Users’ Meeting Gregory Dubois-FelsmannSLUO chair report - 1 SLAC Users’ Organization Report from the Chair of the Executive Committee Gregory Dubois-Felsmann Caltech SLAC Annual Users’ Meeting 26 September 2005

Users’ Meeting Gregory Dubois-FelsmannSLUO chair report - 2 SLUO activities The Executive Committee SLUO elections Reports from the subcommittees Future directions

Users’ Meeting Gregory Dubois-FelsmannSLUO chair report - 3 SLUO Executive Committee Committee NameInstitutionYears LeftExp. Ray CowanMIT/LNS1BaBar/SLD Lance DixonSLAC3Theory Gregory Dubois-FelsmannGregory Dubois-Felsmann (C)Caltech2BaBar Berrie GiebelsEcole Polytechnique, LPNHE2GLAST Yury KolomenskyUC Berkeley1BaBar, E154, E155, E158 David LangeLLL, Livermore3BaBar Eli RosenbergIowa State University1BaBar Bruce SchummBruce Schumm (ST)UC, Santa Cruz2BaBar, SLD Gabriella SciollaMIT1BaBar Abi SofferAbi Soffer (CC)Colorado State University3BaBar Alexandre TelnovPrinceton University3BaBar Eric TorrenceUniv. of Oregon.2BaBar, LCD

Users’ Meeting Gregory Dubois-FelsmannSLUO chair report - 4 SLUO Executive Committee Outgoing committee members NameInstitutionYears LeftExp. Ray CowanMIT/LNS1BaBar/SLD Lance DixonSLAC3Theory Gregory Dubois-FelsmannGregory Dubois-Felsmann (C)Caltech2BaBar Berrie GiebelsEcole Polytechnique, LPNHE2GLAST Yury KolomenskyUC Berkeley1BaBar, E154, E155, E158 David LangeLLL, Livermore3BaBar Eli RosenbergIowa State University1BaBar Bruce SchummBruce Schumm (ST)UC, Santa Cruz2BaBar, SLD Gabriella SciollaMIT1BaBar Abi SofferAbi Soffer (CC)Colorado State University3BaBar Alexandre TelnovPrinceton University3BaBar Eric TorrenceUniv. of Oregon.2BaBar, LCD

Users’ Meeting Gregory Dubois-FelsmannSLUO chair report - 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

Users’ Meeting Gregory Dubois-FelsmannSLUO chair report - 6 SLUO Elections An election is held from the set of nominees by , 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

Users’ Meeting Gregory Dubois-FelsmannSLUO chair report - 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

Users’ Meeting Gregory Dubois-FelsmannSLUO chair report - 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

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

Users’ Meeting Gregory Dubois-FelsmannSLUO chair report - 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

Users’ Meeting Gregory Dubois-FelsmannSLUO chair report - 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

Users’ Meeting Gregory Dubois-FelsmannSLUO chair report - 12 Seminars (primarily) for Graduate Students (encouraged by, and helped by, SLUO) Tutorials given by Pat Burchat and Aaron Roodman; more coming.

Users’ Meeting Gregory Dubois-FelsmannSLUO chair report - 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!

Users’ Meeting Gregory Dubois-FelsmannSLUO chair report - 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

Users’ Meeting Gregory Dubois-FelsmannSLUO chair report - 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: * May be useful if you have absolutely no other coverage.

Users’ Meeting Gregory Dubois-FelsmannSLUO chair report 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 Washington Trip

Users’ Meeting Gregory Dubois-FelsmannSLUO chair report - 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

Users’ Meeting Gregory Dubois-FelsmannSLUO chair report - 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)

Users’ Meeting Gregory Dubois-FelsmannSLUO chair report - 19 Two more key people Olga Iakovleva Users’ Office Admin Fran Spiller Users’ Office Admin emerita Many thanks to them for their service to the user community, past and present!