I am writing in response Leslie Heuer’s Nov. 11 column, “Soda is unhealthy to body and budget,” about the soda situation on campus.

Once again she, like many others, jumped to the same misinformation everyone else has heard and gathered facts from everywhere else but here. Well, I did a little investigation and hopefully this will set the record straight, once and for all.

First off, the university as a whole does not have an exclusive contract. In fact, only athletics and the vending machines are on contract, for the simple fact that it is easier to manage that way.

Another note of misinformation comes in her idea to buy the pop from a convenience store elsewhere.

Great idea — if you go to any of the convenience stores in the area, after deposit you look to save a whole five cents! You also stand to lose the 31.25 cents the university gets, which adds up as well.

As for her claim that the contracts are a result of budget cuts, she is way off the mark and quite honestly filling each person who read her article full of lies. The contracts in order now were not made in a time of budget cuts and in no way affect them.

This was her fantastic ploy to get students’ emotions involved — don’t let it fool you. Money isn’t always the driving factor behind many decisions and this is no different.

Did you ever stop to think about all the time and energy Coca-Cola puts into this campus and that many organizations receive donations each year to help with fundraising purposes?

I guess Ms. Heuer must have forgotten to include that point.

Finally, with the health issues of the nation, it is time to quit blaming the beverage industry for America’s obesity problem.

Could it be that people sit around doing nothing all day that affects weight? That’s a startling thought.

So perhaps it’s time to accept prices went up, whether it be with gas, pop or heating prices. If it was such a huge event to the students, why was I the first to talk to Coca-Cola representatives on campus and find out the real story?

Ben Kadolph

Junior

Sociology