Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 23, 1990 TAG: 9003242577
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV2 EDITION: NEW RIVER
SOURCE: Donna Alvis
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A few people understand the futility of dreams, the shallowness of talk, the worthlessness of worry.
A few people care enough about children, about the world we give them, to take action.
Dr. Helen Caldicott is one of those people.
Caldicott, a pediatrician, author and leader of the movement to end the nuclear arms race, was the founder of Women's Action for Nuclear Disarmament - WAND - and is president emeritus of Physicians for Social Responsibility.
She has examined the future and her diagnosis is serious.
"Life on earth could be exterminated by a nuclear war started by a computer error," Caldicott warns in her book, "Missile Envy."
Alarming?
Of course.
Caldicott aims to alarm people. She has traveled around the world speaking about nuclear weapons and the devastation of nuclear war. Her lectures describe the effects of such a disaster - the loss of immunity to disease, the loss of atmospheric protection, the loss of human life.
She emphasizes individual commitment to peace and encourages a positive approach to ending the arms race. She also serves as a living example of what one person can do.
Caldicott led the movement against French atmospheric nuclear tests in the Pacific Ocean in the 1970s, went to the Soviet Union in 1979 to discuss the medical consequences of nuclear war and the SALT II Treaty and made a joint presentation on nuclear warfare with Dr. Carl Sagan before 60 members of the U.S. House of Representatives.
She was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, won a Gandhi Peace Prize and has been the subject of two documentaries, "If You Love This Planet" and "Eight Minutes to Midnight."
She left her job as instructor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and assistant in medicine at Children's Hospital in Boston to pursue her educational work. She didn't leave her commitment to children, however.
Caldicott will speak in Virginia Tech's Donaldson Brown Center Auditorium Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Her presentation, named after the academy award-winning film, "If You Love This Planet," is part of the Women Artists and Scholars Lecture Series.
Admission to the lecture is free.
\ ALL THEY WANT TO DO IS DANCE: If you enjoy watching ballet, jazz, tap and modern dance, you will enjoy Virginia Tech Dance Theatre's "Kaleidoscope '90" in Burruss Auditorium today and Saturday. Show time for both performances is 7:30 p.m.
"Come Dancin' " is the theme for this year's event which features 18 numbers choreographed by Virginia Tech students. The 40 young women in the company have been rehearsing and planning for weeks to put on a tiptop toe-tapper.
"We have a very nice variety of music," director Laura Hunt said.
"It's an upbeat and quick running show. It will keep your attention."
Tickets, available at the door, are $5 for the public and $3 for students.
\ SOME ENCHANTED EVENING: You just might be enchanted with the lovely faces of the seven contestants performing on the stage in Christiansburg High School's auditorium Saturday. The Miss Montgomery County Pageant gets underway at 7:30 p.m.
The contestants will be judged in talent, swimsuit and evening gown competition and will have personal interviews to give the judges an opportunity to hear them think on their feet.
Judges for the event include Heidi Lammi, Miss Virginia 1987.
Pam McGlothlin and John Clay Ford Jr. will help her decide which Montgomery maiden gets the chance to go on to the Miss Virginia Pageant in Roanoke this July.
Tickets will be available at the door for $5.
Advance tickets, $4, may be purchased from Larry Langley, 961-2001.
\ LIVE! FROM FLOYD COUNTY, IT'S SATURDAY NIGHT! It's the best of local talent at Floyd County High School Saturday at 8 p.m. when the Floyd Theater Group puts on its third annual "Skit Night," featuring a variety of acts.
There will be storytelling, modern dance, poetry reading and music by the Celebration Singers, in addition to a special revival of popular skits from "Saturday Night Live."
The Floyd Theater Group is inviting community participation in the production and hoping for a full house.
Proceeds will be used to help fund upcoming productions, including an Agatha Christie play to be announced this summer.
Admission to "Skit Night" is $3 for adults and $2 for senior citizens and children under 12.
by CNB