🚀 go-pugleaf

     Dear Colleague:

          As you by now know, Canada has been invited to partici-
     pate  in  the  United  States' Strategic Defense Initiative,
     better known as Star Wars.  The Canadian government has been
     given  60  days,  as  of March 26, to decide.  Many Canadian
     scientists and engineers are opposed to any such  participa-
     tion.   If  you are one of them, would you sign the declara-
     tion below?

          A number of scientists and engineers  at  UBC  are  co-
     ordinating   this  initiative.   We  intend  to  submit  the
     declaration to the ministers of science and technology,  and
     defence, as well as to the leaders of the three federal pol-
     itical  parties.   We  shall  also  send  suitable   letters
     describing the declaration to the Globe and Mail and various
     local newspapers, together with a count  of  the  number  of
     signers.   We  may also call a news conference.  The purpose
     of all this is, in part, to contribute to the public  debate
     on  this  issue.  More significantly, we hope to demonstrate
     to the federal government that there is considerable opposi-
     tion  to  Canadian participation in the SDI within the Cana-
     dian engineering and scientific communities.  This may  well
     deter  a  decision  favouring  Canadian participation, given
     that SDI research would require  the  co-operation  of  many
     scientists and engineers.

          If you agree with the declaration,  there  are  several
     things  you can do to help, in addition to signing.  Distri-
     bute copies of the declaration in your department  or  place
     of  employment.   If you have friends or colleagues in other
     science or engineering departments, ask  them  to  sign  and
     distribute  the  declaration.   We have no systematic way of
     contacting all engineers and scientists in  Canada,  so  the
     success  of  this  initiative  depends  to a large extent on
     individual help.  Finally,  please  remember  that  time  is
     short;  we have at most 4 weeks.

 
                                  Sincerely,
 
                                  Raymond Reiter
                                  Department of Computer Science
                                  University of British Columbia
                                  Vancouver, BC, V6T 1W5

 
 

                            DECLARATION

    As Canadian scientists and engineers we are concerned about  possi-
ble  Canadian  participation in research and development for the United
States' Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) - the  so-called  Star  Wars
program.  The SDI is a major escalation in the arms race, and destabil-
izes an already precarious nuclear balance.

     We therefore call upon the government  of  Canada  to  reject  the
invitation  to participate in the SDI.  Should the government decide to
accept, we will not co-operate.

NAME (print)       SIGNATURE       FIELD (physics,   AFFILIATION (for
                                   EE, etc.)       identification only)



 
 






The government must decide before May 24. Please return as soon as possible to:
        SDI Declaration
        Department of Computer Science
        University of British Columbia
        Vancouver, B.C.  V6T 1W5