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Page $--Sunday, October 22, 1978-The Michigan Daily
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nukes
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factories used in coal or oil business.
They also say that reactors emit less
radiation than other areas of the
nuclear industry such as hospital
research facilities.
It is hard to dispute this. For
example, because of government-
ordered limits on amounts of radiation
allowed in and around a reactor,
radiation that comes from the Ford
Nuclear Reactor at the Phoenix
Memorial Laboratory on North
Campus is about 100 times less than
radiation from nuclear devices used on
Central Campus in medical research.
"It does make you worry that no
matter what you do to prevent it,
something bad can happen," said
James Duderstadt, professor of nuclear
engineering. "Most people will now
agree there are certain risks there ...
but even the critics would have to admit
that a nuclear plant is not as harmful as
a coal factory."
Certainly there is truth in this
statement, for from the mines to the
canopy of smog that rises over
American cities, pollution from coal
manufacture and usage is a cruel and
horrible health hazard.
B UT THE dangerous potential of the
nuclear industry is incontestable.
"Although we don't see the water
towers across the street, in case of a
malfunction in Monroe, Monroe is right
in your backyard," said Petz. "It's not
like we get the call and say, 'Okay,
let's all get in the car and go to Alpena.'
Man, you're dead before you can make
it to the Mobil station."
Alliance members also question the
role government has played in support
of nuclear energy. A future dependence
on uranium-which seems likely, since
President Carter is dead-set against the
plutonium-fed breeder-would mean
strong U.S. connections with South
Africa. a major supplier of the
radioisotope. Critics also say there is
less uranium in the world than there is
coal or oil, and they are less expensive
than uranium.
But of all the complaints and
concerns over nuclear power, the most
haunting has probably been the
industry's mismanagement of one of
the most toxic substances known to
man-plutonium.
T HAS BEEN SAID a chunk of plu-
I tonium the size of a softball, if
dispersed through the atmosphere
optimally, would kill every human
being on earth, and could remain
radioactive for over 250,000 years.
campus
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building-a- promise they intend to
keep. Formal plans are yet to be drawn
for the new structure, but Mayer says
substantial portions of the new building
will be occupied by laboratory space,
which is lacking in the present building.
But the most dynamic changes in the
campus, at least in the near future, are
those planned for the Engineering
School. By 1985, Engineering will have
moved entirely to North Campus,
vacating both East and West
Engineering. A number of buildings
housingthe school's laboratories and
classrooms have been on North
Campus for several years and in
September the Naval Architecture and
Marine Engineering program's new
building was dedicated.
Furthermore, several college
students have shown that a non-
professional understanding of physics
and access to a good library are all that
are needed to draw up accurate plans
for a crude atomic bomb, provided one
can get weapon-grade plutonium.
In view of this, it might appear that
government and industry would be
extremely careful in their handling of
the substance. However, there is a
plant in Oklahoma where plutonium
was stored in a desk drawer. And at the
same plant, 87 men were exposed to
perhaps a dozen people were
enlightened on the nuclear situation,
since few pulled off the Dixie Highway
to investigate the disturbance. To end
the demonstration, the Alliance walked
three-quarters of a mile to the barbed
wire fence at the perimeter of the plant.
Trekking over the railroad tracks and
dirt path, spectators whispered to each
other, questioning what the group
might do when it reached the guard
post: no one knew.
But once at the post, there was no
great amount of inspired spontaneity.
to get it all going," says Petz. "The
movement in Western Europe is -very
strong and much more intense than we
are. They get hundreds or thousands of
people, and they occupy plants for
months."
There is much space for growth-and
the Arbor Alliance is growing. The
group has drafted a paper examining
the relation of atomic energy issues to
organized labor, and is organizing a
dorm-wide fast for one evening in
November. If over 30 per cent of
University dormitory residents sign a
petition agreeing to give up their meal
on the day of the fast, some of the
money saved from each foregone meal
will be donated to the Alliance.
The group is also continually
planning various demonstrations.
There is talk of an occupation at the
Newport site next month, although
most seem to doubt it will occur this
year. But all the members say such
direct, non-violent action is a goal. "If
we're going to save people, we can't
stand on company manners," said one
demonstrator. "We can be rude if we
have to because atomic energy is not
polite."
Not far from the Fermi II reactor in
Newport is the St. Charles Catholic
rectory. Constructed in 1923, the
rectory is a group of orange brick
buildings separated by square gardens,
where elementary school children play.
The day of the protest was not sunny.
Whenever clouds moved out 6f the sun's
way, shouts-of "Solar energy!" came
from the demonstrators, sometimes
followed by a round of applause. As the
Alliance drove past the rectory,
children were bouncing a ball on the
sidewalk, while the twin coiling towers
that one day will vent tons of steam into
the atmosphere - loomed in the
background.
It was an ominous contrast that more
than one demonstrator noted.
N4
excessive levels of the radioisotope
between 1970 and 1974.
At the Rocky Flats weapons plant in
Colorado, the second-worst industrial
fire in American history broke out.
Plutonium literally caught on fire. If
the warehouse roof that was burning
had caved in, according to Rolling
Stones magazine, an estimated 10,000
square miles of Colorado would have
glowed in the dark.
There is also dispute surrounding
governmental guidelines for
transportation of plutonium on the
nation's roads. "Whenever you have
potential atomic bombs cruising up and
down our highways, your simple, funko
physics becomes very dangerous to the
government," says Alliance member
Petz.
The industry counters that there are
many harmful substances in man's
environment, and the toxicity of
plutonium has been given too much
attention. Chemicals such as chlorine,
hydrogen cyanide, or ammonia could
all kill human beings, and yet there has,
been no mobilization to ban them.
However, as Petz says, "Look, one
ounce of plutonium would kill
everybody in Michigan. What's once
ounce of chlorine gonna do, except
clean your clothes?"
THE DEMONSTRATION at the Fer-
mi site lasted several hours and
The Alliance members just stood for a
few minutes, and somebody took
pictures. Inside the fence, guards
smiled, and laughed at jokes the
protestors were making. There was a
mood of uneasy, unchannelled
ambition.
Last summer, a demonstration at
Rocky Flats drew 600. At a protest at
the Barnwell, South Carolina storage
area, 2,000 marched against govern-
'mental nuclear waste policy and 280
were arrested.
There were 70 people at Newport.
"It's going to take a massive output
food
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no match for the best in town: Big Ten
Party Store.
Whether you crave a well-aged
Calvados, a long thin bottle of Mirabelle
from Alsace, or an obscure single-
malt scotch, you will be able to placate
your palate's desire at Big Ten. Our
preference in most cases, especially af-
ter dinner or between courses at a large
feast, is, cognac; unless, of course, we
can have an old and great Armagnac
(next to impossible in the U.S.). If you
have the same preference, save your
nickels and dimes, go to Big Ten, and
try a bottle of Martel Cordon Blue for
$32. But if you are as amibitious and
somewhat insane as we, save a little
more and try Big Ten's most prized
cognac, Remy Martin 1774-1974. You
may wait some time before finally en-
joying that mystic flavor. The last time
we checked it was $262 a bottle.
Pastry
IF IT ISN'T French, it probably isn't
I worth eating. Practically the only
place in town with real French pastry
is Complete Cuisine, so it wins by
default. Fortunately, it hasn't let its
monopolistic grip on the market affect
the quality of the product. Everything
is made with creamery butter and fresh
cream. The result is pure bliss. The tor-
te is a visual masterpiece, with a taste
to match. A few slices would turn a
mundane meal into a feast, in addition
to impressing your guests. Our favorite
is the Victoria Torte-a delicious nut
brownie-type base, with a coating of
dark, bittersweet chocolate. To avoid
gout, we recommend splitting a piece
with a friend.
The Engineering School's move to.
North Campus will free ample space in
both East and West Engineering for
sorely needed classrooms and offices.
The prime candidate for occupancy of
East Engineering is the Psychology
Department of the- Literary College.
Presently, the department is spread
thinly throughout the entire campus.
It's offices are housed in nine different
buildings on Central Campus, ranging
from the clinical atmosphere of the
Institute for Social Research to West
Quad.
Despite Engineering's exodus to
North Campus, the rumors of a total
shift of the University to North Campus
are, as of now, unfounded. Although
aging, it appears that Central Campus
-isn't going anywhere.
Co-editors
inside:
Elizabeth Slowik
Sue Warner
Books Editor
Brian Blanchard
Cover photo of Fermi nuclear reactor
site by Wayne Cable
The making
of a
campus
Books:
Fellini and
Truffaut
Food: T
gourmet
Ann Art
Supplement to The Michigan Daily
Ann Arbor, Michigan-Sunday, October 22, 1978