Panel Stresses Danger of Arms Race

The American public must educate itself on the dangers of nuclear warfare and work towards the maintenance of world peace, Dr. Helen Caldicott, a member of the Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), told a packed audience of about 1000 people at the Science Center yesterday.

The Pentagon has kept the public "psychically numb" to the dangers of nuclear warfarc, Caldicott, an Australian-born physician, said.

"It is by our passivity as citizens that we have arrived at this stage of danger," Caldicott said.

Caldicott urged the audience to use the democratic process and accept responsibility for preserving the "safety of the planet."

"To go dispassionately toward mutual destruction is emotionally unhealthy," Caldicott said.

George Sommaripa, chairman of Ward Two Democratic Committee, also emphasized the importance of public involvement in taking the "first steps towards peace."

"There is no district in the country in which people have such influence," Sommaripa said of the Boston area. "Of all the people in Congress, Thomas P. O'Neill (D-Mass.)--the Speaker of the House--would be most amenable to what we want."

Halt

Sommaripa urged the audience to sign a petition for the halt of the nuclear weapons race, saying, "one thousand signatures will attract the representatives' attention: ten thousand will probably change that representative's mind."

Dr. Oliver Cope '23, professor of Surgery Emeritus and a member of the PSR, emphasized the medical profession's responsibility to educate the public. "Medicine knows what we face," he said