On October 27, 2000 members of the North Central Chapter of the Health Physics Society held their fall meeting at the University of Minnesota Arboretum in Chanhassen, Minnesota. Affiliates sponsoring the one day meeting were Holaday Industries, Landauer, Inc., and Research Products International Corporation. Duane Hall, recently retired from 3M Corporation, welcomed the group to the 63rd edition in an unbroken string of spring and fall meetings with a brief history of the North Central Chapter. Duane extracted noteworthy dates and events from the mountains of records, minutes and other documents, highlighting the contributions of numerous individuals to local and national issues throughout the last three decades. Ron Bresell followed with a technical presentation that walked the group through the detailed Data Quality Objective process as applied to the decommissioning of a University of Wisconsin, Madison radioactive waste storage facility. The morning was capped off with an address from HPS President Elect George Anastas. George provided an overview of some of the recent Health Physics Society accomplishments and current actions, recognizing the contribution of local chapters and standing committee volunteers and calling for continued input from the chapters. The newly emerging Radiation Safety without Borders program was introduced as a specific way that chapters can contribute by sharing expertise and information across national boundaries. George concluded his talk with a brief description of the Weibull Function and its role in the prediction of unsafe acts.
After lunch the Fall Business Meeting was held. The chapter increased the scope of the Science Teacher Workshop Committee, renaming it the Science Education Committee. The chapter award was presented to Science Teacher Award Selection Committee members Cynthia Horn, Doug Gossen, Irene Patrick and Kermit Paulson in acknowledgment of their work in initiating an effective process to select and recognize a local science teacher for outstanding teaching in the area of radiation safety and health physics. New Chapter President Pete Wildenborg, President Elect Greg Smith, and Council Members Irene Patrick and Garry Yarrow took office at the end of the Business Meeting.
To open the afternoon technical sessions, Dr. Daniel Steck of St. Johns University provided an excellent review of the Iowa Radon Lung Cancer Study published in the April, 2000 issue of Epidemiology. Kelly Classic of Mayo Clinic and Mike Hinz of 3M Corporation called for audience participation in a short quiz about laser hazards, and presented a summary of recent literature addressing the hazards associated with laser pointing devices. Brian Vetter of the University of Minnesota brought the afternoon to a close by describing health physics concerns associated with the operation of a mobile positron emission tomography facility.