February 27, 1996
A Town Meeting on the U.C. Management of the Livermore and Los
Alamos National Laboratories
Thursday, March 7 from 12:30 - 3:30 p.m.
Room 159 Kresge College
The University of California management contract of the Department of Energy (DOE) Laboratories at Berkeley, Livermore, and Los Alamos will soon be up for renewal. The non-classified research activities of the three laboratories provide important opportunities for UC-Laboratory collaborations and cooperation. UC faculty and students engage in beneficial collaborative research with scientists at these Laboratories. At the same time, the classified research activities at Livermore and Los Alamos are not consistent with central university values of free and open inquiry. This essential commitment to freedom of expression raises difficulty for University management in three areas: classified research, program-driven research that receives little peer review, and lack of "whistle-blower" protection for Laboratory personnel.
The issues involved in the Laboratory management contracts are extremely complex and of great importance to the faculty and students of the University of California and the citizens of the State of California. As a result, it is vital that the University and citizens' communities become educated about this relationship. For this reason, the U.C. Santa Cruz Academic Senate and the Committee on Research are sponsoring a town meeting to discuss the future relationship between the University of California and the DOE Laboratories. In this open forum, we invite input from all members of the University community--faculty, staff, students, as well as the interested public. The meeting will be held on Thursday, March 7 from 12:30--3:30 p.m. in Room 159 Kresge College (Kresge Seminar Room.) The meeting will include short presentations from a panel of distinguished speakers, with ample opportunity for open discussion and questions. A list of panel members can be found in the UCSC town meeting announcement. Among the topics for discussion are: (i) the University and classified research; (ii) environmental issues facing the Laboratories and their neighboring communities; (iii) academic freedom in the Laboratory environment; (iv) contributions of the Laboratories to the scientific research community in California and the nation; and (v) alternate management structures.
If you would like further background information on these important issues, feel free to consult the University Committee On Research Policy (UCORP) home page on the World Wide Web. Point your Web browser to http://scipp.ucsc.edu/~haber/UC_CORP/ for the recent UCORP report on the University's relations with the DOE Laboratories and other relevant documents. A paper copy of these documents and related material can be found at the Academic Senate Office in McHenry Library.
Please attend the town meeting and share your views with us.