Finding Our Voice
We are always happy to talk about the Samuel Lawrence Foundation's great work. Whether it's demanding solutions for the nuclear waste dump at San Onofre, building bridges between schools in San Diego and Afghanistan, or backing any number of enrichment programs, our advocacy deserves a voice. In our new, Third Thursday Newsletter, we are finding that voice.
Nuclear Waste on Del Mar's Agenda
The Del Mar City Council on Feb. 22 is set to renew its opposition to the nuclear waste dump at San Onofre. Mayor Dwight Worden and Councilmember Terry Gaasterland are bringing forward a resolution for a vote. "The City of Del Mar supports as a matter of high priority the identification of a long-term safer storage site located away from populated areas and urges the near-term relocation of all nuclear waste from San Onofre to safer interim storage, if needed as a precedent to ultimate relocation to a permanent safer site, all to assure that this waste is removed from San Onofre as soon as possible," the resolution states. We appreciate Worden and Gaasterland giving nuclear waste the attention it deserves. In 2012, 2014, 2017 and 2019, the Del Mar City Council took similar action. The remote City Council meeting begins at 4:30 p.m. Feb. 22.Watch Meeting
A Wake-up Call on Flood Risks
The facility is 100 feet from the beach. During high tides, waves crash into an aging bulkhead that separates the sea from the storage vault — a kind of crypt that holds 73 thin-walled, metal canisters jam-packed with 3.6 million pounds of deadly, radioactive waste. According to Southern California Edison, the sprawling, concrete vault will flood from a storm at high tide. If the ocean were to swamp the so-called Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation, we could have an unsurpassed disaster on our hands, an uncontrolled criticality, one that has never occurred in the U.S. commercial power industry.
Nuclear Power Before and After
What comes before and after nuclear power generation? We can't think of a better person to ask and answer than our own Chelsi Sparti. An SLF alum, Chelsi today is an Energy & Resources Group masters student at UC Berkeley.
Chelsi's guest lecture Feb. 16 in the Climate Change and the Law course at Berkeley Law examines the nuclear fuel cycle in conventional U.S. nuclear reactors.
Kabul School Connection
In March 2021, we quietly launched the Kabul School Connection, a program that linked Canyon Crest Academy high school students to peers in Afghanistan. The conversations on Zoom began after news broke about a suicide bombing of the Mawoud tutoring center.
In the weeks that followed, teens from Mawoud and Canyon Crest talked about dreams and goals and explored questions of daily life. Students in Kabul found a unique platform to discuss feelings they experienced as a result of the bombing.
Kabul School Connection was organized by Julya Kenna and included Mawoud’s principal, Najibullah Yousefi, Canyon Crest Academy history teacher Timothy Stiven, and Fary Moini and Steve Brown of the La Jolla Golden Triangle Rotary Club.
Open these links to see some of the outstanding media attention Kabul School Connection has received:
Staff Spotlights
Introducing Caitlin Fitzpatrick, Samuel Lawrence Foundation's new program coordinator. We appreciate Caitlin's skill as a researcher, writer and data analyst. We are putting it to good use! Caitlin earned a bachelor's degree in anthropology from UC Santa Barbara where, as a graduating senior, she won the department's Research Promise Award.
Without delay, Caitlin applied her training to study cultural resources in Santa Clara County for Mosaic America. In San Diego County, on assignment for the California Rural Indian Health Board, Caitlin created and implemented a community health assessment for American Indian communities throughout the region. In other endeavors, Caitlin has sold stories as a freelance writer and worked as a teacher at the Stapleton School of Performing Arts in San Anselmo, where she ran the school's Fantasy Ballet Camp. During her free time, Caitlin likes dancing and anything to do with getting outdoors. Welcome aboard, Caitlin!
Introducing Deb Morales-Cordero, liaison officer for arts and culture. Deb is the driving force behind our arts programming and leads the Open Door to the Arts program, which provides performing and visual arts experiences to youth from historically marginalized communities. Thanks to her hustle, children and their parents have attended the Alonzo King LINES Ballet presented by La Jolla Music Society. More outings are in the works thanks to partnering music organizations.
A native of Los Angeles, Deb earned a bachelor’s degree in art history from UCLA and a master’s degree in arts management from Claremont Graduate University. In LA, she worked in arts education programming for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Los Angeles County Department of Arts & Culture. New to San Diego, Deb enjoys spending time with family, taking in the sights, sounds and tastes of her new home, and spoiling her dog, Pearl. Welcome aboard, Deb!
Headlines
Coastal Sea Levels in U.S. to Rise a Foot by 2050, Study Confirms New York Times, Feb. 15, 2022 Four-story high rogue wave breaks records off the coast of Vancouver Island CNN, Feb. 14, 2022 SoCalGas faces $10-million fine for fighting climate action Los Angeles Times, Feb. 4, 2022 How greed and politics are slowing the switch to renewable energy The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, Jan. 17, 2022