April 14, 1997
Some of this week's stories

  • 'Partnership' to smooth ANL, DOE interaction

  • Outstanding employees sought for awards

  • New Web pages provide answers for employees

  • Retirement vendors to visit Argonne-East

  • HR , PFS to host college fair

    Seminars Classified Ads Deadline
    information    		 Where to send seminars
    and classified ads

    High-level 'Partnership' group
    to smooth ANL, DOE interaction

    High-level Argonne and U.S. Department of Energy managers have formed a committee aimed at improving communications, problem-solving and removing obstacles to optimize the operation and administration of the laboratory

    The DOE Chicago Office/Argonne Partnership 2000 Initiative is intended to enhance existing management procedures, not supplant them. The goal is to reduce or eliminate interface, bureaucratic, governance and regulatory difficulties facing the laboratory and DOE in a spirit of partnership and collaboration.

    The group's core members are Argonne Director Dean Eastman, DOE Chicago Office Manager Cherri Langenfeld, Argonne Chief Operations Officer Ron Teunis and DOE Argonne Group Manager Timothy Crawford. The committee will meet monthly, or as needed.

    The group will concentrate on such matters as planning for electrical utility deregulation and its opportunities for cost savings, and external regulation of the laboratory by agencies like the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

  • Return to Index

    Nominations accepted for
    outstanding service awards

    Nominations are being accepted for the 1997 University of Chicago Outstanding Service Awards.

    The awards were established in 1983 by the Board of Governors to complement the Distinguished Performance Awards. The Outstanding Service Award recognizes employees in support positions whose exemplary service over an extended period has furthered the goals and missions of the laboratory.

    An employee may be nominated for a consistent history of innovative ideas, suggestions or inventions; for sustained leadership, reliability and dependability; or because of some special act of heroism or courage during an emergency.

    The award consists of an engraved plaque plus $3,000. It may be given to any full-time Argonne employee in a support position who is not eligible to receive the University of Chicago Distinguished Performance Award, has not received the Outstanding Service Award in the past, and is not a current member of the award committee.

    Anyone may make a nomination using the one-page nominating statement available through Human Resources.

    All nominations should be placed in a sealed envelope marked "Confidential" and sent to: Outstanding Service Award Committee, Attention: Leslie Osborne, Human Resources, Building 201, Argonne-East, with an information copy sent to the nominee's division director or department head.

    Deadline for nominations is Friday, April 18. For more information, call Human Resources at ext. 2-2939.

  • Return to Index

    Web pages feature employee's handbooks ...

    Both the Argonne-East and Argonne-West Employee Handbooks are now available electronically on the Human Resources home page.

    The handbooks are in "portable document format," or PDF, and require Acrobat Reader software for viewing. Acrobat is available free on the Macintosh public volume and PC PUBLIC.

    The laboratory will no longer distribute paper copies of the handbook to employees, and employees should destroy the copies they currently have.

    Paper copies are available for review in laboratory libraries and division offices for those who do not have access to the Argonne home page.

    .. and 'Ask a Librarian' info service

    "Ask an Argonne Librarian" makes its debut on the Internet during National Library Week, April 13-19.

    Argonne employees with access to the World Wide Web can tap into Argonne's Library Services by pointing their browsers to http://www.library.anl.gov/ask.html. Enquiring minds can send questions via e-mail directly to a team of librarians, who will research the topic and return a reply within one working day.

    Library services are part of the Technical Information Services Department of the Information and Publishing Division.

  • Return to Index

    Retirement vendors to visit Argonne-East

    Representatives of Fidelity Investments, TIAA/CREF and Prudential will visit Argonne-East to present seminars on reading quarterly retirement investment statements.

    * Fidelity Investments representatives will present "How To Read a Quarterly Fidelity Retirement Investment Statement" on Friday, April 25, in Argonne-East's Building 203 Auditorium at 1:30 p. m. Reservations are required to attend the presentation.

    Individual meetings with employees to answer questions about retirement investments will also be held at other times the same day

    For reservations or to make an appointment for individual sessions, call Julie Wood at 1-800-654-2238, ext. 3214.

    * Representatives of TIAA/CREF will visit Argonne-East on Tuesday, April 29. The quarterly statement presentation will be held in the Building 203 Auditorium at 9 a.m. Individual employee meetings to answer questions regarding retirement investments will also be held, by appointment only, throughout this same day. To register for the presentation and individual appointments, call 1-800-842-2005.

    * Prudential's presentation will begin at 10:30 a. m., Tuesday, April 29, in the Building 203 Auditorium. Representatives will also conduct individual employee meetings throughout the day, by appointment only. To register, call 1-847-619-3519.

    Retirement account interest rates announced

    Current rates for fixed interest accounts in Argonne's retirement plans are:

    FundContributions made from:Rate Earned, Through
    TIAA Regular04/01/97 -- 06/30/977.15%, 02/28/98
    TIAA Supplemental04/01/97 -- 06/30/976.65%, 02/28/98
    Prudential Fixed Interest Account*07/01/96 -- 06/30/977.13%, 06/30/97
    Prudential Guaranteed Interest Account4/01/97 -- 06/30/976.70%, 12/31/98
    Lincoln Life (Old Account)01/01/97 -- 12/31/973.50%, 12/31/97
    Lincoln Life "No Load"** 1/01/97 -- 12/31/975.75%, 12/31/97

    * Non-staff retirement plan only
    ** The minimum guaranteed interest rate for 1997 is 5 percent for this account.

  • Return to Index

    HR , PFS to host
    college fair

    Human Resources and the Plant Facilities and Services divisions are sponsoring a college fair on Tuesday, April 22, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Argonne-East's Building 213 Cafeteria Executive Dining Rooms.

    Representatives from about 25 area four-year and community colleges will be present to advise Argonne employees about program offerings, degree requirements and alternatives to traditional education. Employees interested in starting or continuing college work are encouraged to attend.

    John Hyzer (HR) will be available to answer questions on educational assistance support and the College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) through which college credits can be granted for learning derived through life experiences.

    Everyone at Argonne is welcome to attend this free program, work schedules permitting.

    For more information, contact Karen Kroczek (ESH-HP) at ext. 2-8764 or Hyzer at ext. 2-3503.

  • Return to Index

    Flexible spending accounts
    deadline extended for 1996

    The deadline for submitting requests for reimbursements under the flexible spending account program for calendar plan year 1996 has been extended from March 31, 1997 to April 30, 1997.

    CIGNA is aware of this change and employees may file their claims as usual.

    Submission deadline for 1997 claims will again be 90 days after the end of the calendar year. For more information, call Human Resources at ext. 2-2991 (Argonne-East) or ext. 3-7227 (Argonne-West).

  • Return to Index

    HR to hold classes on Internet, office software

    Human Resources will hold a series of computer software courses in April.

    All classes are to be held in Argonne-East's Building 362, Room E188. Morning classes will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.; afternoon classes begin at 1:30 p.m. and last until 4:30 p.m. All-day classes will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

    To enroll, contact a Training Management System representative. For more information, call Betty Iwan (HR) at ext. 2-3410.

  • April 15 (all day) -- "Access 2.0 Introduction"

  • April 16 (morning or afternoon) -- "Introduction to The Internet"

  • April 17 (morning or afternoon) -- "The Internet: Intermediate"

  • April 22 (all day) -- "Access 2.0: Intermediate"

  • April 23 (morning or afternoon) -- "Windows '95"

  • April 2 -- "Word 7.0: Introduction"

  • April 2 (afternoon) -- "Word 7.0: Formatting Documents"

  • April 29 (morning) -- "PowerPoint 4.0: Intermediate"

  • April 29 (afternoon) -- "PowerPoint 4.0: Advanced"

  • April 30 (morning) -- "Excel 5.0: Introduction"

  • April 30 (afternoon) -- "Excel 5.0: Introduction to Macros"

  • April 22 through 5/22, on Tuesdays and Thursdays -- Certified Professional Secretaries course: "Fundamentals of Accounting." This class is open to all employees and will be held in Building 201, Room 238 from 11:30 a.m. -1 p.m.

  • Return to Index

    Recycle telephone books to minimize waste

    Argonne-East employees are encouraged to discard their old Argonne telephone directories in mixed office paper recycling bins to minimize waste disposal costs.

    The front and back laminated pages should be torn off before placing the directory in the recycling bin. The covers can be disposed of in trash bins.

    Employees can voluntarily remove the wire binding from the pages of the telephone book. Removing the wire binding helps improve the quality of the paper sold to the laboratory's recycled paper processor.

    For more information on the Mixed Office Paper Recycling Pilot Program, call Keith Trychta at ext. 2-1476 or the WM&PP Hotline at ext. 2-6778.

  • Return to Index

    Toastmasters plan
    membership drive

    The Argonne Toastmasters Club will host a "socializer" dinner meeting and membership drive Wednesday, April 16, at the Argonne-East's Guest House hotel restaurant.

    The meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. and is open to all interested Argonne and DOE employees, their spouses and friends.

    Toastmasters members will answer questions and share public speaking experiences.

    The cost for dinner will be about $18 per person. For more information, contact Carolyn Arthur (HR) at ext. 2-3021.

  • Return to Index

    Running Club
    hosts 'taxing'
    run and walk

    Argonne Running Club will host "The 1040 Up-All-Night Trot," Tuesday, April 15.

    The fun run and walk will begin at noon at the Argonne Pool. Refreshments will be available at the finish line.

  • Return to Index

    Windows NT working group to meet

    The Windows NT Working Group (WNTWG) will meet Wednesday, April 16, at 10 a.m. in Argonne-East's Building 221, Room A216.

    Representatives from Digital Equipment Corp. will demonstrate and describe the vendor's strategy for supporting Windows NT on Intel and Alpha platforms. The feature topic will be "NT/Unix Interoperability" by Suzanne LaForge, who will focus the discussion on building the bridge between both operating environments.

    Diane Miller and Sunil Kulkarni of Digital will share their knowledge of NT's future. Discussions and informal presentations will continue through lunch and the afternoon. Refreshments will be provided by the vendor.

    The WNTWG, a subgroup of the Argonne Network Managers Working Group, meets each month to discuss topics of common interest at Argonne. Meetings are open to all interested Argonne and DOE employees. See the World Wide Web page at http://www.wntwg.anl.gov for directions on how to subscribe to the WNTWG mailing list.

  • Return to Index

    Awareness session provides
    ideas for environmental quality

    Wayne Lampa of the Conservation Research Institute, Lisle, Ill., will speak on "Improving Environmental Quality by Natural Ecosystem Management" on Thursday, April 17.

    The awareness session, sponsored by Argonne's Waste Minimization and Pollution Prevention Advisory Committee, will begin at 1:30 p.m. in Argonne-East's Building 362 Auditorium.

    For more information, or to suggest topics for future sessions, call Lorraine Morris (EMO) at ext. 2-9483, Keith Trychta (EMO) at ext. 2-1476, or the WM&PP Hotline at ext. 2-6778.

  • Return to Index

    ESH classes
    are revised

    The Environment, Safety and Health training schedule for May has been revised.

    * Laser Safety, class ESH120, scheduled for Tuesday, May 6, has been changed to Tuesday, May 13, from 2:45 - 4 p.m., in Argonne-East's Building 202, Room B169.

    * An additional session of the personal protective equipment class will be held Tuesday, May 13, from 1:30 - 2:30 p.m., in Argonne-East's Building 202, Room B169.

    -- 30 --

  • Return to Index

  • Go to Seminars

  • Go to Classified Ads
    Argonne News is published weekly for the employees of Argonne National Laboratory by the Office of Public Affairs.

    Deadline Information

    Deadline for all materials is Monday at 5 p.m.

    Story ideas, comments and suggestions are welcome. The Argonne News office is in Building 201, room 2Q-02 (OPA-201). The fax number is ext. 2-5274. Send E-mail to Argonne News editor Dave Jacque.

    Seminar listings: Send by inter-office mail to Evie Fagan, Building 201, room 2U-09 (OPA-201). Fax to ext. 2-5274, or send by E-mail.

    Classified ads: Please limit ads to 25 words. Send by inter-office mail to Evelyn Fagan, Building 201, room 2U-09 (OPA-201). A drop box is located at the Argonne News office.

    Classified Ads sent by electronic mail cannot be accepted!

  • Return to Index

    This page has been accessed * times since Sept. 25, 1996.