Relays
’78

Photos by

Chris

Rocky Flats

by 'I‘relizl ('Ieland

The Rocky Flats Nuclear
Weapons Plant. 16 miles northwest
of Denver. was the scene ofzi large
scale, nonviolent protest last
weekend which I attended The
plant manuiactures atom bombs
which are the triggers lor
warheads. The U.S. now has about
9,500 warheads. each oi which can
kill millions oI people,

Theaim oi the action was to spur
national initiatives toward global
nuclear disarmament. The
protesters called tor the closing oi
Rocky Flats as a nuclear weapons
iacility, while providing tinancial
security ior its workers; a shiit in
national priorities toward the
meeting oi human needs, and a
commitment to the development oi
alternative energy sources and a
nuclearrtree future.

ON FRIDAY, April 28, a char-
lered bus filled with 38 Iowans
headed for Rocky Flats. The
diverse group included three or

’ four elderly women, one of whom
humbled us all by telling us that
she had marched [or women‘s

 

suffrage in 1919.
The bus arrived in Denver at 6

Lower

DJ“. and the next day, a rally
Commenced in the Federal Center
downtown. Estlack Panther
Stokely Carmichael cried out in a
rostrum~pounding speech, “the
marches will not stop! The
struggle will not stopl We will
intensify!” Pat Schroeder, a
dynamic Congresswoman irom
Colorado, noted that, “there has
been an unfortunate and insane
switch from talk about disars
mament to talk about arms cone
troi.” Sidney Lens, union leader
and writer irom Chicago, also
spoke, The speakers were greeted
With wild applause and leit the
stage to chants oi “Close Rocky
Flats!"

'I‘IIE plaza. filled with 2,000
people. was a sea oi knapsacks, t
shirts. signs, buttons, and leatlets
I madly wrote down some oi the
slogans I saw: “No nukes is good
nukes." “Hell no, we won't glow."
“Feed the people, not the Pen-
tagon." “End the arms race, not
the human race.” ”Get active or
get radioactive," “Radiate peace,
not people," and “It will be a great
day when our schools get all the
money and the Air Force has to

SENIORS
RUSH STUDENTS

Now is the time to assure continuity of protection
by beginning your personal insurance program.
Average hospital continements range from ‘l50°°

to over ‘SW PER DAY.

If you have a BIG

problem, the cost could be much GREATER.
Is that an unacceptable risk?

'A good medical— hospitalilution policy for you
typically costs about ‘25-‘30 per month.

which can you better afford? Call.

CHRIS NIELSEN('56)

at 236-8585 or stop in at the office

210.5“: svelte fl; and enl‘to.’ll|an::/.m

 

hold a bake sale to buy a bomber.

Across the street, two lone counter '

protesters held up a small sign that
read. “Only tools and the Cont
niunistswilldemonstrateagainsta
strong America ”

After the rail thousands oI
cars. buses, and y s drove in a
caravan out to the plant itself.
There was a huge trailic jam;
ofﬁcials estimated that about 5,000
participated, Protesters came
from Nebraska and New Mexico,
Ohio and Calilornia, Australia and
Japan, More speakers paraded
beiore tis- Daniel Eltsberg: Dr
Helen Caldicott. an Australian
physician who outlined the
gruesome eiteets oI radiation:
Richard Barnet. an arms control
expert, an lndian woman who told
all the loss of Indian reservation
land to weapons plants, a trade
unionist Irom Britain who talked
about converting Rocky Flats to
produce things that would meet
human needs; and various
organizers of the event who knew
lirst-hand ol the dangers to the
Denver area itself.

We sang lots of songs, sent up
hundreds of heliumballoons with
messages addressed to President
Carter, released a couple at dozen
birds which symbolized peace, and
watched as some protesters, who
planned to get arrested, spread
themselves out on the railroad
tracks over which trainloads oI

 

Starlet

plutonium travel to Rocky r‘lats

TWELVE Juptiiirsc people.
survivors and children of survivors
oi the bombs wc dropped on
Hiroshlma and Nagasaki, were at
Rocky Flats. as was the widow oi
an army technician who died oi
exposure to radiation during
weapons testing in Nevada. We
learned that as a world, we are
spending one million dollars per
minute to produce weapons oi all
kinds, that onesIourth of all
American laborers and one-third of
our scientists are somehow con
nected to the military establish
ment, that 40 to 45 per cent of our
taxes go toward paying ior past
and Iuture wars, that 250,000
people have died as a result oi the
Hiroshima bombing, and that more
are dying every day irom radiation
poisoning.

I remember Daniel Ellsberg
saying that just as it isalie that the
South Vietnamese asked for aid
from US, Marines, so too is it a lie
that Europeans want the neutron
bomb. in last. 50.000 people
marched in Amsterdam not long
ago to protest the idea , , . i also
remember the union man from
Britain saying we should use
technology to solve problems. not
create them . . , Richard Barnet
refuting the idea that none
SCIentlsts don'thavethe knowledge
to argue against nuclear weapons:
“I don't know how to build a

Peter Young
Guitarist und
Vocalist Will

Entertain

Fri. and Sat.— May 5 and 6
.At The ton hoi-n‘ﬂ p.m.-l mm.

F-in'e' Food¥c'a‘o tails—Friendly Service. .

 

mid nigh, May'ril unit—pogo :l

protest proves an enlightening experience.

nuclear warhead. I'm not a nuclear
physicist But i know enoughabout
warheads to know that I don't Want
one in my city "

SUM)“, April :lll. the third
anniversary oi the end oi the
Vietnam war, a “sunrise" service
was held in the rain in downtown
Denver. Among those pare
ticipating were a Buddhist priest,
an Indian chief, a Mexican
folksinger. and a Japanese lady
who tolded origami paper into a
peace crane. That morning,
workshops were held at the
University of Colorado on all facets
oi the arms race' conversion.
unilateral Initiatives. the role of
underdeveloped countries and
minority groups, health hazards,
the economic considerations. and
so on.

i came away from Denver
ieeling subdued by the horrible
things I had learned about the
power and scope oi nuclear arms.
but encouraged by what l per
ceived to be a real commitment on
the part oi must of the protesteis
calling tor a slowdown on
proliferation Nobody really ex-
pected to shut down the plant: the
main purpose oi the weekend was
to show that thousands oi people
are aware of and serious about
ending the dangers to which we are
exposed, To that end, the protest at
Rocky Flats was a success.

Experienced Executite'
Seri'etary will type your papers,
tor Stltdelltvorieilted rates
tl'ntes dependant MI nature of
paperl Available ior short
notice. or tor long detailed
papers. Call Mrs. Ross
taiiytime) 2:16

Send Flowers

to Show You '
Cure Mother’s Day
May Mth.

BATES FLOWERS

 

