Every thing about the clamor for a new particle accelerator by physicists at the University of British Columbia appealed to the reporter in Eve Savory. The accelerator would produce subatomic particles – kaons, which have important medical and industrial uses-in unprecedented quantities. The kaon factory story, Savory tried to explain to her supervisors at the… Continue reading Showtime for Science
Category: The Magazine
Out of the Shadows
The crew at CBC television’s Studio 6 in Toronto is preparing for the next show-switching on hot overhead lights, adjusting furniture, positioning cameras. “Any more wheelchairs coming in?” someone shouts from the shadows. “If so, you’d better move your car, Joe.” Joe Coughlin, one of the hosts, leans on a crutch, fishes in his pocket… Continue reading Out of the Shadows
From Watchdog to Lapdog
Jonathon Fenby, deputy editor of The Guardian, is a giant of a man, but he seems to be shrinking with every syllable. He is trying to explain why the British media in general, and The Guardian in particular, have allowed the government to muzzle their coverage of Northern Ireland. Shifting his bulk, he hems and… Continue reading From Watchdog to Lapdog
Federal Budget, Native Deficit
As the lights dim in the auditorium of Halifax’s Micmac Native Friendship Centre, a chanter breaks into song. It’s graduation for 24 native adult students. Anita Martell, a 32-year-old mother, is one of them. Graduation, after years away from school, is a significant achievement. It’s an event that would have been well covered and widely… Continue reading Federal Budget, Native Deficit
It’s A Risque Business
It was no surprise when police dropped charges against NOW magazine last September. The surprise had come when the charges were laid: essentially they amounted to charges of soliciting-“communicating for the purposes of prostitution.” The “communicating” law was introduced in 1985 to curb street solicitation by and of prostitutes, without making prostitution itself illegal. The… Continue reading It’s A Risque Business