The Tribune against Measure Q

1066 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Organic food vs genetically modified food essay

The Tribune against Measure Q

The Tribune posted an editorial stating their opposition to Measure Q on Saturday, October 16th, 2004. It describes the debate over the measure “boiling down to one sentence: ‘It shall be unlawful for any person or entity to propagate, cultivate, raise, or grow genetically engineered organisms in San Luis Obispo County.” The Tribune claims that “Measure Q is a poorly written ordinance with unintended consequences of banning research on life-saving medicines.” It begins with an effective strategy of stating arguments of the proponents and responding to each, but continues with an unconvincing list of reasons to vote against Measure Q and a conclusion that weakly ties the article together.

To open the editorial, the author questions proponent’s credibility. “Proponents say the ban would give county farmers protection from GE crops until all risks are known,” is argued by the statement, “The farming community by and large says that the ban will hurt them competitively if or when they decide to use GE seeds.” The supporters of Measure Q are questioned as to where they are getting their information if the people they are “protecting” feel the ordinance will hurt them. This is a successful strategy to convince the reader that advocates of the ordinance are untrustworthy.

The article supports its claim that Measure Q is a badly written ordinance by discussing the use of the broad term “organism” in the measure. It includes arguments from two credible sources, San Luis Obispo attorney Robin Baggett and the Washington D.C law firm of Arent Fox. The two agree that the use of the word “organism” implies both laboratory research as well as crops, therefore both would be banned. Baggett, a l...

... middle of paper ...

... the measure would cost millions of dollars for enforcement. Added sentences explaining each argument set forth by the author of the article would have strengthened the argument against proponent rebuttals. For example, “Measure Q would prohibit development in SLO County of medicines like insulin used by diabetics, and treatments such as for cancer, AIDS/HIV, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease”[2] could have been included to explain why the banning of lab research would be a problem. I feel that my decision to vote against the measure was the right choice, but I do not think that this article could convince me if I was undecided or for Measure Q.

[1] The Facts about GE. Yes! on Measure Q Health. 30 Nov. 2004

<http://www.slogefree.org/facts>.

[2] Measure Q goes too Far. Citizens for a Sustainable Future-No on Q. 30

Nov. 2004 <http://www.noonq.com>.

Show More
Related

  • City Of Pinellas Park V. Brown Case Study

    1097 Words  | 3 Pages

    Separate Opinions: in the dissenting opinion, the minority argued that the ruling of the majority opens up a Pandora’s Box. Arguing that the ruling would encourage offenders to flee and, consequently, put more innocent bystanders at risk. In addition to this separate opinion by the dissent, several other key arguments by the dissent are bulleted

    Read More

  • Why The Discovery of Insulin is a Defining Moment in Canadian History

    2048 Words  | 5 Pages

    ... middle of paper ... ... I love it. Governors Seek Generic Insulin Ruling From FDA?

    Read More

  • Psychedelic Drugs and Their Influence on Creativity and Spirituality

    2719 Words  | 6 Pages

    Lyvers, Michael, and Meester, Molly. "Illicit Use Of LSD Or Psilocybin, But Not MDMA Or

    Read More

  • Hallucinogens in History

    997 Words  | 2 Pages

    Drugs considered to be within the category of hallucinogens include LSD, mushrooms (psyilocybin), mescaline, and N-Bomb. They can be smoked, made into liquor, injected, ingested, snorted, or even licked from the backs of certain toads such as the Sonoran Desert Toad (Erowid.org). Some common “street names” for the substances include acid, blotter, sugar cubes, shroom, zoom, and angel dust. While some hallucinogens are synthetic, others, like peyote and salvia, are derived from natural plants and substances. Though hallucinogens are not physically addictive, users have the potential to become psychologically dependent, and thus they are classified as a...

    Read More

  • Barren Lives in James Joyce's The Dead

    806 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...He had been surrounded his whole life by a "ghostly light"(p.216) of sad memories and death, emanating from the hearts of the people with whom he had had the closest contact, which eventually suffocated his own identity "into a grey impalpable world"(p.223). The whole country of Ireland was covered in the "silver and dark"(p.223) snowflakes of death, and the Mr. Browne's of the world, who reminisced of great singers long gone and hid their true senses under countenances of false gallantry, were everywhere. All of the characters in The Dead contributed to a viscous web that made escape virtually impossible for Gabriel, for "one by one they were all becoming shades"(p.222) of the "region where dwell the vast hosts of the dead"(p.223). They were all fishes in an icy cold pond, acting their parts and waiting for the day they would be caught and boiled for dinner.

    Read More

  • Ezekiel

    1696 Words  | 4 Pages

    Brownlee, William H. "The Book of Ezekiel." Interpreter's One Volume Commentary. Ed: Charles Laymon. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1971. 430.

    Read More

  • Abortion and Morality

    890 Words  | 2 Pages

    The relentless support of abortion is always contradicting the moral and good teachings of the Church. Through passed laws, pro-choice supporters have made it possible for many women to have abortions. In some countries, including the United States, there does not have to be a reason for a woman to have an abortion early in the pregnancy. The Supreme Court in the United States ruled that the fetus’s ability to live was between about twenty four weeks to twenty-six weeks (Glendon 22). These laws show that supporters of abortion do not believe that life begins at conception. This is contrary to the teachings of the Church. “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you” (Jeremiah 1:5). God knew us before we were conceived. He made us accord...

    Read More

  • “Gabriel Conroy’s ‘Generous Tears’”

    1516 Words  | 4 Pages

    Gabriel Conroy encompasses the traits of the protagonists in the short stories leading to The Dead. Class conscious, socially awkward, short tempered and frustrated with love; Gabriel is a complex case, struggling through the annual social gathering taking place within the story. In the end, Gabriel is stricken with grief coming to a cold conclusion after his interactions with the many characters throughout the novella. While the tears may seem as an attempt to draw sympathy from the audience, the true focus is whether the Gabriel shown towards the end of the novella is different than the Gabriel in the beginning. Rather than a change in his behavior, the interactions throughout the story draw a new outlook on life from Gabriel. Through analysis of Gabriel’s thoughts and desires during the annual party held by his aunts Kate and Julia Morkan, the audience digests th...

    Read More

  • Psychedelic Drugs (aka Psychedelics)

    6133 Words  | 13 Pages

    Native Americans are probably the people most known for their use of psychedelic drugs. Being a very religious people, their entire society revolved around the spirit world, and some believed that access to this world was possible by eating certain plants that were abundant in their surroundings. In what are now Mexico and the Southwestern United States, tribes familiarized themselves with mescaline, the active ingredient in the peyote cactus. Another drug that was used by tribes in these and many other areas was psilocybin, the active hallucinogenic ingredient of the mushroom Psilocybe mexicana and other psilocybe and conocybe species that grow on the pacific coast of North, South, and Central America. Ritual use of psilocybin and mesca...

    Read More

  • The End of the Cold War

    1838 Words  | 4 Pages

    The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union resulted in major shift in United States foreign policy. For years, the United States supported tyrannical dictators in return for stable anti-communist government receptive to United States interests. The Cold War resulted in a new world order with the United States as the lone global hegemonic power. In Eastern Europe in particular, the end of the Cold War ushered in an era of economic growth and a large increase in the number of liberal democracies. Although the world saw a large increase in liberal democracies, a new regime type referred to as competitive authoritarianism began to emerge. According to Levitsky and Way, “In competitive authoritarian regimes, formal democratic institutions are widely viewed as the principal means of obtaining and exercising political authority. Incumbents violate those rules so often and to such an extent, however, that the regime fails to meet conventional minimum standards for democracy” . In labeling these regimes as authoritarian and not democratic, Levitsky and Way place emphasis on the importance of differentiating these questionable regimes from prototypical democracies. In their definition they argue that all democracies have four inherent traits; “Executives and legislatures are chosen through Elections that are open, free, and fair, virtually all adults possess the right to vote, political rights and civil liberties, including freedom of the press, association, to criticize the government are protected and elected authorities possess real authority to govern, in that they are not subject to the tutelary control of military or clerical leaders” . These, Levitsky and Way argue are fundamental for the prospects of democracy. ...

    Read More

  • Negative Effects of GMOs

    846 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...M crops will escalate the cost of farming, causing many small farmers to potentially loose their businesses. As GMOs continue to affect human life and the environment, it should be mandatory for products to be labeled if they are genetically modified, thus giving consumers the right to make their own decision. With the list of health risks and environmental issues rising, the use of GMOs should be banned as a method to increase food supply and continue a natural approach to eliminate all risks.

    Read More

  • The Dead by James Joyce

    1573 Words  | 4 Pages

    In “The Dead,” James Joyce presents the Irish as a people so overwhelmed with times past and people gone that they cannot count themselves among the living. Rather, their preoccupation with the past and lack of faith in the present ensures that they are more dead than they are alive. The story, which takes place at a holiday party, explores the paralyzed condition of the lifeless revelers in relation to the political and cultural stagnation of Ireland. Gabriel Conroy, the story’s main character, differs from his countrymen in that he recognizes the hold that the past has on Irish nationalists and tries to free himself from this living death by shedding his Gaelic roots and embracing Anglican thinking. However, he is not able to escape, and thus Joyce creates a juxtaposition between old and new, dead and alive, and Irish and Anglican within Gabriel. His struggle, as well as the broader struggle within Irish society of accommodating inevitable English influence with traditional Gaelic customs is perpetuated by symbols of snow and shadow, Gabriel’s relationship with his wife, and the epiphany that allows him to rise above it all in a profound and poignant dissertation on Ireland in the time of England.

    Read More

  • The Psychological Effects Of LSD

    1665 Words  | 4 Pages

    · Ludwig, A. (1970): LSD treatment in alcoholism. In Gamage, J.R. & Zerkin, E.L. Hallucinogenic Drug Research. Beloit, Wisconsin: Stash Press.

    Read More

  • An Analysis Of James Joyce's The Dead

    1133 Words  | 3 Pages

    Robert Kaplan in “Madness and James Joyce” points out that James Joyce is known as “the finest modernist writer of his time” (172). The specific technique of Joyce’s modernism is his stream-of-consciousness. However, some critiques believe this stream-of-consciousness in no more than madness (Kaplan 172). Whether or not this is true, it is a typical characteristic of Joyce. In “The Dead” there are several examples of this steam of consciousness. One of them being the reader has unlimited access to the flow of Gabriel´s thoughts and feelings when he is leaving the party with his wife Gretta. Joyce states “he had felt proud and happy then, happy that she was his, proud of her grace and wifely carriage. But now, after the kindling again of so many memories, the first touch of her body, musical and strange and perfumed, sent through him a keen pang of lust” (706). This is just one of many examples of the stream of consciousness the reader can see throughout “The Dead.” This shows that Joyce clearly uses modernism in “The Dead.” Though modernism is a typical characteristic, there is another typical characteristic Joyce utilizes in this

    Read More

  • Why Democracy is the Best Form of Government

    1173 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout history different types of instrumental regimes have been in tact so civilizations remained structured and cohesive. As humanity advanced, governments obligingly followed. Although there have been hiccups from the ancient times to modern day, one type of government, democracy, has proven to be the most effective and adaptive. As quoted by Winston Churchill, democracy is the best form of government that has existed. This is true because the heart of democracy is reliant, dependent, and thrives on the populaces desires; which gives them the ability for maintaining the right to choose, over time it adjusts and fixes itself to engulf the prominent troubling issues, and people have the right of electing the person they deem appropriate and can denounce them once they no longer appease them. In this paper, the benefits of democracy are outlined, compared to autocratic communism, and finally the flaws of democracy are illustrated.

    Read More

More about The Tribune against Measure Q

Open Document