Purdue student group continues 3-week hunger strike

A group of Purdue students, with support from IU's No Sweat! and others, is attempting to persuade the University to stop using what they call sweatshop labor to make Boilermaker apparel.\nToday marks the 21st day of the hunger strike led by 17 Purdue students in an attempt to get Purdue President Martin Jischke to sign the Designated Suppliers Program, which will ensure that Purdue logo apparel is made in factories where workers are free to join unions, earn a living wage and where the established code of conduct is followed.\nThe Purdue students have said that their strike will continue until the university signs the Designated Suppliers Program, according to a news release from the group. \n"The idea behind the hunger strike is that this issue is pressing enough that action needs to be taken now," said Mark Franciose, a member of Purdue Organization for Labor Equality who is taking part in the fast. "The hunger strike is a way of showing the urgency of the situation."\nRepresentatives from the group met with Jischke on Thursday, when they presented him with petitions signed by people who support the Designated Suppliers Program. Jischke said that he will make a decision within a week's time, Franciose said. The group is optimistic that Jischke will make his decision sooner.\n"We hope he considers all the support that has been shown by the community and the student body," Fransciose said.\nIU's labor rights group, No Sweat! showed its support for the Purdue hunger strikers by protesting at the Purdue University Extension Service office at 119 W. Seventh St. in Bloomington on Nov. 29. 25 members of the group also participated in a one-day solidarity fast that day, according to a press release from the group.\nNo Sweat! member Jacob Mazer said the solidarity fast was a way to show the students at Purdue they are not alone in their mission. \n"We have worked with the Purdue Organization for Labor Equality a lot," he said. "They are people that we know very well, not just politically but also personally."\nThe Designated Supplier Program became an issue last fall on the IU campus when No Sweat began campaigning for the University to move in the direction of labor rights in the production of University merchandise, Mazer said. The program was passed by IU President Adam Herbert last spring and right now is still in the process of implementation.\nMazer said No Sweat! played a major role in making the Designated Supplier Program a reality at IU. \n"We did a variety of actions to help raise awareness about the Designated Supplier Program," he said. "But mostly it was just about going out and talking to people and letting them know about the issues that were going on."\nMazer said he has a personal interest in human rights and especially workers' rights and said No Sweat is a worthwhile and influential student group on campus.\n"It is really important because we have a lot of power as students," Mazer said. "Our individual buying powers don't amount to much, but the schools we go to, and that we pay for, tend to have huge contracts with apparel manufacturers, and, as students, we have a lot of leverage to negotiate how our university does business."\nFranciose said the hunger strike is similar to most fasts of its kind. Participants are refraining from eating solid food and are augmenting their diets with liquids such as juice and water. In addition, some individuals are taking multivitamins as supplements.\nPurdue students have been quite responsive to the hunger strike, Franciose said. As of Wednesday, the group has obtained more than 1,600 physical petition signatures in addition to the 1,200 signatures the group received online at its Web site, www.purduehungerstrike.org.\nNot everyone is as sympathetic to the issue Franciose and his friends are promoting, he said. While several individuals have shown support by bringing supplies such as juice and water, some are more negative toward the campaign. He said his group has had some critics express their disapproval with one group of students even resorting to throwing Taco Bell food at the hunger strike participants.\n"I think the campus as a whole has been pretty receptive to our mission," Franciose said. "There are hecklers, of course"