Wednesday, March 28, 2001
The University Daily Kansan
Section A · Page 3
Nuclear waste to be trucked through Kansas
The Associated Press
A satellite-monitored train will carry a large shipment of high-level nuclear waste through Topeka and Kansas City this summer on its way from the West Valley Demonstration Project in western New York.
The train will pass through 10 states on its 2,360-mile, four-day journey including Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming and an Idaho Indian reservation before reaching its Idaho Falls, Idaho, destination. The shipment will include 125 spent fuel assemblies, used to power nuclear reactors.
The $16 million shipping project, two years in the planning, involves an agreement with the state of Idaho, extensive talks with states the train will go through and negotiations with four railroads.
West Valley Nuclear Fuel Services reprocessed nuclear fuel rods at their site 35 miles south of Buffalo, N.Y., from 1966 to 1972. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter signed the West Valley Demonstration Project Act, making the state and federal governments partners in the cleanup.
The fuel assemblies are destined for the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, where they will be stored until the federal government builds permanent storage.
Carol Mongerson of East Concord, who has pushed for the West Valley cleanup for 25 years, said that although the planned shipment was a positive step forward, she remained concerned.
"We're always very nervous when they start shipping spent fuel around, especially since there isn't someplace to put it that isn't somebody else's back yard," she said.
Diane D'Arrigo of the Nuclear Information and Research Service, a Washington-based organization opposed to nuclear waste shipments, said she knew of no plans to protest the West Valley shipment.
"But I wouldn't be surprised if there was opposition (by) certain people along these transport routes." she added.
The nine-inch-thick, steel casks in which the waste will be shipped are engineered to withstand a variety of accidents, including a drop from 30 feet, a 30-minute immersion in 1,475-degree heat and a 40-inch drop onto an eight-inch steel rod on the cask's most vulnerable spot.
They will be shipped one cask per rail car with a combined weight of 120 tons.
Chamberlain said the train's route had been chosen, but was "not cast in stone."
Teasing temptation
Fistula, portrayed by John Luzar, Leawood senior, tries to tempt a curious Dr. Foesta into dabbling in the accult during a rehearsal of Tempation. The play, a dark comedy directed by John Gronbeck-Tedesco, opens 7:30 Friday night at the Inge Theatre. Photo by Laurie Sisk/KANSAN.
Motivational speaker draws laughter and money
Bv Amanda Bealin
by Amana Begin
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Any KU students who arrived late to Will Keim's speech last night may have hesitated in the doorway when they heard jokes about boobs and campus life instead of the expected motivational speech.
But such is the reaction to Keim, who has lectured to about 2 million college students during his 15-year tenure as a motivational speaker. Though his speech at the Lied Center was peppered with jokes that drew giggles from the audience, the evening was dominated by a more serious intention — raising money for the Children's Miracle Network.
Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and Delta Gamma sorority sponsored Keim's appearance, which garnered $755 for the CMN to be used at the University of Kansas Medical Center and Children's Mercy Hospital.
"That's the great part about Children's Miracle Network — whatever money they raise in Kansas stews in Kansas," Koehring said.
The donations also are a sweet victory for Keim.
"Two of my children are alive because of the Children's Miracle Network," Keim explained. "My youngest child was born six weeks early, and he weighed just 3.4 pounds. CMN was able to inject him with a medicine that aged his lungs a week in 24 hours."
Since then, Keim, 46, has concentrated on lecturing to college students — including about 400 students last night during his third appearance at the University of Kansas — about leading a vibrant life so that they might graduate from college "with a diploma in one hand and self-esteem in the other."
During a speech that suggested a by-the-numbers approach to life, he offered seven suggestions for improving life and introduced three truths of life.
"One, you are setting a banquet table for the feast you'll eat for the rest of your life," Keim said. "Set it well. Two, life is an attitude. Ten percent is what happens, and 90 percent is how we react to it. Three, we are all interconnected in the tapestry of life. What we do impacts everybody."
Which is why Keim emphasized the importance of serving others
Motivational speaker Will Keim entertains an audience as part of a fundraiser for the Children's Miracle Network. Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Delta Gamma sponsored the event last night at the Lied Center. Photo by Laurie Sisk / KANSAN.
and practicing continuous, not random, acts of kindness.
"Build people up, don't push them down," Keim said with animated
hands as he leaned toward the audience. "Because if students and athletes can't get along on this campus, maybe peace with the Iraqis is out of the question."
Keim reminded students, in the hustle-bustle of campus life, to care for themselves physically, socially, spiritually and sexually.
"To go to bed!" Keim began, in disbelief about the number of hours college students spend awake every day. "And I'm not saying don't drink, but just think about it before you do. Drink responsibly. Think about people who die every 23 minutes because of this," Keim said as he held up a glass of water, asking the audience to imagine it contained alcohol instead.
"Spend 30 minutes every day in reflection, prayer or contemplation," Keim added, as he demonstrated by clasping his hands and praying to "Dear God-slash-big bang theory."
Finally, Keim said, "repeat after me: It's OK not to have sex." The audience abided.
Although Keim emphasized embracing the past, he encouraged students to forgive people who
wronged them so the past could remain there.
"It's time to find something you love," Keim said. "I want you to be my age with no regrets. Chase your dreams. Find something you love to do, and learn to do it well enough that someone will pay you to do it."
Karla Mencer, Olathe sophomore and member of Delta Gamma, said she loved listening to Keim.
"I thought he was extremely motivational," Mender said. "I heard he was incredible. He definitely offered a better outlook of how you should lead your life."
Richard Johnson, dean of students and Keim's former schoolmate at Oregon State University, also enjoyed the event and yelled "Go Beavers!" from the audience when Keim mentioned his college days.
Keim brought his hour-long speech to a close with a few more numbers.
"He's got a great message for students, something they need to hear," Johnson said.
"The average life span is 25,000 days. Keim said." Most of you have spent 6,500 days already. One-quarter of your life is gone. How's it going?"
Edited by Sydney Wallace
New city ordinance will require inspections of single-family homes
By Erin Adamson
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
An ordinance that will require landlords to register properties zoned for single-family use and have them inspected was approved by the City Commission last night, but the costs to landlords, tenants and the city are unclear.
The ordinance is one of four housing ordinances the Commission has passed since January. The first housing ordinance changed from four to three the number of unrelated people who could live together in houses
zoned for single family use. The newest ordinance will not go into effect until next winter.
Most of the
Gene Shaughnessy, city building inspector, said residences now were inspected on a complaint basis. The new ordinance would require that all single-family zoned residences be
Oread neighborhood, where the majority of residences are zoned for multiple-family or dormitory use, will not be inspected.
inspected periodically. The commission has not decided how often residences would be inspected.
Dave Corliss, assistant city manager, said the city would not know the cost to the city or landlords until the 2002 budget was completed next winter. He said the city might have to hire another inspector to meet the increased demand for building inspections.
Landlords will have to pay a $25 registration fee every year. The cost to landlords for an inspection of each of their properties has not been estimated by city staff.
Jeff Clark, owner of Clark
Inspection Service Inc., said that he charged $255 for a thorough general inspection of a home and that such an inspection took two hours. He said that, based on his work load now, his business might not be able to increase the amount of inspections it did in the spring and summer months, when demand for inspections was high.
Shaughnessy said the city inspected between 80 and 90 occupied tenant housing units last year. Many more houses would need to be inspected under the new ordinance.
James Dunn, president of the Lawrence Association of Landlords, said that landlords still didn't know
"Until we know what they are inspecting for,we don't know the costs."
know the costs."
James Dunn
president of the Lawrence Association
of Landlords
what the ordinance would cost them but that most would pass the extra costs on to tenants.
"Until we know what they are inspecting for, we don't know the costs," Dunn said.
Dunn said rents would be raised because of the limit of three unrelated people who could live together. Though he does not plan on raising rents, he said many landlords who had recently purchased their properties would be unable to lower rents to help tenants.
Landlords will be required to keep a list of tenants to provide to the city. They will also have to provide tenants with educational brochures about maintaining a residence and the tenants' responsibilities to the neighborhood.
Edited by Sydney Wallace