Whole Life Times: Evaluation and Objectivity

December 2004 | Letters from Readers

Evaluation and Objectivity

Setting SRI Facts Straight

We were disappointed with the errors in Paul Hawken’s article “Is Your Money Where Your Heart Is?” (October). Pax World Funds was not contacted about the article prior to its release, and we would like to set some of the facts straight.

Pax World has never owned General Motors. In the past, we held Hughes Electronics (consumers know it as DirecTV), which later was listed as a tracking stock of GM. Last year, Hughes was acquired by News Corp and has since been spun off as DirecTV.

In the article, the author’s approach is to isolate one aspect of socially responsible investing (SRI) and analyze it. Pax World and the other SRI mutual funds named in the article utilize screening and advocacy and community investing. These are irrevocably intertwined strategies — to examine one without the others is like critiquing a house’s architectural style when all you see is the basement. He condemns Pax World’s investment in Chesapeake Energy because Chesapeake has only white men on the board of directors. However, he omits the fact that we withheld our vote for every director candidate because of their lack of diversity.

Mr. Hawken also states that SRI portfolios use the Dow Jones Industrial Average as a performance benchmark. This is false. The Securities and Exchange Commission requires all mutual funds to compare their performance to a relevant benchmark, in order to help investors conduct apples-to-apples comparisons. Mutual funds have different strategies, and it would be meaningless to compare a bond fund or a conservative balanced fund to the DJIA. All annual reports must name the fund’s benchmark and show performance comparisons.

We agree with Mr. Hawken that the SRI industry is not perfect. SRI practitioners have been discussing our definition and our message for years. This is not an easy task, because SRI is driven by the diverse values of its members. Our values are not better than yours; neither are Mr. Hawken’s. We encourage your readers to do their own research, analyze SRI’s integrated strategies of screening, advocacy and community investing, and then decide for themselves.

— Pax World Funds

Ed reply: Pax is correct. The Pax World Balanced Fund held a General Motors tracking stock (GM “H” class) for Hughes Electronics as of June, 2003. We regret the error.

Does Chelation Therapy Deliver?

Dr. Michael B. Schachter’s article “Chelation Therapy Gets to Prove Itself” (October) calls for a word of caution. As a strong believer in holistic medicine and recipient of over 100 chelation treatments, I underwent 75 chelation treatments before my heart attack. At no time did the doctor attempt to establish a benchmark, order a scan, etc. so we would be able to evaluate the efficacy of the treatments. After my heart attack I had an additional 25 chelation treatments with a Heart Check America test midway through the series and one at the completion of them, and found that there had been no improvement in my test scores. I strongly suggest that a benchmark be established before chelation treatments are started, and then follow up with an additional scan to make sure that chelation is in fact delivering on the promises made by the doctor.

— Phil R. Dowd, Glenview, Ill.

Dr. Schachter responds: I agree with Mr. Dowd that it is a good idea to monitor the progress of chelation therapy by doing baseline functional tests such as a stress test with or without imaging, the length of time one is able to walk on a treadmill without having to stop as a result of pain in the legs (if being treated for blockage of arteries in the legs), the elasticity of the artery in the arm (brachial artery) or other functional tests. With chelation therapy, one may not see anatomical changes or improvement on an angiogram, but still benefit from improved blood flow as shown by reduction of symptoms or improvement in functional tests. Paying attention to changes of symptoms, such as improvement in memory, improved sense of wellbeing and similar checks are also important. Functional tests should be repeated during the course of treatment. It is difficult to monitor patients who have no symptoms and are undergoing chelation therapy for prevention, except by monitoring changes in levels of toxic metals in the body.

Politics? Yes!

Although a long time reader of WLT, it wasn’t until Editor Abigail Lewis’ shift this year to a more political stance in her monthly column that I began to take the publication seriously. Abigail has shown the importance of making the holistic connection between life, the environment, the economy, health, spirituality and politics, actually activism, as a global cause. One cannot separate these issues. Perhaps if we didn’t have government leaders who do separate these issues, our world would be in a much safer and compassionate place in history.

I support [your] editorial direction, and encourage an even deeper perspective. And as Abigail would say, I mean this... from my heart.

— Loretta Ayeroff, via email

It Was the Breast of Times

Thank you thank you thank you! Yes, we must put our money where our mouth, mind, heart and soul is. Yogi Bhajan always said, “We must be soldier saints.” We meditate and recommend meditation but if you don’t meditate on your spending then you wake up horrified that you have inadvertently supported the very thing you wanted to avoid or eliminate.

The breast cancer [issue], let me just say how powerful that is. I was on the Sante Fe shuttle last Sunday and four women were there. As we began connecting [we talked about] scuba diving, movies, why we were all in this shuttle and next, breast cancer. Stories were exchanged of friends, co-workers, relatives. It’s right up front with the elections in most women’s minds. Thank you for bringing it up. There is alternative research being done through UCLA; the yoga community has fund raisers every year to support [the cause]... It is not just big pharmaceuticals, and we can help decide that too.

— Gurutej Kaur Khalsa

Regarding your article in September’s Whole Life Health (”The Nagging Connection Between Breast Cancer & Deodorant Use”), in 1985 I had a benign lumpectomy, and while I was still on the operating table, the surgeon, who specialized in breast cancer surgery, told me never again to use deodorants. I wailed, “But I will smell.” He said “Don’t be misled by the blandishments of advertising.” I asked about talcum powder. Again, No! So what about cologne? He said that would be the least of the evils. So I use cologne. Whenever I have mentioned this story to anyone, including physicians, they look at me as if I’m from another planet. I was so glad to read your article. It’s important for people to realize there could be such a correlation.

— Shirley Williamson, West L.A.

Book Mistook

November’s book review of Leigh McCloskey’s Tarot ReVisioned was written by Hadley Fitzgerald. WLT regrets the omission and title transposition.

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