About This Issue
by The Editorial Collective
‘Science for the People’ Vol. 4, No. 3, May 1972, p. 2
Here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin. It is, as far as he knows, the only way of coming downstairs, but sometimes he feels that there really is another way, if only he could stop bumping for a moment and think of it. And then he feels that perhaps there isn’t. Anyhow, here he is at the bottom and ready to be introduced to you.
The theme of this issue is the struggle of workers and Third World peoples against oppressive science. Writing for academics cops out — we must deal with the struggles of people who are oppressed through the complicity of scientists if Science for the People is to mean anything. The articles accordingly deal with industrial safety, science in the exploitation of the Third World, pregnancy testing by the phone company and thought control in South Africa. For the armed Angolan woman on the cover the struggle is not an intellectual excercise.
In addition to the articles contributed, the letters and chapter reports from our comrades add the perspective of those involved in day to day organizing activity. We would like to thank everyone who contributed to and helped with this issue, and encourage others to write.
EDITORIAL COLLECTIVE: Ed Methelis, Joe Passafiume, Ginnie Pierce, Joe Richmond, Amy Salzman
CONTRIBUTORS: Gar Allen, Rita Arditti, Peter J. Barrer, Maurice Bazin, the China Collective, Andrew Colman, Dave Kotelchuk, George Salzman, Santa Cruz Collective, Charlie Schwartz.
DESIGN AND LAYOUT: Alphabet
CREDIT: photo p. 19 Robert Parent
EDITORIAL PRACTICE: Each issue of Science for the People is prepared by a collective assembled from volunteers by a committee made up of the collectives of the past calendar year. A collective carries out all editorial, production, and distribution functions for one issue. The following is a distillation of the actual practice of past collectives.
Due dates: Articles received by the first week of an odd-numbered month can generally be considered for the magazine to be issued on the 15th of the next month.
Form: One of the ways you can help is to submit double-spaced typewritten manuscripts with ample margins. If you can send six copies, that helps even more. One of the few founding principles of SESPA is that articles must be signed (a pseudonym is acceptable).
Criteria for acceptance: SESPA Newsletter, predecessor to Science for the People, was pledged to print everything submitted. It is no longer feasible to continue this policy, although the practice thus far has been to print all articles descriptive of SESPA/Science for the People activities. Considerably more descrimination is applied to analytical articles. These are expected to reflect the general political outlook of Science for the People. All articles are judged on the basis of length, style, subject and content.
Editorial Procedure: The content of each issue is determined by unanimous consent of the collective. Where extensive rewriting of an article is required, the preference of the collective is to discuss the changes with the author. If this is not practical, reasons for rejection are sent to the author. An attempt is made to convey suggestions for improvement. If an article is late or excluded for lack of space or if it has non-unanimous support, it is generally passed on to the next collective.
Editorial statements: Unsigned articles are statements of the editorial collective.
Opportunities for participation: Volunteers for editorial collectives should be aware that each issue requires a substantial contribution of time and energy for an eight-week period. Help is always appreciated and provides an opportunity for the helper to learn and for the collective to get to know a prospective member. There are presently plans to move the magazine production to other cities. This will increase the opportunity for participation. For legal purposes Science for the People has become incorporated.
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