Which Way, L.A.?

International Food Fight Comes to Sacramento

Some 1000 delegates from 100 countries have gathered in Sacramento for the first Ministerial Conference and Expo on Agriculture Science and Technology. Protestors, who tried to disrupt the conference, claim the federal government is pushing genetically modified food that could damage human health and the environment, though President Bush says it-s all to make farms more productive and curb hunger in the developing world. We get two points of view, from biologist Maarten Chrispeels, who directs the Center for Molecular Agriculture at UC San Diego, and Simon Harris, national campaign director for the Organic Consumers Association. Making News: Supreme Court Decision on Affirmative Action The US Supreme Court said -yes- and -no- to affirmative action today. It ruled that it's acceptable for the University of Michigan-s Law School to consider race in making its student body -diverse,- but that the same university cannot give points to undergraduate applicants because they-re minorities. Attorney and legal journalist Eddie Lazarus, who once clerked at the Supreme Court, says the rulings basically reaffirm the 1978 Baake decision. Reporter's Notebook: Train Derailment Union Pacific said it did not mean to derail a runaway freight in a residential community Friday. The railroad thought the 27 cars would jump the tracks in an empty rail yard, but their weight and speed caused them to derail four miles early. No one was killed, and UP will compensate 150 people in the City of Commerce who were injured or whose homes were destroyed. Mark Hemphill, editor of Trains magazine, says such incidents are infrequent but unforgettable.