UC replaces Los Alamos lab director

Late last week, the University of California announced the appointment of a new director to manage its much-beleaguered Los Alamos National Laboratory. With approval of the U.S. Department of Energy, which operates the university-managed lab, the UC Board of Regents approved nuclear weapons expert and former National Security Administration official Robert W. Kuckuck as its temporary head.

Kuckuck will take over as interim director on May 16, replacing outgoing director George Peter Nanos, whose two-year stint at the lab faced many criticisms and propelled the lab into national headlines, over several security lapses and safety accidents.

The incidents ignited questions over the lab’s management. The Energy Department chose to use a competitive bidding process to select its next manager instead of renewing the UC managing agreement, as it had done for six decades.

In the wake of a recent security breech, which completely shut down the lab’s operations, Nanos told the regents that the lab’s leadership would harshly punish employees who could not keep classified information secret. Lab employees criticized his comments and started an anonymous blogging Web site disparaging the management. The relations only worsened when the lab admitted that the classified computer disks suspected of being missing never existed.

The university has also signaled that it could make other major leadership changes at the lab in preparation for a bid for its contract in the summer.

Service workers vote to ratify new contract

University of California service workers, voting by an overwhelming margin, agreed to the university’s contract offer, ending months of labor dispute that resulted in a one-day strike and threatened even larger work stoppages.

In voting at the end of last week, 87 percent of union members gave their nod to the deal, which establishes a new minimum wage for food service workers and back wages, in addition to other benefits. The deal stopped short of union demands for a guaranteed system of wage increases that would have dismantled the university’s current merit-based approach to promotions.

The union called the contract “a huge victory” for workers, which represents “a major step toward addressing the poverty wages earned by the lowest paid workers at UC.”

The terms of the contract will run through Jan. 31, 2008.

San Diego loses stem cell institute bid

By a 16-11 vote, the Independent Citizens’ Oversight Committee of the new California Institute of Regenerative Medicines voted last week to headquarter the state’s new stem cell foundation in San Francisco. San Diego, along with Sacramento, had been considered in the top running for the new institute, created by voters last November through Proposition 71.

Using a special point-based evaluation process, the board’s subcommittee had recommended San Francisco as the top pick after making site visits to the top three locations.

“This has been a remarkable process, and we thank all of the cities and their citizens that generously offered their facilities and resources,” stated Robert Klein, chair of the Independent Citizens’ Oversight Committee and the man who bankrolled a major portion of the $3 billion voter initiative. “With the selection of CIRM’s permanent headquarters, the institute can move forward with carrying out the will of the California voters by funding invaluable stem cell research that will benefit all of the state and the world.”

In competition for the headquarters, which were widely seen as a prize that would provide great benefits for the victor and establish the state’s top biotechnology market, the cities submitted competitive bids, offering free prime real estate and other amenities. San Diego had offered thousands of feet of office space located just north of UCSD.

CSU graduate student employees to strike

More than 6,000 graduate student employees at all 23 California State University campuses organized by the United Auto Workers union have announced that they will walk off their jobs on May 12, calling the work stoppage a response to unfair labor practices committed by the university.

The union and the university system have been engaged in talks over a new contract for the student employees.

Acknowledging that the work stoppage would likely disturb teaching and grading activities, the union said the strike would show the importance of its workers’ contributions to the university.