Seminars

Classified Ads

Deadline information

Where to send seminars and classified ads

Entering ANL-East
made easier for most

A new gate-clearance policy will make it faster and easier for most visitors to enter Argonne's Illinois site starting Monday, Oct. 13.

Under the revised policy, most visitors will be admitted through the gates from 6:30 a.m. - 7 p.m., Monday through Friday, without prior arrangements or processing through the Argonne Information Center (AIC) -- provided they are U.S. citizens and can give the gate guard a valid business reason for visiting the site.

For access during off-hours, weekends and holidays, prior arrangements must be made with AIC visitor reception employees. To make arrangements, call ext. 2-5755.

Residents of on-site lodging facilities may enter the site by displaying a room key, and will be able to authorize other visitors to the site. To minimize inconvenience, long-term visitors are encouraged to obtain a gate pass at the AIC on the first day of their visit.

Site access policy has not changed for construction contractors, sales and delivery persons and non-U.S. citizens, who must be processed at the AIC before entering the site. They will be issued passes that must be displayed for site access.

The U.S. Department of Energy still requires non-citizens to be processed through the AIC.

Questions regarding visitor access should be directed to Ed Mickulas (SEC) at ext. 2-5754.

'Junk science' hurts nation's bottom line,
Argonne director tells business group

To stay competitive, America's business managers must pay attention to the costs of "junk science" as well as follow current developments in real science, said Argonne Director Dean Eastman in a keynote address at the Illinois State University business school.

"Essentially," Eastman told the audience of students, professors, and business people, "in business you must be concerned with two types of science: real science and perceived science." Perceived science, or junk science, consists of myths or incorrect ideas that many people believe are true.

Citing the financial impact of perceived science in the fast-food, energy and real estate industries, Eastman said, "Do not make the mistake of scoffing at perceived science. Public beliefs affect American businesses every day, whether those beliefs are based on what we would call real science or not.

"Perceived science can increase yours costs, decrease your market and damage your image."

As an example, Eastman noted that even though plastic fast-food containers consume fewer resources and are easier to recycle than paper containers, a widespread belief that paper is more environmentally friendly than plastic has limited the use of plastic containers.

Eastman blamed what he called "the dismal state of scientific literacy in America" for the widespread acceptance of junk science, and said the problem cuts across all educational levels.

He noted that many Americans, including college students, do not understand even simple science and also believe in "Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, space aliens visiting earth, and that some people can accurately predict the future using psychic powers."

Business has a financial interest, Eastman said, in working to improve scientific literacy in the United States, just as it has a competitive need to improve its own links with real science.

"What is being developed by scientists in labs such as Argonne today will be among the products and services offered by business tomorrow," Eastman said, adding that customers have come to expect the latest technology in products.

To continue to provide such cutting-edge technology while remaining price-competitive worldwide, business is opting "for a rapid, incremental improvement of their products, and this prompts a time-based division of labor in research and development," he said.

Corporations increasingly focus on shorter-term research and development, Eastman told the group, and buy longer-term research services from other companies, from universities and federal labs such as Argonne. Eastman said he believes such research "melding" will be one of the dominant trends of the 21st century.

To demonstrate that such a trend is under way, Eastman cited Argonne's present and growing working relationships with corporations such as Ford, General Motors, Chrysler, duPont, General Electric, Abbott Labs, Procter & Gamble and Dow on products ranging from fuel cells and locomotive engines to pharmaceuticals and manufacturing technology.

"Those among you who seek business opportunities in the 21st century could do far worse than follow the example of these leading corporations," Eastman said.

"When we get right down to it," he added, "I expect that by 2020 the intertwining of industry, university and government research and development will be far greater, to the point where it may be all but impossible to 'peel the onion' and separate the science and technology behind any one product into its industry, university or government origins."

Argonne Club
hosts expedition
to Wolves game

The Argonne Club will host a trip to see the Chicago Wolves hockey team face off against the Ft. Wayne Komets on Friday, Nov. 21, at the Rosemont Horizon.

The game begins at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are $17 ($3 less than the box-office price) and include bus transportation to and from the game. The bus will leave from Argonne-East's Building 213 Cafeteria at 5:30 p.m.

Tickets will be sold in the cafeteria lobby the weeks of Oct. 20 and Oct. 27 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Fifty tickets are available.

To reserve tickets or for more information, call Harold Gaines (CMB) at ext. 2-3163 or Dan McNamee (EMO) at ext. 2-6539.

Argonne Combined Appeal gets under way with clothing drive

The 1997 Argonne Combined Appeal campaign is now under way. The campaign officially started with a clothing drive held on Oct. 7-8.

By 8:15 a.m. on the first day of the drive, dozens of bags of clothing were already stacked up in the lobby of Argonne-East's Building 213 Cafeteria.

According to drive coordinator Jan Buckley (HR), employees began bringing carloads of clothes even before the official 7:30 a.m. opening.

Laboratory Director Dean Eastman stopped by the collection site to see how things were going. He has told ACA coordinators and steering committee members how important the annual effort is -- especially because it is voluntary.

"I think that makes it even more special, for one reason, because the people in need who benefit from our dollars know that we contributed because we wanted to, not because we had to," Eastman said.

The Combined Appeal provides employees with a way to contribute to the Metropolitan Chicago United Way/Crusade of Mercy, United Way Will County and 18 other charities. Employees should have received pledge cards and information from division coordinators on how to donate during the campaign.

Coordinators will turn employee pledge cards in weekly for drawings of gift certificates to local restaurants. Among the restaurants who have donated certificates are: Home Run Inn, Bohemian Garden, Margie's Beef, Phillies Pizza, Ripples, TCBY Treats and Lemont Street Cafe. The sooner employees turn in their cards, the better chance they have of winning.

Chang named fellow of nuclear society

Yoon Chang, Argonne's deputy associate laboratory director for engineering research, has been named a fellow of the American Nuclear Society.

The honor recognizes Chang's technical leadership for the overall direction of Argonne's fast-reactor program. Chang was formerly general manager of the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) program. The IFR was designed to be passively safe against meltdown-type accidents, to burn much of its own long-lived atomic wastes and to use a metallic alloy fuel. Funding for the program was cut in 1995.

Chang's career has included a wide variety of analysis, design and tradeoff studies for the U.S. reactor development program. He led a design team that concluded that a pool-type cooling system for liquid metal reactors -- where all sodium is confined to a single, low-pressure vessel -- would reduce costs and increase safety.

Earlier this year, Chang received the society's Walker Cisler Medal. In 1993, he received the U.S. Department of Energy's E. O. Lawrence Award in nuclear technology for his technical analyses, decisions and leadership of all aspects of the IFR program.

The American Nuclear Society is an international, non-for-profit organization comprising more than 17,000 engineers, scientists, educators, students and others with nuclear related interests. These individuals represent more than 1,600 corporations, educational institutions, and government agencies -- approximately 1,200 members live overseas in 40 countries.

Early proposals accepted for
Argonne-university seed grants

The seed grant program, now in its third year, funds research initiatives by investigators from the university and Argonne that will lead to significant, ongoing collaboration and interaction between the two institutions. The grants are not intended to represent long-term funding, but seed money for development of further activity. The maximum grant period is two years, with an interim annual review. Typical grants have been $40,000 or less per year.

The first two years of the Collaborative Seed Grant Program have resulted in 25 research project awards and three conference awards totaling about $1.6 million. A list of awardsis available on the World Wide Web.

Preproposals will be reviewed by a committee, which will select the most promising for submission of full proposals. Investigators notified by the committee will have two or three weeks to prepare full proposals. The committee will again review and select the most promising submissions. Grants will be awarded by mid-December.

Grants are awarded on a competitive basis. Each proposal must have at least two principal investigators, one each from Argonne and the University of Chicago. The grants are open to all areas of mutual intellectual interest, but priority will be given to proposals that can lead to long-term enhancement of the university-laboratory intellectual relationship.

Criteria for selection include:

* Scientific merit

* Importance of the collaboration for reaching research goals

* Significance and balance of the benefits for the university-laboratory intellectual relationship

* Plans for maintaining the collaboration after the seed grant expires

* Appropriateness of the budget request

Preproposals should be one page or less and include:

* Title of the proposed project

* Names of expected principal and co-investigators, with phone and fax numbers, e-mail addresses, and acronyms for departmental affiliations

* A brief discussion

* An estimated budget level for each year of the project

Preproposals should be submitted by mail, fax, e-mail (text format) to both:

David N. Schramm

Vice President for Research

University of Chicago

5801 S. Ellis Ave.

Chicago, Ill. 60637

Fax: (773) 834-0287

E-mail: dns@oddjob.uchicago.edu

and:

James R. LaFevers

Exec. Dir./Deputy to VP for ANL

University of Chicago

9700 S. Cass Ave.

Argonne, IL 60439-4832

Fax: (630) 252-5329

E-mail: csgpuc@anl.gov

For more information, contact LaFevers at ext. 2-2500.

The seed grant program is funded through a special component of the university's contract with DOE for management of Argonne. Funding is subject to availability of funds and performance-based provisions of the contract.

New 'Q&A' column
to answer queries
by employees

"Q&A," a new question-and-answer column, will debut in the Argonne News in the next few weeks.

Q&A will attempt to answer employees' questions about the laboratory, its policies, operations, research, history -- any question of wide interest will be considered.

Argonne News staff will do the legwork and contact those in the know. Questions and answers will be printed monthly. Q&A won't use anonymous questions or answers.

"We can't promise to answer all questions," said Argonne News Editor Dave Jacqué, "but we'll ferret out what information we can."

Questions are wanted to help the column get started. Fax, mail or e-mail questions to Jacqué at OPA-201. The fax number is ext. 2-5274; send e-mail to info@anl.gov.

Applications sought for U of C scholarships

Applications are now being accepted for the University of Chicago/Argonne Scholarship Plan.

The program gives the sons and daughters of full-time laboratory employees a chance to compete for full-tuition scholarships to the university.

Children of regular, full-time Argonne employees are eligible. Applicants must be accepted for admission to the College of the University of Chicago and must be among the most qualified applicants from Argonne families.

Information booklets and applications are available from the Division of Educational Programs (DEP) in Argonne-East's Building 223, Room M125, or by calling Carol Reynolds (DEP) at ext. 2-5767.

The scholarship applications must by validated by DEP to be accepted and should be received no later than Dec. 16.

Information session

An information session for prospective students and their parents will be held Saturday, Oct. 25, from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the university's Ida Noyes Hall, 1212 E. 59th Street. The session will include discussion of selecting a college or university and financing, and a tour of the campus.

Call ext. 2-4114 by Monday, Oct. 20, to make a reservation.

HR seminar to focus on 'Art of Investing'

Human Resources will host a satellite teleconference on "The Art of Investing: Tips from America's Experts" on Tuesday, Oct. 28.

The seminar will be held from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in Argonne-East's Building 203 Auditorium.

The live, interactive teleconference will focus on the issues and principles that can help investors make sound decisions.

Topics will include: building a long- or short-term investment strategy that's easy to implement, evaluating investments, key steps in successful asset allocation, trade-offs between risk and reward that can help returns and making the most of retirement plans and mutual funds.

Panelists include Jane Bryant Quinn, columnist and author of "Making the Most of Your Money," and Yale University's James Tobin, 1981 Nobel Laureate in Economics.

For more information call Pam Foster of TIAA at 1-800-842-2733, ext. 1226.

Junior Achievement seeks Argonne's help

Junior Achievement is looking for Argonne employees to help bring special programs about economics and the workplace to the Lemont Schools.

Junior Achievement has created a simple way to present its curriculum to each grade, from kindergarten through high school. The material is presented by volunteers for about one hour a week for five to six weeks.

Presentations on the program will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 28, in Argonne-East's Building 223, Room S105, at 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. Each presentation will last about half an hour. A Junior Achievement representative will be available to answer questions in the Building 213 Cafeteria from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

For more information, call Lisa Reed (DEP) at ext. 2-3366.

Interest rates set for ANL retirement plans

* Non-Staff Retirement Plan Only

**The minimum guaranteed interest rate for 1997 is 5 percent for this account

'Too Many Journals,
Too Little Time'
is topic of Oct. 14 seminar

"Too Many Journals -- Too Little Time," will be the title of a talk by CMT's James Willit at 11 a.m., Tuesday, Oct. 14.

Willit's talk will address the explosion of scientific and technical information and how to use electronic tables of contents to stay on top of literature in specific fields of research. The seminar will take place in Argonne-East's Building 205, Y-Wing Auditorium.

Names and contacts
sought for full list of
lab's clubs, leagues

The Argonne Club is seeking names and contact persons for all clubs and leagues at Argonne, in hopes of assembling a comprehensive list.

That list will be published in a future edition of Argonne News, giving employees a chance to join clubs they might not have known about.

Call Argonne Club president Fred Onesto (APO) at ext. 2-5260 or send interoffice mail to APO-401. Include the club name and names and contact information for club officers.

'Oktoberfest' brings
taste of Germany
to the Guest House

The Argonne Guest House will host an "Oktoberfest" party on Thursday, Oct. 16, from 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Cost for dinner is $10 and includes grilled bratwurst, chicken and dumplings, beef Stroganoff, sauteed herb spaetzles, red cabbage, marinated potato salad, apple strudel, German chocolate cake and a non-alcoholic beverage. Cash bar includes German beer and wine.

A $1-off coupon will appear in the next issue of the Guest House News.

Workshop to explore
next generation of
science light sources

A workshop on "Scientific Opportunities for Fourth-Generation Light Sources" will be held Oct. 27-29 at Argonne's Advanced Photon Source.

The workshop will explore the generation, properties and use of light sources with ultra-high-power, brilliance and coherence in the deep ultraviolet, soft X-ray and X-ray spectra, and the scientific opportunities they provide.

The workshop is expected to result in an authoritative report that can be used by scientists, scientific managers and science policy makers to chart future directions for fourth-generation light sources.

APS users can attend the full workshop or, for a reduced registration fee, just the tutorial sessions.

A complete agenda, registration information and an on-line registration form can be found on the World Wide Web.

Those who do not have access to the Web may contact Susan Barr Strasser, APS User Office, at ext. 2-5981 for more information.

Colleges sponsor lectures on
forensics, biology and the Internet

A series of evening seminars now under way at Argonne-East will focus on internets, intranets, forensic chemistry and biological repair mechanisms.

Reservations are required: call Carol Przyzycki (DEP) at ext. 2-5448, or fax ext. 2-3193 by the Thursday before each seminar.

The Associated Colleges of the Chicago Area (ACCA) invite high school and junior high school science and social studies teachers to attend any or all of these seminars. Visitors who are U.S. citizens person can enter the site with a photo identification.

Prior approval is required for visits by all non-citizens. Those with a visa or permanent resident status should call Przyzycki as soon as possible.

The ACCA is a consortium of 16 private liberal arts colleges that was formed in 1966 to promote cooperation in science education with Argonne.

Internet and Intranets

Seminars will be held in Building 221, Room A-216, Tuesdays, 7-9 p.m.

* Oct. 14 -- "JAVA Technologies"

* Oct. 21 -- "AltaVista Technologies"

* Oct. 28 -- "Commerce and Security"

* Nov. 4 -- "International Aspects"

* Nov. 11 -- "Effect on Youth"

* Nov. l8 -- "Economics"

Forensic chemistry

Seminars will be held in the Building 223 Auditorium on Tuesdays from 7-9 p.m.

* Oct. 14 -- "Drug Analysis"

* Oct. 21 -- "Hair Analysis"

* Oct. 28 -- "DNA Analysis"

* Nov. 4 -- "Arson Analysis"

* Nov. 11 -- "Ethics and Forensic Analysis"

* Nov. 18 -- "Art Analysis"

Biological repair mechanisms

Seminars will be held in the Building 203 Auditorium on Tuesdays from 7-9 p.m.

* Oct. 14 -- "Cadmium Toxicity in Tight Junction Formation"

* Oct. 21 -- "DNA-Repair Deficient Mice"

* Oct. 28 -- "Cell Stress and the Protein-Folding Problem"

* Nov. 4 -- "Biological Mechanisms of Tooth Movement"

* Nov. 11 -- "Using DNA-Repair Deficient Mammalian Cells to Examine UV Damage"

* Nov. 18 -- "Selenium, Antioxidants and Pandora's Box"

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