national
Battalion/Page 7
February 9, 1982
rmy radiation records War P^ d
medic says
By Scott McCullar
- membenl
United Press International
SACRAMENTO — The gov-
nment kept two sets of records
one phony and the other
Accurate — of radiation expo
sure to soldiers in atomic tests in
ANCELil Nevada in 1956 and 1957, a for-
jndjjf, mer Army medic says.
„g ■ Van R. Brandon, facing a
, threatof treason, broke 25 years
- 1 !lt t of silence Sunday at a news con-
‘ P' ni ' lr ' ference to say he followed
orders when he prepared the
prepa
bogus records hiding high levels
of radiation exposure to soldiers
at the Yucca Flat, Nev., test site.
Two of Brandon’s seven chil
dren were born mentally re-
prded, two others have de
veloped arthritis and one of his
wo grandchildren had her
ood changed at birth. He says
ic believes their problems are
villbef di 16 to his own radiation expo-
sure. He said he was worried
other veterans exposed to the
Kdiation and their families
CAL iJBjght have similar problems.
Genetic!»|j arn es Freeman, a Pentagon
Spokesman in Washington, said
so a fim he had no comment on the news
rel. Hinference or on an earlier in
terview, in which Brandon said
,, 11 uBs seven-man, top secret Com-
“Bned Operations Nuclear
\ ALPHi ledical Evaluation Team kept
com petit): [wo sets of ledgers to record
adiation readings from film
s worn by soldiers at the
7:30 p.m®st site.
■n The badges were designed to
ecord the levels of radiation to
pch the men wearing them,
[ho were sometimes marched to
S’ound zero, had been exposed.
, v;vi JiB “One set was to show that no
E. KyleA one received an exposure above
Be approved dosimeter read-
Individi
lain flooil
: .len Max
'lCE,C0i
g and pttj
liors.
SAME
ing,” he said. “The other set of
books was to show what the
actual reading was.
Sometimes the badges actual
ly measured radiation expo
sures below the limit. In those
cases, the true levels were re
corded in both the real and
phony books.
But two tests — in June 1956
and April 1957 — were the dir
tiest ones, he said.
“Things were very highly con
taminated,” Brandon said. “I
mean the ground zero was hot
for weeks afterwards. They
didn’t march people through
ground zero, but they got them
close.”
Brandon, 45, who now lives in
Marysville, Calif., said when he
left the Army in 1961 he was
warned that if he told anyone of
his experiences “I could be
charged with treason under the
National Security Act.”
Barry Kail of the National
Association of Atomic Veterans,
based in Burlington, Iowa, said
most test documents have been
declassified and there are few
legal risks in talking.
Brandon, who has suffered
from degenerative discogenic
spine disease since November
1979, said he was denied veter
ans benefits. He said officials de
nied the existence of the top sec
ret medic unit he says he was in.
Brandon joined the military
in January 1954 at the age of 17
and was sent as a medic to Korea
and later joined the top-secret
CONMET team.
After receiving training near
the Bikini nuclear test site, he
was flown to Nellis Air Force
Base in Las Vegas. His team
commuted by H-2 1 helicopter to
the Yucca Flat test site, where
the first test he worked was in
February 1956.
At his own request, Brandon
left the testing program in 1956,
returning in 1957 for a test to
train a new crew. He was hospit
alized injuly of 1957. He said he
lost most of his teeth in 1968
because of internal nerve
damage.
O’Hare gets top
airport ranking
United Press International
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The
president of the Aviation Safety
Institute ranks Cleveland Hop
kins as the worst airport in the
United States and Chicago’s
O’Hare Airport as the best.
John Galipault, a long-time
aviation watchdog and founder
of the 9-year-old non-profit in
stitute, bases his rankings on air
traffic control, runway and air
port configuration, disaster pre
paredness, congestion and
weather.
Galipault’s top five airports
are Chicago O’Hare, Dallas-Fort
Worth, Atlanta, Minneapolis-St.
Paul and New York Kennedy.
The five worst are Cleveland
Hopkins, Washington National,
St. Louis, San Diego and Los
Angeles.
Galipault praised O’Hare for
its excellent air control and run-
N: Re«
)itch sofl|
Public interests focus
for Texas AFL-CIO
at 7 p.m-l
){ upCODEl United Press International
USTIN — Given Texas’ con-
n.n sign jservative nature and a right-to-
i he libtiP r or ^ philosophy that seems
' ritten in stone, the state’s labor
nions are not expending all
their dfforts in organizing Texas
industries.
C.AL t | Although the Texas AFL-
ipeakonil niO represents 300,000 mem-
iry. This*) ) ers an ei has experienced a 100
the Brffl )ercent growth since 1969, it has
)ecome a champion of citizen
iOlRuiiife rights and by one estimate
o gj pends about 80 percent of its
d ‘ f 1, time protecting the public in-
erest.
scussinp “\y e ar e chartered by the na-
y, with Rii i ona i organization to provide
gineerins xilitical and legislative services
to our members,” said Harry
lubbard, the Texas AFL-CIO
resident for the last nine years.
During the legislative session
he Texas AFL-CIO pushed for
nly one employee-related bill,
one that provided workers’ com-
and ranch
group’s efforts
involved fighting bills
;aker Br:
has roM
Relight *
p.m. ini
ensation to farm
ywillbfitj jaborers. The
ostly involved fighting
0
3ter
:ty
calling for higher interest rates
and working for passage of
generic drug legislation.
The right-to-work provision
remains in the Texas Constitu-
ion, but inroads still are being
made to help union workers,
Hubbard said.
“In the past eight or 10 years
we’ve not done anything in
Texas to repeal the right-to-
work law,” he said. “Collective
bargaining is what’s important.
Right-to-work has nothing to do
with the collective bargaining
system. Gains have been made in
Texas through collective bar
gaining.”
Hubbard said statistics reveal
that productivity is increased by
25 percent in most situations
where employees are given col
lective bargaining authority by
P
their employers.
“We’ve forced labor and man
agement to come closer and clos
er together,” he said. “It’s been
proven that productivity is
going to thrive, and that’s going
to offset the right-to-work law.”
Hubbard said the organiza
tion probably would provide ab
out $100,000 this year to cam
paign for political candidates.
But one candidate who will not
receive help or endorsement
from the union group is Gov.
Bill Clements.
The state organization had
trouble during the 1960s with
former Gov. John Connally,
Hubbard said. But, he said rela
tions improved under former
Governors Preston Smith and
Dolph Briscoe, both of whom
were receptive to input from the
labor organization.
The story is different with
Clements, who Hubbard said
was unwilling to cooperate with
the Texas AFL-CIO.
“When he was elected we
sought an audience with him,
and he gave it to us,” Hubbard
said. “We told him we had not
supported him, but we were sin
cere in trying to help in any way
we could.
“But the only coordinated
effort we’ve gotten is that he has
replaced every appointee Bris
coe made that was a union
person.”
Hubbard also is concerned
about Clements’ desire to solve
all major problems in the state
with citizen task forces.
“He has fast brought the state
to be governed by task force,”
Hubbard said.
Hubbard also is concerned
about the appointments to those
task forces. He said that recently
the U.S. Health Department de
termined that Texas had an un
usually high number of work-
related injuries. Clements desig
nated a task force to study the
problem, but Hubbard said he
neglected to name a single per
son who represents employees
to the task force.
"Tk
rn/vrE:
o
Prescriptions Filled
Glasses Repaired
216 N. MAIN
BRYAN 822-6105
Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Sat. 8 a.m.-l p.m.
Wednesday: LUNCH SPECIALS
— BEEF TIPS/NOODLES —
$2.95
HAPPY HOUR: 4:00 p.m.-7:Q0 p.m.
10:00 p.m.-12:00 p.m.
Attention all
Engineering Students...
STUDENT ENGINEERS COUNCIL PRESENTS
< c
CAREER DEVELOPMENT
IN ENGINEERING”
Feb. 17-18, 1982 9:30-5:00
MSC Room 212 & 224 Second Floor
STUDENTS WILL TALK DIRECTLY TO COMPANY REPRE
SENTATIVES ABOUT CAREER OPPORTUNITIES.
way configuration, its six run
ways that allow three simul
taneous approaches in good
weather and its handling of
more air traffic than any airport
in the world.
Hopkins, he said, is an old
aiport that handles large
volumes of traffic with only one
principal runway, which often
forces planes into holding pat
terns. He also said that parallel
runways are rough and too close
together and weather is a con
stant problem.
Galipault, 51, has logged
more than 7,500 hours of flight
time since 1946 as a navigation
trainer for the U.S. Air Force, a
pilot for the New York Air Na
tional Guard and an aviation in
structor at Ohio State Universi
ty. Galipault has also served as a
consultant to industry and milit
ary aviation groups.
aTm
FLAGS
2'x3'
NYLON
with your class
number
Contact
Jon Burt
260-1477
or
Tom Joseph
260-6150
SIGMA IOTA EPSILON
MstMna&t&nuzMni Mono** Society
presents
a speaker from
Anderson & Co.
Management Consulting Team
Room #308 Rudder
Feb. 9 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Open to nil Business Majors
After the speaker, stick around and see if you are quali
fied to join.
AND 3.00 in Management
3.00 overall Required
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Amity
SEMINARS
15 student averags class siza
5 Specialist Instructors
Convenient weekend classes
EXCLUSIVE MATH REFRESHER
“Our 18 hour seminar for
the Feb. 20 LSAT meets
Feb. 12, 13, 14.”
For information call
800*243*4767
COLORADO
OUTWARD BOUND
BACK COUNTRY SKIING
* Co-sponsored with MSC Outdoor Recreation. |
$ Ski adventurously Spring Break at a special*
| discount rate — $430 total. Sign up in #216H|
| MSC or contact Morris Salge at 779-9095.
**>i<********************* ***********************
40 COMPANIES REPRESENTED
..\tfe eVL
’s
Backstage
Food Festival
Italian Cusine
Specials
Lasagna
Chicken Cacctiatore
Veal Marsala
Antipasta
Tuesday, February 9th
Complimenting Wine
Chianti
Bardolino
Authentic Music
Backstage
319 University Dr.