Notre Dame ReSources May 3-9, 1998 From: Dennis Brown
Please feel free to call the following Notre Dame faculty for additional comment on these people and events in the news:
NATO: The proposed expansion of NATO is a "leap into the unknown," says Raimo V"°yrynen, John M. Regan, Jr., Director of the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at Notre Dame. "The results will depend on what happens in Russia ó and there is no way to know how that will unfold ó and how NATO itself evolves over the next 10-15 years. NATO once was a Cold War alliance that relied upon the threat of nuclear weapons. Now, it is an institution for the collective security of Europe, with new tasks and responsibilities. NATO's enlargement could be a good thing, provided Russia remains cooperative with the international community and NATO continues to develop as an organization whose top priority is the maintenance of balance." (219) 631-5665
Viagra: The popularity of drugs such as Viagra, creatine and others concerns Maura Ryan, a bioethicist and assistant professor of theology at Notre Dame. "My concern is the just distribution of health-care drugs," she said. "We're developing drugs for social goals while failing to meet the basic health needs of 40-plus million people who are without access to health care. I would make a distinction, for example, between someone using Viagra for medically diagnosed impotence and someone using it just to be more sexually proficient. But overall, I don't think we're asking good questions about the goals of medicine." (219) 631-7267
UFOs: A new book coauthored by Notre Dame psychologist George Howard examines the psychology behind the claims of recent UFO sightings. "We use the dominant culture as a way of stimulating our imaginations, as a way of seeing what might be possible in the not-too-distant future," Howard said in a feature story published in the South Bend Tribune. "If people in the media get us believing something is possible, then we start looking for it. Sometimes, if you look hard enough for something, you begin to see it." Howard adds that rather than label those who claim to have seen UFOs or aliens as psychopathologically delusional, we should see them as people with fantasy-prone personalities. "It's more helpful to view these things from the fantasy-prone perspective," he says. "What are the consequences of believing these are cases of extremely creative people whose fantasies have gotten a little out of hand versus the consequences of using this one claim as the litmus test for their s! anity?" (219) 631-5423
Copyright: Far-reaching legislation designed to strengthen copyright protection includes some "bad policy," according to Joseph Bauer, professor of law at Notre Dame. "A policy that underlies copyright law is that we provide protection for a period of time to encourage creativity," Bauer says. "By extending that period for another 20 years (as bills before the House and Senate propose), we're not stimulating creativity, we're just enriching two groups, companies like Disney and the grandchildren of songwriters, artists and others. It just doesn't make sense to extend the copyright protection for work created in the 1920s." (219) 631-6514
Colombian murder: Faculty members from the Kellogg Institute for International Studies at Notre Dame have written a letter to Colombian president Ernesto Samper condemning the recent murder of Bogot· human rights lawyer Eduardo UmaÒa and demanding that the Colombian government take action to protect the "rights to life and justice." The letter, signed by Kellogg Institute director Scott Mainwaring and 15 other institute scholars, notes that more than 20 human rights activists have been assassinated in Colombia in the last 18 months. It goes on to read in part: ""We feel obligated to join the international outcry, calling for an end to murders in Colombia, in particular of those who defend human rights. Respect for human rights is a basic condition for the democratic development of any country. At risk of losing its human rights defenders, Colombian society is becoming increasingly vulnerable in the face of these violations. Therefore, we respectfully, but determinedly, ask th! e Colombian government and its authorities to guarantee the rule of law and fulfill its role as protector of the rights to life and justice. It is necessary that immediate and effective measures be undertaken democratically so that these painful crimes be stopped once and for all and that they not go unpunished." Mainwaring: (219) 631-8530
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