It's Thursday, so it's time for our weekly review of what's good and not-so-good in our world these days.
[THUMBS UP] It's Spring Break for most of the youngsters (and not a few adults) in Northwest Arkansas, so many of our regular readers are likely snow skiing in Colorado, lounging on a beach in some semi-tropical paradise or otherwise doing something fun and exotic. But we say thumbs up to those folks who are spending their week off close to home, with family and friends, enjoying the company of others and taking in the sights and sounds of our own corner of the planet. May your staycation be vacation enough for all.
Give’em a thumb
Want to give some brief feedback on news? Someone who deserves a pat on the back? An idea that needs a dose of common sense? Recommend a “Thursday thumb” by calling Greg Harton at (479) 872-5026 or by email at [email protected].
[THUMBS DOWN] Once again, the federal government's long, torturous road to clean up a 50-year-old mess in the Ozarks has hit a snag. The Southwest Experimental Fast Oxide Reactor (commonly referred to as SEFOR) sits idle 20 miles from Fayetteville. Built in the 1960s by the government as a research nuclear reactor, it was decommissioned in the 1970s and given to the University of Arkansas in 1975 as a research tool for graduate students. By 1986, it was mothballed for good, but tons of low-level radioactive waste and the reactor's core remained on site.
After years of trying (by the UA and assorted members of Congress) to get the government's help to clean up the site once and for all, it appeared in October 2016 the job would finally get done. That's when a $10.5 million federal grant was approved to get the waste hauled away. There were even tours of of the shuttered facility to let the locals know the work would commence. And it did, and thousands of pounds of the waste was removed. But that grant is about to run out, and an expected $8 million to complete the job, including removing the core, is now caught up in the federal budget limbo.
If the new cash isn't approved by April 1, SEFOR will once again be in storage mode and the UA will be responsible for the expense of its security. There's still hope the cleanup will eventually be completed. But if it's scuttled completely, the UA will remain on the hook for taking care of the thing indefinitely.
It's well past time the federal government remove this blight from the Ozarks. Yes, the UA took possession of the thing after it's short and apparently not-too-useful life as a government research operation. But it was Uncle Sam who put it here in the first place, so it's Uncle Sam's mess. The job needs to be finished now, not some day in the future.
[THUMBS UP] Talk about being kicked upstairs. Former Razorback all-star punter and placekicker Steve Cox was appointed to the University of Arkansas System Board of Trustees by Gov. Asa Hutchinson. Cox, famous for his long field goals and booming punts since his high school days at Charleston, is an Arkansas football legend and a member of the state's sports Hall of Fame. That despite getting his collegiate start the University of Tulsa, for which he orchestrated one of the Razorbacks' more embarrassing defeats.
Cox kicked three field goals for the Golden Hurricane in a 9-3 win over 12th-ranked Arkansas in 1976. He transferred to Fayetteville a year later, after another placekicking legend, Steve Little, graduated. All was forgiven by the time Cox finished his career in the Ozarks. So much so now that the Jonesboro businessman is now helping run the entire UA System.
[THUMBS UP] Monday's paper had a story on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's county health rankings that shows positive signs for Washington and Benton counties and lends support to the investments being made in places that promote healthier living, such as the Razorback Greenway and the continuing focus our communities are keeping on local parks. It's been said when you have your health, you have everything. Amenities that encourage healthy living are a smart investment.
[THUMBS DOWN] Call us old-fashioned, but we read Monday's story about the University of Arkansas' Mullins Library moving three-quarters of its collection into a storage facility with sadness. Yes, we understand the changing ways in which students interact with research materials. Yes, we understand the need to accommodate how students today do their work. But we're distraught that the collected knowledge contained in the 800,000 or so printed volumes being moved will be that much harder for someone to access.
Presumably, the move makes more room for students to use the space in the library for studying (with their devices, of course) and that's a good thing. Still, it's hard to imagine a library with only a few books, especially on a college campus.
[THUMBS UP] Businesses in Northwest Arkansas expressed confidence in the region's business environment and plan to create about 2,500 new positions and invest about $750 million in the coming three years, according to the Northwest Arkansas Council's non-scientific collection of information from area businesses. While one might expect the Council to have a rosy outlook on the region's economic prospects, it's hard to argue with what we see around us. Lots of new construction, both residential and commercial, continues to pop from the ground which the population and job growth continues apace. We've seen this before, and therefore know that it can disappear almost as quickly. So celebrate the good times while remembering to save a little for a rainy day.
[THUMBS DOWN] A self-driving test car struck and killed a pedestrian last week in Tempe, Ariz., prompting the company who had commissioned the test to temporarily halt the program. Various news reports say the Uber test vehicle was apparently traveling below the speed limit but did not slow down before it struck Elaine Herzberg, 49, who was walking her bike across a street in Tempe. There was a person behind the wheel of the car when the accident occurred, but the car was in its auto-drive mode. The victim was not in a cross walk. Authorities are investigating the accident and have not as yet determined who was at fault.
Uber quickly halted its tests until a determination is made. It's a sad, tragic story and Uber did the right thing to pause its work until more information is available.
But one accident does not make the technology too dangerous to pursue. Proponents of the self-driving technology contend that it could make the roadways safer. Even if that's true, there will still be some accidents and some fatalities. That's why one accident can't be the bench mark for whether to proceed. If that were the case, cars with drivers would have been outlawed more than a century ago.
Commentary on 03/22/2018