_Editorial
r
l
1
Toxic food imports
leave a nasty taste
Here's a little food for thought: You may want to
closely examine that apple before you eat it Or that
pasta salad. Or that filet of fish Chances are it's the
first and last time the food has been through any sort o!
inspection whatsoever
The Food and Drug Administration, which is re
sponsible for seeing to it that what we eat is edible, has
progressively gotten behind in the area of imported
food inspection. According to a report by the House
F.nergy and Commerce Committee, out of one million
food shipments imported to this country in 1HR7. the
FDA tested only 2 percent tor bacteria and other impu
rities Of this 2 percent, an alarming -1(1 percent did not
meet FDA standards.
While i ongressional hearings began lost week to
address the already overwhelming problem, solutions
will come a little too late tor victims of the inadequate
inspection system. 77je !Will Strri't Journal last week
reported that 22 Mississippi State University students
were poisoned last February after eating mushroom
omelets in the school cafeteria. The tainted mush
rooms. imported from China, eventually caused the
sickness of lot) people in three states before the FDA
ordered a recall of the c aimed item.
There is little wonder why hacteria-laden food is
able to pass inspection at our borders. The fact is, some
ports of entry don’t even have inspection programs
Until two weeks ago, the FDA had never surveyed
what was coming across the Canada-North Dakota bor
der in Pembina, N.D.. even though the port is the bus
iest in the state
In Nogales. Ariz., one pesticide inspector struggles
to inspect 7(H) trucks of produce per day coming from
Mexico. In contrast, there are 85 IJ.S Agriculture De
partment officials posted at Nogales, but they inspect
ing produce for blemishes and size, not for poisons.
Aren't our priorities a bit twisted here? It seems
that most rational people would rather eat a bruised
apple than one that will bring about intense physical
harm It's slightly comforting that Congress is address
ing the issue, but the statistics that are emerging from
the investigation are quite frightening Anyone prone
to paranoia about food contamination may want to ig
nore the facts in this situation
Fven if poisoned food is discovered during an in
spection. there is a good < banco it will gel across the
border anvvvay It seems that some importers blatantK
ignore rejection In the FDA and simply ship their
product <n ross at another port, one that probably won't
look twit e at the food A recent FDA survey found that
Americans end up eating 12 percent of food that hail
been re jet tod at some point.
Is it hint htime yet?
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Hurricane caught government sleeping
Hurricane Hugo is now nothing more
than a memor\. hut the destruc lion it left be
hind will he felt for years to < nine.
When the burnt ane shimmed into the
South Carolina coast early hist week, it was
tailed the most destructive storm in a quar
ter t entury It lived up to its hilling, killing
an as yet undetermined amount of people,
anti lining anywhere from Si billion to $.)
billion in damage.
Now coast residents of North and South
Carolina are picking up the pieces of their
lives and trying to move on Conservative
estimates sav more than a quarter of a mil
lion people are now unemployed bet ause of
Hugo. Most will he getting their jobs hack
when the businesses they worked for re
open Hut some, like commercial fishermen,
have no business to go hat k to
Hurricane Hugo |ust reaffirmed that man
is no matt h for the most destrut live fort es of
nature Hut while we cannot beat a storm,
we tan at least be prepared for it The one
gl int tact left over from the hurrit ane is peo
ple were not as ready toi it as the\ could
have been
The hurricane leveled St Croix an is
lantl m the I S Virgin Islands. tla\s before
it hit the Atlantii seaboard booting and rob
beries betaine popular pastimes of the is
land's inhabitants, unhiding local police
fort es detailed to stop it
Troops were finally dispatched to end
the looting, but for a few days, anarchy
reigned This was not only avoidable, it was
inexcusable.
rile federal rear lion, both in South (laro
lina and in tin* V irgin Islands, was pitifully
slow Victims of disasters need immediate
help, not the half-hearted, piecemeal sup
port the government has provided.
Cieorge Hush has said many times his ad
ministration would "watch over" the envi
ronment first came the l'aide/, incident,
where millions ol gallons of oil spilled from
the tanker onto Alaska's coastline, and now
this Both times, the Bush administration
was i aught flat-footed and unaware.
There are a lot of comparisons between
Hugo and the Yuhir/.. Both proved to he lar
more destructive than originally thought,
and both t mild have been handled better
Bush's personal $1,000 pledge to the
liurrii ane victims was a ni< e tom h of public
relalions i onceived sentimentality, hut will
do little to (lean up South Carolina, let
alone rebuild it Hi onoinii relief will need to
he measured in the billions, not thousands,
to do am good
I lurrw anes are part ol life to South Caro
lina's ( iti/eus The sad l<K t is some of the
damage could have been avoided. Experts
are saying it will take a decade to shrug oft
the effects of the storm
\\ e are left with the inescapable < one In
sion th.it the government should have been
better prepared.
Letters
Snowstorm
Regardless ot thr suli|i'i I at
hand. Hr rt Trvha stums to
limit; his tint tit* agenda <it ideas
with him Irving to respond to
him is .1 hit liki- lr\ mg to tight .1
snowstorm w ith .1 shovel Boil
ing duw 11 Ins latest pin t* ot
writing [OI)h‘. Sept -f>| has
1 .nnviin i'll im* ot two things
Insi that hi* believes lit* is right,
anti si'iunii. that hit believes
people he agrees w 1111 are right
To explain mv vim- ot tin*
term "human" in referring to
tire tetns 1 repent a portion o)
my essay that Tryba refers to
In ()< loin a 1*H>7 the lirst Inter
national (lonfereure on Abor
tion brought together respet ted
authorities from around the
world in the fields ol meiln me
law, ethir s and the sor ial st i
enr ex
Tin* lirst major ipiestion this
mm nl.ir group nl experts con
Melon'll W .IS "when does lltl
ni.111 lih* beginThe\ i on
i IiiiIimI lh.it they "i oiild 11 in I no
point in time bet ween the
union ol sperm .mil egg and
the birth ot the infunl at which
point we could s.n that this
was not a human life
"The changes occurring he
tween implant, a six-weeks eni
hryo. a six-months fetus, a one
week old i hild or a mature
adult are merely stages of de
velopment and maturation ”
II we .ire determined to hold
onto views. v.ilucs or lie Inn mrs
that ignore or ilem plain re.ili
t\. we ilo not cause that realil\
to slop being true Ue merely
set ourselves at odds with it
and in so doing, we sacrifice
our integrity
\\ ilhain Moore
Stall musii
Theology
lor nciirlv 1.200 years theol
ogy was called "Queen of Si i
ences " l liis description sun
l^esls the application ol earh
wit
Theologs is a word formed
Irom the ('.reek words "theos"
(Cod) and "logos" (word)
Hence theolog\ is the study of
the "word ot God" or "holy
si ripture The word "Si i
ence" is from the Gatin word of
"si ientia" (knowledge)
I'he Quern is the r onsort ol
the king kind’s represent puss
er .mil wealth Thus theolo
gians .ire the consorts ol those
who 'wield power ami wealth
They exploit their kuovsl
edge" and skills tor their own
benefit as well as the benefit ol
the masters ol powers and
wealth (lies serve
I’he theist concept (aid" is
<i human fictional construe
lion "(Ind" is no more real
than "Superman" or "Hat
man" anil similarly, ai < om
modales infantile imagination
Theology is an art. not a si i
•nice. The power theist reli
gions sin i ended in foisting on
masses ot ignorant people sug
gests theologians’ intellectual
.mil social value lies some
where between that of an e\
pert on Shakespeare and a used
(ar lot’s fastest talking sales
man
(;hina ai.hievcd a high i i\ ili
/atinn and its peoph* lived mor
<i 11\ ,iml ethically tor _’.TiiM)
years under athcistii Confu
( iainsin I'lie (ioldeu Rule
Do not unto others that whit h
you would not have them do
unto you”, advocated by Con
tin ins is the foundation tor
peaceful, harmonious society
(Ionfu< ius said: "Never have
anything to do with those who
pretend to have dealings with
the supernatural It you allow
supernaturalisni to get a loot
hold in your country the result
will be .1 dreadful calamity
Bert Try ha
Kugene
_Letters Policy
The Kmer.dd will attempt to print all letters con
taining comments on topics ot interest to the t hiiver
sitv community. Comments must be fadualh act u
rale and retrain from personal attacks on the ( Intruder
of others