What if an atomic bomb... ?
A group of medical and military
professionals gathered at the Hult Center
Saturday to explain the medical, psy
chological, ecological and sociological
implications they see resulting from the
nuclear arms race and the threat of
atomic warfare
Eight featured speakers, including
Aaron Novick, University Biology
Department head, made presentations at
"The Last Epidemic: The Medical Con
sequences of Nuclear War," a sympo
sium sponsored by the Eugene chapter
of Physicians for Social Responsibility
PSR is a national organization of
medical doctors formed to tell the public
of the potential consequences of nuclear
holocaust and of the medical communi
ty’s inability to provide meaningful assis
tance
"The probability of the extinction of
the human race is growing," said retired
Navy Admiral John Marshall Lee, a
former staff member of the U S. Arms
Control and Disarmament Agency
"A rational scheme" for nuclear stra
tegy is necessary, Lee told an audience
of 300 people at the symposium "Its
purpose as a deterrent should be the
main focus No one can get a mean
ingful strategic superiority."
Dr. Christine Cassel, associate profes
sor of Public Health and Preventative
Medicine at the Oregon Health Sciences
University, used the Hult Center as
Ground Zero in her description of the
effects of a nuclear bomb dropped on
Eugene
All people within 1.7 miles of Ground
Zero would be "instantly vaporized.
76,000 deaths and 48,000 serious injur
ies would occur.” Radiation would con
tinue to kill anyone within 150 miles of
Eugene through radiation sickness
caused by the fallout, Cassel said
Novick, who worked on the initial
atomic bomb, said "No one is qualified to
talk about the long-term effects of nu
clear war," but went on to hypothesize
about the world left to the survivors.
"Most institutions we depend on will
be gone,” he said, explaining that food
production, fresh water supplies, plant
life and the atmosphere, as well as
government and transportation systems,
would be drastically altered
Admiral Noel Gayler, former National
Security Agency director, talked about
preventing nuclear war
"Nuclear problems are human prob
lems, needing human remedies,” Gayler
said “If we will but take our fate into our
own hands, we can solve this crisis of
humanity."
Dr M Brewster Smith of the University
of California at Santa Cruz talked about
the psychological impact of the constant
threat of nuclear war He said the nuclear
age and the threat of “meaningless ex
tinction" have caused a here-and-now
hedonism in our culture.
“It undermines the hopes of youth,
causing a substantial increase in anxiety,
which is partly responsible for increased
drug abuse and other self-destructive
behaviors.”
Although Dr. Phillip Farley admitted
that "it's not clear what's going on” at
the two current sets of Soviet-American
negotiations (strategic weapons or
START talks and European-based missle
negotiations, both taking place in Gen
eva), the Stanford Arms Control and
Disarmament Program member said he
remains "guardedly optimistic" about
the prospects for preventing nuclear
confrontation.
Part of Farley's optimism stems from
his contentions that "Communism is
fragmented internationally" and "sur
rounded by historic and potential en
emies."
"We've made a Faustian bargain with
nuclear weapons but we can still change
our minds,” said psychiatrist Judith Lip
ton, chairperson of Seattle’s PSR
chapter.
"Nuclear weapons are wholly evil, but
we can eliminate them,” she said.
A
Admiral John Marshall
Lee says Nato
is dependent
on Nuclear
Weapons.
Dr. Judith Upton, a psychiatrist with the Seattle Physcians For Social Respon
sibility, talked on “Preventive Therapy: Movements from Paralysis to Action."
In fiscal year 1982 SI. 7 billion will be spent on the food stamp program, while fust
under S3 billion will go to the MX missle
Page 16
Dr Christine Cassel
said 76,000 people
would die instantly
in a nuclear
attack on
Eugene.
Phillip Farley, a senior research assistant for the Standford Arms Control
Disarmament program, spoke on "Current Arms Negotiations: Perspectives for
Prevention."
Arms race costs health care
"The nuclear arms race is the chief
obstacle to providing primary health care
to everyone in the world by the year
2000."
Worldwide defense expenditures
"shift priorities and drain resources"
that could be used to improve world
health, according to Dr Malcolm Peter
son of the University of Washington
School of Medicine
Speaking to an audience of more than
300 at the Physicians for Social Respon
sibility symposium Saturday, Peterson
outlined exactly how the costs of the
arms race affects health care today
"The World Health Organization out
lined a plan whereby primary health care
could be provided worldwide by the year
2000, if only the resources were there to
do it We have found that the money
spent on arming ourselves could more
than pay for this objective," Peterson
said
"It's a matter of achieving human dig
nity," he said "As far as we can see, this
is prevented by the tremendous flow of
money into arms and armaments."
Peterson showed the ratio of defense
expenditures to public medical expendi
tures in the United States
In fiscal year 1982. $17 billion will be
spent on the food stamps program, while
just under $3 billion will be spent on the
MX Missle program alone
The national child nutrition program
will be alloted $15 billion, while one
Trident Ballistic Missle submarine costs
Americans $1 6 billion
The alcohol, drug abuse, and mental
health programs In the United States will
cost $63 million, while only one KC-10A
Cargo Aircraft costs $60 million
Medicaid will be alloted only $714
million this year, while one CG-47 AEGIS
Cruiser costs more than $810 million
Peterson also pointed out that spend
ing cuts in social security disability pro
gram have resulted in at least three
deaths
"Of the 200,000 people cut oft, three
have died," he said "These people were
notified by the government that they
were healthy enough to return to work
and could not receive any more Social
Security benefits One woman, who had
three different types of cancer, died the
same day that she was notified."
The social security cuts were made so
more funds could be channeled into the
defense budget, he said
When the deaths were called to the
attention of the Social Security Commis
sioner. his response was. "We do make
mistakes, but a three-percent error rate
isn't that bad," Peterson said
Peterson also argued that accurate
disability evaluations are more difficult to
make because the Social Security Ad
ministration is working under such strin
gent budget cuts These cuts would be
unnecessary if defense spending was
not so great, he said
"What we have are military expendi
tures taking away from health care ex
penditures," Peterson said
"Cutting military expenditures would
not necessarily mean more money for
health care," Peterson said "I'm not
foolish enough to think that if they cut
this they'll expand that
"That would probably be very pie-in
the-sky type thinking But, consider this
It would only cost $7 billion to make all
the fresh water in the world safe to drink
by 1990, and it would cost $50 billion —
10 percent of what the world spends on
the arms race in one year — to provide
primary health care to everyone "
Stories by Brad Berten
and Aiian Routh
Photos by Bob Baker
Mnnriav (Vlnlvir 11. 1982