Three-Mile-Island and the Future of Nuclear Power

Thirty years ago this week, residents around the Three Mile Island nuclear power generating facility near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania awoke to an ongoing accident in the second generating station at the plant. Over the next several hours and days people would be barraged with confusing information about what WAS happening at the plant, what HAD happened at the plant, and if there was any danger to residents in the area. The governor ultimately did order pregnant women and pre-school children evacuated from the area and more than 140,000 people left. During the following days, radioactively contaminated Noble Gases were released from the generator, but very little of the highly dangerous Iodine 131. Several different epidemiological studies have been done of area populations over the years, with the latest results published in 2003. This most recent study confirms that only a tiny possible uptick in cancer risk appears to be evident in the exposed population, although the researchers felt that the population should continue to be followed.

Dickinson College, located in Carlisle, PA , had to decide during the crisis whether or not to cancel classes as a result of being located in the potential evacuation zone. Today Dickinson maintains an excellent web site about the events at Three Mile Island. The site includes a virtual museum which offers an excellent timeline and sense of events. PBS's The American Experience did an episode on the events entitled Meltdown at Three Mile Island (available in the library). As with most of their episodes, an accompanying web site offers lots of useful and interesting information about events. The Washington Post assembled this interesting collection of information on the twentieth anniversary of events. Finally, this essay by Gary Weimberg in Jump Cut does a good job of looking at the profound impact that the coincidental release of the film The China Syndrome about a nuclear reactor accident (available in the library) 12 days prior to the events in Pennsylvania had on how people perceived not only the event itself, but nuclear power in general.

When people think about nuclear reactor disasters, if Three Mile Island doesn't come to mind first, it's only because Chernobyl does. The explosion and fire at the number 4 reactor at Chernobyl that resulted in a radioactive cloud of contaminants spreading over areas of Europe and leaving whole sections of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine (link to map to experience long-term closure as "exclusion" zones). In an unusual turn of events, Chernobyl is becoming something of an extreme tourist attraction. You can view the starkly beautiful photos many visitors have taken on the web. Some examples can be found here, here, and here. The other fascinating fact about Chernobyl is the complex situation that has developed regarding wildlife in the exclusion zone. Many large and rare animals have made surprising and abundant reappearances in the absence of human intervention, and in fact a herd of the radically endangered Przewalski's horses were reintroduced into the zone as a result of this observation. But before people get too excited, more recent evidence suggests that smaller, surface-dwelling creatures, such as insects and spiders, and the numbers of animals total within the zone are actually lower than their partial abundance would lead people to believe, while the number of deformities is higher, indicating they have been negatively impacted by radiation.

So what does all this mean for the future of nuclear power? Well, despite safety concerns, the fact that nuclear power does not generate any carbon means that it remains part of the overall picture of future power plans. The Union of Concerned Scientists makes this assumption in its analysis of the nuclear power industry and appropriate nuclear power regulation. To get a sense of nuclear power worldwide, view The Virtual Nuclear Tourist, which addresses many concerns about nuclear energy and is written by a nuclear engineer. For a more detailed and complex analysis of the future and potential of nuclear power, review this MIT analysis, The Future of Nuclear Power.

And finally, what about the holy grail of nuclear energy, the fusion reactor? It may be closer than the skeptics think. A practical plant is under construction in France, while a prototype has been at work in the UK for some time.

Spring Break Hours

Hours for Spring Break are: M-F: 8 - 5; Sat: 9:30 - 1:30. Have a good break!

Bee a Good Speller

The library blog extends its congratulations to Michael Spors, the son of DACC's Director of Instructional Media, Jon Spors, who just earned a place at the National Spelling Bee in Washington, DC. You can see the news story in the library's America's Newspaper's database here. (If you are off campus, you'll need to provide your DACC user ID and password to access the story.) You can access the original story in the Lafayette Journal & Courier online, but you'll have to pay for the privilege, and you still may not get to see the accompanying photo. But spelling bees aren't simply for kids. Did you know there was a National Adult Spelling Bee? This year the event will be held May 3, 2009.

Spelling, Vocab and Study Aids

So how do people prepare spelling bees? All different ways, but Scripps, the national news organization that sponsors the spelling bee coordinates with Merriam-Webster to provide a prep website called Spell It! On this site users can study words according to language of origin (one of the questions spellers are permitted to ask). The lists include tips about how words originating from particular languages tend to be spelled. The site also includes lists of eponyms, or words based upon people's names. Many of these, like "shrapnel," may surprise you. Another important group is the list of words you need to know. These include those words that are frequently misspelled, commonly confused with other words, and homonyms that are misused. Homonyms are words that sound alike but are spelled differently, like "meat" and "mete".

Looking for some help with spelling but lists aren't quite what you had in mind? Purdue's famous Online Writing Lab (OWL) has a section dedicated to Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling that can help you cope with trouble spots in all three of these famous bugaboo areas. Here is another page that details spelling rules designed for readers struggling with dyslexia. But one of the best ways to develop not only your spelling but your vocabulary in general is to work on developing your understanding of the root words underlying the English language. Vocabulary.com helps users do that by developing their root word knowledge through puzzles and activities that reinforce the learning process. And it's all free! The site also provides lists of words focused on specific subject and theme areas, lists based off of works of literature, and even vocational terminology. Do you find flashcards a useful tool for learning vocabulary or some other form of information? Then take a look at FlashcardExchange, an extensive online library of flashcards in numerous subject areas compiled by users from 1st grade through college. The service lets you create unlimited text cards and use them online for free as often as you'd like. If you want to download them or add images or audio to your flashcards, you will need to spring for a one-time membership fee.

Y U Shld B a Bad Splr

Not a great speller? Maybe even a really bad one? Take heart, the inability to spell is not a reflection on your intelligence, more an indicator of how your brain is wired. In fact, MRIs reveal your brain may have done some amazing rewiring on your behalf, as the infamously poor-spelling Steve Hendrix of the Washington Post found out. But you don't have to be a crackerjack speller to take an interest in the subject. In fact, over the years there have been multiple movements to simplify English spelling. Playwright George Bernard Shaw, Teddy Roosevelt and Melville Dewey (creator of the Dewey Decimal system of library organization used in most public libraries and here at DACC) all advocated simplifying the spelling of the English language. If you can't spell, these folks might argue, it's not you, it's the language. Having more than 1,100 possible letter combinations to form only 44 sounds, as English does, might be viewed as a bit of overkill.

Some see the rise of text messaging and email as exerting a degree of pressure in this direction on the language. And more than one teacher has expressed fears that these practices are destroying students' language skills, fears that linguist David Crystal identified as appearing first in Great Britain where texting has been a social practice for a longer period of time. But this recent article in the Christian Science Monitor reports that new research suggests otherwise. Texting may actually increase certain linguistic skills. Not quite sure what all the fuss is about? Check out this text to plain english translator.

And finally, many of you have probably seen the Spell Checker poem that has circulated around the internet for several years in varying forms (one version can be seen here). Here is the story behind the poem, as well as its original, subtler form.

Insect Fear Film Festival

Tomorrow, February 28, 2009, you too can enjoy the spine-tingling pleasure of bad movies combined with insects (or more accurately in this case, arthropods) at the 26th Annual Insect Fear Film Festival at the University of Illinois. The best thing about the festival is that it is free! Two feature films, two cartoons and a Mr. Wizard special on animals plus an insect petting zoo and an art show of insect art done by area school kids. What more could you ask for or get for so little!

The subject of this year's festival is centipedes. Now, if you'd like something a little creepier and/or more impressive, take a look at the fiercer (and larger) side of centipedes featured on the Damn Interesting web site, which includes images and links to videos of centipedes tackling bats and mice.

If you'd like some additional information about insects or arthropods, you may want to check out some of these web sites. The BugGuide is an online identification guide to both insects and arthopods of the U.S. and Canada that offers lots of pictures, description, food, range, classification information, habitat, risks posed by, and references. The eNature guides include identification guides for both bugs and spiders (rather sadly myriapoda or the multilegs like centipedes and millipedes appear to be left out, although butterflies those arthropoda scene-stealers have their own guide), as well as field guides for birds, mammals, shells, trees, amphibians, and wildflowers among others. The site also includes an archive of nature articles. Want some kid-related bug ideas? Check out the University of Kentucky's Dept. of Entymology's page of activities and ideas. And finally, here's one person's list of the top 10 bug movies of all time...

Keeping Up with the Scandals: Politics Illinois Style

Following the latest twists and turns in the ongoing saga of Roland Burris and Rod Blagojevich, whose recent appearance on Letterman is must see TV for every Illinoisan, one is constantly reminded of Illinois's long history of political corruption. As an old joke goes: A Chicago school teacher as a student how to spell "politics" and the child replied: P-A-Y-O-F-F.

Several recent articles have tracked some of the state's more infamous corruption scandals. This New York Times graphic timeline does a nice job of plotting out the state's more recent scandals, while this earlier playlist of corruption provided by the Chicago Tribune focuses on the Ryan era. This MSNBC article offers perhaps the best piece, skimming off several of the more glaring of the many public officials that have been convicted of wrongdoing. This article would be worth checking out if only for the photos the editors have selected to represent various pols. The shifty-eyed shot of former governor Dan Walker, for example can be seen in interesting contrast to the former governor's own self-assessment in his book The Maverick and the Machine, profiled in this review article.

Gubanatorial Wrongdoing

Another governor who has made a noteworthy contributions to the state's record of wrongdoing is Otto Kerner, a man who demonstrates that no matter how significant an individual's achievements, a felony conviction will be better remembered. Kerner served honorably in WWII, achieving the rank of Major General and earning several commendations. He reformed state adoption laws while a judge in Cook County. And as governor improved access to housing, mental health care, jobs and housing for all state residents. Ultimately he led the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (the Kerner Commission). In the final report, he eloquently defined a key problem facing the United States: ""our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white--separate and unequal." (Recent commentary has brought this commission report back up for reconsideration and noted how far-seeing it was and how short-sighted the government was in failing to follow its recommendations.) All of these achievements would be wiped out shortly thereafter by his conviction on bribery, perjury, mail fraud, and tax evasion charges. Interestingly, as pointed out in this article, had Kerner survived, he might have been granted a new trial and his conviction been overturned because the argument used to convict him was found unconstitutional.

Some might argue that George Ryan's moratorium on the death penalty, which he discussed in this interview with The Nation, made prior to his own conviction on corruption charges, should overshadow the crimes that led to his downfall. Others would make quite the opposite case. As this Chicago Tribune article points out, that's a historical determination, and probably one that is yet to be made.

Not Just Governors

Governors have hardly had a lock on corruption in the state. In recent years, Dan Rostenkowski, the Democratic congressman from Chicago became infamous for laundering money through the Capitol Post Office and then receiving an 11th hour pardon from Bill Clinton. His experiences were described in the book Rostenkowski: The Pursuit of Power and the End of the Old Politics, reviewed by Robin Toner.

Rostenkowski, of course, was a product of the Chicago Democratic Machine, the last of the big city political machines. Machine politics grew out of the era of heavy immigration and internal migration that ballooned urban populations. By providing services to the otherwise unserved and keeping cities working, political machines filled an important niche, despite being rife with corruption, and Chicago's was among the most efficient. Machine politics worked in part because the people it served came from backgrounds that inclined them to accept, at least temporarily, a degree of corruption and arbitrary brutality as the norm. It began to break down as individuals within the system identified its inherent unfairness, a situation that came to a head in 1968.

Probably the most colorful crook in downstate history is Paul Powell, former Secretary of State. The long-time, license-plate king made a big splash when he died, leaving behind a hotel room full of shoe boxes, briefcases, and strongboxes stuffed with cash. A consummate shakedown artist and patronage specialist, Powell was quoted as saying: "There's only one thing worse than a defeated politician, and that's a broke one." (Nest Egg)

Trickle Down Corruption

The Chicago Sun-Times demonstrated just how far corruption trickled down during its Mirage Bar sting operation in 1978. Working with the Chicago police and posing as new bar owners and employees, journalists left a barful of code violations for city inspectors to notably not enforce as they took money and offered advice on how to better avoid meeting the city's building and accounting codes and regulations.

Darwin Does 200 Too!

As most of you know, many of the bicentennial Lincoln celebrations reached a particularly energetic pitch this last Thursday as the actual anniversary of his birth even brought our new president to Illinois to take part in an event. You can check out the Lincoln bicentennial events scheduled for Illinois online.

Darwin-Mania

But somewhat overshadowed by all this Lincoln-mania in our country, and especially here in Illinois, is the fact that Lincoln literally shares the day of his birth with one of the few figures from the nineteenth century who could stand toe-to-toe with him in terms of importance: Charles Darwin. That's right, last Thursday was Darwin's bicentennial as well, and it seemed like a good time to draw attention to a party that England's been holding in his honor much the same way we've been enjoying our stovepipe hats and false beards. It's safe to say that England is firmly in the grip of Darwin-mania. Several major celebrations and exhibitions have been planned, many with entertaining and informative online components. Darwin's Big Idea, an exhibit being run through the Natural History Museum in London, offers online visitors a slideshow that gives you glimpses into Darwin's study, a naturalist's tools and perspective of the time, and a lovely model of the H.M.S. Beagle, the ship in which he sailed to the Galapogos. You can also explore the voyage of the Beagle interactively and learn why the collection of mockingbird specimens that Darwin brought back are viewed as so essential to saving the species today. Down's House, Darwin's home during much of his adult life, offers online visitors an opportunity to glimpse a bit of Victorian family life. You can get a more detailed sense of what the great scientist's study and research equipment was like than in the Big Idea exhibit. You can also link off to the Darwin's Landscape Laboratory site that showcases the research gardens of the property, which have been proposed for World Heritage status because of the work Darwin did there, including his significant contributions on the role of worms in soil production. The web site for the landscape laboratory offers panoramic views of several locations as well as wildlife information for the entire year.

The Written Word

For many people in the U.S. today, Charles Darwin has become a kind of scientific boogeyman. This is an unfortunate characterization because Darwin himself pondered deeply over the nature and implications of the kind scientific analysis he was preparing, and in fact took more than 22 years to finalize and publish The Origin of the Species after his ideas originally developed, a period of time that has produced a great deal of scholarly speculation as to its reasons. If you would like to get a better sense of man's work for yourself, you'll find all of his published writings, and many unpublished as well, online as well as his extensive correspondence. Getting this last accomplished has been a particular effort of the bicentennial celebration project. My personal favorite aspect of the correspondence project is the daily quote, often very entertaining, pulled from some given letter. An interesting site that gives readers unfamiliar with Darwin's work some insight into it is this interactive NY Times page that illuminates Darwin's texts with comments from leading biologists and evolutionists discussing why they find particular passages important or moving.

Not Just Some Islands

The basis of Darwin's pivotal works came from his research voyage to the Galapagos Islands. Today the Galapagos Conservation Trust operates to preserve this unique environment, with its ancient tortoises, sea-going iguanas and flightless cormorants. If you are interested, you have the opportunity to adopt an endangered animal or plant, an activity often embraced by children, for whom it makes conservation more "real." Of particular concern, as with any island environment, are invasive species and outside pathogens. The controls put into place for these species in the Galapagos are described in this web site while pathogen control efforts are managed by the Galapagos Genetics Epidemiology and Pathology Laboratory.

Women of Conscience: Reforming Danville and the World

Back in January, DACC authors Jan Cornelius and Martha Kay appeared on WILL-AM radio's Afternoon Magazine to discuss their recent book Women of Conscience: Social Reform in Danville, Illinois 1890-1930. If you missed it, you can catch the conversation as an mp3 podcast on WILL's archive. Cornelius and Kay's book explores the important role women's groups played in enacting significant social reform, using Danville's experience to exemplify the progressive role played by women's organizations across the country and colorfully reinvigorating the city's past in the process. If you'd like to get a further snapshot of Danville's more "colorful" past, courtesy of Jan Cornelius, come into the library and check out "Danville’s “Sin City” and Reform, 1900-1920," in the Journal of Illinois History 11.2. (Unfortunately the article is not available online.)

Another excellent example of the social role of women's organizations can be seen in the virtual exhibit: Bear Ye One Another's Burdens currently being presented by The Women's Library at the Metropolitan University in London. This exhibition examines the history of the Girls' Friendly Society from 1875 to 2005. The purpose of this girls' organization was to maintain purity and chastity among girls in the working classes. Just prior to the first World War, the group claimed a membership of more than 200,000 and declared itself to be the largest organized girls' group in England.

For a more comprehensive look at the role of club women in Progressive Era in the United States, take a look at this online exhibit on the subject at the National Women's History Museum.

The impact of women's socializing efforts on their respective communities continues to provide fascinating glimpses into human history. Lynda Nead offers a general examination of the role of Victorian women as "moralizing influences" in this BBC essay, neatly demonstrating the expectations and tensions such responsibilities placed upon women. An example that has received growing attention over the last several years has been the housekeeping manual. And probably the single most influential cookbook in the English speaking world was Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management. Fundamentally, Mrs. Beeton's work is a cook book, and The Foody has adapted the recipes (adjusted the measurements, etc.) so that modern readers can give them a try if you'd like to sample a little Victorian cooking.

Modern readers looking into Mrs. Beeton's work for the first time should understand a couple of things. This Victorian Martha Stewart, much like the modern one, is creating an idealized vision of domesticity. Too often, twenty-first century readers confuse this imagined reality for the way in which "typical" Victorians, or at least "typical" middle-class Victorians, lived. Nothing could be further from the truth. Once you realize that Mrs. Beeton herself was only 28 when she died following the birth of her fourth child, it becomes even more apparent what discrepancies existed between the idealized world of the household management book and even its author's reality.

We have our own modern day Mrs Beeton, Martha Stewart. Her blog and the other elements of her media empire function in much the same way that Mrs. Beeton's manual did a couple of centuries ago. If you consider how closely your house matches that of Martha Stewart's televised depiction of her Connecticut farm, you'll have a better sense of the reality versus the ideal at work behind Mrs. Beeton's book, as well as better understanding the purpose for which the manual was created.