"The good news…

A feisty articulate group of troublemakers called UNPLUG is helping communities across the country organize…"

This sticker, designed by the Youth Advisory Board and School Watch Team mem-ber Leslie Grunditz, is avail-able from the Center, along with the exciting new ‘zine, “Unplug”.

Cola Deals Go Flat

Cola Consumption Leads to Broken Bones

Dentists Announce Opposition to Cola Contracts

Victory! ZapMe Zapped

Local Highlights: Actions Against Classroom Advertising

The Nation printed the above quote in November of 1994, when UNPLUG, the organization now called the Center for Commercial-Free Public Education, was still relatively young. Today the Center is an even more powerful force to be reckoned with, but in a new way. Over the years the Center has gained credibility among legislators, school board members, parents, and teachers. Now, with the creation of the Center’s Youth Advisory Board, there is work being done to reinvigorate the organization’s original radical youth edge.

The Youth Advisory Board, or YAB, is made up of students, high school age and younger, interested in promoting action around the issue of commercialism in schools. Many of the members are active in their com-munities and schools, advocating for a commercial-free environment. YAB members Lizzie Cohen, Rachel Moreno, Mary Rasmussen, and Leslie DeBartolo creat-ed a student group, “Students for Justice,” which fought against their district’s current Pepsi deal. The YAB currently has several active members, but we are always looking to recruit and spark interest in new young activists. This is important because the Center will really benefit from the goals of the YAB: to rally students already interested in this issue, to review and make suggestions about the Center’s work, to energize new youth activists about commercialism, and to pump the power back to where it belongs - the students.

The majority of YAB members live in the California Bay Area, to fit the original model which was designed to allow YAB students meet face-to-face. By the third meeting, out-of-state member Nell Geiser of Colorado was being incorporated over the phone. Another out-of- state member, Troy Pickard of Oregon, joined her soon after. New members illustrate the expansion of the YAB into a national body, many of whom contributed articles to the YAB ‘zine, which helps them share opin-ions and information with any interested student, in a youth-friendly format.

The newly published ‘zine, which is one of the YAB’s first projects, represents the issue of corporate messages in schools from a unique student perspective, and gives youth an opportunity to voice their opinions on an issue that increasingly affects more and more of this country’s student population. Hopefully, it will be a jumping-off point for other materials that will appeal to students, make the Center’s message more accessible to young people, and help youth take ownership of the goals of the organization.

If you are interested in finding out more about the YAB, or would like YAB stickers or copies of the ‘zine, email the Center’s Senior Program Director at dylan@commercialfree.org or call the Center.

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