes sure that deadlines are met; they approve annual leave and timekeeping records.

So to answer your question, yes, it is possible for the division to promote one brother over the other. The division could still be in compliance with HR Policy #2250 because most of the supervisory responsibilities are performed at a higher managerial level than the chief technician position.

(Editor's note: HR advises that the policy cited in the question says that whenever one relative is selected (original hire, promotion, transfer), to supervise another relative or work side-by-side in same section, then the division director has to provide written documentation to the HR director explaining why there would be no problem with the employees supervised by one over the other or working together. If an issue remains or there is an appeal, then the decision could go up to the chief operations officer or even to the laboratory director.)

June 3, 2002

Q: Just a few weeks ago little blue, yellow and orange flags bloomed all over the lawns at the 200 end of the lab. Now they're mostly gone. We're just wondering what they were for, and whether their mission was accomplished … or did the deer eat them?

A: The large variety of multicolored flags that were seen surrounding and leading away from Building 221 were all part of the planning and design project for the proposed Illinois Science Center, which would be constructed in conjunction with the proposed Rare Isotope Accelerator project. The multicolored flags showed the location of underground utilities in these areas and were removed when the planning and design people had completed their tasks.

April 22, 2002

Q: Current site access requires spouses to go through the same process as anyone else who needs access to the site. Is it possible to provide "permanent" access for spouses so one does not have to arrange in advance site access each time for banking or dining privileges? If not every spouse requires this type of access can it be made available on a case by case basis?

A: Prior to the events of Sept. 11, 2001, the means for spouses to access the Argonne-East site were satisfied via the windshield sticker program. While the windshield sticker program is currently being held in abeyance, we hope it may be resumed at some point in the future. You may however, make prior arrangements for such visits for a "modified/extended" period of time through the Argonne Information Center.

Editor's note: The Argonne Information Center advises that passes good for up to five days can be arranged by an employee for U.S. citizens. Passes good for longer periods (up to a year) or permitting off-hour access (weekends and weekdays between 7 p.m. and 6:30 a.m.) require approval through a division director's office.