Apologies to Mark and other

["David Ross" <David_Ross@qm.sri.com>]

                      Subject:                              Time:  9:32 AM
  OFFICE MEMO         Apologies to Mark and others          Date:  10/8/96

Well, I guess I have learned something from the messages both posted here and
sent directly to me.  With whatever shred of dignity and grace I have left
after those messages, I want to apologize to the list members, and to Mark in
particular.  My earlier message, and indeed my interest in the list from my
first joining, stemmed from my not understanding that the list was for
activists.  I straightforwardly, naively, did not know that that was the
membership profile.

I think we are all ultimately better off because of activists, and while I do
not classify myself as one, I recognize our need for people who are.

So again, my apologies.  

As a parting shot let me, without acrimony and just honestly for the record,
briefly review the some of the common elements I saw in the messages sent in
after my "Last Straw."   The list members are without question well meaning
and too are a very suspicious lot:  people with advanced degrees are suspect,
as is a professional corporate connection.  At least in the minds of some
respondents science itself is not to be trusted.  The cause seems to be all
important, almost a way of life, and I wondered as I read some of the messages
that if at last real, sound solution to the problem arose, would it be met
with only mixed reviews because then the cause would have disappeared.  

I hope not.

The suspicious nature of the list members is strong and a real surprise to me.
 Several weeks ago I sent a message directly to someone who had posted
something dealing with dioxin measurements, asking for a citation or two so
that I could refer to the data formally.  He wrote back saying he would be
glad to respond, but first he wanted to know where I worked.  I was floored by
that request.  

And so I shall leave the list (but not for a while to allow any final, late
arriving swipes to come in), but I look forward to great things coming from
the ardent and well focused efforts of those in it.  

Good luck,

David Ross

PS    By the way, to complete the record, I work for a not-for-profit
organization with a sizable environmental program.  My specific area is
alternatives to incineration for the safe and acceptable destruction of
halogenated waste.  We are developing a process for which it appears that the
rates of dioxin destruction are at least as great as those for pcbs
themselves, so that we see no dioxins in pcb destruction down to our detection
limits.  In addition and most importantly, since it is designed specifically
for halogenated waste, it projects to be considerably less expensive than
incineration and other incineration alternatives.