in Environmental, Food Sustainability, From Our President, Global Security, Nuclear Security, Social Justice
December 2, 2011

Dr. Robert Gould, SF Bay Area PSR President has also been a member of the national PSR Board since 1993. Upon returning from the most recent Board meeting in Washington, DC, he shared some exciting developments on the national level that impact the local SF Bay Area chapter:

“First, Dr. Catherine Thomasson has been appointed PSR’s new Executive Director.  She shares our chapter’s view regarding the importance of a deeper involvement on a range of social justice issues. She also has a great deal of experience with environmental health work that is developed by and oriented toward PSR chapters. Examples of this type of work in our own chapter include SF Bay Area PSR’s partnership with Health Care Without Harm and collaborations with medical and public health associations as central mechanisms for advancing a wide variety of environmental health issues, and for organizing new physicians and other health professionals into our work.  SF Bay Area PSR would expect support for efforts such as these, as well as expanded efforts in which our chapter can provide leadership in organizing other chapters into these projects, and help provide the programmatic basis for chapter development in regions that currently do not have a strong PSR presence. (Click here to read more on Dr. Thomasson)

The Board discussion also included  support for better meshing of our Security and Environmental Health programs with Social Justice issues that have become increasingly prominent in the midst of unfolding national and global economic crises. This integration is strongly supported by incoming President Andy Kanter as a way to facilitate the organizing of younger physicians and medical students. It will make clear the connections between our declining health and social fabric and PSR’s traditional work on nuclear weapons, the military budget and the national and global costs of the arms race.”