6 Opinion October 26, 2005 + Over the Edge Wintergarden Roundtable ISSUE 1: Cola Dilemma Cola Contracts on Canadian Campuses Examined MICHAEL SITAYEB EXCALIBUR (YORK UNIVERSITY) WITH FILES FROM ANGELA PACIENZA TORONTO, ONT. (CUP) — The so-called “cola dilemma” has returned to York University as student groups— spurred by what is taking place on other Canadian campuses with simi- lar exclusivity contracts—have begun to again question the wisdom of deal- . ing with Cola companies. Seven years after York signed its deal with Pepsi, student clubs are concerned about the effects of the soft drink company’s presence on campus. They say drinks, exclusively available from the Pepsi family, are overpriced, free water fountains are being re- placed by vending machines for “thirst quenchers’ and a healthier drink se- lection is simply unavailable. And they're not alone in Canada. Earlier this year, the University of British Columbia finished its decade- long exclusivity contract with Coca- Cola, or so they thought. ‘The university was the first in Can- ada to hop on the soft drink corpora- tion bandwagon, signing on to buy 33.6 million cans of Coke over a 10- year period. The payoff was $8.5 million to spend for disability access, student services and the campus library—all provided by Coca-Cola. When January 2005 arrived, the university had not yet met its quota of Coke can sales, As a result, UBC will have to continue distributing Coke family products on its campus for an- other two years without any further compensation from Coca-Cola. While UBC is one of the few Canadian universities to sign on to a quota-based deal, soft drink exclusiv- ity contract abound across Canadian campuses like the University of To- ronto and McMaster University. “Part of the trend across univer- sity campuses is to increase corpor- ate partnerships, unfortunately that's part of the funding reality that we find ourselves in,’ says Ahmed Habib, York Federation of Students VP equity and services. In 1998, amidst deep government budget cuts for post-secondary fund- ing, York entered a similar deal, after university student groups expressed their need for funds and developed criteria for a corporate deal to provide that funding, Pepsi offered to pay $7.5 million over 10 years to fund student organ- izations at York and provide stadium upgrades. “Pepsi got a sweet deal,” says Habib. “They've got a tremendous opportun- ity to market their product, and main- tain a monopoly,’ he adds. After initially cooperating with the administration, the YFS held back on supporting or rejecting the deal to give time for student consultation. The situation was particularly touchy since York students had led a five-year boycott of Pepsi products in the mid 1990s following the opening of their operation facilities in Burma~ a country with a poor human rights track record. York eventually implemented the deal without YES support. The YFS promised in the late 1990s to have a student vote on the matter within a few years, when it would have the ability to provide more of its own club funding. Now they plan on pub- lishing a report detailing the negative effects of corporatization on campus by the end of this year. York students had begun to accept Pepsis presence on campus, but not without the occasional protest. In October 1998, students posted a large sign at York's stadium saying “Pepsi owns York’. York officials took it down 40 minutes after kickoff, with students questioning their ability to protest university decisions. Since then Pepsi has dispensed about $47,500 a year to the YES for student club funding, plus and addi- tional $7,500 a year in funding to the Graduate Students Association. The GSA refuses to take its share of the money, preferring to steer clear of corporate aid. Its money is used by YES instead to provide even more club funding. . “The ideal situation would be that these funds would come from the public purse,’ explains Habib. YFS spends over $90,000 a year on clubs. While Pepsi pays for the full cost of community service groups (approximately $47,500), the YFS has to incur the additional expenses of club campaigns, resource centres, orientation week activities and other extra costs, which have grown over the years. “We have to be realistic with the dynamics of the situation on campus. We don't want a situation where stu- dents have less resources to work with on campus, but at the same time we don't want to become dependent on corporate deals to fund student activ- ities,’ said Habib. “When you think about how the contract was signed, there has to be more money coming in, says YFS president Omari Mason. “We want to see what the student benefit is with the superior pricing that Pepsi is al- lowed to get on this campus.’ Like most cola deals at other uni- versities, York has a policy of not disclosing the exact data of the cor- porate contract. The administration maintains that if data is disclosed, it will put companies at a competitive disadvantage. York University's assistant vice- president of campus operations “An- drew Wickens was unavailable for comment. York's cola contract is scheduled to finish by the end of 2008. It is not known whether the university signed on with a quota requirement. campus? Tom (middle); I don't see how it’s the university's fault for not meeting the quota. Nikolai (left): Shouldn't the cola company pay for the privilege for being the sole provider of non-alcoholic beverages on Cal (right): UBC is directly responsible because they didn’t meet their end of the contract. Six semi-willing UNBC students give their opinions on events happening around the world COMPILED BY ANDREW KURJATA, NEWS EDITOR ISSUE 2: Extremities of the US Patriot Act Bush's War On... lists? Cyclists: IMAL WELCH THE LINK {CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY) MONTREAL, QC. (CUP) — Dr. Paul Simpson, a prominent American expert on sustainable transport and practicing MD in Pennsylvania, says US President George W. Bush is using his “War on Terror,’ as a tool to dis- criminate against bicyclists, pedestrians and public transit users. “(Under the US Patriot Act] one of the things they taught was that bicycles could be used to cause terrorist attacks and should not be allowed into (public buildings and structures],’ said Simp- son, during his recent speech at McGill University. He added that there has yet to be an attack using a bicycle. Simpson noted cars continue to be allowed to park underneath buildings, where they are able to serve as effective means to transport bombs. Another effect of the introduction of the controversial Act was the general police mistreatment of bicyclists, who are often branded as terrorists. Among the many examples Simpson cited, one artistic group promoting bicycling, the Rutabaga Flying Cycle Circus, was ar- rested hours after their arrival in St. Louis, Missouri. Their bicycles were destroyed, their belongings urinated upon, and their artwork defaced or de- stroyed. All this, Simpson noted, “while these things were in police custody.’ Simpson said the police claimed they had a tip that the bicycle posse was a terrorist organization. FreeRide, a bike co-op in Pittsburgh, was branded as a terrorist organization for promoting bicycle usage instead of cars. The FBI declared another Pittsburgh organiza- tion, BikePittsburgh, “a domestic ter- rorist organization subject to investiga- tion and harassment by the FBI,” said Simpson. Under the US Patriot Act — a clus- tet of anti-terror legislation resulting from 9/11 — Simpson said a terror- ist could also be defined as anyone speaking against enetgy production. During the question period, people asked Simpson about the actions taken against bicyclists by the American gov- ernment, including a lawsuit against the Critical Mass bicycling group in New York, where the federal government is trying to bar the group from cycling in the streets. Simpson responded by saying the US government's priorities lie in oil and continue to shelve obesity-related legislation. In 2001, the Bush adminis- tration invited lobbies and companies such as Enron and Haliburton to create the National Energy Policy Develop- ment Group. According to Simpson, “It’s pretty clear that the discussion [of the Group] was centered around... how to get people to use more oil.” “Government and business now see any investment toward private cars... as an important investment in infrastruc- ture — public transport is now seen as a wasteful subsidy.’ When asked how the idea of bicyc- lists as terrorists get was introduced into the federal government's policies, Simpson said, “some of the actions of [former US Attorney General] John Ashcroft toward the FreeRide in Pitts- burgh [helped]. It seems people have got the idea that cyclists are terrorists. Simpson argued that in terms of put- ting a stop to the negative attitudes, “the technique that will work is getting people to use public transport.” When asked what Dr. Simpson thought would encourage people to use sustainable transport, he said, “I think that economics and the world [oil] situation is going to do it.’ Pascal (middle): Anybody who actually agrees with this argument should be brought out onto the street and shot by me and my bicycle-terrorist friends. Stu (left); It's good that the American government is formulating measures against the terrorist menace and lowering sperm counts at the same time. Yay Bush. Pascal: Damn straight, long live the SUV. Earson (right): This War on Terror is a porcelain mask on the monster that is the Bush administration. The sooner Americans realize this, the better it will be for them and everyone.