Students Question Cokes Actions

If a company was publicly known for human rights violations and extreme environmental degradation would you buy their product?

News flash- You already are.

Every time you buy a Coca-Cola product you are funding a company accused of hiring paramilitary groups to murder union leaders at one of their bottling plants in Columbia. As if this wasn’t enough the company is also known to cause sever water shortages in India and government tests have confirmed the dumping of toxic waste around their plants.

The Coca-Cola has been blamed for directing paramilitary organizations to murder union leaders in Columbia who were fighting for better wages, according to an article in The Nation.

The water shortages caused by one of its bottling plants in India is also widely known.

These allegations prompted the Coca-Cola company to create the website cokefacts.com which does nothing to reclaim credibility in the company but instead beats-around-the-bush with the issues by stating that only 4% of Columbian workers are unionized (what a shock!) and promising to restore water sources.

During the past couple of years this issue has been the focus of student activist across the nation, prompting several college campuses to terminate their contracts with Coca-Cola. Approximately forty college campuses since 2005 have ended their contracts with Coca-Cola including New York University, Rutgers University, and Swarthmore College. And many more are in the process of removing all Coca-Cola products from their campuses, according to an article in Time magazine.

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are being threatened by this corporation and it’s up students to stand up for what is right.

Are we merely another guinea pig running the wheel for corporations or are we something more?, maybe humans with basic rights.

In 2001 Douglas Daft, chairman and CEO of Coca-Cola, made $105 million while the murdered union leaders were fighting to keep their salary of $360 a month.

It’s up to you who you want to support.

Video Games and Caffeine Serious Addictions on Campuses

Alcohol and drugs are not the two substances college students are abusing. A recent article in Time magazine entitled “The Newest addictions on Campus” focuses on caffeine and video game addiction. While alcohol and illegal drugs are seriously abused on college campuses caffeine and video game addictions seem to be swept under the carpet.

Drinking a cup of coffee seems to be part of everyday routine but over-use of this stimulant can lead to some serious addiction problems. Having a frappacino or an energy drink will help you get through that cramming session or that research paper but, this can lead to dependency.

Sooner of later you’ll be having a cup of coffee to just feel normal instead of alert. According to the Food and Drug Administration a person who drinks about half a cup of coffee daily can develop a physical dependence on caffeine and can experience withdrawal symptoms that include headaches, fatigue, irritability, and depression. And although the number of cases are minimal-compared to other drugs- over-dosing can also occur.

Caffeine has become a mainstream drug and its level availability is tremendous-especially on college campuses. The presence of coffee shops on college campuses has become as normal as a library. And with so many choices- from soft drinks to fraps to energy drinks to plain old regular coffee- caffeine has become the most popular and socially acceptable drug. Its everywhere and everyone is doing it.

Video game addiction is also a growing problem affecting college students. The article states that nearly 80% of college students play video games, so its hard to distinguish between an addict and an occasional player.

Everyone now and then needs a break from the world of academics, but the lines between fun, irresponsibility and addiction are thin ones. The article states that one in ten college gamers are addictive to video games. And video games are a main cause of failed classes and poor study habits.

The popularity of video games among young adults has catapulted in recent years technology has aided that process. There are many ways to play video games, from playing Halo on XBOX on your television to Massive Multi Player Online Role-Playing Games(MMPORG), like World of Warcraft, on the your computer to the various hand-held video game devices. The ways in which a gamer can become an addict are endless.

Video game and caffeine addictions are not widely acceptable as real life threatening addictions but college health officials should start focusing more on these two widely abused campus pastimes.

Police under scrutiny after Kerry Visit

Many of you have already heard the story but for those who have not here are the basics:

Senator John Kerry (D-Mass) was attending a forum at the University of Florida. Another student was asking a question when 21-year-old Andrew Meyer, a telecommunications major, interrupted him and Kerry stated he would answer his question next.

Meyer asked a question and then stated that President Bush should be impeached. That’s when police turned off the microphone. Campus police then proceeded to take Meyer out of the auditorium. They were escorting him toward the exit when he tried to break free, police then tackled him and told him to roll over.

Meyer was screaming for help when a female officer issued the order to stun him with a Taser gun, according to an article on cnn.com.

A protest of the campus soon followed with students accusing the department of police brutality.

The actions of the campus police were certainly irresponsible and an abuse of power and a possible violation and infringement on our First Amendment right: the freedom of speech.

The University of Florida police department was guarding the microphone throughout the event and initially refused to let Meyer speak. It was only after Sen. Kerry intervened and asked for Meyer to be allowed to speak that the microphone was surrendered to Meyer.

First of all, what was the police department doing guarding the microphone? If this was an open forum doesn’t that mean that everyone has a right to speak?

Freedom of Speech – 0, Abuse of authoritative power – 1.

Why did the police department refuse to let Meyer pose a question? And why should students, or any citizen, have to have permission from anyone to speak their mind?

Freedom of Speech – 0, Abuse of authoritative power – 2.

And finally why did the police department disconnect the microphone during Meyer’s statement? The attack against President Bush was no grounds for disconnecting the microphone, escorting him out or stunning him with a Taser. Citizens are allowed to judge, question and protest our government officials at any time and without the fear of persecution.

Freedom of Speech – 0, Abuse of authoritative power – 3.

College Hauntings Bring Sense of Community

College campuses seem to be the most haunted places in the country, especially residence halls and buildings with towers.

Almost every college campus, large or small, seems to have a ghost story and the older the campus the more abnormal occurrences seem to be reported. Below are a few of the stories I found while researching this topic.

A the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign English building, which was formerly a women’s residence hall, slamming doors and footsteps can be heard along with computers and electrical appliances turning themselves on and off. Maybe they should check the due date on their electrical bill.

If you’re ever up at Illinois State University late at night, you might want to stay away from Williams Hall. The library there is supposedly haunted by the ghost of Angie Milner, the school’s first librarian. The ghost is said to send icy chills down student necks and backs while studying. And researchers have found strange energy abnormalities in the library. So please don’t upset our librarian.

One of the grossest and scariest college haunting is at Indiana University where one of the dorms is haunted by the spirit of a girl who was stabbed in the throat with a table knife by her boyfriend. The boyfriend let her bleed to death before hiding her body in one of the tunnels in the basement.

A ghost known as the Pink Lady haunts the campus of Ohio State University. She is the ghost of the wife of an over-worked faculty member who killed himself and appears in the form of pink mist of fog in various university halls.

One of the oldest colleges in the country is also one of the most haunted. The College of William and Mary has a variety of ghosts from a friendly hugging ghost to a nervous soldier to the ghosts of various frat boys prancing outside campus buildings.

College ghost have become part of college culture. Ghost stories give a student a sense of belonging and inclusion. You are not part of the university unless you know the haunted place on campus. Ghost stories have become a way to initiate a freshman into the college campus. They are past on from upper-classmen to lower-classmen and the cycle is repeated every year.

Ghost stories are a great way to pass the time and get a break from the do-it-yesterday atmosphere of college life. Whatever you do this Halloween, make sure you have a safe and happy one.

SIU President Cleared of Plagiarism by Biased Group

Last Thursday, a committee of seven senior faculty members at Southern Illinois University issued a report clearing University President Glenn Poshard of plagiarism.

But the decision may be biased.

The fact that the report was put together by SIU professors certainly puts the committee’s actions in question. What else was expected of a committee of senior professors whose careers have been built at SIU?

The committee said that Poshard was following the loose citation methods of the time and recommended that he keep his degrees and position. The committee also suggested that Poshard bring his thesis up to today’s standards for citation.

The committee’s decision sends the wrong message to students that plagiarism is okay as long as you are someone of importance. The credibility of SIU has been tarnished not just by the allegations of academic dishonesty against Poshard, but also by the schools decision to claim that he is free of any guilt. The school lost all credibility by releasing this report authored by a party with ties to the university.

Southern Illinois University President Glenn Poshard should resign now before he permanently damages the university.

Whether the allegations over the plagiarism of his dissertation paper are true or not the speculation of his lying is already on the publics mind and is not going to go away.

As a higher education administrator, he should realize that his and the school’s credibility and respectability are on the line and on the verge of diminishing.

As a former Democratic gubernatorial nominee, he should uphold the values that the public expects of him and not sacrifice the image of a whole institution- just to prove that he’s right. Honesty is by far the core value that is expected of a public official and Mr. Poshard is not upholding it. Should Poshard sacrifice the school’s reputation and credibility in order to save his own image?

The school has already been harmed and it could not have come at a worse time. One of the university’s goals is to become one of the top 75 universities in the country by 2019- its 150^th birthday. Because of this scandal, the school’s goal may never flourish.

A college president should represent the schools reputation and should be the foremost example of integrity to the whole student body and the overall university community. When something like this scandal comes up it puts the whole college community under the radar and gives the school a bad reputation.

This is not to mention the thousands of alumni who hold degrees from SIU. Their degrees and reputations could be questioned by these dishonesty allegations. Poshard himself was a student of SIU at the time that he wrote the paper in question.

Poshard should take responsibility for his actions and realize that there is something larger than his reputation at stake here- the future of a whole higher-education institution. There is faculty, administration, and thousands of students and alumni whose whole careers and future rely on the credibility of this school and Poshard is ruining every one of them.

Racail Tensions Escalating Across the Country

Racial tensions continue to stab at the core of our democracy as a hangman’s noose was discovered at the door of a black professor at Columbia University.

Early last Tuesday morning a rope noose was found hanging from the door of African-American professor Dr. Madonna Constantine of Columbia’s Teachers College, one of the best school education programs in the country. Constantine is a respected professor of psychology and education and has published numerous works on multiculturalism, ethnicity, and racism.

Constantine issued a statement at a campus rally Wednesday saying that “I would like us to stay string in the face of such a blatant act of racism” and also stated that “Hanging the noose on my office door reeks of cowardice and fear on many levels. I want the perpetrator to know that I will not be silenced."

The incident prompted an investigation by the New York City Police Department, which they are classifying as a hate crime.

This incident is appalling and damaging not only to our country and the minority community but to our higher education system- which is supposed to be a system where diversity is valued and encouraged. This serves as an example of how racism is still alive and thriving in our country. Sure, we have come a long way since the turbulent sixties but, sadly racial tensions are still alive and slowly itching their way back as a major issue in our country.

This act of spineless racism wouldn’t be expected on a highly respected Ivy League school or any college campus for that matter. Higher education in America- through Affirmative Action and need-blind Admissions- forces people of all cultural and ethnic backgrounds to live, work, and socialize together thereby creating greater understanding and respect for each other. But, this horrendous act illustrates that this process does not always work and racism is still major problem and should not be ignored.

Every African-American or anyone for that matter should take this act as a threat to our way of life as Columbia University President Lee Bollinger stated "This is an assault on African-Americans and therefore is an assault on every one of us." We should not ignore this act or any threat to our way of life as minimal and hope it works itself works. There is a greater and dire need to address racism and racial tensions before something tragic happens. The Louisiana Jena-6 incident- where Constantine grew up- is an example of what can happen when we choose to ignore and not address these issues.

Racial harmony is something we all strive for but it is not going to happen over-night and by itself. Every citizen deserves the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and any threat against any one of us- whether white, black, or anything else- should not be taken lightly and we should all take this as a threat to our way of life.

Illegal Downloading Escalates on College Campuses

This past week the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) successfully sued Jammie Thomas of Minnesota for illegally downloading 24 songs. A jury ordered her to pay $220,000 to six record companies.

And this is just the start.

Illegal down loading of music on college campuses all across the country is being targeted by the RIAA. So far about 3,329 pre-litigation notices have been sent to universities all across the country, according to the RIAA. The notice gives the recipient a chance to settle out of court as a substitute for civil action.

Most college students who illegally download music do so through the misuse and abuse of university networks. Students share illegally downloaded music through campus networks. So, in a sense the only thing they are guilty of is illegal-sharing of music. And the RIAA is not going after solely students but anybody who illegally shares downloaded music- including faculty.

The problem over RIAA attack on academic institutions is that they are targeting easy targets. And most students do not have accurate knowledge of the law-or can not afford a lawyer- so they are left with very few choices. College students do not have the money or time to settle a lawsuit. Most college student do not have the money to buy every single record they want so they turn do file sharing as an alternative.

The misuse of college networks for illegal file sharing is certainly one thing college students are guilty of but they are alternatives. Such as Napster or many other music downloading sites that let you listen and download music for a small fee.

Illegal downloading on college campuses is a big problem, last year alone over 1.3 million songs were illegally downloaded on college campuses. But, what the RIAA has to realize is that these lawsuits are not going to stop the mass peer-to-peer file sharing going on on college campuses.

The RIAA is never going to recover the money lost to illegal downloading so their fight seems frivolous. Sure, it might deter a couple of individuals but the mass file sharing will continue and the RIAA has to realize that. The argument that artist are losing money over illegal downloading is futile as well.

What is the purpose of art if not be shared? Don’t you make music so as many people as possible can hear and judge its value? Would a poet or a painter sue over sharing of their artwork?

How many students and universities the RIAA will sue only the future will tell. The RIAA might have found the extra confidence this past week to initiate a mass hunting of every university or student that illegally downloads music. The music is out there and pretty easy to find but the next time you download a track of Kazaa be aware that some greedy unmoral executive might be monitoring you and just waiting to empty your pockets.

You’ve been warned.

English only Legislation Destroys Diversity

The beauty of this country does not rely on its military power or economic dominance but on the heart and soul of every individual in this grand melting pot.

While people of all races, colors, creeds, and morals make up the core of this country, speaking a language other than English isn’t a popular thing to do.

This country has no official language. Although everything in our country is dominated by the English language- government, media, and education. This past summer a series of bills were introduced in our Congress to make English the “official” language of this country. This would of limit voting and all official government documentation strictly in English. As of this publication none of those bills have been successfully passed.

Could you imagine what this language limitation would do the cultural diversity of our country? People of different colors and races- other than white- would feel obliged to solely practice the language of the dominant race and loose their cultural and racial traditions. Pardon the sternness of this statement but- this melting pot would become slaves to the dominant language.

An official language would stir-up racial and cultural tensions that would tear at the heart of this country. Tensions in racial identity have catapulted recently- from the failed immigration reform movement to the current Jena Six controversy and an official language would only add fuel to the fire.

Not only would an official language stab at the core of our values, but it would contradict everything our constitution stands for. If all men are created equal and everyone has the right to pursue happiness- does that equality and happiness relate only to those that speak the dominant language and therefore the dominant culture? Should the freedom of religion and the press also include freedom of language?

This country’s majority will be diminished by the half of this century. The process of assimilating minorities will be less stressful process if we practice social-consciousness and racial harmony today.

While members of our Congress try to establish an official language people in Myanmar are being shot because they demand the simple rights and privileges that we often take for granted.

Something more than democracy is being demanded on the streets of Myanmar - basic human rights. Monks are sacrificing their lives and safety for the right to be looked upon as equals in the eyes of their government. The Jena Six controversy is also a fight for the government to treat all-independent of race- as equals.

We need to cherish each other’s differences now and stop worrying about a silly thing as establishing an official language.

California Fires used as Tool to Boost Poll Numbers

Half a million people evacuated from their homes, more than 430,000 acres of land burned to ashes or affected, and more than $1 billion dollars in damages.

The hills of Los Angeles – sorry, San Diego – are burning.

As some of you might remember my first column this semester was about the catastrophe of Katrina and our government’s failure to adequately take care of its citizens.

Well, it seems President Bush and FEMA learned their lesson as the 11,000 evacuees who fled their homes to Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego were greeted with 25,000 cots, plenty of ice-cold water, enough workable bathrooms, plenty of food, entertainment and even massages.

The real tragedy here is that it took the destruction of a whole city and the burning of 400,000 acres of land for the government to remember their basic duty.

While the quick and efficient response of our government to this disaster deserves applause, it still does not undermine the fact that this administration has failed us completely. Please people, do not allow them to fool you with bottles of water and relaxing massages. According to the Washington Post FEMA did not even hold a real press conference.

“Questions were asked by FEMA staffers playing reporters” columnist Al Kamen wrote in the Washington Post.

It’s all an act aimed at boosting poll numbers. Clearly, it is one last attempt to clean-up after themselves after trashing our White House.

Looks like our lame duck president might not be heading south for the winter without an attempt at a respectable quack!

Let me make one thing clear – this is not an attempt at making light out of this situation. Half a million people had to leave their homes in a matter of minutes and thousands of fire fighters are sacrificing their lives.

I will not even attempt to imagine how it feels to not know if you still have a home to go back to. My prayers, as I’m sure all of yours, go out to every single person affected by this catastrophe. Although, I’m sure by the time this goes to print, this situation will be under control.

It seriously appalls me to witness the selfishness of our President. Our President did not even bother to show up at the site of the massive fires until Thursday when most of the fires had started to cool down.

But, this can expected from a President that chose to stay on vacation while New Orleans was drowning. Have no worry, I’m sure all those photos and camera views of him behind the ruins will suffice.

At least we only have to deal with this for one more year. Let’s just hope he does not start