Prescripti on for Survival Winter 1995 Volume 16 No. 1 Newsletterof Physiciansfor SocialResponsibility-Los Angeles HoNoRtNGDR.m Born in an internment camP in Gila, Arizona, jimmy Hara is one of the brightest and most comPassionate men practicing medicine in Los Angeles today. Dr. Hara is being honored with the Helen Caldicott Award-along "ER"-by with the cast and creators of the television series Physi- cians for Social Responsibility at a gala banquet, February L7, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. A tireless volunteer, for over 20 years, Dr. Hara has donated endless hours to the Venice Family Clinic, L.A. Free Clinic, and the UClA-Salvation Army Clinic. Dr. Hara serves as Residency Program Director of the Kaiser Los Angeles Medical Center, Department of Family Practice, and is also Regional Director of House Staff Training for Kaiser Permanente Southern California, responsible for training 300 resident physicians. Dr. Hara has been an active member of Physicians for Social Responsibility since 1980. He has served as Membership Chairman, Vice-President, President and currently is Co- Presidentof the Los Angeles chapter. For so many years, Dr. jimmy Hara has selflessly labored for peace and served our colrununity. Such love and dedica- tion deserves recognition. You are invited to ioin u.s in thanking this great man. "ER," The vastly popular television series, will also receive the Flelen Caldicott Award, named after PSR'svisionary co- founder. Dr. Caldicott will be on hand to make the award presentation. Co-stars Anthony Edwards and Julianna Margulies will represent the cast. Executive Producer John Wells and Lance Gentile, M.D., the series Story Editor, will also accept the award. As noted in the Los AngelesTirnes, "'ER' has humanely and dramatically depicted physi- cians as they encounter the current epidemic of gun violence, and has educated the public to the heroic challenges physicians face in trauma centers and emergency rooms." You too can participate in this special evening. Please call: (310) 726-95ER. 2/Prescripti on for Survival Of Honors and Bullets The Art of Survival ln Our Sighfs; Arfisfs Look at Guns, is a Ten years ago when I was working on L.A.'s Skid fascinatingexhibition opening March 9th at UC Riverside'sCalifornia Museum of Row, chopping vegetables and organrzing meals for the Photography.lt's an image-bustingshow homeless/ I rnet the actor Anthony Edwards, now starof of 20 photo and video artists. "ER". the hit series Anthony had volunteered at our soup kitchen to Artist Stephanie Cress survived gunshot 1993robbery, her get to know the real Los Angeles, move beyond Tinseltown's flash woundsfrom a husbanddid not; her work exploresher and glitter-he'd just appeared loss. CynthiaRettig Pancher shares diary- "Top in Gun." Nice guy, I like photos of her family'scasual use of From thought, but with his thinning Jo^d/l^^ firearms.Joseph Rodriguez's offers visions the into the lives of East L.A. gangbangers. hair can he make it in Director P"4* Definitelyworth the trip down Hwy.60, the Hollywood? exhibitruns through June 2. Call909-787- 4787. Ten movies and three TV series later, the answer is that Anthony Edwards is today one of Hollywood's premiere actors. His "ER" character, Dr. Mark Greene, is something of a miracle: sensi- tive, intelligent, hard-working, pained, divided, loving. His ability to attach kindness to dedicaiion is really quite an achievement for American television. His performances give physicians a rare gift: human dimensionality. lruOun Srcurs: ARTrsrs I'm personally very gratified that Anthony Edwards, co-star LocK nr Gurus MARCH9-JUNE2, I996 Margulies, Executive Producer Wells and ER's real- CALIFoRNIA MUSEUM oF Julianna John PHOTOGRAPHY doctor-on-the-set Lance Centile I\"{.D.,will participate in our awards UC RrvERSroe 9O9 787-4787 banquet. Add Drs. Caldicott and l{ara the evening will be You may already know Jim Lera- exceptional. Miss at your own peril. ger's profoundly straightforward photo- graphs of the irradiatedamong us. Rus- Question: what public health problem has killed 100,000more sian schoolkids saddledwith gas masks, people than AIDS over the past ten years? Answer: handguns. Tb a Mona Lisa-likeChernobyl baby born without hands, ShoshoneIndians facing address this grave epidemic, PSR has begun teaching physicians to their decimatedland at the NevadaTest counsel patients on firearm safety. Last January 11, in conjunction Site. with Pasadena's Coalition for a Nonviolent City, Dr. Robert Wesley "Talesfrom the NuclearAge," Jim and Pasadena City College Chancellor, jack Scott, lectured a class- Lerager'swonderful exhibit, is now show- room of family practice physicians at the lovely new Kaiser Perman- ing through March 1 at LagunaBeach's BC Space. A receptionfor Jim will take ente facility in Baldwin Hills. On January 31, Dr. Mark Rosenthal place,Thursday, Feb. 22,6-9 PM. PSRis lectured at Kaiser Permanente Panorama City. A powerful PSR a sponsor.Info: (714) 497-1880. slideshow, medical literature fact sheets and abstracts accompany the presentation. The response, thus far, has been tremendous. If your hospital or group is interested in this CME-approved series, or PSRWlsH Ltsr o energeticvolunteers would like to become a presenter, please call the office: 310-458- o plantsfor the office 2694. laptop/notebookcomputer CALL31 0 45 8-2694 3/Prescription for Survival WARDVnLLEY; SnnALL M tRAcLES? just a few months ago the establishment of a radio- established without restrictions. Ergo, the Republican active dump in our state seemed a certainty. Despite pursued the amendment to the budget bill. years of constant effort by PSR and other groups- OUR FIRST MIRACLE. On another front, through speaking out in the state legislature, the state and the efforts of the great environmental group, Commit- federal courts, various state departments and the tee to Bridge the Gap, new scientific evidence was federal legislature-it seemed that all was lost when revealed casting further doubt on the safety of the Ward Valley was placed on the Republican Budget proposed dump. Reconciliation Bill now before the President. Though It started last year during last year's National the waste dump has nothing to do with the budget, Academy hearings, when a United States Geological the action placing it on the budget bill is an old legis- Survey (USGS) scientist used data from a closed radio- lative maneuver worked by both sides of the aisle. active waste dump in Beatty, Nevada to bolster the Flouse Republicans believed Ward Valley would be contention that radiation would not migrate through too unimportant to impede progress on the budget. the dry soil at Ward Valley, as the geology of the They were wrong. As you know, the budget has Beatty site and that of Ward Valley were said to be so languished for three months, and through our coali- similar. This same USGS geologist knew, at the time tion's effort Ward Valley was cited by the Clinton of the hearings, of massive leakage at the Beatty facil- Administration as one of the 82 reasons for a veto of ity, but for unknown reasons kept this knowledge to the initial budget. At press time, we do not know himself. whether Ward Valley will be included on the final Although this revelation clearly makes the National version. Academy report invalid, and has troubled many of the You may recall last year's National Academy of dump's supporters, there is little indication that this Science panel on Ward Valley. In a decision, which news will impede the transfer. was atypically indecisive and not unanimous, the A SECOND MIRACLE. A new development com- committee recommended building the dump but with ing from a totally unexpected source has now dramati- two important qualifying advisements: that the cally emerged. The Board of Supervisors of San Ber- amount of plutonium to be discarded be fixed and nardino County, whose jurisdiction includes Ward that monitoring wells be dug to see if there will be Valley, unanimously passed an ordinance placing any escape of the radioactive materials into the envi- specific environmental standards on radioactive ronment. waste facilities, including not being within ten miles of a Interior Secretary Babbitt, following the NAS rec- water source and having advanced technology similar ommendations, would willingly transfer the land at to that practiced in European countries. Containment Ward Valley when Covernor Pete Wilson accepted the has to have lead-lined steel reinforced concrete cham- National Academy's terms. Instead, Governor Wilson bers. PSR testified (continued on page 4) took a strong stand, insisting that the dump be Savethe Date!! Tne 1996 HeLENGnIoIcoTT AWARDS HonoringDr. Jimmy H ara and ER's Anthony Edwards . Julianna Margulies. JohnWells . LanceGentile, M.D. Saturday o February 17 o 6:00 PM er BeverlyHilton Hotel o BeverlyHills Call(310) 726-95ER for reservationsand information 4/Prescripti on for Survival TFIE FOURTFI FIORSEMAN: NUCLEAWEAPONS AND POWER It was another dismal year for the fourth horse-man of the environment, the nuclear indus- try. During 1995, bad news rolled in, making it unmistakably clear that this technology is more dangerous, less controllable, and more damaging to democracy than even its severest critics had "cold imagined. The end of the war" has, if any- thing, heightened the danger that nuclear bombs will one day obliterate another city-by accident, by terrorism, or by political blunder. "nuclear The official club" (those who admit they have the bomb) now includes the U.S., Britain, France, China, Russia, and India. In addi- tion, Israel is widely believed to have roughly hundred three nuclear bombs. The former prime "Train minister of Pakistan announced in 1994 that Paki- tried to secede. loads of special radioac- stan has the bomb. North Korea is said to have tive freight often cross regions where armed A-bombs.