IU stuck between Coke, protesters

IU is in a stalemate situation as activist groups pressure IU into leveraging its contracted position on Coca-Cola, and Coca-Cola continues to deny any and all charges made against the company.\nWhile allegations of human rights violations against Coca-Cola have been around for many years, the case has seen increased interest nationwide ever since Columbian Coca-Cola worker's union SINALTRAINAL reached out to the international community in 2003, formally requesting a worldwide boycott of the company.\nAdam Mueller, law student and member of the No Sweat! student activist group, said he believes this formal cry for help by SINALTRAINAL will play a crucial role in the success of the protests, as the movement shifts from individual effort to a unified, nationwide effort involving many major universities. \n"This is all about whether or not people have a right to organize," Mueller said. "People can say what they want about who wins negotiations between factory owners and workers, but murder and violence is just not acceptable. We're not saying that IU is endorsing it, because that's just too farfetched, but we do think that IU is in a position to affect change."\nDean of Students Richard Mckaig is part of the Committee to Advise President Herbert on Relations with the Workers Rights Consortium and called for a meeting Wednesday to discuss whether and how to be involved in a conference between major universities who also hold contracts with Coca-Cola and a representative from the Coca-Cola Company.\nCoca-Cola declined several proposals for discussing this issue with more than one university at a time, but after individual talks with University of California, University of Illinois, and Depaul University, Coke agreed to hold a conference with many universities.\nMcKaig said Wednesday's meeting was to decide whether to send a representative from IU to the conference. After a final vote, the committee vote yielded a decision to send an IU representative.\nThe goal of the conference is to persuade Coca-Cola to initiate an independent investigation to its bottling plants.\nSINALTRAINAL and campus activist groups are most appalled by Coca-Cola's lack of responsibility. In response to activist site www.killercoke.org, Coca-Cola launched its own Web site, www.cokefacts.org. \nOn this site, Coca-Cola asserts that it is concerned about human rights issues, but that allegations made against Coca-Cola are absolutely false. \nMueller said that Coca-Cola has tremendous leverage with the bottling plants because they would not exist without Coca-Cola's business. \n"Take a good look at Coke's response," he said. "It's pretty weak."\nCoca-Cola spokesperson Lori Billingsley said in a statement that two judicial inquiries found that Coca-Cola was not responsible for the deaths. \n"We are confident that as this case proceeds, the court will find no evidence against our bottlers as well," she said.\nShe said she believed campus boycotts were based on "inaccuracies" found online. She said she would work with administrators at the meeting to dispel the false allegations made against Coca-Cola. She said that boycotts only hurt their employees and the local economy.\nIn a counterpoint, Mueller emphasized that Columbian employees of Coca-Cola were the ones who asked for help by calling a boycott. \nJournalism professor Carol Polsgrove said The Progressive Faculty Coalition at IU is also putting up a fight by voting to hold TIAA-CREF socially responsible. TIAA-CREF is the investment organization that handles IU faculty pension funds. They hold a large amount of investments in Coca-Cola, and they are currently being persuaded to pressure Coke into an independent investigation of the Columbia facilities. \n-- Contact Staff Writer Lydia Song at lsong@indiana.edu.