Committee for Skeptical Inquiry

[Barry Karr <SkeptInq@aol.com>]

Skeptical Inquirer Electronic Digest, February 20, 2001

 Visit the CSICOP and Skeptical Inquirer Magazine website at
 http://www.csicop.org. Receiving over 200,000 hits per year, the CSICOP site
 was rated one of the top ten science sites by HOMEPC magazine. Send comments
 regarding SI DIGEST to editors Matt Nisbet at mcn23@cornell.edu and Barry
 Karr at skeptinq@aol.com.

 --GALLUP POLL: Public Favors Creationism
 --IPCC Adopts Report on Climate Change Impacts and Vulnerability
 --NY TIMES: Glacier Loss Seen as Clear Sign of Human Role in Global Warming
 --NY TIMES: Global Warming's Likely Victims
 --GALLUP POLL: Despite Dire Predictions, Americans Have Other Priorities
 than Global Warming
 --NY TIMES: Poof! You're a Skeptic; The Amazing Randi's Vanishing Humbug
 --PACIFICA RADIO "DEMOCRACY NOW": The Ethics, Risks, and Politics of Human
Genome Research

 --GALLUP POLL: PUBLIC FAVORS CREATIONISM

 Public Favorable to Creationism

 2/14/01 -- The American public favors teaching creationism in schools along
 with evolution (68% favor and 29% oppose), but is opposed to the idea of
 teaching creationism instead of evolution, by a 55% to 40% margin. Further,
 Gallup polls conducted last year suggest that a quarter of Americans believe
 teaching creationism should be required of the public schools, while another
 56% say creationism should at least be offered to students as a subject of
 study.

 To view full release go to
 <http://www.gallup.com/poll/releases/pr010214c.asp>

 --IPCC ADOPTS REPORT ON CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS AND VULNERABILITY

 This week, the IPCC adopted its latest report, "Climate Change 2001:
 Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability."

 A summary can be found at <www.ipcc.ch>

 Earlier this year, the IPCC adopted "Climate Change 2001: The Scientific
 Basis"

 A summary can also be found at <www.ipcc.ch>


 --NY TIMES: GLACIER LOSS SEEN AS CLEAR SIGN OF HUMAN ROLE IN GLOBAL WARMING

 Glacier Loss Seen as Clear Sign of Human Role in Global Warming
 To read the full article, go to
 <http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/19/science/19MELT.html>
 By ANDREW C. REVKIN
 FROM MONDAY'S TIMES
 Studies show that the icecap atop Mount Kilimanjaro is retreating at such a
 pace that it will disappear in less than 15 years. The vanishing is a clear
 sign that a global warming trend has exceeded typical climate shifts.

 --NY TIMES: GLOBAL WARMING'S LIKELY VICTIMS

 Global Warming's Likely Victims
 To read the full article, go to
 <http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/19/science/19WARM.html>
 By ANDREW C. REVKIN
 FROM MONDAY'S TIMES
 Global warming is expected to increase crop yields in temperate northern
 regions while harming agriculture in the tropics, further widening the gap
 between rich, industrialized countries and poor developing nations.

 --GALLUP POLL: DESPITE DIRE PREDICTIONS, AMERICANS HAVE OTHER PRIORITIES
THAN GLOBAL WARMING

 Despite Dire Predictions of Global Warming, Americans Have Other Priorities

 To view the full poll, go to
 <http://www.gallup.com/poll/releases/pr010220.asp>

 On Monday, a United Nations report detailed the potential of environmental
 disasters that could occur as a result of global warming. A review of Gallup
 poll data shows that most Americans are at least moderately concerned about
 global warming, although other environmental problems such as water
 pollution and toxic waste generate significantly more concern. Worry about
 global warming has increased, however, over the past several years. More
 generally, the environment still is a relatively low priority for Americans,
 behind such issues as education, healthcare and the economy.

 --NY TIMES: POOF! YOU'RE A SKEPTIC; THE AMAZING RANDI'S VANISHING HUMBUG

 Poof! You're a Skeptic: The Amazing Randi's Vanishing Humbug
 February 17, 2001
 By PATRICIA COHEN


 To read the full article, go to
 <http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/17/arts/17RAND.html>

 As a professional skeptic, James Randi has succeeded where scientists have
 not in exposing those claiming supernatural powers.

 --PACIFICA RADIO 'DEMOCRACY NOW': THE POLITICS, ETHICS, AND RISKS OF HUMAN
GENOME RESEARCH

 DEMOCRACY NOW; SCIENTISTS CRACK GENETIC CODE OF HUMAN LIFE

 To listen to the full audio, go to
 <http://www.webactive.com/pacifica/demnow/dn20000628.html>

 Rival teams of scientists have completed the first rough map of the human
 genetic code after a fierce 10-year race that cost millions of dollars.

 The publicly funded Human Genome Project and the private Celera Genomics
 Corp. each held press conferences Monday to announce they have decoded the
 3.1 billion sub-units of DNA, the chemical "letters" that make up the recipe
 of human life.

 The discovery is described as one of history's great scientific milestones,
 the biological equivalent of the moon landing.

 Specific sequences of DNA characters form the genes that make us what we
 are, govern our biological functions and determine our susceptibility to
 illnesses. DNA mapping promises to herald a new era of genetic-based
 medicine. Scientists say it will enable doctors to treat the underlying
 genetic causes of hundreds of human disorders, including heart disease and
 cancer.

 However, this new scientific breakthrough raises a number of safety and
 ethical issues. Critics are concerned that this new knowledge of genetics
 will be used to build "designer people" or change patterns of heredity.
 There are issues of privacy and confidentiality of genetic records;
 discrimination based on one's genetic makeup, and emphasis on genetic causes
 of disease that may be triggered, without looking at the environmental
 triggers. And we'll be speaking with a Native American rights activist about
 the patenting of the gene line of various indigenous peoples because of
 unusual immunities. These are some of the issues we are taking a look at
 today.

 Guests:

 --Robin Marantz Henig, author of The Monk in the Garden: The Lost and Found
 Genius of Gregor Mendel, the Father of Genetics. She is the author of six
 books, including A Dancing Matrix: How Science Confront Emerging Viruses.

 --Dorothy Nelkin, professor of sociology at New York University. She is the
 co-author with Laurence Tancredi of Dangerous Diagnostics: The Social Power
 of Biological Information. She also wrote The DNA Mystique, and the
 forthcoming book Body Bazaar.

 --Marya Norman-Bloodsaw, one of several plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed
 against Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, which is operated by the University of
 California. According to the suit, the laboratory tested the blood samples
 of employees, without consent, for highly intimate medical conditions and
 genetic traits. These included sickle cell anemia, pregnancy and syphilis.
 This practice had been followed for two decades, with employees of color
 commonly targeted. Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, it should be noted, was one
 of the original facilities involved in the mapping of DNA.

 --Ruth Hubbard, professor emeritus of biology at Harvard University. She is
 the author of Exploding the Gene Myth (with son Elihah Wald, Beacon Press)
 and Profitable Promises (Common Courage).

 --Dr. Ari Patrinos, Director, Office of Biological and Environmental
 Research at the Department of Energy. He is the head of the DOE's Human
 Genome Project.
 Deborah Harry, a Northern Paieut. She is with the Indigenous Peoples Council
 On Biocolonialism. She believes that genetic research hurts indigenous
 peoples by diverting public funds away from direct health care and
 prevention programs. She is also concerned that it could lead to patents on
 the genetic inheritance of indigenous peoples.

 --Jose Morales, Director of Public Interest Biotechnology. He focuses on
 risk assessment, and how genetic information can be used to help communities
 of color. He worked with El Puente, co-founded Toxic Avengers, and the New
 York City Environmental Justice Alliance.

 --------------------------------

 SI Electronic Digest is the biweekly e-mail news update of the Committee for
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