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RE: Time out



Title: Message
John,
I did not mean to infer by my comments that everyone who disagreed with Mr. Cohen was attacking him, as in fact I do agree with your statement at least to an extent. I have observed a number of comments/statements that were obviously very professional and appropriate for a scientific debate. Others to me seem to fall in a category of being a broken record with the intent of attacking Mr. Cohen. 
 
Frankly, I have pretty much used my delete button for these e-mails because I lost interest long ago. However, like most I expect, I do scan the subject and perhaps the first line or two to see what there is to offer. Some of the suggestions seemed ludicrous and unprofessional. One for me was the suggestion on the confederate states. After seeing some of the follow on data/thought I can better understand the reasoning behind the suggestion.
 
To those of you who are acting professionally and are participating in a serious intellectual debate I do apologize if my words were interpreted too broadly. My personal position has always been that open constructive debate is a necessity in any endeavor and certainly is supposed to be and must be the basis for scientific studies. I would suggest we do keep up the debates but just be sure we do so in a professional manner.
 
Take care all and have a great weekend.
 
Milton Chilton, CHP
 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: John Jacobus [mailto:crispy_bird@yahoo.com]
Sent: Friday, May 09, 2003 10:32 AM
To: Chilton, Milton W.; 'BERNARD L COHEN'; internet RADSAFE
Subject: RE: Time out

Milton,
I think if you review the mailings, you will see that Dr. Cohen has always been treated with respect.  Many disagree with his evaluation of the data, and have tried repetatively to point out problems that they think exists.  You should know that some individuals on this list are not health physicists, but epidemiologist whose job is to analyze data and evaluate results.  Dr. Cohen has been intransigent in his defense, which is his right.  I believe Dr. Cohen is willing to have the NCRP look into his data, which will hopefully provide some insight into the appropriateness of his data and analysis.  (Of course, there are some on this list who will never accept a result that contradicts their believes.)  Discourse is important in science to develop theroies and advance research, and should be fostered. 
 
I believe all of the radiation issues are routinely discussed on this list, so none are being ignored.

"Chilton, Milton W." <chilton@NV.DOE.GOV> wrote:
Bernie, I believe your move is a wise one and I certainly believe you have
every right to make such a request. You have certainly taken a valid
scientific approach in inviting open discussion and critique. Unfortunately
our current society seems to find it easier to throw dispersions and
personal attacks against the scientist than it is to maintain a professional
and objective dialogue. I personally am getting tired of the continuing flap
and like others may finally choose to unsubscribe myself because of the
endless attacks on individuals.

With all of the challenges we have currently in the rad arena you would
think that members of the list could find more appropriate and beneficial
uses for their time. . . .


-- John
John Jacobus, MS
Certified Health Physicist
e-mail: crispy_bird@yahoo.com


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