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PINION
Page 19 • Tuesday, September 14, 1999
* m
(/
Frankenstein Foods
erican consumers should disregard European fears over genetically modified crops
m
s resistance to
genetically mod
ified crops in
pelgrows, Ameri-
farmers face an
i more depressed
it-margin this year,
onically, the
Her profits are due
le effectiveness of
engineered products which most
erican farmers grow. The better a
’tically manipulated (GM) crop can
istand pests and herbicides, the
e produce is harvested, driving
• es down.
Tow that the Europeans have all but
j|ied those crops, the market for
erican farmers has gotten even shakier.
Jt'is, imiaii that Europe would make
|h alshort-sighted judgment on ge-
ically engineered products.
’here has been no scientific proof
GM crops are really any different
■rganic foods or that they are
jmful in any way.
’he dislike of GM crops is almost
tainly fueled by unwarranted fear of
hetic changes in crops, prejudice
f tinst American farmers and accusa-
■ as of American imperialism, rather
n real scientific proof that GM crops
a be dangerous. One can see why
Dple could be hesitant in accepting
1 foods.
|ln tins overpopulated, over-polluted
'•rid, organic foods may seem like the
j e chance a person has to get back to
4 ? “simple” life.
Nothing could be worse for farmers.
Cl" l:on£umers went back to the simple
- ? of organic foods, farmers would lose
llions of dollars during a time when
ast farmers are struggling as it is.
Most Americans rarely think about
source of the foods they eat —
lether cornchips are produced from
netically altered corn, or if tomatoes
' asea Vlarc e modified to resist pests.
the Blocker Bi 7hi s i s due to a fairly well developed
on-colored shift- :i -'
rfANDA SMIERS1
trust in the Food and Drug Administra
tion (FDA), and the regulators behind
the government organization.
But due to the mad cow disease
scare, Europe, and especially England,
has a weakened faith in many govern
ment regulations. Now that fear comes
at the expense of American farmers.
The thought of genetically engi
neered foods may have a science fic-
tion-like quality about them, but they are
very beneficial, whether packaged into
baby food (as soy) or as taco shells (corn).
Currently, no produce or products
that include GM foods require a label in
the United States. However, if England,
France and a few interest groups in
America had their way, all GM foods
would be separated from more organic
products and labeled.
Resentment and fear of GM crops in
Europe has crossed the Atlantic and
started a tariff war, and while publicity
about these “Frankenstein foods” gets
more fevered, it is a war no one is likely
to win. However, farmers are not the
only ones losing.
Because Europeans refuse to buy
RUBEN DELUNA/The Battalion
American GM crops, the United States
has hiked up import taxes, meaning
that in order to keep the dollars flow
ing, one might have to pay much more
for imported cheeses, perfumes. Land
Rovers and other imported products.
Imposing taxes signal more than just
trade disagreements in the financial
market. At this rate, it seems almost
certain that the tariff battle being waged
will eventually affect the way most
Americans feel about the food they buy
every day. Therefore, the promotional
campaign from Europe, Greenpeace,
and many interest groups is so danger
ous to farmers, if not handled correctly.
Thus far, Americans have not mind
ed if their corn was genetically engi
neered or not, but will they once they
hear of the Europeans call for all organ
ic foods?
The European stigma on GM foods is
not fueled so much by fear of displace
ment by Americans on the international
food market.
According to a Newsweek article, a
merger between Carrefour and Pro
modes, two main buyers of French pro
duce, has set the new company to com
pete with American firms like
Wal-Mart. If anything, this means that
there will be even more pressure on Euro
pean farmers, fueling even more protest.
Cultural and economic fears have
driven some Europeans to extremes
with organic foods, sometimes even re
sorting to violence. But it is imperative
that Americans do not follow their lead.
Unfortunately, there have already
been signs of reactionary behavior.
One unnamed group, destroyed a
test bed of genetically engineered corn
at the University of Maine, and credited
the vandalism to the “seeds of resis
tance.”
In a less violent maneuver, a Berke
ley, Calif, school board has announced
a ban on GM foods. Though the odds of
this new ruling sparking similar bans
from other school boards are slim, the
precedent has been set.
Though fear of GM foods run ram
pant on the other side of the Atlantic,
Americans must be more logical about
the genetically modified foods situation.
Otherwise, the trend that was started
with the blackballing of GM foods in
Europe will soon spread to the United
States, hurting not only American farm
ers, but American commerce, as well.
Beverly Mireles is a junior
microbiology major.
uch ado about funding
dlege of Liberal Arts cannot neglect old departments
\r sake of building new performance studies program
ision 2020
/as orga-
lized in
17 to raise
ts A&M to
[level of the
Ion’s ten
universi-
Imperative
Jr of the plan
mts out the need for the ex
cision and increased promi-
■of the College of Liberal Arts.
JiVhik' much work still re-
[H to be done, one early step
jen in the name of Vision
^0 could possibly
A&M in the
ng direction,
ast week, the
ege created
Department
erformance
dies, a combi-
ion of existing
ater arts and
sic programs
lopes to in-
ase the visibility
1 population of
se fields at A&M.
The University
j?ded to fill the ab-
ice of a music ma-
Iftypically well-es-
lished component
the nation’s top
i schools, so the
ation of the new de-
Iftment became a top
ority.
Now that the absence
s been at least partial-
/illed, care needs to be
^en to ensure sufficient
^pources are still allocated to
; existing, larger departments.
Certainly the College of Liber-
Arts will not simply forget
out its other departments, but
potential for them to be fi-
hcially overlooked is real.
According to Dr. Woodrow
Jies, dean of the College of
peral Arts, money from alumni
pbst useful in the growth of
? college. However, most of
at money tends to go toward
p fine arts and the new Depart-
ffit of Performance Studies.
JWith approximately 600 ma
jors each, the history, journal
ism and English departments al
ready have a toe-hold in the
long climb ahead to becoming
nationally exemplary programs.
And while these larger de
partments have their own merits
and laurels, they have been rated
poorly in a number of national
revues. In the U.S. News and
World Report’s 1998 ranking of
the nation’s Ph.D. programs, the
English department’s came in
62nd while the doctorate program
in history was not even ranked.
Ibd
Also, a recent National Re
search Council’s ranking of
graduate programs listed A&M’s
English and sociology programs
56th and 51st, respectively, in
the nation.
So why would the College of
Liberal Arts and former A&M’s
students focus their resources
on building a new department
from scratch when the current
departments seem to have more
pressing needs?
The only way the larger de
partments will be able to reach
the ideals of Vision 2020 is with
increased support in state fund
ing and, more importantly,
alumni donations.
Unfortunately, creating a new
department could turn out to be
just another hungry mouth for
the college’s budget to feed.
The money that will in
evitably go to the new perfor
mance studies department could
be better spent on building the
best faculty, attracting new stu
dents and improving the gradu
ate and doctoral programs for the
established departments in the Col
lege of Liberal Arts.
If more money and time are in
vested into the growth of the Eng
lish, history and other larger de
partments, they have real chances
at becoming some of
the best in the
nation.
Meanwhile,
raising the De
partment of
Performance
Studies from
its present in
fancy to re
spectable na
tional status will
take much longer
than two decades.
The difficult job
of boosting its rank
ing could work to de
rail funds from the de
partments that still
need them and have
more immediate poten
tial to be nationally
recognized.
The need for a dras
tically improved liber
al arts college is very basic to the
future success of A&M, and Vi
sion 2020’s plan for establishing
a comprehensive study of the
arts is a very important one.
Hpwever, if the push to devel
op the new Department of Per
formance Studies overshadows
the needs of the more well-estab
lished departments, then valu
able alumni donations and other
resources will continue to be
misspent with good intentions.
Eric Dickens is a junior
English major.
MAIL CALL
Unions should not
draft standards
In response to Caleb McDaniel’s
Sept. 8 column.
As an “embattled" teacher of
nearly a decade, I take issue with
parts of McDaniel’s opinion that
teachers should unionize to “fix
educational standards.”
Innovative teachers are not
limited by teaching TAAS skills.
On the contrary, these skills
form a foundation from which ad
ditional real life skills are taught
to students so they might suc
ceed outside of school as well as
in the academic arena.
McDaniel hails Sandra Feld
man’s proposal that school and
unions “draft contracts together
outlining general teacher expecta
tions.” Unfortunately, the local
community is left out of this deci
sion-making process.
Those who are most directly in
volved with the lives of students,
including responsible students
themselves, should be the ones
making the decisions and not
unions that may be headquar
tered in other states.
I realize McDaniel may not
have had the opportunity to ac
quire much classroom experi
ence. As a teacher, I applaud his
effort to lend a hand in improving
the educational experience of stu
dents. However, one would be
wise to accumulate several years
of public school teaching experi
ence before attempting to cham
pion a cause in the field.
Janet Kamps
Class of ’88
Reagan supporter
defends presidency
In response to Beverly Mireles’
Sept. 10 column.
Mireles twice asserts that
“Reagan was not that great of a
president.” Really?
Among his many presidential
accomplishments, President Rea
gan was directly involved in im
proving and expanding a demoral
ized military, making the tax
structure far more simple and ef
ficient, dealing effectively with the
Soviet threat and massive federal
deregulates that acted as potent
stimulants to the wealth creating
private sector.
In addition, his wit and confi
dence in America helped the
country believe in itself again af
ter the dark days of the 1970s.
Although the column was not
about our most popular ex-Presi-
dent, it never hurts to recognize a
good man who did a great deal
for his country.
Jonathan Jones
Class of ’02
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