I
'TWOCI04 ibe~s i m E"v " 'fi'PCT 4No.
Study whitewashes nuc
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t
.
By HADI BOZORGMANESH
and LARRY EMMONS
HAVE YOU EVER thought about being struck by
a meteorite? If not, maybe you should start giving
it some thought. According to a recent Atomic Energy
Commission (AEC) study, the probability that 1,000
people will die in a nuclear accident this year is about
the same as the chance of 1,000 deaths resulting from
a meteorite crashing into the earth.
The meteorite accident doesn't seem very likely, but
then neither may the assumptions upon which the $3
million, two year AEC study rests.
Named after Dr. Norman Rasmussen of MIT who
directed it, the AEC-sponsored "independent" study
was designed to make a realistic assessment of the
risks of nuclear power plants.
On October 22, the report's co-director came to the
University to talk about it. Speaking at the Chrysler
Center for Continuing Engineering Education on North
Campus, Saul Levine told an audience of 250, many
of them nuclear engineers, that the consequences of
a reactor accident are much smaller than what we
have been led to believe by earlier studies.
ACCORDING TO LEVINE, the possible consequences
of a serious reactor accident to people range from
zero to a magnitude comparable to a severe natural
disaster, like a hurricane or an earthquake. The report
shows that even the most probable accidents are high-
ly unlikely to occur, and that the more severe the
accident, the less likely it is to happen - in fact, most
serious nuclear mishaps are about a thousand times
less likely than a natural or human-caused disaster of
similar magnitude, the report said.
Levine's and Rasmussen's work is apparently rigor-
ous, contributes to rational discussion of the issue
and should serve as a model for quantative analysis
of nuclear safety in the future. However, it does not
'The study calculates risks only for
IOss-of-coolant accidents, in
which
the main pipe carrying cooling water
to the hot uranium fuel core of the
reactor suddenly breaks, causing the
core to melt. The study does not
take into consideration the possibil-
ity of sabotage or theft of dangerous
materials, the transportation and dis-
posal of spent fuels, or the possible
effects of a long-term build-up of
radioactivity in the environment due
to small non-accidental releases.'
settle once and for all the question of nuclear safety.
THE STUDY calculates risks only for loss-of-coolant,
1 19
-.
7.4 ^M
9r4v Sir$itux Datl
Eighty-four years of editorial freedom
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
Saturday, November 16, 1974
News Phone: 764-0552
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mi. 48104
RAM promisees broken
N THE BITTER spring of 1970,
thousands of students boycotted
classes and picketed University build-
ings in support of the Black Action
Movement's (BAM) demands for 10
per cent black enrollment at the Uni-
versity by the fall 1973.
After the BAM strike reached
crisis proportions and threatened to
bring the University to its knees, an
accord was reached between strike
leaders and the Regents. The Univer-
sity pledged that 10 per cent black
enrollment "has been assured" by the
target date, and that the minority
recruitment program would be fund-
ed to bring about that goal.
But by the fall of 1973, black enroll-
ment totalled only 7.3 per cent, and
minority enrollment overall was 9.3
per cent.
T THAT TIME, Opportunity Pro-
gram Director George Goodman told
the Regents that the missed minor-
ity enrollment target could be blamed
on recruiting efforts by other uni-
versities and the "attrition rate"
among minority students. Goodman
said in 1973 that he was confident
the 10 per cent goal could be reached
by "the 1975-76 school year."
On Thursday, Goodman again
went before the Regents to relate a
sad, but familiar, story; because of
"the general state of the economy~
and various other factors, the goal
had again been missed - and the
number of black and minority stu-
dents had actually decreased .3 per
cent from the 1973 figures.
Goodman explained that the infla-
tion - propelled movement of many
black families into middle income
brackets prevented their children
from receiving financial aid needed
to attend the University.
C OODMAN ALSO said that his pro-
gram was shifting emphasis from
"recruiting to retention" and pointed
with pride to the 86 per cent reten-
tion rate of 1973 Opportunity Pro-
gram freshpersons who are now
sophomores.
But the crucial admission figures
reflect a decline in the number of en-
tering Opportunity Award students-
501 this year, as compared to 592 in,
1973.
The drop in minority enrollment
cannot be shrugged off as a conse-
quence of the current economy, or of
a shift from "recruiting to retention."
Instead, it reflects a lack of effort
on the part of the University to ful-
fill its 1970 commitment.-
Goodman said that families whose
income have been pushed into the
middle brackets by inflation are un-
willing to take on the burden of
loans, since their actual financial
status is essentially the same as it
was when their children were eligible
for low-income grants.
JF THAT IS the case, program re-
cruiters should have alerted Uni-
versity officers to the problem and
made funds available on a grant
basis.
When the University made its 1970
vow to reach 10 per cent black en-
rollment, it assumed responsibility
for an active financial and adminis-
trative committment to that goal.
The Regents must act, and act
soon, to give direction and money to
the minority enrollment effort and to
make clear their willingness to meet
the BAM goal by next fall.
The trail of broken promises to
minority students must end.
-By DAVID BURHENN
Black
"They took this m a n, a
black man, a decent man, and
they tried him and they con-
victed him three times for the
same crime. And then they
put him in prison for f i v e
whole years. People ought to
be ashamed of themselves for
letting a thing like that hap-
pen."
-a friend, just after Bobby
Williams was taken to
prison.
By SCOTT MYERS
AT 7 A.M. on September 3,
Bobby Williams walked out
the front door of his apartment
in the Pyramid Court Housing
Project in Cairo, Illinois, ac-
companied by his wife Shirley
and his children Kevin, five,
and Robin seven.
Instead of taking the kids to
school, though, the Williams
family drove to the Federal
Court Building in St. Louis
where Bobby surrendered him-
self to federal marshals and
began serving a five-year prison
sentence.
Williams is a civil rights
leader, but he never planned
to be one. In 1966, he was just
anotherngraduate of Harris
Teachers College and Southern
Illinois University with d e -
grees in education and commun-
ity development. He was mar-
ried, had a new-born baby, and
had found a job with the Office
of Economic Opportunity (OEO)
in Cape Girardeau, a small
town in southeast Missouri,
where he bought a house.
For three years, Bobby work-
ed for OEO in Cape Girardean.
He worked hard. He thought
OEO was concerned about the
problems of poor people, black
and white. Then, in the spring
of 1969, his life changed.
THE CAPE Girardeau c it y
council wanted to move a trash
dump to East Cape, an all-black
part of town. They didn't tell
the community about it. They
just decided to do it, apparent-
ly reasoning that black people
wouldn't mind living next door
to a pile of garbage.
The city council was wrong.
When the black people of East
Cape found out about the dump,
they went to OEO to ask for
help. Williams said he would
see what he could do.
First, he went to a city coun-
cil meeting and introduced a
ordinance that would outlaw
garbage dumps inside the city
limits. The council voted against
it.
leader
Then Williams asked some
public health experts to attend
the meetings, who testified that
the garbage dump was a poten-
tial health hazard. They said
the rats, lice, and flies drawn
by the garbage could h a r m
people, especially children who
lived near the dump. But the
council members s t il1 didn't
change their minds.
So Williams went back to the
people of East Cape and asked
them what theywanted to do.
After two weeks of meetings,
they decided to picket City Hall
and the downtown stores until
the city council agreed not to
move the dump. Williams
agreed toorganize and lead the
picket lines.
SOON AFTER the first pickct
lines were set up, OEO fired
Williams on the grounds that
he wasn't doing the job he'd
been hired for - helping poor
people make their lives better.
Williams,btoo busy to do any-
thing about the firing, j a -, t
kept bringing the picket lines
downtown.
It wasn't long before the mood
in Cape Girardeau turned ugly.
White businessmen were losing'
faces WA
liams went to the county sher-
iff's office to apply to buy a
pistol. He told the sheriff that
his house was being shot at, his
family's lives were in danger,
and he had to protect them.
HIS APPLICATION was ap-
proved. He went to- a nearby
sporting goods store and bought
a pistol. Then he went to see his
lawyer, Richard Snider, wh3
gave him copies of the federal
and state gun laws.
On the way home from Sni-
der's office, Williams was ar-
rested and charged with carry-
ing a concealed weapon in his
car. He was tried on Septem-
ber 18, 1970, in a state court
in Cape Girardeau. There, an
all-white jury convicted him
and then sentenced him to a
one-year term in the county jail.
Williams appealed the convic-
tion on the grounds that he had
bought the pistol legally, and
that at the time of his arrest,
the pistol was lying unloaded
and holstered on the console of
his car.
On June 12, 1972, the Mis-
souri Supreme Court reversed
the conviction for lack of evi-
dence given by the arresting
could be fo
walls and
Williamsc
that he wo
his family'
cision that
freedom.
ON MAY
a Kroger
Cape Gira
two rifles.
ed for his
liams gav
which still
address.
The cle,
had any
victions.
have a co
not final -
pon charge
hadn't bee
The cle
phone call
both items
out the re
and Willia
two .22-ca
the store.1
was arrest
violating t
° trol Act of
statements
arms. Will
to go to co
First, th
move thet
guing tha
publicity in
made it im
to receive
But the ju
the trial. 0
Williamsv
white jury
eral Dist
Girardeau
and sente
prison tern
At the t
against W
sales cler
him of th
chase. The
moted fro
jobs in th
manager.
tear energy
accidents in which the main pipe carrying water to
the hot uranium fuel core of the reactor suddenly
breaks, causing the core to melt. The study does not
take into consideration the possibility of sabotage or
theft of dangerous materials, the transportation and
disposal of spent fuels, or the possible effects of a long-
term build-up of radioactivity in the environment due
to small non-accidental releases.
The techniques the Rasmussen report used to cal-
culate risk and consequences are called event and
fault tree analyses. Developed by NASA and the
Department of Defense, they define potential accident
paths and the likelihood of their occurrence.
However, the emergency cooling safety system has
not yet been put to a realistic test, making the analyses
based upon it less than certain. The Rasmussen report
relies on a large amount of data which is not always
available or may be incorrect.
THE STUDY only considers the present design of
light water reactors, not the fast breeder plutonium re-
actor considered by many experts to be the wave of
the future.
Critics also charge that since the study was spon-
sored by the AEC it is not really independent, al-
though during his talk Levine claimed, "If you knew
Rasmussen or me, you wouldn't ask that question."
The qustion is being asked, however, and the in-
dependent AEC study is about to be subjected to its
own in-depth studies by the Union of Concerned Citi-
zens and the Sierra Club. Only by re-examining the
basic data with which the risk calculations were made'
will the reliability of the Rasmussen report be tested.
Hadi Bozorginanesh and Larry Emmons are gradu-
ae students in the Department of Nuclear Engineer-
ing of the Engineering School.
iite justice
und in the apartment not matter, since he was under
the furniture. So indictment when he bought "he
decided once again two rifles. They also charged
)uld have to protect that, intentionally or not, he
s lives. It was a de- had given an incorrect address
would cost him his when purchasing the guns.
Bobby was convicted and ser
tenced to a five-year term in
(25, 1971, he went to federal prison. Before sentenc-
Family Center in .ing, the trial judge offered
rdeau to apply to buy UWilliams a shorter jail term
The sales clerk ask- if he would change his plea
driver's license. Wil- from "not guilty" to "guilty."
e him hi? s Williams refused, saying he was
I listed his Missouri not going to lie to his family
and the friends who had sup-
k also asked if he ported him for so long.
previous felony con-
Williams said he did
nviction, but it was HE APPEALED his convic-
- the concealed wea- tion once more. This time, the
e was on appeal and circuit court refused to h e a r
n reversed yet. the appeal. The conviction and
rk went to make a five-year prison sentence stood.
, returned, and said Williams is now in federal
were "OK." He filled prison at Terre Haute, Indiana.
st of the application, Although he has been harassed
ms signed it, bought and persecuted for the last four
liber rifles and 'eft years, he's not tired. He's teach-
Shortly afterward, he ing other inmates in the G.E.D.
ted and charged with (high school and equivalent)
he Federal Gun Con- program, and he's fighting for
1968 by making -Ise an early parole.
when buying tire- He's not alone in his fight.
iams and Snider had The Commission for Racial Jus-
ourt again. tice is helping him. The Board
ey asked the judge to of Urban Ministries of the St.
trial to St. Louis, ar- Louis Church of Christ is help-
t widesread racist ing. His brother, Ben Williams,
n Cape Girardeau had and his attorney, Snider, are
npossible for Williams speaking across the country to
a fair trial there. publicize the case.
dge refused to move Shirley Williams will j o i n
n November 21, 1971, them when she recovers from an
was tried by an all- operation she underwent t w
in the Eighth Fed- days after Bobby was imprison-
rict Court in Cape ed. These people and others
. He was convicted have formed the National Com-
nced to a five-y e a r mittee to Free Bobby Williams
in. to help Bobby win an e a r l y
rial the chief witness parole.
illiams was the same Presently they are asking con-
k who had assured cerned men and women to write
e legality of the pur- the Federal Parole Board and
e clerk was later pro- President Ford, urging them to
m one of the lowest pardon Bobby Williams or to
he store to assistant change his sentence to "time
served."
'It wasn't long before Williams, like many
black people in Cairo, was hiding his child-
ren under beds or in the bathtub at night.
Because his apartment was near the street,
it came under heavy gunfire. On many
mornings, bullet-holes could be found in the
apartment walls and the furniture.'
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money. Black people, who were
not supposed to speak up for
themselves, were doing j u st
that. But still the city council
wouldn't change its mind about
the trash dump.
South of Cape Girardeau, in
the Bootheel region, is Sikeston,
Missouri a center of Ku Klax
Klan activity. By late summer,
the Ku Klux Klan was holding
regular rallies outside Sikes-
ton. By fall, the Williams' home
was being shot into repeatedly,
always at night, and always
when Bobby's wife and childrcn
were home.
So on November 21, 1969, Wil-
police officers. Snider called
the arrest a frame-up that did
not work. If anything was con-
cealed, he added, it was the
real reason for the arrest -
Williams' fight with city coun-
cil over the trash dump.
Between Williams' trial and
his acquittal, he had moved his
family to Cairo, Illinois. His
wife had been offered a job
there, and Cairo was only 30
miles from, Cape Girardeau.
THE HISTORY of Cairo, Illi-
nois from 1969 to 1973 is well-
documented. Both the U.S. Civ-
il Rights Commission and the
International Association of
Chiefs of Police (IACP) have
sent investigators to Cairo to
report on the violent campaigns
that the Cairo Police Depart-
ment, the White Hats (a local
Ku Klux Klan organization),
and the United White Citizens'
Councils have directed against
Cairo blacks.
The IACP report stated that
"thousands of rounds of an-
munition were shot indiscrim-
inately into, the all-black haus-
ing project, Pyramid C >u:ts."
Yet no one from the police de-
partment, the White Hats, or
the Citizens' Council was ever
arrested or tried for their ac-
tions.
In Cairo, Williams again
found himself working for the
rights of poor black people. He
was asked to work as natianal
coordinator of the United Frunt,
the main civil rights organiza-
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'At the trial, the chief witness against Wil-
liams was the same sales clerk who had assur-
ed him of the legality of the purchase. The
clerk was later promoted from one of the
lowest jobs in the store to assistant manager.'
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BOBBY APPEALED the con-
viction, and on June 26, 1972,
the U.S. Circuit Court of Ap-
peals reversed the lower court's
decision. The circuit c o1 r t
ruled that the prosecution had
harassed Williams' chief de-
fense witness, Rev. M nMker
Harris, who had been with Wil-
liams when he bought the two
rifles.
The victory didn't last ong.
The U.S. Attorney in St. Louis
decided to re-try Williams on
the same charges. Eviden-ly, he
wanted to make Williams an
example of what would hapen
to black people who spoke out
for the rights of others.
On November 28, 1972, W i I-
liams was tried and convicted
again by an all-white jury.
Again, he was sentenced to a
five-year prison term. This
time ,the Internal Security Di-
vision of t h e Justice Depart-
ment sent their own prlse u-
tors to argue the case.
Williams appealed and, once
again, the Circuit Court of Ap-
peals reversed the conviction.
They are trying to save more
than just one man. As Irv Join-
er, a director of the Commis-
sion for Racial Justice of the
United Church of Christ, com-
ments, "The case of Bobby Lee
Williams vs. the United States
of America demands the atten-
tion, concern, and support of
all persons black and white, who
are concerned about equal jus-
tice and the protection of equal
rihts."
The answer to that demand is
justice. Without an answer,
there will be more Bobby Wil-
liams' and higher prison walls.
Scott Myers is a former Ann
Arbor activist who is presently
working with the Committee to
Free Bobby Williams in Cairo,
Illinois.
TODAY'S STAFF:
News: Dan Biddle, Cindy
Hil, Jay Levin, Jo Mar-
cotty, Cheryl Pilate, Judy
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