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Protesters plan to circumvent SOU Photo by Jim Craven Students say contribution to WRC will show support By Sara Murphy ASHLAND � Southern Oregon University student protesters say they don�t need the administration�s approval to show support for the Workers Rights Consortium. They�ll do it on their own. The students, who spent four nights camped out on the Churchill Hall lawn, announced Thursday they�ll send $500 to the labor watchdog group. That�s good enough to make the SOU student body a "recognized endorsee" of the WRC, even if the administration isn�t ready to make a commitment to officially join the group. "I think it�s comforting to know that if the administration can�t take action on this issue, the students can," said Kansas Callaway, a student senator and member of the "Sweatshop Patrol" protest group. The students said sending money to WRC is a symbolic reaction to SOU President Stephen Reno�s announcement on Wednesday that the university would not make a decision to join the group until fall. The $500 will come, students said, from an abandoned book buy-back program. WRC is a newly formed, national organization that monitors working conditions in foreign clothing factories. It�s aim is to help universities ensure that their emblem clothing isn�t made with sweatshop labor. "I look forward to the day SOU is officially a member of the Workers Rights Consortium," Callaway said. The protesters had hoped that day would come this week, but Reno said the university would wait until other campus groups could vote on the issue. He promised a decision by Oct. 30. The Student Senate, Bookstore Advisory Committee and local chapter of the Oregon Public Employees Union have recommended joining WRC. The Faculty Senate and Regional Advisory Board each met Monday and asked Reno to delay a decision while they study up on the group. "The administration is representing the minority, the minority that said wait," said Ryan Wines, a student protester. "They�re ignoring the majority, the students, the largest constituency on this campus." Reno, who met with the protesters three times this week, said he applauds their decision to financially endorse WRC. "I think that�s a marvelous gesture," he said. "It�s so perfectly in accordance with their position. They�re putting their money where their mouths are." Reno said the move will add weight to the students� position when it comes time for the university to make an official decision in the fall. "It�s an extremely powerful statement," he said. Reno�s personal preference would be for the university to join both WRC and its rival, the Fair Labor Association. Students prefer WRC because it is student-oriented and its reports are public. FLA serves the apparel industry and releases its reports first to clothing manufacturers. Protesters said they�re gearing up to continue pushing for full-fledged WRC membership in the fall. "Our tents are going to disappear from the lawn, but students aren�t done with this issue," said Rebecca Sakarias. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA