1

NIH AWARDS NEW GUARD CONTRACT

After a comprehensive bid and review process, the NIH

is pleased to announce the selection of a single company to provide consolidated security guard services to

most on-campus and off-campus facilities.The new

contract has been awarded to MVM, Inc., a local company headquartered in northern Virginia.

MVM is the largest privately owned security

provider in the Washington metro area.They provide

security services to numerous other high-profile government sites in the region including the Department

of Justice, the INS Headquarters and all the Federal

Court buildings in the District. More importantly,

MVM also has experience providing service to the

medical community – their guards protect Human

Genome Sciences, Howard Hughes Medical Institute,

and Children’s Hospital.All of these customers reported

they were very pleased with the commitment and

expertise that MVM has exhibited at their facilities.

One of the key factors in our decision was the

expertise of MVM’s senior management team.The

company was founded by three former Secret Service

agents in 1979. MVM’s senior managers include several

former high-ranking officials from the Drug

Enforcement Administration, U.S. Marshals Service, U.S.

Postal Inspection Service, and the U.S. military.The onsite Program Manager at the NIH is Jim Hughes, a former Deputy Marshal from Oklahoma. His staff includes

operations managers, a trainer, a quality control team,

and a strong group of daily supervisors – all of whom

have proven experience in their ability to manage contracts such as the NIH.The physical security and program management expertise they possess qualifies them

to partner well with our own police force and security

professionals to design the program’s future evolutions

and improvements.

Last summer, the Department of Public Safety

began a detailed analysis to find a long-term solution to

the security needs of the NIH. One of the key requirements was to find a single company with a management

team that had considerable security expertise and the

capability to provide nearly 500 trained guards and

supervisors for ‘round the clock’ coverage at entrances,

buildings and underground parking garages.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

3

10

11

12

13

ISSUE APRIL 2003 

NEWS2USE

OFFICE OF RESEARCH SERVICES

NIH AWARDS NEW GUARD CONTRACT

WHERE HAVE ALL THE JOURNALS GONE?

NIH FIRE AND EMERGENCY

RESPONSE SECTION UPDATE

NIH MAIL IS "OFFICIAL"

NIH FITNESS CENTERS: NEW AND IMPROVED

JANET PRITTS

NIH LIBRARY: NOT JUST FOR SCIENTISTS

NIH FEDERAL CREDIT UNION’S

NEW CLINICAL CENTER BRANCH

RECYCLING: DÉJÀ VU ALL OVER AGAIN

NIH APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM

HONORS ITS GRADUATES

AMERICAN CHESTNUT TREES

RETURN TO CAMPUS

DID YOU KNOW...

SAVE MONEY WITH

EUREST COUPON BOOKS
2

3

NEWS2USE

The MVM team is already

actively working to assume responsibility for the security guard force.

Their recruiting, human resources,

and logistics teams have been working out of Building 45, interviewing

and screening existing guards.They

will uniform and equip those who

will be remaining at the NIH.They

have also conducted several job fairs

in the area to solicit new qualified

candidates.

As every employee of the NIH

knows, the terrorist attacks of 9-11

changed many aspects of our lives

forever. On the NIH campus, we

were forced to transform almost

overnight from a very open campus

to a much more secure facility. In

order to achieve this urgent security

rampup, the Department of Public

Safety needed to bring in additional

security personnel to supplement our

existing team. Because of the very

tight labor market and the urgency

of our requirement, we made emergency arrangements with three separate local security firms to supply us

with temporary guard personnel.

These additional security guards

were intended to supplement the

NIH police force and meet the

immediate staffing needs. On some

levels, the emergency staffing of

additional security guards accomplished its purpose. However, in

order to obtain a sufficient number

of guards, we have had to battle

inconsistencies of service. Not all

members of the temporary guard

force met the standards of appearance, training and language fluency

that the NIH desires.We understood

from the beginning that this piecemeal approach was not the ideal

long-term solution.

With the new guard contract in

place, we have replaced our post 9-

11 ‘band-aid’ fix with a permanent 

security solution, and we are now

solidly going down that path.We

believe that we have found a security

firm that will maintain a unified

standard of quality and allow for

greater flexibility to respond to

evolving security requirements.With

this new unified partnership, we look

forward to bringing greater safety

and security to our campus.

INFORMATION

Chief Alvin Hinton

Security Guard Contract Project Officer

301-496-2387

WHERE HAVE ALL THE

JOURNALS GONE?

As many of you have heard, the subscription agent for the NIH Library,as

well as numerous other government

agencies, public libraries, universities

and companies around the country,

has declared bankruptcy and has not

made payments on our behalf for

many of our 2003 print and electronic journals. However, the firm

may be sold to another subscription

agent. If sold, as a condition of the

sale, the buyer, in cooperation with

many of the major publishers, would

fill our orders at no added cost.

Therefore, it is in our best interest to

wait before reordering the affected

journal titles.

Although many publishers have

generously continued to supply their

journals to us directly while these

negotiations are in progress, some

have not.When a publisher demands

payment, we must make a decision

about the value of the journal to the

NIH as a whole. If it is a high

demand title like the New England

Journal of Medicine, we acquire it

and risk losing the funds deposited

with the subscription agent. If it is

not in high demand, in some cases,

we have decided to wait until the

problem is resolved before reordering.

The Library staff appreciates

the importance of journals in your

daily work and research and is working

to restore normal journal access in a

timely and cost-effective manner.

NIH FIRE AND EMERGENCY

RESPONSE SECTION

UPDATE

NEW TRUCK, NEW STATION

To keep up with the growing

demands on campus, the NIH Fire

and Emergency Response Section

(FERS), commonly referred to as the

NIH Fire Department, will be

receiving a new ladder truck, moving

into a new fire station and filling

vacancies to ensure adequate staffing.

Scheduled for delivery in April,

the new ladder truck gives FERS the

capability for high rise rescues and

the ability to respond to multiple

calls at the same time without having

to rely on mutual aid assistance from

other fire departments, something

that is not always readily available. In

addition, the ladder truck augments

the hazardous materials response

capabilities.

The move to a new fire station

will also take place in the coming

months. Currently, the NIH fire

fighters are bunked in a converted

car wash facility.The new fire station

not only provides better accommodations, but is equipped with better

technology, including an expanded

shop for testing and calibrating analytical equipment capable of detecting chemical agents.

While fighting fire is never

ordinary, this fire department is

charged with extraordinary responsibilities given the unique stature of

the NIH as the largest biomedical

research facility in the United States.

The complex research conducted at

the NIH presents a wide variety of

potentially hazardous environments

to which the FERS might be called.

These environments include research

laboratories, a research hospital, animal facilities, computer facilities,
4 5

ISSUE 3 APRIL 2003 

6 7

chemical and radioactive waste facilities, child care centers, residential

units, as well as an underground mass

transit train station.

The FERS provides first

response capability for emergency

medical, fire, hazardous materials, and

technical rescue incidents to not only

the NIH Bethesda campus, but also

mutual aid response to the National

Naval Medical Center and

Montgomery County. It responds to

more than 2,000 incidents annually.

INFORMATION

Chief Gary Hess

301-496-2372

NIH MAIL IS "OFFICIAL"

The Mail and Courier Services

Branch provides official mail service

to the NIH.This service, like any

other government resource, is

intended only for mail that specifically relates to the mission and function of the NIH.

Just like government property,

the NIH government mail system

should not be used for personal matters.The Code of Federal

Regulations, referred to as the

"Standards of Conduct," states, "An

employee shall not directly or indirectly use, or allow the use of government property of any kind,

including property leased to the government, for other than officially

approved activities." 

Employees should have unofficial or personal mail sent to their 

residences or private post office boxes.

In addition, employees should use the

public mailboxes on campus for

sending and distributing personal mail.

At the NIH, mail is considered

organizational or positional.This

means the intended recipient of most

mail is the specific government organization or the person holding a specific government position, not the

individual. Mail addressed to the previous incumbent of a position will

be delivered to the person currently

occupying the position. Mail will not 

be forwarded when an employee

accepts a new government position.

Employees are encouraged to notify

correspondents of any address

change.

Thank you for helping the

NIH Mail and Courier Services

Branch by limiting your use of the

NIH mail system to official correspondence only.

INFORMATION

Customer Service Team 

301-496-3586

mcsbcs@mail.nih.gov 

NIH FITNESS CENTERS:

NEW AND IMPROVED

Have you seen your new and

improved NIH Fitness Centers?

Many efforts have been made and

continue to be made to upgrade the

centers:

÷ in Building 31 

÷ the Aerobics Trailer located on

the main campus and 

÷ the Rockledge I fitness center 

The NIH has been steadily purchasing

and installing new fitness equipment

in these facilities,and is in the process

of updating appearances, which

include new paint and carpet in the

Building 31 fitness center and an

aerobics floor refinishing in the T-39

Aerobics Trailer.

INFORMATION

www.nih.gov/od/ors/dss/special/index.htm

JANET PRITTS

We were all extremely saddened

when my special assistant and dear

friend, Janet Pritts passed away on

January 30, 2003. Her contributions

to the ORS and the NIH are

immeasurable.We are deeply grateful

for what she accomplished, and we

miss her greatly.

Janet worked for the National

Bureau of Standards, but spent most

of her career with the NIH until her

retirement on January 3, 2003.

Outside of work, Janet was an

avid reader, a devoted blood donor,

and she and her husband loved to

ride their Harley-Davidson and travel with friends.

Janet received many awards,

including the NIH Merit awards and

the NIH Director’s awards. She also

received the ORS Equal

Employment Opportunity (EEO)

award. She was too sick to receive

the award in person, but said she was

deeply moved, and that of all the

awards and recognitions she had

received, she was most proud of this

award. Such was her love and dedication to the humanity of all that we

do.

Janet was known to be

extremely capable; she was highly

respected by all for her dependability,

reliability and good judgment. It was

these qualities, energy, and can-do

attitude that made her someone all

could turn to for help, guidance and

wise counsel.

Janet was a very special person

and will always be remembered for

her compassion, vitality and her love

of life.

Steve Ficca

301-496-2215

NIH LIBRARY: NOT JUST

FOR SCIENTISTS

You may think the NIH Library is

just for scientific or clinical staff, but

you'd be wrong. Many non-medical

books, databases, and journals useful

to administrators and support staff are

available at the library and through its

website at http://nihlibrary.nih.gov.

Here are some examples of

how the library can serve your information needs, even if you don't have

mice as friends or make your daily

cup of tea on a Bunsen burner.

You can find books on subjects

such as leadership, management, or

ethics in the online catalog. Recently

published books in the library's collections that you may find interesting
9

8

NEWS2USE

include:The Complete Guide to

Conflict Resolution in the Workplace by

Marick Francis Masters, Leading

Quietly:An Unorthodox Guide to

Doing the Right Thing by Joseph

Badaracco, and Primal Leadership:

Realizing the Power of Emotional

Intelligence by Daniel Goleman.

Non-medical databases including Books in Print and Web of

Science can be timesavers.Access is

provided through the NIH Library's

Electronic Resources/Databases

page. If you do not find a book in

the library's online catalog, go to

Books in Print to get details for

ordering. Place your request via the

library's Online Catalog/Document

Delivery Requests/Book link or you

can recommend that the library purchase the book via the Online

Catalog/Suggestions for the

Acquisition of Books and Journals

link.

Web of Science consists of

Social Sciences Citation Index and

Science Citation Index Expanded for

the years 1980 to the present. Social

Sciences Citation Index includes

abstracts of journals in fields such as

economics, business, and general

management.An "NIH LIBRARY

FULL-TEXT PLUS!" button 

indicates

whether the

library has an identified journal

available or whether you will need

to place a request for articles from

that journal.Web of Science also

allows you to automatically run current awareness updates for journals

such as Harvard Business Review,

Workforce, and Public

Administration Review. Use the

PORPOISE interface in Web of

Science to have table of contents

delivered directly to your e-mail

box.To learn how to set up a PORPOISE search strategy/profile, visit

the library's Training page. Select

your preferred Web of

Science/PORPOISE training option

from the automated tutorial, personal 

tutorial, or the instruction links

found within the Web of Science

course description.

Additional non-medical journals, such as Journal of Financial

Intermediation, are also accessible

online. Go to the library's Electronic

Resources/Online Journals page to

link to over 3,000 journals.

Depending on the subscription, fulltext articles can be printed at your

desk or ordered.To order articles

from journals not available online or

in the library's collection, request a

Document Delivery. Links are provided within the Online Catalog

page or from the NIH Library

Services/ Ordering or Photocopying

Articles and Books page.

Library staff know that your

time is valuable.When you don't

have time to run a search yourself, or

you need to access information not

found in the library's resources,

request that library staff perform a

mediated search for you.We have

access to non-medical databases such

as Business & IndustryTM, Business

and Management Practices®, Gale

Group PROMPT®, Lexis®-

Nexis®, and WestLaw.® Results are

delivered electronically to your NIH

e-mail address or printed upon

request.To place a search request, go

to the library's Services/Search

Requests page.

INFORMATION

NIH Library Information Desk 

301-496-1080

NIH FEDERAL CREDIT

UNION’S NEW CLINICAL

CENTER BRANCH

The NIH Federal Credit Union is

now serving the Clinical Center

population in the vacated SunTrust

Bank space, located outside the cafeteria on the B-1 level.After a renovation, the space opened for business

on April 14. NIH patients and family

members are eligible for credit union

membership and credit union benefits, including check cashing. In addition to the regular banking services

provided by the credit union, they

offer safe deposit boxes and foreign

currency purchase and exchange

exclusively at the Clinical Center

Branch. In addition, a new full service ATM Internet kiosk and afterhours deposit box is located to the

left of the branch in the former

postage stamp machine/mail drop

area. Hours of operation are

Monday-Thursday, 8:00 am to 4:00

pm; Friday, 8:00 am to 6:30 pm; and

Saturday, 8:30 am to 1:00 pm.These

hours of operation are significantly

longer than when SunTrust operated

the branch.The branch manager is

Sharyn Hartsfield, formerly serving

in that capacity in the Building 13

credit union branch.

INFORMATION

301-718-0208

RECYCLING: DÉJÀ VU

ALL OVER AGAIN

More than 2,000 recycling bins are

placed all over the NIH, yet we are

achieving only a 20% level of recycling.Although we would like to

recycle everything that is appropriate

for recycling, our goal is to reach the

50% level that Montgomery County

requires for business recycling.

No matter how many recycling

containers are distributed throughout

the NIH, only you can toss material

into those bins and boxes. NIH personnel, contractors and visitors

should be aware that recycling is the

right thing to do, for the earth and

for our organization. Some tips

everyone can follow:

■ Reduce the possible contamination of a recyclable item by

rinsing it.

■ Make sure material is deposited

in the right bin.

■ Keep solid waste out of 

recycling bins.
ISSUE 3 APRIL 2003 

10

If you cannot reduce or reuse a

product, it should be recycled.

Technically, recycling is the act of

ensuring that a product ends its life

cycle as a raw material for re-manufacture. It is best to recycle material

in its purest form, free from contamination. Products that are contaminated – not a far-fetched possibility

in a biomedical facility like ours –

can present a safety hazard or incur

an additional cleaning cost prior to

recycling.

The NIH Recycling Program

operates under the direction of the

Environmental Protection Branch.

All recycling receptacles are identified with blue and green NIH recycling logo and with information as

to the specific material that can be

placed in the container. Materials

recycled campus-wide are as follows:

■ Aluminum 

■ Mixed paper 

(newspapers, cardboard, paper

with any color)

■ Glass and plastic

■ White paper recycling 

(containers are in individual

offices, usually close to copy

machines)

According to Dave Crook, the NIH

Recycling Specialist, we could also

do a better job with mixed paper

recycling.That category includes

newspapers and every other kind of

paper except plain old white.

CAFETERIA RECYCLING

According to Dwayne Parris,

Concessions Specialist, there is too

much food and food-related trash

finding its way into the recycling

bins instead of the trash cans.That

creates a lot of extra work for the

maintenance staff and makes some

recyclable items unusable. For example, if a greasy pizza plate touches

newspaper, the newspaper has to be

thrown in the trash.

EARTH DAY IS EARTH WEEK AT

THE NIH,WITH FILE CLEAN 

UP ACTIVITY

Although Earth Day is on April 22,

we celebrate it all week at the NIH,

along with File Clean Up Week. If

your office does not have enough

convenient recycling containers, or

you need more for file clean up

activities, Dave Crook wants to hear

from you.

OFF-CAMPUS RECYCLING

Recycling in off-campus leased

buildings is the responsibility of the

off-campus owners and management.

INFORMATION

Dave Crook 301-402-6036

dcrook@helix.nih.gov

or

recycle@nih.gov

NIH APPRENTICESHIP

PROGRAM HONORS ITS

GRADUATES

Pamela Barnes Kowal and Eugene

Cotton, two ORS employees who

graduated from the NIH

Apprenticeship Program in August

2002, were honored recently at a

ceremony and reception held in

Building 1,Wilson Hall. Each

received certificates from the U.S.

Department of Labor Bureau of

Apprenticeship Training, the State of

Maryland, and the NIH acknowledging their completion of four

years of on-the-job learning and rigorous academics at Montgomery

College. Steve Ficca, ORS Director,

was the keynote speaker and Tony

Clifford, Director of the Division of

Engineering Services, made congratulatory remarks.

Eugene Cotton, a Utility

Systems Repairer Operator, came to

the NIH from private industry in

1989 where he had been an iron

worker. His strong belief in the

importance of family and his desire

to better himself for his family influenced his decision to take advantage

of the apprenticeship opportunity.

Eugene has been described as a

"dream employee" who, besides performing outstanding mechanical

work in multiple tasks, can be

counted on to jump in to do whatever it takes to keep the Business

Maintenance Unit running.

Eugene believes that the onthe-job training and theory he

received during his years in the NIH

Apprenticeship Program provided a

complete learning experience in all

the trades, at the same time allowing

him to earn a living.

Before coming to the NIH,

Pamela Barnes Kowal, an ORS

Electronic Mechanic, worked in

heating and air conditioning, served

in the Army military police force in

Europe, and was a security officer

with the State Department. In 1998,

after transferring to the NIH as a

police officer, Pamela applied and

was selected for the NIH

Apprenticeship Program to become

an Electronic Technician.

Pamela graduated from the

apprenticeship academic program at

Montgomery College with a cumulative grade point average of 4.0. She

received the Montgomery College

Board of Trustees Apprenticeship

Scholar Award and a cash award to

be applied to future educational purposes of her choice.

The NIH Apprenticeship

Program is in its 24th year.

Established in 1978, it has graduated

well over 100 apprentices and is the

only training program at the NIH

that is geared to the trades.

Throughout its history, the

Apprenticeship Program’s minority

recruitment has been unmatched at

the NIH.This diversity nurtures the

overall mission of the NIH, both by

providing equal opportunity gateways to employees and gaining

skilled, well-qualified and valued

craftspeople for operation and maintenance of the NIH’s research facilities.

INFORMATION 

Ron Poole 

301-402-1082
11 12

13

3 ISSUE APRIL 2003 OFFICE OF RESEARCH SERVICES

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! Mr. Steve Ficca, Office of Research Services Director encourages

you to submit questions, comments and suggestions about the services the ORS provides to the NIH 

community. Either Mr. Ficca or someone from the ORS staff will personally respond to each question. Just 

e-mail, phone or fax your comments and questions to the appropriate location listed below.

For questions or comments about ORS services to the

NIH community, contact the ORS Information Line:

E-mail: ORSInfo@mail.nih.gov

Phone: 301-594-6677 

Fax: 301-402-2204 

Website: http://www.nih.gov/od/ors/security/index.htm

For questions or comments about articles in the

News2Use or to suggest future story ideas:

E-mail: ORSNews2Use@mail.nih.gov

NEWS2USE

News2Use is published on recycled paper by the 

OFFICE OF RESEARCH SERVICES

NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

EDITOR Bradley Moss

WRITER Ann Cochran

ORS DIRECTOR Stephen A. Ficca 

LAYOUT DESIGN Medical Arts and Photography Branch

INTERNET ADDRESS www.nih.gov/od/ors

SAVE MONEY WITH

EUREST COUPON BOOKS

A coupon book being sold in the Eurest cafeterias is a great deal: customers get $25.00 worth of

food for $22.50, a 10% savings.Ask a cashier for

details.

INFORMATION

Dwayne Parris 

301-402-8180 

e-mail: cafeteriacomments@mail.nih.gov

www.nih.gov/od/ors/dss/special/food.htm

AMERICAN CHESTNUT TREES

RETURN TO CAMPUS

In the continuing effort to diversify and enhance the

campus landscape, Grounds Maintenance and

Landscaping Section (GMLS) is planting 50 American

chestnut seedlings in several locations across the campus, including the high ground between the Natcher

Building and Metro. It is hoped that these trees will

flourish in what was once their native soil.

Starting in 1900 and continuing until 1940, an

Asian blight bark fungus was estimated to have

destroyed over three and a half billion – yes, billion –

American chestnut trees. No comparable devastation

of a species, not even that of the American elm, exists

in recorded history.

The new seedlings come from the American

Chestnut Cooperators’ Foundation, a nonprofit scientific and educational organization founded in 1984.

GMLS will keep records on the trees’ progress and

make annual reports to the foundation.As the diseaseresistant trees come to maturity and their progeny

survive and reproduce, the American chestnut may

once again become a familiar, and beautiful, sight.

The planting of one of the seedlings will take place at

an Arbor Day ceremony at the Natcher Building on

April 25, 2003.

INFORMATION

Lynn Mueller

301-496-4817

DID YOU KNOW...

...what had to be plowed, shoveled and scraped to

keep the campus accessible during the snow storms

on and around President’s Day Weekend?

● 17 miles of sidewalks

● 42 acres of parking lots

● 12.5 lane miles of roads

● 497 building entrances 

● 40 platforms

● 9 acres of service areas

INFORMATION

Lynn Mueller

301-496-4817