Physics

Hall B completed about one-third of the data taking for the experiments that are part of the eg1-dvcs run group. The run was very successful, despite the lower-than-scheduled beam energy during the last four days of the run. Hall B is currently in maintenance mode: One of the 18 drift chambers is in need of repair work, and a heat shield in the target magnet will be modified to reduce interference with particles scattered at large angles.
 
Disassembly of the Spin Asymmetries of the Nucleon Experiment equipment setup has started in Hall C. Tasks started this week include removal of the downstream helium bag and disassembly of the electronics bunker by the Hall C technical staff, removal of detector signal cables by SANE collaboration members, and removal of cabling and instrumentation from the upstream beamline by engineering and accelerator personnel. The latter is in preparation for installing a beamline chicane for the upcoming hypernuclear experiment (E05-115).

Accelerator

By 7 a.m. on March 16, Operations successfully finished beam delivery to the experimental halls. The scheduled accelerator down started immediately. The Gun2 high-voltage chamber was replaced. Cryomodule NL04 was removed. The preparation for installation of a rebuilt cryo module at zone NL12 was started. Maintenance and checks were performed on beamline vacuum valves, magnets, the radiofrequency systems, RF separators, dumps, End Station Refrigerator, Central Helium Liquefier, software and etc.

Free-Electron Laser (FEL)

This week, FEL staff took advantage of an opportunity to thermally cycle the cryounit, which resulted in lower ambient vacuum in the injector. Otherwise, running continued well with tests on mirrors with new coating materials, tests on off-axis injection and tests of the optical cavity mirror feedback system and transport.

Theory Center

Members of the Theory Center, together with staff from the Physics and Accelerator Divisions and users, are holding the International Workshop on Positrons at JLab on March 25-27. The workshop plans to explore the case for positron physics at JLab, particularly within the context of the lab's energy upgrade to 12 GeV. The workshop will have sessions on positron-proton elastic scattering, deep inelastic and virtual Compton scattering with positrons, positron sources and applications, as well as ideas for new physics with positrons at the 12 GeV CEBAF.

JLab's Safety Numbers

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

JLab Calendar of Events

March 25-27: International Workshop on Positrons at Jefferson Lab
April 14: 12 GeV Upgrade Groundbreaking
April 14: Science Series Lecture: Hurricane Hunting
April 15: Science Teacher Night
May 2-5: APS April Meeting in Denver
May 25: Memorial Day holiday, lab closed

Environment, Safety, Health & Quality

Quality Assurance Program Review
A Quality Assurance Program Review will be conducted by the Thomas Jefferson Site Office April 13-16. Specifically, implementation of the Quality Assurance Plan (QAP) will be assessed. Various areas of the lab will be subject to this review. Quality Assurance and Continuous Improvement will notify the appropriate personnel once the information becomes available. Items which may be assessed include pressure system documents, welding documents, suspect/counterfeit information, training and qualification records, work process documentation and procurement documentation. 

Feedback from these assessments helps the lab improve processes and training, thus making safety planning more effective. An example is the identification of the suspect/counterfeit shackles found in the Machine Shop during a March 2008 DOE Surveillance. Without the feedback from these assessments, the training and traceability issues would not have been identified and the process would not be as effective.

If you are interviewed, please remember that the objective of this type of review is to assess our proficiency in the implementation of the QAP. Your experience and feedback are vital to driving improvements across the lab. 

Computing and Networking Infrastructure (CNI)

Beware of Suspicious Holiday E-mail
We all might expect to see a few April Fool's Day messages from relatives or friends with pointers to funny news items or videos. However, any holiday period is a time to be more than a bit skeptical about following untrusted links. Hackers will readily use the increase in general communications to deliver unpleasant surprises. Now, in particular, is a bad time due to unpatched vulnerabilities in the ubiquitous PDF reader, Adobe.

In general, this has been a tough year. One security provider (www.scansafe.com) has reported that in 2008 there was a six-fold increase in malware and a 16-fold increase in data-theft trojans (those that steal your passwords, credit card information, etc.). This increase seems to be associated with the difficult economic times. Here at the lab, we have seen a substantial increase in the last two months in systems that had to be rebuilt due to infections.

One good rule of thumb to follow is to always be suspicious of documents and links whose source is unknown.

Firefox/Thunderbird/Adobe/E-mail Issues Resolved
The problems some people have been having with the latest installation of the Firefox, Thunderbird and Adobe software applications have now been fixed. If you are still having issues, please contact the CNI Helpdesk at x7155

All of your e-mail folders should have been moved as of March 24. If you are still missing e-mail folders, please e-mail a list of the missing folders to the Helpdesk.

Pager Changeout Nearly Complete
The lab changeout of pagers is nearing completion. If you have not yet stopped by to exchange your old pager with the new SkyTel pager, please stop by CC room F226 between 10 a.m.- 2 p.m. on Thursday, March 26. The old pagers will stop working on Tuesday, March 31.

Paging with the New Pager System
The new system employs a toll-free main number for all JLab pagers: 1-866-474-5522 (JLAB). Although the system functions in much the same way as the older system, it does feature a voice prompt and instructions for each entry.

Alphanumeric pages may also be sent from the staff search page and by e-mail. The e-mail address will be of the form First.Last-page@jlab.org.

Announcements

Voting Has Begun for the 2009 T-Shirt Design Contest
View the entries by going to the Jefferson Activities Group webpage. You may only vote once. Voting closes April 3 at 5 p.m. The winner(s) will be announced at the May Run-A-Round.

Annual Validation of Personal Property Underway
JLab's annual property custodian validation process runs from March 23 to April 6. During this period, each custodian must "validate" all of the items on his or her inventory list and take the Property Custodian Refresher GEN 150 training. The validation link can be found on the JLab Insight page. Look for the Property Validation link in your Personal Information block on the left side of the Insight Front Page.

Food Drive for Foodbank Underway
The JAG is sponsoring a food drive, March 23 - 27, to support the Foodbank of the Virginia Peninsula. No perishable food items or food in glass or breakable containers will be accepted. Especially needed are peanut butter, nuts, dried fruit, canned meats and tuna, canned vegetables, cereal, crackers, rice and chunky soups. Drop barrels have been placed in CEBAF Center, the MCC, Test Lab. VARC and ARC.