Walking around outside during Earth Day, I couldn’t help but notice that the entire program was not so much about environmentalism as it was about anti-war protests and blatant, politically-biased chants.

As an Officer Candidate in the United States Marine Corps. PLC, I take no issue with people being anti-war—indeed I would be greatly disheartened if American citizens were ever gunning to go overseas and kill other people—however what I do take issue with is the intentional misrepresentation of the mission in Iraq, of the troops involved and the all too often hypocritical finger pointing.

For starters, I couldn’t help but notice the signs everywhere that read, “No More War for Oil!” While this has become somewhat of a rallying cry for groups like Code Pink, it represents a gross ignorance of the actual mission in Iraq.

It’s hard to believe how fast time flies! It’s already exam and graduation time!!! This semester the Student Government Association has been quite busy planning and attending events. Aside from our usual Bingo and poker nights; and movie nights, we have been busy planning our annual Casino Night to benefit the United Way of Lamoille County. By the time you have read this article it will have come and gone. It’s a fun event with poker and black jack tables, with slot machines. It also included lots of good food provided by Aramark. This year’s theme was “Vegas Lounge” with black lights.

We also had a successful Ally dinner, which I was honored to take part in!

The production of nuclear energy from a large nuclear reactor produces 25 to 30 tons of high-level waste (HLW) each year (ANS 2008). Low-level waste (LLW) makes up the other 90% of the waste generated by nuclear reactors. LLW currently generated by VT Yankee is shipped to Barnwell, South Carolina. Luckily for us, we don’t live in Barnwell; unfortunately for us, the Barnwell site will close on July 1, 2008, leaving Vermonters to decide where in Vermont we will store radioactive material that we generate. According to the Low-level Radioactive Waste Policy Amendments Act (LLRWPA) of 1985 the State of VT is responsible for the waste that we generate.

VT Yankee is storing its HLW in dry storage casks along the banks of the Connecticut River. These casks are meant to store HLW for a short period of time until properly disposed in a deep geological repository; unfortunately, no such repository exists. Since passing the LLRWPA, no new LLW sites have been created in the country.