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First, the disclaimer: any errors are the responsibility of Laura McNamara, LAWIS Newsletter editor. Please send any comments, corrections, and/or items for inclusion to lauramc@lanl.gov, or call 665-9685. This March 2000 issue is the second of the year; if you're interested in previous issues, many are available on the LAWIS home page (http://home.lanl.gov/lawis/NewsLetters).
Recently, someone from the Laboratory asked me if LAWIS members read the newsletter and what sections are most important to LAWIS people. I didn't know! Please, if you catch this message, please drop the editor a note at lauramc@lanl.gov and let me know if you read it all the way through, and what sections most interest you.
Barring unforeseen circumstances, the Newsletter will issued electronically during the first week of every month. Announcements or news items must be on my desk by the last Monday of every month to make the next issue. Please contact me if you prefer hardcopy format and I'll be sure to send one out. Lastly, scroll to the end of this newsletter and check out the neat community service opportunities coming up this spring - these are Laboratory-approved activities, so get involved!
And of course, Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Back to ContentsThe next meeting of the LAWIS Steering Committee will be Thursday, March 9, 2000 at 7:00 a.m. tentatively in Otowi Sideroom C. If you'd like to pry open your eyes along with the rest of us earlybirds, please feel free to do so. The rest of the LAWIS meetings have been scheduled for 7 AM as follows:
The February meeting of the LAWIS Steering Committee took place on February 7th, 2000, in the back of the Otowi cafeteria. Attendees included Laura McNamara, Alexine Salazar, Angelique Neuman, Cathy Cleland, Mary Steincipher Campbell, Susana Delano, Huyen Dinh, Ann Mauzy, Dana Roberson, and Janie Enter. Invited, but unable to make it: Margo Clark, Vice President and President Elect of NMNWSE, Dolores Montano (Co-Chair of EYH), Tinka Gammel (giving a presentation in Santa Fe), and Carol LaDelfe, current President of the NMNWSE. The meeting was called to order. In absence of the secretary, the proposed agenda was switched.
Treasurer's Report: Susana Delano gave the Treasurer's Report. She had received the books from Trish Wright, and noted that they need to be audited soon. Cathy found the statement in the bylaws outlining the procedure to follow in auditing the books. The bylaws state that two people must audit the books: one member of the Steering Committee, accompanied by one person who is not a member of the Steering Committee. Angelique offered to represent the Steering Committee and also to contact Claudia Lewis, who is the NMNWSE Treasurer, to fill the position of the nonmember of the Steering Committee. Angelique will ask her to fulfill this function at the State Board Meeting on Saturday, February 12, 2000. The books will be audited shortly thereafter. Additionally, reimbursement Cathy Cleland in the amount of $125 for the gift certificates for the Science Fair winners was motioned, and seconded. It passed unanimously. Susana had already reimbursed her from Susana's personal account. The Steering Committee agreed that Susana be reimbursed from the LAWIS funds in the amount of $125. A request to furnish a check for a subscription replacing one that was never received as a prize in last year's EYH, was motioned, seconded, and passed unanimously. Finally, Susana will take the action item to find out who has signature authority on the LAWIS account, and to have it updated so that we can meet our financial obligations and commitments. Additionally, there is a strong possibility that Susana will need a substitute Treasurer during her pending absence, perhaps beginning in late February and extending through most of March. It will be important that others will have signature authority in her absence.
Membership Report: Cathy Cleland gave the membership report. She has received the membership list from the NMNWSE State office, along with some membership renewals and new membership applications. She has not had a chance to digest the copious information, but will do so soon. Also, there was a request that she let the Steering Committee members know if they had paid their dues. She will let us know at the next meeting in March.
Lunchtime Talks: Huyen Dinh reported that the Lunchtime Talks are coming smoothly. One of the Steering Committee members asked if we could change the focus to be one of a technical nature so that folks would not have to give up their lunchtime for professional growth. A note was made that one of the criteria included in DOE's Review of Laboratory Programs for Women included "Technical Symposium for Women." Janie volunteered to ask Wendee (National Chair of DOE's Review of Laboratory Programs for Women) if there was some way that we could couple both LAWIS and this criteria.
Expanding Your Horizons: Alexine Salazar updated the Steering Committee on the status of EYH, which took place on the 6th of March. Information about this year's EYH can be found on the LAWIS webpage.
NMNWSE: Janie presented a brief overview and history of LAWIS and NMNWSE, Who's Who in the Network, Board Meeting dates, How does LAWIS fit into the bigger picture?, etc. For more information, the webpage is: www.NMNWSE.org.
Los Alamos Science Fair Report: Cathy Cleland provided the report for the Science Fair. It
is clear that a good time was had by all. And, there were some super terrific projects. In
addition to a gift certificate to Otowi Station, winners were awarded a 
"Trust Me, I'm a
Scientist" bumper sticker, a LANL Science Serving Society Poster, and a LAWIS certificate
(printed on some really cool dinosaur paper). Top prizes went to:
Other Science Fair News: Cathy Cleland mentioned that a science teacher had approached her about giving awards at the 44th Annual Northeastern New Mexico Science and Engineering Fair held at the New Mexico Highlands University on March 4th, 2000. LAWIS donated $50 for awards, along with more of our famous dinosaur award certificates, which 'are a real hit among the younger generation,' Cathy tells us. Categories included Botany, Environmental Science, Chemistry, Engienering, Physics, Zoology, Mathematics, Behavioral and Social Science, Medicine and Health, biochemistry, Computer Science, Microbiology, Earth and Space, and Team. The donation put us in the "Silver Donor" category!
By-Laws: Mary Stinecipher-Campbell has researched the available by-laws for LAWIS. She will be updating them, soon. However, the biggest discrepancy was "When should we start our fiscal year, January 1 or October 1?" After a bit of discussion, the motion was made to follow the NMNWSE lead, which follows the October 1 calendar. It was seconded, and almost passed unanimously. With this information, Mary can proceed in her updating.
Newsletter: Laura McNamara updated us on the Newsletter. She would like to have text submitted to her by the 15th or 20th of the month, for insertion in the next outgoing newsletter. The anticipated date of release will be around the first of each month. She also asked permission to place on the newsletter a request to let her know that it is being read.
Secretary's Report: Ann Mauzy was ill and was only able to stay briefly. We postponed the approval of January's minutes and other secretarial decisions until next month's meeting.
Odds and Ends:
And, we're off! March 6, 2000 was EYH. It has really expanded this year. As of 2/27/00 we had 159 girls registered from 22 different schools. In the end, 168 girls registered from 23 schools! What a great turnout! The schools range from Pecos to Questa, including just about everywhere else in between. Mesa Vista sent girls, too! Santa Fe Indian School sent a large group, with many attending from pueblos throughout the state. The New Mexico School for the Deaf also sent a group. Something we have learned this year is that the demand is increasing, not only in the number of girls attending, but also in the number of teachers requesting to attend the Teacher Component. So, in the planning for next year, this will be a topic we should address. Also, we received inquiries from at least six different elementary schools to allow them to participate in both portions. Unfortunately, we had to turn their requests down, but we will keep that in mind for planning for the future. Alexine Salazar did a fantastic job in keeping us all in line and marching forward. Diane Albert surpassed other years in obtaining at least 18 different workshops. Patty Mahoney coordinated the rooms and presenter needs with Diane. Diane's work in obtaining the special needs from each presenter has been extremely helpful in making room assignments. Mabel Grey-Trujillo and Trish Wright came up with some really cool gifts for the team activities, presenters, and main speaker. Which, by the way, the team activity sounded really fun, thanks to Lori Risinger's resourcefulness. I hope you got to see it! I couldn't wait. Tinka continues to be a wonderful webmistress. And, Becky Parker has come up with some super things for the teachers to experience while they are here. Kudos to everyone.
This is a reminder for the next LAWIS meeting on Thursday, March 9, 2000. It will be held in Side Room C at Otowi Cafeteria at 7:00 am. Agenda is below. Bring coffee and greet the day with us!
LAWIS members worked hard to get EYH off the ground on the 6th of this month, and deserve high praise. A report on this year's EYH events, which included a presentation by Stehane Howard of the National Science Foundation, will appear in April's Newsletter. And for those of you who wondered about the EYH Career Booklets' Status, Ann Mauzy took the EYH disks to Alphagraphics in Santa Fe and got a great price quote for getting the career booklets printed, just in time for EYH. Thanks to Ann for all her hard work.
On February 15th, the American Association of University Women and Women in Science jointly hosted a panel discussion on Pay and Diversity Issues. This marks the first time that AAUW and WIS have co-organized an event with WIS. Speakers included Gloria Cordova, Caroline 'Cas' Mason, Gloria Mirabal, and Jaqueline Paris-Chitanvis, with Natalie Markin as the moderator. If you'd like more information on the talk and the lively discussion that followed, please contact Cas Mason: cmason@lanl.gov.
Remember: for all Lunchtime Talks, Sideroom C is open from 11:30-1:30 for an early or late
lunch and socializing. Nonmembers are invited join us, so bring a friend!
Throughout the Month - Celebrate Women's History! That's right, March is Women's History
Month. Events at the Laboratory are sponsored by the Women's Diversity Working Group (WDWG)
and include poster sessions, several interesting talks, a video series entitled 'Women in
American Life,' and an open meeting of the WDWG. New members are especially encouraged to
attend. For more information, check out the schedule on the WDWG homepage:
www.lanl.gov/orgs/dvo/wdwg/March2000.html.
Friday, March 10, 7 p.m., at Fuller Lodge in Los Alamos: The League of Women Voters will
present the fifth program in its series, Los Alamos: The Next 50 Years. "Northern New
Mexico: Working Together to Survive" will be a panel discussion featuring representative
from Los Alamos and neighboring communities: Kevin Holsapple, Los Alamos; Ware Hartwell,
Dixon; Peter Alexander, San Cristobal; Robert Trapp, Espanola; and Perry Martinez, San
Ildefonso (invited). Chris Dissinger of the Los Alamos Monitor will be the moderator.
Childcare will be provided through a grant from the LANL Foundation; call 672-3115 to
reserve a space for your child. The early starting time and the childcare provision are an
attempt to attract young families to these meetings. Co-sponsors of the series are Family
Strengths Network; American Association of University Women, Los Alamos Commerce and
Development Corporation; and the Pajarito Group of the Sierra Club. If you have any
questions, please contact Jane Sherwood, 667-3013 or jcsherwood@lanl.gov.
Lunchtime Talk, Tuesday, March 14, 2000 11:30 am - 1:30 pm, Otowi Cafeteria Side Room C:
Claudia J. Lewis, EES-1, LANL "Using Quaternary dating methods, stratigraphy and patterns of
stream incision to constrain models of post-orogenic rock uplift: Preliminary results from
the Ebro basin, Spain. " ABSTRACT: In the central Ebro basin (Spain) and adjacent Pyrenees,
we are testing models of post-tectonic rock uplift using patterns of stream incision
constrained by Quaternary stratigraphic and dating methods. Ultimately, this project will
provide a precise Quaternary chronology, a basin-wide correlation of river terraces, and a
model of post-tectonic rock uplift that will prove essential to Quaternary studies on the
Iberian peninsula and elsewhere. The 20-minute technical talk will be preceded by a
discussion of where I've been and where I'm going.
AAUW Talk on Earthquakes, Thursday, March 16, 2000, 7:30 PM, at the Fellowship Hall at
Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 2390 North Road, Los Alamos. Dr. Jamie Gardner, 'Earthquake
Hazards in Northern New Mexico.' Dr. Gardner is a staff member in the Earth and
Environmental Science group and works with the Laboratory's seismic hazards program. He
holds a BS in Earth Science from the University of California at Santa Cruz and a Ph.D. in
Geology from the University of California at Davis. The public is encouraged to attend and
ask questions about earthquake activity. To get into the hall, use the entrance off the
parking lot.
Lunchtime Talk, Wednesday, April 12, 2000, 11:30 am -1:00 pm, Otowi Cafeteria, Sideroom C:
Irene J. Beyerlein, MST-8: STRUCTURE PROPERTY RELATIONS, will be giving a talk entitled
'Micromechanical Stress Redistribution Models And Their Implications On Statistical Failure
Of Composites.' ABSTRACT: In this talk, I will present results from various shear lag models
for stress redistributions from multiple fiber breaks in large, unidirectional continuous
fiber composites. Agreement is quantified for simple configurations of fiber breaks. The
implications of these stress concentration results on statistical crack formation are
discussed. Closed form expressions for key fiber stress concentrations are applied in
developing probabilistic strength theories. The analytical probability models predictions
are shown to be in good agreement with empirical distributions from representative Monte
Carlo simulations of elastic composite fracture.
Lunchtime Talk, Tuesday, May 9, 11:30am -1:30pm (talk at 12:00pm), Otowi Cafeteria, Sideroom
C: Lisa Gutierrez, Director of Diversity Office, LANL. Title TBA.
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The Desert Academy of Math and Science in Santa Fe has contacted Chuck Pacheco of the
Community Relations Office (CRO) about a conference they're sponsoring to get teenage girls
interested in science careers. The conference will occur in Santa Fe on either 3/31/2000 or
4/7/2000. All participants will be part of a panel that will make three 75-minute
presentations over the course of the day; each speaker will have about 15 minutes to talk
about her work. Chuck tells us that this panel is not only a lot of fun, it's an inspiring
event for the girls who attend. If you're interested and want more information, contact
Chuck at 667-1217, or by e-mail: cpacheco@lanl.gov.
Tenth Annual Santa Fe Cares AIDS Walk needs volunteers: Kristina Moreno of Biosciences and
Biotechnology (BS-2) contacted the newsletter looking for volunteers to plan the AIDS walk,
to sell ads in the program, form walk teams, help with the Wellness Pavilion Tents,
volunteer at the Walk itself, to spread the word and most of all, to participate in the AIDS
Walk! This is a Laboratory sanctioned activity. For more information, you can call Santa Fe
Cares at 989-9255, or contact Kristina: kmoreno@lanl.gov, 7-6752.
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