Leonard Crist declares total thermo-nuclear war This week, on Coca-Cola
Leonard Crist
Issue date: 4/12/05 Section: OpEd
Chris Cole, manager of Peaberry's Café in Kilcawley Center, an independent business that contracts with the university, said his café is forbidden from selling any beverage that would compete with Coca-Cola products. He said it would be nice to be able to offer other soft drinks to students and in fact, the Peaberry's location in Canfield does not sell Coke products. He said occasionally students ask for Pepsi, but most people understand YSU is a Coke campus.
I, for one, prefer the crisp sweet taste of Royal Crown Cola. I'm not the only one who isn't a huge fan of Coke.
A growing number of student protest groups have formed on Coke campuses nationwide, pressing for boycotts and urging their schools to pull out of their contracts because of the company's unethical practices overseas. The foremost accusation against Coke revolves around the alleged role Coca-Cola played in the murder of several union members at bottling plants in Columbia. Coke, of course, denies responsibility for the killings but has not called for an independent investigation.
In India, a chorus of disapproval has grown increasingly louder over Coca-Cola's production practices there. Local bottlers in need of water to make Coke have drained public groundwater, leaving the surrounding farming communities dry and barren.
K.J. Satrum, the YSU's executive director of student services, admitted she did not look into any of the ethical issues surrounding the Coca-Cola Company when she helped negotiate the most recent contract last summer.
There's also the argument that Coke and Pepsi and Faygo and RC and every other kind of sugar water is bad because they offer no nutritional value and are filled with empty calories. Some people claim that soda is one of the biggest reasons America is suffering through an obesity epidemic and public institutions have no business promoting such unhealthy beverages. This is probably true, however, I like Mountain Dew and diet pop tastes like crap. I don't subscribe to this argument.
I, for one, prefer the crisp sweet taste of Royal Crown Cola. I'm not the only one who isn't a huge fan of Coke.
A growing number of student protest groups have formed on Coke campuses nationwide, pressing for boycotts and urging their schools to pull out of their contracts because of the company's unethical practices overseas. The foremost accusation against Coke revolves around the alleged role Coca-Cola played in the murder of several union members at bottling plants in Columbia. Coke, of course, denies responsibility for the killings but has not called for an independent investigation.
In India, a chorus of disapproval has grown increasingly louder over Coca-Cola's production practices there. Local bottlers in need of water to make Coke have drained public groundwater, leaving the surrounding farming communities dry and barren.
K.J. Satrum, the YSU's executive director of student services, admitted she did not look into any of the ethical issues surrounding the Coca-Cola Company when she helped negotiate the most recent contract last summer.
There's also the argument that Coke and Pepsi and Faygo and RC and every other kind of sugar water is bad because they offer no nutritional value and are filled with empty calories. Some people claim that soda is one of the biggest reasons America is suffering through an obesity epidemic and public institutions have no business promoting such unhealthy beverages. This is probably true, however, I like Mountain Dew and diet pop tastes like crap. I don't subscribe to this argument.