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What life is like as a Scientist in Congress,(plus a Few Comments on FAB Lab Legislation)
Hon. Bill Foster
U.S. Congressman (IL-11)
Bill Foster’s TimelineI. Businessman: ETC Inc (1974…~1980)
II. Physicist: (1979-2005)– IMB Proton Decay Detector (~1980-1984)– Fermilab (1984-2005)
• Particle Physics Experiments• Particle Accelerator Design & Construction
III. Politician (2006 - )– Why would you possibly do such a thing?– A day in the life of a U.S. Congressman– Science and Environmental Policy
ENDORSEMENTS
• Key factor in successful transition to politics:1. Established Politicians
2. Distinguished Co-Workers
• Bill Foster’s First Endorsements: 31 Nobel Prize Winners
(we polled this carefully before announcing…)
Still, that did not seem quite enough…
Bill’s 32nd Nobel Laureate Endorser
Electronic Theatre Controls, Inc.
• Co-founded 1974 with brother Fred Foster– Bill was 19, Fred 17– Initial Capitalization: $500 from our parents.
• ETC now manufactures ~70% of all Theatre Lighting Equipment in U.S.– $150M+ sales/year– 650+ Employees– Fred runs business (Bill bought out in 2007)
Electronic Theatre Controls, Inc.~1974 -1980
Electronic Theatre Controls, Inc.Today
650+ Employees in Middleton, WI
IMB Detector 1979 – 1984 (…1987A)• Bill’s PhD Thesis (under Prof. Larry Sulak)• No Proton Decay, but saw SN1987A neutrinos
Bill at Fermilab 1984 - 2006
Fermilab’sAccelerato
rs
Past,Present,
and Future
Dr. G. William Foster
November 8, 2002
Collider Detector at Fermilab
(CDF)
1984 - 2005
“Damn Fast”
Event Display Program
CDF
QIE Integrated Circuit (invented for Superconducting Super Collider)
• Deadtimeless Charge Integrator and Floating-Point Digitizer
• Still in use today for LHC experiments
Particle Accelerators 1994-2006
FermilabMain Injector
Antiproton Recycler Ring
Beam Damper Circuits for Main Injector
Very Large Hadron Collider (VLHC) 100kA Superconducting Transmission Line Magnet
8 GeV Linac / Proton Driver / Project X
A: The Familial Recessive Gene for
Adult-Onset Political Activism
• Bill Got Married,
• Raised a Family,
• Had a reasonably interesting career in Physics.
So: why go into politics?
Bill’s Mother and FatherJeanette Raymond and George William Foster
Met on Capitol Hill ~1950
Bill’s Mom worked for Sen. Paul Douglas (D-IL)
0 % Scientists100%
LAWYERS
100% ENGINEERS &
SCIENTISTS
100%POLITICIANS
& OTHERS
U.S. Congress
CHINAPolitboro
European Commission
U.S. State Houses
Composition ofGoverning Bodies
of DifferentCountries
Scientist or politician?Pronounce this word:
“UNIONIZED”
Patrick Murphy 2006 Campaign
Bill Started the 110th Congress as an Intern in the Office of Rep. Patrick
Murphy
• He ended it as a sitting Congressman
The Campaign Staff
Bill’s Favorite Parade Tie
County Fairs
Churches
March 8, 2008
Swearing-In Ceremony – March 11, 2008
CongressionalBall - 2008
What Life as a Congressman is Really Like
• Scheduled 12 Hours each day
• Read myself to sleep each night with a ¾” stack of papers…
• Live in a Crummy Efficiency Apartment in DC
• After last votes on Friday, come back home each weekend
(where I get scheduled up by the staff in the Illinois District Office…)
Efficiency Apartment
2 blocks from Capitol
H.R. 3962 - Affordable Health Care for America Act
“Congress on Your Corner”
So, why does anyone take this job?
Voting Machine in the U.S. House of Representatives
ORDWAS on Air Force One
Energy Policy in Congress
Real Quotes from Real Congressmen
“We should really put more windmills into our energy policy,
because windmills poll so well”- Anonymous Democrat.
“If people could see what wonderful things the free enterprise system can accomplish
when government just gets out of the way – things like planting crops using GPS…”
- Anonymous Republican.
A: Rooftop Solar Energy
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE NUMBERS
Q: What is the most DANGEROUS for of electrical power generation?(i.e. deaths per megawatt-hour)
GreatRecession
(Started Q3 2007)
BUSH
OBAMA
HOOVER
Great Depression (1929-1934)
FDR
Stimulus
75%
80%
85%
90%
95%
100%
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Hou
seho
ld N
et W
orth
Com
pare
d to
Pea
k
Years from Peak
Worse than the Great Depression
Sources: Frederic S. Mishkin, "Household Balance Sheet and The Great Depression," J. Econ.Hist.38 (Dec.1978), p. 920. & Federal Reserve Flow-of-Funds.