Federal employees to have two days off this holiday season.

Christmas Day, Dec. 25, is a national holiday according to the Office of Personnel Management (http://www.opm.gov/Operating_Status_Schedules/fedhol/2007.asp). Federal government workers will have the day to spend with family and friends or just relaxing at home.

However, by executive order, there will be a little bit of extra time to spend off work this year.

Executive Order: Closing of Executive Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government on Monday, December 24, 2007
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:
 
Section 1. All executive branch departments and agencies of the Federal Government shall be closed and their employees excused from duty on Monday, December 24, 2007, the day before Christmas Day, except as provided in section 2 below.
 
Sec. 2. The heads of executive branch departments and agencies may determine that certain offices and installations of their organizations, or parts thereof, must remain open and that certain employees must report for duty on December 24, 2007, for reasons of national security or defense or other public need.
 
Sec. 3. Monday, December 24, 2007, shall be considered as falling within the scope of Executive Order 11582 of February 11, 1971, and of 5 U.S.C. 5546 and 6103(b) and other similar statutes insofar as they relate to the pay and leave of employees of the United States.
 
GEORGE W. BUSH
THE WHITE HOUSE,
December 6, 2007.

Los Angeles District to hold Lean, Six Sigma classes

SPL will be conducting a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Class from Jan. 28 to Feb. 1. The five-day class will cover the elements of Lean, Six Sigma and Theory of Constraints in order to prepare students to conduct process improvement projects. The class consists of lecture, videos, and exciting hands-on exercises to allow students to not only hear the theories but also to practice them.

Past classes have graduated students who used the information taught to conduct projects to make tasks more efficient. SPL, the Corps of Engineers, the Army, and DoD will likely be conducting more and more projects to allow organizations to operate faster, smarter, cheaper, and greener.
 
For more information or to sign up, contact Gary Burger. His information is in the global address book.

Taken from the U.S. Army Materiel Command’s Web site (http://www.amc.army.mil/LEAN/page.aspx?id=0)

Lean Six Sigma: What is it?
•    Lean and Six Sigma are both process improvement methodologies
•    Lean is about speed and efficiency
•    Six Sigma is about precision and accuracy - leading to data-driven decisions
•    Both rooted in the 1980s (and earlier)
•    Lean arose as a method to optimize auto manufacturing
•    Six Sigma evolved as a quality initiative to reduce variance in the semiconductor industry

Why Lean and Six Sigma?
•    Six Sigma will eliminate defects but it will not address the question of how to optimize process flow
•    Lean principles exclude the advanced statistical tools often required to achieve the process capabilities needed to be truly "lean"
•    Each approach can result in dramatic improvement, while utilizing both methods simultaneously holds the promise of being able to address all types of process problems with the most appropriate toolkit

Golf Club News


Players in the Dec. 15 “Booze Shoot” holiday tournament at Woodley Lakes Golf Course are, from left to right, Ramon Andujo, Aaron Bridgewater, Mary Bridgewater, Dale Bulick, Hector Angeles, Shawn Murphy, Jeff Chin, Gus Ruiz, Mike Evasovic, Linda Donato, John Williams, Peggy Joyce, Doland Cheung, Dan Sulzer, Art Shak, Raul Garcia and Wing Ong.

Results of the tournament (by A, B and C flights):

First place - Raul Garcia (A), Ramon Andujo (B), John Williams (C)
Second place - Hector Angeles (A), Aaron Bridgewater (B), Mike Evasovic (C)
Third place - Art Shak (A), Dale Bulick (B), Wing Ong (C)
Least Putts - Brian Moore (A), Doland Cheung (B), Jeff Chin (C)

Next tournament:  Jan. 19 at Griffith Park.

There is still time...

In order to assist some campaigns in meeting their 2007 CFC goals, Linda M. Springer, the director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has approved local campaigns to extend the campaign solicitation period from the regular deadline of Dec. 15 to January 15, 2008.

If you decide to pledge between now and the new deadline, your payroll deduction may not be rocessed in time for the first pay period in January. If you pledge between now and the new deadline, you should check your payroll statements at the end of 2008 to determine the actual amound withheld from your paycheck and contributed to CFC for tax deduction purposes.

Employees in the Los Angeles District can contact Mike Roberts for information on donating to their selected charitable organization.