Re: Health Physics Society => Radiation Safety Society

[Neon John <johngd@bellsouth.net>]

Lester Slaback wrote:
> 
> I would assert that folks outside the radiation arena have little or no
> knowledge of what HPs do, regardless of the society title.  So, with the
> title Health Physics Society (or some other arcane combination) they are
> forced to ask.  With Radiation Protection Society or Radiation Safety
> Society they think they know but really do not.
> So which do we prefer?
> Since I do not believe title changes solve the underlying issue (i.e.,
> prompt understanding of our issues and what we do), and what we do
> frequently involves more than simply 'safety', and I am a bit of a
> stick-in-the-mud traditionalist, I vote for Health Physics Society.  And I
> have to agree with Peter, it is a bit more imposing (sort of like Sanitary
> Engineer).

I agree.  In addition, don't forget those of us who work in allied
areas such as instrumentation that really don't have anything to do
with radiation safety.  Since neither title accurately describes
what we instrumentation people do, and since I'm a stodgy old
traditionalist on such things, I say, let's don't change what ain't
broke.  The government is working very diligently to erase any
memory of the Manhattan Project and to apologize for what it can't
erase, as a visit to the Museum of Energy and Technology (SIC) in
Oak Ridge will show.  (I visited there last week, for the first time
in about 15 years.  I left nauseated.)  Let's not erase our
tradition.  Unfortunately I've allowed my HPS membership lapse so I
only get to vote in this forum.

-- 
John De Armond
johngdSPAMNOT@bellsouth.net
http://personal.bellsouth.net/~johngd/
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