What happened here at the University of Missouri, well not quite as dramatic or funny, but still a story! This past week at KBIA was fairly simple. There’s not much to say because the story says it all itself.
I wrote a reader for the Nov. 5 nightly newscast and a wrap for the morning.
- To read the wrap the text is posted below, or click here to listen to the story. (The podcast was not available after broadcast for the wrap, so the anchor intro is not included).
- To take a glance at the reader click on this link to KBIA’s website.
- Click on this link to hear the reader.
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A rare spill at the University of Missouri is turning heads. Clean-up continued Thursday after a MU researcher accidentally walked out of a lab with radioactive material on his shoe. KBIA’s Tara Grimes reports.
The incident occurred Monday evening in a lab on the first floor of Schlundt Annex. An MU researcher unintentionally spilled the radioactive isotope phosphorus-32 and walked out of the lab with it on his shoes. MU spokesperson Christian Basi says the researcher realized what had happened once he left the building.
“It was the researcher who identified that there had been a release,” Basi said. “So it was my understanding that he called our folks at the environmental health and safety department immediately, and they responded right away and were there for several hours. Again, to make sure it was safe, as well as begin the clean up process.”
Cleanup crews worked to identify where the material was located outside the Annex. Basi says students and faculty did not face health risks. Missouri Department of Health spokesperson Kit Wagar says the accident should not be a concern to the public and was negligible at most.
“As far as the general public goes, just your shoes and your clothes protect you from it, because it gives off such a low level of radioactivity,” Wager said.
As of yesterday, the University was still restricting access to six of the biochemistry labs. Basi says due to emergency drills held each year, the environmental and health agency knew how to respond quickly and effectively.
“This is a case of being prepared,” Basi said. “That we had no health issues come up with this situation, that the researcher who was involved knew exactly what to do and when to do it, and the folks that had to respond knew exactly what they needed to do to get their job done.”
Basi says if this were to happen again, an emergency plan is in place to identify the risks of material.
Should something happen, we have a plan in place that we feel is flexible enough that we can implement that plan immediately and we have people who are trained to handle that material, and if not we have other outside resources we can call in, in a heartbeat,” Basi said.
Basi says the radioactive material tracked out of the building this week is used often in DNA research. He says it’s been around for decades so clean-up crews knew to deal with it. Basi also says the researchers who handle the material must be authorized and trained to use it. An investigation of the incident will begin after clean-up. Environmental health and safety director Peter Ashbrook was not available to comment. Tara Grimes, KBIA news.
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I’ve also been working on building my website with my friend Jason. Here is a little sneak peek on our progress with it:
I’m currently coding the main page and resume page, hopefully soon moving on to the broadcast, online, and contact me pages!
My first VOSOT was due for my broadcast one class and I decided to head out to St. Martins to find out more on the search of the little 9-year-old missing girl. Sadly I received the news that her body was recovered in the woods nearby her house just minutes after I picked up the camera. I decided to go out there anyway and attend the last news conference on the investigation. My decision to cover this story came because I wanted to know how it felt to cover a story like this. I feel that the hardest part of my job will be talking with families who have lost their loved ones. The aura in the air is something unexplainable. Being there as a third party, without knowing anyone, feels as if I'm barging in on someone's life. But in the end, we're journalists and that's what we do, just having to remind ourselves over and over that in the end we're only trying to do good for society. Good or bad stories.
The confirmation of this feeling came this past week when two of my reporter friends had to speak with families of those who lost a loved one in the Fort Hood shooting. I specifically remember seeing their tweets on how this is the part of the job they hate.
Since I hitched a ride with my reporter friend from KOMU who was doing a package on the same thing, I decided to voice his package for practice… little did I know how horrible I would sound. But the video is great and that last slow mo shot was mine! Nancy Grace and CNN both aired the package!
Elizabeth Olten Update from Tara Grimes on Vimeo.
Currently I’m working on my feature for KBIA. All interviews are done, finished my last one this past week. I also attended the Jefferson City Council Meeting last Monday for my first B1 package. Originally I went into the meeting thinking I would work on one story, but as the meeting went on I realized there was a deeper issue at hand that concerned citizens . Thus, like always in the news world, things can change in the blink of an eye and I decided to change my story. I’ll be working on that package this week and will post it when I’m done. Until then, I’ll leave the suspense growing!
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