Frohnmayer irresponsible
Congratulations University President Dave Frohnmayer, you got rid of the annoying protesters in front of Johnson Hall, and in the process you might have cost the University the new football stadium. Oh wait, who am I kidding, we’ll probably still get the football stadium, student incidental fees will just have to be jacked up.
The Worker Rights Consortium is a case of students who have nothing better to due than ruin things for everyone else. They didn’t care about the political fallout, and they didn’t care that the University was going to lose millions.
Some of the people who were protesting were not even University students, but members from the community who believed in the cause. They won’t have to deal with higher incidental fees. One of the ringleaders of the circus in front of Johnson Hall was overheard saying that a majority of University students didn’t want to join the WRC, but the ones who wanted it felt it was a good cause.
I don’t blame Knight for reportedly pulling his funding of the new football stadium. I wouldn’t donate money to a group that slaps me in the face without warning. Frohnmayer should have given more thought to the political fallout instead of being so eager to solve the problem. Congratulations Frohnmayer, you got rid of the 50 protesters and left 17,000 other students with a $30 million bill.

Nick Larsen

pre-journalism

Protesters naive
To begin with, I feel that the protesters fighting for the Worker Right Consortium contract were very naive and uneducated when it came to Nike. Why didn’t the protesters, as well as University President Dave Frohnmayer, look at the issue of who supports this University? Nike, and Nike CEO Phil Knight, has invested so much money into this school, we should be nothing but thankful.
In an effort not to be hypocritical, I researched the working conditions in the Nike factories that protesters were fighting for change in. Nike has made the working environment in their overseas factories exceptional in comparison to other factories in the same countries. If protesters had taken time to research Nike and their working conditions, they would have found the same information I did.
My final thought is the ignorance Frohnmayer, as well as the rest of the University Senate, took by reportedly not informing Knight of the school’s recent involvement on the issue of the WRC. That was the biggest mistake. I feel that after the fact, there is nothing we can really do except take it where it hurts, and lose $30 million. It’s what we get for not looking at the big issue and focusing on pleasing a few.
I feel that most students support Nike, and speaking on behalf of the students, feel that we knew signing on the WRC would affect us greatly. Now, who is this going to end up affecting the most? The students. How else are they going to cover a $30 million loss?
 

Kimberly Thale

business