By Nancy Su
Bruin Contributor
nsu@media.ucla.edu
The UC-managed and recently problem-ridden Los Alamos National
Laboratory attracts as many as 3,000 students to their prestigious
programs over the summer months.
Students from nearby universities like the University of New
Mexico and from more distance colleges such as the UCs flock to the
lab year round to take advantage of Los Alamos’ research
opportunities.
But along with their immersion in research work in the
lab’s undergraduate, graduate, and post doctorate programs,
students must also deal with the everyday security and safety
issues that have recently plagued the lab.
Two employees of Los Alamos were fired last week after an
incident involving an intern who suffered an eye injury at the
lab.
According to an investigation report, the intern injured her
retina when she looked into a laser without wearing safety
glasses.
The report stated the intern’s supervisor denied the
injury could be caused by the laser because it was turned off, but
did not actually check the status of the laser before the intern
looked into it.
Two other employees were fired in connection with the
disappearance of two portable zip drives containing highly
classified information.
The missing disks prompted a complete shut down of the lab in
July which halted the nearly 2,100 student interns at Los Alamos
from their work.
Since the lab-wide shut down, work has slowly been restarted in
many departments. Yet some of the research at the lab is still at a
standstill.
Alicia Ayala, a graduate student in chemical engineering from
the University of New Mexico, said though she has been able to
resume her work on writing papers, she has not been able to get
back in the lab setting to continue her research on the different
applications of superconductors.
Ayala said because of the shutdown she will probably not have
time to finish parts of her research before she graduates this
year.
After four years of working at the lab while studying for her
graduate degree, Ayala said she is not worried about her
safety.
“There’s some risk to working at my area of the lab,
but it’s a minimal risk. We’re pretty good with safety.
We evaluate the risks and deal with it,” Ayala said.
Ayala added that people seemed to be more serious with security
since the shutdown of the lab.
The recent problems at the lab aside, it is the skills that
Ayala learned during her experience at the lab that will stay with
her after her she receives her graduate degree.
“Working as a student at the lab, I realized that
you’re not only focused on the work. There are many
requirements at a workplace. You have to know how to work
independently, but also interact with people, have group meetings.
The lab has helped me develop my research skills and become
independent when I do my work,” Ayala said.
Ayala added that the recent shutdown of the lab has not deterred
her plans to return as a post doctoral student after
graduation.
Omar Wooten, a student working toward a doctorate at the Georgia
Institute of Technology and has been interning at Los Alamos since
2001, said he feels the lab’s problems have been blown out of
proportion by the media.
“Unfortunately there are accidents, but I don’t
think safety is so bad at the lab that a complete shutdown is
necessary to fix the problems.”
Wooten, who builds computer models in a low-risk environment at
the lab, was able to resume work less than two weeks after the shut
down. During the shut down he said the students had a chance to
refocus on security and safety.
“But most of us focused on it anyway so it was like we
spent more time on it so we’d be more safe but we were pretty
much safe anyway,” Wooten said.
During the shutdown in July, students were given the opportunity
to attend workshops and seminars in a wide variety of educational
areas.
In an addition to the workshops, Los Alamos director Pete Nanos
held a meeting with student workers to apologize for the suspension
of activities.
At the meeting, Nanos told students it is good to be exposed to
the responsibilities associated with safety and security and to be
responsible for following standard regulations.
Student/mentor liaison Carole Rutten said though the summer was
a difficult time for the lab, students were able to gain valuable
lessons from the experience.
“Even though students had to stop their research projects,
they were able to take this learning experience and become engaged
in what their role as an intern means to the overall lab,”
Rutten said.
Describing students as “the future of the lab”,
Rutten added that the lab’s recent problems have not deterred
students from wanting to intern at Los Alamos.
The lab’s recent shutdown comes at a crucial time as the
UC’s management contract is set to expire in 2005. The
regents were scheduled to discuss the advantages and disadvantages
of bidding for a renewal at their meeting Sept. 22.