Chapters
Colin Bell, Treasurer of the BC Chapter, is working with Educators for Nuclear Disarmament to publish a national directory of all Canadian post secondary institutions which offer courses (present or planned) in the peace education and world order studies. As Colin writes, “At the moment we are defining this topic very broadly to include areas such as third world development, food distribution, women’s studies, etc., as well as peace and disarmament.”
Enclosed is the letter and questionnaire being used in the study. If you can supply information, please do. Otherwise, pass the form along to a colleague for whom it is applicable. Chapters have been supplied with the form also.
Annual general meeting of Science et Paix Quebec will be held May 14 in Montreal.
Chapter Members are planning to issue brochures in French and to translate the principal Science for Peace briefs and papers.
Science for Peace Ottawa will arrange this year for a regional prize at the Youth Science Fair in Ottawa, gaining experience before “going national” in succeeding years. Chapter President Mingarelli reports, “Things are proceeding very well so far.”
A special prize fund has been set up — contributions from as far as Montreal and Winnipeg have been made. Individuals and other chapters can contribute — send checks earmarked for the Peace Science Prize to the national office.
The Toronto Chapter’s seminar and lecture series (Wednesday evenings at 8 pm at University College, University of Toronto) features Prof. David Parnas (University of Victoria) speaking on the topic “Why the SDI System Can Never Be Trusted” (Feb. 5). Other seminar speakers for the month are John Bacher, Derek Rasmussen and Christian Bay.
There will be a general membership meeting of the chapter on March 27 to elect an enlarged executive committee and a new chairman.
LIPRA award
Nominations are in order for the 1987 Lentz International Peace Research Award, which will be given to that person or group who has made an outstanding contribution to peace research and/or its promotion. The winner will be selected by an international panel of judges.
The prize itself is $1000 cash and a replica of the original LIPRA sculpture which is located at Washington University in St. Louis, USA. Alan and Hanna Newcombe (1974) and Anatol Rapoport (1975), SfP board members, are among previous recipients.
Nominations should be sent to Louise Robinson, Lentz Peace Research Laboratory, 6251 San Bonita, St. Louis Mo. 63105 USA, by Sept. 1, 1986. Nominations should be accompanied by supporting documents, curriculum vita of the nominee, publications, etc.
The Big Two
January 16 – Geneva, end of the month – Stockholm: two sets of discussions started, renewing the attempt to bring sanity, security and confidence building back into the purview of the world’s peoples. In 1983, US President Reagan called for the total abolition of nuclear weapons. In early January the USSR extended a 6-months unilateral test ban for 3 more months and invited the US to negotiate seriously to rid the world of all nuclear weapons by the year 2000.
USSR General Secretary Gorbachev has included in his proposals previous positions urged by the US: by 1990 a 50% reduction in Soviet and American strategic weapons capable to reaching each other’s territory; the removal of all American and Soviet intermediate range missiles from Europe (Reagan, 1981); reductions in chemical weapons and conventional forces in Europe.
The Russians have also agreed to on-site inspections to verify Soviet compliance with arms control agreements — the point on which previous disarmament negotiations have always stalled.
Star Wars
Caroline L. Herzenberg (Argonne National Laboratory, U.S.A.) in an article in Physics & Society (Vol. 15, 2, 1986) points out that if an orbiting laser system such as that proposed by the American SDI program operated at a wavelength at which the atmosphere is transparent, it could be used for incendiary attacks against cities. Her calculations indicate that a single laser battle station could create enough ignition points to cause a firestorm that would destroy a city.
The text of the complete article can be reprinted for you by the national office.
— John Dove
Peace books donated
Representatives of the Canadian chapter of the Japanese lay Buddhist organization, the Nichiren Shoshu Sokagakkai, last week presented Chancellor George lgnatieff (left) with two sets of a 25-volume collection, in English, of writings on world peace and religion. One will go to the Emmanuel College Library, while the other will go to the peace studies collection of the Laidlaw Library. The Sokagakkai is the largest lay religious organization in Japan, with over 10,000,000 members. It will be sponsoring an exhibition in May at U of T on nuclear arms which will include Hiroshima artefacts. Seen here with lgnatieff are Mickey Mashuda, vice-chairperson of the Canadian chapter and Doug Jay, principal of Emmanuel College.
This book, which is based on a conference organized by Science for Peace and held in Toronto last May, offers a range of perspectives on current circumstances. Its contributors include academics and people with practical experience in European security affairs, and they have many useful things to _gay. Their contributions touch upon some of the difficulties with present NATO policy and policy-formation, the conduct of past negotiations (concerning Central Europe in particular), and the problems of verifying agreements for restraint. Attention is given to various proposals for risk-reduction, demilitarization, and alternative, “non-provocative” defence strategies. The paper by Ulrich Albrecht on alternative security arrangememnts for Central Europe is especially suggestive and stimulating.
– from the Bulletin of the University of Toronto
The exhibit mentioned in the above caption will be on display during the international conference in Montreal April 21-23, and in Toronto beginning May 8.
Apologies to Mrs. Epp, librarian at University College, University of Toronto: this Bulletin (January, 1986) seemed to quote her as saying a “peace library” had been established in University College through the donation of a shelf of books from the Science for Peace Collection. As Mrs. Epp so correctly pointed out, a donation of books is quite different from the establishment of a special collection. The wishful thinking of Science for Peace board members is the culprit here.
The Board
The Board of Directors of Science for Peace, in its monthly meeting Jan. 28, activated the nominating committee elected at last spring’s annual meeting. Suggestions to the nominating committee are now in order and may be sent to Chairman Lynn Trainor, Physics Dept., University of Toronto, or to the national office. Other members of the nominating committee are Ursula Franklin, Eric Fawcett and Anatol Rapoport (ex officio).
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