Newspaper Page Text
Vol.XXVffl,No.6 Atlanta, Georgia April 9,1984
Union Continues Call For Boycott
Karen M. Burroughs
Editor-in-Chief
“The only way we can hurt this
company is to stop drinking their
beer/' says Homer Green, field
representative for the American
Federation of Labor and Con
gress of Industrial Organization
(AFL-CIO) in Los Angeles,
California. Since 1977, the AFL-
CIO has been the sponsor of a
nationwide boycott against the
Adolph Coors Company which
manufactures Coors beer.
The boycott was prompted by
the 1977 strike of the Coors
Brewery workers and the
resulting dissolution of the
workers’ union. According to
David Sickler, National AFL-CIO
Coors Boycott Coordinator and a
former employee of Coors, the
issues that forced the workers’
strike in 1977 are still relevant
today. The Coors Company
continues to demand that all
employees take lie detector tests
(and many in the past have been
asked questions about their sex
lives and preferences), be sub
jected to search and seizure
raids, forced physical ex
aminations and elimination of
seniority rights.
In addition to the conditions
of the brewery workers, the
Coors company has also come
under fire for several remarks
made recently by William K.
Coors, chairman and chief ex
ecutive officer of the Adolph
Coors Company. Speaking to a
group of minority business
owners in Denver, Colorado,
Coors said that one of the best
things that slave traders did for
blacks was to “drag your
ancestors over here in chains.’’
Coors, who actively fought
against enactment of the 1964
Civil Rights Act, also stated that
blacks “lack the intellectual
capacity to succeed.”
Coors remarks prompted ac
tion by Bishop H.H. Brookins,
the leader of the 200,000
member Fifth Episcopal District
of the African Methodist
Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church.
Brookins called for blacks to join
in the national boycott of the
beer, saying that the best way to
stop Coors was to stop drinking
his beer. He stated, “That will
stop his profits and that will stop
his mouth," according to the
Rocky Mountain News in
Denver.
Coors beer, which is the only
beer manufactured that is non-
pasteurized, is also being heavily
promoted on college campuses
throughout the country. Referr
ing to the Coors, HomecGreen
of the AFL-CIO states, “His
theory is that they are the future
drinkers, so why not get to them
now?"
The company recently paid
college students to promote
their beer at “chug-a-lug” par
ties and wet T-shirt contests.
While William Coors
acknowledges that drunk driving
is a “major problem” for 18-21
year olds, he also questions the
motives of those who work to
stop drunk driving, stating that
“only five percent” of the
drinkers are abusers; Coors also
asserts that their company does
not promote beer at colleges
because they think it is right, but
because other brewers do it.
“They will steal one’s lunch —
they’ll eat our lunch, if we don't
do it. I personally think it’s
outrageous,” he adds.
Participants in the Coors
boycott include trade unions,
student organizations, the Latin
community and the A. Phillip
Randolph Organization. The
boycott has also received sup
port from Jet Magazine and The
Sentinel, a powerful black
publication in Los Angeles,
California.
According to Homer Green,
the boycott has been successful
so far. Coors sales have decreas
ed in 18 states, including a 45.7%
Continued on Page 6
Is The “Wicked Wick” Weakening?
by Jasmine Williams
News Editor
There is a building on the
Spelman College Campus that is
terminally ill. Riding from the
front gate to the back gate, one
would not see it, walking from
Giles to Manley College Center,
one still would not see it. It is an
old building that sits in the back
of campus like an old house at
the top of a lonely hill. The
building being referred to is
nicknamed, "The Wick,”
Chadwick Hall. As one of the
oldest buildings on campus,
Chadwick Hall is currently suf
fering from an acute case of
neglect.
Chadwick was acquired by
Spelman College in 1945 from
Atlanta University and currently
houses about 40 students.
Although it is the smallest dor
mitory on campus, it is extremely
spacious. However, just as time
takes a toll on everything else,
old age has finally caught up with
Chadwick. The only question
remaining now is what is being
done about the condition of the
dormitory.
The age of Chadwick is ap
parent as one approaches the
front door. Looming over the
entrance is a gigantic hole
overhead. Debris can be seen
falling periodically. Glenda
Meldrum, a freshman from
Waterbury, Connecticut and a
resident of Chadwick remarked,
“My room leaks and caulk falls
from the ceiling. The fire alarm
goes off quite frequently so
everyone is used to it; we simply
take a key, turn off the alarm and
notify maintenance that it’s only
Chadwick. What is going to
happen in case of a real fire?”
Her roomate, Angela Ham
mond from Columbus, Georgia
said that she loves Chadwick but,
“Pipes break and the walls sweat!
I mean, I like Chadwick, it’s
small, not as dormified as the
others and I wouldn't want it to
be torn down, but the electrical
system is faculty and it gets so hot
in here that my hair grease
actually melts!”
In an interview with Dean
Carmen A. Jordan Cox, Dean of
Student Life earlier this year, I
asked if there were plans to
either tear down Chadwick or
renovate it. Her response was,
"We found that it would be
cheaper to build a new dorm
than renovate Chadwick,” yet in
the past 38 years, the following
buildings have been renovated:
Rockefeller Hall (1955), Laura
Spelman (1956), Packard Hall
(1964), Giles Hall (1966),
Morehouse Hall (1969) (later
renamed Morehouse-James),
and Tapley Hall (1975).
Is Chadwick safe for occupan
cy? Elise Williams, a resident of
Chadwick from Yonkers, New
York said, "Outside of a few VA
inch roaches, a mouse that greets
our guests, no carpet in the
basement and a few cracked
walls with the paint and plaster
gone, nothing is wrong with it.”
Another student who asked not
to be identified said, “We
are paying 6,000 plus a year and
this is ridiculous. On Founder’s
Day I bet no one comes to look at
Chadwick! Will it take someone
to get hurtfortheadministration
to act? I hear Laura Spelman will
be renovated next, what about
Chadwick?"
It is easy to see that Chadwick
is a unique part of Spelman’s
history, but should it remain a
part of Spelman’s history at the
expense of student’s lives?
Chadwick is terminally ill but a
doctor’s care would make its
death a lot less painful.