Committee for Skeptical Inquiry

[SkeptInq@aol.com]

 CSICOP In The News

 Monday, May 8, 2000

 In this issue:

 April 4, 2000: Express-News (San Antonio, TX)
 April 12, 2000: Tribune-Herald (Waco, TX)
 April 17, 2000: Caller-Times (Corpus Christi, TX)
 April 27, 2000: National Center for Policy Analysis' NCPA Policy Digest
(Online)
 May 2000: SciFiDimensions.com
 May 2000: Yahoo! Internet Life
 May 3, 2000: The Times (London, England, UK)
 May 8, 2000: US News & World Report
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 April 4, 2000: Express-News (San Antonio, TX)

 In the Express-News' "News Stand" column, the Skeptical Inquirer earns
mention as "a terrific bimonthly magazine on the paranormal for "[p]eople
interested in the pursuit of fact over fiction…" Readers are referred to an
example of SI's contribution getting the facts straight to the from the
"Risky Business" article in the March/April 2000 issue, where author John
Ruscio points out that more people die from falling airplane parts each year
than from shark attacks.
 ______________________________________________________________________

 April 12, 2000: Tribune-Herald (Waco, TX)

 The Tribune Herald picks up the Express-News' favorable mention.
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 April 17, 2000: Caller-Times (Corpus Christi, TX)

 "We're suckers for Internet's fantastic fables" by Scott Canon (syndicated
from the Kansas City Star)

 Canon tackles the urban legends and rumors that have spawned in the
incubator of the information revolution, and turns to Senior CSICOP Fellow
Joe Nickell and John Allen, author of "The Pseudoscience of Oxygen Therapy"
(Jan/Feb 2000 SI) to get the some insights into the delusions and paranoias
of Homo sapiens interneticus. Canon quotes Nickell: "People have always
bought into fanciful things," said Joe Nickell of [CSICOP]. "The subjects
always tap into people's basic hopes and fears." Exploring the profit motive
behind Information Age disinformation, Canon quotes Allen: "It [oxygen
therapy] has just enough science to fool people. ...People think the (US Food
and Drug Administration) are [sic.] in collusion with drug companies to keep
this quiet to make more money….People gravitate to conspiracy theories
because they reinforce a dislike for big institutions."
 _____________________________________________________________________

 April 27, 2000: National Center for Policy Analysis' NCPA Policy Digest
(Online)

 The NCPA Policy Digest cites Grant Jewell Rich's book review of Barry
Glassner's The Culture of Fear (Jan/Feb 2000 Skeptical Inquirer). The Policy
Digest gives highlights of Glassner's critique of how the media skews the
public's perception of risk and danger. Those nervous about the safety of air
travel ought to take heart in the fact that the odds of perishing in an
aviation accident are one in four million-about the same as winning the state
lottery. Those paranoid about troubled youth should remember that more than
three times as many people are killed by lightning as by violence in our
schools. And those who fear the aggression of others on the road need to keep
in mind that road rage is responsible for only one out of every thousand
deaths on America's roadways.
 _____________________________________________________________________

 May 2000: scifidimensions.com

 John Snider has undertaken "an ongoing series of telephone interviews" with
Joe Nickell "in which [he will] talk to Joe about his work-delving into the
weird world of the paranormal, the miraculous, and the unexplained.  The
first interview--"The Joe Nickell Files Part One: Inquest on the Mind of a
Skeptic"--is already posted online at www.scifidimensions.com.  This is the
full interview text with a minimum of editing, a refreshing departure from
the truncated snippets skeptics are usually afforded.
 _____________________________________________________________________

 May 2000: Yahoo! Internet Life

 Yahoo! directs inquiring minds to csicop.org and Skeptical Inquirer.
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 May 3, 2000: The Times (London, England, UK)

 "Science Briefing: Evil eye is on the blink" by Nigel Hawkes

 Hawkes takes the kooky ideas of British biologist Rupert Sheldrake to task
and cites Robert Baker's expirements, published in the March/April 2000 issue
of SI. Hawkes summarizes Baker's data and findings and quotes Baker's
findings that "it is prudent to conclude that people cannot tell when they
are being stared at.
 _____________________________________________________________________

 May 8, 2000: US News & World Report

 In "How bad science can be hazardous to health" writer Avery Comarow directs
readers to Robert Park's soon-to-be-released book, Voodoo Science. Park was a
recent guest speaker at the Center for Inquiry International. Comarow
interviews Park and gets his opinions on the everything from the recent May 5
planetary alignment to magnet therapy, along with the dangers of voodoo
science. In addition, Comarow points to csicop.org as a place to learn more
about pseudoscientific claims.

 030

 Kevin Christopher
 Public Relations Director
 CSICOP/Skeptical Inquirer
 SIKevinC@aol.com