https://arxiv.org/abs/2407.13924
Fermilab is a major US national lab with a budget of several 100M$ per year, focusing on particle physics. All is not well at the lab, however, following project delays and huge cost overruns for the flagship DUNE project. The organisation that operates Fermilab, led by University of Chicago, has had its contract withdrawn and the lab director Lia Merminga has been laid off. Now a pair of senior and well-respected scientists have put their oar in as well, blasting the management of the lab over the past decade that has led to the current situation in a paper posted to the arxiv preprint server. The pair point at many problems, based on a toxic working environment, giving anecdotal examples supported by indicators such as a fourfold increase in sick leave over the past decade.
The PDF is available here.
It's a fun read!
[Ed. note: It appears Lia Merminga has not been laid off]
(Score: 2) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Thursday July 25 2024, @09:29AM
Should've hired Denis Villeneuve. You'd have something to show for your money by now. Then again, maybe nothing is better than anything with Timothe Chalamet.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by looorg on Thursday July 25 2024, @09:56AM (1 child)
Welcome to the new academia. It was fun and interesting once and for a while. But now it and you are stuck in middle-management hell, just like the rest of the workforce. It's now more management and administration then actual science. Gotta hit the numbers, stay on schedule, fulfill the quotas and new policy documents and meet customer (ie students) demands as well as the demands from the upper management.
Meet the new boss, worse then the last one. Time to get out ...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 26 2024, @02:33PM
That's it. The article is long-winded but I got the gist in the following section, which is consistent with my own experience in academic institutions. Where there used to be scientists, now there is a split layer of managers with PhDs and low-grade labor (grad students). The people in charge don't do the work - it's a business-style arrangement - but it can't possibly work in science where your best people need to be the ones doing it. The neoliberal client-service model has permeated everywhere even into places where it is a toxic poison.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Thursday July 25 2024, @12:13PM
This paper reads a lot like a good ole boys club from the 1950s. The clique running things can do no wrong, no matter how wrong they get. Things don't get much more wrong than an attempted double murder. So far, I've only skimmed over it. The only thing I haven't seen (yet) is a racial component. What are the demographics at the lab? Are there any non-white people to harass and abuse?
As I typed the above, it struck me that I've seen no indication that law enforcement has been called in. I mean, an attempted murder. You don't take an attempted murder to the phat broad in HR. She only gets involved after the cops have been called. Call the cops first, call the plant manager, call the plant manager's boss, THEN maybe call HR, and finally call the local news guy to ensure that everything is exposed publicly.
“I have become friends with many school shooters” - Tampon Tim Walz
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Thursday July 25 2024, @07:17PM (2 children)
> [Ed. note: It appears Lia Merminga has not been laid off]
Quote from page 4 of TFA document:
==
The selection of a new M&O contractor is under the responsibility of the Deputy
Director for Operations of the DOE Office of Science Dr. Juston Fontaine. A new M&O
Contractor would replace FRA and name a new Director effective January 1, 2025. A
new management team, one hopes, would be motivated to solve problems and would
enjoy a “honeymoon period”, enabling them to make positive changes more easily.
==
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Thursday July 25 2024, @07:23PM (1 child)
I think the point is she will be replaced in Jan 2025, but she is still in post at present. A lot can change in 6 months.
I am not interested in knowing who people are or where they live. My interest starts and stops at our servers.
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Thursday July 25 2024, @09:20PM
Sure!