US LUASeptember 2009 News Archive
September 30, 2009
Opening of registration for the acat 2010 conference in
Jaipur, India
Dear All,
on behalf of the ACAT 2010 International Advisory Committee it is
my pleasure to announce the opening of the registration for the ACAT
2010 conference in Jaipur, India:
http://acat2010.cern.ch
I would be pleased if you could give the widest distribution to this
message via the appropriate channels. Thanks for your attention and
best regards,
Federico Carminati
CERN-PH
1211 Geneva 23
Switzerland
September 26, 2009
USLUO Second Annual Meeting
The meeting was a success. Many thanks to our hosts at LBNL.
September 24, 2009
Is the Large Hadron Collider worth its massive price tag?
September 21, 2009
American International Club Event on US Swiss Double Taxation (22 Sept)
Some details may be found here.
September 21, 2009
CERN Bulletin – The Latest from the LHC: Switching on the magnets
September 21, 2009
FBAR – extension of the deadline for disclosure of foreign bank accounts to October 15
See this NY Times article on the extension of the deadline for
the voluntary disclosure program to October 15. This also thus extends
the deadline for back-filing of FBAR forms without penalty (the lack of
penalty only applies if all taxes were already properly paid on the
foreign accounts).
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/21/business/21tax.html?hp
September 21, 2009
News from the CERN Directorate following the Users’ Survey
Here is some news
from the CERN Directorate about actions
following the survey:
1. You will be able to book the hostel
online starting
December 2009.
It will enable
users to:
– make
individual booking up to 48h before arrival
– cancel
booking (modification possible only via the
reception desk)
– guarantee
reservation with a credit card
2. A list of hotels close to CERN with their
negotiated
rate will be
available from the Housing/Hostel webpage
very soon (perhaps
late September)
3. A new Corporate rate with Hertz from GVA Airport.
http://www.genevaairport.net/Car-Hire/Avis-Hertz-Desk.php
(corporate rates will
be attributed while presenting
CERN card).
World-wide corporate rates in negotiation.
4. Construction is planned for an expansion of
Restaurant 1, and
drawings are available at:
http://www.perret.ch/cernrestaurant1/Projet/Archives/Version%20du%2013.07.2009/Low-res/
– Renovation work (½
terrasse). In October and
November 2009
–
Construction work between April and October 2010
5. New Map with conference rooms available at
CERN.
http://gs-dep.web.cern.ch/gs-dep/groups/SEM/ce/isp/conf_rooms/conf_rooms.html
6. A brochure for newcomers will be available
in 2010.
7. Evaluation of stable Wifi on all site.
A number of studies have
been carried out recently on the
possibility to deploy wireless everywhere at
CERN. The outcome of
these studies demonstrate that not only would
it require several
millions CHF to implement a global coverage
but more importantly that
the current technologies are not capable of answering
the requirement
at locations where the population is dense.
The service quality
offered by the wired infrastructure in
offices, recently upgraded, is
in any case far better that what wireless
could provide. An awareness
campaign has started: an article will be
published in the next CERN
Computer Newsletter, and a new WEB site has
been built
(http://cern.ch/wireless). The
lack of adequate number of network
connections at some locations can easily be
solved by the use of
FANOUTs, available from the CERN stores, which
allow the connection of
several computers on the same socket.
IT has concentrated its efforts in regularly
deploying and improving
the wireless coverage in open areas (meeting
rooms, restaurants,
lobby, etc) and is also deploying more recent
and more powerful base
stations in building 4, 32, 40, 60, in
restaurant #1, in the council
chamber, in the main amphitheatre and in the
experiments control rooms
by first quarter 2010.
September 19, 2009
LHC 2009 – 2010 luminosity performance – estimate for 3.5 TeV plus move to higher energy (Updated August 2009)
http://lhc-commissioning.web.cern.ch/lhc-commissioning/luminosity/09-10-lumi-estimate.htm
September 19, 2009
Workshops at Fermilab in October and November 2009
This is to inform you of the following workshops that will soon take
place at Fermilab.
On November 9-10, there will be the 4^th workshop on Physics with a
High-Intensity Proton Source. It will be chaired by Stanley Wojcicki
(Stanford University), Yoshitaka Kuno (Osaka University, Japan), and
Robert Tschirhart (Fermilab). There has been an evolution of the
accelerator design for Project X and this workshop will focus primarily
on the physics opportunities with this new configuration.
Immediately following the Project X physics workshop, starting in the
late afternoon of November 10^th and ending on November 12^th , there
will be a workshop devoted to Muon Collider Physics, Detector and
Machine Background. It will be chaired by Estia Eichten (Fermilab), Ken
Peach (University of Oxford and Royal Holloway, University of London,
UK), and Jacobo Konigsberg (University of Florida).
You can find workshop information at
http://www.fnal.gov/directorate/Longrange/Steering_Public/workshop-physics-4th.html
and
http://www.fnal.gov/directorate/Longrange/Steering_Public/workshop-muoncollider.html.
Please register (no fee) if you are interested in attending in person or
remotely (video/audio connections will be available). Information on
Project X and a Muon Collider can be found at
http://www.fnal.gov/pub/projectx/ and
http://www.fnal.gov/pub/muon_collider/, respectively.
On October 19-21, there will be a workshop on Applications of
High-Intensity Proton Accelerators
(http://conferences.fnal.gov/App-Proton-Accelerator/index.html) chaired
by Shekhar Mishra (Fermilab) and Rod Gerid (Argonne National Laboratory)
to explore the challenges and opportunities for building a
high-intensity proton accelerator with superconducting radiofrequency
technology.
Incidentally, the naming contest for Project X is still going on and if
you have any suggestion, please send e-mail to oboe@fnal.gov
<mailto:oboe@fnal.gov> . The list of suggested names so far can be found
at
http://www.fnal.gov/directorate/Longrange/Steering_Public/Name-ProjectX.html
September 19, 2009
News from the CERN Council
This week’s Council meetings provided the opportunity for
Council to be brought up to date on the continuing consolidation work on the
LHC. The members noted with pleasure the good progress towards the restart in
mid-November.
The meetings saw a number of firsts. Council saw the first
presentation of a White Paper on the scientific and geographical enlargement of
CERN. The White Paper makes clear recommendations to Council aimed at consolidating
CERN’s position as a key player on the global particle physics stage. The
Council’s deliberations continue and the issues of scientific and geographical
enlargement will be considered again at its next meeting. The
number of candidates for membership also grew this week, following the formal
application of the Republic of Slovenia, whose candidature joins those of
Cyprus, Israel, Serbia and Turkey. All these applications will be discussed in
December.
Discussions on the status of the Pension Fund began during
the week. These discussions will continue in more depth at the Council meetings
in December.
We were glad this week to welcome Robert Jan Smits, Director
of the European Research Area: research programmes and
capacity directorate of the EU’s Research Directorate General. This is the
first Council session at which the EU has participated since the signature of
the recent Memorandum of Understanding between CERN and the EU, and we’re
looking forward to developing a fruitful partnership at the heart of European
science.
Council heard a report on the activities of
ECFA, including the important reviews of particle physics related activities in
member countries. Council also endorsed the submission of an FP7 proposal for a
new Preparatory Phase Project related to the European Strategy for Particle
Physics.
Last but not least, the European Strategy
Session of Council heard reports on knowledge and technology transfer, and
communication, reflecting the increasing importance attached to these activities
by Council.
Further details of all the week’s meetings will soon be
available on the web at:
September 19, 2009
Results of the USLUO Executive Committee Election
Harvey Newman – Caltech – CMS
Congratulations to the new members and thanks to returning committee members.
September 18, 2009
2010 NSF EAPSI Fellowship Program Now Open
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION EAST ASIA AND PACIFIC SUMMER INSTITUTES FOR U.S. GRADUATE STUDENTS – 2010 APPLICATION NOW OPEN
(Link: www.nsfsi.org )
The National Science Foundation (NSF) East Asia and Pacific Summer
Institutes for U.S. Graduate Students (EAPSI) is a flagship
international fellowship program for developing the next generation of
globally-engaged U.S. scientists and engineers knowledgeable about the
Asian and Pacific regions. The Summer Institutes are hosted by foreign
counterparts committed to increasing opportunities for young U.S.
researchers to work in research facilities and with host mentors
abroad. Fellows are supported to participate in eight-week research
experiences at host laboratories in Australia, China, Japan (10 weeks),
Korea, New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan from June to August. The
program provides a $5,000 summer stipend, round-trip airfare to the
host location, living expenses abroad, and an introduction to the
society, culture, language, and research environment of the host
location.
The 2010 application is now open and will close December 8, 2009.
Application instructions are available online at www.nsfsi.org. For
further information concerning benefits, eligibility, and tips on
applying, applicants are encouraged to visit www.nsf.gov/eapsi or
www.nsfsi.org.
NSF recognizes the importance of enabling U.S. researchers and
educators to advance their work through international collaborations
and the value of ensuring that future generations of U.S. scientists
and engineers gain professional experience beyond this nation’s borders
early in their careers. The program is intended for U.S. graduate
students pursuing studies in fields supported by the National Science
Foundation. Women, minorities, and persons with disabilities are
strongly encouraged to apply for the EAPSI. Applicants must be enrolled
in a research-oriented master’s or PhD program and be U.S. citizens or
U.S. permanent residents by the application deadline date. Students in
combined bachelor/master degree programs must have matriculated from
the undergraduate degree program at time of application.
The first Summer Institutes began in Japan in 1990, and to date
approximately 1,800 U.S. graduate students have participated in the
program. For the 2009 competition, NSF received 317 applications and
issued 187 awards. EAPSI applicants are representative of most U.S.
states and territories. The 2009 awardees pool included representation
from 95 universities and 40 states.
The NSF-EAPSI Operations Center is administered by the American Society for Engineering Education (www.asee.org/fellowships).[
Should you inquire additional information, please contact Mr. Ergys
Ramaj by email at eapsi@asee.org or by phone at 1-866-501-2922.
September 17, 2009
It’s not too late to sign up for the USLUO Annual Meeting
The Annual US LHC Users Meeting, now just over a week away, is shaping up to be a very interesting meeting. There will be the
latest
from the LHC and each of the experiments and LARP, as well as
reports from DOE and NSF. It’s not too late to sign up !
You can register at the conference website:
http://www.lbl.gov/conferences/USLHC/index.html
There will be an Executive Board Meeting (5-6 PM) on Friday
September 25th, followed by a welcome reception where you
will have a chance to chat or discuss any issues or suggestions you’d like to make with the board members.
The main meeting will be on Saturday.
As mentioned, one of the focal points of the meeting is a poster session
highlighting the work of young physicists, organized by Sridhara Dasu
(Wisconsin). Give your students and young postdocs a chance to show
off their work, and compete for a free trip to Washington DC with us this
Spring ! The poster session information and instructions for
participants is at:
http://www.hep.wisc.edu/~dasu/usluoPosterSession.html
http://www.hep.wisc.edu/~dasu/usluoPosterInstructions.html
A list of nearby hotels, some within walking distance of the LBNL shuttle bus,
is given here:
http://www.lbl.gov/Workplace/near-our-shuttle.html
Mention that you are attending a meeting at LBNL,
and see if the hotel will give you a government rate.
It will be an exciting time, shortly before the start of collisions
at the LHC. We look forward to seeing many of you at the meeting !
Thanks again to our hosts Stu Loken and Jim Siegrist, and to
LBNL for hosting our annual meeting.
September 17, 2009
Updated Tax Information
Following the town meeting that took place in Vaud on August 31 2009
with experts on US taxes for US citizens and green card holders living
in Switzerland, the experts provided two files giving a summary of the
issues and tax obligations. These can be accessed at the US LUO website
at www.usluo.org
The files were accompanied by the following statement:
“This
compilation was put together by our member, Susan Stuber, based on
these two tax information meetings as well as interviews and
correspondence with, chiefly, Geoffrey DeHaven. It is meant as a
guideline to your most pressing questions; if you desire further
information, there are footnotes to guide you to the relevant web
links. At the end of the day, however, you will be well-advised to
have a tax advisor who is versed in U.S. tax regulation.”
Note that some of the information relates to the FBAR report on foreign
bank accounts that
(for those obligated to file) has to reach the IRS by Sept. 23.
Best regards
Harvey
September 17, 2009
AAAS Policy Alert Extract
White House Calls for Review of
Export Controls.
The Obama Administration issued
a notice
on August 13
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Statement-of-the-Press-Secretary/
extending the authority of the Department of Commerce to
administer export controls and calling for the National Economic
Council and National Security Council to conduct a thorough
reexamination of existing export control regulations and to develop
recommendations for appropriate reforms to the system. The U.S. export
control system is currently managed through three federal departments
— Commerce, State, and Defense — and was criticized recently in a National
Academies report
http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12567#description
for reflecting a Cold War approach to balancing national security and
economic interests
September 13, 2009
Important reminder for USLUO members living abroad – US Tax Information
(1) The Foreign Bank Account Report (FBAR). If you have a foreign
bank account
and at any time the balance went above $ 10,000 you are obligated
to file
the FBAR form. It needs to reach the IRS (not just to be
postmarked)
no later than Wednesday, September 23. The original deadline
for 2008 was
June 30, 2009 but an extension may be granted if you include a
suitably apologetic
letter explaining why it is late. You have to file one form for
every tax year. Failure to
file may incur a penalty of up to $ 10,000, if the IRS decides to
impose the penalty.
If you are sure that the balance never went above $ 10,000
you need not file.
(2) Following the recent town hall meetings, one of the tax experts
posted the answers to
a series of questions that attendees submitted. Some of the
answers may be surprising,
especially for US citizens or couples where one spouse is a US
citizen, with a permanent
residence or other assets abroad. So please have a look if you
may be affected.
http://democrats.ch/Answers_to_Your_US_Tax_Questions.pdf
As previously noted (see below) a podcast of the August 31 town hall
meeting is
posted online, so you can follow the meeting as it occurred:
http://democrats.ch/media/democrats.ch_tax_evening_20090831lu.mov
You can also view the podcast by clicking on the image at the website:
http://vaud.democrats.ch/labels/Vaud%20US%20taxes%20event.html
As usual, the propagation of this information does not mean that you
can quote these
notes, or even the “expert” information contained at the URL’s
provided, as being
authoritative; especially not to the IRS. If in doubt, consult a tax
expert with relevant expertise
and an established track record of helping people with a US income
working overseas.
As you may recall, Katie Yurkewicz is compiling a list of tax experts
with relevant
expertise (see below). If you know of such an expert, please do let
Katie know.
September 9, 2009
Update on H1N1 flu
Please take note that all the information in message n°4 concerning the
H1N1 pandemic flu is still valid
(http://user.web.cern.ch/user/news/2009/090805.html).
In addition, in case of a confirmed H1N1 A flu, or even a severe
flu-like syndrome, do not hesitate to also inform the CERN Medical service
(Dr Fassnacht +41 76 487 0866/Dr Reymond +41 76 487 0068).
September 8, 2009
Important US Tax Information for USLUO Members
Tami Kramer, who attended two town hall meetings where expert information was provided.
An urgent matter is the Report on Foreign Bank Accounts, which has a
hard-deadline due date of
September 23.
Thanks to Tami and Katie for attending and for gathering this
information for our community.
Best regards
Harvey
announced several weeks ago, two town hall meetings took place recently
near CERN on the subject of US tax issues for Americans abroad. A
podcast of one of the meetings, held on August 31 in Lully, Vaud, is
available online:
speakers is also available at the same link.
of the biggest subjects of discussion at the meeting was the upcoming
SEPTEMBER 23 deadline for filing copies of the FBAR for past years
without penalty. The FBAR, or Report of Foreign Bank Accounts, must be
filed by all United States persons if they meet the criteria set by the
Department of The Treasury. More information on the FBAR can be found
at this page:
who reported and paid tax on all their 2008 taxable income, but only
recently learned of their FBAR filing obligation and have insufficient
time to gather the necessary information to complete the FBAR, should
file the delinquent FBAR report according to the instructions and
attach a statement explaining why the report is filed late.”
Instructions are at the following link:
found at the IRS’ Web site for International Taxpayers:
September 4, 2009
Option for a media training session just prior to annual meeting
We have the option for a media training session from 3:30 – 5:00 PM
on Friday Sept. 25.
The purpose of the session is to train members of our community in
how to better deal with the media, and the public. A case in point is
the annual visits to Congress. The right approach is needed to
“communicate”
our science and our issues well.
These sessions, by experts in the subject, have been judged to be very
useful by those who have attended.
Because this valuable option was raised rather late (our apologies),
whether it takes
place or not depends on whether we will have a sufficient set of attendees.
So if you would like to attend please let Katie and me know.
Note that this session would be particularly valuable for anyone
thinking of attending
the annual trip to Washington DC in the Spring.
September 3, 2009
FYI #110: Outlook on Appropriations Bills
FYI
The American Institute of Physics Bulletin of Science Policy News
Number 110: September 2, 2009
Web version: http://www.aip.org/fyi/2009/110.html
Outlook on FY 2010 Appropriations Bills
When Congress returns to Washington next week it will have much on
its plate: a health care reform bill, climate change legislation,
and a financial services regulation bill. At the top of Congress’
must-do list will be passage of twelve appropriations bills to fund
the operations of the federal government beginning on October 1.
Congress is much further along in the appropriations cycle than it
was last year at this time. The House Appropriations Committee
completed all twelve of its bills and secured their passage on the
House floor. The Senate Appropriations Committee completed eleven
bills, needing only to write its version of the FY 2010 Defense
bill. Only five of the committee’s eleven bills have been passed on
the floor, and the outlook for speedy passage of the rest is
uncertain because Senate floor procedures favor longer debate.
Failure to enact any of the appropriations bills will require a
short term funding bill called a continuing resolution. These
resolutions generally maintain spending at current rates for fixed
periods of time, and several may be needed. If Congress is unable
to pass any of the bills separately appropriators will combine the
remaining bills into a single large omnibus funding bill.
The following is a brief summary of the status of the appropriations
bills of greatest interest to the physics community. The expected
outcome for most FY 2010 budgets is for increases of, at most, a few
percentage points. Additional detail is available at
http://www.aip.org/gov/budginfo.html
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE:
The House-passed bill would reduce total science and technology
program funding by 2.3 percent, opposing the Administration’s
request for a 13.6 percent reduction (which would not continue
funding for earmarked projects.) The House also opposed a requested
2.4 percent cut in the FY 2010 budget for Basic Research funding,
voting to increase it by 4.8 percent.
The Senate Appropriations Committee has not approved its version of
this legislation.
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION:
There are a number of programs of interest, one of which is the Math
and Science Partnerships for which the Administration requested flat
funding. Senate appropriators agreed with the Administration’s
request. The House amended the House Appropriations Committee bill
to include a 3 percent increase for the Partnerships, the first
increase since FY 2006.
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY – NATIONAL NUCLEAR SECURITY ADMINISTRATION:
The NNSA budget for Weapons Activities is unlikely to change much in
FY 2010. The Administration sought a 0.4 percent reduction. The
House-passed bill would make a cut of 1.4 percent. The
Senate-passed bill would increase the budget by 0.9 percent.
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY – OFFICE OF SCIENCE:
The parameters of the final budget outcome for the Office of Science
are in place. The House-passed bill provided the Administration’s
requested increase of 3.9 percent. The Senate-passed bill contains
a 3.0 percent increase.
NASA:
The Senate Appropriations Committee, in a bill that has not been
considered on the Senate floor, concurred with the Administration’s
5.1 percent requested increase. The House approved a bill that
would increase the agency’s budget by 2.4 percent.
The NASA science budget is likely to stay approximately flat. The
Administration asked for a 0.6 percent reduction. The House bill
would reduce the budget by 0.2 percent; the Senate Appropriations
Committee bill includes a 0.3 percent reduction.
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF BIOMEDICAL IMAGING AND BIOENGINEERING:
The Obama Administration requested a 1.5 increase for this unit of
the National Institutes of Health. The House voted for a 3.4
percent increase, while the Senate Appropriations Committee bill
that has not been considered on the floor would increase the budget
by 1.7 percent.
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY:
There is greater divergence in the parameters for the total NIST
budget. The Administration requested an increase of 3.3 percent.
The House voted a 4.6 percent reduction. Senate appropriators
recommend a 7.3 percent increase.
NIST’s Scientific and Technical Research and Services budget stands
out from the other budgets covered in this FYI. The Administration
requested a 13.3 percent increase for FY 2010. The House-passed
bill would increase the budget by 8.1 percent. Senate appropriators
recommended an increase of 10.2 percent, with a portion of this
funding being provided for congressionally designated projects.
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION:
The Administration requested an 8.5 percent increase in the
foundation’s total budget. The House and Senate agreed that the
budget should be increased, although not by that much. The House
voted for a 6.9 percent increase; Senate appropriators for a 6.6
percent increase.
U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY:
The Administration and Congress are in fairly close alignment on
next year’s budget for the survey. The request was for a 5.2
percent increase, which the House agreed to. Senate appropriators
would increase the budget by 5.8 percent.
September 3, 2009
Hotel Info for annual meeting
A list of nearby hotels, some within walking distance of the LBNL
shuttle bus,
is given here:
http://www.lbl.gov/Workplace/near-our-shuttle.html
Mention that you are attending a meeting at LBNL, and see if the hotel
will give you a government rate.
September 2, 2009
A friendly reminder –
Please register now for the Annual US LHC
Users Meeting
at LBNL Friday – Saturday September 25-26 at the conference website:
http://www.lbl.gov/conferences/USLHC/index.html
We will have a good sized room, but seating is limited so please
register early.
Friday afternoon there will be an Executive Board Meeting (5-6 PM)
followed by a welcome reception where you will have a chance to
chat or discuss any issues or suggestions you’d like to make with
the board members.
The main meeting will be on Saturday.
As mentioned, one of the focal points of the meeting is a poster session
highlighting the work of young physicists, organized by Sridhara Dasu
(Wisconsin). The poster session information and instructions for
participants is at:
http://www.hep.wisc.edu/~dasu/usluoPosterSession.html
http://www.hep.wisc.edu/~dasu/usluoPosterInstructions.html
It will be an exciting time, shortly before the start of collisions
at the LHC. We look forward to seeing many of you at the meeting.
Thanks again to our hosts Stu Loken and Jim Siegrist, and to
LBNL for hosting our annual meeting.
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