From: Sushu Xia
Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2005 23:34:00 GMT

You had asked us to stop selling buns.

We could have immediately acceded to your request, simply ignored you and continued, or had a rational debate with CUSA and made an informed decision taking the feelings of our officers and the expressed desires of CUSA’s board into consideration. The somewhat tenuous nature of your claim to exclusive ORCSA-enforced bun-selling rights suggested that before simply stopping a planned fundraiser, further investigation was warranted- however, we respect CUSA and did not wish to dismiss your feelings out of hand. Therefore, we continued our sale, while confirming its validity with two ORCSA advisors and an ORCSA financial advisor. We understand that Regine is on leave right now, but in her absence, we trust Diana’s assurance that CUSA has been informed in the past that they do not have any exclusive rights to bun sales. Meanwhile we also informed you of all our plans and intentions as well as the date of our next officers’ meeting, where, as we noted, the final decision would be made. We feel that it is somewhat unreasonable to ask us to discontinue a successful fundraiser before CUSA had addressed the issues we raised in our previous correspondence, to wit:
- We have yet to see evidence of CUSA’s exclusive, ORCSA-sanctioned right to sell buns.
- The JAS officers believe that such a right would be detrimental to all RSOs, as it not only inhibits successful fundraising, but also runs counter to the spirit of community which all RSOs share.
- We have seen no history of any gentlemen’s agreement, and JAS officers have never been party to any such agreement, nor had we even been informed that one exists.
- We have no reason to believe that our bun sales would in any way harm CUSA financially, especially given that we are told CUSA’s bun sales are conducted for tradition’s sake and do not draw substantial profit.
- Given that clubs as far as four years back have been selling buns, we remain unconvinced that our fundraiser harms any CUSA tradition.

>From the language in your email you seemed to have expected us to stop selling buns immediately pending further deliberation from CUSA. It seems illogical for one club to require approval from another in order to sell food; however, out of consideration for CUSA, we decided to put the issue up for debate ASAP, at our Tuesday night board members meeting. This allowed us to respond to your request quickly, while still leaving some time for a dialogue. We would be glad to reconsider our decision once CUSA has reached a consensus, but we have seen no reason to change our original plans thus far. If it is demonstrated that we have acted in bad faith, we will of course issue a formal and heartfelt apology.

We are somewhat confused by the conflicting messages we have received from your board. On the one hand, we are told that although CUSA is saddened by our decision, you wish to make peace. On the other hand, we continue to receive emails from you that seem to imply that CUSA has the sole rights to bun sales and your approval is needed to continue our fundraiser. We expected that if CUSA were unhappy with our fundraiser, you would approach us asking a favor from an old friend. However, you initially approached us with the assertion that we have no right to sell buns under ORCSA guidelines. We are open to any appeal you may make so long as it is honest and sincere. Though we find evidence contrary to many of your assertions, we've always given you the benefit of the doubt since the very beginning. I notice that in your first email you made no mention of your Monday morning claim that buns are a trademark of CUSA, and instead referred to a gentleman's agreement. We understand that you may have truly believed in your trademark rights, even though you were informed just last quarter that Math Club and anyone else is allowed to conduct bun sales. Despite the somewhat hostile tone of your last email, we have not accused you of intimidation or intentional deceit. We all make mistakes based on assumptions; Alexis’ comment on Henderson House resulted from a conversation with a former house member, rather than with the RH. But to first dismiss our fundraising as a mere “cash cow” and then to say you barely break even seems inconsistent, especially given that we are only looking for a cash chicken and are doing more than breaking even. Furthermore, to say that there's a universal gentleman's agreement that we were obviously not party to, nor were the Women's Crew, the Environmental Club, the BJ house, etc., seems paradoxical. Though we welcome gentleman's agreements between clubs, they are, by definition, conscious agreements by both parties, not unilateral decisions by one. What we ask for is to be treated with the respect of a club selling something that, while traditionally a CUSA fundraiser, is not an exclusive CUSA item. We feel that a club should not have exclusive rights to any fundraiser, but we also respect the strong emotional ties of CUSA to its tradition and have no wish to engage in a feud.

As you pointed out, we do not lack creativity to think of alternative fundraisers. We indeed considered several alternatives before deciding on buns, and arrived at our choice based on the logic that anpan and nikupan are tastier than brownies, keep better than onigiri, and are easy to obtain, as well as being items that are featured in many anime. We have absolutely no intention of stealing from Chinese culture or appropriating anyone’s tradition. Given that CUSA typically conducts one bun sale per quarter, we do not feel that our efforts at this time would undercut future CUSA bun sales, or detract from their renown. People can continue to look forward to CUSA buns every quarter. (I personally buy extra buns just because it's CUSA.) Buns as a food item were never exclusive, and by selling them, we are merely allowing people to support another of their favorite clubs. Every club adds a personal touch to its fundraisers, but buns themselves are just buns.

Respectfully,
Sushu Xia
Vice President of UCJAS

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