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SOU won�t sign on with labor groups Will develop its own code; students call decision �bunk� By Sara Murphy ASHLAND � A group of students taped their mouths in protest Tuesday as Southern Oregon University Interim President Sara Hopkins-Powell announced the school will not join either of two labor rights groups. Contrary to student and faculty recommendations, Hopkins-Powell decided not to join the Workers Rights Consortium or the Fair Labor Association. She said her decision is based on her philosophical opposition to the university "joining any organization that advocates a particular point of view relative to the issues of social justice." The university�s role, Hopkins-Powell said, is to "provide a forum for discussion" and set an example by "conducting its own business in an ethical manner." Joining either labor group "would make the university vulnerable to requests from other organizations advocating causes," she said. As she read her decision, more than a dozen student activists placed duct tape and bandannas across their mouths to symbolize that their voices had been silenced. Many in the group camped four nights on the administration building lawn last spring to build support for the WRC. The WRC and FLA are rival watchdog groups that seek to monitor working conditions in foreign clothing factories and enforce ethical conduct in the garment industry. Joining the groups would help SOU ensure that clothes bearing the university name, logo and mascot � which totaled about $150,000 in net sales last year at the SOU Bookstore � were not made with sweatshop labor. During the last seven months, the Student Senate, Bookstore Advisory Committee and Oregon Public Employees Union Local 084 have recommended that SOU join the WRC. The Faculty Senate endorsed joining both organizations, and the Regional Advisory Board did not make a recommendation. Instead of signing on with either group, Hopkins-Powell said, SOU will develop its own code of conduct that will be sent to vendors who supply the bookstore with emblematic garments. A proposed code will be considered in January, Hopkins-Powell said. In the meantime, she placed a moratorium on ordering new emblematic goods. Once approved, SOU�s code of conduct will be displayed in the bookstore; vendors� codes of conduct will be placed near their clothing, Hopkins-Powell said. Students criticized Hopkins-Powell for not following through with the recommendations of campus groups. They also condemned her plan to create a code of conduct as unenforceable "empty words." One student, who gagged his mouth with a painted rag, flipped the Italian bird when Hopkins-Powell asked the students to express their feelings about her decision. "Frustration," said the president, acknowledging the gesture. About 20 students, most with taped mouths, stood and left the room while Hopkins-Powell responded to audience questions. After the conference, student activist Kerul Dyer said Hopkins-Powell�s decision was "despicable." "I think this decision exemplifies how campus democracy does not exist," she said. Student body president Scott Young, who did not tape his mouth, said he, too, was disappointed with Hopkins-Powell�s decision. "She took all of her constituencies� opinions and basically threw them out the door," he said. Young and other students expressed concern that SOU is too small to effectively monitor vendor conduct without joining the WRC. "Having the university�s own code of conduct is bunk," said Tamara Henderson, the student body�s director of communications. "We�re not going to be able to monitor it." Standing by her decision that SOU not sign on with the labor groups, Hopkins-Powell encouraged groups within the university to join and said SOU also can benefit from schools that are members of the monitoring groups. She pledged to fund campus forums to continue studying and discussing the issues of social justice and sweatshops. She also plans to form a committee to examine whether other goods and services the university purchases meet the Oregon Administrative Rules and SOU�s ethical standards. Hopkins-Powell said her decision was not influenced by University of Oregon President Dave Frohnmayer�s decision last week not to join the WRC. She said she wrote her speech before hearing news of Frohnmayer�s decision. "Universities and university presidents must speak out on these issues, but membership is not the only way to do this," Hopkins-Powell said. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.