All-Hands Memos

Major JLab Campus Power Outage to Impact Building Access and Janitorial Services
A power outage impacting the Test Lab, EEL, CEBAF Center and associated buildings is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Friday, April 23, and last until 5 p.m. Sunday, April 25. All staff, users and contractors with office/work areas in the impacted facilities should log off and turn off all computing equipment and any other office electronics before leaving for the weekend. The following facilities will not have power during this period and therefore will not be accessible:

• CEBAF Center, Bldg 12
• EEL, Bldg 90
• Test Lab, Bldg 58
• Acid Neutralization Building (Bldg 31)
• RADCON (Bldgs 52, 54, and 52 series trailers)
• Building 59

In preparation for this power outage, janitorial services will empty all trash in these areas on Thursday evening instead of Friday evening. Janitorial services will also empty all impact-area refrigerators on Thursday evening. For more details, see the outage announcement.

Accelerator Site Trailer 53C Inaccessible on April 22
The parking spaces adjacent to Trailer 53C will be coned off and no one will be permitted use of Trailer 53C on the Accelerator Site on Thursday.

Microsoft Patches for Windows Systems
Microsoft released several critical patches last week for Windows systems. Due to the nature of these patches, the CNI group has decided to send them out to all Computer Center-managed Windows machines starting today. If you work on one of these systems, please log out of all desktop computers at the end of your workday, but leave them powered on so that the patches can be installed. If you experience difficulties with your computer in the morning, reboot to see if that fixes the problem before calling the Help Desk (x7155) for assistance.

12 GeV Upgrade

Civil construction continues to make progress. The construction contractor for the North and South Access Building additions is building forms for the concrete footings. The Central Helium Liquefier building addition is completing the startup and testing of equipment, including the bridge crane. CEBAF Boulevard was re-opened on April 17. A site visit for interested contractors for the CHL utility upgrade was held on April 12, and proposals are due at the end of the month. On the Hall D complex construction site, the contractor continues to excavate for the Tagger Area.

Physics

In Hall A, the PREX experiment E06-002, measuring the neutron radius in ²⁰⁸Pb to 1 percent, has smoothly taken production data since April 16, following replacement of a vacuum seal on the scattering chamber that had suffered severe radiation damage.

Installation of the Q-weak experiment in Hall C continues. The three acceptance-defining collimators have been installed before the Q-weak toroidal magnet. The four "Region 2" drift chambers, built by Virginia Tech, have been installed between the second and third collimators. These detectors can be moved in and out of the acceptance and rotated to cover each of the octants of Q-weak. These detectors will be used in the Q-weak tracking mode to characterize the kinematics of the measurement. Reconstruction of the beamline to accommodate the new Compton polarimeter is well advanced. Most of the beamline in the alcove is under vacuum.

Application Deadline Nears for Scholarships and Fellowships
DOE is offering nuclear science and engineering scholarships and fellowships as part of its efforts to recruit and train the next generation of nuclear scientists and engineers. Applications for the Nuclear Energy University Programs are due by April 26.

Accelerator

Overall, the accelerator was running well, with low trip rates. Two shifts were used for beam studies. During these shifts, some maintenance was done parasitically. Hall A was back online Tuesday (April 14) swing shift. Hall A Compton noise level was lowered after the Hall A line optics was optimized.

Free-Electron Laser

The FEL team re-established lasing early last week and was able to perform optical coating tests. The team had a good set of successful experiment runs. Improvements in long-term machine stability are still wanted, so a plan has been initiated to alter the method for setting the drive laser pulse length; it will be tested this week.

Theory Center

A new article <arXiv:1004.2935 [hep-lat]> presents a review of lattice QCD calculations relevant to the nuclear physics of few- and many-hadron systems. Calculations of the properties of systems of up to four baryons are summarized, and the methodologies for studying complex mesonic systems (containing many hadrons) are discussed. The review concludes with an outlook of progress expected in the field over the next few years.

Environment, Safety, Health & Quality

Put It Down! Campaign Calls for End to Distracted Driving
In 2008, nearly 6,000 people died in crashes involving a distracted driver, and more than half a million were injured. It's also estimated that distracted driving is responsible for more than a fifth of all vehicle accidents. Recently, the U.S. Department of Transportation launched Distraction.gov to highlight the problem of distracted driving.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has banned the practice of "texting while driving" for commercial vehicle drivers. In addition, many states have also begun to ban the use of handheld cell phones by motorists. Texting while driving is now against the law in Virginia. The District of Columbia has gone a step further, banning the use of all handheld devices behind the wheel. A full list of state bans is available on the Distraction.gov website.

Announcements

JSA Research Assistantship Applications Due Friday
JLab is seeking SURA university student candidates for a research assistantship. The position provides an opportunity for a minority undergraduate student to work on projects that are part of the lab’s research program or directly related to the scientific or engineering aspects of the research program. This assistantship is funded by the JSA Initiatives Fund Program and will provide funds to support the student at the university during the 2010-2011 academic year. Nominations must be submitted by the faculty sponsor before the student may apply. The application deadline is April 23. Faculty sponsors may obtain more information and submit their nomination online.

National Library Week
Information Resources is celebrating National Library Week throughout the month of April. The library now provides access to the current e-journals of the Optical Society, AIP and Nature, as well as the complete back-files for AIP's Applied Physics Letters, Journal of Applied Physics and Review of Scientific Instruments. In addition, the library has been granted access to the Royal Society of Chemistry e-journal titles through December. To search for articles within the RSC search engine, click here. All available e-journals are listed online.

E-books from Springer, Wiley and CRC are a significant boost to library holdings; these books can be found in the online catalog using the search terms Springerlink, Wiley Interscience, or CRCnetBase. Also, Springer will provide staff members a personal copy of any e-book that Library Services has purchased (2005 - 2008), as long as it is a Springer imprint/publication and not longer than 800 pages. Users pay only $24.95 per copy. See the "Mycopy" icon at the top of the specific Springerlink page. For an example page, click here. For assistance, contact library staff at x7525 or x7524.

Open House Countdown
Jefferson Lab's Open House 2010 is fast approaching. On Saturday, May 1, join fellow scientists, administrators and technicians as we open lab facilities for tours and help educate the public about JLab science. Local universities, regional museums and government agencies will also present activities and information on local science endeavors. This is a National Lab Day event.

JLab Campus Construction Update Online
To keep up with the latest construction activity at JLab, and to learn how it might impact you and your co-workers, the Construction Corner portlet has been added to the front page of Insight. Each Monday, an updated list of construction projects will be posted to the Construction Corner. A site map also will help you identify and locate the various projects. You can find Construction Corner in the upper-right-hand corner of the Insight page.

Free Seminar on Vacuum
Varian, Inc., will conduct a free seminar titled "Fundamentals of Ultra-High Vacuum," on April 28, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. in ARC 231-3. Lunch will be provided. To register, e-mail DeLisa Stanfield.

JLab's Safety Numbers

36 Days since Last Recordable Accident (JLab record: 331)
36 Days since Last Lost Workday Accident (JLab record: 676)

JLab Calendar of Events

April 21: JLab Teachers Science Night
April 28: Colloquium and Public Lecture
April 29: Safety Shoe Vendor onsite
May 1: JLab Open House
May 5: Colloquium and Public Lecture
May 12: JLab's 25th Annual Run-A-Round
May 27: Safety Shoe Vendor onsite
May 31: Labor Day holiday - JLab closed