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(page last updated 2/8/09)
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Conference
Description
POWERLINES to the Future: Energizing Midwest Physicians for
Social Responsibility
Conference Brochure: powerlines_brochure.pdf
Conference Poster: powerlines_poster.pdf
RATIONALE:
Disasters, permafrost melting, lower agricultural yields, growing
health problems, and many other potential crises driven by climate
change have begun taking a toll on people around the world–all at a
time of increasing scarcity of basic resources like oil, food and
water. Many predict an increasingly fragmented world, where
conflict over scarce resources will rise, poorly contained by existing
international institutions, while nuclear proliferation, particularly
in the Middle East, and even nuclear conflict grow more likely.
International organizations, like the UN, seem ill-prepared and
incapable of rising to the challenges without concerted efforts by a
variety of other actors around the world including the healing voice of
medicine and public health. A transition to a healthier, more
just and environmentally sustainable future based on cleaner energy is
essential–it is just the speed and under what circumstances we get to
that future. During the window of opportunity brought about by
the recent electoral events, Midwest PSR members hope to engage others
in the health professions, especially those just beginning their
careers, to become more informed and actively engaged in confronting
the gravest health challenges of the day.
OBJECTIVES:
- Film and Discussion: Participants
will be able to describe the varied health impacts of war beginning
with preparation for war, those occurring throughout conflicts, and the
risks persisting for decades after a cease fire is declared.
- Panel #1 -- Challenging Coal in the Midwest:
Participants will be able to describe the coal life cycle, explain
health risks associated with each stage, especially regarding
vulnerable populations here in Iowa.
- Panel #2 -- Nuclear Weapons:
Participants will assess the risks of nuclear proliferation and help
formulate an appropriate public health/medical response.
- Panel #3 -- Students Step Up to the
Challenges: Participants will be able to assess
mentoring/teaching opportunities and propose approaches to training
health professionals better able to respond to the gravest health
threats of our time.
- Nuclear Power: Participants
will be able to discuss the health threats and opportunity costs
inherent to any increased use of nuclear power.
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Program
POWERLINES
to the Future
Midwest Regional PSR
Scientific and Business
Meeting
International Center,
Old Capitol Town Center Mall, Downtown Iowa City, IA
Conference
Brochure: powerlines_brochure.pdf
Conference Poster: powerlines_poster.pdf
Preliminary Program
Friday Evening Free Film, Feb 13, 2009
7:00 PM Sign-in and pre-Registration for Feb 14 Conference
7:30 PM-9:30 PM Free Film: "Scarred
Lands & Wounded Lives" --
Discussion & light refreshments
Saturday, Feb 14, 2009
08:00 AM Registration &
Breakfast
09:00 AM Introduction.
PSR Continues to Confront the Gravest
Threats to Health: Jeff Patterson DO, National PSR, President Elect
09:30 AM PANEL #1-- Challenging Coal in the Midwest
- Coal’s Dirty Life
Cycle: Maureen McCue MD PhD
- Beyond Coal: Paul
Deaton CRST Logistics, Chairman Johnson County BOH
- PSR's Code Black
Campaign: Barbara Gottlieb (invited)
10:30 AM PANEL #2 -- Nuclear Weapons
- Catastrophic Environmental Consequences of
Regional and Global Nuclear War: Steven Starr,
PSR Senior Scientist
- PSR Prescription for a
Nuclear-Free Future: Jeff Patterson DO
11:30 AM PANEL #3 -- Health Sciences Students Step Up
to the Challenges.
- Confronting Coal:
Sameet Sangha MPH Student
- Healthcare in
Palestine: Harb Harb, UI medical and MPH student
12:30 PM Luncheon
01:00 PM Nuclear Power -- Not the Bridge to Safe, Clean
Energy: Brice Smith PhD, SUNY Cortland, Department of
Physics, author of Insurmountable
Risks
02:00 PM Midwest Regional PSR
Meeting, Where do we go from here?
04:00 PM Adjourn
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Faculty
Paul Deaton BA MA
Iowa
PSR member and Chairman of the Johnson County Iowa Board of Health and
has helped focus attention on the health effects of coal burning in
Iowa. He is a Board of Directors member of Clean Air for Everyone
Iowa Citizens Action Network. Mr. Deaton is a logistics
profession and is currently Director of Operations at CRST Logistics,
Inc.
Barbara Gottlieb (invited)
Ms Gottlieb is
a national PSR Environment & Health Program Manager of the PSR Code
Black Campaign.
Harb Harb
Mr.
Harb is an medical student at the UI Carver College of Medicine and is
working on an MPH in the UI College of Public Health. He
spent the summer of 2008 working in a Palestinian Hospital as his MPH
Practicum.
Maureen McCue MD PhD
Dr. McCue is
the Powerlines Conference organizer, Coordinator of Iowa PSR,
Board Member of National PSR, Medical Officer for the Johnson County
Iowa Board of Health, and teaches in the UI Global Health Studies
Program. She has lectured and written on the health effects of
global warming and on health effects of coal burning.
Jeff Patterson DO
Dr. Patterson
is President-Elect of national PSR and is a founder of the Madison
Wisconsin PSR chapter (now PSR Wisconsin). He has been active in
International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War for many
years and heads the Hackett Hemwell Foundation that does international
charitable medical work.
John Rachow PhD MD
Dr.
Rachow is the Powerlines Conference Director, a Iowa PSR member, and
Board Member of national PSR.
Sameet Sangha
Mr. Sangha is
an MPH student in
the UI College of Public Health. Mr. Sangha researching health
effects of coal burning in Iowa.
Brice Smith PhD
Steven Starr MT
Mr.
Starr is a Senior Scientist for PSR, is a member of the International
Network of Engineers and Scientists Against Proliferation (INESAP), as
well as Physicians for Global Survival (Canada). Mr. Starr is an
expert on nuclear weapons operating status and the predicted climatic
effects of nuclear war. He lives in South Columbia,
MO.
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Registration
Please
pre-register or at least let us know by Wednesday
February 11, 2009 that you are coming (see Contact
Us below) and you may then register at the door. We need an
accurate head count to order enough
food!!!
The film and discussion Friday
evening February 13 is free and open to the public.
Conference registration includes continental breakfast and lunch on
Saturday February 14.
Conference
registration is based on a sliding scale in a
effort to make this educational conference as open as possible. Please register with your donation.
Register
by MAIL:
To register by mail download, print, complete,
and mail with payment (address is on the form).
Click on one
of the links to download the Form
Register
ONLINE:
To register online follow the instructions below:
- Pick the category below that best applies
to you.
- Click the appropriate PayPal link in the
right column to make your secure online payment.
- Note: you do not need a PayPal
account, you may use your credit card.
- When at PayPal, enter the
registration/donation amount you wish to make guided by the sliding
scale below.
- While at PayPal you can add a comment to the
conference organizers just before final submission of the donation.
The following sliding scale offers suggested
donation levels for conference registration:
Registration
Category
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Suggested
Donation
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Make
Your Donation
(Click on
the appropriate PayPal link below)
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Physicians
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$65
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Click
to
register as Physician
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Allied
Health
Professionals
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$35
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Click
to
register as Allied Health Professional
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General
Public
& Retired
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$20
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Click
to
register as General Public or Retired
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Students
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$15
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Click
to
register as Student
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I can't come,
but want to support the
conference.
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Any amount
appreciated
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Click
to
donate toward the conference
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Sponsors
Sponsors
Jointly
Sponsored by the Midwest Regional chapter of Physicians
for Social Responsibility and The University of Iowa Carver College of
Medicine.
Cosponsors
University of Iowa Center for Human Rights
University of Iowa Global Health Studies Program
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Educational
Credit
CONTINUING MEDICAL EDUCATION
CREDIT:
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the
Essential
Areas and Policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical
Education (ACCME) through the joint sponsorship of the University of Iowa Roy J.
and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine and Physicians for Social
Responsibility. The UI Carver College is accredited by the
ACCME to
provide continuing medical education for physicians.
The
University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine
designates this educational activity for a maximum of 8.5 AMA PRA Category 1 CreditsTM.
Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of
their
participation in the activity.
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Maps
& Directions
Conference Location
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See Marker on map at
the left.
University of Iowa
International Center
Old Capitol Town
Center
(previously Old
Capitol Mall)
Film Friday evening: ground floor, room 1117
Conference on Saturday: 2nd floor Room 2520D
201 S Clinton St
Iowa City, IA 52240
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Driving
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See
Marker on map at the left for the Conference site.
From I-80
- Via
the Coralville 1st Ave I-80 Exit, proceed south to Hwy 6 (about
1 mile), then east through Coralville into Iowa City. Turn left
(east) on to Burlington and cross the River. A parking structure
will be on the left in 4 blocks.
- Via
the Iowa City Dubuque St I-80 Exit, follow to downtown (about 1
mile), turn right at Iowa Ave for one block, then left on
Clinton. The Conference center is one block on the right and
parking two blocks on the right.
- Via
the Iowa City Dodge St I-80 Exit, Continue south on Dodge street
(about 3 miles) to Burlington St. Turn right on Burlington
(heading west). In seven blocks turn right on Capitol St and turn
right into the parking structure attached to Old Capitol Town Center
Mall.
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Air Travel
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Connections via
Minneapolis, Detroit, and St. Louis may be less congested than through
Chicago O'Hare.
The nearest airport
to Iowa City is Cedar Rapids, Iowa, (CID)
25 miles from Iowa City.
- Limousine service and
car rentals are available.
- We can also arrange
private transportation from Cedar Rapids if needed.
Alternative airports
are:
- Moline IL, (MLI-Quad City Intl) Adjacent to
Davenport, 70 miles east of
Iowa City.
- Des Moines, IA, (DSM-Des Moines Intl) 120 miles west
of Iowa City.
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Resources
Nuclear Weapons
Physicians for Social Responsibility Fact Sheet:
New Hydrogen Bomb
Endangers Human Life and Health
Principles
for Reform of the Nuclear Order
IFRI
(Institut
Francais des
Relations Internationales) monograph on the weakening of the global
nuclear order and discusses diplomatic remedies.
Reykjavik Revisited: Steps Toward a World Free of Nuclear Weapons
George P.Shultz, Sidney D. Drell, and
James E. Goodby
Stanford,
CA: Hoover Institution Press, December 2008, 325 pages, paperback
This report is has
20 distinguished contributors and examines the practical steps required
to address the nuclear threat and the move toward the goal established
by Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev at their history 1986 meeting in
Reykjavik.
Download entire book free or order a hard copy at:
Nuclear Darkness & and Global Climate Change
Steven Starr's website for one-stop shopping on nuclear weapons and the
consequences of their use.
This new website is
newly-developed and recently online and emphasizes the consequences of
the simultaneous detonation of several thermonuclear weapons on
military (and civilian) targets.
Coal-Fired
Power Generation
Physicians for Social Responsibility Fact Sheet
Coal-Fired Power
Plants: Understanding the Health Costs of a
Dirty Energy Source
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources
Website on Air
Quality
American Lung Association Fact Sheet
Particulate Matter
The US Environmental Protection Agency
Particulate Matter
Black Lung: Anatomy
of a Public Health Disaster by Alan Derickson; Cornell University
Press, 1998, 238 Pages
The Sustainability Revolution: Portrait of a Paradigm Shift by Andres
R. Edwards; New Society Publishers, 2005, 206 Pages
Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America’s Energy Future by Jeff
Goodell; Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006, 324 Pages
Earth: The Sequel by Fred Krupp and Miriam Horn, W. W. Norton &
Company, 2008, 278 pages
Nuclear Power
Insurmountable Risks: The Dangers of Using Nuclear Power to
Combat Global Climate Change
by Brice Smith
IEER Press and RDR Books, 2006, 448 pages, paperback
In depth analysis of all aspects of
nuclear power compared to other alternatives for electricity generation.
Download executive summary of book or purchase hard copy at:
Physicians for Social
Responsibility Fact Sheet
Dirty, Dangerous and Expensive: The Truth about Nuclear Power
Bad
Reactors: Rethinking your opposition to nuclear power?
Rethink again.
By Mariah Blake
Washington Monthly, January/February 2009
Economics of nuclear power featuring
current nuclear plant construction fiascoes and the anatomy of subprime
nuclear loans.
Renewable Energy
The Stimulus Package's Poor Energy Choices
by Michael McCalley PhD MD, former PSR Executive Directory
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, February 2009
Carbon Free and Nuclear Free: A Roadmap for U.S. Energy Policy
by Arjun Makhijani PhD
IEER Press and RDR Books, 2007, 257 pages, paperback
Download entire book free or purchase hard copy at
Feasibility study of going nuclear and
carbon free in the U.S. by 2050.
20% Wind Energy by 2030 Report (www.20percentwind.org)
U.S. Dept. of Energy
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
American Wind Energy Association
Emerging Energy
Research
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Contact
Us
Questions or comments about the Conference?
- Phone:
319-530-3608 (John) or
319-828-4789 (Maureen)
- Fax: 319-828-9911
- Email:
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PSR is the
United.States affiliate of
IPPNW
was recipient of the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize.
Iowa PSR is composed of a
diverse group
of health care workers, health science students and concerned citizens
committed
to preserving the health and well being of all people through research,
education,
and advocacy. As part of PSR and IPPNW, Iowa PSR is
especially
committed to advancing nuclear disarmament and nuclear security,
prevention
of gun violence, and the preservation and promotion of safe
environmental policies. These three man-made health threats have
a massive global impact on public health and security and our concern
for each of these issues guide our actions and organizational policies.
For more information visit our About Us
page.
This
website is a continually
growing endeavor.
To offer suggestions or comments about the content
of this website,
please
.
Thank you for your support!
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