The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, November 01, 2000, Image 1
_VOL. 94, No. 28Wednesday November 1, 2000__
%\t amccock
I Serving the Carolina Community since 1Q08
www.gamecock.sc.edu UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH Carolina Columbia, s.c.
Group warns of nuclear disaster in S.C.
by John Huiett
The Gamecock
An anti-nuclear activists group is warn
ing that a recent pipe leak at the V.C. Sum
mer Nuclear Power Plant in Jcnkinsvillc,
SC could eventually lead to an unprece
dented United Slates nuclear disaster.
A nuclear explosion at the plant axild
directly effect Midlands, since the plant
is about 25 miles north of Columbia in
Fairfield County.
Director Rebecca Rogers, of the Car
olina Pcitcc Resource Center, a nearly 20
ycar-old group formed on the idea of end
ing the proliferation of nuclear weapons,
said yesterday the leak could cause dc
struction on an unparalleled scale if not
properly contained.
“It could be worse than Chernobyl,
because of the location of lltc crack in the
weld,” Rogers said.
Russia’s Chernobyl Power Plant suf
fered a meltdown in 1986 when a reac
tor overheated, causing two explosions
that released radiation into the air for 10
days.
According to lire Web site www.Qier
nobyl.com, which is dedicated to the on
going study of the meltdown’s lasting
effects, the radiation released at Cher
nobyl was 100 times greater than the nu
clear bomb the U.S. dropped on Hiroshi
ma ending World War II. Ten years after
the disaster, babies were “still being bom
with no amis, no eyes and only slumps
for limbs,” the site contends.
The site further estimates more than
15 million people have been physically
affected by the meltdown, including
600,000 involved in die disaster’s cleanup,
“many of which arc now sick or dead.”
Rogers, whose husband is an electri
cian at the Jcnkinsvillc plant, said work
ers at the plant found powder residue
around the leak and liquid accumulation,
indicating the pipe had been leaking for
some time.
A report released by the Washington,
DC-based Union of Concerned Scientists
revealed the leak occurred from a crack
in the hot leg section of the piping,
causing nuclear-contaminated water to
leak from lire pipe during a lime when the
Summer plant was in operation.
Rogers said information she has re
ceived indicates that while, “tlterc arc two
cracks, only one is serious,” and that plant
employees have been working 12 hours
a day, seven days a week to ensure the
problem is contained.
But according to nuclear safety engi
neer David Lochbaum, who prcpitrcd the
Concerned Scientists report, even if a dis
aster is averted, llicrc is more titan enough
cause for concern.
“Luck, not skill, seemed to prevent
the hot leg piping from cracking com
pletely,” Lochbaum said. “This near-miss
is very significant.”
Lochbaum said the worst possible ac
cident that could take place at a nuclear
plant is “a laige-brcak loss of coolant ac
cident,” a situation hinted at by the Sum
mer leak.
Lochbaum concluded that plant offi
cials must determine if there arc any oth
er cracks in the welds or piping at Sum
mer, provide assurance that the one
reported serious leak is the only leak and
prove tlial officials arc inspecting the pipes
on a regular basis before the Nuclear Reg
ulatory Commission will allow Summer
to reopen.
South Carolina Electric & Gas
spokesman Brian Duncan said the leak
is being dealt with in an efficient and time
ly manner.
“Wfc’re taking it very seriously,” Dun
can said. “We arc working very closely
with the Nuclear Regulatory Committee,
and they will oversee the testing. We arc
now evaluating our repair options.”
Duncan confirmed that a four-inch
hairline fracture was discovered in the
weld of in a reactor coolant system pipe
Nuclear Death see page 2
USC block
on Napster
accidental,
school says
■ Officials say
they didn't mean
to prohibit access
by Charles Prashaw
The Gamecock
The pending lawsuit against Napster,
a controversial online free Mp3 provider,
hasn’t shut down its site, hut a mistake
made by Computer Services has caused
many USC students to no longer be able
to connect to the Napster server.
According to Computer Services of
ficials, an update to the university’s “fire
wall” last Thursday put a block between
Napster and the university’s network, pro
hibiting access to the online site in most
of USC’s dorms.
“We inadvertently blocked Napster
access and we’re going to reverse that,”
USC Chief Information Officer William
Hogue said.
university spokesman jusoii esnyuer
said computer technicians have been woo
ing on the problem since Thursday and
some residence halls that lost the ability
to connect to Napster should be able to
log on the site by the end of the week.
Some residence halls, including Pre
ston and Capstone, had regained access to
Napster by Tuesday evening.
The software that ultimately blocked
students from the server was installed for
\ security and privacy reasons, Hogue said.
There arc no other reports of the new
software blocking access to any oilier Web
sites nor were there any reports of the
software blocking access to similar pro
grams like Scour, which is like Napster,
but over which users trade videos and pho
tos as well as music.
Hogue said lie hadn’t been told
wlicthcr the block was intentionally built
into the software or if it was an oversight.
Snyder said USC’s policy towards Nap
ster is that it is officially banned, but the
university wasn’t going to block people
from gelling on the site if they cluxisc to
do so.
The only place Snyder said students
arc unable to gel on Napster is the vari
ous computer labs across campus. In dorm
rixinis, they aren’t officially supposed to
be on Napster, bill the university isn’t
blocking dorm access to the site.
Napster seepages
2005 Faculty key to building a better USC
Goals
This is the fourth article in a series by
The Gamecock examining the goals the USC
board of trustees recently agreed to try to
achieve by 2005.
by Brandon Larrabee
Thi: Gami:cock
Once a university obtains quality
students, llierc must be someone to teach
them.
As with the oilier goals the board of
trustees set, the goals for faculty quali
ty in 2005 arc high. They include hav
ing five National Academy members and
increasing external research funding to
$175 million.
National Academy members arc ex
perts called upon by the federal gov
ernment for advice concerning security
issues in their respective field.
They arc elected by their peers to
wliat Vice President for Research William
Harris compared to a hall of fame.
The university has one: Yakir
Aharonov, a physics professor.
To gel four more will require in
creasing the academic reputation and -
as with many of the university’s other
goals - funding, according to Chairman
of the Board Mack Whittle.
“We just need to make a conscious
effort and get the funding we need to
bring those faculty in,” Whittle said. He
said some of the bigger names in educa
tion had between five and 20 National
Academy members.
And bringing those faculty in will
help the university reach its goal con
cerning the funding of research.
“If you improve one, then you’re
probably going to improve the other,”
Whittle said.
Though llic university's goal involves
increasing research intake by more lh;ui
$50 million - USC set a slate record by
raising $121 million in the past year -
it will have to increase by $25 million
to $75 million more if the university
wants to make it into the Association of
American Universities, something the
■board’s goals arc ultimately intended to
accomplish, according to Whittle.
He said the university would need
to raise at least $200 million to $250
million annually to be invited to the
AAU.
Harris, who worked at the National
Science Foundation for almost 20 years,
agreed that the university’s goals for re
search hinge on the quality of its facul
ty
“To be a great research university,
you first and foremost have to be a great
leaching university,” Harris said.
And research, Harris said, was es
sential to the board’s overall goal of get
ting into the AAU.
“You will not get into lljc AAU with
out a highly successful research pro
gram,” he said.
Harris also said an increase in the
amount and quality of research being
done will make USC degrees valuable.
He added that even if a sludcnl’s degree
were one issued before the university
became a AAU-lcvcl institution, it would
be valuable because such students liclpcd
build llic university.
Harris specifically highlighted areas
such as biotechnology and information
technology as two areas the university
had to do well in if it wanted to be an
AAU-calibcr institution.
“If you’re going to be a great uni
versity in the 21st century, you’ve got
to be good in those areas. You’ve got
to be very good in those areas,” Harris
said.
Harris said the university’s goals re
quired money in order to hire the kind
of faculty needed, and specifically men
tioned the fact that the state funds the
university at about 70 percent of what
the university says it needs.
“It’s money,” Harris said. “You’ve
got to have the money to invest in the
talent base that is essential to make the
university among the lop 50 in the coun
try."
H.irris said Florida and Georgia were
two examples where the stale govern
ments had made a decision to give more
money to universities. He said those
funds had helped institutions in those
stales hire top-notch faculty.
“South Carolina has not done that
yet,” lie said.
The goal the trustees set was reach
able, Harris said, but not without the
right level of funding..
“If we don’t get the right investment,
we won’t be able to achieve it,” Harris
said.
The university desk etui he reached nl
gamecockudesk@hotmail.com.
Amy Goulding The Gamecock
Professors Streible and Kissel team teach a theory and practice documentary class in McMaster
College. The board of trustees wants to hire more outstanding faculty members.
Columbia students now shopping for art supplies online
i-—-1 .... .
Phoenix Graphix, an art supplies store located on Assembly Street
by Valerie Matchette
Thi; Gamixock
Students who have found textbook
shopping online to be a more convenient
and less expensive option than on-cam
pus b(X)kslorcs can now purchase their
art supplies online as well.
SludcnlMarkcl.com, a Web site de
signed for the convenience of the aver
age college student, was first launched in
1995. It offers products in high demand
for college students at competitive dis
counts.
According to a press release issued
by llic company, it “has a fraction of the
overncau costs associaieu wnn campus
bookstores."
While Stu6cntMarkct.com offers stu
dents textbooks at lcss-lhan-rctail prices,
it also offers advice on everything rele
vant to the college-age crowd, from get
ting a first credit aud to applying for school
lOiUtS.
It gives test lips for tlic GM AT, LSAT,
GRE and SAT, along with exam dales and
allows students to explore cellular-phone
and long-distance calling plans. Students
can also find music, clotlics and domi fur
niture at discounted rates.
Recently the site began to offer art
supplies amiig wun us regular wares.
“In the same way that online lexl
Ixxik sites are an alternative to shopping
at the campus bookstore, we now pro
vide an cITcclivc alternative for art sup
plies,” said Oren Milgram, director of stu
dent services at Brown University, where
the Web site originated.
“StudcnlMarkcl.com is committed
to providing the academic community
with a competitive college shopping so
lution,” Milgram said.
One Columbia-arca art supply store
llial serves USC students’ needs lias joined
Art supplies seepages
Weather
Today
72
49
Thursday
81
■ ‘<u-^222> 53
f c
Inside
Spotlight reviews the Blair Witch
Project 2.
Page 8
i
Quote of the Day
“It’s kind of fun to do the
impossible”
— Walt Disney
Datebook
Wednesday
—- • AAAS Black Cultural
November Wcc(,
1* Safely, Alcohol, and Vi
olence Education Week
Thursday
1“- • AAAS Black Cultural
November Wcck
2* Safely, Alcohol, and Vi
olence Education Week