1997_01 The Daily Collegian January 1997

              THE DAILY .
COLLEGIAN
Tuesday, January 28,1997
Opinion
Telephone: (209) 278-5732
New trends may
brighten future
for farmers
By Paul Jackson
The Daily Collegian
In 1996. for the first time ever,
one million more people moved
into rural America than moved out.
Could U.S. agriculture be on the
rise? A new food inspection pro¬
gram, which took effect on Mon¬
day, suggests so.
Reinventing government, in¬
cluding the U.S. Department of
Agriculture, is now promising
farmers a bright future.
Farming has historically been
the industry experiencing the worst
catastrophes and the greatest eco¬
nomic unpredictability. Conse¬
quently, risk management of
agribusiness is a tenuous undertak¬
ing. Currently, crop insurance, cov¬
ering only catastrophes, is unreal¬
istic for small farmers.
Although the United States has
long been the world's largest food
exporter, its farmers in recent years
have assumed greater risk relative
to the federal government, which
» has been protecting farmers less and
less. Farmers also face increasing
uncertainty in the dynamic global
market. While last fiscal year was
a record year for hard crop exports,
it was slow for ranchers, and now
agricultural exports are down $5
billion.
In his second, term. President
Clinton has defined government's
role as that of giving the American
upeople the tools to achieve their
own success. Government, in other
words, should enable people to suc¬
ceed by ensuring that real opportu¬
nities exist for them. The primary
way for the USDA to protect farm¬
ers from economic vicissitudes is
to ensure their competitiveness in
the global market.
The USDA will do so by en¬
hancing the safety of the country's
food supply, and by conserving and
improving its natural resources."
The 1996 Farm Bill, though
flawed by removing farmer-owned
reserve and depriving farmers of
other opportunities to market their
own crops, takes a major step to¬
ward food safety. Since 1862. when
President Lincoln created the De¬
partment of Agriculture, the "poke,
sniff, and touch" method of food
inspection has been used, lagging
far behind modem chemical detec¬
tion systems.
The U.S. food supply is already
the safest in the world, but the lat¬
est farm bill authorizes using the
latest technology to update and
revolutionize inspection methods.
It is a quantum leap from "poke,
sniff, and touch." This will ensure
even greater food safety, and will
boost the reputation and market¬
ability of food exports.
While adopting modern technol¬
ogy, the farm bill takes the modern
view that natural resources are fi¬
nite. The bill changed the USDA's
organizational focus from com¬
modities to conservation. In fact,
the USDA, with over half its em¬
ployees under the Forest Service
and the National Resources Conser¬
vation Service, is now the single
largest conservation organization in
the world.
The USDA's Conservation Re¬
serve Program (CRP). controlling
soil erosion, whether caused by
wind or water, conserves natural
resources providing a long-term
future to U.S. agriculture. In 1997.
21 million acres, retired from crop
production for at least 10 years by
the CRP. will be reviewed for pos¬
sible return to crop production.
Only those lands which are less
erodable will be made available for
crop production. Lands suffering
from erosion or valued for environ-
Please see FARMERS page 5.
Drinking beer should be a
constitutional right
By Matthew Hart
The Daily Collegian
I feel like I have been cheated
on what should have been the hap¬
piest birthday of my entire con¬
scious life. Well, semi-conscious
anyway.
1 turned 21 years old several
days before the semester started and
now I am legal to do all the thirtgs I
was doing for years anyway, with¬
out the fear of incarceration.
And now something terrible has
happened. A special part of my life
has passed. Where is the romance
and the wonder of drinking, now
that I am allowed to do it?        «
Don't get me wrong. I will still
consume. But it is not the same any¬
more. There's no sense of law-
breaking. I used to get a twelver and
relish in the fact that I was break¬
ing a law that I felt was ridiculous
anyway. A law enacted by a bushel
of self-righteous blow-hards who
felt fit to legislate my morality.
After all. I was a teen. My dad
said I was young and full of beans
and I needed something to rebel
against. Since I don't have anything
outrageously immoral ta.protest
(like a military draft, for instance)
then I might as well head to the next
best item, alcohol.
Everytime I cracked a cold one
I was mystically thumbing my nose
at the political preachers of the past
who decided they were so great that
it was okay to tell me what not to
do and when not to do it. even
though I never affected anyone but
myself.
It was civil disobedience in its
most amateurish and symbolic
form. Martin Luther King and Ma-
hatma Gandhi would have been
proud. Instead of a march on Wash¬
ington. I participated in a march on
the Rice Road party spot
That may sound condescendini.'.
but I am not truly making my fight
against the ABC look like the fight
against racism. King's marches
were brilliant and beautiful ex
amples of nonviolent resistance Its
just that there is nothing immedi
ate for me to protest. I have to dis
agree with something. I am an
American citizen and a human and
I have to criticize.
Now that is all gone. Those same
■ jerks who would have busted me a
week ago are saying that it is okay
for me to drink. They've given me
their moral thumbs up.
I need something new — some-
thing'to disobey. But I can't think
of anything realistic. I am not re¬
ally suicidal enough for heroin If I
tried hard enough I could probably
rig my Pacific Gas and Electric
meter. But none of those have the
Please see BEER page 5
Daily Collegian
California State University, Fresno
Sports Editor
Luis Hernandez
Web Production
Jason Maggini
Production Manager
Monica Stanford
Editor in Chief
James M. Ward
News Editor .
Matthew Hart
Copy Editors
Tom Sepulveda
Jevon C. Swanson
Elaina Conroy
 1	
Business Manager
Kari L. Swanson
Photographers
Paul Martinez
Ryan Weber
Ad Manager
Jevon C. Swanson
. Staff Writers:
Cheryl Ensom. Theresa Alvarado.
Monica Hernandez. Dianna Day.
Matt Kreamcr. Jennifer Smith.
Sharone Retz, Erica Motes.
Erika Garza, Rosanna Tolosa,
Heather Hartman. David Childers.
Ruthie Longley Alekseyev,
Derek Walter
Sports Writers:
Erik Pfeifle, Gary Chapla,
Kael Moffat. Jennifer Starks.
Ranject Randhawa
Columnists:
Paul McCauley, Manuel Annear.
Joel Eanes. Hadi Yazdanpanah,
Alice Eogian. Bethany Thompson
Ad Reps:
Stephanie Reid. Jason Scroggins.
Dan Glenn
Circulation:
Sam Robles
Graphics:
Robert Bilvado
The Daily Collegian it published foe
limes a week for and by the students or
California Slate University. Fresno.
Opinions expressed in the Collegian
are not necessarily those of the entire
Daily Collegian staff. The editors reserve
the right to edit letters for length and
clarity. To be considered for publication,
letter* must be typed and should not
exceed 250 words
Editor (209)278-5732
News: (209)278-2486
Sports: (209)278-5733
Advertising: (209)278-5731
FAX: (209)278-2679
.
.