Dear Collaborator,
As you know, the prospects for a future SLD run are most uncertain. We now know the Presidents budget for SLAC, which is a total of $149.7M, up from $147.7 in this fiscal year. The SLAC Director does not believe this budget has enough money to run SLD, given the lab's higher priorities for PEPII/Babar and NLC. At a faculty meeting today, it was suggested that there be a faculty retreat in the near future to discuss laboratory priorities. We have no idea what the outcome of this review will be, nor do we know the feelings of Jonathan Dorfan on this subject. Of course, we feel that the SLAC particle physics program is too narrow, and that the SLC/SLD future run would alleviate this problem and continue to generate valuable technical experience relevant to NLC!
We have a substantial and valuable data set on tape moving steadily through analysis. It will take a sustained effort of perhaps two more years to fully exploit this data, and we want to ensure that this happens with enthusiasm and intellectual rigor. At next month's SLD week, we will discuss procedures to help this process along.
We apologize for the continued uncertainty. However, we both feel it is still appropriate to fight on, given both the physics opportunities and the enormous investment in SLC/SLD. We realize that this situation is creating enormous problems for many of you with your funding agencies (as well as with planning your careers), and we will do our best to keep you informed.
Sincerely,
Charlie & Marty