LETTER TO READER FROM NANCY SHEA, CIRCULATION MANAGER - FEB. 1971]

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01314R000100470027-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 1, 2004
• Sequence Number: 27
• Publication Date: February 19, 1971
• Content Type: LETTER

"I guess nuclear power is pretty clean . .
"I'm sure the government wouldn't let milk and meat and
vegetables on the market if they were contaminated with
pesticides."
"I believe this air pollution thing is over-rated - the
air I breathe doesn't bother me . . . ."
Right? Or wrong? You'd be the expert at every social
gathering if you'd read the recent articles on these sub-
jects in ENVIRONMENT. Written by scientists and edited
by professional writers, the articles provide a factual
basis for discussion with no emotional overtones: in
short, they tell it like it is.
Because it is not the purpose of ENVIRONMENT to go witch-
hunting. Nor to lobby for a particular point of view.
And certainly not to indulge in hand-wringing or axe-
grinding.
Since 1958 our purpose has been to inform; our interest
has been in people . . . and their environment. ENVIROMENT
is a magazine for intelligent people who want to know the
facts about their world . . . and where science and tech-
nology may be -- sometimes unwittingly -- taking it.
For instance:
"Scientists Question Reactor Effects" points out
that plans for many of the nuclear reactors being
built as sources of electric power include the
routine disposal of radioactive wastes in nearby
rivers and streams.
"Noise and the Public Health": common urban day-
time noise levels cause changes in man's nervous
system - reduce blood volume in the skin; stroke
volume in the heart, and produce dilation in the
pupils of the eyes.
"Chemical Weapons - What They Are, What They Do"
lists the military advantages of using nerve gases.
They are cheap, easy to produce and deliver, give
no warning, and kill in two minutes. They are
also stored in great quantities at various locations
around the United States.
OWEN CHAMBERLAIN, PH.D.
University of California, Berkeley
LAMONT C. COLE, PH.D.
Cornell University
BARRY COMMONER, PH.D.
Washington University
JAMES F. CROW, PH.D.
University of Wisconsin
RENE JULES DUBOS, PH.D.
The Rockefeller University
JOHN T. EDSALL, M.D.
Harvard University
SAMUEL S. EPSTEIN, M.D.
Children's Cancer Research
Foundation, Inc.
JOHN M. FOWLER, PH.D.
University of Maryland
RUSSELL H. MORGAN, M.D.
The Johns Hopkins
University School of Medicine
ERIC REISS, M.D.
Michael Reese Hospital
and Medical Center
ROGER REVELLE, PH.D.
Harvard University Center
for Population Studies
FREDERICK C. ROBBINS, M.D.
Case Western Reserve University
ATHELSTAN SPI LHAUS, D.SC.
Palm Beach, Fla.
EDWARD L. TATUM, PH.D.
The Rockefeller University
SHELDON NOVICK
Editor
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 Approved For Release 2005/01/11 : CIA-RDP88-01314R000100470027-5
"Those Airborne Chemicals" reveals that the garbage in our air. is pro-
ducing measurable damage to health - particularly to the old and the
already ill."
The point is this: technological progress - generally thought to be beneficial -
poses threats to all of us in our natural environment. The Committee for Environmental
Information, publisher of ENVIRONMENT, thinks you ought to know about them.
Don't you?
After all, it's our world, our air, our water, our land. We need to know the
consequences of new discoveries - either to applaud them, to discuss them, or to
prevent their implementation.
There is an important difference in the way ENVIRONMENT deals with the "side effects"
of scientific progress, and the way some other publications do. Our authors are
scientists, with a scientist's inbuilt desire to get at the truth. In addition,
because we operate as a non-profit organization, we cannot take stands on issues.
Therefore ENVIRONMENT presents all the facts we can gather on both sides of a
question - clearly - and dispassionately. When you read ENVIRONMENT, you're not
reading propaganda.
But our magazine is by no means dull - or unreadable. Scientific terms incompre-
hensible to the intelligent layman are ruthlessly edited out of the text. There
are no abstruse charts or esoteric references. ENVIRONMENT is edited to make clear,
easy reading for any interested person - businessman, housewife, or whatever.
We believe that any sentence which has to be read more than once is badly written.
So the articles in ENVIRONMENT are as readable as they are authoritative.
When you read ENVIRONMENT your understanding of the relationship between people
and their environment will be enhanced. You'll be in a better position to make
sensible judgments.
You'll understand why Barry Commoner, Director of Washington University's Center
for the Biology of Natural Systems, has said: "The environment that supports us
will take a certain amount of stress without collapsing. But now society has im-
posed stresses on the system that it cannot stand. Modern Technology has intro-
duced entirely new classes of contaminants, not controllable by natural biological
processes."
Dr. Commoner feels that an unbiased medium is needed to get the facts across . . .
and then let people decide for themselves whether the risks are worth taking.
When you think about it, that's a lot to ask of any publication. ENVIRONMENT is
one that tries.
You'll find ENVIRONMENT readable - informative - and calm. If you disagree, you
can have your money back. Just cancel your subscription, and we will refund the
full amount.
Which is by the way, fairly modest - just $8.50 a year for ten issues, or $14.50
for a two year subscription. The enclosed reply envelope is already addressed,
with first class postage paid.
If you feel it's important to know about -- and to know what to do about --
hazards in the air you breathe, the water you drink, the land you live on and the
sky you love, mail the enclosed subscription form today.
Sincerely,
-1r" cj(- '51tta-,
Circulation Manager
Approved For Release 2005/01/11 : CIA-RDP88-01314R000100470027-5
 19
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