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Friday, May 3, 1991 / University Daily Kansan
Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Nuclear danger
Potential for Chernobyl-caliber disaster looms in violation-riddled U.S. nuclear power system
Five years ago, a nuclear reactor in Chernobyl, Soviet Union, erupted in flames. The meltdown was the worst nuclear disaster in history.
Official reports place the death toll at 32,but researchers estimate that at least 500 have died of diseases caused by radioactive contamination. They say the death toll caused by the accident could be as high as 7,000.
But this time it could be in the United States.
As many as 500,000 people could have been contaminated by radioactive fallout. Soviet doctors are treating 300,000 people a year for cancer and other illnesses believed to be caused by contamination from the Chernobyl accident.
A newly published report suggests that the potential for a repeat of the Chernobyl accident looms precariously close.
But this time it could be in the United States. The report, published by Public Citizen, a non-profit advocacy group, cited almost 2,000 safety related accidents during the past year at U.S. nuclear facilities. Nuclear plants had to be shut down 177 times. There were 894 cases that involved violations of federal safety regulations. Safety system failures were
reported 404 times at plants across the country.
The federal government continues to sell the nation's nuclear power industry as a clean, efficient and safe way to produce electricity. But statistics belie the government's glossy presentation of the nuclear industry.
Aging facilities, poorly trained staffs and safetyViolations plague the U.S. nuclear industry. On Monday, a fire caused an emergency shutdown of a nuclear power plant in Maine. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is investigating age as a possible contributor to the fire. Earlier this spring, the staff of the Wolf Creek nuclear power plant was found to be sorely undertrained. Last month, a federal inspector discovered black dust in a Texas nuclear weapons factory, the remains of used uranium.
The Nuclear Power Commission must stringently enforce its regulations. Aging facilities must be upgraded. And intense training and testing programs must be enacted and enforced if the government expects the people of the U.S. to trust this potentially lethal source of power.
Rod Griffin for the editorial board
LETTERS to the EDITOR
No cancellation good
I would like to thank Chancellor Gene Budig and the commencement committee for the brilliant decision to not cancel graduation ceremonies in the event of bad weather. I am sure they made many graduating seniors and their families very happy and relieved with their decision.
I also would like to thank all the students who took the time to write and complain about a possible cancellation. Your views and ideas helped us to realize how to use our years of experience would be without the walk down the Hill.
it is encouraging to know that KU
it values its traditions and rec
lests its traditions.
graduation ceremonies are for its students.
The class of 1991 now can rest knowing that its accomplishments will be celebrated with all the merits we deserve.
Simone Souza Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, senior
'Fairness and equality must be reached, but not at the expense of common sense and individuality.'
Don't force conformity
The recent editorial by Ardra Tippett brought to the forefront issues that have been absent from the Kansan for too long—“political correctness” and how the U.S. should deal not only with black oppression in South Africa, but here at home. “Everyday I witness more and more disrespect and disgard for my people, race and our situation,” said the writer who wrote. Even though equal opportunities are growing in this country, a lot of racism, bigotry, and overall stupidity remains in this country, attitudes that harm not only blacks and other minorities, but all society. Keeping
Cameron Meier
this in mind, though, we must be careful not to force conformity. This causes resentment among the students. We are even scarier than discrimination.
Attitudes are key. When gays and lesbians argue that "sexual orientation" rather than "sexual attraction" are common, they are not changing overall public opinion.
Fairness and equality must be reached, but not at the expense of common sense and individuality. People on all sides of an issue must work together so that no one feels excluded from the debate. Violent intolerance many activists radiate is probably more damaging than the oppression they so despise.
Cameron Meier
Lawrence freshman
A tribute to Brian Meilahn who will never be forgotten
On April 24, a KU student died.
His name was Brian Melanlah.
A fifth year architecture
an architecture senior, he had been a president assistant at Joseph R. Pearse, where I live. I knew him personally for the last two semesters. As we close this academic year, I dedicate this column to him.
Dear Brian
The dead are not dead, we say in Africa; they live in our memories.
As a writer, whenever I sit to write, I will remember that you taught me to use a word processor, answering all my questions patiently. I will remember especially that night when you woke up in the morning to have something had gone wrong with the computer. I had an assignment to complete, and you saved my life. You did not complain.
Today you live in my memory because as a student, an RA, a neighbor and a person, you have given your life to others and to me, the life has become my life. The lesson is that every integral part of my education at KU.
Ndomby Fhunsu Staff columnist
You have taught me that silence is power. You were a quiet person, and your quietness many times intrigued me. But now, as I think about you, I understand that life consists not in saying, in living, achieving and helping others to live and achieve. You lived in silence all the time. That is why silence lives and speaks in me. And may it speak loudly enough to be heard even beyond the borders of the United States.
You taught me that life is too short to be small. You were young and full of energy and plans. You worked hard to accomplish your projects. Maybe you did not know that life would not let you carry the world completely. However, today your plans are being fulfilled in me.
short that I cannot afford to use it to be at war with people, to hate my neighbor, to overlook the needy, or to leave things undone. You have stressed in me that I should enjoy the blessings of life fully and make the most of them. The existence because it might be the last day of my journey on earth.
Finally, dear Brian, you were the hope and pride of your family. I can only imagine the pain your sudden departure produced in your parents and sisters. Only their hearts can feel it.
You reminded me that life is so
What can a poor writer do to help? If through this column I can help them realize that your life has had an impact in this world, I will consider another reason to embody your ideals and plans of service to humankind.
The dead are not dead; they live in our memories. Today, as I crystallize these words in the very computer you taught me to use, may you memory, dear Brian, live in this column you enjoyed reading.
Ndomby Fhunsu is a freshman in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
KANSAN STAFF
CHRIS SIRON
Editor
RICH CORNELL
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TOM EBLEN
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AUDRA LANGFORD
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MINDI LUND
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Female reporters: have shears handy
Three politicians once came up behind me and I quietly sat at a
Three pichonci once came up behind me as I quietly sat at a bar and began bellowing that they were going to knock my block off and stomp me flatter than a pancake. They called me all sorts of colorful names that impugned my ancestry, questioned my sexual habits and suggested that I was lower than a spittoon. They were upset about something I had written.
Fortunately, I was having a drink at the moment with Johnny Kerr, the former basketball player who now broadcasts the Chicago Bulls' games. John, normally a mild-mannered fellow, politely asked them why they were raising such a loud fuss. They told him to shut his mouth. John's face turned red and he began to lean against feet tall. That seemed to pacify them, and calm was restored to the bar.
On another occasion, a prominent Chicago officeholder spotted me in the lobby of a hotel where a political rally had been held. He, too, didn't like something I wrote, so he walked over, put his face about a foot from mine, opened his mouth and made a loud vomiting sound.
I hope Olson isn't setting a precedent for other female reporters. Take my advice, female-person sports journalists. Don't sue. I suggested hat you, just carve a big set of garden shears in your purse.
Mike Royko Syndicated columnist
I related those incidents simply to show that when you are in the news business, it isn't unusual for people eat you rudely. It goes with the job.
I mention this because (and I regret to inform you) Lisa Olson is in the news again.
You remember Lisa Olson. Can anybody forget Lisa Olson? For those who were on Mars last year, Lisa Olson is the sports reporter at the Boston Herald who became the focus of a national debate when several nude idiots on the New England Patriots football team brandished their male appendages at her.
The incident was compounded when the owner of the team made some stupid sexist remarks.
So the argument raged on for weeks: Should female reporters be in the locker rooms of football teams, or any other male sports
organizations? It was kind of a fun flap, with thousands of Americans writing silly letters to newspapers saying that Olson was a hussy and all she wanted to do was gaze at a barbarian man's groin; while others said that the players were nothing but barbarians and ransists at heart.
■ Mike Royko is a syndicated columnist with the Chicago Tribune.
It finally quieted down. The athletes went on taking their showers and giving interviews. The female reporters, of whom there are many, went on going into locker rooms, as they had for years.
And I thought I had heard the last of the matter. I hoped so, since I had written several columns defending the right of Lisa Olson or any other woman to do a reporting job, and received my share of goofy mail.
But now Lisa Olson has done what so many Americans do when their feelings are in any way wounded. She has sued.
Her suit against the National Football League, three players, the team owner and two team executives, says she was sexually harassed, her civil rights were violated, and she suffered emotional distress and damage to her
Oh, come on, Lisa, spare me the heartbreak. You get mad, you raise hell, maybe you even write something nasty about the clods. But running to court with a lawsuit? If anything, doing that says: "Oh, I am a fragile, trembly female, and my life has been ruined by your boorish behavior." And that makes female reporters who have been on far tougher assignments and been treated a lot rougher look foolish.
Sorry, kid, I was on your side when the mopes gave you a bad time. But when you take the position that what amounts to stupid behavior by stupid people requires the involvement of lawyers, a judge and maybe a jury, you're getting as silly as the football players.
professional reputation.
Loco Locals
AFTER FOUR YEARS, WEVE COME TO SEE THE FIRST MEMBER OF OUR FAMILY GET HIS DIPLOMA.
MOVA(DC99) 53 G'LOCK ALL!
OH GREAT! TAKE YOUR TIME
ANDOUR MONEY! WHAT
ELSE IS THERE TO DO
UP HERE BUT LEARN?
NO WAIT! HE SLEARNED!
HOW TO BILK MONEY
AND KILL HISPARENTS!
by Tom Michaud