At the beginning of October, we published a provocative piece about mammography. That article, by Prof. Anne Kearney of Memorial University, made the case "there is no reliable evidence that routine mammograms for healthy women save lives." Today in The Conversation Canada, we present a new article in which the authors argue exactly the opposite. Paula Gordon of the University of British Columbia and Martin Yaffe of the University of Toronto state “there’s overwhelming evidence that earlier detection of breast cancer by mammography screening, combined with modern therapy, reduces deaths from breast cancer markedly.” The one thing the authors of both articles would agree on is that there has been a debate for years among researchers about various aspects of routine mammography screening. As a reader, what should you do? Dr. Gordon and Prof. Yaffe address that issue: “We believe that women should decide for themselves whether to participate in screening after they have all the facts.”

The terrorist attack in New York on Tuesday will re-open the debate about religion and violence. But Maxwell Kennel of McMaster University puts forward a more informed view: “Violence is something demonstrably found in groups and individuals regardless of whether they’re religious or secular.”

We’ve published many articles about STEM – science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Paul Axelrod of York University says Canadian universities should not marginalize liberal arts and the social sciences as they increase their focus on the STEM programs. “The contribution of liberal arts to cultural and civic life is crucial and historically enduring,” says Prof. Axelrod.

And finally, the House of Commons Standing Committee recently studied whether pornography should be considered a public health issue. Rebecca Sullivan of the University of Calgary and Valerie Webber of Memorial University look at the issue and applaud the committee for deciding there was no credible evidence that porn causes anti-social behaviour.

Regards,