2003 MAR 04 TUE I think kilopascal's approach of "do it" rather than "ask to do it" will work on many fronts. I will keep it in mind. But education still HAS TO BE IN YOUR FACE.
I have finally located the DoD metric coordinator. Is there anything that you want to tell the DoD? I just bought IEEE/ASTM SI 10 - 2002 from the ASTM website, only $50. I hear that is cheep for technical documents. It looks good. I'll study it and then I'll take the CAMS test someday. I was asking around earlier today, and I learned that there are only about 700 or so members of the USMA. Also, the USMA gives out membership cards to anyone who wants one. They use to give them to all members, but most just threw them away. So now you have to ask. I asked the Executive Director of USMA if the USMA was interest in pursuing information about an SI Boy Scout merit badge, and Valerie Antoine said "sure" as long is it won't cost anything. I have also received information about the ASME engineering merit badge connections and I will investigate more soon. The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is dissolving their Board on Metrication sometime this month. It is a restructuring kind of thing. The ASME Council on Codes and Standards will meet in June and most likely form a Committee on Metrication. I have asked to join such a committee if it forms. And I will continually call people if it does not form. What do you think is a cool committee name? Is the Committee Regarding the International System of Units more appealing than the Committee on Metrication? Is everyone on this list a USMA member? Thank you for your time and attention. Sincerely, Matthew Zotter -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of kilopascal Sent: Tuesday, March 04, 2003 6:58 PM To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:25023] Re: Dr Pepper 2003-03-04 I found your story interesting, as I have been to the Nucor plant in Jewett. Some of the plants I've been to, both steel users and steel producers do mark their products in SI and FFU, but most are FFU only. And this is true of Canada and Mexico. In some of the user facilities, I've seen FFU only on steel plate, even when that plate is imported. I don't know if the imported steel is pure FFU or is really hidden metric and just marked in FFU. It is interesting how Nucor and others who make rebar in a true metric size have experienced no resistance to it. I guess as long as the luddites think it is a true FFU size, they don't complain, and most likely wouldn't notice the difference. Which makes me wonder if the change to metric rebar was done quietly or was announced. It seems that when metrication is announced is when the resistance really flares up. If metrication takes place without any fanfare it is rarely noticed and thus there is no resistance. By the fact that you said Nucor was "considering" the change of other products, but backed off when they met resistance tells me they tried to make an announcement ahead of time. I'll bet if they had just done it, nobody would have noticed. The FFU-ists would still be calling it by its inch names even if it had changed 100 years ago. Just look at alcoholic beverages. They have been metric for almost 25 years, and very few people are aware of it. They still call the sizes by the "pint", "fifth", "half-gallon" and "gallon", etc., even though no such sizes exists today. Most people are totally unaware that these products are metric and would bet their life that they are not. The same is true in the auto industry. The American big 3 went metric in the 1970s .... in silence. Unless you are a auto mechanic who works on autos for a living, chances are you do not know that American autos are virtually all metric. After-market parts tend not to be. Some dummies insist American cars are FFU because they can slip an inch wrench over a metric hex head. I've been using metric at work and specifying metric parts for 15 years now. But, the only people who really know about it are the factory workers who are directly involved with the parts and my fellow engineers. The people in sales and management, if asked think all of our products go out the door as FFU products. Every once and awhile someone will venture into the shop looking for small FFU machine screws for a home project only to be discouraged because they can't find any. They'll ask one of the guys in the shop and he will direct them to the area where we do our panel assemblies and we store all of our hardware. The person is usually puzzled why we are using metric fasteners. I usually tell them because they are less expensive then FFU or these screws have a special coating that makes them usable in electrical connections and FFU screws do not. I usually come up with some answer to blow them off. The trick to metricating seems to be to just do it and don't announce it. By the time someone will notice and complain, it is too late to turn back, unless you are the state DOTs. Think of all the times metrication is a success and you'll see there was either no or very little planning or prior announcements. Maybe this is the way to do it. John ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Nichols" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, 2003-03-04 09:15 Subject: [USMA:25021] Dr Pepper > Dear All: > > I was in Albertsons last night to purchase beer after a day spent touring a > steel mill in Jewett Texas. > > I can across Dr Pepper in 0.5 litre bottles. On the side facing me was > metric only labels. When I stopped and nearly fainted from shock, (it had > been a hard day on the hearth - speaking metaphorically) I turned the 6 > pack around. On the other side was both unit systems. It looked to me > like they had two sets of artwork one for metric alone and one for (come > lets give Fred a break I never actually heard him use feet or inches or > pounds on the show.) colonial English. Anyway it relieved a slight head > ache as I was laughing fairly hard at the incongruently of it all. > > All reinforcing bar in the US is labelled in metric no FFU. But is still > called up by the Engineers (whose lead organization the ASCE has adopted > metric) as FFU numbers ie in eighths of an inch. It is interesting to sit > explaining to a bunch of future constructors that a #3 bar is 9 mm and yes > a 9 is punched on the bar but the engineer who signs the drawings will call > it a #3 even though the manufacturers stopped marking the bar as such years > ago. We even sat and watched them make the rolling forms and putting on > the metric numbers. > > What happens when some one finally picks up a real 9 mm bar and puts it > place of a #9 (28 mm) and we have someone killed. Of course it is just an > accident. > > The guy from NUCOR said they were considering changing the other products > to metric years ago but they met resistance is the best way to put it. > > > > John Nichols BE, Ph.D. (Newcastle), MIE (Aust), Chartered Professional > Engineer > Assistant Professor > Texas A&M University > Department of Construction Science > Langford AC > Rm: A414 MD 3137 > College Station, TX 77843-3137 > > Electronic mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Telephone: 979 845 6541 > Facsimile: 979 862 1572 > ----------------------------------------------------------------- > a fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi > > in front a precipice, behind a wolf > ----------------------------------------------------------------- >
