Evidence enough for anti-Coke activists
I have concerns with Alec Mouhibian’s column on the Coke-Free rally (“Anti-Coke protesters’ logic falls flat,” April 25).
I attended the protest and supported the rally because, as far as I’m concerned, the testimonies of the former union workers pressured by Coke paramilitary to dissolve, the testimony from the private investigations of Colombian Coke factories by Leslie Gill, and the integrity of student-worker front and their well-researched approach to campaigns was enough evidence for me.
But my organization, the Social Justice Alliance, was there in support of Coke-Free Campus. I was also there to spread the word to like-minded students – students who believe in the right of workers to unionize over the right of corporations to exploit workers – about our UC Sweat-Free Campaign.
Mouhibian asked me to speak on behalf of Coke-Free Campus. I told him that I would not be able to fully articulate all of the evidence that supports the removal of Coke and that he would get more thorough answers from one of the Coke-Free Campus organizers.
Yes, it is true that I am not aware of every detail from both sides of the Coke argument. I am sure that many people at the rally, including the others who were quoted in the column, weren’t clear on every detail either. But neither is the Daily Bruin Editorial Board, which formed an anti-anti-Coke opinion that relied on skewing the facts to make its argument.
Claire Douglas Second-year, women’s studies
Service organization deserves recognition
With assistance from the Undergraduate Students Association Council general representative office, the Community Service Commission and the Office of Residential Life began work this year on a project to combine the efforts of our university’s thriving service organizations and established residential community.
This two-part initiative will establish a Community Service commissioner in each association cabinet and place a community service representative in each floor government.
Several associations have yet to approve the new position into their cabinet and include community service into their constitution. This step would send a strong message to the campus and the L.A. community that UCLA’s largest group, the residential community, is committed to volunteering and contributing to society through service.
We congratulate the ORL administrators and student leaders who have acknowledged the potential of this collaboration. We also encourage those on the Hill who haven’t already done so to join us in making UCLA an even better example of true commitment to service.
Marwa Kaisey USAC general representative Farheen Malik Community Service commissioner