Mike Emanuele about 150 words

INTD: Science Writing

me12@geneseo.edu

“Clan of the One-Breasted Women,” by Terry Tempest Williams, is a short story about families falling victim of radiation given off by nuclear testing. The author recalls growing up, her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and the family was forced to accept it and move on. The author described it as a blind patriotism, and was something that her and her family must follow, even it means disobeying her religion and beliefs. This begs the question, how much does our government care about it’s citizens. The government needed to test its new weapons for war and according to the short story, the government values its assets for war more than its citizens in the minority. Personally, my family has never been impacted by government intrusion of any sort, or of what I’m aware of. The small minority will find ways to make themselves heard, to reach out to others for sympathy.

Erik Buckingham                                                                                 Approximately 200 words

ekb7@geneseo.edu

INTD 105: Science Writing

Radioactive substances affect millions of people each year. In “The Clan of the One Breasted Women”, Terry Tempest writes about the nine generations in her family who have had breast cancer due to radioactive explosions that occurred near Utah. As a Mormon, Tempest was taught to not challenge government authority. She left this idea once she found out that she had witnessed a nuclear bomb. She supports her new viewpoint when she states, “Tolerating blind obedience in the name of patriotism or religion ultimately takes our lives” (Williams, 8).

Tempest turned to civil disobedience and blamed the government for deaths in her family due to the nuclear explosions causing breast cancer in nine of her family members. This is extremely powerful because though many members of her family lost their lives due to the government, Tempest chooses peaceful protest.

“The Clan of the One-Breasted Women” is relevant today especially during this time of police brutality. Many people who are outraged about the murder of people by police officers are fighting back violently. Tempest’s method of retaliation is more effective because it does not negatively affect other peoples’ lives while still getting her point across.

Alec Toufexis

agt9@geneseo.edu

INTD-105-19

Terry Tempest Williams explains in her essay that the United States Government put its priorities in protecting the entire country by testing nuclear bombs. But the government did it on land that didn’t belong to them and the radiation that emanated from the test sites in Utah caused cancer in the author’s family. She received no recompense for the wrongful act when the U.S Government was exonerated under the “legal doctrine of sovereign immunity”, which is a practice from the English Monarchy and the King. This situation is similar to one near my hometown. The love canal was a site where a chemical plant dumped tons of toxic chemicals. Years later the plant went out of business and the canal was covered up with dirt. A school was built on the site along with a community and there were many cases of birth defect in the subsequent years. The government didn’t do anything to prevent the situation however the land as of recent has been evacuated. I don’t believe a situation like this would happen again because there are many proponents of preventing government negligence.

Racheal Devine                                                 about 150 words

INTD: Science Writing

rmd20@geneseo.edu

One-Breasted Women

In the short essay “The Clan of One-Breasted Women” by Terry Trumpest Williams, she tells the story of her experience living through the “The Years We Bombed Utah”. She starts off with background about her family of mormons and how her grandmothers, mom and 6 aunts and herself have all had mastectomies. They believed this was a result of bad genes, but made the connection that it was rare in mormon families. Then after she is told that her memories of a bright light when she was a child was really the result of a bomb testing she realized that this is where the cancer could have come from. Then she goes on to stand up for what the government is doing to the families around the bomb testings by protesting with other women.  My family is not affected by anything like this or environmental concerns.

Juniper Tremper
Scientific Writing 105-19
Geneseo, NY
~165 words

Caaaaarl, Nuclear Bombs Kill People
Juniper Tremper

In the mid 1900’s, the government of the United States held the priority of developing technology for weapons to keep America safe. In their extensive efforts to test this technology, they illegally dropped nuclear substance on a desert in Utah, regardless of the people living near enough to suffer genetic abnormalities as a result. Terry Tempest Williams, author of the article “Clan of the One-Breasted Women,” tells a series of anecdotes reflecting on the seriousness of the government’s irresponsible actions, including the actions in court that exonerated the United States government on the grounds that it held sovereign immunity, and as a result, suffered no legal reprecussions for intentionally testing nuclear content in the vicinity of human life. Although this instance directly affects only the small number of locals, the article suggests people sympathize with the family of those breast-cancer stricken individuals and utilize those feelings to stand with the afflicted and persuade the government to take responsibility for this disaster and any in the future.

Simon Lee                                                                     Approximately  180 Words

Shl5@geneseo.edu

Scientific Writing 105-19

Clan of the One-Breasted Women

This article is about how there are many great scientific revolutions in the world, however sometimes its at the cost of innocent bystanders. The testing site for the nuclear bombs in Nevada which cause severe radiation levels to rise to a level in which the zones were classified as uninhabitable. This cause the women of the local Mormon clan to have severe side effects mostly in the form of breast cancer. Yet even after the harm that these testings have caused to these innocent people, the government refuse any wrong doing and therefore is not willing to give compensation for the harm done.

The article mentions only really mentions the effects caused to the women of the clan, so i was wondering what happened to the men? The radiation must have had an equally harmful effect to both sexes. I find that the governments actions to ignore the causes that the radiation caused to the people of the Mormon clan to be almost identical to what major chemical companies are doing to the environment.

Jason Gerbsch                                                             Approximately 315 words

jg33@geneseo.edu

INTD 105: Scientific Writing

Scientific breakthroughs throughout history have always been a doubled-edged sword.  For every discovery that has an initial positive benefit, others have found its negative or vice versa.  The discovery of nuclear power is one such example.  Nuclear power is itself a relatively clean and very efficient energy source.  However, this enormous power has also been used for destruction in the form of nuclear weapons.

When one is asked about who has been affected by American nuclear weapons, most would say the Japanese, as they are the only human population to have had a nuclear weapon used against them.  Many would not think Americans have been affected, Terry Tempest Williams argues otherwise.  She comes from a family where 9 women were diagnosed with cancer and seven had died.  Her family isn’t alone, nearly 1,200 others had been affected.  The common factor they all shared? They lived in the part of Utah deemed perfect for nuclear testing due to it being “virtually uninhabited desert terrain.”  While many tried to bring this to the attention of the American government and people, it was difficult due to the intense patriotism of the time (namely 1950s America) and the legal doctrine of sovereign immunity, a law that states that the government can do no wrong.  Do I think we should have never delved into the nuclear world? No.  Despite its destructive power when used in such a way, its benefits as a clean and massive source of power outweighs this negative.  Do I believe the US government was wrong in ignoring the fact that through the testing of nuclear warheads it was in fact hurting its own people? Yes I do.  Americans were suffering from these tests and the American government was too busy trying to get a leg up during the Cold War to care about these citizens; instead, relying on a ridiculous law that is centuries out of date and goes against the values of our Democracy.

Matt Klein                                                            approximately 200 words

mgk6@geneseo.edu

INTD 105-19: Science Writing

“The Clan of One-Breasted Women” Response

By Matt Klein

            In “The Clan of One-Breasted Women,” Terry Tempest Williams calls attention to the power the US government is abusing. As a Mormon, Williams was taught to “not ‘make waves’ or ‘rock the boat.’” However, once her father told her she had witnessed nuclear bomb testing, she “realized the deceit [she] had been living under.” Williams describes the injustices done to her clan and her people, and how the government avoided most of the blame using the concept of “sovereign immunity.” Though practically all the women in her clan contracted breast cancer from the radiation of the bomb testing, they were not compensated by the government. Williams and her people thus turned to civil disobedience to advocate their cause.

Williams’ story is tragic, but is not very relatable. I understand her call to avoid blind obedience to authority, but I and many others have never experienced such injustice. There are, however, still environmental issues that affect us. When searching for the facts to problems such as pollution and climate change, sharing Williams’ desire for truth will let us to sift through the politics and mass media surrounding the issues, allowing us to find a solution.

Logan Steffens

Lts6@geneseo.edu                                                                                      160 words

INTD: 105-19

October 24, 2016

In “The Clan of the One Breasted Women” by Terry Tempest Williams she speaks about the dangers of nuclear testing and how it affected the people of nearby areas especially those in Utah. When she speaks about her family history she speaks about how nine women in her family had been affected by breast cancer from the nuclear testing and most had died from it. Williams expresses her discontent with the United States and how they would not compensate the families affected because the United States defended all war efforts such as bomb testing.

Williams piece really makes you think about how a country can do this to its own people. At first the government probably didn’t know better but even when they found out how the nuclear tests can cause cancer, it didn’t stop them. Also isn’t this the same type of thing that is going on right now with all the pollutants going into the air from major companies?

Sarah Lambert                                                                                 about 170 words

sel15@geneseo.edu

Student, INTD 105-19: Scientific Writing

History Repeats Itself

By Sarah Lambert

    Terry Tempest William’s piece written in 1991 about her experiences and family history involving breast cancer and the radioactive test site in Nevada. She points out the significance of the nuclear testing and the Jenkins decision in 1984 in our history and the need to question society in her own, personal history.

    It is interesting that Williams alluded to the idea of “sovereign immunity…from England,” that though we have tried, over the years, to eliminate cultural ties with Europe and prove ourselves to be a better, more democratic country, this idea is still present. Williams piece is moving in how she evokes emotion in her audience through the work of pathos and inclusion of detail. It is unbelievable that such tragedies exist and that people struggle with these hardships. Something that this brought to mind was the devastation that colonization has had on our world and older societies. The effect people have on other groups of people can be extremely harmful, even if it is not intentional.