University - Voices of Central Pennsylvania

February 2005
12 • Voices of central pennsylvania
University
Bhopal: Hiroshima of Chemical Industry
by Alok Sharan
On the steps of Old Main, Penn State students
joined others from 70 institutions around the
world last month to raise awareness of the
industrial disaster that followed a gas leak at a
Union Carbide pesticide factory in Bhopal, India,
on December 2, 1984.
The students demanded resolution of legal
and moral responsibilities for the damage to
“We just ran and ran until we couldn’t run any longer.”
--Kanchari Lal
shut down a refrigeration
unit meant to keep the MIC
liquid. Because they had not
repaired the safety systems,
they turned off the alarms to avoid any “undue
alarm” from occasional leaks.
Twenty years later the city hasn’t recovered
from the disaster. Union Carbide closed the
factory,
abandoning the
remaining five thousand tons of
toxic chemicals. For two decades,
seeping toxic chemicals have
contaminated the water and land
leading Greenpeace to declare the
site as a “global toxic hotspot”.
People continue to suffer from
Union Carbide’s legacy. The most
visible effects are reproductive and
physical development deficits and
a high rate of morbidity. Cases of
TB, respiratory disorders, cancers,
infertility, panic attacks, menstrual
disorders and cataracts exceed the
national averages. Recent reports
suggest that toxic chemicals entered
mothers’ breast milk and even the
newborns must live and die with the
repercussions of Union Carbide’s
negligence. Other people are
unmarriageable because of the
widespread fear of the
consequences for their descendants.
Ordinary citizens like Rashida
Bee, who lost five members of her
family to cancer, and Laxmi Bai
Photo courtesy of International organizedwith Bhopal Gas Peedit
Campaign for Justice in Bhopal Mahila Stationery Karamchari
Sangh, a trade union of women
Devastated MIC plant in Bhopal, India.
survivors, to work for justice for the
human life and environment that corporate greed survivors. They highlight theproblems they face
and negligence caused.
to make us aware that these are not only their
That night gas leaked from Union Carbide’s problems. Their struggle is our struggle. None
pesticide factory to slowly engulf the city of of us is immune.
Bophal. Waking with burning eyes and coughing
To maximize profits, multi-national
blood, people found neighbors in the streets companies move to third world countries where
wailing for their dead and dying relatives.
they can ignore safety procedures. If disasters
Panicked at the news that the factory exploded occur, corporations are immune in the safe haven
and released poisonous gas, “We just ran and of their countries of origin.
ran until we couldn’t run any longer,” said
Union Carbide sold its assets to Dow
Kanchari Lal in an interview with rediff.com.
Chemical Corporation, which now owns its
Streets filled with corpses. Unaware of the liabilities. The compensation of about $1,170 for
toxin, doctors didn’t know how to treat the each death and $520 per lifelong injury from the
victims that flooded hospitals. The 40 tons of
methyl isocyanate (MIC) that leaked into the air
More information on this
killed almost two thousand people instantly.
disaster can be found
Deaths linked to the gas leak are estimated to
a t www.bhopal.net,
approach the 14,000 mark. Over 150,000 suffer
from after-affects, making this the “Hiroshima
www.studentsforbhopal.org,
of the Chemical Industry”.
and www.bhopal.org.
To save on electricity bills, Union Carbide
Reply to All Forward
out-of court settlement is not enough.
Dow eventually may be required to clean up
the toxic mess that endangers future generations
if a New York District court enforces the
provisions of the settlement.
Union Carbide and its former CEO should
stand trial and be accountable for the lives they
destroyed, but Union Carbide and its new owner
Dow Chemical Company continue to evade their
liabilities in Bhopal.
Warren Anderson, the former CEO of Union
Carbide is officially an international fugitive.
From late November to early December,
Students for Bhopal coordinated a weeklong
program at Penn State to highlight the tragedy.
Survivors still lack appropriate treatment and
compensation and face on going risks of
environmental contamination.
The Association of South Asian Research
(ASAR) displayed an exhibit at Webster’s
Bookstore and arranged an interactive session
with the National Coordinator of Students for
Bhopal.
Ryan Bodanyi, and PSU graduate student
Gina Bloodworth on December 3 to discuss
corporate mobility, lack of international laws, and
corporations’ freedom from prosecution.
The Association for India’s Development
(AID) organized a candle light vigil after the
discussion.
Other campus groups such as Amnesty
International, ASAR, EcoAction, DSI, DSO
supported the campaign.
The South Asian Delta Sigma Iota and Delta
Phi Omega hosted information tables in the
HUB.
Volunteers in gas masks handed out flyers
and black ribbons as they collected donations.
The Human Rights Films series showed the
documentary, Bhopal Express.
More information on this disaster can be
found
at
www.bhopal.net,
www.studentsforbhopal.org,
and
www.bhopal.org.
Justice for Emmett Till?
by Debra Simpson-Buchanan
This past spring, almost 50 years after the
murder of Emmett Till, the U.S. Justice
Department has re-opened the 1953 investigation
into his death. The additional evidence: it is
believed more than 12 people might have been
involved in his torture and murder and that 5 of
the 12 people are still alive.
August, 1955 Mamie Till put her only child
on a train in Chicago bound for the Delta to
Money, Mississippi, to visited relatives for the
summer, unaware that this would be the last time
she would see her son alive. The brutal death
and monstrous disfigurement of Emmett Till’s
face and body continues to stand as the hallmark
of an external expression of an internal sickness
- racism.
When Mamie Till saw her 14-year-old son’s
face again, it included a bullet hole that went
from one side of his head to the other. His face
and body were so unrecognizable, the only thing
that assured her that this was her child was the
ring on his finger, a ring that she gave him
belonging to his father who died in World War II
fighting for the freedom of his country. That
country would not only acquit Roy Bryant and
his half-brother J.W. Milam, the two white men
who committed the murder, but pay them
$4,000.00 for their story on how and why they
sought revenge on a 14-year-old black boy.
Emmett committed the unpardonable crime of
allegedly whistling at a white woman in public.
To show the entire world the horrible physical
and psychological outcome of racism, Mrs. Till
had an open casket viewing of her son’s body.
However, Till’s murder shocked only part of
America. This miscarriage of justice ignited the
American Civil Rights Movement.
Debra Simpson-Buchanan is assistant
director of the Paul Robeson Cultural Center at
Penn State University
February 2005
Voices of central pennsylvania • 13
Center for Sustainability Acquires
New Directors and Innovative Projects
by Heather Hottle
“It provides an excellent opportunity to raise
awareness among Penn State students and the
community regarding sustainable technologies.”
--David Riley
Photo by Heather Hottle
David Lettero standing outside of his home, The Renewable Energy Homestead on
Porter Road.
For over a decade, the nonprofit Center
for Sustainability (CFS) at Penn State
University struggled to conduct research
in sustainable living and environmental
technologies. After three relocations, the
center has finally landed two new
directors.
Andrew Lau, coordinator of
engineering first-year seminars and
associate professor of engineering design,
and David Riley, a professor in the Penn
State Department of Architectural
Engineering, say they are eager to help
the center progress.
“It [the CFS] provides an excellent
opportunity to raise awareness among
Penn State students and the community
regarding sustainable technologies,” Riley
said in a recent interview.
CFS provides a place for students to
do hands-on research and experience
through projects like the biointensive
mini-farm that can produce a large amount
of food in a small space, and the Advanced
Ecologically Engineered Systems
(AEES), also known as the “living
machine,” designed to treat up to 1,000
gallons of human waste into drinkable
water a day.
The new directors also plan to expand
the center’s concentrations to cover
engineering interests.
“The CFS has been a leader in
providing a place for students and faculty
to put sustainable living into practice,”
Lau said. “We now want to enlarge the
scope of the CFS to better include
engineering through research, education,
and service to the community. We hope
to help position the CFS for long-term
viability and success.”
CFS staff member David Lettero also
holds high hopes for the center. Lettero, a
graduate student, uses the Renewable
Energy Homestead as his thesis project
and his home. With the help of local
residents, he designed and built his newage home on the center’s Porter Road
site.
His home integrates a variety of
experimental components of sustainable
living-foam insulation and a homemade
radiant floor heating system, a solar
collector to heat the water for the
thermionic floor, a solar shower, a
composting toilet, and hybrid power
generation using the Penn State Power
Lion created by students. But Lettero has
been around long enough to suffer Penn
State’s inconsistent support for CFS.
“This whole project has been a roller
coaster ride,” said Lettero, “I feel like
[the university] is playing games with us.
Penn State is very money-driven. They
accept [the center] and want it to be
something, but also view it as a burden.”
Funded by external funds and state
grants, the center has been relocated and
rebuilt three times.
“The relocations have discouraged
everyone working at the center because
every time, we have to start from
scratch,” said Lettero. “After ten years
of showed interest by students, you
would think Penn State would try to get
more involved.”
T h e u n ive r s i t y c u r r e n t l y h a s
p r e l i m i n a r y p l a n s t o bu i l d a n ew
b a s e b a l l s t a d i u m n e a r t h e c e n t e r.
Although this could lead to problems
in the future, staff members at the
center are open to the idea.
“Plans are, in fact, preliminary at
this point and could change,” said
Tysen Kendig, Penn State Manager of
the News Bureau.
“Any collateral effects - like storm
water runoff, for example - would be
addressed so as not to negatively affect
the operation of the center,” he said.
“We do not know for certain that the
proposed new baseball stadium will be
on the CFS site,” Lau responded. “We
certainly would be open to discussing
the athletic program needs since they
are our neighbor.”
Riley said the baseball stadium
would make more people aware of the
center and its attractions.
“This whole project has been a rollercoaster ride.”
-David Lettero
Photo by Heather Hottle
David Lettero sitting inside The Renewable Energy Homestead.
February 2005
14 • Voices of central pennsylvania
Robeson Name Carries
Weight of the Cold War
by Amber Fusiak
Penn State’s cultural center is named
after a man who in his day was lauded
for his theatrical skills yet demonized
for his politics.
“Paul Robeson was selected as the
namesake for the cultural center
because he was a model for academic,
athletic, and artistic excellence while
e m b r a c i n g a h u m a n i t a r i a n wo r l d
v i s i o n ,” s a i d D e b r a S i m p s o n Buchanan, the Assistant Director of the
cultural center.
“I believe he identified himself with
the ideals of socialism, in the sense that
he believed in the equality of the
working class.”
In 1968, African American Penn
State students initiated the process to
create the first black cultural center on
rallies, conferences, and labor festivals
worldwide. Robeson protested the
g r ow i n g C o l d Wa r a n d w o r k e d
tirelessly for friendship and respect
between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R.
In the late 1940s, when dissent was
scarcely tolerated in the U.S., Robeson
openly questioned why African
Americans should fight in the army of
a government that tolerated racism.
Because of his outspokenness, the
H o u s e U n - A m e r i c a n A c t iv i t i e s
Committee (HUAC) accused Robeson
of being a communist.
The accusation nearly ended his
career. The U.S. revoked his passport,
leading to an eight-year battle to secure
it and travel again.
C o m m u n i s t i d e a l s exe m p l i fi e d
Communist ideals exemplified Robeson’s belief of the
right to equality.
campus. Four years later, the university
established the Paul Robeson Cultural
Center, housed in the Walnut Building,
k n ow n a s t h e Te m p o r a r y U n i o n
Building or the TUB, on Shortlidge
Road. (Robeson did not graduate from
PSU, but he had performed on campus
a number of times.)
In 1999, the Paul Robeson Cultural
Center became the HUB-Robeson
Center complex, located in the center
of campus, and noted as one of the
country’s premiere cultural centers.
Robeson, the famous AfricanAmerican athlete, singer, actor, and
advocate for civil rights everywhere
rose to prominence in a time when
segregation was legal in the United
States. Robeson’s travels abroad taught
him that racism was not as virulent
elsewhere as in the United States.
Robeson used his voice to promote
African-American spirituals, to share
the culture of other countries, and to
benefit the labor and social movements
of his time.
He sang for peace and justice in 25
languages throughout the U.S., Europe,
the Soviet Union, and Africa. Robeson
became known as a citizen of the world,
equally comfortable with the people of
Moscow, Nairobi, and Harlem.
During the 1940s, Robeson
continued to speak out against racism,
in support of labor, and for peace. He
was a champion of working people and
organized labor.
He spoke and performed at strike
R o b e s o n ’s b e l i e f i n t h e r i g h t t o
equality.
“ H e d i d n ’t b e l i eve i n r a c i s m ,”
explained Simpson-Buchanan. “He
wasn’t necessarily a Communist. He
felt all people should live on an even
claim.”
“Robeson stood for the equality of
all people, not just African Americans,
in a time when this country was set
against that,” said Lawrence Young, the
previous director of the cultural center.
“Other countries could receive him
for who he was because of their ideals
when his own country couldn’t,” said
Simpson-Buchanan.
“ I n o t h e r c o u n t r i e s , h e wa s
embraced,” she said.
“Robeson was not a communist,”
said Young, relating a common thread
between the anti-communist rhetoric of
Robeson’s day and some anti-terrorist
rhetoric of today.
“ T h e g o ve r n m e n t , t h r o u g h t h e
manipulation of language, used the
communist label against him. The label
they used against Robeson held no
basis in fact, but rather, held basis in a
fear of the time,” said Young.
“At the present time, the government
scares Americans by citing terror,”
Young explained further. “It’s not the
Cold War Americans are afraid of
anymore. The government replaced the
fear of that war with a fear of terror. I
don’t know any terrorists personally.
But I fear them. I’m supposed to,
anyway.”