LOCAILISTAIrt The Michigan Daily - Friday, April 7, 1995 - zo l U.s. 23 head-on crash kills 1 A car heading north on southbound U.S. 23 proved deadly for one driver n a head-on collision around noon Tuesday. Two others were injured and transported to University Hospi- tals. William Harper, 31, was declared dead at the scene of the accident due to multiple injuries. He was going the wrong way in his 1985 Pontiac when he crashed into a 1993 Lin- coln. The driver of the Lincoln, Terry Marks, 48, was airlifted by Univer- sity Hospitals' Survival Flight for treatment at the Trauma and Burn Unit. His passenger, Jennifer Hoover, 22, was treated and re- leased, a University Hospitals spokesperson said. "It was a head-on collision," said Green Oak Township Police Sgt. Ron Crowe. "The Marks vehicle was southbound on (U.S.) 23 behind an- other ambulance. The ambulance, from another part of the state, was en route to either U-M or St. Joseph Mercy Hospital with a patient. "The driver of that ambulance saw Mr. Harper coming and swerved out of the way to avoid acollision with Harper, but the Marks vehicle apparently did not have enough time to see that - it collided head-on," Crowe said. U.S. 23 connects Ann Arbor to Flint and Toledo. A median divides the northbound and southbound lanes - making the accident all the more perplexing,police said. "Witnesses said they had ob- served Mr. Harper previously driv- ing northbound on old U.S. 23," Crowe said. "When he got to Silver Lake Road, he made a right turn then made a left turn onto the southbound exit ramp and went north on southbound (U.S.) 23." Investigators expect the results of an autopsy performed Tuesday back within three weeks. The accident is still under investigation. Armed and dangerous According to reports from the University's Department of Public Saftety, police investigated a "suspi- cious" vehicle in the University's Thompson Street Parking Structure. The car belonged to a 34-year-old who had no outstanding warrants. The subject was taken into custody for carrying a concealed weapon. A fully loaded .22-caliber revolver was recovered from the back of the car. The owner was transported to the Washtenaw County Jail. Student locates stolen bike A student reported her bike stolen last week to the Ann Arbor Police Department. On Tuesday, she located her bike in front of the Student Activi- ties Building's main entrance. Police went to the area and attempted to cut the lock. - Compiled by Daily Staff Reporter Frank C. Lee Proposed nuclear waste site creates controversy na...nrcn....-, Caged in Associate psychology Prof. James Hilton agreed to be taken during his lecture for an Amnesty international protest on the Diag yesterday. PolickSriticizes GOP, 'Contras-ct' By Daniel Johnson Daily Staff Reporter Politicians, geologists and science- fiction writers have all joined in the debate to determine the viability of Yucca Mountain, Nev., as the final resting spot for the nation's future nuclear waste. The site, about 100 miles north- west of Las Vegas, has been under investigation by the Department of Energy since 1987 to determine its potential as a storehouse of nuclear waste. If the DOE tests find it suit- able, high-level nuclear waste will be buried 1,000 feet below the mountain's surface. . Nuclear power plants, which are re- sponsible for,about 24 percent of the nation's electricity, transform nuclear energy into steam, which is then har- nessed to generate electricity. The high- level waste, which is a by-product of energy production, needs to lie undis- turbed for 10,000 years in order to de- compose to safe levels. The continuing production of nuclear waste and the lack of a final repository poses a problem across the country. The Michigan Attorney General's Office along'with 27 other states filed a lawsuit in a federal court against the Department of Energy in June 1994 for breach of contract. The suit is still pending. "We're only ensuring that our money is being used to find a solution to the nuclear waste disposal and stor- age problem," said Don Keskey, Michigan's assistant attorney general. The DOE is bound by federal leg- islation to locate a repository for the safe storage of high-level nuclear waste by 1998. Keskey claims that the Yucca Mountain facility still will be under study in 1998, despite the DOE's collection of billions of dol- lars nationally and $250 million from Michigan alone. The DOE's failure to provide a fed- eral repository is bound to create na- tionwide storage problems as at least one site in Michigan has already met its on-site storage capacity. Consumers Power Co.'s Palisades Nuclear Plant near South Haven is presently storing waste outside of its containment build- ing in II cement casks about 450 feet from Lake Michigan. Environmentalists contend that this temporary storage could prove disas- trous without further investigation. "We're spending billions of dol- lars to study Yucca Mountain, yet we're placing nuclear waste in inex- pensive concrete casks without pub- lic hearing and environmental impact statements," said Mary Sinclair, co- chair of Don't Waste Michigan, a group opposed to placing low-level waste sites in the state. The casks were approved for use by the Nuclear Regulatory Commis- sion in 1993. "We wouldn't be using this sys- tem if the federal government had a final repository," said Mark Savage, Palisades' public affairs director. More and more sites like Pali- sades will likely crop up if interim storage is not established while Yucca Mountain is under study. "By default, we're going to have these sites in 78 locations and 33 Palisades Fermi it Started Started operation in operation in December January 1971. 1988; at 80 percent D. C. Cook power last Dual reactor; week. one started Ann . operation in Arbor August 1975, ,~. the other in July 1978. JONATHAN BERNDT and KEVIN WINER/Daily states near population centers and environmentally sensitive areas," Keskey said of the nuclear plants that will be forced to store their waste in dry casks due to lack of storage space. Alternatives to on-site storage would evolve if a House bill goes through Congress. The bill requires that the DOE establish an interim storage site and facilitate transporta- tion routes to Yucca Mountain. A coalition of 33 utility compa- nies, including the Detroit Edison Co., has drawn up a contract with a Mescalero Indian reservation in New Mexico to establish an interim stor- age site on Native American. lands. The facility would receive high-level wastes from about 95 power plants nationwide. "There has been no solution to the waste problem," said Jesse Deerinwater, a member of Citizens' Resistance Against Fermi II. "All of their solutions end up dumping waste on Native lands. The nuclear mafia should not be allowed to decide which tribe is the next to go." The Yucca Mountain facility is projected to hold 77,000 metric tons of waste if determined suitable for storage. "We will continue to do site suitability, and if we determine it is suitable and we receive a license, we hope to have it opened by 2010," said Joanne Johnson, DOE spokeswoman. 'U' Law student publishes book about waste By Daniel Johnson Daily Staff Reporter Sarah Ginsburg, a second-year University Law student, recently capitalized on her interests in poli-. tics and geology by publishing. "Nuclear Waste Disposal: Gam- bling on Yucca Mountain." The book's publication by Aegean Park Press marks the frui- tion of her undergraduate study at the University of California atSanta Cruz. Ginsburg, a native of New" Mexico, became involved with the issues of waste disposal when she worked for Rep. Bill Richardsow. (D-N.M.) and Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) during consecutive sum- mers in Washington. Both congressmen opposed the New Mexico Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, a facility proposed to receive low-level radioactive waste from across the country. The facility opened 10 years ago, but has yet to receive any waste due to a number of lawsuits. "New Mexico is such a poor state," Ginsburg said. "This type of thing is tempting to people." The issues in New Mexico are similar to those at Yucca Mountain, a possible waste repository site in Nevada. Ginsburg's book surveys the volatile political and scientific is- sues surrounding the government's investigation into the possibility of storing 77,000 metric tons of nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain, Nev. The investigation was mandated by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act Amendment of 1987, which desig- nated Yucca Mountain as the only candidate to house the nation's nuclear waste. "Politically, no one wanf (nuclear waste) in their backyard," Ginsburg said. "New Mexico hasn't generated any of this waste. Why should it receive all of the risks without any of the benefits?" Ginsburg's book traces the his- tory of nuclear waste build-up in this country and even gives consid- eration to alternatives once re- searched by thie government. Be- fore Yucca Mountain was declared as the proposed site, alternatives such as sending the waste into space, disposing of it in the ocean floor and embedding it in continental ice sheets were considered. By Deborah G. Weinstein For the Daily Former state Sen. Lana Pollack criticized the social repercussions of the "Contract With America" last night in West Quad's Wedge Room. Her speech reflected the on-going dispute about legislation in Congress after the Republican victory in the fall elections. There are 10 provisions within the Contract with America, which include the balanced-budget amendment and the Criminal Cre- ation and Prisons Job Act. Pollack limited her discussion to proposed education spending and welfare cuts, and their implications. At the opening of her discussion, Pollack said, "I think it is a 'Contract on America,' which implies not only consent with the people, but an under- standing of participating agreement. I see politics today as a battle of classes - the haves and have-nots. Most important, I see this as a battle be- tween generations. Pollack asked about who would benefit under the Contract and an- swered with the difference between that group and those on welfare. 'Twenty-eight percent of our taxes goes to pay those who lend the govern- ment money," she said. "Children are the majority of people on welfare. The battle against welfare programs is a battle against children and mothers." Pollack doubted the effectiveness of using welfare cuts to reduce teen-age pregnancy. "They think if they stop the money ... that this will cut down on babies born to young girls. Is it realistic to think a 16-year-old would consider welfare policy before having sex?" Pollack then described the Con- tract as economic, but with social, educational and environmental con- sequences. "I ask people who support taking away opportunity for social advance- ment, economic advancement. I would lead more to a society that looks more like Mexico than America. I have yet to find a good answer." LSA senior David Kramer said of Pollack's speech, "I think it is a quick- fix attempt that sounds good, but the substance is at odds with what most American believe in. It benefits a select few, but touches the majority of Americans in a negative way." LSA first-year student Rebecca Long said, "I think a lot of what she said is right on. I'd been swayed more to the conservative side. Funding for domestic policies is essential. I think it raised consciousness." Defenders of the Contract were in the minority, but vocal. Engineering senior Michael Wheaton said, "The Contract with America is a mandate from voters who voted overwhelm- ingly Republican. "The Contract with America is a mandate from the voters," he said. "They voted overwhelmingly Repub- lican. The Democrats want to scare a lot of people.The Republicans are committed to vote on ten issues in the first one hundred days. That is some- thing to be proud of." I What's happening in Ann Arbor today FRIDAY O "Children's Theatre Serve Week Performance," Michigan Union, Wolverine Room, 5 p.m. U "Data-Intensive Computing," spon- sored by Department of Statistics, Chemistry Building, Room 1400,4 p.m. [ "Gender, Ethnicity, and Identity: The Muslims of Late Imperial Rus- sia," sponsored by CREES, Rack- ham Building, West Conference Room, 4 p.m. U "Moral Virtue," sponsored by Stu- dents of Objectivism, Michigan League, Room A, 5 p.m. O Ninjitsu Club, beginners welcome, 761-8251, IMSB, Room G 21,6:30- 8 p.m. li Northwalk, 763-WALK, Bursley, 8- 11:30 p.m. [a "Public Observing Night," spon- sored by Student Astronomical Society, Angell Hall, Fifth Floor, 9- 11 p.m. 0 Safewalk, 936-1000, UGLi lobby, 8- Q "The Funerary Arts in Ancient Egypt," sponsored by Kelsey Mu- seum of Archaeology, Angell Hall, Auditorium C, 7:30 p.m. Q "The Implications of Welfare Re- form: Initiatives for Change or War on the Poor?" teach-in, sponsored by Social Work Action and Change Coalition, Rackham Building, 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Q "The Life and Witness of Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Bonhoeffer Com- memorated," sponsored by Luth- eran Campus Ministry, Lord of Light Lutheran Church, 801 South For- est, 10 a.m. Q Taekwondo Club, beginners and other new members welcome, 747- 6889, CCRB, Room 2275, 7-8:30 p.m. SATURDAY Q "Bosnia Benefit Concert," spon- sored by Ann Arbor Committee for Bosnia, First Methodist Church, State St. and Huron Ave., 4-6 o.m. Thinking: Detroit, Art and Architec- ture Building, Room 2104, 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Q "Thinking Your Way Out of the Dis- ease of Postmodernism: Postmodemism and the Social Sciences," Angell Hall, Auditorium A, 10:30 a.m. Q "Timarlo Wilkins' Senior Recital," North Campus Commons, 8 p.m. SUNDAY Q "Activation," sponsored by Alpha Phi Omega, Michigan Union, Kuen- zel Room, 5:15 p.m. pledges, 5:30 p.m. actives Q "AIPAC Policy Conference Meet- ing," sponsored by Hillel, Hillel Building, 7 p.m. Q Ballroom Dance Club, 663-9213, CCRB, Main Dance Room, 7 p.m. Q ECB Peer Tutorial, 747-4526, An- gell Hall Computing Site 1-5 p.m. and 7-11 p.m., UGLi, second floor, 1-5 p.m. U Northwalk, 763-WALK, Bursley, 8 i I