Hands off my water bottles!

Why doesn’t UMSU put that Water Bottle issue in a referendum rather than making arbitrary decisions for the student population when they only have a mandate from less than SIXTEEN PER CENT of all students (nothing near a majority of the population). This executive needs to realize that participation in student government is negligible, and winning an election with a low voter turnout does not give you any moral right to make broad decisions on behalf of ~25,000 people that erode our basic rights.

FACT: U of W and U of M are two completely different campuses. U of W is an urban campus, with a variety of eating places within easy access. A ban on water bottles on their campus doesn’t affect them as much because students have CHOICE. They can walk to the Booster Juice, Subway, and a half dozen other eateries which are across the street from their campus and not operated by Aramark. There’s also Portage Place two blocks away with an entire Food court, not forgetting the rest of Portage Avenue.

U of M is a suburban campus, with a complete food monopoly between Aramark and UMSU businesses. We can’t easily walk to Pembina and grab something. People deserve the right of CHOICE. For those against water bottles, they can freely choose to bring their own bottles and fill it. Others, who don’t want to, should not be FORCED to drink from public fountains. Some people don’t like the idea of drinking from public fountains, and THAT’S OKAY. Don’t try to shove your personal agendas down everyone’s throats.

Adam Alkins