In Tuesday’s edition of the Daily, readers were asked to comment on their view of the monopoly that Coca-Cola has on the university vending machines.

I agree that any type of monopoly particularly by megacorporations such as Coca-Cola and Pepsico is unhealthy, however I would also like to suggest several reasons why PEPSI should not receive a contract through the university.

For several months now students throughout the United States and several cities in the United States have been encouraging a PEPSI boycott and banning the sale of Pepsico products (including Frito Lay, Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut, Ocean Spray, Mountain Dew and Sun Chips, all Pepsico subsidiaries) for their involvement in the military dictatorship in Burma.

Burma, known as Myanmar to many, has been in the international spotlight for several years now for their rampant human rights abuses recognized by the UN, the US, Amnesty International (AI) and the European Union amongst others. AI recently issued a report about Burma’s worsening human rights situation and crack-downs on the democracy movement led by Daw Aung Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate who had been under house arrest since her 1990 landslide victory over the SLORC (State Law and Order Restoration Council).

Just this week over 300 peacefully protesting students were all arrested and imprisoned for their protest of police brutality. Pepsico sells its drinks in Burma through a joint venture with a local partner, Thein Tun , which is also involved in separate joint ventures with the military government.

This the same government that has killed and tortured thousands students and citizens demanding that the SLORC engage in talks with Aung Suu Kyi and other democratic leaders.

The Shan Human Rights Foundation reports on the use of 60,000 forced laborers, of whom nearly 600 died, to dig a canal to provide water for Pepsico in March of 1994. It is unclear whether the water was to supply the Pepsico bottling plant near Rangoon, or for Pepsi’s “countertrade” farming operations.

In view of this students throughout the United States have been reacting with Free Burma Coalitions in more that 150 United States university campuses and many more worldwide. Students at Stanford were able to halt the building of a Taco Bell (a Pepsico subsidiary) on campus, while students at Harvard convinced the university to scrap a $1 million plan to switch from Coca-Cola to Pepsi.

The cites of Santa Monica, Calif., Berkeley, Calif., and Madison, Wis. have passed ordinances which say that workers may not fuel city vehicles with gasoline from Texaco, Arco, or Unocal (other companies involved in Burma). Pepsi machines in city hallways are barred because of Pepsi’s involvement in Burma. Similar ordinances are being considered by the state of Massachusetts, New York City, Oakland Calif., and San Francisco.

Meanwhile sanctions are pending in the US senate and House, and are being strongly encouraged by the members of the European Community. Companies being hit by the boycott include Arco, Pepsico, Unocal and Texaco.

Several companies have already pulled out of Burma including Amoco, Colombia Sportswear, Eddie Bauer, Levi Strauss, Liz Claiborne and Macy’s.

For this reason I strongly urge ISU officials to continue barring Pepsico from university contracts, and I urge students to look into joining the boycott, as well as sending letters to Pepsico and state officials.

Christopher Sinclair, the chief executive of Pepsico foods and beverages says, “Obviously pressure from consumers and shareholders is what we respond to.”

During the apartheid years Coca-Cola was blamed for supporting the South African regime while Pepsi was praised for its withdrawal, how ironic now that the tables have turned.

Fabrice De Clerck

Graduate Student

International Ag. Programs

Forest Ecology