Re: Ci to Bq - A question for the Erudite Elite

["Fritz A. Seiler" <faseiler@nmia.com>]

Hi All,

        At first I resolved to stay out of this one.  But now Mike
Ford's comments have set me off, so here it goes: I could not agree
more with Mike that it is about time that we old bullies started to
take our teaching obligation a bit more seriously. When we were
young and green behind the ears, we all asked many a "stupid"
question, of ourselves, of our friends, and of our teachers.  I, for
one, was quite fortunate to have had a number of outstanding
teachers, to whom you could go and talk about your problem. Later,
as a member of the faculty these same people taught me as a
colleague, and mostly implicitly, that there are the most embarrassing
barriers to anyone's understanding of something, at whatever level.
         It is the teacher's obligation to clear these obstacles away.
(And now, this next remark is quite general, and I hope still current
at my alma mater, and it is not directed at anyone on the list!). "There
are no stupid questions, but a lot of arrogant answers by people who
should know
better."
Whatever lay behind the "Ci  to Bq" conversion question, it is our
job to help, and I was glad to see some outright statements of fact,
but also some good explanations of the relationship.  We "Illuminati"
should take that to heart.

Michael S Ford wrote:

> Did anyone stop to ask who this person may be?  Why they needed
> this information? BTW:  the original question dealt with the pure
> conversion, NOT the software.
>
> We rail against the sloppy reporters and the misinformed public, but
> when someone pops up with a very simple question, we break out
> with the flame-throwers and ask who could possibly post such an
> elementary question.  'Tis beneath us to breathe the answer.
>
> Stephen Covey often says:  Seek first to understand, then to be
> understood.
>
> Before you throw a brickbat at someone, make the effort to find out
> who's asking the *stupid* question.
>
> We all probably picked up on the lack of knowledge of the person
> asking the question.  Most anyone who has had some rad training
> will have been exposed to Ci to Bq conversions at one time or
> another.  Most HP or rad professionals would not have asked such a
> rudimentary question.
>
> If the answer is too easy, make them go through the effort of
> discovery.  Tell them where to find it in their local library, what books
> the may use.  They'll often find other interesting things along the way
> and learn a lot more in the process.
>
> I agree with Ruth's main point.  The act of learning and struggling
> with individual concepts to reach a personal, fundamental
> understanding of an issue is rapidly vanishing with the onslaught of
> the information age.  *Original work* is a rather vague concept to
> many when a ready-made research paper or thesis is just a *.com*
> away.
>
> As RADSAFERs, we should take the time of teaching the beginners
> to *fish* instead of feeding the *fish* to them.  If you don't like to
> teach,  keep the safety on your flame-thrower trigger on!
>
> My own personal/non-corporate thoughts,
> v/r
> Michael
> mford@pantex.com
> TX Radiation Advisory Board
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> information can be accessed at http://www.ehs.uiuc.edu/~rad/radsafe.html

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NOTE CHANGE OF ADDRESS

***************************

Fritz A. Seiler, Ph.D.
Principal
Sigma Five Associates
P.O. Box 1709
Los Lunas, NM 87031
Tel.    505-866-5193
Fax.    505-866-5197
e-mail: faseiler@nmia.com

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