Re: we're still our own worse enemy

["ruth_weiner" <ruth_weiner@email.msn.com>]

I am afraid that I am going to jump on an old hobbyhorse.  Teaching
("educating") is done best in schools and by teachers.  The classroom has an
ambiance in which learning is the primary objective.  I have taught enough
classes to know that the students do not sit there brightly and eagerly
awaiting the next pearl of wisdom, but they are there to learn, nonetheless.
We need as a society to do a better job teaching teachers, and to make
teaching K-12 much more attractive than it is so that more knowledgeable
people will take it up as a profession.  This means paying teachers more and
giving them decent working conditions.  It also means raising one's children
so that the teacher isn't the only person in their lives who provides some
discipline (yes, I have children.  And grandchildren).

The airline flight attendant wouldn't have been worried if her basic
education had been geared toward encouraging her to figure out,
dispassionately, the answer to her concerns.

Clearly only my own opinion.

Ruth F. Weiner, Ph. D.
7336 Lew Wallace NE
Albuquerque, NM
505-856-5011
fax 505-856-5564
ruth_weiner@msn.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Susan Gawarecki <loc@icx.net>
To: Multiple recipients of list <radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu>
Date: Tuesday, February 15, 2000 2:47 PM
Subject: Re: we're still our own worse enemy


>I'm just back in town and responding to threads that began on Friday.
>Pardon me if it's old news!
>
>Educating the public on what is "appropriate" when it comes to dealing
>with different kinds of releases is a never-ending job and relates
>directly to risk communication.
>
>Several days after the JCO accident, my administrative assistant's
>daughter, a flight attendant with Northwest Airline, questioned me about
>whether it was safe to fly into Tokyo airport!  She had concerns about
>the radiation release, believing that it was a contaminating release
>(like a release of radionuclides).  Although professionals know better
>and can fill in the blanks, when you read the media accounts there is
>confusing, conflicting, and sometimes just plain wrong information that
>somehow the lay public must interpret.  It is really a stretch for me to
>imagine that most people out there understand the difference between
>neutron flux and a cloud of radioactive gas.  I don't think it was
>unreasonable for the flight attendant to be concerned, and I was able to
>alleviate her fears by providing some very basic information.
>
>I personally think that educated professionals should accept at least a
>small responsibility to give back to their community by acting as a
>resource or helping to educate the public.  That's how I ended up in my
>job, so I know the rewards can be greater than they initially seem.  And
>it is not really that big a burden to occasionally attend a meeting or
>hearing, present information to a high school class, or write a letter
>to the editor.
>
>As an aside, in my current job I have to deal with state and federal
>regulators, activists, general public, professionals, and DOE/contractor
>personnel at site and HQ levels.  Once you start with vicious attacks on
>agencies or individuals, you lose the personal credibility you need to
>effect reforms.  I've found that dealing with people respectfully,
>whether you agree with them or not, gets you much further.  And most
>federal/contractor employees are as frustrated by the bureaucracy and
>the politics as we are, but they also have a significant degree of
>loyalty to their employers (as we do).  So perhaps we should all sweeten
>our criticism by pointing out needed reforms in a constructive manner.
>
>Regards,
>Susan
>--
>==================================================
>Susan L. Gawarecki, Ph.D., Executive Director
>Oak Ridge Reservation Local Oversight Committee, Inc.
>136 S Illinois Ave, Ste 208, Oak Ridge, TN 37830
>Phone (865) 483-1333; Fax (865) 482-6572; E-mail loc@icx.net
>==================================================
>
>
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