Ct) i -mm J
Debrah Correll and Dean Suagee
Wednesday, December 3. 1975
Nuclear juggernaut
The recent Critical Mass conference
on nuclear power has brought public
attention back to the issue of radioactive
hazards in nuclear energy production.
Under the sponsorship of a Ralph
Nader organization, the conference
brought together scientists and
environmentalists opposed to nuclear
power for exchange of information and
probably some morale boosting. If for
no reason other than attracting the
wandering eye of the national media, the
conference has served a useful purpose.
It has given us the opportunity (or
more correctly, pushed us to the
opportunity) to reconsider our national
commitment to an energy form born as
a destructive device of war and now an
adolescent contributor to "peaceful"
energy production. Can we tolerate
nuclear power and its byproducts when
the industry reaches maturity?
The persuasive arguments for and
against nuclear power are many, from
the economics of government
subsidized power to the questions of low
level radioactive emissions. One aspect
of nuclear energy policy that has never
been satisfactorily explained by
proponents of nuclear power concerns
the ultimate deposition of nuclear
wastes.
The nuclear energy cycle produces
deadly wastes which are as close to .
eternal in their period of potency as
anything the human mind can conceive.
Isotopes such as strontium-90, cesium
137 and plutonium-239 are produced;
although these "high level" wastes
constitute only .one per cent of all
radioactive wastes by volume, they
contain approximately 90 of the total
radioactivity. Estimates of the time such
wastes must be isolated from the
environment range from 56,000 to 2
million years, according to figures
compiled by the Citizen's Energy.
Council, an anti-nuclear lobbying
group.
"In a pound of plutonium distributed
into the biosphere," says Dr. John
G of man, professor of physics medicine
at Berkeley and former Atomic Energy
Commission researcher, "you've got
enough plutonium for billions of lung
cancer cases. And that stuff can settle to
the ground and get resuspended by wind
over the next 10,000 years and still be
carcinogenic. This means that
plutonium guardianship is not for 300
years, but for at least 240,000. That's
longer than the recorded history of man.
...Can you visualize an industry
handling tons of plutonium, shipping it
in casks on highways, and not having a
few pounds get out?"
Uhr Baihj
Cole C. Campbell
Editor
83rd Year of
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Managing Editor
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Associate Editor
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News Editor
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Features Editor
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Sports Editor
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Projects Editor
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Graphic Arts Editor
Business:. Reynolds Bailey, business manager, Elizabeth Bailey, advertising manager.
Staff: Henry Birdsong, Elisabeth Corley, Steve Crowell, Jay Curlee. Mark Dubowski, Ellen
Horowitz, Larry Kulbeck, Mark Lazenby and Linda Livengood.
Composition editor: Mike Leccese. Editorial assistant: Gloria Sajgo.
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during the regular academic year.
That scenario is not at all far fetched.
Gerald Garvey of Princeton University
reported in 1972 that fifteen known
failures of waste shortage facilities have
already occurred, and in 1973 the Los
Angeles Times reported a major leak at
an AEC facility in Washington. In that
instance, the leaked wastes stopped just
short of entering the water table from
which area residents obtain their
drinking supply.
To date, no widely accepted means of
nuclear waste storage have been
discovered. Tank storage, the current
method, is susceptible to leaks,
sabotage, earthquakes and other
natural disasters and acts of war.
Research into deposits in salt domes, a
relatively stable geological formation,
revealed that even these ancient earth
structures are unpredictable. Salt domes
are formed by the complete dissipation
of water. In Lyons, Kansas, an AEC
storage plan fell through when scientists
discovered mysterious water formations
in the salt.
Exotic notions from shooting wastes
into the sun to sliding them between
tectonic plates (structures on which
continents sit) to burial in Antarctica
are just that: exotic and notions,
untested and almost untestable because
of the hazards of accidents and natural
changes each carries with it. Use of
wastes as heat sources, deposition in
atomic test sites, sea dumping, deep well
injection, special waste pyramids and
various other ideas have been tossed
around; none have been demonstrated
praticable, completely safe, nor
timeless.
There is no known storage method for
nuclear wastes that is safe and timeless.
Yet the nuclear juggernaut continues.
The time to reconsider our
commitment to an energy system which
generates toxic, long-lived wastes with
no safe storage or detoxification
methods applicable is not following a
major leak contaminating vast areas of
land or regional water supplies. The
time to reconsider that commitment is
now before public health is in
jeopardy.
The actions we take must not hurt
those who will not benefit from such
. actions. Nuclear energy is at best a
short-term option, a stopgap while we
explore clean and safe energy sources
such as the sun. Later generations will
not benefit from our efforts to tap the
peaceful atom. They should not suffer
from those efforts either.
As Professor Edward Teller of the
University of Kansas has written, "If
anyone makes a major mistake and
large quantities of high level waste
escape into the atmosphere or
hydrosphere the disaster will spread
rapidly across political borders and
worldwide pollution may result." Are
we ready to assume that responsibility?
Are we willing to endure that risk?
It is difficult to conceive what gives us
the right to answer either yes, or no to
these questions, except for the fact that
we are technologically capable of
assuming these risks and
responsibilities. But technological
capability is not a substitute for moral
obligation. It is clear where that
obligation rests.
The juggernaut must end, before it
ends itself.
(3ar 18 M
Editorial Freedom
News: Lynn Medford, assistant news editor. Art Eisenstadt,
associate news editor. Writers: Sue Cobb, Miriam Feldman,
Dwight Ferguson, Dan Fesperman, Chris Fuller, Sam Fulwood,
Bruce Henderson, Jan Hodges, Polly Howes, Bob King, Vernon
Loeb, Nancy Mattox, Vernon Mays, Jane Mosher, Tim Pittman,
Laura Seism, Merton Vance and Richard Whittle.
News Desk: George Bacso, assistant managing editor. Copy
editors: Janet Creswell, Ben Dobson. Clay Howard, Todd
Hughes, Malia Stinson and Betsy Stuart.
Features: Linda Lowe, assistant features editor. Critics: Rick
Sebak, drama; Michael McFee, Laurence Toppman, Hank
Baker, film. Writers: Alison Canoles, Susan Datz, Neva Dennis,
Fred Michael, Liz Skillen, Tim Smith and Bill Sutherland.
Sports: Jim Thomas, assistant editor. Gene Upchurch, desk
assistant. Writers: Jane Albright, Kevin Barris, Brad Bauler,
Doug Clark, Chip Ensslin, Alan Ford, Jim Gentry, John Hopkins,
Pete Mitchell, Lee Pace, Ed Rankin, Grant Vosburgh, Tom Ward
and Ford Worthy.
Graphic Arts: Martha Stevens, head photographer. Staff
photographers: Steve Causey, Charles Hardy, Margaret Kirk
and Howard Shepherd. Cartoonists: John Branch, Stan Coss
and Nan Parati.
Our nation was born in genocide when it
embraced the doctrine that the original
American, the Indian, was an inferior
race. From the sixteenth century forward
blood flowed in battles over racial
supremacy. . . . Our literature, our films'
our drama, our folklore all exalt it. Our
children are still taught to respect the
violence which reduced a red-skinned
people of an earlier culture into a few
fragmented groups herded into
impoverished reservations.
the autobiography of Malcolm X
The Bicentennial is a celebration of
historical events. If it is to have any meaning
or relevance for today, or provide any insight
for the kind of life we build for tomorrow,
there must be a reexamination of American
history which in forthright and honest. In
order to eradicate the lies and racism of the
popular culture, the American people will
need to learn some of the truth about the
struggle of the indigenous people of this land
to resist the invasion of people of an alien
culture. There should be no escape from the
fact that this invasion was carried out in a
manner best described by terms which the
history books usually reserve for the Indians:
barbarous, savage, uncivilized.
Should we start by recognizing that 200
years is not a long space of time? We could
do this by drawing attention to the fact that
people have been living at the H opi village of
Old Oraibi and at Taos Pueblo for a
thousand years.
But perhaps we should begin with a
chapter from the Revolution, one that not
many people know but one that should most
surely not be missed the Catawba Indians
of South Carolina. The Catawbas, like many
tribes, entered into treaties with the British
Crown. By the Treaty of Augusta, 1763, a
reservation was guaranteed to them, which
was surveyed the following year. When the
Revolution began, several tribes, feeling
committed by their treaty obligations,
fought with the British. But the Catawbas
had friendly relations with their non-Indian
neighbors in South Carolina and joined with
them in their struggle for liberty. The story
for the Bicentennial audience should also tell
how, over the ensuing fifty years, the people
of South Carolina cheated them out of their
land, culminating in the Treaty of Nation
Ford, 1840, a violation of federal law. The
Catawbas are still living as Indians near
Rock Hill, S.C.
The legislation introduced by Senator
Dawes in 1887 was designed to break down
the reservation that existed. The Allotment
Act provided a quarter section of land to
Hail tSaLyU Tni 1
To the editor:
I read with interest Ralph Ellis' letter to
the editor in the November 1 1 edition of The
Daily Tar Heel and thought it might be
worthwhile to respond in part to his
comparison of Chapel Hill's "class' with that
of East Carolina University.
First, Mr. Ellis, you speak of the
Halloween riot incident as an example of
class that the ECU students show, and yet
you say it was the police who caused the
uproar. If it is to assume that the ECU
students are to be considered lacking in
"class" because they are downtown on a
Friday night drinking beer and having a
good time, which is the indication you gave
me, then what did you, too, show by being in
that throng yourself? I might add also that
on occasion I have visited friends in Chapel
Hill for a weekend and ventured to join the
downtown Chapel Hill crowd in night life.
Though it does not compare in excitement
and scope with ECU's, I must say the
"classy" Tar Heel hordes do all right for
themselves.
I doubt that the riots on Halloween night
in Greenville had very little to do with the
"class" of the people at ECU. I might remind
you that one cannot necessarily judge "class"
from what school an individual has
attended, any more than you can judge
"class" from what town a person comes
from. In addition, what kind of class do you
yourself show by the statement, "ECU
should be in the NCAA with State. No Class
At All."
Again you talk about how ECU is too wild
for you. Well, that's too bad. If that is the
case, we aren't asking you to come here
anyway. That was your decision.
Now, concerning the bumper stickers and
the constant reminders you got about the
fact that ECU beat Carolina, 38-17, in
football: Such bumper stickers and
reminders are what you might call "bragging
rights" and they last only so long as the next
time the two teams may play. I am sure that
your obvious dissatisfaction with North
Carolina State has a great deal to do with the
athletic rivalry which these two teams enjoy.
There are bragging rights involved here, too,
such as is the case in the "Tar Heels, No. 1,"
"I'm from Ford Corners," "Chapel Hill,
Almost Heaven" bumper stickers that 1 often
see, even in the eastern part of the state. So,
you see, not everyone is immune from
"bragging."
We here at ECU are very proud of the
accomplishments of our football team this
year and its wins over Chapel Hill and
Virginia, but we also realize the caliber of
teams we beat this year did not necessarily
make such feats earth-shattering.
Nonetheless, we are pleased by them, just as
you are pleased with the wins your team
acquires over ACC rivals.
The "ECU beats Carolina Blue, nothing
beats Pabst blue" stickers, I agree, aren't the
most classy ones in the state, but remember,
too, that beer distributors will give anything
each Indian. As a result, many reservations
had an excess amount of land after the
allotment divisions, so the government
opened these remaining lands to
homesteaders. The white settlers were then
mixed into the 1 ndians' territory, as a pattern
for him to follow. Senator Dawes and the
groups who organized this Allotment Act in
the east did so with good intentions toward
helping the Indians, but in the west this
policy was acted upon with full force by most
of the eager politicians who were anxious to
please the settlers. They realized that the Act
would allow more land to be settled, so it is
clearly seen that the original purpose of the
Dawes Act was another investigator of
Indian exploitation. The Indian was left in a
helpless position due to various
governmental follies.
H istory books could also truthfully tell the
stories of such patriotic leaders as Hiawatha,
King Phillip, Pope, Pontiac, Tecumseh,
Osceola, Black Hawk, Crazy Horse, Sitting
Bull, Chief Joseph, Cochise and Geronimo.
The Sequoyah myth should also be
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away to make a buck for advertising and, in
the thrill of our win, many ECU students
displayed the stickers, which even I don't
like.
Remember, Mr. Ellis, not all students fall
into a stereotype and that the students at
little ole' ECTC (or EZU) are not really that
different than those at the Carolina campus.
So let us enjoy our victories, just like you
would.
John Evans
Sports Editor
ECU Newspaper
Snobbery at UNC?
To the editor:
The letter on "Snobbery at UNC?"
deserves a rebuttal, but just barely.
In the article, Tom Lock (obviously a
pseudonym) threatened to give up the fight
against the "allegation that UNC is a
spawning ground for snobbery." Do not
despair, "Tom." Snobbery refers to someone
who pretends to have social importance or
intellectual superiority, i.e., class. The
majority of students at Carolina need not
pretend to have class; it is inherent.
However, you have made a point about our
lack of class in , certain instances. You
yourself said you twice dated someone
(presumably a female) from State.
It seems as though "Tom" is a victim of the
rising malady, which for lack of a better
phrase we will call "pompous-ass
syndrome." He claims that sufferers of
"socio-educational ethnocentrism" (?) feel
that "four years in Chapel H ill is second only
to divine revelation and approbation in
establishing a person within the .highest
echelons of society." "Tom," would you
really rate us that low?
With the risk of trying to make ourselves
look good by criticizing others, we suggest
that perhaps "Tom" should go to a less classy
university.
Get out of "Blue Heaven," "Tom," and go
to "Red Hell" instead.
Fubar Kuperman
514 Morrison
Randy Clayton
1005 Morrison
Hugh Brady
George Francisco
507 Morrison
Chuck Crocker
Randy Stallings
508 Morrison
Worth the effort
To the editor:
Recently 1 attended a workshop for the
Hinton James government. As a co
chairperson of the seventh floor, it became
obvious there was a lack of direction in the
government. It was difficult to initiate
effective programs due to a general feeling of
rewritten: Sequoyah did not invent the
Cherokee syllabary. The syllabary had been
in use for centuries. He adapted it and
popularized it so that the Cherokee people
had a code, unintelligible to whites, by which
they could communicate in their guerilla war
to maintain their homeland.
As analysis of government policies such as
removal, allotment and termination will
show, there are characteristics of an Indian
way of life w hich will not go away and which
America would be well-advised to learn
from. One is a respect for our Mother Earth.
This has many manifestations; one which
has been a central part of the conflict from
the beginning is the inability of the
Europeans to see the value of holding land in
common. Another lesson for America, or
more appropriately, a course of study, is the
benefits of tribalism. These include benefits
to the individual security rather than
alienation and the benefits to the larger
society.
All of this is not to say that Indian people
will not be celebrating in 1976. One event in
apathy in the Senate. In short, we managed
to accomplish nothing in the last few months
toward making James a better place to live
for its residents.
The workshop was devoted to uniting the
Senate into a productive force. We outlined
the different roles that each office entailed
and set some lasting goals that we could
work towards for the remainder of the
school year. Although there were some
initial doubts as to whether the workshop
would be beneficial, each person left with the
idea that the, time had been well spent.
Everyone is enthusiastic about working for
the dorm, especially since we know exactly
what we are trying to accomplish.
There is some talk in the Housing
Department as to whether this type of
excursion is worthwhile. Let me assure
anyone with these doubts that it is indeed
worthwhile. We are presently considering
having our next government workshop
earlier in the fall so that our dorm
government can receive the benefits in time
to put them to use during first semester. I
recommend that any dorm having problems
with stagnant government try this simple
solution. It will be well worth the effort.
Finally, I would like to thank Archie
Copeland, Assistant Director of the Union,
and Doris Kaneklides, Program Director of
Housing, for directing the workshop and
making it as productive as it was. 1 had not
previously known these people but came to
realize during the weekend that they truly
care and are working to solve students
problems. Their effort played a major part in
making the workshop a success and my
thanks go out to them wholeheartedly.
Tom Cox
7th Floor Co-Chairperson
734 James
Mad pedant on "-man"
To the editor:
The devil, it is said, can quote scripture to
his purpose, and Old King Cole Campbell,
lording it over the poor and humble pedants,
can quote the Oxford English Dictionary.
A more confusing source than the OED,
though, would be hard to find. While it says
the suffix "-man" refers to "an adult male," it
defines "chairman" as "a person who
presides."
No less authority than Dr. Jacques
Barzun, writing in the Columbia Forum
stated: "Man, in chairman and elsewhere,
still means and, etymologically, always has
meant person. As far back as the Sanskrit
manus the root man means human being
with no implication of sex."
In the past all chairmen were male. Today,
though; women are chairmen of the National
Republican Committee, a congressional
committee, and both political parties in
particular that will be celebrated is the one
hundredth anniversary of a famous victory
in the struggle of native people to resist the
invasion of the Europeans in their genocidal
and ecocidal war for the conquest of the
Great Plains June 25, 1976 is the
Centennial celebration of the battle of the
Little Bighorn.
Sen. Robert F. Kennedy remarked during
hearings at Twin Oaks, Okla., in 1968,
"...cultural differences are not a national
burden, they are a national resource the
American vision of itself is of a nation of
citizens determining their own destiny; of
cultural differences flourishing in an
atmosphere of mutual respect; of diverse
peoples shaping their own lives and destiny
in their own fashion . . . That is what we
understand as the United States of
America."
Debrah Correll, a junior Native American
studies major from Lenoir, and Dean
Suagee, a law student from Adelphi,
Maryland, are Cherokee members of the
Carolina Indian Circle.
Orange County and they all go by the title
"chairman." Thus, if "chairman" ever did
mean "chair man," its meaning is changing
now. So, as I asked before, why change the
word?
Finally, let me dispel the aura of William
F. Buckley ism with which the DTH is trying
to surround us defenders of the mother
tongue. The "Mad Pedant" has written
countless letters to legislators urging the
passage of the Equal Rights Amendment
and worked on a bill in the N.C. Student
Legislature guarding the rights of rape
victims; I even voted for a woman for co
editor of the DTH which is more than Cole
Campbell can say.
Bruce M. Tindall
Y-7 Kingswood Apts.
A woman on "-man"
To the editor.
I am a woman who has read too many
male-written letters about "the sex of the
suffix." I have had too many men admonish
me not to be so "sensitive" about the world's
insistence that "man" is a category which
refers to male, or male and female, while
"woman" refers only to the female sex.
One of the functions of language is
grouping, the labeling of individuals who
possess certain characteristics. Men are a
group. Women are a group. Both together
form another group: people.
Where only men belong to a certain
category, I have no objection to calling a
member of that group a " -man." But in
this changing society women are now filling
many roles once reserved for men.
It does not surprise most femnists that
men see no reason to change the language to
fit reality. Change is unsettling, and those
who define the status quo rarely want to let
go of their privilege.
Some men argue against the tyranny of
forcing "-person" into the language. Can't
they see that this is no more tyrannical than
insisting on "-man," but that it is a lot more
accurate?
I hope that someday soon our language
will be permitted to develop naturally and to
be the living tool of expression that it was
designed to be.
Judith Lipnick
Lakewood Ave.
Durham
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