nestle on campus?

Dontico

as many of us know, one cannot buy nestle products in the SU shops.

is annyone else annoyed as adults we are being told what we can or cannot buy?
i know the arguements for banning nestle products, but why only the one? why not coke, american products, israeli products, chinnese producs, and the use of shell oil for services cars?

ireland is mostly a free market. none of this socialist controling non-sense. stalin and hitler believed in controled markets.

i think its time to remove the socialist control over campus. anyone else infavour of bringing back from the chose what we eat?

EDIT: pole ment to say "want" not "what". sorry for typing error.

singingstranger

We've been through this. http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054998470

It's not socialist control, it's democracy. It might be outdated democracy but it was valid democracy nonetheless.

Dontico

i never got to vote on it. i dont even know when it was banned. i've been around for some referendums. but i had no idea what they ere about nor did anyone i know knew what they were about.

what i'm asking for is there enough people that to bring nestle back. i need 900 people, i think, to try get voted on to bring it back. using democracy to bring it back. there are knew people in UCD now.
also the poll on the link provided shows that most people on this forum would like it back.

Garret

cadburys is nicer

arbeitsscheuer

It's an unforgiveably leading question.

You're free to buy and eat what you want - but the SU will not stock nestle products in its shops. You can't force the SU to sell products which, in its opinion, are made buy unethical and disreputable sources.

Incidentally, it's not like we're the only university that does this. Most universities ban the sale of nestle products - it's not like we're just hopped up rabid left-wing crazies or anything.

Although obviously that helps...

singingstranger

I agree completely. There's plenty of vending machines around campus that sell Nestlé products, just as there are plenty that sell Coca-Cola stuff. You're free to buy it; the Union, though, chose through its members in a referendum (admittedly outdatedly, I think it was about 1993 or something?) not to contribute any of their €1m+ annual turnover to either company.

hullaballoo

arbeitsscheuer wrote:

It's an unforgiveably leading question.

That really is all there is to this.

The poll question is completely different from what you're getting at in your post, OP.

You're asking if we should be free to decide what we buy: no one is going to say, "no, I want other people to decide what I buy."

What your point would appear to be is that you are annoyed that we don't have a referendum every year to decide SU mandates. Unfortunately, that is the way democracy works. The conscience of the people isn't a constant, but we do our best with what our forbears give us.

If you want to change it, propose a motion in council for a referendum to reverse the ban. As far as I remember, something similar was attempted with the coke ban, but it was unsuccessful. The catch-22 of the situation is that the only people who care enough to get out and vote are the extremist fanatics.

Riamfada

its that **** the Milky Bar Kid.

Dontico

singingstranger wrote:

I agree completely. There's plenty of vending machines around campus that sell Nestlé products, just as there are plenty that sell Coca-Cola stuff. You're free to buy it; the Union, though, chose through its members in a referendum (admittedly outdatedly, I think it was about 1993 or something?) not to contribute any of their €1m+ annual turnover to either company.

vending machines are more expensive than shops.

if there is a referendum, and the ban is lifted. then doesnt that mean students have then decided to allow nestle back in?

Riamfada

Dontico wrote:

vending machines are more expensive than shops.

if there is a referendum, and the ban is lifted. then doesnt that mean students have then decided to allow nestle back in?

Yeah it does. But as third level students you think most would care about an injustice rather than their sweeites

Dontico

if anyone wants to boycott nestle than they can chose not but it.

but its not about only caring about my "sweeties". i rarely buy sweets. i probably only one chocolate bar a month. but when i do i should be able to buy what i want. i usually buy yorkie.

the issue is really about freedom from being forced on by someones left-wing agenda. the SU should be non-political.

hullaballoo

Dontico wrote:

vending machines are more expensive than shops.

You sure about that?

Is it because of all the extra overheads?

Riamfada

Dontico wrote:

if anyone wants to boycott nestle than they can chose not but it.

but its not about only caring about my "sweeties". i rarely buy sweets. i probably only one chocolate bar a month. but when i do i should be able to buy what i want. i usually buy yorkie.

the issue is really about freedom from being forced on by someones left-wing agenda. the SU should be non-political.

No Don

• deaths of about 1.5 million babies each year as a result of formula being mixed with contaminated water
• Nestlé was demanding millions of dollars in compensation from Ethiopia
• In early 2005, Nestlé Purina sold thousands of tons of contaminated animal feed in Venezuela.
• Operating requirements of the factory meant pumping half a million gallons of water a day from an aquifer beneath a hunting reserve
• In August 2004 a Greenpeace test found genetically modified organisms in Chinese Nesquik
• 284,000 child labourers work on cocoa farms in West Africa, mainly in the Ivory Coast

Actually I want another Vote for people like Don's open market and freedom to eat chocolate in the Student Shops. Typical attitude of those who mention the "left" in every post. Well then I suppose that makes Dontico right and not too concerned with the deaths of millions and injustices by this company.

singingstranger

All of what Grimes said, plus http://whale.to/w/baby_milk2.html.

Dontico

i may suddenly change my mind and say "hey i dont agree what nestle are doing so wont buy there products anymore". but thats my dicision to make and mine alone. UCD should be A-political. there are other issues that campus is very slanted on that should not be a college issue.
example: supporting Rossport. my understanding is that a letter was sent out showing them our support. this is not fair. not everyone on campus supports the shell to sea campaign. i may support shell to sea, but ucd should not be involved in non-college issues or state issues. but i dont have a problem with a shell to sea society with in the college.

dajaffa

If anyone wants to go and collect signatures to run a referendum again then work away. Personally I support the ban, but wouldn't mind if a referendum was held, it'd raise awareness of the reasons behind the ban.

The thing is, if there wasn't a ban on nestle products, but nobody bought them and hence they weren't stoked by the shop, it would have much less of an impact to nestle (cause money wise it wouldn't exactly be a big financial hit to them) compared to the students saying, "no, we don't want our shops to stock your products because of A B C etc."

Incidentally, apparently Starbucks has sort of opened up in the Elements Restaurant. I predict a protest...

dajaffa

Dontico wrote:

i may suddenly change my mind and say "hey i dont agree what nestle are doing so wont buy there products anymore". but thats my dicision to make and mine alone. UCD should be A-political. there are other issues that campus is very slanted on that should not be a college issue.
example: supporting Rossport. my understanding is that a letter was sent out showing them our support. this is not fair. not everyone on campus supports the shell to sea campaign. i may support shell to sea, but ucd should not be involved in non-college issues or state issues. but i dont have a problem with a shell to sea society with in the college.

The SU does not support the Shell to Sea campaign, a lot of the people involved do but the SU itself doesn't.

Dontico

as a member of UCD. i dont other peoples views representing me. again no one has answered my above questions.

why nestle and not all american/israeli/chinnese products?

those three organisations do far worse than nestle.

Dontico

dajaffa wrote:

The SU does not support the Shell to Sea campaign, a lot of the people involved do but the SU itself doesn't.

i was told by people on the SU that they sent a letter. i'll look into it.

Sangre

Subject apathy with the average students means referendums rarely reflect the 'average' students' views. It boils down to which side has more fanatics.

Dontico

that is true Sangre. hence UCD should not be apart of a political agenda.

Sangre

I agree that the SU should be apolitical but unfortunately most students with any common sense stay away from it. Its just full of students filling their CV or those who want to 'save the planet' because of their middle-class induced guilty consciences.

Dontico

Sangre wrote:

I agree that the SU should be apolitical but unfortunately most students with any common sense stay away from it. Its just full of students filling their CV or those who want to 'save the planet' because of their middle-class induced guilty consciences.

thats now going to be my sig.

humbert

Sangre wrote:

Subject apathy with the average students means referendums rarely reflect the 'average' students' views. It boils down to which side has more fanatics.

Agreed, I've moaned about this before. The "quorum" is too low IMO but if what grimes says about Nestlé is true I'd probably have voted in favour of the ban anyway.

Pythia

dajaffa wrote:

Incidentally, apparently Starbucks has sort of opened up in the Elements Restaurant.

Really?
That's excellent! More choice for the UCD student.

Riamfada

Perhaps we will get real coffee for a change rather than that slop from 911 / Hilpers

dajaffa

Dontico wrote:

i was told by people on the SU that they sent a letter. i'll look into it.

Well people in the SU are perfectly entitled to send a letter, but not acting on behalf of the SU, unless it was send around a year ago when a motion that the SU would give them moral support (if I remember correctly). This year a motion was passed to revoke that motion so the SU does not support the Shell to Sea campaign.

Sangre wrote:

I agree that the SU should be apolitical but unfortunately most students with any common sense stay away from it. Its just full of students filling their CV or those who want to 'save the planet' because of their middle-class induced guilty consciences.

Well now Sangre where will I begin with that one?

I would not agree that the SU should be completely apolitical, I honestly can't see how it could be, and there are some issues we should take a stance on While I would agree that the main focus should always be the students, I don't think we should completely remove ourselves from other matters. I'm talking about human rights abuses, climate change, fairtrade etc, they shouldn't be our main focus, but they should be "on our radar" so to speak.

As for the rest of your comment, I have little respect for it given how flippantly you make it especially for someone who isn't even in UCD. In recent years the make-up of council has changed from a position where EVERYONE was a member of a political party to where today well over half aren't and are become reps just to help their students, and not future Dáil aspirations.

I am a class rep, a very involved one, and I'm not in any party. My "middle-class induced guilty conscience" has not left me with some sort of burning desire to "save the world", my main motivations for being a class rep was to help out my class, be it having parties, sorting out problems with lecturers or whatever. It's not an easy job, it can take up quite a bit of my time, and if I was a careerist I'd be far better off ditching those extra responsibilities and spending that time studying. Saying I was a class rep isn't exactly going to get me a job as a physio in a few years time. I do plenty of other things outside of my academic stuff that is far more likely to help in that regard.

Finally, is there something wrong with people who want to save the planet? I mean really, do you give out about Al Gore for making a documentary to make people more aware of climate change? I know enough to know that there are countless injustices in the world. I'm not going to go into specifics as I could be here forever, but I commend all those who have the guts to do something about it.

Stabshauptmann

Real coffee in insomnia, and its free trade

Stabshauptmann

I fail to see the difference between having the right to buy something as a consumer and a shops right to buy (stock) something.

My favourite bar is a yorke, its nestle, Im annoyed I cant get it in SU shops, but I deal with it - because what I want is not more important than the right of the shops as a legal entity to chose what they stock.

Next time a bouncer refuses you from a nightclub tell him about your right to go where you want.

gubbie

Dontico wrote:

vending machines are more expensive than shops.

if there is a referendum, and the ban is lifted. then doesnt that mean students have then decided to allow nestle back in?

Well you're free yourself to go out, collect the signatures, get the referendum going and then campaign against the ban

the SU should be non-political

But unions are all about politics.

And machines are only about 5c more expensive

as a member of UCD. i dont other peoples views representing me. again no one has answered my above questions.

If this is your belief then you are completely free to come along and express your opinion at council by getting speaking rights. Stop blaming others for things you are too lazy to do yourself

dajaffa wrote:

Incidentally, apparently Starbucks has sort of opened up in the Elements Restaurant. I predict a protest...

Yup completely true

humbert

gubbie wrote:

But unions are all about politics.

Emm, what now?