NIH'ers Celebrate Opening of Museum

Dr. Clifton Poodry (l) participates in the museum's opening procession along with Debbie Sweitzer (c), a health program assistant with NHLBI; and Becky Tudisco (r), EEO manager for NIDDK.

Dr. Clifton Poodry, director of the NIGMS Division of Minority Opportunities in Research, was among a number of NIH employees who participated in the opening ceremonies of the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., in September. Poodry, a member of the Tonawanda Seneca Indian tribe, walked in the procession on the National Mall with fellow members of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society. Over 25,000 people participated in the procession, representing more than 400 Indian tribes.

"It was a spectacular day that brought together people from many nations in celebration of a long-anticipated event," Poodry said.

"There was a pervasive feeling of good will and hope, and of course a deep feeling of pride. The size and diversity of the procession was awesome."

Wednesday Afternoon Lectures

The Wednesday Afternoon Lecture series — held on its namesake day at 3 p.m. in Masur Auditorium, Bldg. 10 — features Dr. Gerald M. Reaven on Nov. 3, giving the NIH Director's Astute Clinician Lecture on the topic "The Insulin Resistance and Metabolic Syndromes: Different Names, Different Concepts, Different Goals." See story.

On Nov. 10, Dr. Linda J. Waite will speak on "The Impact of Social Institutions on Health: The Case for Marriage." She is the Lucy Flower professor of sociology, University of Chicago, and a member of the advisory committee to the NIH director.

For more information or for reasonable accommodation, call Hilda Madine, (301) 594-5595.

Koob To Give Keller Lecture

Dr. George F. Koob will give the 2004 Mark Keller Honorary Lecture on Tuesday, Nov. 9, at 1:30 p.m. in Lipsett Amphitheater, Bldg. 10. Koob is professor of neuropharmacology and director of the division of psychopharmacology at the Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, Calif. The title of his talk will be "The Neurobiology of Alcoholism: Dysregulation of the Brain Reward and Stress Systems."

CIVIL Is Topic of FEW Meeting, Nov. 9

The Bethesda chapter of Federally Employed Women will host two speakers at its Tuesday, Nov. 9 meeting on Violent Crimes in the Workplace. NIH CIVIL Coordinator Sharon Steinberg and Heather Defibaugh, human resources specialist, will conduct a presentation titled "CIVIL." The presentation will provide participants an awareness of violence in the workplace and the tools and resources to address concerns appropriately. The meeting will be held in Bldg. 31C, Conf. Rm. 6C6, from noon to 1 p.m. For more information, contact FEW President Arlene Polk at Polka@od.nih.gov or call (301) 402-6101.

CFC Kickoff Welcomes 'Superheroes'

Photos by Bill Branson

Superman greets NIH director Dr. Elias Zerhouni (above) at the CFC kickoff event Oct. 6.

Also on hand to spur record amounts of giving by NIH'ers were Spiderman (above) and (below) Glenn Pearson and his band.

The redoubtable Caped Crusader, Batman, makes a personal pitch to all employees to give freely.

Fifth Salzman Symposium, Nov. 18

The Foundation for the NIH and the virology interest group announce the fifth annual Norman P. Salzman Symposium to be held on Thursday, Nov. 18. During the symposium, an award will be presented to recognize an outstanding research accomplishment by a post-doctoral fellow or research trainee working in the field of virology at NIH. The award honors Salzman's 40-year career and his accomplishments in mentoring young scientists. The theme of this year's symposium will be "Early Host Defenses Against Viral Infection," with presentations by Dr. Christine Biron of Brown University, NIAID's Dr. Jon Yewdell, Dr. Paul Bieniasz of Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, Dr. Barbara Rehermann of NIDDK, Dr. Hidde Ploegh of Harvard Medical School and the 2004 Salzman Award recipient. The symposium will be held at the Cloisters chapel from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. with lunch served to registered attendees. To register, visit http://www.nih.gov/sigs/vig/.

Attention Female Baseball Players, Wannabes

The Recreation and Welfare Association is considering starting a Women's Baseball Club to promote and support baseball-playing opportunities for women of all ages. The new club would field a team in the Eastern Women's Baseball Conference.

The EWBC currently has five teams within Northern Va., Montgomery County and Baltimore. They play umpired games on full-sized fields, and everyone has fun. EWBC players range in age from 15-55 with most of the players in their 20s to 40s. Many players previously played slow-pitch softball and have made the transition to baseball very successfully.

Each EWBC team plays one game per weekend, early May through mid/late September. All teams have pre-season practices and friendly scrimmages in the spring, and some continue to practice once a week during the season. The league also assembles a select "tournament team" for occasional competition against other leagues.

The EWBC is fully committed to helping a new R&W team get up and running with introductory workouts and practices this fall. We are looking for 15-20 players to field a team; coaches/managers (of either gender) are also needed. If you are interested in learning more about the club or can't wait to oil your baseball glove and polish your baseball shoes, contact Susan McCarthy at (301) 594-8785 or mccarths@mail.nih.gov.

Annual Leave: Use It or Lose It

Annual leave in excess of the maximum carryover balance (in most cases 240 hours) is normally forfeited if not used by the end of the current leave year. If you have not already planned to take those excess hours of annual leave, you should discuss your leave with your supervisor now while there is still time to schedule it. Your bi-weekly Earnings and Leave Statement tells you how much annual leave you must use so that you will not lose it when the leave year ends on Saturday, Jan. 8, 2005.

In spite of planning, circumstances sometimes arise that prevent you from taking leave that has been scheduled and approved earlier during the leave year. In such cases, you and your supervisor are jointly responsible for ensuring that any "use or lose" leave is officially rescheduled. This year, your "use or lose" leave must be scheduled not later than Saturday, Nov. 27.

If you or your supervisor have questions regarding "use or lose" leave, contact your human resource office or other appropriate program official designated by your institute or center.

FAES Holds Insurance Open Season

Open season is for those who did not enroll when first eligible and for current subscribers to make changes. Appointments are required to make changes to medical coverage but not for dental enrollment. FAES offers CareFirst BlueCross/BlueShield PPO and a voluntary dental plan through Cigna.

More information may be obtained from the FAES web site at www.faes.org or from the FAES business office, Bldg. 10, Rm. B1C18. To schedule an appointment, call (301) 496-8063. FAES is open Monday-Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Open House at Children's Inn, Nov. 4

CFC donors and other NIH'ers are invited to an Open House at the Children's Inn at NIH on Thursday, Nov. 4 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Visitors are invited to tour the newly expanded inn and learn about its mission.

Contributions from donors in the CFC help to support residents who stay at the inn free of charge, no matter how long the stay. "The inn is very grateful to be a CFC charity as we receive a significant amount of our funding through the campaign. We invite all NIH employees to attend our open house event so they can see first hand the difference that their CFC donations make," said Tyrrell Flawn, executive director of the inn.

Refreshments will be served, and visitors may visit an art show with work created by residents. Parking is not available at the inn. Visitors are requested to walk or take the NIH shuttle.

Info Coming on Perimeter Security

The NIH Perimeter Security System (PSS), which includes the perimeter fence, is scheduled for activation in January 2005. In the coming months, ORS Security and Emergency Response will launch a communications initiative including campus-wide email, announcements, presentations, information booths and other means in an effort to share the operations and protocols of the PSS with the entire NIH community.

With the endorsement of NIH senior management, the community advisory board for security (CABS) has been instrumental in the development and review of the PSS protocols for employees, patients and visitors. Established by the NIH director, CABS provides input, advice and counsel on behalf of the NIH community about implementation of the NIH security program.

ORS has launched a web site (http://ser.ors.od.nih.gov/index.htm) that will serve as a comprehensive resource for information concerning the Perimeter Security System. The perimeter security communications initiative is scheduled to continue through January.

Outdoor Film Fest Raises $20K+

The Comcast Outdoor Film Festival in August raised more than $20,000 for the NIH charities. More than 75,000 people attended the 10-day free festival, which boasted the largest outdoor screen in America on the grounds of Strathmore Hall and the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. The money raised came from corporate sponsorships, donations by moviegoers and the proceeds of food sales of popular vendors during the festival. The funds support the Children's Inn, Camp Fantastic/Special Love and Friends of the Clinical Center.

"We are so grateful to Comcast for their leadership in bringing this great film festival to our community every year," said Randy Schools, president of the NIH Recreation and Welfare Foundation. "Our community's continued strong support of the film festival really makes a difference in the lives of the families and kids we treat here at NIH."