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Show OPINION GheSaltLakeTribune AQ” MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2001 OURVIEW Label Foreign Foods supermarket. mestic cattle market and passing off cheap foreign beef as top-quality American. That's whyit’s importantthat the Senate pass a measure this fall re- quiringthat meat, fish andfruit carry a label specifying their country of or igin. This consumer-friendly measure recently was amended to the farm bill in the Agriculture Committee and is now before the full Senate for consideration. Imports of beef andlivecattle will set another record this year, with 5 tilion pounds constituting about 19 percentof the total U.S. beef market. The meatpackers used the cheap foreign cattle to ratchet up pressure on domestic suppliers, resulting in the greatest wholesale-retail price spread on record in 2001. U.S. ranching, never a road to riches, now looks like asure path to the poorhouse. Committed free-traders might consider the ranchers’ plight acceptable if foreign beef were clearly labeled and priced lower than the U.S. product. That would give consumers a choice, which is the point of free trade. But U.S. consumers reap no benefit whenall beef— whether from or Pennsylvania — islabeled and priced the same in the ‘The packers contend that countryof-origin labels would raise consumer prices, but the opposite is probably true.If you saw two equally priced 1pound steaks in the supermarket cooler — one from some South American backwater and one from the United States — which would you choose? Clearly labeled imported beef would haveto be priced substantially lower to compete with the U.S. product. That reality has little to do with America’s waxing nationalism either. U.S. beef has an unparalleled international reputation for safety and quality, and consumers in other countries have long been willing to pay a premium forit. Only in America do unwitting consumers pay that same premium for foreign beef. ‘The packers know thatif they are forced to put a “Made in Paraguay” label on a meat product, this gameis over. A healthy chunk of their profits depends on their ability to pass off imports as American, so they will fight to keep consumers in the dark. Utah Sens. Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett should ignore the meatpackers’ self-serving objections and do what’s best for Utah consumers. When the farm bill comes up for a vote, Utah’s senators should insist that the country-of-origin provision be included. THE PUBLIC FORUM Accept Consequences It is extremely abhorrent that one USS. citizen (or resident) would kill another U.S. citizen (or resident). Impartial Justice Authorities have decided to take no action against a Utah legislator who arguably caused the death of a 61-year-old woman in an Oct. 28 traffic accident. Yet officials last year eagerly threw the book at an illegal Mexican immigrant who caused the death ofa Salt Lake City police officer ina traffic accident. This contrast illustrates both hypocrisy and failure, FORAGY WHOWELCOMEDDEATH, OSAMASIRE COND RUN The hypocrisy these cases represent is palpable. One involves an in- fluential lawmaker and Bountiful auto dealer, the other an illegal Mex- ican immigrant. As for the victims, one was a regular citizen and the other a police officer. Cynics have plenty of ammunition to assert that the lenity afforded Eastman is due to his social position in the community, while in the Cruz-Silvacase it was his lack of social influence combined The Utah Highway Patrol and Iron with the fact that Dunman was a poCounty attorney reached accord to lice officer that resulted in the oppong no action whatsoever against site ppolicatin ofthe law. Sen. Dan Eastman, R-Bountiful, who the specifics of these two palled Out into a highway in front of cases, Seti the disparity in genKaren Harris’ oncoming truck. eral reflects the difficulty society has Contrast this with last year’s July in reaching the high markit has set 17 (accident in Salt Lake City, when for itselfwhen it comes to dispensing Yocundo Cruz-Silva lost control ofhis justice. It is no accident that when car and it struck andkilled police of- justice is personified in art, she traficer Michael who. was ditionally is rendered wearing a riding his bicycle on the sidewalk on blindfold. This is to illustrate State Street. Authorities did a custo- impartiality. dial arrest of Cruz-Silva and charged Unfortunately,as these cases show him with negligent homicide (they all too luridly,justice as it is applied claimed he was speeding), the same is, unlike the Lord, a respecterofperoffense Burns said was not appropri- sons. The goal of impartiality too ofate in the Eastman case. ten is elusive. However,those U.S.citizens and residents of near East, Mideast and Far East descent, instead of complaining and whining about the minor inconveniences they suffered in the aftermath of Sept. 11, should be reviling the perpetrators who caused the atmosphere that would lead people to want to protect themselves from those who live among us, enjoying the fruits of our democracy and then kill us. At least Muslims in this country can complain about their treatment seek a recompense without repercussions. Lest we forget, their minor inconveniences are nought compared with the deaths, excesses andloss of rights in this country caused by the Muslims extremists and fundamentalists. Would the Muslims in the country also like to discuss what would happen to those of European descent, if we lived in an Islamic country and someinsaneindividuals of European descent did a 9-11 on an Islamic country? U.S. Muslims should be telling IsJam outside the United States to get its act together and join the civilized world andriditself of the extremists and fundamentalists who wishto destroy that which they are unable to attain for themselves.If is unwilling to joint the civilized world, then Islam must accept the consequences of its actions. ANOTHER VIEW JAMES SAINT MICHAEL Sandy Q Bush the Environmentalist * The Bush administration has been properly criticized for brushing aside strong and appropriate environmen: tal protection rules from the Clinton expanseofthe massive Sierra Nevada TETEL The final decision by U.S. Forest watershed protection and the salvaging ofother forest resources;less cattle grazing. More logging and grazing may be appropriate in some Western forests, but no longer in California. ’s acceptance was not absolute. Heleft some areas open for further review,including the possibility of more general thinning of forest areas that are fires waiting to happen,Fine-tuning is appropriate as aes as it’s limited to that. cannot and visi- new emphasis on | TheSaltLakeGrikune UTAH'S INDEPENDENT VOICE SINCE 1871 PAST PUBLISHERS ohn F Fitzpatrick (1924-1960) olin W. Gallivan (1960-1983) Jerry O'Brien (1983-1994) =a, PUBLISHER James B, EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR RandyC; Frisch” ‘ Wi TmGALLAKETRIBUNE, 108,MAINST,SALT LAKECrTY at Shurtleff Was Right In his letter (Forum, Nov.7), Paul Hart takes Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff to task for his re- We WelcomeLetters @ When submitting letters to the Public Forum, please include your full name, signature, address and daytime telephone numbers. Informa- tion other than your name and the city in which you live are kept confidential. @ Keep it short. Concise letters developing a single theme are more likely to be published. @ Please type and doublespace. @ Letters ate condensed and edited. @ Because of the volume of mail received, not all submissions are published. @ Mail to Public Forum, The Salt Lake Tribune,P.O. Box 867, Salt Lake. City, Utah 84110 @ Our fax numberis (801)257-8950. @ Our e-mail address is letters@ sltrib.com. Limited Response In fact, the U.S. governmentis not doing whatis necessary to protect the citizenry. Sure, cockpit doors are be- ing reinforced, air marshalls are aboard some flights and carry-on baggage is heavily scrutinized. However, 90 percent of all checked baggage is loaded on domestic flights withoutany form of inspection. Contrast this with international flights. Flights originating in the U.S. headed overseas and those arriving from outside our country automatically subject all baggage to X-ray machines, Whennecessary,the bags are opened fora visual examination. Apparently, we have learned nothing from the recentpastas this is tantamountto trusting terrorists not todo more terror. EL! 0. L, BRESSLOER Salt Lake City Qa Short on Proof in Minneapolis bound for Salt Lake City. In the hysteria that existed in the neys supporting Mr. Shurtleff’s position. Mr. Hart seems to think that the In answer to Marriane Becker's advice to the lawmakers about grounding elderly drivers (Forum, Nov.7), may I say, “Put your proof of incompetency where your mouth is.” ‘Theinspiration for her letter ofgreat wisdom was an accident where a 70plus woman collided with a TRAX train and was killed. Ms. Becker’s vituperative tirade about what a menace old drivers are to her was invalidated by the newspapers and television reports on Nov. 8. It seems a 25-year-old woman tri to beat a freight train at a South Jordan railroad crossing. Fortunately this young woman was not killed but was treated ata local hospital for cuts and bruises. Her car was strewn 250 feet along the tracks from point of impact, The young woman was oe eted for failure to yield the righ Bad Neighbor The Bush administration has a strange wayofrelating to the community of nations. Side-by-side sto- ries in The Salt Lake Tribune on Nov. 12 report that (1) the administration is seeking agreement with Russia for a very large reduction in strategic nuclear weapons and (2) the administration has boycotted a U.N. conference designed to encourage nations to ratify a global treaty banning nuclear weapons tests. At the same time that President Bushis appealing to other nations for support in his campaign againstter- rorism, his administrationis following a “go it alone” path on nuclear weaponstesting and on protection of the global environment. If the United States of America hopes to gain the cooperation of the rest of the world in suppressing terrorism,it needsto join fully in the efforts of the United Nations to achieve international peace and justice. BOYER JARVIS Salt Lake City Q Irresponsible Test After the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon,I wasn't one of those people who ran outto buy gas masks or weapons. I'm notafraidtofly today orto go into places where large crowds are gathered. I'm cautious,I’m sensitive to my. surrounding and I pay better attention,just like the governmenthas requested ofall Americans. However, on a recent Friday evening, around 9:30 p.m., for about 30 minutes here at my homenear the University of Utah, my family and I were completely terrified that something awful was happening when we heard more than a dozen explosions, loud enough to set off car alarms, shake our home,rattle our windows and cause our lights to flicker. Only one day before, our nation was given warnings from the FBI and even the president of the United States of the certainty ofmore terrorists attacks in ourcountry,as large, as deadly and as unexpected as those that happened on Sept. 11. Wefelt sure, for a least several minutes, that these were the attacks we had been so diligently warned about —here in our city, here near our family; we were terrified. When we called the police, we learned that “Wethink it’s just somethingat Rice-Eccles Stadium.” Turns outthatthe terror that we felt was for |
