The unfetterng of Henry Nuclear reactors: Solution or menace ALMOST IMMEDIATELY after the University announced it had in- vited Secretary of State Henry Kis- singer to speak at the May 3 com- mencement, local student and politi- cal organizations began planning demonstrations and protest. The In- dochina Peace Campaign (IPC), fearing that the various groups might eventually disrupt each others ef- forts, attempted to coordinate the initiatives into a "unified response" against Kissinger, and developed spe- cific protest plans. While not endorsing Kissinger's policies, we feel he should be allowed to speak here. As' the chief engineer of American foreign policy in its present form, Henry Kissinger stands as one of the most powerful people in the world today, a man whose thoughts and actions have a very real and lasting effect on all of our lives. To disinvite him, as has been suggested in many circles, would be to regrettably squan- der a rare chance to observe and react to him firsthand, and not through the insulating and often distorting eyes of the media. A KISSINGER APPEARANCE would not be without its disturbing ele- ments. It goes without saying that the Secretary of State has at his beck and call complete and immediate access to the national media. Mean- while his detractors are largely forced to rely on persistence to make up for what they lack in power. Those who simply fall back on the free speech argument to defend the Kissinger appearance are not meeting the issue head on. They fail to look beyond the issue of expression and come to grips with the question of access to significant audi- ences, and who should be allowed to' grant that access. Even more disturbing is the farce of a selection process that led to the Kissinger choice. The committee was packed with administrative lackeys hand-picked by Robben Fleming, leaving no room for student input. THE ARBITRARY choice of Kissin- ger as commencement speaker is inexcusable. To uncategorically de- fend his right to address May grad- uates would be an irresponsible blan- ket endorsement of the speaker selec- tion process, the excessive media coverage given the administration at the expense of their critics, and American foreign policy in general. But to disinvite would be an even more undesirable alternative. One that could only widen the gap be- tween our national leaders and the citizenry whose lives they affect and all too often dominate. We should savor an opportunity to let Kissinger know firsthand how we feel about his policies, without the deadening inter- ference his sychophantic State De- partment and media entourage. By ALAN KETTLER THE UNITED States decision to massively develop nuc- lear fission power production, its export of the technology abroad, and its influence on oth- er nations who will use the atom's energy on an ever-in- creasing scale is likely to have serious biological and social consequences. By the turn of the century, the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) envisions the construc- tion of about a thousand uran- ium-fuelled plants, and at least hundreds more after that. In addition, this country may be using the power of hundreds of plutonium-fuelled breeder reac- tors. The decision on whether or not to proceed with plutonium power production will be made in the next few months. Nuclear power production will require increased uranium min- ing, fuel processing, fuel trans- port, fuel reprocessing, waste transport, and waste disposal of nuclear materials. Every link of the nuclear chain has presented and will continue to present a means of radioactive release to the environment, and thus a danger to humans. TWO FEATURES of the atom- ic industry, if viewed as inter- acting systems, make the full- scale development of nuclear power energy an unacceptably dangerous course of acti-n. These are the nature of the power-producing materials by themselves, and the instability of social institutions and behav- ior. One detrimental feature of nuclear fuels and their waste products is their extreme and long-lasting toxicity. Beside the immediate effects - increased cancer and leukemia deaths, birth defects, and susceptibility to disease, radiation attacks the very basis for the healthy con- tinuation of life by altering our genes. Gene alterations have long- term, cumulative effects. Since mutations affet genetic mater- ial, they are passed on from one generation to the next. Present generations exhibit no visible effects from radiation-induced mutations; damage may only become evident many genera- tions hence. Many studies have estimated the results of the federally per- missible radiation levels on health. For example, a 1972 re- port by the National Academy of Sciences estimated that an eventual 5 per cent increase in the general ill-health of the population will occur. Sim.larly, cancer deaths could conceivably rise from 3,000 to 15,000 annual- ly. AN IMMENSE quantity ot ra- dioactive materials has been produced over the years. The atom bomb that hit Hiroshima released one and a half pounds of long-lived radioactive marer- ial. Within a standard-sized nic- lear power plant, one can ex- pect to find over a ton of the A few physicists and a few thousand dollars could build an explosive device witnout trouble if they had the plutonium. The few pounds needed would have about the same volume as a softball. The possibihty or nuclear blackmail leads us into a look at the fraility and instability of human social institutions. Ideal- ly, nuclear power production would continue with little re- lease of radioactivity into the environment. This is not a ideal world, however; what is to sep- arate us from the vagaries of irrational behavior, violence, mistakes, war, and desperate in- dividuals? Dr. Alvin Weinberg, former "According to one study, one thirty-millionth of an ounce of plutonium in the lungs will cause lung cancer. By 1980, tens of thousands of kilograms of plutonium will have been pro- duced around the world." os "at n S S{} 1:}} }"",":" e. S":.:.:{{:::"}:{.:;. A&4S40 ian Dait Eighty-Five Years of Editorial Freedom Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan stuff, half of its in a gaseous state. According to an AEC study withheld from the public for seven years, the catastro- phic release of these radioac!ive elements from a plant could cause 45,000 deaths, 100,000 injur- ies, $17 billion in property dam- ages, and the contamixtatio.1 of an area the size of Pennsylvan- ia. Plutonium is the most toxic of the nuclear materials. It is both a waste product of uran- ium-fuelled reactions and a pro- posd source of fuel itself. Ac- cording to one study, one thirty- millionth of an ounce of plu- tonium in the lungs will cause lung cancer. By 1980, tens of thousands of kilograms of pli- tonium will have been priduced around the world. The longevity of olutonium's toxicity in incredible. With a half-life of 24,000 years, the poi- tonium we produce today will not become safe for s90,600 years. That is 15. 20 times further into the fu" ure than Neanderthal man is into the past. AS' HAS become qiite wll. known recently, constructing a plutonium bomb is no big deal. director of the Oak Ridge Na- tional Laboratory, neatly phras- ed the conditions needed to safely sustain a masive ruc- lea technology: "The price that we demand of society for this magical energy source is both a vigilance and longevity of our social institutions that w,> are quite unaccustomed to." NUCLEAR POWER produc- tion proceeds, the world is in turmoil, and there is only a dim hope of making our social be- havior fit the conditions which would make our nuclear future a safe one. Not all active partic- ipants in the nuclear r etwork exhibit a vigilance in their plan- ning, designing, and work: the AEC reported over 800 'ab- normal occurences" in its 1973 operations. The United States and the rest of the world are ripe with con- ditions which render nuclear power potentially dangerous. A disgruntled Vietnamese p i l o t fired upon the Saigon palace re- cently; an American landed a helicopter on the Whe~e House lawn. Angeredindividuals have at their disposal ins'ruments which are capable of destroy- ing a nuclear power giant. Sim- ilarly, the drivers of nuclear waste transport sys-ems, the power piant operators, and the workers in the fuel reprocessing plants possess enormously pow- erful means of violent destruc- tion. Individuals can turn to ev- treme means in order to obtain some treasure, be it power, money or justice. Pue:4o Ricans angered at U.S. politi s in Puer- to Rico exploded a bomn in a crowded New York restaurant not long ago. During the 1972 Olympics, Palestinian guerillas killed themselves and a score of innocents in order to make a point. VIOLENCE can be directed indiscriminately, and relatively small, poisonous, and unpr,,ect- ed nuclear materials, make pow- erful targets. International instar lity is greater than ever. Arabs and Jews fume tensely at oue ano- ther, guerilla warfare strrkes against U.S. neo-colonialism abroad, fighting con-inves ;n Southeast Asia, and American dissidents grow more nimerous, more violent, and mor: force- ful. For so-called balance of pow- er and some quick cash, the United States continues to arm the world. As war machines grow more numerous and more sophisticated, the means of des- truction become more powerfdl to their owners. Warring par- ties are hardly hunanitarian and are likely to view a nuclear facility as an attack site hand- ily capable of killing rw:ny without much trouble. This possibility is an inter- national concern sinve radio- activity dispersal does not re- cognize political boundaries. it is sadly ironic that pe iceful use of the atom could dunlicate "he radioactive effects of nuenr war, entirely without the ex- plosion of atomic device-. The world is not yet ready to use nuclear power safely. Amid a world rampant with ter- ror and violence, suen use seems a peaceful reauiey only in the realm of some science' fiction utopia. FURTHERMORE, na one has yet found an acceptably s a f e way to dispose of nuclear wastes. Yet nuclear yrwer plants keep on producing them. There is no known place where these waste products can be left alone to die out in the next tens of thousands o! years. If they cannot be depoied and forgotten somewhere, then peo- ple will have to look after them and maintain the isolaion of the radioactive wastes from the environment during these tens of thousands of years We are burdening future people with a resnonsibility which they may be entirely unable to 'camdle. The same scientists who help- ed develop the atom omb are initiating efforts to out the aton to peaceful uses. UnfortuYnately, the events of the oist few nears have raised serious doubts about the safe'y of the atom, even the peaceI atom. Luckily, the nuclear future is not our only alternatitv. Population need not continue its exponential grow n. I ike- wise, our standard dLe; nrt al- ways have to be on the rise. American consumption and pro- duction patterns need not yield an ever-demanding, air-condi- tioned, frost-free, meat eating, wasteful, luxuriant lifestyle. Americans, who comxise only 6 per cent of the ear h's popu- lation, use 35 per cent of its energy. If our economic insti- tiution"s were adjusr"d appro- nriately, we could live c o m- fortably without reliance on nuc- lea r rower. Alan Kettler is a reguclar con- ti nba or to the Editorial Page. Thursday, April 17, 1975 News Phone: 764-0552 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mi. 48104 Ford: Prolonging the agony .....,..,...«.,w .~weenm :+e~sa ": t~ <+ !lSf.Fe? ?! -', ..... . : . .... _. ; °; " ,.... t . . . . f'' . ..., . ' . . s. . t-. ..... t -s_,.. _F.,. , , . .. !.: >. . ':.. r. :-.:. ,,tir k r t ... '.. ;. .,. .:, ;.; ),uc: .: .+v ,,.t .,. ,? , k+ '",_V tia,' ,+. ri'b: _.. ON APRIL 10, President Ford asked Congress for nearly a billion dol- lars in aid for South Vietnam. This money was to be used for purposes of "military and humanitarian aid" and to help Saigon "save itself". Ford also asked Congress to define his author- ity to send American troops in to pro- tect American civilians "if the very worst were to happen" and the Amer- icans had to be evacuated. The President's request, therefore, breaks into two parts: whether the U.S. should send money to Vietnam and whether Ford has the right to send American troops to Vietnam with "no time for Congressional de- bate." The South Vietnamese Government TODAY'S STAFF: News: Dan Blugerman, Barb Cornell, Lois Josimovic, Jay Levin, A n d y Lilly, Jim Nicoll, Sara Rimer, Tim Schick, Steve Selbst. Edit Page: Clifford Brown, Paul Hask- ins,rDebra Hurwitz, Doc Kralik, Jo Ma rcotty. Arts Page: Chris Kochmanski Photo Technician: Karen Kasmauski has consistently shown a talent for wasting incredibly large sums of American money. Sending an addi- tional billion, to Saigon, is only throwing more money into a bottom- less pit. In the last few weeks, alone, the South Vietnamese have abandon- ed one billion dollars in supplies and equipment and it seems probable that even unlimited American finan- cial aid would fail to help the South Vietnamese. THE PRESIDENT'S REQUEST for emergency powers to send Amer- ican troops to save civilians also has several weaknesses, the main one be- ing that these troops, themselves, may have to be saved leading to an ever increasing demand for addi- tional troops and a total reinvolve- ment of U. S. military forces in South Vietnam. One lesson should be clear from American involvement during the '60s, and that is that no matter how much aid we give the South Vietna- mese, we will only be prolonging South Vietnam's a n d America's agony. it k. +. ^.... wi?-'-?..5 .. v . .\{.riY'+?,n..r:cc^:ocu :..i:.,..v. n,- ..-.... -. .. Cambodia: looking from the ide out The marine looked a* me as if to say, "Why the hell are you staying, man?" I -wished there was time to talk, to discuss the war and what he was doing in it. But there wasn't any time. The last two choppers started taking incoming Americans. No- body really knows iow many, but the marines and soldiers were scared and wanted out of there fast. I got a shot of the last American troops to leave, running at a fast clip. A rear door gunner, looking like a space man with a weird helmet and goggles, waved for them s now think the end is here. Although a few claim there will be a bloodbath, others ex- pect a new time, a time of lib- eration and freedom. Richard Boyle 's a veteran war correspondent and one of only two American reporters still filing from Cambodia. PNS received this report early Wed- nesday morning. Copyright 1975, Pacific News Service. By RICHARD BOYLE It was strange again seeing U.S. marines in full battle dress on the streets of Indochina. They held their loaded M-!6s and grenade launchers ready, and their eyes scannedt h e crowd of curious spectators. The big marine helicoprers were scurrying embassy staff ou on a landing pad, while the marines blocked the streets. I got a photo of a marine in the squad on the left flank. All the marines in the squad -were black. -...,.. _. .": -.---,x... }-", , : ... . ::Y .,. ... -} .. ";s : -;;; ......... } \ ;:; :°. a:.r...}w\?;? t~" u. ".X... .:. : :. ... . : :: {. .. ::......i ..: . .i.'4 ,..: ' . . :....5v . ..s.. ...s.... ::. :l.... :v. ?Cs........ . ' r .:.: . . ~ .... :.:.::;... .5_: &.r. : , .. :. .. .,,.>X.C. .. <:r. 1.. r>' ..~ . s§ >.2-k.. , .tu',b . 3-:. .v:r;::a :r >"r :kf:x+ : : The Calorie Cancellation L.etters neU fY-- Time T able streamline baby e'rr that needs to be done while "rUMMM % tCht'CFkin Cfi%EDC THERE vvhrt r UbUn AGREEMENTS BETWEEN WASHINGTON AND SAIGON! a A* HOWEVER, THERE WAS A "CONFIDENTIAL EXCHANGE" BETWEEN NIXON AND THIEUI To The Daily : WHY DO the students University of Michigan themselves to elect the I assholes that they pr have as their representati the assorted student ment bodies? As an ex-MSU student was active for one ye that university's Ac,, Council, my perception dealings of this school' dent politics is very strai ward: the situation sti am not politically active but all I need to do is occasionally at a Mi Daily to be astounded a gered by the kind of e3 gorruption and interp bullshit that occurs betwe throughout UM student p How much money is m I keep forgetting. Is it or $20,000. Which dormc voted themselves compen out of limited and vE funds? And today, who yelled and who spit on who, a the way, who is doing th everyone else is fucking off? of the IN MY SHORT period of stu- allow dent "activism" I too saw a kind of lot of shit fly. That apparently esently is what politics is about. You ives on are bound to have differences of govern- opinion and mannerisms of ac- tion. But that is where it ends. who Nothing else needs to be toler- ar On ated. ademic Has much been accomplished of the this year? If so, it has been s siu- done not by the ones who are in .ghtfor- the paper all the time because nks. I they caused a scuffle at a moet- here, ing and spit on each other, but glance by the people who are in the ichigan background working because nd an- they want to, not because they xtreme want money or power or glory. ersonal BUT DON'T THEY SEE THAT en and WE ALL THINK THEY ARE )olitics. FOOLS. issing? Comes on, ask yourselves, $i,oo who are we to criticize this council world and seek change if these sations types of people are the best re- aluable presentatives of ourselves we can put forward? at who I think we can do much better. nd by -Geoffrey Walker e wurk April 4 WHEN DOES A SECRET AGREEMENT BECOME A "CONFIDENTIAL ARRANGEMENT"? . .... ., . .. WHDEN IT IS NO L ONGER A SECR ET. * r By GLORIA NORDSTR.OM rPHERE IS a frustrating em- phasis on thinness in our culture - especially frustrating for those of us who are not thin and are not getting any thinner. But there are alternatives to the bothersome self-denial and hun- ger pangs involved in strict dieting. I know several ways to avoid distressing diets, and still achieve peace of mind. And there is no reason why every aspiring dieter should not be aware of these alternatives. These are my three favorite remedies for distressng diets: The Calorie Cancellauon Diet, the Ignored Issue Diet, and the Time Table Diet. Alchod.h all three of them have proved ef- fective, my favorite s the Cal- orie Cancellation Diet. T h e theory behind it has Seen care- fully worked through and ac- cented by many dieters. This is how the Calorie Can- cellation Diet works: If you eat something fattening, say, a piece of pie, you consume a large number of calories - one of the obvious facts of calorie counting. But, if at the same time, you eat sometning with dressing. Many a poor dieter has been led astray by this problem. But with careful plan- ning, the Caloria Cance:latioa Diet may be to your s ilvatfon - not that it has been known to induce weight loss, but it has given many dieters a good deal of peace of mind. And after all, if you have a good dell of budy, you may as well have a good piece of mind. BUT, IF by some chance, the Calorie Cancellation doesn't work for you, there still may be a way to avoid distre.ssing diets that will work for you. Some people find the Ignored Issue Diet very successful. Contrary to most diets, there are no tor- tureous lists of rules to follow, just two guidelines. One, do not look in mirrors, and zwo, do not get your picture taken. This approach to dieting can do al- most as much for your peace of mind as the Calorie Can.sella- tion method. Unfortunately, it doesn't work for eversyne. If you are a -nude model, or other- wise predisoosed to look in mir- rors, the Time Table Diet may be better for you. The Time Table Diet involves culations. Out of a 24 hlur day, 90 per cent, or 21 hours and 24 minutes, you can eat. Now it takes some planning to get three full meals, two coffee breaks (including the Coke and donuts) before dinner drinks, and a mid-night snack into two hours and 24 minutes, but a c nscien- tious Time Table dieter could be able to do it. SO, I'VE explained the Calor- ie Cancellation Diet, the Ignored Issue Diet and the Time Table Diet - my three favorites, es- pecially designed for the peace of mind dieter. These dieis are superb, but in all fairness, I feel that I must mention "oe other diet. This last one is hailed by many as the best of all and even though I'm not terribly fond of it, it's the best one of all. This last diet does not give you the same peace of mind as the other three, but it does have five other things to offer. First, you'll feel better, second, you'll look netter, thirJ you'll live longer, fourth vou'll build self-confidence and self control, and fifth, with the price of food these days, you'll save money. I .«.v%<::, r:::: a v: s: fiY::"}:i4's:"9Y."?:.;. ;.}:s:?ii:"X; fr.