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Spring Issue 2007
First Time Soapbox Session Is A Success Worth Repeating
This year, for the first time, the SOT Annual Meeting featured
an informal "Soapbox" Session at which members were able to
share ideas, views, and concerns of general interest to the toxicology
community. Each speaker was allowed to address the audience on a topic
they submitted in advance, holding up a poster if there was a need for
a visual aid. After each presentation the audience was given the opportunity
to challenge the speaker with questions or comments. Although humor, hyperbole,
and friendly sarcasm were strongly evident, the session chair, Harvey
Clewell, and Co-Chair, John Morris (who brought
along his hockey stick just in case) are happy to report that both the
speakers and the audience maintained a high level of civility and propriety.
Indeed, this historic and histrionic event can be characterized as nothing
less than a smashing success.
Highlights include the opening of the session by the world premier performance
of the Belladonna Blues Band (Howlin' Harvey Clewell, Jivin' Jerry
Campbell, and Met'l-Plate Mel Andersen) and when
Savithri Rangarajan got George Corcoran
to believe she was actually answering her cell phone in the middle of her
presentation. But it can truly be said that all of the esteemed orators
were impressive in their ability to convey an important
point of view in a non-confrontational and enjoyable way.
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