KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2011 / NEWS
3A
INTERNATIONAL
Japan still shocked from earthquake, tsunami
ASSOCIATED PRESS
KORIYAMA, Japan — Japanese officials warned of a possible second explosion Sunday at a nuclear plant crippled by the earthquake and tsunami as they raced to stave off multiple reactor meltdowns, but they provided few details about whether they were making progress. More than 180,000 people have evacuated the area, and up to 160 may have been exposed to radiation.
Four nuclear plants in northeastern Japan have reported damage, but the danger appeared to be greatest at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex, where one explosion occurred Saturday and a second was feared. Operators have lost the ability to cool three reactors at Dai-ichi and three more at another nearby complex using usual procedures, after the quake knocked out power and the tsunami swamped backup generators.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio
Operators have been dumping seawater into units 1 and 3 in a last-ditch measure to cool the reactors. They were getting water into the other four reactors with cooling problems without resorting to corrosive sea water, which likely makes the reactors unusable.
Edano said residents within about 12 miles (20 kilometers) of the Daichi plant were ordered to evacuate as a precaution, and the radioactivity released into the environment so far was so small it didn't pose any health threats.
At the makeshift center set up in a gym, a steady flow of people mostly the elderly, schoolchildren and families with babies were met by officials wearing helmets, surgical masks and goggles.
"At the risk of raising further public concern, we cannot rule out the possibility of an explosion," Edano said. "If there is an explosion, however, there would be no significant impact on human health."
About 1,500 people had been scanned for radiation exposure, officials said.
Such statements, though, did little to ease public worries.
"First I was worried about the quake," said Kenji Koshiba, a construction worker who lives near the plant. "Now I'm worried about radiation." He spoke at an emergency center in Koriyama, about 40 miles (60 kilometers) from the most troubled reactors and 125 miles (190 kilometers) north of Tokyo.
Edano said Sunday that a hydrogen explosion could occur at Dai-ichi's Unit 3, the latest reactor to face a possible meltdown. That would follow a hydrogen blast Saturday in the plant's Unit 1.
Up to 160 people, including 60 elderly patients and medical staff who had been waiting for evacuation in the nearby town of Futabe, and 100 others evacuating by bus, might have been exposed to radiation, said Ryo Miyake, a spokesman from Japan's nuclear agency. It was unclear whether any cases of exposure had reached dangerous levels.
A foreign ministry official briefing reporters said radiation levels outside the Dai-ichi plant briefly rose above legal limits, but had since declined significantly.
Edano said none of the Fukushima Dai-ichi reactors was near the point of complete meltdown, and he was confident of escaping the worst scenarios.
Officials, though, have declared states of emergency at the six reactors where cooling systems were down — three at Dai-ichi and three at the nearby Fukushima Daini complex. The U.N. nuclear agency said a state of emergency was also declared Sunday at another complex, the Onagawa power plant, after higher-than-permitted levels of radiation were measured there. It said Japan informed it that all three reactors there were under control.
Working to fund student safety projects campus safety advisory board
CAMPUS
10 45
there are 18 members
the chairwoman is Libby Johnson
it originated in the 70s as the "lightening committee"
BY ANN WILSON awilson@kansan.com
The Campus Safety Advisory Board is working to make life at the University of Kansas a little bit safer for students by gaining awareness and funding.
Past CSAB projects include the campus emergency blue phones and Segways provided for the KU Public Safety Office. The money for these projects came from the $1 campus safety fee charged each semester and 50 cents during the summer, according to the Office of the Registrar's website. However, the fee was eliminated two years ago because the accumulated $212,000 was not being spent.
CSAB meets tri-weekly; anyone is welcome to attend
To help raise the CSAB's awareness and to promote student involvement in discussing safety issues at the University, the board voted 5-0 last week to spend $40,000 for promotional events throughout the semester. Johnson said the group also planned to partner with the Jayhawk Buddy System. Johnson said she hoped CSAB's involvement in the JBS and KU Public Safety Office" "Safe Spring Break" campaign next week will generate greater exposure of the group and its projects.
"I want student input because I have only one set of experiences, and it's our job to vocalize the
graphic by: sarah hockel
Other projects being considered include four options for lighting in Parking Lot 16 costing $6,000 to $45,000. However, the board chose not to vote on the issue during last week's meeting until it receives input from the scholarship hall residence, who will be most affected. CSAB chairwoman Libby Johnson, a senior from Lawrence, said she would meet with scholarship halls Tuesday. Johnson said the CSAB always researched each project before committing money.
"We don't want to waste our resources and implement another program that students just aren't going to use," she said.
needs of this campus as a whole" said Nicole McClure, CSAB secretary and a senior from Topeka.
"We'd love to have more people involved in the discussions and the decision making process," Johnson said.
Johnson said she if anyone who would like to get involved with CSAB, to visit its Facebook page or e-mail her at libbyjohnson54@gmail.com. CSAB will meet at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday with an open forum at the beginning for student discussion.
— Edited by Samantha Collins
ARTS
Poets fill museum with their passion
BY MAX ROTHMAN
mrothman@kansan.com
An Alaskan honored the late John Haines and illustrated blue ribbon eels with neon mouths that coughed near Fiji. A western aide revisited a parasite dipping tank in Zaire. A student begged a teacher to taste the syllables of her haku.
These speakers were three of the 10 poet laureates who read their works for the "Poet Laureat" Sunday at the Spencer Museum of Art. A collection of poet laureates' works,
"An Endless Skyway," was released'd at the event.
one of the 28 Ice Cube Press books for sale at the event, has a wide variety of voices.
The event continuestoday at the Lawrence Arts Center, 940 New Hampshire St. with six workshops, a discussion
"Part of the state poet's job is to integrate poetry with the way people live." Semken said.
Raven Bookstore displayed 52 books of all 20 poet laureates participating in the events.
Publisher Steve Semken said "An Endless Skyway," which was
"Part of the state poet's job is to integrate poetry with the way people live."
On Sunday, each poet read chosen works with conviction, measure and passion to a mostly middle-aged crowd in the museum's auditorium.
Kooser first read "Success"
"It was girls?" Kooser said. "I had no athletic ability, I couldn't play a band instrument and I somehow got the idea that being a poet might make me attractive and mysterious."
cussion panel, multiple auctions and a second reading session.
Ted Kooser, who is the 13th poet laureate of the United States and has written poetry for more than 50 years, said he writes or thinks about writing every single day.
STEVE SEMKEN Publisher
"I can feel the thick yellow fat of
which shared his experiences as the United States poet laureate consultant in poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004 to 2006.
Kooser's "A Morning In Early Spring" defined the current season as sunshine spoiled into rain outside the museum's doors.
applause building up in my arteries, friends, yet I go on," he said. "A fool for adoration."
"Light rain fingers the porch roof, trying the same cold key over and over," he said. "Spatters of raindrops, cold as dimes, and a torn gray curtain of cloud floats out of a broken window of sky."
Edited by Helen Mubarak