Primary Problems

In Westwood on March 28th, protesters from Green Peace rallied against the use of nuclear power plants. They started off with a prayer for Fukuoka, Japan, which continues to be in danger from the reactor shutdown at its plant. This day also marked the 32nd anniversary of the 3-Mile Island incident in Pennsilvania.

Other than Westwood, there are 185 other locations around America holding similar demonstrations at the same time. Currently, there are 104 nuclear reactors throughout the United States with two of them located in California. After the accident with the Fukushima nuclear plant, there has been strong skepticism about the safety of nuclear power plants here in America.

UTB spoke to USC Professor Meshkati about the incident of Fukushima’s number one reactor. Professor Meshkati has been researching nuclear safety laws for 25 years. He has visited and seen first hand the tragedy of Chernobyl and the Mihama nuclear power plant after its accident 7 years ago. We asked him his opinion about this incident.

Moffit Elementary School Plays “Sakura” for Japan

On March 29th, the students of Moffett Elementary School in Lennox performed the old Japanese folk song “Sakura” on the harp for children in Japan. The performance was recorded to video to send to children who live in the areas affected by the recent disasters. The students of Moffett wanted to raise their voices in hopes of raising the spirits of children in Japan. The 22 students who performed “Sakura” went through a day of intense training for the show. Afterwards, the student also recorded video messages to accompany the performance. This video along with a series of sakura-shaped letters were all sent to children of Japan’s disaster stricken areas.

It has been decided that all of the relief funds that were raised for the area would be sent directly to the Fukushima prefectural government.

Support Committee in Japan

Also on March 29th, the JACCC held a meeting on how to provide more help to Japan in the future. This meeting was called to order by Los Angeles Mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa, and the U.S.-Japan Council. More than 50 of Los Angeles’s groups, universities and businesses with deep relations with Japan were in attendance.

At the meeting was presented the supporting activities that have taken place since the earthquake. K-ABC’s David Ono, who had been reporting from Japan, said that there needs to be an appeal for more long-term support.
Mayor Villaraigosa agreed and proposed more regular meetings on the matter.

Moffit Elementary School Plays “Sakura” for Japan

On March 29th, the students of Moffett Elementary School in Lennox performed the old Japanese folk song “Sakura” on the harp for children in Japan. The performance was recorded to video to send to children who live in the areas affected by the recent disasters. The students of Moffett wanted to raise their voices in hopes of raising the spirits of children in Japan. The 22 students who performed “Sakura” went through a day of intense training for the show. Afterwards, the student also recorded video messages to accompany the performance. This video along with a series of sakura-shaped letters were all sent to children of Japan’s disaster stricken areas.

It has been decided that all of the relief funds that were raised for the area would be sent directly to the Fukushima prefectural government.

Kuroda Interview

The opening of the Major League season is here at last! Dodgers pitcher, Hiroki Kuroda, last season went for 11 wins, pitching a career high 169 innings. One-third of the total innings pitched. March 30th was the last game of the Spring Training season and with this Kuroda heads into his fourth Major League year. Expectations for Kuroda are high this year!