1997_03 The Daily Collegian March 1997

              w
THE DAILY
COLLEGIAN
Wednesday, March 5,1997
Opinion
Telephone: (209) 278-5732
Water-use policy
needs reform
By Thomas Sepulveda
The Daily Collegian
Everyone who has driven 1-5 has
seen the sign. WATER=FOOD
FOR THE COUNTRY.
It's all over the place.
You can't miss them.
.    I tried, trust me.
Consider this: the top two crops
in the Central Valley are cotton and
alfalfa. Who does that feed? Cot¬
ton is a cash crop that uses a lot of
water (more than a crop in the arid
West really should) and doesn't
feed anyone. Well, maybe indirectly
it feeds workers at a textile mill in
the sense that they get a paycheck.
And alfalfa feeds cows, which in¬
directly feeds us as well — if you
eat meat or dairy products.
Loose ties to say the least.
Right now it isn't an issue, but
remember the drought cycle? Re¬
member the five, seven and nine-
year periods of drought that made
our state seem brown and dusty?
Cotton and alfalfa are on the top of
the list of crops that use the most
water. Farmers plant those two
crops more often than any other in
the San Joaquin Valley. Does any¬
one see a problem here?
There are two major problems.
First, the federal government offers
subsidies to farmers who let their
field lie fallow. This allows crop
land to recover nutrients and remain
healthy. *
But while California is in a
drought, and cotton and alfalfa are
sucking up the vast majority of the
agriculture industry's share of
California's water (agriculture used
80 percent of California's water in
1994). cotton planters in Alabama,
Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia or
a host of other southern states that
receive over 30 inches of rain an¬
nually, are being paid not to plant
cotton in their fields.
%#?
See, east df Abilene, Texas, the
majority of the U.S. receives over
20 inches of rain a year. West of
Abilene, the annually rainfall is less
than 20 inches. Phoenix gets eight
inches a year, and grows lettuce (an¬
other big water user). Los Angeles
(citrus paradise) receives eight to 10
inches. The San Joaquin Valley re¬
ceives 12-16 inches annually. To
subsist on dry farming (no irriga¬
tion), an average df 20 inches or
more a year is necessary. That
brings us to the second problem;
water distribution.
A canal and storage system has
been set up in California (as well
as the entire Western U.S.). and is
parceled out by the federal and state
governments.
The water purchased by farmers
is sold at only a fraction of the cost
to deliver it to the Central Valley.
Who pays the difference?
You guessed it. we do, the tax¬
payers.
For example, in 1995, an acre-
foot of water cost $300 in the Bay
Area. But, some farmers were pay¬
ing under $ 100 for an acre-foot. Re¬
member, an acre-foot is enough
water for a family of four for a year.
Farmers can use them as often as
per day.
In the case of cotton, the tax¬
payer is buying water for a grower
to increase his profit margin. By
keeping the subsidy, the grower
keeps his overhead down, and the
money from the price of cotton is
almost totally profit (of course,
they'll argue this point).
Usually, the argument grower*
have is that the subsidy keeps the
price of the product low. But even
if the price went up, we'd still save
money compared to the taxes we
pay now.
What this all gets at is this: once
upon a time, people moved west.
But there was very little water, and
not many people came. Then gold
was found, and people wanted to
stay here, and the government built
hundreds of dams for basically two
reasons: 1) keep people employed
Please see WATER page 4.
Beauty pageants hurt young
girls by creating false ideals
By Matthew Hart
The Daily Collegian
Looking at beautiful women is
great, wonderful and sometimes ex¬
citing. But recent events in the news
have brought beauty pageants into
the spotlight, and the    	
more they get brought
up the more ridicu¬
lous they seem.
Right up front,
pageants are annoy¬
ing because they pre¬
tend to base their de¬
cisions on talent, as if
that has anything to do with how
beautiful a woman is.
I don't care if you write like
Tony Morrison, sing like Luciano
Pavarotti and surf like Frankie
Avalon, beauty pageants are en¬
tirely based on sexual attractive¬
ness.
The most talented girl in the
world is not going to win if she
weighs 950 pounds and has a cleft
palate.
The women strut proudly across
the stage, showing off their geneti¬
cally plastic bodies, and then have
the gall to actually pretend that tal¬
ent is involved, to try and assert that
besides looks they have something
better than the noncommercial,
non-superficial universe.
As if their looks weren't enough,
now their false talents make them
into some kind of super-siliconed
Ileautv pagaents are a reflection
of the women's consumer world,
the bastard cousin to the land of
soap operas and makeovers.
race of she-beasts, an image unat¬
tainable and unhealthy.
Beauty pageants are a reflection
of the women's consumer world,
the bastard cousin to the land of
soap operas and make-overs. In
there, every woman is a perfect waif
w ith perfect skin, and every woman
watching at home who does not
match this image is left feeling ugly
and marginalized.
All that has been mentioned so
far are the pageants for women over
the age of 18. Now there are shows
for girls who are teenagers, pre-
teenagers and little children.
If having sex with a person un¬
der the age of 18 is illegal, then w hy
is judging them on their sexual at¬
tractiveness okay?
They are not being judged tor
their inner beauty or talent or spiri¬
tuality; they are being judged tor
___^^ how sexually attrac¬
tive their face and
bodies are. Not only is
this sick, but it en¬
forces a set of values
that may not he
healthy.
If a young girl is
taught that her worth
is based primarily on attractiveness.
that is a lesson that is bound to
affect her later in life.
Eating disorders are epidemic
across the country. One study said
one out of every four fourth-grade
girls is on a diet.
Instead of teaching our youth to
respect the natural health of-their
bodies, we tell them to idolize and
mirror Miss America. Without self-
destructive methods, this is often
unattainable, and so instead of a
beautifully-natural girl with self-
confidence we have a scarred child
filled with hate and superficiality.
Daily Collegian
California State University, Fresno
Business Manager
Kari L. Swanson
Copy Editors
Tom Sepulveda
ElainaConroy
Jevon C. Swanson
Production Manager
Monica Stanford
Editor in Chief
James M. Ward
News Editor
Matthew Hart
Features Editor
David Childers
Ad Manager
Jevon C. Swanson
Sports Editor
Luis Hernandez
Photographers
Paul Martinez
Ryan Weber
Web Production
Jason Maggini
Staff Writers:
Abid Yahya, Jennifer Brodie,
Cheryl Enswn, Theresa Alvarado,
Jennifer Smith. Rosanna Tolosa,
Hakim Allen,
Ruthie Longley Alekseyev,
Derek Walter
Sports Writers:
Erik Pfeifle. Gary Chapla,
Kael Moffat, Jennifer Starks,
Ranjeet Randhawa
Columnists:
Bridget Johnson, Paul McCauley,
Manuel Annear,
Joel Eanes, Hadi Yazdanpanah,
Alice Egoian, Mats Helgren
Bethany Thompson
Ad Reps:
Judy Ynell, Jason Scroggins.
Dan Glenn
Circulation:
Sam Robles
Graphics:
Robert Bilvado
The Daily Collegian is published five
limes a week for and by (he students of
California State 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,
letters roust be typed and should not
exceed 250 words.
Telephone Directory:
Editor: (209)278-5732
News: (209)278-2486
Sports: (209)278-5733
Advertising: (209)278-5731
FAX: (209)278-2679