Transcript Bill Foster
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 Timeline
Businessman: ETC Inc (1974…~1980)
Physicist: (1979-2005)
I.
II.
–
–
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’s
Accelerators
Past,
Present,
and Future
Dr. G. William
Foster
November 8, 2002
Collider
Detector at
Fermilab
(CDF)
1984 - 2005
CDF
“Damn Fast”
Event Display
Program
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
Antiproton
Recycler Ring
Fermilab
Main Injector
Beam Damper Circuits for Main Injector
Very Large Hadron Collider (VLHC)
100kA Superconducting Transmission Line Magnet
8 GeV Linac / Proton Driver / Project X
• Bill Got Married,
• Raised a Family,
• Had a reasonably interesting career
in Physics.
So: why go into politics?
A: The Familial Recessive Gene for
Adult-Onset Political Activism
Bill’s Mother and Father
Jeanette Raymond and
George William Foster
Met on Capitol Hill ~1950
Bill’s Mom worked for
Sen. Paul Douglas (D-IL)
Composition of
Governing Bodies
of Different
Countries
100%
ENGINEERS &
SCIENTISTS
CHINA
Politboro
European
Commission
U.S. State Houses
100%
POLITICIANS
& OTHERS
U.S. Congress
0 % Scientists
100%
LAWYERS
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
Congressional
Ball - 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.
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE NUMBERS
Q: What is the most DANGEROUS
for of electrical power generation?
(i.e. deaths per megawatt-hour)
A: Rooftop Solar Energy
Worse than the Great Depression
Household Net Worth Compared to Peak
100%
Great
Depression
(1929-1934)
95%
HOOVER
90%
FDR
BUSH
85%
Stimulus
80%
OBAMA
Great
Recession
75%
(Started Q3 2007)
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Years from Peak
Sources: Frederic S. Mishkin, "Household Balance Sheet and The Great Depression," J. Econ.Hist.38 (Dec.1978), p. 920. & Federal Reserve Flow-of-Funds.