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Re[3]: History of X-Rays



     "Protecting their toys" isn't the issue.  Teaching someone to think 
     for him/herself is the issue. 
     
     People are beginning to believe that "surfin' the internet" is 
     synonymous with research. That's why Radsafe gets questions along 
     the lines of "My professor gave me an assignment to find out about 
     XYZ; You guys are the experts...what's the answer?"  Then the 
     responses are piled together, regurgitated, and called a research 
     paper.  For those who are uninterested in expending effort, this 
     can be done without even coming close to comprehending the 
     material, and a lot of people are becoming very good at it.
     
     The internet is a source for quick answers of highly variable 
     reliable (Radsafers of all people should know that!).  For those 
     who know how to separate good information from garbage, it's a 
     valuable tool. Those who know how to think for themselves can 
     increase their knowledge with it.
     
     But let's not kid ourselves that cruising web pages is "education", 
     or that it is teaching useful learning skills.  That's sort of like 
     trying to obtain a degree in medicine by watching old episodes of 
     M*A*S*H.
     
     For those who don't yet know how to learn on their own (which 
     unfortunately may include students all the way up to 
     college/university level), I agree fully with Ms. Weiner's 
     recommendation - tell them to go to the library, go to class and 
     pay attention to the instructor, take notes, STUDY for crying out 
     loud (now there's an unpopular word).  Otherwise, all the "sharing" 
     of information in the world is just someone else doing their work 
     for them, which I believe is Ms. Weiner's concern (or to use her 
     exact words: "It's one thing to answer a specific question, and 
     another to be asked to do the legwork."  I REALLY don't think she's 
     concerned that if she provides someone information, they might one 
     day know more than she does!) 
     
     
     Vincent King
     vincent.king@doegjpo.com


______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re[2]: History of X-Rays
Author:  "Jim Dunlap" <jim.dunlap@guardian.brooks.af.mil> at Internet
Date:    1/19/99 4:04 PM


Come on Prof, give them a break.  People who are insecure (and I'm not 
intimating you are one of them) protect their toys (info) by not sharing them.  
People who are secure do all they can to be of help (It's called technology 
transfer).  Just be sure you acknowledge the info supplier's help somewhere.  
The same logic applies to a supervisor.  It's his/her role to do all they can to
prepare their subordinates to replace them by sharing key info with them.  That 
way, if the supervisor gets sick or happens to keel over dead (remember,we're 
only one heartbeat from death), they'll be somewhat prepared to fill in for 
him/her.  Secondly, it keeps you on your toes since, if they are highly capable,
you have to hustle to stay one step ahead of them; if they're really better than
you, they should be allowed to bypass you.  Thirdly, and perhaps most important 
of all, by educating them (subordinates, supervisors, and your peers) they 
become strong advocates of yours; you simply have to be willing to take the 
chance that they might by-pass you.  We all have to take risks; some take 
greater risks than others.  When we take too much risk (such as the case with 
people who commit crimes, and get caught - If you can't do the time, don't 
commit the crime), we may have to pay a high price for it. Nuff said.




Tell them to go to the library!! Throughout my whole career, even as a
Congressional Fellow, I used to get this kind of "please do my homework for
me" question and my redsponse (yes, I was a tough teacher) was, in effect,
"do it yourself."  It's one thing to answer a specific question, and another
to be asked to do the legwork.  Besides, it's poor pedagogy to let students
avoid the hard work of finding the information sources in the first place.
I know well that my point of view is unpopular.

Clearly only my own opinion.

Ruth F. Weiner
Sandia National Laboratories 
MS 0718, POB 5800
Albuquerque, NM 87185-0718
505-844-4791; fax 505-844-0244
rfweine@sandia.gov

-----Original Message-----
From: Johannes Strydom [mailto:fritz.strydom@ors.gatech.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, January 19, 1999 7:29 AM
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: History of X-Rays



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Hello,

I received an email from a couple of high school students who are doing
a project on the history of x-rays and how they have changed the medical
industry.  Does anyone have any good references or web sites to help
them?

Their original message is as follows:

We are two students from Florida working on a history fair
project about the way the xray machine has changed history in the
medical field. We would like to know if you would be able to send us any

information about how the machine has changed history or if we could
send you any questions we might have. Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

--
Johannes "Fritz" Strydom
Health Physicist
Office of Radiological Safety
Georgia Institute of Technology
(404) 894-3605  (404) 894-9325 Fax
fritz.strydom@ors.gatech.edu


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<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en">
<html>
Hello,
<p>I received an email from a couple of high school students who are doing
a project on the history of x-rays and how they have changed the medical
industry.&nbsp; Does anyone have any good references or web sites to help
them?
<p>Their original message is as follows:
<p><i>We are two students from Florida working on a history fair</i>
<br><i>project about the way the xray machine has changed history in the</i>
<br><i>medical field. We would like to know if you would be able to send
us any</i>
<br><i>information about how the machine has changed history or if we
could</i>
<br><i>send you any questions we might have. Thank you for your
time.</i><i></i>
<p>Thank you.
<p>--
<br>Johannes "Fritz" Strydom
<br>Health Physicist
<br>Office of Radiological Safety
<br>Georgia Institute of Technology
<br>(404) 894-3605&nbsp; (404) 894-9325 Fax
<br>fritz.strydom@ors.gatech.edu
<br>&nbsp;</html>

--------------8ECE03AE9B1D572A2BDFF998--

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information can be accessed at http://www.ehs.uiuc.edu/~rad/radsafe.html