Shadow of a Doubt - March 2013

The Monthly Calendar of the National Capital Area Skeptics

•  NCAS Public Lecture Series - Quackademic Medicine - David H. Gorski, MD, PhD, FACS
•  NCAS Board Elections: Call for Candidates
•  NCAS Board Elections: Electronic Voting
•  Your Email is Requested
•  Drinking Skeptically
•  New Postal Address
•  New Skeptic Line Number

NCAS Public Lecture Series
Quackademic Medicine
David H. Gorski, MD, PhD, FACS

SPECIAL START TIME: 1 PM
Saturday, March 9, 1:00pm - 4:00pm
National Science Foundation, Room 110
4201 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, VA [map] [directions]
(Ballston-Marymount University Metro stop)
Enter NSF from the corner of 9th N & N Stuart Streets.
FREE admission – Everyone welcome, members and non-members

"Complementary and Alternative Medicine" (CAM), or, as it is increasingly called, "integrative medicine," is infiltrating our medical schools and academic medical centers, not to mention even the NIH itself. Acupuncture, reiki, healing touch, herbalism, and even homeopathy are less and less being viewed as quackery and more and more tolerated if not accepted in what should be bastions of science-based medicine. Dr. Gorski will discuss how this sad state of affairs came about, where we are now, and, hopefully, what can be done about it.

David H. Gorski, MD, PhD, FACS is the managing editor of the sciencebasedmedicine.org blog, as well as a contributor both under his own name and the pseudonym "Orac." He is a surgical oncologist at the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute specializing in breast cancer surgery, where he also serves as the Medical Director of the Alexander J. Walt Comprehensive Breast Center and Cancer Liaison Physician for the American College of Surgeons Committee on Cancer. Academically, he is an Associate Professor of Surgery and Oncology at the Wayne State University School of Medicine, where he serves as Chief of the Section of Breast Surgery, and is a member of the faculty of the Graduate Program in Cancer Biology. Additionally, he serves as Treasurer for the Institute for Science in Medicine. Dr. Gorski has an MD from the University of Michigan and a PhD in cellular physiology from Case Western Reserve University. An investigator whose primary research interests include tumor angiogenesis and the role of glutamate receptors in promoting the growth and metastasis of breast cancer, Dr. Gorski also runs an active research laboratory and has recently taken an active interest in the problems of breast cancer overdiagnosis and overtreatment.

NOTE: THIS TALK BEGINS AT 1:00 PM INSTEAD OF THE USUAL 1:30 PM.

Refreshments and socializing after the talk.

http://www.ncas.org/2013/02/mar-9-david-h-gorski-quackademic.html

NCAS Board Elections: Call for Candidates
Are you an NCAS member who wants to take a leadership role in the skeptics movement?  The NCAS annual board of directors election is fast approaching.  Send an email to ncas@ncas.org by March 15 so you can be placed on the ballot.

NCAS Board Elections: Electronic Voting
The 2013 NCAS election will be the first to use electronic voting.  When voting begins, members will receive an email from NCAS containing a unique web address usable as a single-cast secret ballot.  (NCAS will receive information indicating who voted, but nothing to indicate who cast each ballot.)

Your Email is Requested
NCAS needs your email address so you can vote electronically in the upcoming board election. Email your name and postal address (for record verification) to members@ncas.org.  Paper ballots will be distributed by postal mail on an as-needed basis.

Shadow Light
Some members and contacts of NCAS receive a postal notification of this and every new monthly Shadow of a Doubt.  The Shadow Light postcard announces the monthly lecture and highlights of the electronic Shadow of a Doubt, which is available online at ncas.org/shadow.  NCAS thereby reduces Shadow production and postage costs.  To further reduce costs, members and contacts can opt out of postal notification altogether, while continuing to receive Shadow of a Doubt via e-mail.  To opt out, send us an e-mail at ncas@ncas.org.

Drinking Skeptically, now in MD and VA!

On Wednesday, March 13 at 7:00 p.m., please join fellow NCASers at either of our simultaneous DC-area Drinking Skeptically events:

Jackie's Sidebar
8081 Georgia Avenue (entrance on Sligo Avenue) in Silver Spring, MD
www.jackiesrestaurant.com

The Front Page Arlington
Rear patio / National Science Foundation atrium
4201 Wilson Blvd (across from Ballston Common Mall) in Arlington, VA
(703) 248-9990

www.frontpagearlington.com

The February 2011 issue of Washingtonian magazine features the Sidebar on its cover, for a story on the best bars in the DC area.  (And you'll find the area's best hot dogs there, according to the June 2012 issue.)

Drinking Skeptically is an informal social event designed to promote fellowship and networking among skeptics, critical-thinkers, and like-minded individuals. There's no cover charge and all are welcome. Don't drink? Don't let that stop you from joining us! Some of the world's most famous skeptics are teetotalers, and we are happy to have you! Remember that drinking skeptically means drinking responsibly. If there's one thing science has taught us, it's the effects of alcohol on the human body.

New Postal Address
As of June 2012, NCAS has switched post office boxes, from 8428 to 8461:
National Capital Area Skeptics
P.O. Box 8461
Silver Spring, MD 20907-8461

New Skeptic Line Number
As of March 2013, NCAS has switched telephone numbers, from 301-587-3827 to 240-670-NCAS (6227).

Time to Renew?
Be sure to check your renewal date above your postal address on the Shadow Light postcard. Send any queries to ncas@ncas.org.  Use the online membership form to renew.