March Cover.indd - Saint Viator High School

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6 Karol Nowak Staff Writer On Mar. 11, 2011, a 9.8 magnitude earthquake triggered a massive tsunami into the Fukushima nuclear facility, swamping cooling systems and sparking meltdowns that caused a mass of radiation to spew into the air, which forced hundreds to thousands of residents to evacuate the area. Now, two years later, the United States is studying the results of the Fukushima disaster and is discussing means to ensure a tragedy similar to this will not be as devastating to civilians if it were to occur once more. An idea currently being considered by researchers in the U.S. is the inclusion of filters in nuclear facilities. The purpose of filters is to prevent radioactive materials from escaping into the atmosphere. Around the world, Europe and Japan have already started to include them in their nuclear facilities, but American utilities have not been supportive of this idea. Many of them argue that the addition is unnecessary and expensive. Maria G. Korsnick, Constellation’s chief nuclear officer, pointed out that filters are not as effective as water in reactor buildings. She said that water could both cool the fuel and absorb radioactive contaminants. Computer models suggest that plant operators can prevent large radioactive releases without the filters. How well the filters work is also not clear because the vents they have attached have never been successfully used in a modern commercial reactor accident. Despite all of this uncertainty, reallife accidents can unexpectedly happen, thereby suggesting that filters MARCH 2013 could be a good move. “You never know if it is going to run according to script,” said Edwin Lyman, a nuclear power expert working for the Union of Concerned Scientists. The topic of including filters in nuclear plants has created much debate between commissioners. Now, even Congress has been discussing this topic. However, most of Congress is not very supportive about the idea of filters either. WORLD Nuclear incident incites change As Japan recovers, scientists, offi cials take precautions Art by Eilis Finnegan Saint Viator High School Democratic Representative of Georgia John Barrow argued that filters are expensive and that safer, more effective and less costly solutions should be considered instead. Based on the opinions of many scientists and government officials, it is clear that the use of filters to prevent fullfledged nuclear leaks, an initiative most of the world is undertaking to improve nuclear its facilities, is not acceptable to Americans. Its expense and the presence of arguably better solutions give pause to these authorities. There is one thing that American researchers can agree on—that a solution needs to be reached shortly to prevent future nuclear disasters. www.saintviator.com
WORLD 7 Chinese intellectuals push for rights treaty Liam Warner Staff Writer Over 100 Chinese scholars, journalists, lawyers and writers have begun to push for the ratification of a rights treaty that would curb some of the power that China’s communist government currently wields. The National People’s Congress is under pressure to pass the United Nations’s International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which China signed in 1998 but has yet to ratify. The treaty outlines basic human rights, such as freedom of speech, of the press, from torture and from forced labor and the rights of every citizen to take part in the government of his country. China, which has been communist since 1949, is known for its frequent human rights violations. According to Bloomberg, China’s constitution guarantees the right of each citizen to free speech, but the government is quick to crush any expression that it sees as possibly harmful to its regime. The government also censors websites on the Internet, filtering out any trace of information about topics such as the Dalai Lama or the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, according to The New York Times. In Nov. 2012, Xi Jinping replaced Hu Jintao as leader of the ruling communist party in China. Since then, liberals have called for the government to abide by its constitution and eliminate many of its frequent human rights violations. While Mr. Xi has said that the government must act within its power as defined by the constitution, the Times reported that he has also asserted that the one-party communist rule must remain intact. Ratification of the treaty would bind China to respect its citizens’ rights lest there be ramifications from the United Nations. However, North Korea, also notorious for its offenses against human rights, has been party to the treaty since 1981, and their has been limited action taken against it for those offenses. If China were to ratify the treaty, it would have to report Art by Margaret Aichele before the Human Rights Committee next year and then once every four years thereafter regarding its compliance with and execution of the treaty. 1213 E. Oakton, Arlington Heights, IL theviatorvoice@gmail.com MARCH 2013
Page 1 and 2: March 2013 VIATOR VOICE Volume 47 I
Page 3 and 4: TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 EDITORIAL STAFF
Page 5: WORLD 5 Republican Christie backs O
Page 12 and 13: 12 LOCAL After searching far and wi
Page 14 and 15: OPINION 15 OPPOSING VOICES Detentio
Page 16 and 17: OPINION 17 New school filmmaking’
Page 18 and 19: ENTERTAINMENT Dana Lenard Staff Wri
Page 20 and 21: ENTERTAINMENT 21 The Fame Machine
Page 22 and 23: SPORTS 23 Boys lacrosse team dreams

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