FW: [Chaos-l] Regarding Morehead eclipse observing session.

[Richard McColman]

Well, Jeff, as I said in my previous posting, it is possible -- even 
likely -- that I'm not fully aware of *all* the details regarding the 
1998 incident.  Consequently, I really can't say why Dr. Shapiro may 
have been unresponsive to your inquiries on this matter -- I would be 
engaging in mere speculation.  You conjecture about his possibly 
being legally advised not to talk about it is plausible, I suppose, 
but I have to way to really judge.

On the other hand, I'm honestly not aware of any lawsuit or 
settlement connected with this incident.  (As for a lawsuit, though, 
I would certainly imagine that such an event would have become pretty 
widely publicized, had it occurred, and most everyone in the area 
would have become aware of it.)  I'm not aware of any "out of court 
settlement whatsoever.  It's possible that I wasn't "in the loop" on 
this one, so I can't really say with 100% certainty that such a thing 
absolutely didn't take place behind the scenes.

Yes, I believe I was working at this particular observing session, 
but I didn't witness the incident in question -- I think I probably 
would remember it if I had.  In fact, I think it wasn't until some 
time later that I and the other staff even learned of the incident 
having happened, as I recall.  I believe this observing session 
involved a fair number number of telescopes (both 
planetarium-owned/operated and visitor-owned/operated instruments) 
and other observing aids, along with dozens to hundreds of visitors 
scattered all around the Sundial area, if memory serves.

As to the ultimate cause of the boy's eye injury, I can't say I 
recall hearing of anything conclusive being determined.  At one 
point, it seems there was some info possibly suggesting that the 
incident was associated with a telescope brought to the event by 
another observing session visitor, but my best guess is that the 
cause was never really determined with certainty.

What all this does point out is that solar observing, particularly 
when it involves people other than ourselves or our immediate family 
members, is not an activity to be trifled with, especially in the 
lawsuit-prone climate of today.  I would think that all of us in the 
club are aware by now of the potential dangers of improper solar 
observing techniques and just how injurious *telescopic observation* 
of the Sun can be if strict guidelines aren't followed.  (Jeff, I 
think you're certainly right to be concerned about the implications 
of having others look through your telescope at the Sun.)  Most of us 
probably tend to limit our solar-observing eye-safety worries to such 
things as to whether our solar filters have developed pinholes. 
However, if there is potential that someone could do something -- 
without your knowledge or direction -- like, say, removing a filter 
from your scope while someone else is viewing, or that someone could 
attempt to do something like look through your finderscope during 
solar observing -- something which is commonly attempted by novice 
visitors if the finderscope is left in place, BTW (and remedied by 
removing the finderscope altogether) -- such potential behaviors on 
the part of visitors constitute "prickly" issues for us all, not to 
mention any inadvertent slip-ups on the part of the telescope 
owner/operator him/herself.  These sorts of things are worth 
consideration, for sure, when planning solar observing sessions!

Thanks again for your concerns,

Richard

--------------------

>Richard, you might be right.  I thought I had remembered there being a
>settlement but can't find any reference to it.  Of course part of this is
>compounded by the fact that Shapiro refused to answer any questions I asked
>of him.  At the time I asked him, I was planning a solar observing party and
>wanted to make sure I had considered ALL possible scenarios.  Shapiro's
>response?:
>
>"This is to acknowledge receipt of your inquiry, but I am unable to respond
>to individual requests of such a nature".
>
>Huh?  I figured "legal" made him silent, so I asked if he could direct me to
>someone or some agency (i.e. lawyers, administrators, etc.) that could
>answer my question. He refused to answer.
>
>So are you saying there was no lawsuit/settlement that you know of?  Seems
>like I remember the kid even traveling to some other country during an
>eclipse to "warn" the people of possible eye damage.  I figured that was on
>the planetarium dime, but must admit I can't seem to find any reference to
>that either.  Did I dream it all?  :)
>
>If you were involved, can you tell me what was determined to be the must
>likely cause of the boy's accident?  I haven't had a public solar session
>since then!
>
>Thanks,
>
>Jeff
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Richard McColman [mailto:rmccolman at mindspring.com]
>Sent: Sunday, April 10, 2005 9:02 AM
>To: chaos-l at rtpnet.org; jeffpo at mindspring.com
>Subject: RE: [Chaos-l] Regarding Morehead eclipse observing session.
>
>Thanks for the concerns you expressed over the eclipse observing session,
>Jeff.
>
>I would offer a friendly caution, however, on making too much of a
>connection between Morehead's "projection devices only" policy on
>solar observing sessions and the 1998 eye-damage incident that you
>referenced.  To my knowledge, there was no direct connection between
>the two.  When the policy was first proposed by then Assistant
>Director Austin Guiles a few years back, I can assure you that there
>was no context or discussion of the 1998 incident.  It truly was out
>of concern that observing session visitors not draw misconceptions
>from viewing -- or seeing others viewing -- the Sun through a
>telescope eyepiece, and then going away thinking that direct solar
>observing through any telescope is okay.  Having said that, I'm sure
>that the 1998 incident served to further heighten our overall
>awareness of solar observing eye safety, and thusly could have had
>some *indirect* effect on related issues.  But as I indicated, it did
>not appear to me from the discussion at the time that the "projection
>devices only" policy was in any way directly tied to the 1998 event.
>
>As to an "out of court settlement" related to the 1998 incident (and
>I assume you're implying some significant monetary compensation),
>this is the first I've heard of it -- particularly interesting since
>I was at least peripherally involved in a discussion or two resulting
>from the incident's aftermath.  While it's certainly possible, I
>suppose, that some "settlement," as you call it, occurred without me
>hearing anything about it, I would be surprised.  Perhaps you can
>enlighten me.
>
>Again, thanks for your concerns,
>
>Richard McColman
>
>
>>The real reasoning and concerns probably stem from that kid that claimed
>eye
>>damage at a planetarium some years ago and got an out of court settlement.
>>http://www.wral.com/news/586325/detail.html
>>
>>After the settlement, Morehead refused to provide details on what happened,
>>so I hope we don't accidentally repeat it from the lack of knowledge.
>>
>>
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: chaos-l-bounces at rtpnet.org [mailto:chaos-l-bounces at rtpnet.org] On
>>Behalf Of Stewart-Taylor, Jon
>>Sent: Friday, April 08, 2005 8:49 AM
>>To: Chapel Hill Astronomical Observation Society
>>Subject: [Chaos-l] Reagrding Morehead eclipse observing session.
>>
>>Hi all. I'm sure you've already read it, but regarding:
>>
>>>   [...] bring your telescope and solar filter
>>>   to the planetarium [...]
>>
>>Mr. McColman of the planetarium wrote:
>>
>>>   we respectfully request that CHAOS members *not*
>>>   bring any solar observing equipment [..] other
>>>   than image projection.
>>
>>He had some reasonable concerns, and please be sure to read his post.
>>
>>Thanks.
>>
>>J.
>>--
>>Jon Stewart-Taylor
>>Manager, Network Applications Programming
>>jstewart at misg.com, 919-406-8824
>>
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