Newspapers / Saint Mary’s School Student … / May 1, 1991, edition 1 / Page 3
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I May 1991 The Belies Hazardous Wastes threat to us aii Mid East Teach-In Pages By Elizabeth Denning 1 It seems that almost every time j I turn on the television there is a j story about hazardous waste I sites. I can personally relate to ; this subject because last year at t this time the state wanted to put one in our little town of 35,000. The people of our town came together so quickly that the deci sion to put it somewhere else was determined. Who knows where the state will finally decide to put the stuff. Nobody wants it!I Hazardous waste involves the industrial waste created in manu facturing processes. It is toxic, flammable, corrosive, or reactive. It is regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. These wastes are dangerous to humans and harmful to the envi ronment. Low-level radioactive Waste is all the radioactive wastes j not classified in the high level. It comes from the nuclear power I plants (97%) with the other, 3% I coming from medical research I labs, university labs, and hospl- I tals. Over two million radioactive Packages are shipped in the U.S. each year. Experience has shown that trucks carrying “low-level” Waste have accidents at the stan dard accident rate and for com mon causes. For trucks the acci dent rate is estimated at an acci dent every 150,000 miles trav eled, including low-level waste shipments of trash, and shield shipments of resins, sludges, and irradiated components. It is scary to think that when you pass a iruck on a highway that is not labeled that it could be carrying hazardous wastes. There is considerable debate about the health effect of poor training, illegal dumping, and mid night burns. Serious health prob lems in workers include head aches, rashes, respiratory burn ing, tremors, memory loss, psy chology changes, and hair loss. These are just a small few of the sites that have had considerable Problems and failures causing health problems. There are also a number of economic problems that come With a hazardous incinerator, f^roperty values decrease near the vicinity of the facility and along routes mainly traveled by transport vehicles. Who wants to jive next to a hazardous waste incinerator? There is also an increased cost for highway main tenance, for fire and spill msponse, and for facility inspec tions. Not to mention the effect on '^rildlife that is forced out of its nat ural habitat because of the con struction involved in the building Of a plant. The community around it becomes known as a “dumping Qround.” The entire problem began a Couple of years ago when Governor Martin signed an agree- hient with four other states. The Qovernor promised North Carolina Would build the dumps as our Contribution to the agreement. In this decision he chose the most undesirable method of disposal; incineration and landfill. He could have taken other avenues, but decided not to. One he could have taken would have been the idea of biological methods and metal recovery in which metals were reused. But the best idea would have been source reduc tion. When North Carolina entered the Low Level Radio active Waste Compact, they pro posed that they would be taking all the “low level” waste from eight states for twenty years; if the fed eral government cuts back on the low level of radiation exposure. One theory says that there is a threshold level of radiation in which harmful effects will not result. A more conservative approach says that there is no safe level of radiation exposure. This was stated by the Governor’s Waste Management Board booklet. This problem of hazardous waste does not stop in the United States. In Denmark a plant closed after toxic gases drifted through a community. Emergency orders kept people in their homes for twelve hours. In Sweden tests were done downwind from an incinerator, and fairly high levels of dioxins were found in the air and soils. Milk from the cows grazing nearby had more than ten times as much dioxin and furan as cows grazing elsewhere. In Scotland dairy cows picked mas sive levels of contamination, threatening public health through the sale of milk and meat. Cows were found to be ill downwind from the incinerator, too. The scary thing to think about is how close the incinerator could be to us. There are many failures that have happened at other waste incinerators. In El Dorado, Arkansas, the actual incinerator blew up! Six cases of rare sinus cancer have been treated by local doctors. Groundwater contamina tion and use of improper decon tamination procedures are other problems. In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, citizens have com plained for-years of health prob lems that they have attributed to the plant emissions; complaints include nausea, itchiness, sore throats, dead livestock and dirty cars. This incinerator was tem porarily closed. In Lenoir, North Carolina, numerous toxic wastes spilled into creeks and accumulat ed in fields. It closed in 1987 because of violations of federal laws. Local residents documented spills, and with the number of pro posed dumps, we could be taking most of the volume of radioactive wastes from our nation. This means that 37% of the nation’s radioactive waste would become North Carolina’s responsibility for ever! Will North Carolina be another landfill in the sky? Nobody knows, but many are will ing to fight it to the end. Draws Positive Response By Lisa Gorman ‘Why were we there?” “Why is religion such an important factor in the Middle East?” “What’s going to happen now?” These are just a few of the questions that were tossed around during the Teach in on March 19th. While the Teach In was originally planned during the war, the speakers made it quite clear that although the fighting is over, the Middle East will continue to have a significant effect on the rest of the world. On Tuesday, March 19th, Saint Mary’s students attended six dif ferent sessions of this Teach In. Mr. Lee and Dr. Hume provided the historical overview of the Middle East while Dr. Esthimer and Dr. Caddell held group debates on the morality of not only the Persian Gulf war, but also war in general. Dr. Melbourne and Mrs. Anderson illustrated the feminine point of view through a skit. Dr. Quinn explained the intricate religion of Islam that has played such an important role in the Middle East. Dr. O’Shaughnessey and Cameron Campbell pointed out major reasons for U.S. involve ment in the war and what conse quences may arise. The Middle East is an extreme ly volatile area of the world right now, and the American public has a responsibility to stay informed about the events in that area. St. Mary’s is lucky to have professors who are so well informed on the subject and are able to convey their knowledge to the students. The air raids and the ground bat tles may be over, and although Raleigh, North Carolina, is thou sands of miles away, the Middle East remains a center for world attention which will continue to affect us for years to come. Thanks to Ellen Anderson, Joe Caddell, Steve Esthimer, Karen Hillman, Jack Hume, Roger Lee, Lucy Melbourne, Linda Mueller, Maggie O’Shaughnessey, Van Quinn, Terry Thompson, Dean Watson, Talia Beckman, Amy Bolin, Alisa King, Donna King, Cameron Campbell, Katherine Jordan, Catherine Engstrom, Elizabeth Gillam, Alison Bates, and Ann Maury Smith. Spain Trip Planned Carolyn Hicks and Anne Burks will be chaperoning a group of Saint Mary’s students on a trip to Spain this summer. They hope to get a good group together, so let them know if you are interested. Tina Williams a waitress. “It mostly involved a lot of waiting around. Sometimes you feel like a nobody when you are just an extra, but you get to see how exciting it is for the major characters, so it makes you want to succeed even more,” Tina says. "The first time I saw Richard Dreyfuss [the star of the movie] he looked kind of bummy, with a baseball cap on and old jeans. Holly Hunter [the leading ladyj- was very short and had to speak with a Northern accent in the movie which was funny, because once she was off camera she’d go back to her natural Southern drawl,” she explains. “Once while I was waiting to go on,J was standing with my tray. It was hard to balance because it was pretty heavy; it was real silver with real glasses. So I was standing there,” Tina now gets up to demonstrate, “and I took a step back. Mean while, Richard Dreyfuss is directly behind me so when I stepped back I accidentally touched his foot; I mean I barely touched it. But then, all of a sudden, he grabs his foot, starts hopping around on one leg, and hollering. Everyone is looking at him and, of course I’m turning bright red. Just then he stops and says, ‘Just kid ding.’” Tina hopes to go to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to further her study of drama. Tina has been to many summer programs for acting at Brevard College, the North Carolina School of the Arts, and the University of California at Los Angeles. She has also had expe- continued from page 1. rience acting on stage with The Junior League of Raieigh and directing here at Saint Mary’s. “At first you might think it is luck, but it really takes dedication, and determination,” Tina says. “It also pays to be nice and generous. Many peopie in this business are selfish, but people know when you are nice, and it will take you places. Sometimes I wonder what good I am doing in this choice of career; but, then I realize what a big part entertainment plays in our world. Entertainment can help bring out emotions in people. Acting is a form of art, and a great means of expression,” she states. Two of Tina’s favorite actresses are Glenn Close and Sally Field. “It really depends on the charac ter. I like strong female roles, characters that you can relate to. I don’t like women’s characters that are all just sex objects; I like to see deeper emotion than that,” Tina says. “I also like movies that have deep emotion that you can relate to. Movies that make a statement, like Driving Miss Daisy, are my favorites." "Sometimes I do think about just being at the Oscars. I would love to feel the excitement of being there along with all the famous stars, and just seeing them would be a thrill for me!” she says. Tina did just receive an award of appreciation for her con tributions to the drama depart ment of Saint Mary’s, a well- deserved recognition of her talent and hard work. -i. s K- ■f .■ i , i -I •■t • * i ^ i t I r ' ‘ I i ‘ I ; ' i '■ ; t ;,' ; L''’ ; r i; i ■ -
Saint Mary’s School Student Newspaper
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May 1, 1991, edition 1
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