J
Page 2AThe BattalionAThursday, September 1, 1988
Opinion
im&vues
©If® HCUSION K»T
I""
1/V A i^N/ A X
and to the Republicans for which it stands... ”
Nuking nuclear energy smart
solution to deadly problem
Can you name
an energy source
that currently sup
plies only a small
amount of the en
ergy needs of the
United States, is
not terribly effi
cient, and pro
duces hazardous
by-products that
remain potentially
lethal for thou
sands of years?
thing like this: The United States cur
rently has millions upon millions of gal
lons of high-level nuclear waste and no
place to dispose of any of it. As one ob
server put it, it’s like building a com
mode and not building a septic tank to
go along with it — after a while you’re
going to run into a problem.
Dean
Sueltenfuss
Yes, you guessed it! It’s nuclear en
ergy.
I know, I know. All of you pro-nu
clear people are already getting upset,
aren’t you?
“What?!” you’re all saying. “Nuclear
energy is wonderful!”
Right now, all of our high-level nu
clear waste is being stored in above
ground, temporary storage facilities
around the country. The federal gov
ernment is currently trying to force Ne
vada into accepting a permanent under
ground storage facility, but there’s a
small problem — Nevada doesn’t want
it. And it’s doing everything it can to
keep from getting the nuclear waste. So
it could be many, many years before we
actually have a permanent storage fa
cility.
In addressing the issue of waste dis
posal many of these proponents seem to
show a callous disregard for the envi
ronment. Physics Professor Bernard L.
Cohen of the University of Pittsburgh,
in a paper titled “Myths about High-
Level Radioactive Waste,” states that
leakage from an underground storage
facility is nothing to worry about be
cause “it would be easy to warn people
not to drink water that is excessively
contaminated and not to use it for irri
gation of food crops.”
Admittedly, nuclear energy does
have some advantages over other en
ergy sources. However, these good
points are strongly outweighed by its
numerous negative aspects.
First of all, extremely dangerous con
sequences would occur in the event of a
mishap at a nuclear reactor. If you don’t
believe that, I suggest you think back to
the Chernobyl tragedy in 1986. And for
those of you who want some evidence a
little closer to home there’s always
Three Mile Island. Oh, sure, nobody
got killed then, but I wonder how many
cases of cancer that accident caused.
But guess what? Even if we do man
age to create a permanent storage fa
cility, the fun’s not over. You see, no
body is really certain how safe it is to
store nuclear waste underground. Many
scientists are concerned that the waste
could leak into aquifers and contami
nate water supplies, thus endangering
humans, plants, and animals.
What a brilliant idea.
When we contaminate certain aspects
of our environment to such an extent
that we can no longer use them, we’ll
just abandon them.
Forests contaminated? No problem.
We just won’t take vacations there any
more.
Secondly, the overall cost of produc
ing electricity at nuclear plants is often
higher than the cost of producing elec
tricity at traditional, coal-powered
plants. One of the main claims made by
supporters of nuclear energy in the
1960’s and 1970’s was that it would be
an economically viable energy source.
With construction costs running into bil
lions of dollars for individual nuclear
power plants, the economics of nuclear
energy indeed seems questionable.
If you’re still not convinced of the
evils of nuclear energy, don’t worry — I
saved the best for last. By the time all
this nuclear garbage that we’re polluting
the world with has much of an impact
on the environment, our generation will
be dead and gone. The people that will
really be affected will be our children
and grandchildren. In fact, it is possible
that by using nuclear energy now we
could be affecting people who won’t be
born until thousands of years from now.
Cities full of radioactive waste? Don’t
worry. Just evacuate the citizens.
I’m still not sure how we’re going to
tell all of the animals to leave the con
taminated areas. Maybe we can put up
signs or something.
For example, plutonium, which is a
by-product of nuclear power plants, has
a half-life of 24,000 years, and is consid
ered to present a hazard for at least
250,000 years.
In the final analysis, no matter what
type of smokescreens or arguments nu
clear proponents try to put out, one ba
sic truth still exists: Using nuclear en
ergy today will certainly have negative
effects on the world tomorrow — effects
that are dire enough to justify seeking
out a new energy source and abolishing
nuclear energy as soon as we possibly
can.
Then there is the problem of waste
disposal. The current situation is some-
Nuclear energy proponents would no
doubt try to refute the aforementioned
drawbacks of nuclear energy, stating
Dean Sueltenfuss is a senior journa
lism major and columnist for The Bat
talion.
The Battalion
(USPS 045 360)
Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
The Battalion Editorial Board
Lydia Berzsenyi, Editor
Becky Weisenfels, Managing Editor
Anthony Wilson, Opinion Page Editor
Richard Williams, City Editor
D AJensen,
Denise Thompson, News Editors
Hal Hammons, Sports Editor
Jay Janner, Art Director
Leslie Guy, Entertainment Editor
Editorial Policy
The Battalion is a non-profit, self-supporting newspa
per operated as a community service to Texas A&M and
Bryan-College Station.
Opinions expressed in The Battalion are those of the
editorial board or the author, and do not necessarily rep
resent the opinions of Texas A&M administrators, fac
ulty or the Board of Regents.
The Battalion also serves as a laboratory newspaper
for students in reporting, editing and photography
classes within the Department of Journalism.
The Battalion is published Monday through Friday
during Texas A&M regular semesters, except for holiday
and examination periods.
Mail subscriptions are $17.44 per semester, $34.62
per school year and $36.44 per full year. Advertising
rates furnished on request.
Our address: The Battalion, 230 Reed McDonald,
Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-1 111.
Second class postage paid at College Station, TX
77843.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Battal
ion, 216 Reed McDonald, Texas A&M University, Col
lege Station TX 77843-4111.
BLOOM COUNTY
Mail Call
Don’t say the ‘L’ word
EDITOR:
I would like to say something
concerning the Opinion Page.
1 didn’t know the SterlingC.Evat
Library was in such sorry shape!
Obviously the exterior is in need of'
repair, but I wasn’t aware of their;
situation inside.
Only two days into the school year,
and I he Battalion has already made its
liberal biases obvious. First off, there’s
the column slamming Republican vice
presidential nominee Dan Quayle,
written by the liberal hero, Mike Royko.
We have had two of Margulies’ anti-
Quayle cartoons appear.
When did Greeks start taking
attendance in group study? That’s J
interesting if true, especially sinceii|
sounds more like somethingthe(
would do. Just call me proud to be
“only” an Aggie and not a Greeknol
cadet.
And now, our latest “all-knowing”
editorial columnist, Suna Purser joins
These people maintain that
Republicans are no good for our
country. Funny — I thought Jimmy
Carter won the award for “most
blunders in a four-year term.”
Surprisingly enough, neither the |
guest-writer nor the admittedly
humorous editorialist mentionedtli|
reoccuring problem of “a man exp
himself’ or “a man masturbating”o
3rd floor. Isn’t that where the Greelsl
are now reported to be gathering?
Please, please get some conservatives
on the Opinion Page. I’m sick of
reading only liberal ideology.
Jeff Frank ’91
I won’t even comment on thenoistl
level — that’s a whole letter untoitsdl
Steve Rikli ’89
Evans Library any
thing but sterling
EDITOR:
Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 i
length. The editorial staff reserves the right to tdti
for style and length, hut will make every efforttoi
tain the author’s intent. Each letter must be itgnj
must include the classification, address and I
number of the writer.
Aggie’s heart really in little city E
that it is a safe and economical means of
producing electricity. Many of the peo
ple who strongly support the use of nu
clear energy do so because they have
some sort of dependence upon nuclear
energy as their livelihood. It is therefore
not suprising that many of these sup
porters are directly involved in the nu
clear energy industry.
Driving down
the backroads of
good old College
Station, Texas, I
and memories of the ease of small-i:
life came back to me in flashes.
c
Janet
Goode
longed for the r'. « ♦ i • ♦
, . P , , Guest Columnist
bright lights and
s k y -scraping
buildings of big-
The reasons that I chose to
school in College Station in the
place were forefront in my mind:
city life. After four years of watching
bluebonnets grow by day and the stars
twinkle at night, I wished for noise pol
lution, smog and traffic. I wanted to see
one person who didn’t look the same.
Someone who traded in his faded
Wranglers for pleated pants and a tie.
Maybe someone with purple hair who
dared to be different. (Purple-haired
people were not a common sight in Col
lege Station.)
• Having a fenced-in backyard I
my dog instead of having to calla|
sitting service and taking him fori
athon walks after work.
tr
nc
ah
tta
a
t>>
da
P"
• Being able to walk in the park:
dark.
• Feeling safe and secure in
house with all the windows operl
night.
th
th
n-
ic
irs
dr
The ever-so familiar T exas twang (as
in “Hooowdy!”) began to grate on my
nerves and the small-town friendliness
that I once found comforting, I now
found sappy.
• Laying on the driveway and wata
ing stars fall.
• Bargains on beer, pizza and ha!
burgers—the staffs oflife.
Dollar movies and 6 percent
So, with a force of friction built up be
hind me, I made one impulsive move.
Within one week, I graduated from col
lege, got a job, and moved to Houston.
tax.
• Friendly people who don’t ho
but help, when your car stalls.
Driving into the city, I felt a great
rush. A new biginning! A place where
absolutely no one knew my name! And
most impressive — BUILDINGS OVER
FOUR STORIES TALL!
Familiarity.
Peace.
And quiet.
It wasn’t good enough for me to live
NEAR the city, either. I found an apart
ment complex smack dab in the middle
of the “inner loop”. Never mind the fact
that the apartment I am leasing costs
about half of my monthly salary.
I traded in a sense of belonging
sense of adventure — and got lost. II
never before known the swirling,
scending feeling of being displaced.
It’s exciting, but scary. You can lau|
or you can cry.
It is an apartment complex full of city
life. Six swimming pools, raquetball
courts and yuppies — all fenced in with
security gates. It wasn’t until later that I
made the connection — high security
means high crime. (This area in which I
chose to live happens to have the second
highest homicide rate in the city and a
half-way house prison down the street.)
But it's not all bad.
It leaves time for re-adjusting oni
inside. When your life has been throvj
up in the air and is coming down I
pieces all around you, they can pick!
up one at a time and examined. Thl
you can discard the rubbish.
Never mind. Life was wonderful. I
didn’t think I would miss the hum-drum
monotonous life in which I previously
had lived. I didn’t know that homesick
ness ever struck “soon-to-be 23-year
olds on their own in the big city.”
Change is the essence of growth. Ar!
if we’re not growing, we’re decaying.
And I’m sure that soon enough I wi
find backroads and stars and all thinj
familiar right here in Houston.
Until yesterday.
Thoughts and feelings, experiences
Janet Goode is a journalism gra:
uate, former Battalion staff memb
assistant editor o/'The Village Life;
guest columnist forThe Battalion.
by Berke Breath)