Activists Demand Greater Nuclear Oversight at State House Protest
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Thursday, April 7, 2011 TheXLII Daily Free Press Year xli. Volume lxxxi. Issue . www.dailyfreepress.com [ The Independent Student Newspaper at Boston University ] Campus & City MUSE Sports Here them roar: So close yet so far: Weather Convo with Keeler: Today: Sunny, High 53 Female panelists MUSE interview with founder of Softball comes up Tonight: Cloudy, Low 32 discuss role of short against UMass Tomorrow: 56/37 women in politics The Greenehornes Patrick Keeler page 3 page 5 page 8 Data Courtesy of weather.com Activists demand greater nuclear Union reaches out oversight at State House protest to community with campaign, promotes By Carol Kozma Daily Free Press Contributer student involvemnt Bostonians demanded better nuclear By Steph Solis safety and a halt to the relicensing of nu- Daily Free Press Staff clear power plants on the front steps of the State House on Wednesday. As part of its “Stop Guessing, Start Eating” The rally focused on the dangers of nu- campaign to raise Boston University student clear power, which most speakers agreed awareness of its services, the Student Union were not worth taking in light of the Fu- provided free food to students yesterday at BU kushima disaster in Japan after the March Central. earthquake, and the need to invest more About 200 students helped themselves to resources into safe and renewable energy. free food and beverages from Raising Cane’s, Cindy Luppi, the New England co-di- Qdoba, Blue State Coffee and other local rector from Clean Water Action and Brian vendors between 12 and 2 p.m. Episodes of Wright, an advocate of Environment Mas- “House” aired on the screen for students to sachusetts, helped organize the rally. watch as they ate. The first speaker, Rep. Lori Ehrlich “Start Eating” marks the second event in of Marblehead, recounted her visit to the the campaign, which Union members said Chernobyl disaster site in 1992. aims to raise awareness about their website “I have seen with my own eyes what and resources such as textbook swapping and an alienation zone looks like. It’s just un- the Union blog. thinkable to me to overlay that desolation “The BUS tracking service is really popu- anywhere in our state,” Ehlrich said. lar, but I think people are confused as to where Ehlrich said that Germany was in the to get help and find out about things around process of closing seven of its nuclear campus,” said College of Arts and Sciences se- power plants. nior Daniel Ellis, Union executive vice presi- “We are losing the opportunity to lead. dent. “Stop Guessing is about getting students We can do better, we must do better. It is to stop wondering about where to find these MICHAEL CUMMO / DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF time for good old American innovation to C-10 Research & Education Foundation member Chris Nuard talks outside the State services.” kick in,” she said. House on Wednesday about the need for improved nuclear safety in Mass. after the Many students in BU Central claimed not Rep. Denise Provost of Somerville disaster in Japan. to know much about Union, or why they were shared her concerns as well. tsunami to lose power,” she said. nuclear power. offering free food. “Nuclear power is just not safe, and not Chris Nuard, representing the C-10 “We know that any number of expo- CAS sophomore Leticia Laines also said worth the risk,” Provost said. organization, a group which envisions “a sures is not safe,” Stein said. she was not familiar with Union’s services. Mary Lampert a representative of Pil- clean, safe, sustainable energy future” ac- Marcia Hnatowich of Brookline, who “Honestly, I think most students don’t know grim Watch, an organization which focuses cording to its website, urged Gov. Deval attended the rally, expressed one of the pri- what the Union does,” Laines said. “I think it’s on keeping Pilgrim power plant closed un- Patrick to lead the movement by closing mary concerns held by many who attended great that [Union members] are doing this be- til safety concerns are met, also spoke. power plants and using safer renewable in respect to nuclear power plants. cause the Union’s supposed to be the voice of The Pilgrim power plant is ranked sec- energy. “What I am alarmed about is just the the students, and we need to take advantage of ond in the nation in risking a disaster due to Paul Blanch, a nuclear energy expert danger of having them” Hnatowich said. that.” a possible earthquake, according to a study stressed that before the United States can James Baldwin, a visiting professor in Others just enjoyed the food. by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. use nuclear power, better safety regulations the department of geography and environ- “I mean, I had never tried Pad Thai before, Lampert said that the Fukushima pow- need to be enacted by the NRC. ment at Boston University, acknowledged so the Student Union helped me discover that,” er plant disaster occurred because of the “We must have regulations that will en- the risks of nuclear safety. said Michelle Hayward, a freshman in the Col- loss of electrical power, which prevented force or minimize the effects of a disaster “Until we can demonstrate an ability lege of Communication. the nuclear power plant from functioning like Fukushima,” he said. to safely shutdown plants in distress and The campaign addresses rebranding one of properly. Dr. Jill Stein, a former Massachusetts safely store the waste products, the deci- Union’s three goals in improving its image and The cables supplying energy to the Pil- governor’s race candidate and a represen- sion to either use or abandon nuclear power relationship with the BU community, said Ar- grim power plant were also old, she said. tative of Physicians for Social Responsibil- needs to be actively up for public debate,” “You do not need an earthquake or a ity, discussed the health issues relating to Baldwin said. UNION, see page 6 BU alum and Holocaust survivor recalls experience READY, AIM, FIRE By Gina Curreri people into a ghetto, Handler said. Daily Free Press Staff “There was malnutrition, no food and no meat, and everybody had lice because the sanitary conditions Holocaust survivor and Boston University alumnus were horrible,” Handler said. Sidney Handler recounted his experiences living and Handler described his experiences in a concentra- struggling to survive in Poland during Nazi occupation tion camp and hiding in random houses. during World War II in a lecture on Wednesday. “My mother shoved me down the stairs, and I just The 1958 School of Management graduate shared stood there in the closet as a bayonet brushed by me tales about his “life in the ghetto” of Vilna, Poland, and as I heard the kids yelling and crying out,” Handler the Ponary massacre and his struggle for life during said. “After that, children couldn’t be seen because we the Holocaust to about 50 students in honor of the Hil- weren’t supposed to have survived.” lel House’s Holocaust Remembrance Series held at the He recalled the first execution he watched at a Franklin Lounge. camp. “Most of the people were killed in small camps or “One morning, they lined us all up to witness the just in the forest,” Handler said. “All you typically hear hanging of three people where two survived,” he said. about are the concentration camps, but there were a lot “But it wasn’t a problem for the Germans...‘Boom, of Jews who were just taken to be shot in the forest.” boom’ and they were shot dead.” Handler said his aunt, grandmother and many oth- A few weeks later, Handler said he found himself ers he knew were killed in Ponary, and 75,000 people and his mother hiding and “lying like a deck of cards” were buried there. in an attic. Ariel Bengio, Hillel’s student board president and “We ran out of water, so we drank each other’s a College of Arts and Sciences senior, stressed the im- urine,” Handler said. “Naturally I was getting weaker.” portance of keeping the memories of Holocaust vic- Handler remembered finally crawling down from tims alive. the attic when he and his mother escaped the camp “Never forget the tragedy,” Bengio said. with the help of a Polish man. When the Soviet Union pushed back east and their In tears, Handler recalled how his memories burden RUTH BLUESTONE / DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF occupation in Poland ended, the Germans invaded Boston University students lined up in front of the George Sherman Vilna and herded at least 60 thousand Jewish Polish Union for a chance to dunk members of the Greek community on HOLOCAUST, see page 4 Wednesday. 2 THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2011 OPINION Big Poppin’ THE DAILY FREE PRESS The Independent Student Newspaper at Boston University 99 problems, being rich ain’t one 41st year F Volume 82 F Issue 42 Josh Cain Editor-in-Chief here comes a time in every per- Jay-Way 2: Riding in style. OK, you now Saba Hamedy, Managing Editor son’s life when they must decide have your uniform but it is not enough to sim- Chelsea Feinstein, Executive Editor who they want to be. Since turning ply show your stylish superiority with what Chris Gambon, Campus Editor Suzanne Schiavone, City Editor the Tbig 2-2 last week and coming to terms you put on your body. You need to also focus with the imminent end of my college career, I on what you put your body in. I therefore am Annie Maroon, Sports Editor Megan Riesz, Opinion Page Editor have decided to completely reinvent myself.