SLAC Users’ Organization Report from the Chair of the Executive Committee

1. SLAC Users’ OrganizationReport from the Chair of the Executive Committee Gregory Dubois-FelsmannCaltechSLAC Annual Users’ Meeting26 September 2005 Gregory Dubois-Felsmann

2. SLUO activities 2004-2005 • The Executive Committee • SLUO elections • Reports from the subcommittees • Future directions Gregory Dubois-Felsmann

3. SLUO Executive Committee 2004-2005 Committee Gregory Dubois-Felsmann

4. SLUO Executive Committee Outgoing committee members Gregory Dubois-Felsmann

5. How to join us • Any user is welcome to serve on the EC • As I’ll hope to convince you…The work is interesting and new contributions are needed! • Nominations are made by the Institutional Representatives • Lunch-time meeting today (Orange Room) • If you are interested in serving, please… • Let your Institutional Representative know • Ask any of us on the EC for more information Gregory Dubois-Felsmann

6. SLUO Elections • An election is held from the set of nominees by e-mail, a few weeks later (mid-to-late October) • Nominees must be confirmed as candidates • Candidate statements are solicited and posted on the web • Every user is eligible to vote • You have four votes to allocate as you see fit: • One to each of four candidates • All four to a single candidate • This is intended to help balance the representation on the EC among large and small groups • The top four recipients of votes join the EC • The new EC selects its own officers Gregory Dubois-Felsmann

7. Subcommittees of SLUO • Computing • Relationship of users with SLAC computing • Rosenberg (chair), Cowan, Kolomensky, Lange, Torrence • Outreach • Public lectures and other outside communication • Cowan (chair), Dixon, Sciolla, Telnov • Public Meetings • SLUO lectures, grad. student seminars, Annual Meeting planning • Sciolla (chair), Dixon, Giebels, Telnov - and Sokoloff • Quality of Life • Health insurance, accommodations, user experience on site • Torrence (chair), Giebels, Lange, Schumm • Washington Trip • Communication with our elected representatives & executive branch • Soffer (chair), Dubois-Felsmann, Kolomensky, Rosenberg, Schumm, Telnov Gregory Dubois-Felsmann

8. SLAC Public Lecture Series • Bi-monthly series, non-scientist-oriented • Lecturers generally are SLAC/SSRL users and staff • An important outreach effort • Sponsored by SLAC’s Office of Communication, SLUO, and SSRL UO Gregory Dubois-Felsmann

9. Public Lectures in the Last Year • Roger Blandford: The Runaway Universe • October 2004. Attendance: 300 • Joachim Stöhr: Physical Attraction:The Mysteries of Magnetism • December 2004. Attendance: 250 • Mike Peskin: Profiling the Invisible: Quantum Mechanics and the Unseen Universe • February 2005. Attendance: 275 • Clyde Smith: Smarter Drugs: How Protein Crystallography Revolutionizes Drug Design • April 2005. Attendance: 225 • Philip Bucksbaum: The Physics of Super Lasers • June 2005. Attendance: 250 • Boris Kayser: Neutrinos Get Under Your Skin • August 2005. Attendance: 300 Gregory Dubois-Felsmann

10. Upcoming SLAC Public Lectures • October 2005: TBA • December 2005: Archimedes at Stanford • Uwe Bergmann (SSRL) • Advertising • SLAC Connections, flyers, web • Stanford media • NPR rush-hour radio spots • Watch the Public Lecture Series web page for upcoming lecture http://www2.slac.stanford.edu/lectures/ Gregory Dubois-Felsmann

11. Public Meetings • Organizing the Annual Users’ Meeting • SLUO Lecture Series • Past lecture series, e.g., on detectors and statistics;lecture notes still available through the Users’ Office • New initiative in the past year: Graduate Student Seminars • SLUO joined by Mike Sokoloff in organizing this • Emphasis on continuing education for students stationed here • Next: A new SLUO lecture series organized with KIPAC Gregory Dubois-Felsmann

12. Seminars (primarily) for Graduate Students(encouraged by, and helped by, SLUO) Tutorials given by Pat Burchat and Aaron Roodman; more coming. Gregory Dubois-Felsmann

13. Quality of Life • In previous years, SLUO has addressed: • Office space • On-site accommodation (the Guest House) • Main focus this year has been: • Health insurance for visiting users • This committee always needs your input in order to define its priorities! Gregory Dubois-Felsmann

14. Health Insurance for Visitors • Adequate health insurance is a serious issue for everyone • The U.S. health care system is expensive and can be difficult to navigate • SLUO encourages all users to consider whether they have adequate coverage while staying at SLAC • Institutions can help by alerting their members to this need and assisting them in finding and arranging insurance • Options can be difficult to find, even for “locals” • SLUO set out to help… • More information will be released officially soon Gregory Dubois-Felsmann

15. Health Insurance for Visitors • Much assistance from Lee Lyon Scholars Plan * Full featured HMO-based health plan with range of options * Can include dental coverage * Potentially better coverage for similar costs for people far from home institution/HMO coverage area Vaden * Grad student access to Vaden student health center * Not free, but less than market rates * Probably much more convenient, used to dealing with students Blue Shield Short Term * Users eligible to enroll in BS short term plans * Significant restrictions, read details carefully: http://www.bscalife.com/product2.htm * May be useful if you have absolutely no other coverage. Gregory Dubois-Felsmann

16. Washington Trip • 14 SLUO members and 16 FNAL UEC members went to Washington for 3 days in March • Together, had 125 meetings in Congressional offices and staff of key committees • About 2/3 of attempted appointments resulted in actual meetings • Meetings with staff from OMB, OSTP, DOE, NSF • Our message was the need for increased support for Office of Science and physical sciences as a whole, not just HEP • The message resonated well • Many Congressional staffers conveyed a sense that underinvestment in the physical sciences has reached a dangerous level and needs to be reversed • Interest in the perspective of the user and university community Gregory Dubois-Felsmann

17. Washington Trip • We advertised a Senate “Dear Colleague” letter in support of increasing the Office of Science budget • Began circulation while we were in DC • Finally signed by 68 senators (compared with 55 last year) • Meeting with Rep. Adam Schiff (CA) resulted in a similar House letter • Final signature count: 121 • House and Senate bills slightly increased 2006 Office of Science budget relative to the President’s request • Continued effort after returning from Washington • Encouraged offices we met with to sign the Dear Colleague letters • Working on contacting Congress to ensure conference on the energy bill adopts the House-passed HEP budget, which is higher than in the Senate bill • Looking into the possibility of a fall visit to Washington, mostly to discuss 2007 budget with OMB Gregory Dubois-Felsmann

18. Future directions Adapt to changing structure of the laboratory More fully incorporate KIPAC and GLAST visitors SLUO Thesis Prize Your input is very much needed Your ideas Your participation (on the EC or with us) Gregory Dubois-Felsmann

19. Two more key people Olga Iakovleva Users’ Office Admin Fran Spiller Users’ Office Admin emerita Many thanks to them for their serviceto the user community, past and present! Gregory Dubois-Felsmann