2007 RSL Post-Retreat Update

Posted 12:50 PM, October 23, 2007, by jaruiz

By Julie Ruiz, PhD
(thanks also to Donna Cronister and David Paik, PhD, for their contributions to this article)

The RSL had another productive and fun retreat at Asilomar this past September (for the pre-retreat blog article, please see http://radiology.stanford.edu/blog/archives/2007/09/2007_rsl_retrea.html). Among the highlights were the group introductions. Like last year, the group introductions were informative as well as entertaining. This year, each RSL group was asked to create an advertising campaign--a TV, radio, web, or print ad--to explain what the group does and why it is important. You can view the introductory presentations from the groups of Drs. Norbert Pelc and Dan Spielman at http://www.stanford.edu/~smazin/pelcgroupintro2007/inversitis.wmv and http://www.stanford.edu/~pritib/MRSvsMRI.wmv, respectively.

Our guest speakers included Thorne Lay, PhD, professor in the Earth Sciences Department and director of the Center for Studies of Imaging and Dynamics of the Earth at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and Dr. Kelly Skeff, professor of medicine (general internal medicine). Dr. Lay delivered our key note address on geophysical imaging. He discussed how scientists infer the structure of the earth's core by looking at the seismic data collected worldwide; he also addressed the challenges involved in the visualization of their data. Dr. Skeff's presentation on good teaching practices produced a very interactive discussion about teaching, which was applicable to all kinds of pedagogy.

Other highlights included RSL Family Feud; karaoke night; a photo contest; an RSL sweatshirt for retreat participants; and a productive town hall meeting.

Norbert

Wendy

Donna Cronister summarized the items raised during the RSL town hall meeting as follows:

"1. Key operator for printers, copiers/fax machine: Designate a person on each floor to maintain the printers/copiers. This does not mean simply replacing empty toner cartridges but keeping an eye on the equipment to insure that the proper supplies are on hand and that the equipment is operating properly (i.e., high copy quality, not jamming, etc.).

2nd floor: 4 printers/1 copier/1 fax (Marlys is the key operator).

1st floor: 4 printers (1.5T and 3D Lab--soon to be 5 printers when the second 3T comes online; 1 copier (1.5T). Keesha is responsible for the 3D Lab printers. Anne, Sandra, and Romi are responsible for the printers located in magnet suites.

Basement: 3 printers (including the 3T magnet suite)/1 copier/1 fax. Sharon will be the key person for the copiers at this level. Marlys will keep an eye on the copier.

Sublevel: 2 printers (including the 7T magnet suite)/1 copier (Lanzie's office)/1 fax. Lanzie will be responsible for the copier, fax, and printer in PS055. Anne, Sandra, and Romi will be the contacts for the 7T magnet.

2. Stocking kitchens: Designate a person on each floor to keep the kitchen stocked with plates, napkins, cups*, utensils, and coffee/tea supplies. Marlys has an order for regular delivery of coffee, creamers, etc. If we run low on supplies, please contact her. Marlys will maintain the kitchen on the second floor. Sharon is our basement stocker, and Lanzie is our sublevel stocker!

*The subject of paper cups stirred a rousing conversation about conservation. We would like to change our attitudes about using paper cups. Everybody must have a mug at home they can donate (e.g., 'World's Best Mom'; 'I Heart You'; etc.); you know the mugs I am talking about. If you do not have a cup or cannot afford a cup, then a cup will be provided to you free of charge. Of course, a real cup requires real washing, but we are adults, and nobody would have to be reminded to wash their cup and put it away!

3. Recycling: We have recycling bins/barrels located in strategic areas throughout the center. Please use them. At the entrance of each galley located on the Medical School Lab Surge (MSLS) side of the building are large recycling barrels for cans/bottles and mixed paper. If you do happen to see an overflowing recycling bin in our area, please do not hesitate to empty them into these barrels. The barrels are on wheels and, therefore, are mobile, and they can be moved to your area if you have a large scale paper clean up. The reason I do not have them located on our side of the building is because of the following: 1) SPACE and 2) Since the second floor is carpeted, I would rather that the dirty recycling barrels, which are emptied weekly by the Peninsula Sanitary Service, Inc. (PSSI), are not wheeled across the carpeting, especially in the muddy, rainy season. A small electronic waste receptacle is located near the basement elevator. If you need to recycle CDs, cell phones, pagers, small drives, zip drives, and memory sticks, this is the place to do it. These receptacles are emptied biweekly. Also, please recycle batteries in the small canister on the second floor. There are also battery recycling containers located at the MSLS galleys next to the large recycling barrels.

4. PCards and Reimbursements: I have asked Luis if he and I could present, at an RSL group meeting, a quick overview of what can and cannot be purchased with the PCard. Also, we will provide a travel 'cheat sheet' for you in order to reduce the amount of time for your reimbursement. This will explain what we can pay in advance, what documentation you will need when you have returned from the trip and request reimbursement, and WHY we need this documentation.

5. John has hung up two of the large pictures that were littering the hall.

6. John is looking into the best way to make the water cooler taller (6" or so) to accommodate some of our taller friends.

7. Somebody requested that Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (MRM) and Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (JMRI) be added to the library. There is almost an entire MRI set down there already, including the really old ones when it was not a full-sized journal. Norbert offered to lend his bound set to the library as long as they do not walk off."