To: Trustees@sd61.bc.ca
Subject: Bad Science Watch

Dear Trustees,

With regard to the Wi-Fi debate, I would like to give you some information about Bad Science Watch and its Wi-Fi committee since the School District is referring to their report and is planning to include the link to this in the official information package for parents under Mr. Lalonde's suggestion.

All the following information was obtained from Bad Science Watch website and/or from Google:

The chair of the Wi-Fi committee, Gem Newman, BSc is the lead developer at Invenia Technical Computing. Invenia's customers are utility companies who are rolling out wireless smart meters. Committee member Adrian Powell, BSc is a software contractor. The other two members of the committee are Catrina Duffy, BSc and Ryan Gray, BSc. The "Science Advisor" is Jason Locklin, PhD student at Waterloo University, Ontario.

In addition to that, the Board of Directors of Bad Science Watch includes:

• The Chair is Michael Kruse, paramedic and theatrical lighting designer
• Executive Director of Bad Science Watch, Jamie Williams, is a software developer for Layer 7 Technologies which supplies software for smartphones, tablets, wireless smart meters etc.
• Paul Ingraham is a health science journalist and ex massage therapist.
• There are 2 MD's in the Board of Directors, both in the field of psychiatry.
• Finally, there is an administrator and financial manager.

• Radiation Standards?
• Toxic Substances?
• Studies? 
• American Academy of Environmental Medicine? 
• Awareness of Letters and Recommendations? 
• Responsibility and Liability?

" . . . As a layman I understand Wi-Fi operates at a microwave frequency of 2.45 GHz in the electromagnetic spectrum. Microwaves are at the top end of the radio frequency part of the spectrum. Electromagnetic waves have power density measured in uW/cm2. Wi-Fi is a pulsed signal so the power density is often averaged and doesn't take into consideration the power density at the peak of the wave. Great concern exists all over the world about the biological effects of radio frequency radiation and particularly microwave radiation on all living things. . . .

Worksafe Form 6A  
Work Safe BC Worker's Report of Injury or Occupational Disease: FORM for presentation to employer 

BCCPAC Resolution 2013

Position Paper Wi-Fi in Ontario Schools  
A Position regarding Non-Ionizing Electromagnetic Radiation, including Wi-Fi, in the Workplace

Open Letter from the American Academy of Environmental Medicine  
The Executive Committee's letter to the Los Angeles Unified School District, March 2013

France's position on Wi-Fi 
France Discourages Wi-Fi Use in Schools - We Should All Do the Same 

Open Letter Regarding Wi-Fi Networks in Schools 
Dr. Magda Havas of Trent University re Routers in Schools

Martha Herbert's Open Letter to Los Angeles Schools 
Wireless vs. Wired in Schools

Medical Advisory re Wi-Fi and Children's Health Comprehensive two-page handout with links

BioInitiative Report 2012

Talking to Your Doctor 

Wi-Fi in Schools - The Facts (Australian Video)

Brian Stein 
Electromagnetic Sensitivity Lecture in two parts

POWERPOINT Wireless in Schools
53 informational slides to use in presentations re Wi-Fi in schools

" . . . The School Board denied Tyler's pediatrician a simple request to turn off the Wi-Fi router closest to Tyler's classrooms so he could complete Grade 2 with his friends. This despite the fact the router was not being used but was installed in HOPES of receiving computers next year. The Assistant Superintendent told us preceding our appeal in a private meeting that the router would not be turned off but would stay on 24/7 because they did not want to set a precedent. They wanted to continue with their 'multi-million dollar Technology Plan for the BC Education Plan that was moving into the 21st Century.'

"The principal of Tyler's Elementary School stated that the decision to install Wi-Fi in the school was out of her control and it was the only viable way to have Internet service in the annex. It was now a fact of life. The principal wanted nothing more to do with the request to turn off the Wi-Fi so Tyler could go back to school.

"The principal made it very clear that the teacher was not obligated to provide Tyler with homework for marking, assessment, or evaluation for him to complete Grade 2 if he was not attending school. The teacher would resume regular teaching duties when Tyler returned to school. We were dismissed.

Tyler was unable to complete Grade 2 with his friends. . . . 

VIDEO
 
David Rosner and Gerald Markowitz discuss how the chemical industry and its powerful lobbies prevail in blocking efforts to reform outdated laws, leaving the public afloat in a soup of toxins. And Sheila Krumholz and Danielle Brian talk about the importance of transparency to our democracy, and their efforts to scrutinize who's giving money, who's receiving it, and most importantly, what's expected.

American Public Television
Distributed nationally by APT

David Rosner and Gerald Markowitz on Toxic Disinformation
Science can be a battleground -- witness the politics of climate change, the teaching of evolution, the uncharted terrain of genetic modification and stem cell research, among other contentious issues. But when industries release untested chemicals into our environment -- putting profits before public health -- our children are the first to suffer. Nowhere is this more troubling than in the ongoing story of lead poisoning.

Bill talks with David Rosner and Gerald Markowitz, public health historians who've been taking on the chemical industry for years -- writing about the hazards of industrial pollution and the neglect of worker safety -- despite industry efforts to undermine them. Their latest book, Lead Wars: The Politics of Science and the Fate of America's Children, is the culmination of 20 years of research. Markowitz and Rosner warn that, for young children, there's no safe level of exposure to this dangerous toxin still lurking in millions of homes.

The authors discuss thwarted efforts to hold the lead industry accountable, failed attempts to find cheap solutions, and the cost to the future of our children. As long as the chemical industry and its powerful lobbies prevail in blocking efforts to reform outdated laws, Markowitz and Rosner say, we will continue to float in a soup of toxins -- inhaling, drinking, and absorbing chemicals that we may learn, years later, have put us all in harm's way.

From the Abstract in the journal Pathophysiology:

"Many nations, phone manufacturers, and expert groups, advise prevention in light of these concerns by taking the simple precaution of 'distance' to minimize exposures to the brain and body. We note than brain cancer is the proverbial 'tip of the iceberg'; the rest of the body is also showing effects other than cancers."

The full text of the article mentions the view about changing classification of RF-EMF (electromagetic radiation from wireless devices) to a "probable human carcinogen".

Click "Read On" to see the full Abstract.

"Most of us are on the Internet on a daily basis and whether we like it or not, the Internet is affecting us. It changes how we think, how we work, and it even changes our brains.

"We interviewed Nicholas Carr, the author of, "The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains," about how the Internet is influencing us, our creativity, our thought processes, our ideas, and how we think.

CHECK OUT THE BOOK "The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains," by Nicholas Carr http://amzn.to/138qSii

"The first part of this video explores the disturbing effect the Internet has been having on our brain's ability to focus. I didn't get around to watching the second part, but it's probably more things like that about the brain and stuff. . . ."

"Dozens of parents gathered at the Port Credit Legion on May 9 to learn about the potential dangers of WiFi in schools.

"The information session, hosted by Concerned Peel Parents for the Health & Safety of all Children, was prompted by the Peel District School Board's decision to install WiFi in all 253 of its schools by mid-fall. . . .

"Come this fall, the Peel Board stated in a recent newsletter that it plans on conducting "random, representative testing of WiFi levels in schools and work sites." The testing, the letter states, will be carried out by an external occupational hygienist to ensure that levels continue to be below Health Canada's guidelines for safe exposure.

"If the health concerns Havas listed fail to sway any detractors, she also points out that WiFi will soon be out of style.

"What's coming is LiFi -- they're actually using light to carry the information."

"The meeting also included presentations from former Microsoft Canada president Frank Clegg, who spoke on behalf of Citizens 4 Safe Technology, and Rodney Palmer from the Simcoe County Safe School Committee."

The STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTABILITY is a tool for parents concerned about the existence or installation of Wi-Fi networks and other wireless devices in schools. It is meant to be filled in by an appropriate District official and returned to the parent or group of parents presenting it.

A three-page package. Introductory rationale for use is included.

(SEE "NON-CONSENT FORM" which should, ideally, be a preliminary step.)