I. Russian Green Cross Concludes Research on Radiation and Chemical Contamination

On December 10, the Russian Green Cross (RGC) released the results of its three year scientific investigation into radiation and chemical contamination. The final report contained analyses of data on radiation contamination at former military industrial sites, including those on the Novaia Zemlia archipelago, in the Semipalitinsk region (in Kazakstan), in Krasnoyarsk, and in the northwestern Russian provinces. A data base has been created from information gathered during the project. Additionally, in November, RGC scientists completed their investigations in the Primorskii Krai region of the Russian Far East and in Tomsk, at the site of the Siberian Chemical Plant.

Many of Russia's submarines are stationed in the waters of the Russian Far East, as well as service and repair bases for nuclear submarines. The result of this has been the accumulation of a significant amount of radioactive waste and the contamination of the surrounding environment. Today, the area has become a "submarine graveyard," with nuclear reactors sometimes remaining inside the defunct submarines. For years, information about the true ecological state of the region was scanty, as the Russian Far East was a "closed" region. However, over the course of the last ten years, ecologists have been able to amass enough information about the activities of the "closed" industries and military projects here and their influence on the health of the environment. RGC scientists collected data on the effects of radioactive contamination from the submarines on the Primorskii Krai region and its aquifers, focusing particularly on the results of the 1985 nuclear submarine accident in Chazhma Bay.

Specialists from the Green Cross also investigated land adjacent to the Siberian Chemical Plant in Tomsk. The plant is located 15 kilometers outside of Tomsk, downstream from the river Tom'. Adjoining the site is the town of Seversk (formerly called Tomsk-7), where many of Siberian Chemical's employees and their families reside. The plant is one of the largest producers of plutonium and uranium in the world. Since the plant was constructed in 1953, it has produced 1.130 billion curies worth of radioactive waste--Siberian Chemical was responsible for at least 65 percent of the waste produced in the former Soviet Union. Research by RGC scientists showed that the health of people living near the plant was considerably worse than that of populations residing in "control areas." Children living in the area suffer from the most problems--the rate of birth defects here is very high. RGC research indicated that illness and health problems encountered in the Tomsk population mirrored the problems encountered in the population residing in the Semipalitinsk region of Kazakstan.

Contact telephone: 923-4866 (press office of the Russian Green Cross)

II. Labor Congress Presents New Issues to Government and the Public

On December 16 the Moscow Center for Gender Research led a round table discussion entitled "Equal Rights & Equal Opportunities in the Employment Sphere: Legal Reforms in Russia" at the Duma. Participants at the round table included A.G. Golov, deputy chairman of the Duma's Labor & Social Politics Committee, as well as representatives from the Ministry of Labor. Attendees were presented with a report prepared by the Center for Gender Research on "Opportunities and Gender Stereotypes in the Labor Market." Marina Baskakovaia, author of the report, stated: "The advantages that women received when they first entered the labor market have become economic liabilities in today's Russia. They don't protect women, but rather keep them in jobs with less prestige."

Participants in the discussion agreed on one point--that the current employment law lacks foresight. However, the discussion revealed that no one knows how to improve the law. There has been continual conflict in the Duma's Labor & Social Politics Committee as to how best protect the interests of women in the labor market through legislation. Since 1992, Duma members have been working on updating the former labor law code, with the new code awaiting review--but members of the Ministry of Labor's Department of Women's Affairs knew nothing about the revised code. Representatives from civic organizations participating in the round table considered the attempt to reform the labor law code to be pointless, since the government's fundamental stance on labor still hasn't been formulated.

III. "Down Side Up" Center Proves Children with Down's Syndrome Can Learn

A presentation was held by "Down Side Up," an organization dedicated to promoting early childhood development and education for children born with Down's Syndrome, on December 12 at the Radisson-Slavyanskaia hotel in Moscow. Currently, the organization is working with 55 families in the Moscow area who have children with Down's Syndrome. "In Soviet times we were told that children born with Down's Syndrome were unteachable," said Natalia Groznaia, director of "Down Side Up." "95 percent of these children were given up by their parents and put into orphanages. The majority of them died there within the first year of life due to a lack of necessary care and--most importantly--love."

"Down Side Up" is the first and only organization in Russia to promote early childhood development for Down's Syndrome children. Specialists from the organization visit homes and instruct parents about raising their affected child. They also work with the children on an individual basis. "Down Side Up" is working with the Center for Clinical Pedagogy, where an integrated kindergarten has been organized- -the first such kindergarten in Moscow. There, 11 children with Down's Syndrome are mainstreamed into classes with non-handicapped children. Additionally, in the future these children can attend an elementary school at the "Rodnik" rehabilitation center.

"Our children can achieve great success if we begin working with them at a young age," said Sofia Kuman, a specialist in education for handicapped children. "Already now they are speaking better, drawing, and playing music. In Great Britain, where such programs have existed for a while, children with Down's Syndrome are able to graduate from high school, train for a profession, play sports or become artists."

Natalia Groznaia informed attendees at the presentation that "Down Side Up" was hoping to work with state medical and educational institutions in Moscow. "In order to adapt children affected by Down's Syndrome to the conditions of normal life, we must establish special schools and kindergartens," stated Ms. Groznaia.

Contact telephone: 256-4525 (Natalia Groznaia)

IV. Young Journalists Are Best Suited to Report on Youth Problems

On December 11 young journalists in Nizhnii Novgorod took part in a seminar entitled, "Youth and Drugs." The seminar was organized by the Agency for Social Information in the hopes of encouraging young journalists to report on important youth issues. Speakers at the seminar included Anna Terenteva, director of the Russian charitable foundation "No Alcoholism or Drugs," and Aleksei Moiseev, a specialist on youth drug use from the "Family" organization.

"Chemical dependency is an illness comprised of four different aspects- -biological, psychological, social, and spiritual," Anna Terenteva informed seminar attendees. "Thus, neither doctors nor psychologists on their own are able to cure addicts--it requires the strengths of several specialists. Our "Crossroads" program is based on the principle that chemical dependency is a chronic disease that affects the entire family. Thus, we offer lectures and training sessions that focus on prevention."

"Many children begin experimenting with drugs already at age five or seven," revealed Aleksei Moiseev. "We frequently see parents who have just found out that their child has been using drugs for several years. Unfortunately, in Nizhnii Novgorod we don't yet have any organizations like 'No Alcoholism or Drugs.' Efforts to prevent drug use are pursued only by clubs, by amateurs in their free time. However, in the suburb of Verkhnie Pechery we are organizing a program called 'Youth for Youth's Sake,' where specially trained older students will help inform younger students about the risks of drug use."

After answering many questions from the assembled journalists, the two speakers again emphasized that in order to resolve the problem of youth drug use, much depends on public opinion--which is influenced by the media. Therefore, it is crucial that young journalists understand the issue and convey its importance to their readers.

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