Amid controversy about the University’s contract with a garment manufacturer accused of breaking labor codes in Honduras, the ASUO Senate rejected a resolution condemning sweatshop labor Wednesday night.
Adopting the measure would have required a two-thirds majority in support of the resolution, but only nine senators voted in favor, out of 15 present and 18 seats currently filled. The Senate also rejected another resolution directly condemning Russell Athletic for alleged abuses in closing a Honduran apparel factory, citing uncertainty over the truth of the allegations.
Voting on the initial, broader resolution caused visible agony for ASUO President-elect Emma Kallaway, a current senator. She passed on voting the first time her name was called. When her name was read in the roll call a second time, she flushed, buried her head in her right hand, and grimaced at the room, mulling almost a minute before voting in favor of the measure.
“If all the students in this room can’t even agree, how can I know how all students feel?” Kallaway said of her thoughts before she voted. “How can I vote on this if my constituents are not in support?”
The resolution was sponsored by Step Up, Oregon!, which also led a protest against Russell earlier Wednesday. The group is pushing the University to drop its commercial license with Russell over allegations that Russell closed a Honduran factory to quash a labor union.
Though Step Up, Oregon! members at the meeting insisted the first resolution did not specifically target Russell, senators said it was difficult to divorce it from the protest.
“You really have to look at the intent of a resolution and the context of it,” Sen. Nick Gower said. “It’s very much geared towards Russell Athletic.”
Sen. Cassandra Gray was especially vocal in her opposition, not only questioning the resolution but defending Russell, passing out statements from the company saying the allegations were false.
“I just want to point out that people and companies make mistakes,” Gray said. “And when you make mistakes you seek remediation, and that is what Russell is trying to do.”
Gray was one of four senators who voted against the resolution. Each of the others gave his own reasons for voting against the measure.
“There’s a good part of campus that don’t agree with these things,” Sen. Demic Tipitino said.
Sen. Nick Schultz, who sponsored the resolution, lambasted Gray for her methods of defending Russell, which included citing a trip she had taken to a factory in China. He then turned his attentions on the rest of the Senate.
“All too often, as representatives of students, we don’t take a stand because we’re afraid,” Schultz said. “We’re afraid of offending people … Please don’t be a lame duck representative.”
The vote was taken at the end of a meeting that dragged on past midnight and left senators so exhausted that Sens. Tipitino and Tina Snodgrass stepped into the hallway before discussion of the sweatshop resolution and shotgunned energy drinks.
Senators said they would be in support of an altered resolution on sweatshops, and sent a revised version to the Senate’s rules committee, intending to vote on it at their final meeting next week. Tipitino said he would consider voting for the revised resolution.
Before voting on the resolution, the Senate passed several funding requests from student groups.
? Ethos Magazine got $4,850 to print its spring term issue. Ethos received $4,222.70 during winter term to fund its last issue, and several senators said they were upset the magazine could not generate the money needed to finance its printing by selling advertisements. Though he acknowledged the quality of the magazine, Sen. Nick Gower called for his colleagues to vote against the allocation.
“Any program could thrive and win awards if we keep giving them lots of money,” Gower said.
Representatives of Ethos said the group had struggled to find advertisers because it did not have name recognition. Ethos Advertising Director Ashley Tschudin said despite efforts by the magazine’s advertising staff, Ethos sold only two ads.
“Nobody knows who we are,” Ethos Editor-in-chief Roger Bong said. Ethos was called KD Magazine until its winter issue. The request passed after senators who approved Ethos’ budget said the magazine’s operating budget was too small.
“You think of the New York Times subscription,” said Sen. Nick Schultz. “That’s something we could be funding; or we could fund something that is for students, by students.”
? The Senate also approved two requests from the Forensics Debate and Speech team totaling nearly $1,500. Sens. Gower and Hailey Sheldon are both on the team, but both said they did not believe strongly in the requests. The Senate eventually approved them after removing roughly $400 for advertising in the Register-Guard.
? Four other groups got funding for events before the end of the year – the African Student Association, the Arab Student Union, Hawaii Club and the University Women’s Center. After the meeting, the Senate had $25,308.09 left in its funds.
Robert D’Andrea contributed to this report.
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Senate kills sweatshop resolution
Daily Emerald
May 14, 2009
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