If you've been watching Health Physics News, the official newsletter of the Health Physics Society, you may have seen our articles advertising the 2008 professional development school, "Topics in Accelerator Health Physics." In the April issue, we got front page billing, as the newsletter explored just what it takes to put together a school. In the June issue, we told you all about the silent auction of Dr. Ralph Thomas's rare books that will be held to fund a scholarship to the school (see also The Editor's Message).
But the school is more than publicity. Behind the scenes, the faculty and academic deans (Don Cossairt and Vashek Vylet) are working hard to produce the school's textbook. Each faculty member is writing one chapter for the text. Because the text must be edited, prepared for printing, and formatted again for electronic publication (on compact disk), the faculty have to submit their chapters far in advance of the actual school session in January 2008. This is in addition to preparing their lectures (one for each of two topic tracks). Many thanks to the faculty for their hard work and diligence in meeting our tight deadlines.
Other progress on the school includes a new website, developed by a student at Lawrence Berkeley Lab, Mike Calvert. Mike's skills show clearly at pds2008.org, where you can find details on everything from faculty, to class schedule, to visiting Oakland. Thanks to Mike for putting such an attractive face on our efforts.
So we hope you'll take a few minutes and check out what's new at pds2008.org. And stay tuned--in the next few months, we hope to be able to post the registration form and firm up the registration costs. In the meantime, if you have any questions or comments, please don't hesitate to contact us.