Kudos to the administration

Last February, IU made a commitment to the newly established independent monitoring organization, the Workers Rights Consortium (WRC), to implement the IU code of conduct for licensees that produce apparel with the IU logo. \nThe WRC requires universities to disclose the identities and locations of the subcontractors to verify the labor standards of the factories and ensure that they implement IU's code of conduct. The code prohibits child labor, forced labor, compulsory overtime, slave wages, demands stringent health and safety requirements and the right to organize.\nIt is a source of pride for anyone who wears the IU logo to know that IU will not tolerate exploitive sub-contractors; it is also a source of pride for students to know that IU was a leader in its commitment to make the international movement a success. IU was the first school in the Big Ten and one of the first in the country to turn down the Fair Labor Association in favor of the WRC. Taking our lead, the Universities of Wisconsin and Michigan joined as well. By April, Purdue's hunger strikers convinced their administration to commit to joining in September.\nUnfortunately, the aforementioned schools all recently joined the FLA in addition to their WRC memberships, backing down from an earlier stance opposing corporate slavery. IU's administration has not wavered in the face of these outside pressures, supporting the WRC and rejecting the ineffective, undemocratic FLA. \nIU's strong position in the anti-sweatshop movement clearly states that corporate interests will not influence University policies. For more information of these issues check out these links: web.mit.edu/dorourke/www/ index.html.\nChristine Johnson\nSenior\nMegan K. Hise\nSophomore