Student-led protest at noon today
By Staff Writer

Be careful what you drink... your Diet Pepsi just might be supporting human rights abuses.

This is the message that an Albion College student group is planning to spread at noon today, during a protest in front of Baldwin Hall.

The Free Burma Coalition is the group, and Pepsico, Inc., is the corporation under attack.

Burma, a small nation in Southeast Asia, has a military government. The United Nations, U.S. State Department and Amnesty International have documented human rights abuses in the country.

During the protest, FBC will be passing out information and circulating a petition, which will be sent to Pepsico.

Out of all U.S.-based corporations, only Pepsico, Texaco and UNOCAL are still doing business in Burma.

Levi Strauss, Liz Claiborne and Eddie Bauer are the most recent companies to pull out, citing that it is impossible to do business in the country without supporting... both economically and politically... human rights abuses, according to Burma Project U.S.A., a California-based organization.

Only Pepsi-brand beverages are served on Albion's campus, and the Taco Bell Express... set to be installed in the Kellogg Campus Center... is also a subsidiary of Pepsico.

The college has completed one year of a 3-year contract with the corporation.

For commentary on this protest, see page four.