Anti-science movement topic of Pulitzer recipient

By Amy Fredette

Arizona Daily Wildcat

A two-time Pulitzer Prize recipient and former reporter for the Baltimore Sun will conduct a seminar at the UA Thursday based on the anti-science movement.

Through the years, the distrust of some people has resulted in the loss of scientific credibility, said Jon Franklin, a University of Oregon journalism and creative-writing professor.

"The way that we look at science is shifting; scientists are becoming the bad guys," Franklin said.

"Since World War II, our politics simply have been largely a reaction to our technology," Franklin said.

In the 1950s and early '60s, the right wing was opposed to science, Franklin said. In the 1970s and 1980s, the left wing teamed up with the right wing.

Franklin said that people tend to "equate the rational with science."

"In part, it intimidates people and makes them feel like victims," he said.

"If we didn't have an airplane, then we might not have AIDS," Franklin said. He said the virus was "carried around through the world through the ease of travel."

For about 16 years, Franklin was a science reporter for the Sun. He won two Pulitzer Prizes for feature-writing and explanatory journalism.

"You sort of have to be interested in science," Franklin said. "It determines more of day to day life, including politics."

"We're not comfortable living in a rational world, because we're an emotional species," Franklin said.

The seminar "Poisons of the Mind" will take place Thursday from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Space Sciences Building, Room 308.

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