Letters to the Editor

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