The "open campus" concept is upside down, fatally flawed.
The DOE is looking for an excuse to save money by dumping what they incorrectly assess to be redundant LLNL from the weapons complex (ala, the 1990's Bay Area military base closures), rather than anticipating a market driven response to local pent-up real-estate demand.
Who the heck is wants to leave new, inexpensive, synergistic SF Rincon Basin, Silicon Valley, Berkeley or San Ramon for a remote, polluted, ancient, difficult-access campus, with the taint of unpopular technical activity, that sits atop the Greenville fault?
A simple market survey of potential customers would resolve this in less than a year.
The LLNL location is a very nice, perhaps the most pleasant, weapons complex location, but that's it. Absent weapons related activities and continuing subsidies, it will never compete for University or industry on it's own merit. Look around and you see more rust belt than high tech.
The leaders of LLNS and even more so DOE, are inexperienced development dilettantes who lack something productive to do. They do not understand competitive industry or market economies. Sadly, in this and other "industrial" arenas, they are dumber than Donald Trump; in D'Agostino's case, Donald Duck.
For the most likely outcome, think now defunct and rusting Hunter Point and Mare Island Naval Bases and Alameda Naval Air Station.
Dead zones. Good open spaces to film the high-jinx of "Mythbusters" episodes
And to think the duped taxpayer hands $45M to LLNS "best practices" for this. And probably double that amount each year for incompetent DOE leadership.
It is an ongoing travesty of the formerly UC well-run LLL, who continually and appropriately ignored the dumb demons of Forrestal.
What is ironical about this "open campus" at LLNL is that an engineering open campus was also the vision of many former Los Alamos "real leaders'. The plans were set forth during the 1980's, John Ruminer in particular moved this vision forward. The open campus integrated office and test facilities at S-site, TA-16. As soon as Bret Knapp arrived he set afire the plans so that he (and Anastasio) could earn extra bonus money which they have pocketed. S-site is now a wasteland. Thanks Knappy and Mikey for killing this vision; all for a few bucks!
6 comments:
I think they are working out the details of the modular unit which is a placeholder for the new building.
I understand that a bronze 60-foot high statue of Anastasio is planned for the mall area. It reads: "Anastasio the Last Great Director of LLNL" NOT!
The lines in the parking lot have been painted.
The "open campus" concept is upside down, fatally flawed.
The DOE is looking for an excuse to save money by dumping what they incorrectly assess to be redundant LLNL from the weapons complex (ala, the 1990's Bay Area military base closures), rather than anticipating a market driven response to local pent-up real-estate demand.
Who the heck is wants to leave new, inexpensive, synergistic SF Rincon Basin, Silicon Valley, Berkeley or San Ramon for a remote, polluted, ancient, difficult-access campus, with the taint of unpopular technical activity, that sits atop the Greenville fault?
A simple market survey of potential customers would resolve this in less than a year.
The LLNL location is a very nice, perhaps the most pleasant, weapons complex location, but that's it. Absent weapons related activities and continuing subsidies, it will never compete for University or industry on it's own merit. Look around and you see more rust belt than high tech.
The leaders of LLNS and even more so DOE, are inexperienced development dilettantes who lack something productive to do. They do not understand competitive industry or market economies. Sadly, in this and other "industrial" arenas, they are dumber than Donald Trump; in D'Agostino's case, Donald Duck.
For the most likely outcome, think now defunct and rusting Hunter Point and Mare Island Naval Bases and Alameda Naval Air Station.
Dead zones. Good open spaces to film the high-jinx of "Mythbusters" episodes
And to think the duped taxpayer hands $45M to LLNS "best practices" for this. And probably double that amount each year for incompetent DOE leadership.
It is an ongoing travesty of the formerly UC well-run LLL, who continually and appropriately ignored the dumb demons of Forrestal.
What is ironical about this "open campus" at LLNL is that an engineering open campus was also the vision of many former Los Alamos "real leaders'. The plans were set forth during the 1980's, John Ruminer in particular moved this vision forward. The open campus integrated office and test facilities at S-site, TA-16. As soon as Bret Knapp arrived he set afire the plans so that he (and Anastasio) could earn extra bonus money which they have pocketed. S-site is now a wasteland. Thanks Knappy and Mikey for killing this vision; all for a few bucks!
Good overview of LVOC in this month's LLNL Science & Technology Review magazine online at...
https://str.llnl.gov/Mar11/koonce.html
Post a Comment