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May 1999
Folks in several work groups have been crunching numbers, plotting electric use, poring over budgets and working to put together the 1999 rate case the past few months. The new rates will cover the bulk of BPA revenues for fiscal years 2002 to 2006.
BPA has a lot of pressure from customers, the marketplace and competition around rate case time. The pressure reaches into the work groups that have to build the rate case. So folks often have a lot of tension and stress during the months of rate case work.
Many of the dozens of rate case workers have found a good way to relieve the tension. Some visit BPA’s Club Fed fitness center to work off the stress. Others unwind in one of a number of fitness programs BPA offers.
This Circuit edition includes a feature article and photos on the variety of fitness programs available at work. See below for more on the various fitness opportunities BPA offers.
Rate case spread - (Clockwise from left) Paul Kaptur, Fev Pratt, Diane Cherry, Barney Keep, Bill Doubleday and Gabrielle Foulkes look over a small pile of spreadsheets they produced for BPA's rate case. The Power Business Line team is one of many work groups putting the rate case together.
Utilities do most of their big transmission projects during good weather, and they hire seasonal workers to help their regular crews. But BPA has a dis-advantage in the seasonal labor market.
“We struggle to compete for people in the craft trades,” said Truman Conn, Walla Walla regional manager. “Our hiring process for seasonal workers is nearly identical to that for permanent staff,” he said.
Conn said the current system has too much red tape. “If you’re lucky and everything falls into place, it can take a month. But that’s way too long,” he said. “At other times it can be six weeks or longer,” Conn said. “Skilled people don’t want to wait to work, so they go elsewhere.”
Conn said, “We would like to be able to go to the union halls to hire people as we need them - just like other utilities do. And offer them pay and benefits that match our competitors.” With the Administrative Efficiencies Project, Conn said BPA could change its practices “so we could compete better and offer employees better benefits.”
Tis the season for symposiums and seminars. And this spring, BPA shone at its best in the special programs it sponsored.
In mid-March, more than 300 people from around the U.S. and other countries attended BPA’s Electric Revolution at the Portland Convention Center. The first of its kind conference and trade show brought together people from a wide energy spectrum. They included conservation experts, pioneers of new technologies, and businesses looking for ways to save energy and cut costs.
BPA organized the event that was cosponsored by the Bonneville Environmental Foundation. The Northwest Public Power Association and Public Power Council were supporting sponsors. The two-day program included talks on new energy technologies and advances in others.
Speakers showed slides and charts on several efforts in the field of distributed technologies. Topics included small combustion turbines, fuel cells that can stand alone to power a house, and use of hydrogen for fuel and cooling. Others spoke on new designs in wind power, solar power and other energy sources.
Besides the talks, people got a closer look - and some demonstrations - of new equipment. Nearly two dozen companies and groups showed new energy products.
In mid-April, BPA sponsored its second big symposium. The Y2K program at the Lloyd Center DoubleTree Hotel drew nearly 200 people from around the region.
The Y2K event focused on the Northwest power system in the new millennium. BPA and other suppliers described their work to ensure that power will continue to flow when the clocks roll over past midnight on Dec. 31.
At the Electric Revolution -- (Above right) BPA's Mark Jackson describes BPA's fuel cell in a press interview. (Above left) Attendees look over a machine that makes hydrogen gas from water.
The best of BPA - (Bottom right) Reminiscent of the early decades when new cars were unveiled at a national trade show, these women posed with the latest technology vehicle at the Electric Revolution in Portland. (Left to right) Melanie Jackson, Jenny Roehm and Sharon Doggett help show off a new Electric Ford pickup. It’s the latest addition to BPA’s vehicle fleet at the Ross Complex in Vancouver.
BPA folks have come to expect the unexpected at agency employee meetings in recent years. The internal communications group uses a variety of formats to make the meetings more fun for employees. Executives support the effort and often add their own impromptu humor.
A lot goes on behind the scenes to pull off these special events. Some folks have asked what it takes, so here’s a look behind the scenes.
Cheri Larson is the main spark plug. She coordinates major meetings and special events and enlists many talented people across the agency. They help script programs, design and produce props and promotions, arrange for special guests and pull all the details together.
But sometimes, the behind the scenes work can tax even the most adept person. The Combined Federal Charities campaign last fall is an example. The U.S. Coast Guard challenged BPA to a friendly competition. Each agency would try to outdo the other in the CFC drive. The head of the agency that came in second would kiss a pig. (See the January Circuit.) That meant that Administrator Judi Johansen or Coast Guard Capt. Mike Hall would have to give lip service, literally as well as in their promotion, for the CFC campaign.
With just three weeks until the October kick-off, policy advisor Paddy McGuire asked Larson if she could get a pig. “Of course,” she said right away. “I thought it wouldn’t be a problem,” Larson said. “I imagined a cute, cuddly, small pig like Babe (of 1997 movie fame).” So she began her search for a Babe look-alike.
Larson talked to friends who live on farms, but no one had a pig. She called Multnomah County 4-H. No luck there either. She called pet stores, but no one knew where she could find a pig for hire. “I was getting nervous,” Larson said. Then Tasha Maltzeff of the telephone office told her about a person with Future Farmers of America. Larson called and found a pig on a farm in Molalla, Ore. But she couldn’t just borrow the pig - she would have to buy it. “So I bought a pig for $40, sight unseen,” she said.
“They told me it was a baby, so I figured it was small,” Larson said. “I could picture it - a little, pink, clean pig wrapped in a blanket.” The farm folks would put it in its own carrying cage and Larson asked an employee to go get the pig on the morning of BPA’s meeting.
But when the pig arrived in the headquarters basement, Larson’s image of a cute Babe was shattered. “It was huge,” she said. “It weighed 65 pounds, it was hyperactive, and it smelled so bad.” Larson called Ken Kane who carried the pig to a small room off the Holladay auditorium. “I was a nervous wreck as the auditorium started to fill up,” she said. “Capt. Hall was supposed to carry the pig down the aisle under his arm, but it smelled so bad and was so filthy, I seriously thought about not using it at all,” she said.
When it came time, Hall carried the pig in its cage to the stage. Employees got a good laugh, and those along the aisle got a bonus barnyard whiff as well. Hall issued his challenge and the program ended. But Larson’s pig problem wasn’t over.
BPA would need to produce a pig again in early December for the CFC wrap-up. “I wasn’t going to use that pig again,” Larson said, “and Judi told me that if she had to kiss a pig, ‘You’d better get me a cute one.’”
So over the next few weeks, Larson resumed her search for a Babe look-alike. “I called more pet stores, the Humane Society and 4-H,” she said. “I called grain companies and talked to friends, other employees, anyone, to find a pig. I was beginning to worry I might not be able to deliver,” Larson said. “Then Paul Hansen in my work group said he had a friend who has a pot-bellied pig.”
Larson called the woman, Shirley Hagan, and explained why BPA wanted to borrow her pet pig. “She couldn’t stop laughing,” Larson said, “but she agreed to loan us ‘Mortimer.’”
On the morning of Dec. 8, Larson and Hansen drove to Gresham to pick up “Morty” and his owner. Larson said she was surprised again. “I had no idea what a pot-bellied pig looked like,” she said. “It was clean and well-behaved - unlike the first pig, but it was very big and ugly.” The eight-year-old Morty weighed 80 pounds. Still, she didn’t have time to find another pig. So the three people coaxed Morty out of his box in the living room, and tugged and loaded him into the van - with his carrots and blanket.
“The guards laughed when we drove into the basement, and we pulled Morty out of the van and into the elevator,” Larson said. The trio set Morty next to the band in the headquarters lobby. RIF and the Early Outs were performing for the CFC wrap-up.
“Morty behaved very well during the program and seemed to like the music and attention,” Larson said. “So much so, that at the end he didn’t want to leave.” So Larson, Hansen and Hagan dragged him across the floor to the elevator and back into the van.
Larson said she can laugh about the experience today, “but it was a nightmare at the time. I had no idea how hard it would be to find a pig, and then to handle one. I was just so relieved when it was over.” Larson said she learned something from her experience. “I’m not going to jump into something like this in the future. I’m going to stop and think about it first.”
While BPA isn’t likely to have an event that includes a pig anytime in the near future, we’re sure to have programs that will have BPA’s meetings coordinator scrambling. It’s all part of what goes on behind the scenes to put on special events and provide some fun in the workplace.
What ever happened to the first pig that Larson bought? “I didn’t have any use for it after the first event, so I donated it to an FFA student,” Larson said. Now that’s bringing home the bacon for BPA in more ways than one.
- Jack Odgaard, editor
(Top) Definitely not a Babe look-alike, BPA's first pig went back to the farm. (Bottom) "Morty" didn't resemble Babe either. But he was so ugly he was cute; and he was clean and well-behaved.
Some folks on the headquarters fifth floor refer to it, tongue-in-cheek, as Lake Bonneville. The “lake” is a pool of water under the terrace paving tiles. The pool was exposed when workers removed the tiles late last fall to find and fix a leak.
Greg Drais of office facilities says that service folks discovered water under the sub-flooring on the fifth floor during workspace moves last fall. The water was getting into the building from the adjacent terrace. Drais says the terraces have an impervious lining and they drain into pipes built into the side of the building.
The fifth floor terrace level has settled a little near the building, so some water pools there. It shouldn’t be a problem though, because the lining is meant to keep any standing water out of the building. But somewhere, the lining sprang a leak last fall.
Drais says the repair company thinks it has found the leak and fixed it. So, if no more water gets into the building, workers will soon replace the terrace tiles.
In the meantime, curious employees once in a while check Lake Bonneville ... er, the fifth floor terrace pool, for any signs of critters that may have taken up residency.
Sandra Smith of BPA's power business development pool checks out another pool. Ponded water under the fifth floor terrace began to leak into headquarters last fall.
Students from Sacajawea Middle School at Spokane took a field trip in March to learn about BPA and the Northwest power grid. The class of kids in grades 6 to 8 toured BPA’s Bell Substation and yards at Mead, Wash.
Substation folks and line crew members explained BPA’s transmission operations. The kids saw huge transformers, switches and other equipment. BPA workers demonstrated some of the tools of the utility trade.
Linemen climbed poles and raised buckets to show how they service power lines. Other demonstrations included a Snow Cat operation, riggers who moved a transformer, and operators in system control and protection.
TBL tasks and tools -- Workers at Bell Substation show students some of their tasks and tools of the trade that BPA uses to keep the Northwest power grid operating.
Depression-era singer and songwriter Woody Guthrie will be forever associated with the Columbia River - and BPA. The fledgling Bonneville Power Administration hired the folksong performer for a month in 1941. His job was to write songs about the river and the big dams - Bonneville and Grand Coulee - that would harness the Columbia for the benefit of the people.
Guthrie turned out 26 songs, including some that became popular tunes during his time. Jukeboxes in malt shops around the nation played “Roll on Columbia,” and “Pastures of Plenty.”
When BPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers observed the 50th anniversary of Bonneville Dam in 1987, they invited Arlo Guthrie, Woody’s son, to the event. Arlo is a performer in his own right, and he played and sang some of the songs his dad had composed for BPA.
That was almost 12 years ago. So when Arlo recently visited Portland with his daughter and some staff, he wanted to take them to Bonneville Dam. BPA’s Bill Murlin is a friend of the singer, so Guthrie asked him to escort the group.
Murlin let the Corps of Engineers know who was coming, and he and Corps officials made sure that Guthrie’s group got the full tour.
Return visit -- (Above left) BPA's Bill Murlin and Arlo Guthrie pose with his daughter and others at Bonneville Dam. (Above right) Guthrie listens as an Army Corps of Engineers guide talks about the salmon count in the fish viewing room at Bonneville Dam.
Many BPA folks take up second careers or pursue other interests after they retire from BPA. Some use their talents or love for certain hobbies as a pastime.
In the November 1998 Circuit, Ken Kane wrote about a group of retirees who went into grape growing and wine making. Not as a commercial business but for their own taste and wine enjoyment. This is an update on the Fermenting Friends.
Retirees Ed Sienkiewicz, Gary Fuqua, Larry Larson and Dave Francisco make up the core of the wine-lovers group that now has its own distinct label. The Friends met on a recent weekend to sample their wares with special guests - former Administrator Peter Johnson and wife Carolyn and former vice president Steve Ailshie and wife Linda.
And Kane and his wife, Audrey Perino, were invited to the wine-tasting and dinner party at the “Sienkiewicz estate” near Dundee, Ore. Sometimes reporters get such perks for their efforts.
In the "cellar" -- (Top right) Ed Sienciewicz (crouching) explains the Fermenting Friends operation to former administrator Peter Johnson (left) as fellow "fermentor" Gary Fuqua listens. (Below right) Johnson asks Fuqua a question as others listen, gathered around wine casks in the Sienciewicz estate cellar. The seal (above left) shows the Fermenting Friends' new label.
Like a giant mole, a huge boring machine with teeth of steel recently chewed out a 2,400-foot long tunnel under BPA’s Ross Complex. As the mechanical mole worked its way forward, hydraulic jacks pushed 20-foot sections of steel pipe into the tunnel.
The Transmission Business Line is spending $3.5 million on this project along the northern edge of Ross. The 51-inch diameter pipe is 68 feet underground and will channel Cold Creek through the area. The pipe replaces a concrete culvert.
BPA decided to install the pipe after a section of the culvert collapsed in November 1997. The collapse created a large sinkhole near the Ross warehouse. The creek also runs close to BPA’s new hazardous materials building. Another collapse could damage the Hazmat building. And, equally bad, it could erode a fill area that may contain hazardous materials.
Construction manager Bob Lieberman said, “We chose to dig a tunnel instead of an open trench to save money. A trench would have cost us twice as much to dig.”
Project manager Jim Rustvold said, “We used two different boring machines for the work because of the different soil types in the area.” Lasers guide both machines.
Construction inspector Dan Holzer said workers took extra precautions in the fill area that BPA thought could contain hazardous substances. “We took soil samples and checked them for any contamination,” he said. “Fortunately, they all came back clean.”
BPA expects to divert Cold Creek through the pipe in May. Workers will then seal off the concrete culvert.
Tony Morrell works in the field for Environment, Fish & Wildlife
Putting the job in perspective -- (Top right) Four BPA folks who worked on the Cold Creek diversion project at Ross are (left to right) Dan Holzer, Inez Graetzer, Shantini Ratnathicam and Jim Rustvold.
#1 -- Giant augur cuts a manhole shaft, 58 feet deep. |
#2 -- Contractor Dan DeFrang stands next to a boring machine. |
#3 -- Operator Dan DeFrang sits inside the tunnel boring machine. |
#4 -- Worker follows empty dirt bucket up tunnel to boring machine. |
#5 -- Workers hoist a full bucket from the tunnel boring where it will be dumped above ground. |
#6 -- Workers check alignment of jack. |
#7 -- Workers load a 20-foot section of pipe into the huge gydraulic jack. |
#8 -- At the bottom of the shaft, a 20-foot section of pipe is loaded in the hydraulic jack -- ready to be rammed. |
#9 -- The open pipeline tunnel. |
#10 -- The Mole breaks through at the inlet of Cold Creek. |
Fitness varieties abound at BPA. When moved into its new building in 1987, BPA had its first fitness center. It later put in a center at the Ross Complex as well. A contractor runs the “Club Fed” facilities for BPA. The clubs are open from 5:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. on workdays only. The main center at Portland is staffed from early morning to mid-afternoon.
More than 700 employees and contractors belong to the fitness center. The $12 per month dues are a real bargain, say several members. And having a fitness center right at work has more benefits as well.
“It’s like a family,” said Gary Beck of the Transmission Bjsiness Line. “You see people you work with and in a friendly atmosphere,” he said. Diane Cherry of the Power Business Line said, “If I didn’t have access to the fitness center at work, I would never have the time or opportunity to work out.”
Judy McElhaney, executive assistant in the administrator’s office, said “convenience, accessibility and the friendly people” are why she belongs to Club Fed. She joined less than two years ago, “when the only time I found I had to exercise was Saturday and Sunday mornings. Now I can do low-impact aerobics three times a week,” she said. “I feel so much better physically and mentally,” McElhaney said.
Tim Johnson is an attorney in the general counsel office. “I work out three or four times a week for fitness and relaxation,” he said. Johnson likes to cycle on stationary machines where he can also read reports and magazines while getting his exercise.
Several other regulars at Club Fed also mentioned the relaxation they get. Many take part in some of the classes offered through Club Fed, such as Tai Chi, Yoga and massage. Fred Wilson, a computer specialist, said Tai Chi “is so relaxing. It helped me through my divorce stress.” And speaking of stress, several people who are working on the rate case this year said their Club Fed programs help reduce their tension.
Some folks run and jog from the fitness center where they can shower and clean up to return to work or go home afterwards. Mitzi Bauer of PBL likes to run. “I can see friends I ordinarily don’t see, and it breaks up the day at work,” she said. Fev Pratt of PBL is a Club Fed member who also has been bicycling to work every day for nearly 11 years. Pratt starts his day early at BPA and showers and dresses for work - at work.
Two fitness center members also have another practical reason to work out. Bill Berry of power supply said, “it helps me keep up with my kids, four and nine.” Berry works out five or six days a week on different equipment. He takes part in several sports with his kids - basketball, baseball, wrestling and soccer that he coaches. Liz Evans of power keeps in shape for marathons “but also to keep up with my kids, eight and 10,” she said. Evans runs regularly and said, “It keeps me physically fit and mentally sharp.”
Adele Steinwinder of transmission said she exercises for her bones and back. “I don’t take a lot of calcium, so lifting weights helps keep my bones strong,” she said. And the weight lifting is also strengthening muscles in her weaker lower back.
So, for whatever reason or reasons a person may have, exercise is good for your health - mental as well as physical. Employees and contractors can enroll in the Club Fed for just $12 per month. Call Andrea Schacher at the fitness center, x7775 in Portland, for a tour or to join. And watch for special programs and classes that BPA offers throughout the year through the fitness center.
-- Suzy Sivyer is an architect in transmission
(Top right) Yoga exercises mind and body -- Yoga is one of the most popular courses BPA has offered over lunch hours through the employee fitness program. The ancient exercise combines physical stretching with mental concentration. Doug Browning and Vera Jagendorf practice the yoga exercise "the warrior."
(Top left) Relieving stress -- Besides the muscle exercise, people get other benefits from many fitness programs. Tai Chi helps relieve stress and relax the body and mind.
(Middle right) Joggers head out -- Liz Evans, John Pospisil and other runners head out of the headquarters basement on a daily jog. Many runners use the Club Fed before, after and during work to shower and change after their daily workouts.
(Middle left) Weights warm-up -- Marshall Cobb warms up with some light dumbbells before getting to the serious heavy weights.
(Bottom right) Cycling -- Some fitness programs lend themselves to dual activities -- like these stationary cycling machines. (Left to right) Tim Johnson, Bill Berry and Rob Pirie catch up on their reading while getting a good workout.
(Bottom left) Bone and back builder -- Adele Steinwinder lifts weights to keep strong bones and also strengthens a weak lower back.
Bob Austin’s other business card has a phrase, “Close to everything, but away from it all.” It’s the slogan for the town where he and his family make their home. Estacada, Ore., has a population of 2,200 and is an hour’s drive from BPA where Austin works.
Austin is a BPA fish and wildlife manager by day. On many evenings and weekends, he tends to another public position. His business card describes it in one word - mayor.
Both of his public service jobs take everything he can give, Austin said. And although he leads a double public life, he views both of his roles in the same way - “giving value to society.”
At BPA, Austin’s group implements many of the fish and wildlife projects that the Northwest Power Planning Council picks for BPA. “We don’t get to choose the projects, but we get them done the best we can, and most cost-effectively,” he said.
“Fish and wildlife issues are very visible. There’s a lot going on and people enjoy what we do here,” he said. “We have good technical people and my job is to manage their workload. I try not to take on technical issues but focus on supervising,” he said.
On this day, Austin was heading into the field to help staff consult with landowners and local conservation officials on habitat projects along the Salmon River near Challis, Idaho. “I don’t get a chance to get out in the field that often,” he said. “I’m usually attending council meetings.”
When he’s not at a Northwest Power Planning Council meeting, he’s probably in a meeting of the Estacada City Council. “My job in the community could be looked at as thankless by some,” he said. “It does have terrible hours.” And lots of meetings.
“I attend committee meetings, meetings with other Clackamas County mayors and city managers, town hall meetings, and meetings with county and state officials to keep up on what they’re doing that affects Estacada,” Austin said. As for the city council, about a dozen of the same citizens attend many meetings. “It gets so you know what they will say before they get to the mike. But I encourage more people to get involved, to bring in some fresh views,” he said.
Why did he run for mayor of his town last year? “We want to grow while keeping the small town atmosphere,” Austin said. “I don’t want my daughter to have to move some place else, and I think I can help the town plan for growth.”
He said his work on fish and wildlife issues at BPA has helped him handle local controversies already. “I try to help people frame the arguments and focus on the issues,” he said. “There’s a big land use meeting tonight that will run three hours, plus. It’s to decide on a 350-unit development.”
Austin said he enjoys his extra job. “I try to have fun at the same time,” he said. He planned to take off work a couple hours another afternoon to talk with some school district folks. “Maybe we can have some high school students on city committees,” he said.
Austin said his wife and daughter support him in his extra duty. “But my family will let me know if I’m doing too much,” he said.
Of his two public positions, Austin said, “They both come down to one thing - values.” He said he sees many of the same issues in his two positions. “Land use, water use and sound planning that lead to equitable decisions. At BPA, in towns like Estacada and in our cities and states, we have to look to the future,” he said. “So I hope that what I do contributes something.”
-- Lynn Baker is a writer in communications
From BPA to city hall -- (Above right) In April, Bob Austin (right) met with other agency officials on a rare field trip for a fish habitat project in Idaho. He spends most of his BPA work time supervising a fish and wildlife group at headquarters. On many evenings and weekends, Austin may be at a public meeting in his hometown. As mayor (above left), Austin presides over the city council meetings in Estacada, Ore.
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April was Christian Values month at BPA. The theme was “Speaking the Truth in Love.” The Christian Values Resource Group sponsored 10 programs at headquarters during the month. Besides lunchtime talks, programs included artistic performances.
Cascade College students staged a short play at the April 1 kickoff program. A choir of people trained in sign language performed signs of praise. Speakers during the month talked about the importance of moral values in different areas of modern life.
Topics included: “The ultimate reason to do a great job,” “How do state legislators impact your personal and financial future?” “Character first,” and “A Christian world view in government.” Other speakers and topics were: “Why believe in moral absolutes?” “Does God make a difference?” and “God’s sovereignty and the implications for us.”
BPA’s Larry Everson, an avid butterfly gardener and photographer, gave a slide program on “The butterfly, God’s wondrous creation.” The five weeks of events concluded on May 6, the National Day of Prayer, with a talk, “Light the nation with prayer.” Kendall Weekes of BPA led participants in a prayer on that theme.
Play opens month's observance -- Students from Cascade College performed a short play (top right and left) for the opening of Christian Values month at BPA. (Bottom right) Employees discuss the program at headquarters.
Peter Johnson has written a book. But it isn’t his memoirs from his years as administrator of BPA (1981-86). It’s the story about the construction of a unique building.
Raising the Roof: Creating the Kibbie Dome at the University of Idaho, was published last year by the University of Idaho Press. Johnson chronicles the design and building of the Kibbie Dome that covers a football field. The dome is the only one of its kind and size - a wooden-trussed barrel arch with a 400-foot clear span.
Johnson knows the dome story well. In 1975 he became chief executive officer of the then fledgling Trus Joist Corporation of Boise. The company made engineered wood structure products.
When the university announced it would build an indoor football field, Trus Joist bid on and got the project. Steel and aluminum were the products of the day for domes and large unsupported buildings. Trus Joist saw the Idaho dome as a chance to show the strength, durability and economy of their wood products.
From the final design to the end of construction, the project took 10 months to complete. Trus Joist did the job for $1 million. And the university had a domed football field that blended well with its natural surroundings.
How successful was the project? In 1976 it won the “Outstanding Structural Engineering Achievement Award” from the American Society of Civil Engineers. The $1 million Kibbie Dome beat out a pet project of New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller. The multi-billion-dollar South Mall project in New York State’s capital, Albany, finished runner-up.
While his formal education isn’t in architecture, Johnson has led groups that thrive on innovative designs and challenges. And he has keen views of the place of design in time. “Great architecture is the visual music of a civilization,” he wrote. “It is a visible echo of who we are at our best and most creative.”
BPA press officer Ed Mosey headed the media section when Johnson was BPA administrator in 1981-86. Mosey read Johnson’s book and comments on Johnson’s story of the challenges and problems Trus Joist encountered in the project.
“Those who worked closely with Johnson when he was BPA administrator will recognize his management style, his clear vision in the middle of chaos and his ability to inspire others to reach their own creative best,” Mosey says. “Johnson couldn’t have known how well his experiences at Trus Joist were preparing him for what was to come at BPA where other domes (of nuclear power plants) would keep him awake at night.”
(Raising the Roof is available from the University of Idaho Press, Moscow, Idaho 83844-1107).
This year is the last chance you’ll have to record events of the 2nd millennium. Just think of it. In a few short years, your grandkids will be asking you what it was like to live in the past millennium.
As a memento of the “ancient” past (i.e., the last 1% of the 2nd millennium), the Circuit will run a photo page this fall. We want snapshots of your “end of the millennium summer vacation.”
The only rule for photos is that they must show people - preferably you and/or members of your family or group of friends. Don’t worry about categories to enter. Just take your camera and start shooting wherever you go this summer - close to home or faraway places.
As an incentive, we’ll enter your name in a raffle if you send your favorite snapshots to the Circuit. The October drawing will be for a BPA Power T-shirt.
We have some informal categories - hamming it up with family and friends; travel and scenery (with people at places); action photos (baseball, rafting, picnic games); pictures with pets; and your funniest shots. We’ll have more on these and some ideas for you in the next Circuit edition.
The last of the millennium vacation photo shoot is now up and running. The deadline for photos is Sept. 15, so send them by Sept. 10. We’ll take prints from 3 ½ x 5 inches up to 8 x 10. Send them to The Circuit, KCC-7, by inside mail.
Be sure to identify the photos on the back: your name, routing or home address, where the photo was taken and names of family and friends in the photo.
It’s spring. Rains fall. Snow melts. The river rises. And the WNP-2 nuclear plant shuts down for refueling. But not any more. WNP-2 is moving to a two-year fuel cycle.
“WNP-2 is the last nuclear plant in the country to go to a longer fuel cycle,” said Bob Mazurkiewicz, head of BPA’s Richland, Wash., office. “The plant is designed to operate continuously. A two-year cycle is more economic because you make better use of the plant assets, sell more power and reduce maintenance costs,” he said.
Until now, BPA has asked the Washington Public Power Supply System to refuel WNP-2 on an annual cycle. That made use of the ample hydropower in spring runoff that couldn’t be stored for later use. But times have changed.
“There’s now a market for WNP-2 power year-round ,” Mazurkiewicz said. “With the open, competitive wholesale power market and a larger intertie, the power has value, even in spring.” Increased restrictions on water use to help endangered salmon and increasing Northwest power loads also contribute to the higher value for power from the nuclear plant in spring, he said.
“The Supply System’s been doing a great job of getting WNP-2 costs down,” Mazurkiewicz said. “This is the icing on the cake that will get the plant down below two cents per kilowatt-hour. BPA and the region benefit with a lower cost resource.”
This year, WNP-2 is shutting down a short time in spring as usual - but to save fuel, not to refuel. The plant will close to refuel in September. The next refueling after that will be in spring 2001, and then the spring every other year after that.
-- Lynn Baker is a writer in communications
Some 100 employees, retirees, contractors and family members took part in the Fifth Annual All-BPA Bowling Tournament March 27 in Eugene. Although teams, couples and individuals competed for trophies, Linda McKinney says the keglers kept their focus on the purpose of the annual event - to have fun with fellow workers.
Nineteen teams competed for men and women team trophies. Most of the five-member teams had folks from different work groups. About 40 pairs also competed in mixed doubles, and all bowlers were in the running for individual men’s or women’s trophies.
The tournament committee holds the event in a different city each year. Members Kathy Baker, Mike Conners, Teresa Miller and Carolyn Hogan say they now plan to hold next year’s event in the Tri-Cities. Trophy winners in this year’s tourney follow.
Team - The men’s trophy went to the McRoll team of Jose Aguilar, Rick Aguilar, Rodney Aguilar, Arnie Reeder and Robert Jones. The women’s trophy went to Young at Heart team with bowlers Renee DeCandido, Brenda Kent, Linda McKinney, Leslie Pompel and Sylvia Wynandts.
Mixed doubles - Linda Nash and Harry Speropulos took the high series scratch and Brett and Tammy Moad won the series handicap.
Men Singles - Harry Speropulos, high game scratch; Brett Moad, high game handicap; Brian DeBoever, high series scratch; Arnie Reeder, high series handicap.
Women singles - Norma Darr, high game scratch; Tammy Kelly, high game handicap; Jennifer Stoddard, high series scratch; Brenda Dobin, high series handicap.
(Top right) Break in the action -- Trudy Linson, Richard Marquey, John Sporysz and LouAnn Divens mull over their efforts.
(Top and middle left) Extra effort -- Mike Connors shows that a little coaxing on one's knees can help.
(Bottom right) Young at Heart -- Leslie Pompel accepts the women's trophy from Kathy Baker for the Young at Heart team.
(Bottom left) Proud dad and happy son -- Dan DeBoever gives the men's high series scratch trophy to son Brian DeBoever.
The January 1999 Circuit reported on the government’s effort for clear and plain writing. Articles described the president’s push for plain language in all forms of public communication. The effort is part of the program to reinvent government, headed by Vice President Al Gore.
The Plain Language Action Network (PLAN) Web site has more details. You can find it at www.plainlanguage.gov/.
BPA managers, program leaders, writers and all employees should be aware. The PLAN folks are on a “which” hunt - to find which agencies use gobbledygook. Agencies that use “really terrible jargon” to describe things may get some notoriety.
So far, the group has turned up some real gems of jargon. Such gobbledygook hides the real meaning. And when something isn’t clear, it’s open to interpretation - by the press, the public and different groups and people. Often such meanings don’t flatter the agency or source.
Here are the recent examples. See if you can figure out what they really mean. We don’t list the sources here, but some may be quite obvious. The “real” meanings appear below. - as best PLAN folks could guess.
a. Vocation relocation policy
b. Render non-viable
c. Meaningful statistical downturn
d. The involuntary undomiciled
e. A categorical inaccuracy
f. Friendly fire
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Across
1 Ship post 5 #1 administrator 9 #10 administrator 13 Electric pioneer, inventor 14 Egg shaped 15 Step __ __ (2 words) 16 Advocate suffix 17 Italian evening 18 Golfer Irwin 19 #s 5, 11 and 2 22 New Zealand parrot 23 Visible 24 Unhappy 27 Change the decor 30 Mischief-maker 34 Southern state (abbr.) 35 Oregon town 37 Quit 38 #s 6 and 9 42 Sneeze interjection 43 Rip 44 Finish 45 Well-being 47 Public melee 49 Affirmative 50 Feat 52 Opposite of Pos 54 #s 3, 8 and 7 62 #4 administrator 63 Captain Hook’s mate 64 Spacious 65 Salem’s state (variation) 66 Truk Island group 67 Famous orphan 68 Sit for a photo 69 Maniac or technic start 70 Russian no |
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Down
1 Blackbird 2 Largest continent 3 Loose 4 Oil ship 5 Parks of Selma 6 Above 7 Precious stones 8 Buffy, the vampire ___ 9 #12 administrator 10 Two toed sloth 11 Anger 12 Doer suffix 13 Bar bill 20 Blood (comb. Form) 21 Extent 24 Isaac’s mother 25 Wonderland girl 26 Russian cottage 28 Good girls ___ 29 Mail ___ bride 31 ___ at the bat 32 United (2 words) 33 Loans 36 California city 39 Nebraska city 40 Inn 41 Maine college town 46 Alters the cuff (2 words) 48 Iran capital 51 Moron 53 Albatross 54 Drop 55 ___ dollar, new currency 56 High cards 57 Close 58 Nevada city 59 Finished 60 Give out (as light) 61 Caustic soap ingredient |
