Summer 2001 Page 1

Science Away fromthe Camera's Eye

SSSSSUMMERUMMERUMMERUMMERUMMER 2001 2001 2001 2001 2001

After The FactA PUBLICATION OF THE INSTITUTE FOR SCIENCE AND INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES

Continued on page 4

Also in this issue of AtF:A Presidential welcome & introduction ....Page 2

A sneak peek at Amazon Project director JimOldham's latest trip ..................................Page 3

Special Federal Facilities Cleanup WorkshopInsert Section ......................................Pages 8-11

Keeping an eye on Occidental Petroleum in theAmazon .....................................................Page 12

Thanks to our donors, & your chance to contrib-ute ..............................................................Page 15

Mike FortunAn �open reading frame,� or ORF, in DNA terms is a

sequence that doesn�t have a stop codon that would halttranscription. In other words, ORFs are those portions ofthe DNA sequence that are expressed, and as we nowknow, that often means expressed in more than a single,simple, unified, linear way. ORFs also require extensiveannotation � the kind of ancillary reading and writing notes,like the marginal illuminations in a medieval manuscript,that provide sense, order, and new interpretive openingsto the main text.

It�s worthwhile to watch similar effects in the domainof genomics and the media. In the past twelve months,the media has paid seemingly endless attention to genomics,educating and entertaining scientists, historians and an-thropologists of genomics like myself, investors, and any-body else. Narratives and concepts about genes, genomes,genome projects, and genomic companies are necessar-ily coded and framed � they couldn�t work otherwise �but those frames don�t halt further writing and reading.Reading keeps on going, and what�s inside the media read-

Open Reading Frames:the Genome AND the Media

By Heidi Lenos and Scott TundermannThe Spring 2001 ISIS seminar series carried the news,

but not the way CNN does. What we see in the media,although it can be shocking, does not always tell it like itis. Three of our excellent speakers this spring gave us acritical look at recent headlines, sharing a similar theme ofoppression and silence imposed by society on the under-privileged and glossed over by the media.

Take, for example, the ever-growing crises of violencein schools and inner cities. Is it peer pressure, fear, greed,or the inherent weakness of the human spirit that causesus to harm others? In his talk on �Perpetrators and By-standers,� Ervin Staub connected today�s violence to themost powerful modern example of organized hostility�Holocaust perpetrators�and the question of how ordi-nary people become involved in harmful acts. One ofStaub�s main ideas was that such acts stem from the de-valuation of society and the disregard for indigenous cul-tures and the under-privileged. In that light, it�s no sur-

Special Insert:2001 ISIS

Federal FacilitiesCleanup Workshop

Pages 8-11

Continued on page 14

After the FactPage 2

After the Fact is published semi-annually by the Institute for Scienceand Interdisciplinary Studies. Weinvite you to submit your commentsand writing to After the Fact.Contributions may be made onpaper or disk, addressed to theeditors at ISIS, 893 West St,Amherst MA 01002; by email atisis@hampshire.edu; or by fax at413-559-5611.We reserve the right to editcontributions for clarity and/or spaceconsiderations or to decline to printthem altogether. Copy and disks willonly be returned if sent with a SASE.Managing Editor:...............................Michael FortunProduction Editor:.......................... Scott TundermannOther contributors:........................Herbert J. Bernstein.................................... Heidi Lenos.................................Jeanne Stevens.....................................Jim Oldham

Back issues and more athttp://isis.hampshire.edu

Letter from the President: Welcome to AtFHaving promised �science for the 21st Cen-

tury� for some time now, ISIS entered this yearwith programs and projects that truly exemplifyour socially responsible, environmentally protec-tive mission. Of course we have not yet wonthe fight�the news is full of issues relevant toISIS, ranging from the revival of space-basedwarfare through the almost daily revelations of industrialand military pollution to the current push for an oil- andnuclear-powered energy policy�which signal a need asgreat as ever for conscientious science. As this issue ofAfter the Fact shows, though, ISIS is up to the challenge,stronger than ever and ready for action�as always, basedon careful thinking and not without a consciously experi-menting approach.

That approach has led our projects to the strength andcredibility they now enjoy. Take the Secoya Survival Projectin Ecuador: the Aquaculture Initiative expects to have a well-established protocol for sustainable Amazon aquaculture bythe end of this year, while the ground-breaking Code ofConduct and agreement for oil exploration with OccidentalPetroleum have given the Secoya important leverage in theirdealings with the oil company. This issue of AtF features aphoto essay on the work the Secoya are now doing to moni-tor the oil workers� activities in Secoya territory for envi-ronmental infractions of the exploration agreement. Themonitoring teams identify problems and bring them to thedialogue table between OISE (the Secoya organization) andOccidental. The process doesn't guarantee that every com-plaint is satisfied, but as the photo essay shows, it has caughtand addressed a number of infractions that would otherwisehave gone unchecked. It�s a remarkable kind of involve-ment for an indigenous group in the Amazon.

As we go to press, Project Director Jim Oldham is inEcuador to support those activities and to take steps on thenext stage as the Secoya Survival Project transitions intoISIS�s Amazon Project. What that means is that our ap-proach has caught the attention of a number of other indig-enous groups around the Amazon as well as the NGOs whosupport them. We�re expanding our activities to include col-laborations and information exchanges with groups who haveneeds similar to the Secoya�s�sustainable food supply, ne-gotiations with multi-national extractive companies, or both.ISIS�s work with the Secoya may have some insights andsome lessons learned to share with Amazon groups whoare considering developing a Code of Conduct like ours orwho want to exchange know-how on fish-farming tech-niques�and we can certainly gain from their input as well.It�s very satisfying for ISIS to have achieved successes with

our way of doing science in the world and to have achance to share ideas and successes with others.

As Jim himself pointed out (via email from SouthAmerica) after reading a draft of this letter,

what we really should talk about is how willing weare to make mistakes, how we and two Peruvian

partners in the exchange are trying to look at each oth-ers' projects�warts and all�to make them all better,how we don't want to provide one answer for Amazo-nian aquaculture but rather a series of questions andpossible answers. The same goes for the Code, whichis an unfinished and imperfect document. That othersare coming to us for help in writing their own codes isa chance to collaborate to make it better, to get newperspectives (perhaps work with communities in astronger position to reject oil development rather thanjust negotiate for better terms), to start again knowingmore about oil company objectives and tactics and ourown strengths and weaknesses. And the claim we shouldmake is that the Code is a tool that helps; we made ithappen and we know we can make it better becausewe know better than anyone all that is wrong with it.

Other than a diet rich in fish, Icelanders may not have alot in common with rainforest inhabitants. As Fellow MikeFortun writes, however, the need for careful science is atleast as great in Reykjavikas it is in the Secoya vil-lage of San Pablo. Mikehas been watching thesaga of deCODE Genet-ics and the Health SectorDatabase, and in this issueshares with us some ob-servations about how themedia interacts with�andsometimes overlaps�thescientific work takingplace, defining what weknow about genomics asmuch as the actual sciencedoes. With a little moreskepticism and a little lessscientific bravado, hepoints out, we might havea very different impressionof what�s going on� andwhat gets to go on mightbe different, too.

Summer 2001 Page 3

That same critical thinking about sci-ence and policy made this pastsemester�s ISIS seminar series an es-pecially incisive one. Whether in thecase of our culture�s alarming preva-lence of violence (particularly inschools), or the case of apparently pro-gressive family planning organizationswith potentially eugenicist missions, orthe case of the obfuscatory andambigious actions of the US govern-ment waging a �drug war� over thefarms and villages of Colombia, the storyin the news is really not the same asthe picture revealed by critical analysisand in-depth investigation. The series�success was also marked by popular-ity: �standing-room only� crowdsgreeted the appearance of LynnMargulis and other prominent speakersat these talks. Series Coordinator HeidiLenos recaps this year�s �scientific

exposés� starting on this page.The main star of this summer�s AtF,

though, is our National Federal Facili-ties Cleanup Workshop, to be hosted bythe MilWaste Project on July 13-15.Project Coordinator Jeanne Stevens hasput together a special insert section onthe Workshop at the center of the is-sue. In addition to telling the story ofour plans for the Workshop and the bur-geoning National Technical ExpertsNetwork, the insert ???.

So welcome to this summer�s issueof After the Fact�I hope you find itas thought-provoking, exciting, and re-warding as has been the work on whichit reports. This important work, how-ever, can only go forward with your in-terest and support. That support is es-sential for every ISIS effort.

Our Board's 2001 budget set a$20,000 goal for the current quarter, i.e.

for contributions from this appeal. Eachproject, as well as the larger programs(such as our writing, speaking, and semi-nar series), needs support for its work.

Almost every foundation or govern-ment agency imposes restrictions andmatching conditions on their grants. Butyour contribution goes directly to themost pressing unpaid need of our workitself. Please give as generously as youcan: use the donation envelope at thecenter fold or contact us at ISIS formore information.

Thanks for your continued support;have a wonderful summer and early fall.

Sincerely,

Herbert J. BernsteinISIS President

These are the first few picturesfrom Jim Oldham's most re-cent trip to South America,which included an exchangevisit with aquaculture projectsin Peru (as well as hosting thePeruvians in Ecuador).

Top left: a fish-farming familyin Iquitos on the Amazon Rivercollects samples from their fishpond to measure growth rates.

Bottom left: the family displaysa variety of native aquaculturespecies.

Top right: Redy Centeno,aquaculture tecnician forASPRODE, holds an adultPaco (Piaractus bracypomus),a highly-valued river fish inAmazonia.

Bottom right: ArmandoPiaguaje, a Secoya fish farmer,looks closely at young fish be-ing raised in simple wood andplastic holding tanks whileother participants discuss themethodology.

First glimpses of aquaculture exchange visit to Peru

After the FactPage 4

ing frames gets shaped by the annota-tions on the edges and even by what�soutside. I�m interested in the marginsof stories, and in biological, social, andeconomic phenomena that get pushedto the edge of visibility.

Let me give you an example fromRichard Preston�s wonderful NewYorker (6/12/00) profile of J. Craig Ven-ter and Celera Genomics, with one ofthe most direct opening lines in anygenomics article ever: �Craig Venter isan asshole.� (These are somebodyelse�s words here at the outermost edgeof Preston�s article, but they establish aframe that runs around the entire ar-ticle) But it�s later in the article thatVenter is quoted saying �my view ofbiology is �We don�t know shit.��

I am so grateful when writers elicitthese kinds of marginal utterances fromtheir scientific subjects, and I immedi-ately put them into my teaching files.My undergraduates recite to me all theebullient, oversimplified, over-optimistic,over-deterministic things aboutgenomics and the Human GenomeProject (HGP) that they have suckedup from various media outlets, mostlycable TV and the internet. They getpositively defensive when I try to openup any hole in their certitudes about thesuperhuman pow-ers that genes andgenomes exert onall aspects of ourlives. So it�s great tobe able to throwthem a quote likethis, authorized withCraig Venter�s name, and ask them toreconcile it with what they think theyknow about biology.

What I hope happens is not thesimple reversal of �gee, I thought weknew everything about our genes andnow I know we don�t know shit.� Insome ways, I don�t want them to beable to reconcile the statements at all; I

want it to bother them that we knowthings about genes that are incrediblecompared to what we knew even fiveyears ago, AND we don�t know shit.As Venter wrote about the �complete�(it wasn�t) sequencing of the human ge-nome in Science: �In organisms withcomplex nervous systems, neither genenumber, neuron number, nor number ofcell types correlates in any meaningfulmanner with even simplistic measuresof structural or behavioral complexity.Nor would they be expected to; this isthe realm of non-linearities and epigen-esis.�

What I hope for is someunderstanding of a frameand its margins, and at leastan opening to the question:what would the world belike if appreciation of ourignorance were installed atthe center of our knowl-edge and media frames,and immodest scientismand egoism inhabited themargins? What would tele-vision look like, what wouldscience look like, what would ethics looklike in a culture in which the aestheticsor affects attached to both knowledgeand ignorance were reversed? A biol-ogy oriented more toward non-linear ef-fects and epigenesis may be an impor-tant part of such a shift, and this should

be an area wherelife scientists andhistorians/anthro-pologists of the lifesciences mightlearn a few readingstrategies fromeach other.

The Faces of CompaniesHere�s Venter on the cover of Busi-

ness Week with an ancient Greek ex-pression hovering in the space over hishead. The identification of the genomicscompany with its CEO happens oftenin the media. Part of this personaliza-tion effect is that a guy�s face looks

better on the cover of your magazinethan some high-tech stripmall buildingin Rockville. But there was certainlysome �taking it personally� betweenVenter and Francis Collins, director ofthe National Human Genome ResearchInstitute. The sentiment on the publicside of things seemed to be more �thatasshole did it to us� rather than �thegenomics political economy that wehelped establish years ago by fundingthe HGP infrastructure to keepAmerica competitive has now comeback in the form of Celera Genomics

to bite us in theass�� Just as non-linear and epigeneticeffects so often getcollapsed and re-duced into �gene xcauses trait y,� avery complex politi-cal economy of bio-information and bio-materials gets col-lapsed into �CraigVenter.�

And let mestress again: it�s not so much a questionof right and wrong readings here. CraigVenter is Celera Genomics within somelimited reading frames, as surely as genex causes trait y within some limited read-ing frames. But that doesn�t precludeother ways of reading that can be justas truthful and necessary. Perhaps it�sbest to say: Celera Genomics, like allgood nonlinear systems, both is ANDisn�t Craig Venter, and it�s always theunresolvable tension of the AND thatis so productive�in organisms, in the lifesciences, in economies�and in history.

Now I�d like to shift territories to adifferent identification between agenomics company and its CEO, oneframed by a series of old and contem-porary Viking myths invoked bydeCODE Genetics, operating in Iceland,and its volatile CEO and founder KariStef-ansson. These myths, particularlythe parts depicting the supposed isola-tion and homogeneity of Iceland and its

What would the world belike if appreciation of ourignorance were installed atthe center of our knowledgeand media frames?

Open Reading Framesfrom page 1

Summer 2001 Page 5

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population, have been reiterated consis-tently in both the Icelandic and interna-tional media, and have been vital todeCODE�s ef-forts to leverageitself into thecompetitive glo-bal genomicseconomy.

As readersof AtF may re-call from mylast article,deCODE is aUS corporation (though often called anIcelandic company, to deCODE�s ad-vantage with its Icelandic constituents)founded in 1996 by Stefansson with $12million from US venture capital firmsassociated with Harvard and the Uni-versity of Chicago. With virtually norecord of gene discovery research,Stefansson leveraged international at-tention when he secured a five-yearpromise of $200 million in paymentsfrom the Swiss company Hoffmann-LaRoche in February 1998 � at the timethe largest deal ever between agenomics company and a major phar-maceutical company.

When deCODE presented its plan tobuild a Health Sector Database in Ice-land, there followed nine months of pub-lic and private wrangling and politick-ing, to which, with the accompanyingmedia frenzy, Stefansson and deCODE(the two are even more impossible toseparate than Venter and Celera) liketo point as signs of democratic debate(more on this below) � convenientlyleaving out the fact that they had triedto sidestep any debate at all by rushingthe first draft of the plan through theParliament at the very end of the spring1998 legislative session. The IcelandicParliament finally passed the HealthSector Database Act (also drafted byStefansson and deCODE�s lawyers) inDecember 1998, collecting the medicalrecords of every Icelander and grant-ing a 12-year exclusive monopoly to oneanonymous licensee � deCODE. The

Database will cross-link the healthrecords with a computerized version ofthe well-maintained genealogical

records ofIceland and adatabase ofnew geneticinformationfrom bloods a m p l e sgathered byI c e l a n d i cphysicians (atleast some of

whom are deCODE shareholders).A book could be written about the

complexities of these events, which I�mcurrently doing. So here I�ll just pull outa few strands that illuminate the par-ticularly volatile intersections of genom-ics and the media that emerged in Ice-land, but which may also tell us some-thing about genomics more generally.

Presumed ConsentThe Health Sector Database was

enacted on the principle of �presumedconsent�: every Icelander living anddead was presumed to have given theirconsent to place their medical recordsin the database, and individuals werethen grantedthe new rightto �opt out�of the data-base � al-though theycould not optout theirdead rela-tives, eventhough theyshare someof the samegenetic in-formation.The graphhere charts the number of opt-outs, butit also charts some of the social andmedia forces in these events. The num-ber of opt-outs rises steeply at first, andthen abruptly slows down in June 1999,

as most Icelanders mistakenly assumedthat this was the cut-off date for optingout. The Icelandic media did little tocorrect that misunderstanding, even asit broadcast numerous optimistic storiesthat boosted deCODE�s share value onIceland�s �grey market.� In January2000, deCODE was formally grantedthe license to the database, and the opt-out rate increased again as a new roundof media coverage occurred and peoplewere reminded of the ongoing realityof the matter. It now appears to be lev-eling off just as it approaches 20,000people or 7% of the population, perhapsa reflection of the fact that people arejust plain tired of dealing with it all.

I�ll come back to the Icelandic me-dia in a bit, but let�s turn briefly to theinternational press, which also brings usback to the question of Iceland�s isola-tion and the genetic homogeneity thatis supposed to be associated with it.

HomogeneityThe homogeneity or purity of the Ice-

landic population was never so much aquestion as it was simply assumed tobe true, on the basis of some mythicunderstanding reinforced by deCODEpress releases.

�Natural born guinea pigs��the most homogeneous popu-lation on earth�an �island so inbred that it is ahappy genetic hunting ground��largely blue-eyed, blond-hairedpopulace� �a nearly homogeneous popu-lation...� �...carrying nearly thesame genetic codes as the Vikingexplorers who settled here morethan 1,100 years ago� ...with�little immigration to muddy thegenetic pool over the centuries�The headlines and soundbiteshere from the internationalpress indicate the prevalence

and power of this assumption, summedup most strikingly in this cover fromMother Jones that purports to be criti-cal of the Icelandic-deCODE project

After the FactPage 6

even as it uncritically repeats its mosttendentious and exoticist claim: Icelandis a nation of blonde, blue-eyed babes(and, presumably, hunks).

What continues topuzzle me is why thisreading frame was neveropened up by reading itagainst another quasi-mythic image so readilyavailable in pop culture.Bjork, Iceland�s other fa-mous media-hyped per-sonality, has sold a lot ofrecords, including 1997�sHomogenic and its utterand complete ironizationof the pure, natural, homo-genic Ice-lander. Why didn�t a single journalist,anywhere, ever even ask the openingquestion: what�s up here? How do weknow what the characteristics of the�typical Icelander� are?

It�s a question that can be ap-proached via more rigorous avenuesthan those of pop music � although it�salso a question that can�t be fully settled.In contrast to deCODE�s homogeneityclaim, through an analysis of both mito-chondrial DNA and a genome-wide setof 300 microsatellite markers, EinarArnason and two other Icelandic popu-lation geneticists have argued in NatureGenetics that, in comparison to otherScandinavian and European popula-tions, Iceland is among the most heter-ogenous � surpassed only by Spain andTurkey in some measures of geneticdifference.

It�s also a good question as to whatdifference the degree of genetic differ-ence in a population makes when itcomes to genomics-based gene discov-ery projects applied to entire popula-tions. Estonia, for example, now arguesthat its more heterogenous populationwill not only serve as a better platformfor gene discovery, but because it rep-resents the actual heterogeneity of Cau-

casian populations better than Icelanddoes, it serves as a better proving groundfor the testing, marketing, and sales offuture pharmacogenomics-based drugs.(Many drug and genomics companiestarget Caucasian populations since, onaverage, they tend to have more money

or better insurance.)At any rate, it�s clear

that deCODE held outthe bait of a uniquely ho-mogenous population,and journalists and in-vestors in Iceland andthe US took it on faith.In multiple media sto-ries, on investment websites, in deCODE�s ownregistration statementwith the US Securities

and Exchange Commission, the�unmuddied� quality of the gene poolwas the big selling point that distin-guished this otherwise undistinguishedcompany from the genomics pack.

And like every other genomics com-pany, deCODE issued a continualstream of press releases trumpeting itslatest achievements and discoveries: themapping or isolation of markers or can-didate genes �for� � in the familiar andinaccurate shorthand � for conditionsincluding pre-eclampsia, osteoporosis,Alzheimer�s, and most recently schizo-phrenia. But the later publication ofsome article in the scientific literaturesubstantiating these claims appears withfar less frequency in the case ofdeCODE than with companies likeCelera, Millennium, Human GenomeSciences, and others. With deCODE,one gets a press release, and little afterthat to substantiate it.

Story StocksLike the homogeneity line, that too

has worked quite well thus far � espe-cially in Iceland itself. In the two yearsbefore deCODE�s July 2000 IPO on theNASDAQ exchange, the state banksof Iceland bought shares of preferredstock in the company. The banks

pumped up the good news aboutdeCODE and its supposed discoveriesvia the Icelandic media, and then re-sold the preferred stock they had bought,ever more valuable with each newsstory, to the genome-enthusiast Iceland-ers. A total of 11.1 million shares ofdeCODE were traded on the so-called�gray market,� pre-IPO. Some 6,000Icelanders bought stock at prices be-tween $30 and $65 per share; by con-trast, deCODE opened on NASDAQin July 2000 at $18 and now tradesaround $7 after continuous volatility.Many of the Icelanders took out sec-ond mortgages or other forms of bankloans to buy into the national enterprise.The securities laws have now beenchanged in Iceland to preclude exactlythe kind of activity that went on in thecase of deCODE and the state banks.

The Iceland story is a particularlyvolatile example that indexes the impor-tance of stories in the media-enhancedvolatilities characteristic of the wholegenomics scene. Biotech and genomicsstocks are some of the best exemplarsof what are called �story stocks� onWall Street: stocks whose value, evenmore so than �regular� stocks, is con-tingent upon the narrative spun aroundthem. (The name �story stocks� datesto 1994, when �certain stocks for whichan intriguing argument could be made� called story stocks � began respond-ing largely to chat-room comment andnewsletter hype� (Browning 2000).)

The genomics companies, like theirdot-com cousins, depend on intriguingnarratives of open-ended futures fortheir speculative value. In his book Ir-rational Exuberance, economist Rob-ert Shiller has described how specula-tive bubbles since the tulip-mania of theseventeenth century have been blownup by narrative-dependent anticipations,and how that process has always re-quired the media for its production. InShiller�s analysis, one of the most im-portant features of the great specula-tive bubble of the late 1990s (if, indeed,it was a bubble) was the intensification

Open Reading Framesfrom page 5

Bjork, bearer of pureIcelandic genes

Summer 2001 Page 7

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of this media effect in the economy.This was an important feature in thegenomics economy, with the daily andeven hourly obsessive attention togenomics stock values through on-linenews and stock services; and a multi-plicity of narrative forecasts, projec-tions, and other anticipatory storieschanneled through television, newspa-pers, and magazines.

Informed ConsentI have one more story illustrating the

vital effects that occur at the marginsof the media and the speculativeeconomy of the late 20th century. Thisstory � about evolving definitions of in-formed consent � places genomicswithin a larger context of people�s (in-cluding scientists�) attitudes toward andparticipation in biomedical research, andchanging principles and protocols of in-formed consent.

It comes from our own US NationalBioethics Advisory Commission, in a dis-cussion not of genomics per se, butabout what willhappen to in-formed consentprotocols in anera in whichmany US citizenshave come to ex-pect and demandaccess to thenewest, most experimental drug thera-pies � a trend that will undoubtedly in-tensify in the age of pharmaco-genomics and its promise of individual-ized drug treatments � as we anticipatedrugs of the future. The story illustratesthe subtle but powerful ways in whichthe publicity-generating machines of bio-medical research and the currentspeculative climate in the stock marketwork at the margins of scientific imagi-nation and practice. It also illustrateshow scientists themselves can often bethe most sensitive readers of these openreading frames

In one of the Commission�s publicmeetings, the bioethicist Jeffrey Kahn

spoke about informed consent, and thechanges in the biomedical research en-vironment since the days of the BelmontReport which codified many of thoseprocesses and principles in the 1970s.Kahn addressed a wide range of issues,including the change in social expecta-tions in the US whereby a clinical trialfor an experimental drug or treatmenthad gone from guinea-pig suspicion tothe most sought-after, �best� medicalcare available. His presentation leftStanford geneticist David Cox with tworelated questions.

First, asked Cox, �why do you thinkit is that we have switched in this for-mat from protecting people to every-one clamoring for the benefits? Whereare those benefits and why has thatcome about? I have my own views butI would be very interested in yours.�The second related question, Cox con-tinued, was �if this is more in the con-text of explaining to people that they arepartaking in a risky situation, which Iactually think is exactly what the pro-

cess is about, thenwhy would anybodywant to do it?�

Kahn an-swered in terms ofhistorical and socialcomplexity: the 80sand 90s gave us a�mixed up� �cock-

tail� of AIDS activists demanding thereconfiguration of clinical trials and in-clusion in them, women with breast can-cer and other conditions similarly de-manding greater attention to and directinvolvement in research on women�shealth issues, and other large-scalechanges in the culture of biomedicalresearch. As a result, Kahn suggested,experimental biomedical research andits speculative treatments had becomenot only a normal part of the health caresystem, but a normal expectation.

Cox agreed with Kahn�s narrative,but then added some of his own viewsas he had promised earlier in the dis-cussion. The geneticist Cox knew his

own culture better than the bioethicistKahn, or simply felt more at liberty tocritique it in public:

I would have added one other thing: Ithink over the past 10 years the re-search community has become ex-tremely adept at their own publicrelations�to the point where eventhey believe it...[A]nd there is sometruth to it but not on the time scale thatit is represented. So it is long-term gains,not short-term gains. It is like the stockmarket. We should have some stockpeople actually doing this for us... Ireally think that things have changedin my view. I think you are right notbecause the process of consent haschanged but because the players havechanged... what the game is to getpeople to enroll.

Scientists like David Cox can help allof us read the margins � of organisms,of research communities, and of stockmarkets. He tells a brief story aboutindirect links, feedback loops, partial oremergent truths, compelling public re-lations, and other non-linearities that giverise to raised expectations among allparticipants in the game � the peopletaking drugs, the researchers that de-velop drugs, the people who invest inthe corporations that make drugs. I�dcall this changed game that Cox de-scribes the game of speculating on, andwithin, complex systems � if only be-cause we can�t seem to escape thesetwo words, complexity and speculation,at this historical moment. It�s in thiscomplex game of speculating on drugs-of-the-future that the need for the frameshift that I spoke of at the beginning �centralizing an appreciation of our ig-norance, nudging our scientific and so-cial optimism more toward the margins� might be most urgent and necessary.

You certainly don�t need me to tellyou that this is an exhilarating time inthe life sciences � a time of non-linearities and epigenesis in which thelinearities of something like the CentralDogma � DNA codes for RNA codesfor protein � would sound like a crude

Getting into a clinical trialfor an experimental drugor treatment had gone fromguinea-pig suspicion to themost sought-after, �best�medical care available.

After the FactPage 8 SPECIAL FEDERAL FACILITIES CLEANUP WORKSHOP SECTION

By Jeanne StevensIn this issue of ATF, we are pleased

to bring you an in-depth report of ourexciting new program, the NationalTechnical Experts Network (NTEN),and the upcoming NTEN-sponsorednational workshop, Federal FacilitiesCleanup Workshop & Citizens� Fo-rum. This event, to be held at AmherstCollege July 13-15, is the first of twomajor national focus group workshopsdedicated to researching the best wayto design and structure the NTEN.

But first, a quick look back�By now, many ATF readers are fa-

miliar with the concept of the NTEN: alarge-scale national network to link allof the different types of �experts� in-volved in military waste cleanup. Butwhere did the NTEN vision originate?How did ISIS arrive at the idea that anetwork of experts, linking citizen-ex-perts and citizen-scientists with profes-sional experts and others, is crucial tocreating better cleanups?

The NTEN evolved in part out of thelessons learned and insights gained byISIS staff during more than seven yearsof work in national coalitions, regionalanalyses, and local activity�the latteras technical assistants on the Restora-tion Advisory Board (RAB) at WestoverAir Reserve Base in Chicopee, Mass.Working with concerned citizens, localscientists, and military and regulatorymembers on the RAB at Westover hasalways taught us powerful lessons andadvanced our institutional understand-ing of the practical, on-the-ground is-sues in the vast problem of military en-vironmental pollution.

Of course, the NTEN also developedout of looking beyond our local projectto the cleanup of nuclear and toxicwaste sites at federal facilities nation-wide. When ISIS staff haven�t been re-viewing technical documents or work-ing to facilitate undergraduate researchprojects with our collaborators at the

Five Colleges, we�ve participated in,facilitated, and observed public dia-logues about the cleanup of militarypollution nationwide. We have observedand analyzed both the cleanup successstories and the restoration mishaps.

This process was greatly helped in1997 when we convened the NortheastFederal Facilities Cleanup Workshopand continues today as we develop thenational program, NTEN. It was con-firmed in 1999 when several grassrootsgroups and a couple of national citizenparticipation organizations met at a na-tional conference on Monitored Natu-ral Attenuation and designated ISIS asthe lead organization for developing sucha network. The formation of the NTENis informed and improved through ourcollaborative research with environ-mental scientists as they work on mili-tary waste projects and with concernedcitizens as they work to identify the tech-nical resources necessary to participateon their RABs, Citizen Advisory Boards(CABs) and Site-Specific AdvisoryBoards (SSABs).

As citizens, we meet other advisoryboard members, ask a lot of questions,and listen to their stories. As scientists,we ask why the science behind cleanuphas not kept pace with what is clearlyour nation�s most daunting environmen-tal catastrophe, a problem that pervadesnearly every area of the United States.

We know that with well over 1,000military bases, each on average contain-ing dozens of contaminated sites, thereis an enormous need for human effortto both accurately and equitably ad-dress this issue. Cleanup of these fed-eral facilities is now in place, but imple-mentation can be very difficult. Andwhile great strides have been made inthe cleanup since the process began,much more still needs to be done.

The ISIS vision for cleanup recog-nizes this colossal need for human ef-fort to create better and more equitable

cleanups. We believe that the scientistsare essential to this goal and that youngscientists, especially, must be broadlytrained to understand the interdiscipli-nary dimensions of their work�to beeducated to listen to those with the site-or context-specific knowledge and towork in service to communities affectedby military pollution. Through the linkscreated by the NTEN program, ISIS iscreating forums for the exchange of thisvaried knowledge. Those forums prima-rily include the ISIS-NTEN listserve, in�beta� trials since February 2001, andtwo national focus group workshops,one this July in Amherst, Mass. and thesecond next year in California.

The ISIS-NTEN Listserve

The ISIS-NTEN listserve is an elec-tronic bulletin board dedicated to onlinediscussion of technical information: howto get it, use it, and analyze it. The ISIS-NTEN listserve includes lessons learnedin the area of military environmentalcleanup, tools and information resources,citizen expert and citizen scientist sup-port (with respect to technical issues),and discussion on new science neededto respond to various cleanup issues andconcerns. It provides the cleanup com-munity with a unique opportunity to net-work and communicate with other indi-viduals about technical cleanup topics,share case stories, ask for help fromother experts, and answer the techni-cal questions of others. The listserve alsofunctions as an electronic bulletin boardto communicate announcements aboutrelevant conferences, workshops andcitizen forums. To join this forum, signup for the ISIS-NTEN either online atisis.hampshire.edu/mil/application.htmlor by emailing isis@hamphire.edu.

While the listserve is still only in itsinaugural phase, messages posted in-clude those that reflect the pressingneed for a national network of techni-cal experts. One of the first postings

Listserve, Workshop for NTEN's First Year

Summer 2001 Page 9SPECIAL FEDERAL FACILITIES CLEANUP WORKSHOP SECTIONwas an inquiry from a United StatesGeological Survey (USGS) scientist cur-rently developing a Geographic Infor-mation System (GIS) to be used in theeconomic analysis of the closure of mili-tary bases. The inquiring scientist wastasked with analyzing Institutional Con-trols (IC�s) and asked for statistics ontimes-to-failure for IC�s (or of otherremediation measures) and of the con-sequences of IC failure, including finan-cial and other losses.

A flurry of referrals and suggestionsquickly answered this posting, includ-ing responses from a state assistant At-torney General, a lawyer who refer-enced relevant studies performed by alaw institute, and a toxicologist who clari-fied an earlier reference to a report re-leased by a non-profit research group.

A later posting from a �citizen-ex-pert� who lives near the Badger ArmyAmmunition Plant in Wisconsin ex-pressed a desire to network and workwith others about heavy metal contami-nation, a serious problem in her com-munity. This posting illustrates the needfor a trusted and knowledgeable sourceof information and experience with theproblems found at bases all over thecountry. As the NTEN listserve movespast this preliminary phase, we feel thenetwork can and should grow to fulfillthat need�on a wide variety of topics.

The Federal Facilities CleanupWorkshop:Technical Information

(FFCWTI) & Citizens� Forum

The upcoming Federal FacilitiesCleanup Workshop: Technical Infor-mation (FFCWTI) at Amherst Collegeon July 13, 14 and 15 is the first in aseries of ISIS focus group workshopsdedicated to researching the best wayto define and structure the NTEN. Akeynote panel will open the workshopFriday evening, followed by two fulldays of presentations, case studies andbreak-out sessions.

At the FFCWTI, participants will de-bate and analyze the problem of mili-tary contamination and the resulting

threat to human health and the environ-ment. They will also examine the rolesof independent scientists, college pro-fessors, and knowledgeable citizens inactive cleanup through improving theunderstanding of technical issues amongadvisory boards at DoD and DOE in-stallations. We hypothesize that in-formed and networked scientists, espe-cially among those who have the skillsand expertise to effectively communi-cate to the public the risks posed byhazardous substance use and release atmilitary installations, can suitably com-municate with advisory boards and in-crease their understanding of the risksat hand. Well-informed citizens are akey component in guiding federal facil-ity cleanup programs and maintainingregulatory oversight.

These focus groups are aimed at ex-changing information and expertise sowe can research how technical expertsmight better advise their communitiesand advisory boards on risks, appropri-ate remediation and cleanup methods,and the like. Participants will include col-lege professors, community members,stakeholders and scientists involved inDoD or DOE cleanup activities andadvisory boards, as well as DoD, DOE,EPA officials and representatives fromstate and local governments.

At the programmatic level, the work-shop will consist of plenary sessionsfocused on matters of general interestand smaller breakout groups focused onmore specific issues. Currently, topicsto be covered include:· Risk Assessment Analysis· Technical Information Needs· Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) &

Ranges: Options and Opportunities· The Role of the Citizen-Expert· Finding the Resources in Diverse

Communities· Role of States & Tribal Govern-

ments in Cleanup· Using the Web to Find Information· High Level Nuclear Waste Dis-

posal: Yucca Mountain· Privatization & Early Transfer

· New Science for Effective Cleanup(see the workshop agenda, pp. 10-11).

The FFCWTI will also include a Citi-zens� Forum, to be held the day prior tothe workshop, from 9 AM until 5 PMon Friday, July 13th. We have organizedthis event to facilitate networking amongcitizens prior to the main event. Webelieve it is important to provide citizenswith an opportunity to meet in advancein order to get �at least in the same vol-ume if not the same page,� as one leaderof a national citizens� group once put it.We are planning this event after themodel of the very successful Citizens�Caucus session at our regional confer-ence in 1997, which offered concernedcitizens access to education, support andtraining before the conference. By thetime the official conference began, thesecitizens were better-informed and readyto participate in workshop sessions andbreak-out groups. Currently, the sepa-rate but related Citizens� Forum eventat our July 2001 workshop will cover:· Four case study presentations· Working Outside the RAB· Technical Information Needs:

Where to get technical assistance& what kinds are needed

· Environmental Justice & Cleanup· Policy Implications for Military

Waste CleanupAnd last but certainly not least, we

are pleased to host a youth group at thisworkshop, which includes a cadre ofyoung leaders directly affected by pub-lic health threats posed by the militaryinstallations in their communities andwho work on these issues at the grass-roots level. The purpose of the work-shop�s youth component is to connectthese young individuals, ages 15-25, withexperienced technical and citizen sci-entists working on real environmentalproblems in training and networking thatcan support them back in their own com-munities. The participants will haveworkshop mentors to work with themduring and following the event.

For more about NTEN, the listserve,or the FFCWTI, contact us at ISIS.

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FFCWTI 2001 DRAFT AGENDA - Amherst College, July 13-15

CITIZENS� FORUM FRIDAY, JULY 13

Citizen Forum Case Studies

Lunch & Youth Forum presentation

Presentation of Four Case Studies· Vieques

o Robert Rabin· Lawrence Livermore National Labs (LLNL)

o Isaac Trottso Andreas Toupadakis

· Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG)o Cal Baier-Anderson, University of Maryland, Baltimoreo Ted Henry, Toxicologist

· Massachusetts Military Reservation (MMR)o David Dowo Susan Walker, Association for the Preservation of Cape Cod

Concurrent Sessions:····· Working Outside The RAB: facilitator-led discussion on Resto-

ration Advisory Boards (RABs) that are �broken,� RABs that nolonger exist, and other problemso Sandra Jaquith � Rocky Mtn Arsenal Site-Specific Advisory Boardo Chavel Lopez, Southwest Public Workers Union

····· Technical Information Needs: where to get technical assistance& what kinds of technical assistance are neededo Susan Falkoff, Watertown Arsenalo Jim Okuno Edward Lorenz, M. Vickery, G. Smith, S. Finnegan, Alma Collegeo Tara Thornton, Military Toxics Project (MTP)o Aimee Houghton, Center for Public Environmental Oversight

····· Environmental Justice and Cleanupo Sterling Golgogeron � Alaska

o LeVonne Stone, Fort Ord Environmental Justice Networko Doris Bradshaw, Defense Depot Memphis TN Concerned Citi-

zens Committee (DDMT-CCC)o Delores Herrera, AVANZAR

····· Policy Implications for Military Waste Cleanupo Dan Mulqueen � Rocky Mtn Arsenal Site-Specific Advisory Board

Introduction to the NTEN: Needs Assessment· Institute for Science & Interdisciplinary Studies (ISIS) staff

Traditional NA closing· Sterling Golgolgeron

FEDERAL FACILITIES CLEANUP WORKSHOP:TECHNICAL INFORMATION

FRIDAY, JULY 13

Evening Reception· Welcome/Introductions, Gregory Prince, Hampshire College President· Keynote Remarks, Hon. John Olver (First District, MA)

SATURDAY, JULY 14

Keynote and Introduction Cleanup· Herb Bernstein, ISIS)· Senator Edward Kennedy � invited

Technical Assistance on the Restoration Advisory Board/Community Action Group:

What is the difference between being a technical advisor to a citizengroup and a citizen active in the group? What if the community groupis different from the RAB? What are the communication issues amongRAB members?· Cal Baier-Anderson, University of Maryland, Baltimore

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· Edward Lorenz, Pine River Citizen Superfund Advisory Committee· Dan Mulqueen, Rocky Mountain Arsenal Site-Specific Advisory Board

Concurrent Sessions· Role of States & Tribal Governments in Federal Facilities Cleanup

o Vicky Peters, Attorney General�s Office, State of Coloradoo Mark Harding � invited

· Massachusetts Military Reservation (MMR) Overview:UXO and Ground Water Contaminationo Ellie Grillo, Mass. Department of Environmental Protectiono Susan Walker, citizen expert, Assoc. for the Preservation of Cape Cod/

David Dow, citizen-scientist o Robert Gill or Jan Larkin, MMR

EPA Presentation: Using the World Wide Web to Get Technical Info· Carlos S. Pachon, EPA Innovative Technology Office

Concurrent Breakouts· International Range Cleanup:

o John Lindsay Poland, Fellowship for Reconciliation (Panama)· Panel on Privatization and Early Transfer:

o Anne Callison, citizen scientisto Derence Fivehouse, Chief Counsel, AFCDA/LD

· EPA Training: Using The Web To Access Technical Informationo Carlos S. Pachon, EPA Innovative Technology Office

Military Cleanup: Finding the Resources in Diverse Communities· Chavel Lopez, Southwest Public Workers Union, San Antonio, Texas· Delores Herrera, AVANZAR, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Land Use Controls Interactive Presentation· Aimee Houghton, Center for Public Environmental Oversight (CPEO)

SUNDAY, JULY 15

Panel on UXO and Ranges: Cleanup Options and Opportunities· Lenny Siegel, Center for Public Environmental Oversight (CPEO)· Bonnie Rader, community co-chair, Former Lowry Bombing &

Gunnery Range (Buckley Field)

Concurrent Sessions· Cleanup Issues at a Remote Site: Savoonga Native Village, Alaska

o Pam Miller, Alaska Community Action on Toxicso Sterling Golgolgeron, Native Village of Savoongao Ron Scrudato, State University of New York at Oswegoo John Carpenter, State University of New York at Albany

· High Level Nuclear Waste Disposal: Yucca Mountaino Randel Hanson, Arizona State Universityo Judy Triechel, Nevada Nuclear Waste Task Forceo Steve Frishman, Tech & Policy Coord, NV Agency for Nuclear Projectso Abe Van Luik, Yucca Mountain Project

Panel on Risk Assessment: What is risk andhow is it determined, managed and mitigated?

· Ted Henry, Toxicologist· Saul Bloom, Arc Ecology· Marilyn Null, Deputy for Community-Based Programs, SAF/MIQ

A New Science for a New Millennium (Intro. by Herb Bernstein, ISIS)Researching the Role of Science, Science Education, and Scientific &Technical Information Access in Toxic & Nuclear Waste Cleanup.· Marcus Raskin, Institute for Policy Studies· Merv Tano, Internat'l Institute for Indigenous Resource Management· Kathy Abbass, Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project (RIMAP)

Sharing Our Resources:How to include all stakeholders in effective, efficient and democraticcleanup � a moderated open forum

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After the FactPage 12

On March 13, 2000, the Secoya people signed an agreement with Occidental Petroleum Co. (OXY) allowing thecompany to carry out oil exploration in their territory. The agreement gave OXY permission to drill four explor-atory wells and to do �3D� seismic testing in return for infrastructure and development projects, an investmentfund, and a small payment to each Secoya family. Negotiated under a Code of Conduct designed to protect theSecoya right to participate in matters affecting their territory, the agreement called for the establishment of aSecoya Monitoring Team to oversee oil work in the territory. ISIS provided technical and financial support forthe creation, training and ongoing work of the team.

OXY sub-contractors built and prepared two drilling platforms in Secoya territory by July 2000, Cocaya Centro andCocaya 1. Drilling of Cocaya Centro took place in August and September, after which the drilling rig was moved toCocaya 1 for October and November. The first well was found to be non-productive, which led to the phase of abandon-ment and restoration; the second, Cocaya 1, produced some oil but alone is not commercially viable.

Unauthorized cutting of access trails and failureto bring workers in by helicopter stopped after asite visit by the team.

Throughout 2000, monitoring teams spent from 12 to 18 days in the field eachmonth, visiting both drilling platforms to review work and ensure compliancewith environmental regulations and the agreements made with the Secoya.

The work of OXY and their contractors was found, in large part, to be incompliance with Ecuadorian environmental regulations and OXY�s own envi-ronmental management plan. However, over the course of the year the teamraised and responded to a variety of significant concerns related to oil work.

Trees cut outside theplatform area for trailconstruction, or for noclear reason (tree shownby Gonzalo Payaguaje,President of San Pablo),are not easily replaced,so OXY paid a penaltyto the community andpledged to prevent fur-ther such actions.

Semper Vigilante: EnvironmentalMonitoring of Occidental Petroleum

Summer 2001 Page 13

Some of these issues have been addressed directly in the field; most have been taken up by the OXY-OISE OversightCommittee or the broader Mesa de Dialogo (discussion table). Some have been resolved, others require further discus-sion, and some will influence OISE requests for procedural changes for future wells. The most notable outcomes include:

The platforms themselves showed other areas of concern. Monitors warned of damaged liners in the pits fordrilling wastes (top left), which OXY replaced shortly before drilling started. They also raised concerns aboutpossible flooding if, once full, these open pits receive heavy rains. Worker camps (top right) are a source of garbageand contaminated water (bottom left); the monitors identified unacceptably high levels of contaminants in campeffluents. A stream unnecessarily blocked at the perimeter of the platform (bottom right) was cleared after moni-tors called attention to it. As oil work progresses, our goal is to increase the teams� technical capacity to monitor awider range of environmental parameters and the effects of seismic testing and actual drilling production.

· Both OXY and the president of OISE (who negotiatedwith a sub-contractor outside the Oversight Committee,in violation of the Code) publicly admitted error regard-ing the use of trails for platform access.

· A plan was established for applying sanctions in thecase of excessive environmental damage.

· OXY paid a penalty to OISE for unauthorized cuttingof trees outside platform area.

· The oil workers have increased attention to the treat-ment systems for camp sewage and gray water.

· OXY repaired the damaged lining in the waste pit priorto starting drilling.

· OXY has increased efforts to educate workers and sub-contractors about the Code of Conduct and other agree-ments with OISE through meetings with Secoya lead-ers for subcontractors, the use of signs at the work site,and the creation of a video about the Code.

· Communications between OXY and OISE have im-proved, as the company now provides weekly reportson the status of work in Secoya territory.

Even under the best circumstances, a drilling platformhas a major impact on the rainforest. A central goal formonitoring is to ensure that, as oil work ends, the wells areproperly closed and platforms are returned as closely aspossible to their original condition. Already the monitors havecalled attention to the unauthorized use (transplanting) ofplants from inside Secoya territory for the restoration of theabandoned Cocaya Centro platform and to the poor sur-vival rate of these plants. These results call into question theproposition that the damage from platform construction canbe easily reversed and suggest the need to rethink the tech-nologies being applied by the oil company.

In the coming months, a new round of seismic testing willadd to the work of the monitoring team. oversight of anexpanding range of oil activities from localized platform re-forestation and more widespread seismic testing to the po-tential long-term drilling for production, will require moretraining and significant commitment from the monitoringteams and their advisors. Despite our important accomplish-ments, the work is far from over.

After the FactPage 14

prise to see that violence is prominentin impoverished inner cities; is the sameforce at work in the case of suburbanteenagers in public schools?

Or in the Third Reich in Germany�a powerful movement with a dominantleader where the temptation to join wasalmost irresistible, especially given thedepths of German poverty after the FirstWorld War. While there can be no ex-cuse for the violence of these crimes,Staub�s area of study sheds importantlight on the reasons for violence andsome ways to avert it.

Staub also pointed out that perpetra-tors of a crime are sometimes includedin a very prestigious group of people,as was the case with the Crips and theBloods in Los Angeles and with Hitler�sReich. Hitler believed intensely in whathe was doing and praised even his low-est-ranking troops for doing �very im-portant work.� Is reassurance that whatwe are doing is right and noble all weneed in order to obey unquestioningly?If our noble work happens to be geno-cide but we receive positive feedback,at what point do we question it? In theface of rare reassurance and unprec-edented hope for a better life, wheredo moralistic impulses fit in?

In another take on the plight of theunderprivileged, Betsy Hartmann, thedirector of Hampshire College�s Popu-lation and Development Program and aHampshire professor, gave a talk titled�Quality and Quantity: Population Con-trol and the Survival of Eugenics.� Shediscussed the �designer baby� phenom-enon, through which affluent parentsdefine and command the state of thegenetic art in their quest for �perfect�children (safe from diseases and, whilewe�re at it, tall and thin with clear skin).Their financial influence keeps geneticresearch moving away from those whocould benefit the most: people with ge-netic disorders and other less profitableneeds. The science follows the money,

and eugenics is essentially a scientificmeans of social control.

Hartmann is also very interested infamily planning and indicated that thereis subtle pressure among family plan-ning agencies to encourage women totake birth control as an only option.Regardless of the intentions, this single-mindedness serves in a way to curbpopulation growth among underprivi-leged and immigrant populations. Thebirth control movement that began in the1930�s was intertwined with the eugen-ics movement and was framed as afeminist movement, giving women op-tions and education regarding their sexu-ality and freedom. It has been suggestedthat the movement was not so much away to curb population growth but rathera way to curb the growth of certainundesirable populations. An extremeexample of institutional influence onfamily planning is the Ralph Case in theearly 1970�s when two young blackteenagers were sterilized without theirconsent or knowledge. The federal highcourt stated that many minors had beensterilized using federal funds under thethreat of losing welfare benefits in theUS. How do we reconcile a well-inten-tioned program to prevent abortions,abandoned babies, and over-sized, im-poverished families with a de factoeugenic effect of population control?The answer in the media, and manyAmerican households, is that we don�teven try.

Wars are always a popular mediafocus�summer blockbuster audiencesare drooling over Pearl Harbor as wewrite. But ever since the Vietnam war,it�s been clear than the picture in thepress is very selectively chosen. So it iswith the Plan Colombia, America�spurported drug control scheme in Co-lombia. ISIS co-hosted a series ofevents this spring featuring San-HoTree, an expert on the Plan at the In-stitute for Policy Studies, and KateHarris and Tad Montgomery, local �Wit-ness for Peace� volunteers who re-

cently traveled to Colombia to see moreclearly than the government-releasedpress clippings.

While the vaunted �war on drugs�rages in Colombia, there is a less-knownwar waged on the Colombians them-selves and their land. Money that ispurportedly going to end the import ofdrugs to the US from South America isgoing to the Colombian military and, inpart, to spraying herbicides over thecoca fields which are, of course, adja-cent to the crop fields which sustain thelocal families. The farmers are told thatthey can only grow legitimate crops. Butwhen all of their crops are being sprayedand they can make more money fromselling coca, there is little incentive.

As long as coca remains in demandand as long as US funds are being usedfor military equipment and training in-stead of addiction treatment programsand farm aid, coca will continue to growand crops will continue to be sprayed,causing illness and poverty for manyColombians as well as many other far-ther-reaching effects. The paramilitary,despite its involvement in the drug trade,is responsible for extreme brutality andhuman rights violations in Colombia,while purportedly being supported by aidpackages passed by Bush. OccidentalPetroleum, a big supporter of the Co-lombia Plan, has laid claim to land inNortheastern Colombia which is inhab-ited by an indigenous group, the U�wa.Occidental�s support of the Plan istransparently connected to their designson the U�wa land. If they are success-ful in their lobbying for the Plan, it willpose a major ecological and healththreat to the U�wa people.

In the end, the standing-room-onlypopularity of the ISIS seminars thisspring raises another interesting ques-tion: if the thinking public is so eager toprobe these dilemmas of under-privilegeand abuse, why do the media report sosuperficially on such important topics?As in each speaker�s example, the an-swer is probably much more complexthan the story we're likely to see.

Camera's Eyefrom page 1

Summer 2001 Page 15

Please use this form to make a contribution to ISIS. Your donation is very gratefully appreciated!

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I want to be a(n)o Sustainer (over $1000) o Supporter ($500 to $1000) o Associate ($250 to $500)

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Please use my contribution for:o Secoya Survival Project o Program in Science & Culture o Reconstructive Science Journal

o Military Waste Project o Energy Choices Project o Other_________________________

Please make your check payable to ISIS. Thank you very much for your support.

o I'd like to volunteer with ISIS. Please contact me.o Sorry, I can't contribute at this time. Please keep me informed.

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joke, best forgotten, if only it hadn�t been so incredibly productive forso many decades. It is a time in which, as Ognjenka Vukmirovic andShirley Tilghman write in a recent issue of Nature Biotechnology,

It is hardly a coincidence that many universities and research insti-tutes, including our own, are making major investments inmultidisciplinary life-science initiatives to explore the complexity ofliving things. Organisms are networks of genes, which make networksof proteins, which regulate genes, and so on ad infinitum. The amountof complex data that will be generated, and the need for modeling tounderstand the way networks function, will ensure that disciplinesoutside of biology will be required to collaborate in this problem, if theultimate goal to deconstruct such networks is to come to fruition.

It�s that ad infinitum part that I find most interesting and inviting.For the complex, non-linear games of genomics today, we�re goingto need equally complex stories and analyses that truly do continuethe series, if not ad infinitum, then at least well �outside of biology�:networks of genes which make networks of proteins which are chan-neled through networks of machines sold by networks of corpora-tions which are supported by networks of investors with networks ofexpectations fed by the major media networks which will eventuallysell those networks of genes. My hope is that opening the readingframes in such a way will keep future Icelands from happening, andhelp bring the many promises of genomics to fruition.

Drawn from a March 2001 talk at Princeton co-sponsored by the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics & the Center for Human Values.

Open Reading Frames from page 7Eric AndersonDavid Antolini *Olivia BernardHerb & Mary BernsteinGeorge BirdInessa Blanton *Mark BrittRichard Brunswick *Kathryn Casey *Matthew ChristensenBonnie Crispell *Jeffrey DeanPeggy Devries *Barry Elson *Kelly ErwinEverest Chiropractic *S Fortin *Joan FujimuraDavid Governo *Jean Gran *Terry & Robert GreeneyEllen GrobmanDavid GruberJanet Penelope GunnJock HerronFrank HolmquistHome Enviro. Services *InnovaraGwyn Jones/Ariel PhillipsElizabeth Kasevich *Casey KroneMishy Lesser

Tom LeueJonathan MachtaLeona Marcus *

Lynn MillerElizabeth MotykaJudith Mullins *William Nugent

Eleanor Osmond *O�Reilly, Talbot, Okun *

Ann Ottalagana *David Polstein

Orea RoussisMark Rukavina

Harry SaalShelley Schlief

Anthony ScovilleRD & Nina Shandler

Alan SilversteinRuth SkoglundPaul Sternberg

Charles TaylorMarie Ternes

Erik ThomsenThornton Fund

William TorcasoMichael Ubell

Sharon WachslerNicholas WarrenRobert Winston

Peggy Wolff *Jonathan Wright

Mingda Zhao

After the FactPage 16

Non-Profit Org.U.S. Postage

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