The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 21, 1987, Page 3, Image 3
Viewpoint
Monday, September 21, 1987 THE GAMECOCK 3
AMY DELPO Editor in Chief
STEPHEN GUILFOYLE Copy Desk Chief
BRENDA BLYTH News Editor
HAL MILLARD Viewpoint Editor
? TAMARA WILLIS Features Editor
VJClllICvU Vlv wr A VMC \1/ ACIIIMr"TAKT r. ? ...
Tininu Yr/umi^vjiun csports ttJilor
' KEITH JONES Photography Editor
ROBB LANE Graphics Editor
PAULA WOJTOWICZ Beat Editor
Big bang
H HI IS* */M ?/? ^ ^ ^ ^ ? ? ? ? J
jujh vir urirrierilUl gf UUp S repori
points to doom at local plant
The pending agreement between the Soviet Union and the
United States concerning medium-range and short-range nuclear
missiles in Europe, along with the prospects of a worthwhile
summit between Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan, has
many people looking forward to a future with no nuclear threat.
But for South Carolians, especially those of us in Columbia,
the threat of dying in a nuclear-related tragedy comes not only
from the Kremlin, hut fmm r?nr twim ...~n
, ? uui umi uiiiiiai^ a."> wtu,
The military-industrial complex, that cold, calculating
behemoth, has created a monster. Its lair is the Savannah River
nuclear plant just southeast of Augusta, Ga., right down the
road from Columbia.
The plant, a 300-square-mile complex devoted to producing
plutonium for nuclear weapons, has been under attack by environmental
groups for the risks it poses to the surrounding
area. One of these groups, the Environmental Policy Institute,
^ released a report this past week stating that there is a substantial
risk of wastes exploding and contaminating the area.
inc wastes in question are not the kind kept in small barrels.
The plant has 51 tanks. Eaeh tank can hold up to 1.3 million
gallons of waste. This amounts to three-quarters of all the
radioactivity from the nation's military waste.
In the simplest terms, it is enough to kill you and me.
The amount of plutonium is growing, too. The EPI says this
means that the complex is getting "dirtier" or that operators arc
not doing their job and keeping track of the nrodnntinn nf
deadly substance.
The end result is a one-in-50 chance of a massive explosion, of
which there could be two kinds: a hydrogen or organic vapor
explosion.
Either one is deadly.
Are the government and Du Pont, the company running the
complex, overly confident or just stupid? The plant has already
been plagued by problems that are serious enough in their own
right ? cracked, flawed reactors; reactors running at reduced
power because they had been running at unsafe temperatures for
what might have been years; inept, irresonsible management.
The list is endless, and the list is not at all impressive.
Du Pont's research manager Harry Harmon says a new safety
analysis puts the probability of an explosion at one in 23,000.
A1cr? lip cauc I- - - 1
. >iuu) ?>v jujymji uiiv LanA no) uigctmc vapors ana is protected
by saftey systems. The report, however, is still in draft form, he
says, and he couldn't elaborate any of the details of the report.
How convenient.
Then again the military-industrial complex has never been too
keen on scientific integrity, especially when it interfers with getting
the "job" done. In this case, making weapons of
destruction.
Like all soothsayers and forecasters of doom and peril, the
? EPI may have to wait until something does happen at the plant
before the government or Du Pont realizes they are sitting on a
powder keg. Until then, EPI and groups like it will keep
fighting; the government and Du Pont will keep skirting the issue
and lying to protect themselves and their interests; and people in
Columbia and surrounding areas will wait until the right thing is
done.
That is, very simply, clean the plant or close it.
// * //v1/ / ?* >
? '.' 4 //Zfi
- - the sound of
y*\^ d pendulum
** // /}j i suddenly cKarwitvi
1^^/y/i ' Aw
_ T^f //
?\ <rr f y< '< cps
The Staff
Assistant Copy Desk Chief Historian
Andy Bcchtel Bobby Jones
Assistant News Editors Adviser
Todd Mines Bill Rogers !
Jeff Shrewsbury Director of Student Media
Assistant Features Editor Bill Clements
Firdous Bamji Production
> Assistant Sports Editor Chuck Norris
j ' Rae Leigh Son Ha
Assistant Photography Editor Advertising Manager
Jonathan Williams Margaret Michcls
p Datebook Kditor Assistant Advertising Manager
Tony Moreno Dawn Miller
letters Policy: Ths ir*mt?xk Mill (r> to print ktlrrt rcrcUrd. Ltllert ihowkJ be, at raailmuna. 250 lo WO *i?rd?
I rational* mix not nnrt 300 ?or4>. W? rrwril lK? f If III lo rdll kllrrt for ?l)k or pouibk htxl I hi ?IN Hoi ollkkoM I
iMtr H) HnimMtvt
\
Constitution makes Am
The Constitution of the United States of a
America is now 20() years old, and it is important |
to ininK aoout what it is and what it has done.
The Constitution was written because the jEgSBjpfi
original colonies were having a tough time living
under the Articles of Confederation; so certain ^
men wrote to other men and said, "This can't go otcpncn
on; we must revise the articles. ? I Guilfovle ? &'?<'-19
So m the summer of 1787, about 50 delegates
gathered in Annapolis, Md., to discuss revisions.
They decided that the loose confederation of states
just couldn't work, and something else was needed. EmwNfitfKS
^ So George Washington had to preside over fiery
men who were suddenly trying to write a document
to create a government that would work.
They succeeded. It's cither a string of petty thugs who ha
Times are tough; there's no denying. Hut if we backing in most cases, such as Augusto I
look back on what has been done and what was Chile and Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua,
created with the document those men wmtp i/r?n'ii ah ? *
J*,*. .. r-ni ivjwi\ ai uui /Miicncan sysiem am
see a country amazing in its degree of guarantees of copy it, but none take it to our extent,
personal freedom and its ability to let the common things in America?
man run the show. You and I do, just regular Joes puttin
Who runs things in the Soviet Union? An day's work, working real hard to lear
oligarch of selected bureaucrats. running things because we have realize
Who runs things in England? The common man, Declaration of Independece says, "that:
but the old aristocracy is still has some power, and created equal."
there is still one decision that cannot go through And our Constitution is the realizati
without the consent of the monarch ? the decision bold statement. There is no divine right;
to declare war. better class.
Who runs things in the lesser-developed nations? The United States is the land where be
A short Italian misses k
If you see this short Italian kid with a bad hair- ?????????
cut bopping around campus today, chances are it's f,,
You see, I'm Italian because my father is. I'm
short because both my mother and father arc. But
the reason 1 have a bad haircut has nothing to do PU'l' 41
with my mom or dad. The reason I have a lousy t^flllip
!o .W ? -? ~ ^ 1
.......o u?.vttujt mcy iuic- uuwn is.eny s barber V^arflaCI
Now before you go turning the page to check out
"Bloom County" or see who the soccer team beat j !
lately, give me a chance. Honestly, this isn't your j
typical "I-hate-progress" shebang. The message
I'm merely trying to convey here is one of fond
memories and happy, secure nostalgia. do, you ask? I'll tell you. He went arou
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, came in Bates where he lived, and aside frorr
this student. And this student was very, very scared scraps of food and loose change, he c
because he felt like he was a million light years quired about the local barber shops,
from home. He was out of his element in a big way But to his dismay, most of his colle;
and very much the outsider. As time went by, he fatter and furrier than he. All except one
realized that besides gaining the freshmen 15 (ac- good ROTC friend Bill. Bill was the ?
tually it was more like the freshmen 20 or so) he floor who took showers every weekem
was nrnrtiifino -> uoru Itl:-i- 1
, c v. .v.j wi nan. inicK, aiso me guy on the tloor who played
nasty, make-you sweat-like-a-pig hair. What did he fact, he was the guy on the floor who
Letters to the editor
n/\i lil/o personal morals and ideas of justice.
U\3m. 11 Id llvfl 111VC Because if we can believe that Nazi J-vAvrUJ
? concentration camps are no worse
CamPS than dorm restrictions or other minor \^/l 111
inconveniences in our lives, we have
some serious flaws in our person and
To the editor: in our society.
I read with some dismay Stephen To the editoi
Guilfoyle's article in The Gamecock Richard Schellhammer Mourning
of Sept. 14. I am appalled at the History, graduate student close to us is
callousness that it took for Guilfoyle The reasons ?
to compare limitations on visitation r I llO Vf IzC Within, we f
privileges in a dorm to the atrocities * IKH1IV3 j & to have preve
vv..iun?vu iii nan Luiaciiiiiiuuii a a* our anger at
camps. This problem seems to be I*0DI*0SGrifittlVG dous act. Wii
common with Americans who * ly typically i
cavalierly toss off comparisons of the To the editor: leaving the ir
Holocaust to terribly inane oc- I would like to take this opportuni- No one cai
curences in their lives. ty to publicly say "thank you" to the the best of c
Restricting your rights to see your many student volunteers who assisted and easy dea
friends in a college dorm is not the those of us who are handicapped dur- survivor nee
same as torture, starvation and ing Pope John Paul IPs visit to the dience to grie
death. I fail to see how anyone could university campus at The Horseshoe. relationship,
be ignorant of these facts. These young volunteers were a godThe
possible reasons why send at a time most needed. Those left
Americans arc so callous and insen- As those who atrenHtvl th#? r?f..co #-?n
sitive to the issues of the Nazi con- ceremonies at The Horseshoe recall, but effective!
centration camps and the means to the weather was exceedingly hot, and ing so ? ar
resolve this lack of understanding many of us had great difficulty with thoughts. Th
revolve around one of two points. the heat. These young people provid- to committin
First, if people are ignorant of the ed us with water and shade at certain vivor's suicid
facts, they should make an effort to intervals and helped us to and from short of actio
understand. Fili Wiesel's book, the site of the ceremony. I just want manently if i
Night, would be a good place to you to be aware of how deeply I ap- Survivors
start. predate this, and 1 know I speak for mptly. If yoi
However, if, on the other hand, we many others. by bringing tl
have become incapable of caring or Once again, thank you very much. her attention
feeling intense sorrow for what has Fred I,. Day
happened in the past, then maybe we Stute Representative Eu
should seriously re-evaluate our own District 92
'.an
fclf
.LYOU.TffiDX... \i: a
1BIEVIITHBORMS VjvX
OUT HERE. IN THE. WfcM
erica what it is
???? moil man can be transcendental, where regular
people run things as if they were kings.
Thanks to the Corstitution.
And what is the cornerstone of that document?
What makes it so special, so different from other
. such documents?
Th-?rrt ~ ? II ^
. nv.it i> ci ciutiiciigc, mc rreamme, where our
forefathers promised to strive to "establish justice,
ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common
defense ..." to secure those and other blessings
for their posterity.
And along with that challenge comes some protection.
The Bill of Rights. We are not to strive
without protection or without being told that
ve military everything is a risk.
5inochet in And the most important rights guaranteed
or no one. within that bill are those in the First Amendment.
1 all try to "Congress shall make no law respecting an
Who runs establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech,
g in a hard or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably
n a trade, to assemble, and to petition the Government for a
ed, as our redress of grievances."
all men arc
This is the 200-year anniversary of the Constituon
of that tion. And I thought that I, like many others, needthere
is no cd to be reminded what it's all about here in
America ? the right to speak or write what's on
ing a com- our minds and to believe anv w.iv ??> chnncp
>cal barber shop
| guitar in the shower every weekend and played
^ what he liked to call "The Bates House Blues."
Because Bill had to get silly haircuts on a regular
wu.tkt uiuim.1 ivj ins ivu 1sentence, ne Knew ail tne
neat barber shops in town. After much debate and
intense questioning, the decision was finally made:
Kelly's Barber Shop on Assembly would handle the
Lease. Our hero couldn't deal with the mission
alone; he needed support. Bill came along.
The entire experience was a success. The place
I had a great, fantastic hair-cutting atmosphere. The
i price was right; $4.50 for a haircut ain't too bad.
But most of all, the three older gentlemen who
worked there were extremely cool. To this day, 1
nd the hall don't know which one was Kelly. I just called them
i bumming all Kelly. When I did so, they just smiled and noddasually
in- ed and said something exciting like, "More off the
top, son?"
igues were 1 guess that's it. Kelly, (all three of you) if you
. it was his haven't retired to Hollywood Beach, Fla., and
juy on me soinenow read this, 1 just want you to know that I
d. He was miss you and wish you all the luck in the world. 1
guitar. In also wish that the last guy who cut my hair would
played the have asked, "More off the top, son?"
fl 11 i M tf-J P1 department of neuropsychiatry
IjUilvlilv and behavioral science
?* * USC School "f MpHinlno
mentis
Divest, says
the suicide of someone new student
i excruciatingly painful.
ire both inner and outer. To the editor:
eel guilty at our failure I am writing in resonse to an article
nted the suicide and for by Samuel Starks ("Old views on
the deceased's horren- apartheid no longer useful") that apthout,
friends and fami- peared in the Sept. 4 issue of The
avoid talking about it, Gamecock.
lourner unsupported. As a new student at USC, I was not
n mourn alone, liven in aware that the university was in any
ircumstances, a natural way supporting the evil apartheid
th after a long life, the system. As a high school student in a
ds a sympathetic au- predominantly white community and
ve the loss of the loving school system (I, too, am white), I
took a strong stand against racism in
any form, despite disapproval from
behind by suicide who among some of my peers,
k ? or who arc subtly I have tried several ways to get this
y discouraged from do- important message across, and I have
e left alone with their a few suggestions. While I support
osc thoughts often lean your ideas, I feel that picketing and
g suicide. While the sur- protesting publicly is less effective
al thoughts usually stop than perhaps a petition, letters from
n, the pain remains per- students and community leaders to
lot talked through. USC President James Holderman. A
should seek help pro- formal meeting between antii
know a survivor, help apartheid activists and university ofiic
informal i/ ? l>li ? - ? ?L-* 1
v.. .? ?/i iinnii iv> mcc wiiai we can uo 10 get
USC to divest would also be useful.
gene H. Kaplan, M.I)., Steve Johnson
professor, Political science, freshman
it