Digital BW, The Print

At 05:14 PM 8/1/2002, Keith wrote:
>Stan McQueen wrote:
>
> >>Blue Ribbon Panel = "cover for justifying the steps some bureaucratic
> >>entity or key decisionmaker had already decided upon"
> >>
> >>see subheadings:
> >>Challenger Disaster
> >>Warren Commission
> >>War against Drugs
> >>Gore commission on air travel safety and security
> >>National Health Care Insurance
> >>
> >>
> >
> >As I recall, the presence of Richard Feynmann on the Challenger Panel
> >resulted in a finding that was actually useful, albeit one that some
> >engineers at Thiokol had already warned about. The warnings were
> >disregarded. Anyway, as many may recall, while others were speaking (or
> >pontificating), Feynmann was soaking a piece of o-ring material in ice
> >water. When it was his to turn to speak, he pulled the material out of the
> >ice and snapped it in pieces. (See "An Outsider's Inside View of the
> >Challenger Inquiry" by Richard P. Feynmann, Physics Today, February 1988,
> >pp. 26-37.) Basically, he forced the commission to come to a real, as
> >opposed to political, conclusion.
> >
> >
> >
>Agreed 100%!
>
>I added Challenger knowing that story quite well..
>
>The story you so nicely told for me was  EXACTLY why Challenegr was
>included on the list.. Feynmann's guts and moxie on  that panel serve as
>a sign of how far one has to go to get a blue ribbon panel to act like a
>truly independent advisory group instead of a sycophantic organization
>of rubber stamping toadies..
>
>A blue ribbon panel can work, but you have to have someone brave,
>independent, and knowledgeable acknowledged as a group/panel leader
>(unofficially - int need not be the chairperson) to make sure it does
>more than  trumpet the current party line..

That's why I told the story. The Challenger panel was an exception to the 
rule stated above. It might have been expected to come to a predetermined 
conclusion but, due to the presence of Feynmann, actually did not, instead 
coming to an actually useful conclusion. Thus it really doesn't deserve to 
be listed with the other panels. I figured you knew the real story, but 
there might be others on the list who don't know it and would dismiss that 
panel as being just like the rest.

Stan

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