Subject line states the question. I'm adding the following to an
ActiveRecord class:

Code:
 class Institution < ActiveRecord::Base
 
   # list of associations
   has_and_belongs_to_many(:license_types)
 
   attr_accessor :tmp_license_types
 
   public
   def initialize(attributes = nil)
     super(attributes)
     @tmp_license_types = Array.new
     self.license_types.each { |lt| self.tmp_license_types << lt }
 end
The problem is that if I try to access this attribute in my controller I
keep getting a nil object error. Also, I tried calling

Code:
 <%= debug(@institution) %>
in my view an this extra attribute that I added is not being reported.
Any ideas?

Thanks,
Steven