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| ARGONNE HOME PAGE | ARGONNE INTRANET | NEWS HOME PAGE | BACK ISSUES |
It was either the natural culmination of two years of meticulous planning -- or a case of "Apocalypse Not." Either way, both Argonne-East and Argonne-West rolled into the year 2000 with nary a glitch, hitch nor blip.
About three dozen Argonne employees, in addition to the guard, fire and utility force usually on duty during holidays, were on site from late Dec. 31 to the early morning hours of Jan. 1, prepared to deal with any unexpected problems that might have arisen. There weren't any.
Members of the ESH Radiological Assistance Program (RAP) team gathered at the Argonne Fire Department along with a representative of the Illinois Department of Nuclear Safety. RAP team member George Mosho (ESH) explained that the state employee was present to direct the RAP team to any radiological events where they might be needed off site. There were no such events on or off site.
Another ESH group, led by division director Bob Wynveen and assistant division director Bob Schlenker, waited out the beginning of the New Year at the Technical Support Center in Building 201. That team was prepared to serve as the core of an Emergency Operations Center, if the need to staff such a center arose. That didn't happen.
At Building 221, acting Chief Operations Officer Rudy Bouie greeted the New Year with Chief Information Officer Tim Kuhfuss, also director of the Electronics and Computing Technology Division. Kuhfuss's team, led by Paul Krystosek for computers and Mike Vonder Heide (both ECT) for telecommunications, was on hand to ensure that Argonne's massive computer and telephone networks were in full operation for the New Year. An additional 30 or so ECT personnel checked accessibility to Argonne-East's computer and telephone systems from off site. "They'd been told to come in if they couldn't reach us," Kuhfuss explained. They didn't have to.
The group checked not only the lab phones, but also on-site paging, off-site paging, cellular phones, utilities, computer networking, Web access and voice mail. At 12:05 a.m., the Fire Department tested the internal sitewide emergency notification system, with cheerful New Year's greetings for all those on site. "We decided to wait until midday tomorrow to test the outdoor sirens," Bouie said, adding, "We don't want to scare the neighbors."
Testing of the systems was complete about 12:30 a.m., but Krystosek stuck it out until after 1 a.m. Argonne-East time, waiting to hear from Gary Batte (RPS) at Argonne-West. The Idaho site, which greeted the New Year one hour after the Illinois site, also was problem-free.
Planning for the rollover from the 1900s to the year 2000 -- an event some describe as the beginning of the 21st Century -- began under Department of Energy direction in 1998. Work to determine that all appropriate Argonne equipment was "Y2K compliant" has been underway since then.
Part of the effort involved working with all Argonne divisions to ensure that all relevant computer issues were covered. Special attention was given to the user facilities -- the Advanced Photon Source, the Intense Pulsed Neutron Source, the Alpha-Gamma Hot Cell and others -- because of their complex computer networking.
As the end of the year drew closer, all non-critical computer networking systems at the laboratory were turned off, both as a precaution and to remove the temptation from potential computer hackers. After Christmas, Kuhfuss said, the lab could see an increase in attempted hacking activity, "probably from all the kids who got new and faster computers for Christmas." On Jan. 1, the systems personnel from those divisions came in to bring those individual systems back up, Kuhfuss said.
Everything worked out so well, Kuhfuss said, that even his joke cap -- a present from OPA Director John McGrath -- containing a battery-operated digital countdown to the New Year, worked as promised, displaying at the appropriate time a message reading "Happy 2000."
-- Catherine Foster
'Tis the season … to wonder if last night's big snowfall is going to affect Argonne-East operations.
Information about site conditions during severe winter weather will be available on theArgonne Home Page or on the Argonne Info-Line at (630) 252-INFO. Radio stations will not be notified; past experience has shown that they can't broadcast timely information in major winter storms.
Depending on road conditions, employees may want to delay their morning commute until the roads have been cleared. Employees may be directed to park in a designated area to allow the parking lots to be cleared.
Employees should discuss with their supervisors in advance what to do in case of heavy snowfall.
If there is heavy snow during the work day, the chief operations officer, in conjunction with DOE management, may decide to close the laboratory early. Employees should use extra caution on the roadways if this happens, since traffic will likely be heavy, the roads slippery and visibility poor.
Nominations are being sought for the 2000 University of Chicago Awards for Distinguished Performance at Argonne.
The awards recognize outstanding technical or scientific achievement or a distinguished record of achievements by an employee of the laboratory.
Statements of 250 words or less citing the achievement or record of the nominee should be submitted to the laboratory director. Fifteen copies are required.
Deadline for initial nominations is Monday, Feb. 7.
After internal review, the laboratory director will notify nominators of the acceptance of the nominations for submission to the University of Chicago, and additional support materials will be requested.
Argonne will honor its longtime employees with a luncheon and dinner-dance.
The service awards luncheon, honoring those with 20 years of service, will be held Thursday, Feb. 17, at the Argonne Guest House. Invitations will be sent in mid-January.
Those with 25, 30, 35, 40 and 50 years of service will be honored at a dinner-dance Friday, March 31, at Argonne-East's Building 213 Cafeteria. Awardees will receive their invitations in late February.
The Argonne 8-Ball Pool League will start its spring schedule of league matches Tuesday, Jan. 11.
Matches begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday nights at Crickets and Cues in Bolingbrook.
This handicap-based league welcomes players -- male or female -- of all skill levels, including beginners. Family members and friends of Argonne employees are also welcome.
Fully formed teams, usually six to eight members, may participate. Individual players will be placed on existing teams.
For more information call Art Kahaian (CMT) at ext. 2-1944 or Vic Maroni (CMT) at ext. 2-4547.
A course in Computer User Ergonomics will be presented Thursday, Feb. 10, from 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. in Argonne-East's Building 202, Room B169.
Computer users will learn to identify and avoid ergonomic risks and how to prevent musculoskeletal disorders like tendonitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, eye strain and neck strain. Participants will learn to specify appropriate furniture and comfort devices; how to set up a computer work station ergonomically; and stretching and flexibility exercises for the body, hands, and eyes.
All computer users are invited to attend, especially those who use their computers four or more hours per day or are supervisors or safety coordinators.
Sign up for ESH Course 583 through a Training Management System representative.
Chair demonstrations
Demonstrations of the ergonomic features of Bodybilt Chairs will be held for users or prospective purchasers Tuesday, Jan. 11, and Thursday, Feb. 10, from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Demonstrations will held continuously in Argonne-East's Building 202, Room E126 (the ESH-Training class area). No appointment is necessary.
The vendor will also have samples of other ergonomic items, like adjustable work stations and copy holders.
The laboratory's retirement vendors will have representatives at Argonne-East during January to meet individually with employees.
Vendor representatives will answer questions about employee retirement plans and retirement plan assets. To schedule an appointment, call the number listed.
Prudential appointments are for one-half hour each.
| Vendor | Day | For Appointments, call: |
| Prudential | Wednesday, Jan. 13 and 20 | Cheryl, (847) 619-3519 |
| Fidelity | Tuesday, Jan. 11 and 25 | Appointment Desk, (800) 642-7131 |
| TIAA-CREF | Thursday, Jan. 13 and Friday, Jan 14 | (800) 842-2005 |
A representative from MetLife will visit Argonne-East on Tuesday, Jan. 11, 18 and 25, to meet with individual employees and provide insurance comparisons and quotes for the "METPAY" group automobile and homeowners insurance program.
To schedule an appointment, call (630) 810-0346, ext. 143.
Employees should fax their auto policy renewal statements to Craig Riddick at (630) 810-1628 before their appointments.
WellPoint, one of the nation's largest publicly traded health care benefits companies, has agreed to acquire Rush Prudential Health Plans.
With this acquisition, Rush Prudential will become one of the largest health care benefits companies in Illinois. Combined with WellPoint's 250,000 members in its UNICARE PPO in Illinois they will have nearly 600,000 members throughout the state.
Earlier this year, WellPoint was ranked as the most admired healthcare company on Fortune Magazine's annual list of America's Most Admired Companies; citing WellPoint's customer focused products and services. The company has nearly 7.2 million members around the country.
At this time there will be no change in how the plan operates. It will be several months before the acquisition is finalized and potential announcements about changes will be distributed to plan participants.
Lincoln National fixed interest rates for the first quarter of 2000 are:
| Vendor | Rate | Contributions From | Earned Through |
| Lincoln National (Old Account) | 3.50% | 1/1/00 - 3/31/00 | 3/31/00 |
| Lincoln National (No Load) | 5.45% | 1/1/00 - 3/31/00 | 3/31/00 |
Human Resources has scheduled several classes during January at Argonne-East.
To enroll, contact a Training Management System representative. For more information, call Betty Iwan (HR) at ext. 2-3410 or visit the Human Resources Web site.
English as a Second Language (HR534) -- Tuesdays
and Thursdays beginning Tuesday, Jan. 11, from
11:30 a.m. -1 p.m. in Building 201, Room 238.
Russian Language (HR164) -- Beginning and
intermediate classes of reading, writing, and
speaking the Russian language are available.
Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10 a.m. for beginning
class and 11:30 a.m. for intermediate class. Both
are held in Building 208, Room A262.
Writing R&D Proposals (HR223) -- Designed for
proposal writers in federally funded and
not-for-profit research and development centers.
Tuesday and Wednesday, Jan. 18 - 19, 8:30 a.m. - 5
p.m. in Building 402, Room E1100.
Brown Bag Lunch Seminar: Getting Your Message
Across (HR234) -- Wednesday, Jan. 19, 11:30 a.m. -
1 p.m. in Building 201, Room 238.
Coaching for Maximum Performance (HR634) --
Thursday, Jan. 27, 1 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. in Building
201, Room 276.
Win the Paper Chase (HR400) -- This class presents
a systematic approach to dealing with paperwork
through a classification and label system and
other methods to increase productivity and
efficiency. Thursday, Jan. 27 from 1 p.m. - 5 p.m.
in Building 201, Room 190. This is a companion
course to Desk for Success, which will be held
Thursday, Feb. 3.
Barbara E. Baird, (EA), retired Oct. 29 with 22 years of service.
Spence A. Barker, (ED), retired Oct. 15 with 34 years of service.
Michael K. Dearden, (RPS), retired Oct. 15 with 17 years of service.
Chin-Mei Liu, (BIO), retired Oct. 29 with 25 years of service.
Dennis M. Pask, (RPS), retired Oct. 26 with 20 years of service.
Diana Speh, (ASO), retired Oct. 25 with 12 years of service.
Joan A. Waltz, (OPA), retired Oct. 4 with 20 years of service.
