Index: /branches/eam_branches/ipp-20110213/psphot/src/psphotModelBackground.c
===================================================================
--- /branches/eam_branches/ipp-20110213/psphot/src/psphotModelBackground.c	(revision 30784)
+++ /branches/eam_branches/ipp-20110213/psphot/src/psphotModelBackground.c	(revision 30785)
@@ -59,7 +59,6 @@
     assert (maskVal);
 
-    // user-defined masks to test for good/bad pixels (build from recipe list if not yet set)
+    // mark pixel may be used for optional iteration -- is not required by all processes
     psImageMaskType markVal = psMetadataLookupImageMask(&status, recipe, "MARK.PSPHOT"); // Mask value for bad pixels
-    assert (markVal);
 
     // apply both MASK and MARK to make background model