Chernobyl symposium and commemoration April 26 at Evergreen

On April 26, 1986, an explosion destroyed one of four nuclear reactors at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Scores were killed quickly, untold thousands will sicken in the future, and more than 336,000 abandoned their homes and towns. Vast areas remain contaminated with radioactive debris to this day.

A 21st anniversary commemoration of the disaster through science, history, art, and music will take place Thursday, April 26, 2007 at The Evergreen State College.

The day includes expert lectures, a photographic exhibit in the college ' s Gallery IV located on the fourth floor of the Library Building and ends with a performance of " Requiem for the Victims of Chornobyl" by the Evergreen Singers at 7:05 p.m. at the college ' s Recital Hall in the Communications Building.

Lecturer David R. Marples is professor of history and director of the Stasiuk Program on Contemporary Ukraine at the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta. He is author of twelve books, including three on Chernobyl, with others on Stalinism in Ukraine, contemporary Belarus and the collapse of the Soviet Union. His lecture " The Debate over the Consequences of the Chernobyl Disaster," will take place at 1:45 at Library 4300.

Lecturer Scott Davis is Professor and Chairman of the Department of Epidemiology at the School of Public Health and Community Medicine at the University of Washington and a full member in the program in epidemiology of the division of Public Health Sciences at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Davis ' s primary research focus is radiation epidemiology. He has directed a team since 1990 in conducting studies of persons in the Russian Federation exposed to radiation from the Chernobyl accident. His lecture, "Twenty Years after Chernobyl: Is There an Excess of Cancer?"will take place at 3:20 p.m., also in Library 4300.

The film "Chernobyl Heart" will show at 6 p.m. in the Recital Hall of the Communications Building. The film, by Maryann De Leo, won an Academy Award for short documentaries in 2003. The Evergreen Singers will follow with the "Requiem" at 7:05 PM, also in the Recital Hall.

All events are free and open to the public. For more information, call 867-6503. The campus cafeteria will feature Ukrainian foods for the evening's dinner menu.