intentional misuse

["Karam, Andrew" <Andrew_Karam@URMC.Rochester.edu>]

To be honest with you (i.e. Sandy and Bill), I was not apologizing for my
institution and I am not sticking my head in the sand, hoping that problems
will simply go away or remain unrecognized.  If you read this into my
posting, then I'm afraid that I did not state my case quite well enough. 

We have a radioactive materials security policy here and, to the best of my
knowledge, it satisfies both the regulators and the researchers.  We have
had no intentional misuses of radioactive materials of which I am aware.
And we don't force prospective researchers, staff, or grad students to
submit to psychological testing to see if they can be trusted to work with
minor amounts of radioactive materials.

Again, "one-size-fits-all" remedies are rarely appropriate in any field or
across fields, however attractive they may be.  What is appropriate at a
nuclear power plant may not be appropriate at a university or other research
facilities, just as I can't discipline researchers by sending them to their
rooms or giving them a time out.

Andrew Karam, CHP              (716) 275-1473 (voice)
Radiation Safety Officer          (716) 275-3781 (office)
University of Rochester           (716) 256-0365 (fax)
601 Elmwood Ave. Box HPH   Rochester, NY  14642

Andrew_Karam@URMC.Rochester.edu
http://Intranet.urmc.rochester.edu/RadiationSafety
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