Dr. Elena Nightingale 
- 2 - 
October 9, 1979 
partly for the benefit of the three new RAC members who attended the first day of 
the September meeting (the fifth new person did not attend). I also felt that 
there was ample opportunity for questions during and after his presentation. I 
am indeed aware of the dangers of cutting off debate on an important issue like 
this one. All I can say is that I have tried my best to be fair and to recognize 
impartially those who wish to speak for or against a given proposal. I do not 
believe that there were any RAC members at the September meeting who wished to 
speak on the E. coli proposal and whose views were not heard. 
As far as the number of members present for the E. coli K-12 vote is 
concerned, we did have a legal quorum, and everyone knew well in advance when the 
proposal would be discussed and voted upon. During the discussion and vote on 
the E. coli exemption, we certainly had the extremes of opinion represented. It 
is questionable whether the RAC can do its business if we must decide whether to 
postpone voting whenever attendance is not complete, in case there is some 
question, as you suggested, of "fair representation of the whole committee's 
opinion". 
I cannot respond to Richard Goldstein's concerns, since he did not send me 
a copy of his letter. I appreciate the fact that your concerns came directly to 
me. It was embarrassing to be asked by the Press to comment on the Goldstein 
letter, which they had seen and I had not. 
Thank you also for your offer to help. I shall certainly be calling on you 
in the future for special tasks. There is no shortage of work for the RAC! 
Sincerely yours. 
Jane K. Setlow 
jms 
cc: Dr. Donald S. Fredrickson 
Dr. William J. Gartland, Jr. 
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