EDITOR
Josh Funk
OPINION
EDITOR
Mark Baldridge
EDITORIAL
BOARD
Lindsay Young
Jessica Fargen
Samuel McKewon
Cliff Hicks
Quotes
OF THE WEEK
It’s the biggest disaster our
country could ever imagine or
experience. I believe the whole
country - all people - will suffer
from this for years to come.
Ali Sezer, Turkish student
Everyone should be prepared
for a long winter weekend. It’s not
a waste of time to prepare for the
Y2K.
John Koskinen, chairman of
President Clinton s Y2K council
We are thrilled out of our
minds, is what we are.
Rita Clark, Hurricane Bret sur
vivor
This reallocation has been trou
bling to some, has undermined
morale and has resulted in many
questions.
Chancellor James Moeser, on
budget reallocations
It tears you up. We do all we can
to have our players act in a certain
manner. When it doesn’t happen, it
hurts.
Head Coach Frank Solich, on the
suspension ofShevin Wiggins,
charged with fpndling a 14-year-old
It’s the start of the school year.
A guy’s gotta do it. And $45 is a lot
of money.
Dan Niles, senior business admin
istration major, on taking a bet to run
naked across an apartment lawn
We don’t want to just barge into
your house. We aren’t here to make
sure you don’t have a fun school
year.
Police Officer Jeff Urkevich, on
monitoring parties in Lincoln
I am an advocate of cheap the
ater.
Bob Rook, on the price of tickets
to the Star City Dinner Theatre
It really looks ... weird.
David Kovar, owner of three
Pearle Vision centers, on the new
“Husker Vision ” contact lenses
This is their own money. If it
fails, it’s their failure. If it succeeds,
it’s their success.
Judy Hart, on the independent
funding of “Sexual Perversity in
Chicago” *
AND IN THIS ISSUE:
It’s unfortunate that someone
had to get their jollies by throwing
things off of (the Capitol).
Mike Rindone, on the premature
closing of the observation deck of the
Capitol
Warped Needs More Beaver...
Love, L7
Banner flown at the Warped Tour
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Obermeyer’s
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A cornucopia of problems
Something has to be done about the farmers crisis
^_ iiiimii
Have you helped your farmer
today?
Do it, because farmers are in a
grave situation, thanks to the industri
alized, over-productive system this
country has established.
The farm crisis is: unsustainable
farming methods that are energy- and
water-intensive, the excessive use of
fertilizer and pesticides, monoculture
crops, carcinogens, national economic
failures, low harvest prices, low value
for farming, cheap land, sprawling
cities, the Gulf of Mexico “dead-zone”
and “terminator” seeds - just to name a
few of the problems.
Let’s delve a bit deeper into this sit
uation.
Did you know that the hamburgers
we eat come from the com we grow?
The corn produced in Nebraska
(and other Midwest states) is used
almost exclusively for livestock feed
here and across the globe.
Almost none of it is for human
consumption, directly from the stalk -
in terms of flour, tortillas, cornflakes -
or straight from the cob.
In order to supply such large
amounts of feed, com is produced on
an industrialized scale that is heavily
energy-, water-, fertilizer- and pesti
cide-intensive.
Livestock is also produced in an
extremely unsustainable and energy
intensive manner.
Concerning the fertilizer for crops:
All of the fertilizer from “breadbasket”
fields washing into every tributary of
every river near every farm pours into
the Mississippi River (ours flows into
the Platte River, then the Missouri
River and then the Mississippi River).
Finally, all of this water empties
into the Gulf of Mexico, creating an
environmental catastrophe.
Algae overgrowth, fueled by the
fertilizer, chokes out everything else.
Shrimp, fish, crabs and plant life,
everything in the “dead zone,” from
the sea floor up.
The “dead zone” has doubled over
the past five years and currently covers
about one-fifth of the Gulf.
Back on the farm, the farmers
receive a pittance for their hard work at
harvest time, because they have over
produced their product and presented
it to a market that is already saturated
and insufficiently funded.
Large supply, no demand.
Many foreign trading partners who
have suffered economic upheaval can
no longer purchase our grain or have
figured out how to produce it for them
selves.
The really poor countries don’t
have enough money to buy the grain in
the first place, so we just let them
starve to death and carry on with their
brutal civil wars.
The American farmer, receiving
less money for his harvest than it took
to produce it, looks toward other
income sources to finance his debts,
such as selling his land to developers
who offer a premium price - far more
than he could make farming.
Thus, another sinister catastrophe,
urban sprawl, marches across the
countryside, and the number of farm
ers continues to dwindle.
As a matter of fact, less than 2 per
cent of the U.S. population is actively
involved in farming, and this number
continues to shrink every year.
Another matter of fact is that 90
percent of the fresh produce sold
across the United States is produced in
the San Joaquin Valley, which is now
under severe pressure to convert into
suburbs.
What we are heading toward is an
amalgamation of chemical companies
that farm the U.S. landscape and bio
engineering companies that produce
food that is genetically altered.
Mmmmm, deadly chemicals and
genetic mutations, yummy.
What’s even scarier is that the
Department of Agriculture and several
bioengineering and chemical compa
nies have co-ownership on the patent
of “terminator” seeds.
“Terminator” seeds got their name
from the fact that they don’t reproduce
seeds. If the plant doesn’t reproduce
seeds for the farmer to save, which is a
tradition as ancient as cultivation, then
what does the farmer do?
Answer: The farmer is dependent
on the company that supplies the
seeds, thus perpetuating the depen
dence of farmers worldwide on chem
ical and bioengineering companies.
Who said humans weren’t respon
sible for their own demise?
What I want to know is: What are
you going to do about it?
“What are we going to do about
it?” That’s the real question.
Europe has outlawed the sale of
genetically engineered foods and has
also outlawed the sale of American
beef because of all the hormones
injected into cattle.
aeei as wen as mine coniain mese
hormones, and these hormones can be
very bad for humans.
Pretty sick scenario, isn’t it?
Unfortunately, you are what you eat
I hope that all students in the agri
cultural sciences understand the
necessity for sustainable, organic
methods.
And I hope state and national lead
ers understand the complexity
involved in restructuring the extremely
unsustainable infrastructure that now
exists.
Change isn’t easy, but it certainly
isn’t impossible.
I am a hopeful pessimist.
Pessimistic, because the behavior
of humanity today (and in the past) is
leading to its certain demise very soon.
But, I am hopeful because of new
concepts and technologies that are
working to change our dreaded lem
ming-like course off the ledge.
You will be hearing about the good
and the bad in the weeks ahead.
Put on your thinking cap and fasten
it tightly, because it’s going to be a very
bumpy ride.
