Live web
cam of westcott12 tent city on Landis Green at FSU
for current update go to:
www.westcott12.org
Protesters who put up tents in FSU walkway acquitted of trespassing--
TALLAHASSEE -- Florida State University president Talbot "Sandy" D'Alemberte didn't care that students had gathered outside his office to highlight their demands that he join an activist group opposing sweatshops.
9/26/02
FSU
sweatshop protestors found not guilty - Six people who were arrested and charged with trespassing in March during the anti-sweatshop student protest at Florida State University were found not guilty today.--
The defendants fought the charge on principle, saying that the school shut down their right to free expression.
9/25/02
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To Friends and colleagues:
As many of you know, last Friday in a meeting of which the
United Students Against Sweatshops were not made aware,
the university passed a regulation banning tents from
campus. The effect of this regulation was to make the
tents of the on-going USAS protest on Landis Green a violation
of university rules.
At 1:00 o'clock today, [Tuesday, July 16, 2001, day 114]
university officials met with the USAS and sixty of their
supporters to inform the students that their protest was now in
violation and subject to enforcement. At this meeting
the USAS, in a gesture of cooperation, proposed two conditions
for a peaceable end to their tent city demonstration.
At approximately 5:30 today, the university notified the United
Students Against Sweatshops at their tent city that President
D'Alemberte had agreed to both of their conditions for a
peaceable end to the protest. Specifically, the president
agreed to meet with the executive director of the Workers'
Rights Consortium, and he guaranteed that no students arrested
in the March 25 Anti-Sweatshop demonstration would be expelled
or suspended from the university. Upon receiving notice of
the university's agreement to their conditions, the students
began voluntarily to dismantle their tents.
This is a very positive outcome, and all who had a part in it
should feel encouraged. The university has shown itself
willing to negotiate with the United Students Against Sweatshops
and to acknowledge the reasonableness of their demands.
President D'Alemberte has agreed to continue discussion with the
Workers' Rights Consortium, and no student is going to be
arrested for his or her act of conscience. After 114 days
of protest, the United Students Against Sweatshops have done
much to sensitize our community to nightmarish living conditions
and brutal labor practices around the world. They have
exposed institutional limits on free dissent and moral action at
FSU. They have raised serious issues of university
governance and student
representation.
Those students who have carried on this long struggle are
individuals of rare integrity and intelligence, and they deserve
our highest respect. Their victory today was hard-earned.
They will be back in the fall.
Ralph Berry, 7/18/02
ATTENTION!!!!!! WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!!!!! Emergency!!!
We were just informed that last Friday legislation was passed
through one of our university's committees saying that tents will
not be allowed on FSU property, unless of course your camping out
for football tickets.
THERE WILL BE A MEETING TOMORROW AT 1:00 WITH THE CHIEF OF
POLICE THE DEAN OF STUDENTS AND AN ADMINISTRATOR FROM THE
UNION.
PLEASE ATTEND!!!! MEET AT 12:30 ON LANDIS GREEN WE WILL MARCH
FROM THERE TO THE UNION
WE NEED TO HAVE AS MANY STUDENTS AND FACULTY THERE AS
POSSIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!
Anyone who can PLEASE come out for this tomorrow! United Students
Against Sweatshops is being forced to leave the free speech zone.
(email from FSU SAS, 7/15/02)
Top
Passing day 100 - and FSU has cut off water and closed restrooms
to deny tenters access on weekends - Please Read and Act:
As you can see in the information below, FSU is putting more heat on the students keeping up the battle to get FSU to join the Workers Rights Coalition which monitors factories which produce goods such as all the t-shirts and promotional items for the Seminoles. This organization looks out for the human rights of the workers, which have been found in some cases to be so deplorable as to have workers as virtual slaves, often with very young people working 20 hour days, women locked into the factory at night, rotted meat as meals, etc.
FSU has turned off the water faucet near the tent city the students have occupied for over 105 days. They have also restricted access to restrooms in nearby buildings at night and on weekends. Can you imagine being out in this heat all summer, as these students have been, giving up their freedom to enjoy their summer time off from class, maintaining apartments and not being able to inhabit them while the camp-in goes on, losing time to work and gain some spending money during the summer months? Then to have no water or restroom facilities? I find this so repugnant that I am moving to do what I can do to restore their access to these basic facilities.
If you can find it in your heart to do so, please contact the president of FSU, Sandy D'Alemberte by phone, FAX or email as listed below. At the very least insist that the water and restrooms be available to the students. If you wish to go further, ask that he consider having FSU join the WRC.
Sandy D'Alemberte 644-1085 FAX: (805) 644-0036 E-mail: dalember@mailer.fsu.edu
If you can, email him daily to ask the simple question, "Is the water turned on yet?"
I think it is imperative that FSU understand that this effort by the students is being noticed by the general public and has our support. It is a great relief to the students, and a small effort on our parts. Thanks for your help!!!!!
....Anna Lee Alvarez, Tallahassee, 7/8/02
July 2, 2002, Tent City passed its 100th day and the Summer heat is taking its toll. Between having the water and electric turned off because of “safety reasons” and losing access to the Johnston Building’s bathrooms at night, vacations, work, school, sexual hangups and outs Tent City inhabitants are getting stressed.
One of the bigger stressors is night watch and day watch. Since the drunks came driving around on the Green, we’ve not had any danger that having someone press the “emergency button” on the Blue light poles,” didn’t calm, right quick.
We’d like for you to spend the night once or twice a week, but if you could sign up for a couple-hour block once or twice a week, we would really appreciate it.
Come to get intimate with some of Tallahassee’s best loved criminals. Be celebrated. As Henry said, “It to the breach my friends, and who lives to see the morrow, be tell their grandchildren, I served with USAS on Landis Green.”
Please stop by and sign up for an hour or four at the site or contact Kelly at 644-6577.
Here are links to the Nation, New Republic and Times union articles. Also, some posts from Jim O'Rourke and the powers that be.
FSU tent protest enters 100th day Students stay in bid against sweatshops
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/070302/met_9824416.html
http://jacksonville.com/webcams/landisgreen.shtml
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/041302/met_9132450.html
http://www.thenation.com
DAY 73
Gabe Pendas of the Westcott 12 reported that a writer from the
Nation will be at Landis Green around 5:00 PM, Wednesday, June 5,
2002 interested in the protest.
You should stop by and say hello and make the numbers look better.
Here’s my letter in response to the 05 June 02 article in the
Tallahassee Democrat about the Westcott 12 and the original
article.
Letters Editor
It was good to see coverage of the Workers Rights Consortium,
United Students against Sweatshops and their camping out on
Florida State University's Landis Green. [http://www.fsu.edu/Webcam/landis/]
However, it failed to mention that the reason the Landis Green
demonstration started was the arrest for trespassing of the
WESTCOTT12.[http://www.westcott12.org/]
The reason Landis Green was chosen is that Landis is one of the
two, count them TWO, free speech zones on FSU campus.
12 members of Students against Sweatshops were arrested for
standing around on the grass around Westcott a "free
speech" "free" zone, that is a zone free of “free
speech..” Not occupying buildings, not blocking any doors
or sidewalks, even moving out of frame when folks wanted a less
scenic photograph.
They were peacefully and they thought legally protesting President
D'Alemberte's rejection of the Faculty Senate, the Student Senate
and the director of the Human Rights Center recommendation that
FSU should join the Worker Rights Consortium.[ http://workersrights.org/]
TALLAHASSEE DEMOCRAT
Tue, Jun. 04, 2002, page B1
Students still waiting for change
Anti-sweatshop group's 'tent city' reaches Day 72
By Wakisha Douglas
DEMOCRAT WRITER
Today marks Day 72 for a group of Florida State University
students protesting their university's involvement in what they
call sweatshop practices.
On the lawn in front of Strozier Library, they've created a
miniature community. About 26 camping tents are set up, and a wire
clothesline is tied from one tree to the next. A propane camping
grill serves as the kitchen. A study table is provided.
Anyone who passes by may think this "tent city" is a
replica of Woodstock '69, but one cannot miss the big sign that
reads "Join the WRC."
More...
Sweatshops
under the American flag
Last month a court in American Samoa ordered a garment factory to pay
$3.5 million to 270 workers from China and Vietnam. The court described
workers cheated of wages, beaten and deprived of food, something that
should never have occurred anywhere, much less on American territory.
But while the exploitation in the Daewoosa factory was egregious, it is
not isolated.
FSU PRESIDENT ACCUSED OF VIOLATING STUDENT RIGHTS: ACTIVISTS HUSHED IN
MOVE, PROFS SAY
By Thomas B. Pfankuch
TALLAHASSEE -- A city of tents sprang up March 25 around the most
visible welcome sign at Florida State University, the huge fountain at
Westcott Plaza in front of the university president's office.
A group of protesters calling themselves Students Against Sweatshops
erected their tents and planned to camp at the plaza unless the FSU
president agreed to join the Workers Rights Consortium. The
international organization monitors conditions for workers in
developing nations who make clothes bearing university names and logos
like the FSU Seminole Indian.
The events of that March night, while non-violent and initially
innocuous, have touched off heated debate in two different contexts on
this campus known more in recent years for football dominance, heavy
boozing and its ranking as the nation's top party school than for its
student activism.
FSU President Talbot "Sandy" D'Alemberte, in particular, has
come under heavy criticism from students and faculty, both for his
decision not to join the Workers Rights Consortium and for his
handling of the student protest which led to the arrest of 12
students. D'Alemberte said yesterday he stands by his decision and
feels the students have been treated with respect during their
protest.
One professor, though, said D'Alemberte's refusal to join the workers
rights group is "pathetic." And another called him a
hypocrite for being known as a free-speech advocate during his legal
career and then trying to squelch the student protest.
Professors and students alike have charged D'Alemberte with refusing
to join the workers rights group because it could anger shoemaker
Nike, which gives FSU about $3 million a year in an endorsement deal
in which all student athletes must wear Nike products. Nike officials
have threatened to withhold funding from other universities that
joined the group, though most deals have continued despite the
threats.
English professor Jim O'Rourke, the faculty adviser to the Students
Against Sweatshops, said he can see no other reason for D'Alemberte to
shun the Workers Rights Consortium except for his fear of losing the
Nike endorsement money.
"It contradicts the commitment D'Alemberte has made to students
learning social activism and community service," said O'Rourke,
who has tenure that provides job security. "The students are
throwing themselves into this, and the lesson they're learning is that
if you're right and go through the proper channels that a corporation
can just pull the strings and nothing else matters."
The students say Workers Rights Consortium watches where clothes with
university names and logos are made to ensure workers have decent
working conditions. D'Alemberte said it is an advocacy group whose
motives and methods he doesn't trust.
He is more comfortable with the Fair Labor Association, a workers
rights monitoring group that FSU and other universities set up a few
years ago with the blessing of clothing makers like Nike. He said
participation of the clothing companies in the Fair Labor Association
allows for more detailed and systematic monitoring of working
conditions in foreign countries. He also said several human rights
groups have praised the efforts of the association.
Both groups charge participating colleges 1 percent of their licensing
income, which for FSU would amount to about $17,000 a year from a $1.7
million agreement. The money comes from clothing manufacturers that
pay the university to use their name or logos. The $1.7 million raised
each year through licensing fees is separate from the $3 million
annual Nike endorsement deal.
D'Alemberte denied the Nike money influenced his decision not to join
the Workers Rights Consortium, the group supported by the FSU faculty
and student senates. "I think the risk of clothes being made by
sweatshops is very much lower due to the FLA," he said.
Professor O'Rourke said there's documentation of worker abuses in the
college clothing market. D'Alemberte acknowledged there's no way to be
sure clothes aren't made in sweatshops because even monitoring groups
can have lapses.
But D'Alemberte also has been ripped by critics who say he has tried
to undermine the voice of the student group by ordering the arrest of
students who refused to move their tents off the Wescott Plaza. They
say the president has minimized the students' protests by using a
little-known section in the student conduct code to force them off
Wescott Plaza.
Students said they were told they must leave Wescott and move into one
of two so-called free speech zones identified in the conduct code
where students can protest without a permit. The 46 tents in the
sweatshop protest now reside on Landis Green, a free speech zone in
the center of campus that is screened from the view of the general
public and far from D'Alemberte's office.
"There's no question that action absolutely minimizes the
protest, and that's his goal," said Will Moore, a tenured
political science professor.
The protesters have camped on Landis Green since March 27 and say they
will camp out until fall if necessary. They spend their days handing
out leaflets to passing students about horrible working conditions in
sweatshops. At night, they hold teach-ins on sweatshops but also relax
with bongos and guitars, belly dancing classes and an occasional movie
shown on the side of a tent.
Their efforts have not drawn support from a majority of students, some
of whom shout obscenities or other derisive statements at the
campers..
But the protesters are undeterred. About 100 protested for about an
hour on Wescott Plaza yesterday, carrying signs that said, "FSU
supports sweatshops," "No abuse for profit," and
"Sandy, who owns you?"
While their first cause is to get FSU in the Workers Rights
Consortium, many are still angry over the arrests and their
confinement to the free speech zone.
"We wanted to be constantly visible to him, in front of him at
his office, and now we're completely invisible out here," said
Shahar Sapir, 19, of Fort Lauderdale, a leader of the sweatshop
protesters.
D'Alemberte said yesterday he made the final decision to force the
students away from Wescott, a place he called inappropriate and unsafe
for tenting.
"Their speech clearly was not hampered," he said. "The
only thing hampered was their desire to set up tents wherever they
darn well wanted."
THE WESTCOTT TWELVE and UNITED STUDENTS AGAINST SWEATSHOPS
If you go past Florida State University’s Landis Green, you’ll see
a large number of people living in tents, this post will explain why
they’re there and what we can do to help.
In addition need wanting your help by writing letters and giving to
the Defense Fund, USAS is trying to produce a list of media contacts,
including home phone numbers, so if another terrorist attack happens,
they’ll be able to contact them. So send your lists to
I believe this information is accurate as Saturday morning,
March 30, 2002, shortly after some scumbag drove a truck on to Landis
Green. The tire tracks show he drove toward the tents stopping no more
ten feet away. The person’s tent who was assulted by this deadly
weapon said they were scared into articlate, as they were talking on
the phone to the police shortly after the attack. [I’ve been there,
I can relate.] See ITEM ONE - NEWS OF THE ATTACK
***************
TENT CITY CELL PHONE # 228-1694
***************
ITEM ONE - NEWS OF THE ATTACK
ITEM TWO - THE WESTCOTT 12 Brief History
ITEM THREE - SAMPLE AND EXAMPLE LETTERS
ITEM FOUR - DEFENSE FUND INFORMATION
ITEM
FIVE - NEWS MEDIA ARTICLES
ITEM ONE - NEWS OF THE ATTACK
At approximately 4:00 AM on Saturday, March 30, FSU students became
the victims of what can be called nothing short of a terrorist attack.
Many students erected a tent city on Landis Green after 12 stduents
were arrested for a peaceful demonstration on Monday evening.
Students are protesting Florida State University's refusal to join the
Workers Rights Consortium and the University's continued use of
sweatshop labor to produce apparel. Landis Green is one of two
"free speech zones" on campus. Police have been
periodically checking on the tent city.
Around 4:00 AM this morning, a dark-colored Jeep Wrangler (or a
vehicle similar in appearance) drove onto Landis Green and began
driving in circles. Tire tracks are still visible on Landis
Green and are only 10 feet away from tents which students were
sleeping. Two people also got out of the vehicle and jumped onto
tents. Students expressed a fear for their lives. When
peaceful demonstrators are nearly killed for exercising their
constitutional rights, the act can be called nothing short of
terrorism. Durring what police are describing as an
"aggravated assault", a bucket of white paint was spread on
the side of the vehicle.
One passenger was released from the vehicle before the attack and
appeared to be incredibly intoxicated. When University Police allowed
that individual to leave, he stated that he was walking to the Pi
Kappa Alpha fraternity house.
Two students, later joined by three others, walked to the Pi Kappa
Alpha house after police exited the scene to see if the vehicle was
driven to the fraternity house. As two of the students walked
into the parking lot at the Pi Kappa Alpha house around 5:30 AM, one
person was closing a wooden gate to the house while a dark-colored
Jeep was beginning to exit the lot. When the two students began
to run towards the vehicle, the Jeep sped out of the parking lot,
turning right. The two students observed a large white coloring
on the passenger side of the vehicle, leading all to assume this was
the same vehicle that was used to commit the terrorist attack on
Landis Green earlier.
Police arrived at the Pi Kappa Alpha house and knocked on the front
door. The students stated that they watched a man inside the
house turn out a light and sit down just out of view. Police
stated that they could do nothing more and told the students to go
back to Landis Green.
Protestor Tony Williams stated, "This event- this terrorist act-
will not deter us from standing up for the rights of workers around
the world and joining in their struggle. But students are in
fear of their lives, and the University is doing next to nothing. The
Chief of Police was called off of vaction to arrest twelve peaceful
demonstrators Monday evening, and a bus was used to take those
students to the Leon County Jail. And now, when peaceful
demonstrators were nearly killed... came within ten feet of losing
their lives... the University appears to be crossing their fingers
that they will happen to see the vehicle used. Where are the
University's priorities?"
The students continue to remain on Landis Green at the moment, 9:10
AM, protesting FSU's refusal to join the Workers Rights Consortium.
Many are still shaken and fear for their lives. They are still
trying to decide what to do in response to the early morning assault.
Please send letters of support for the protestors; letters urging FSU
to join the Workers Rights Consortium; letters condemning Monday's
arrests; and letters urging the police to take this morning's attack
seriously and find the perpetrators of this terrorist attack to the
following people:
President Sandy D'Alemberte:
Dr. Barbara Varchol, Dean of Students:
Dr. Robin Leach, Assoc. Dean of Students:
Chief of Police Carey Drayton:
Capt. Winston Scott, Vice President of Student Affairs:
ITEM TWO - THE WESTCOTT 12 Brief History:
Following an extensive 2 year campaign to try to get Florida State
University to join the Workers Rights Consortium, United Students
Against Sweatshops set up a Tent City on Mon. March 25 2002 in front
of the Westcott Building, the administrative building, which houses
FSU President Sandy D'alembre's office.
Following an expired ultimatum, issued by the students, that demanded
that the president provide a justifiable explanation as to why he will
not join the Workers Rights Consortium, students pitched tents
outside of the building. FSU-SAS had planned to spend a
prolonged period of time camped out in front of the building, and were
lead to believe they had the right to by the campus P.D.
At 6:30pm police notified the group they will not be able to stay the
night, and must clear the area. They were told they could either go to
a designated "free speech zone" where they could
demonstrate, or pack up and leave.
At that point 12 students decided to stand their ground, and remain.
Trang Do, Jacqueline Karma Bennett, Jennette Hartstein, Davida
Silverman, Cassie Cross, Ellen Trimarco, Evan Mays, Steven Payne, Ben
Dyckman, David Clagett III, Tony Williams, and Shahar Sapir were all
arrested on Mon, March 25th. At 9:30pm a police bus arrived and
took
all 12 students to Leon county jail.
$500 bail had to be and was posted for each of the students to be let
out. They have been charged with trespassing, a 1st degree misdemeanor
in the state of Florida. In addition, they will be tried by the school
for the violation, with the possibility of expulsion looming over
their heads.
Wed March 27th.
Following the arrest of 12 members of FSU-SAS the Tent City has been
temporarily moved to Landis Green, one of the school designated
"free speech zones"
ITEM THREE - SAMPLE AND EXAMPLE LETTERS
Please cc
with your letters.
Solidarity letters needed.
Please email FSU President Talbot Sandy D'Alemberte
Demand that Florida State University join the WRC.
Demand that all 12 students be cleared of all charges by the
university, and finally demand that no action be taken against them by
the University.
LETTER ONE
---- [A sample letter] -----
Dear President D'Alemberte,
My name is (your name), (who you are - e.g., junior at Georgia State
University). I understand that a number of your students were
arrested as they expressed their first amendment right by camping
outside your office building in order to encourage you to do the right
thing regarding the sweatshop issue. I am truly concerned about
the message that Florida State University is sending to students and
universities across the country by refusing to join the
WRC and by violating the civil rights of those who voice opinions
different from your own.
Like all of those courageous students, I believe that it is wrong for
a public institution that is paid for through my tax dollars to
support the abuse of the most basic of human rights by having their
apparel made under sweatshop working conditions. As you are
aware, there is an organization that tries to reduce this possibility
significantly. The Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) is the only
independent organization that can effectively do this job. By
refusing to join this institution, you are sending the message that
FSU supports sweatshop labor and all the abuses that entails.
The arrested students went through all of the proper bureaucratic
mechanisms to express their concerns about this issue and you have
continually turned a deaf ear to their demands. The only
logicalstep for any person of conscience in this situation is to
stepoutside of the system to have their voices heard. These
studentsspecifically chose a peaceful means of protest, devoid of any
civil disobedience, by camping in front of your office. It is
utterly outrageous that you would have peaceful students, who were
simply
exercising their first amendment right, arrested. Are we to
understand that to express an opinion different from the President of
FSU is a crime? Are we to understand that freedom of speech
nolonger exists at FSU?
In conclusion, I expect to see the following steps taken on your
behalf:
* Make the right decision about the issue of sweatshop labor by
joining the WRC.
* Ensure that all of the charges against the students who were
arrested for merely expressing their first amendment rights are
dropped.
* Allow all students on your campus the most basic of freedoms
outlined by our forefathers in the constitution the freedom of
speech.
I, along with all of my colleagues, will be watching this case
closely over the next few weeks. I sincerely hope that your position
will change on these issues.
Respectfully,
(Your name)
LETTER TWO
I am appalled at the most recent action taken against the 12 members
of FSU-SAS. These students should be commended for their
unselfishness. Despite your attempt to honor yourself by changing
FSU's history, i.e., FSU became an institution of higher learning in
1851 and not 1857 (I wonder how much this project costs?), what will
succeeded you is only the marring of this university's commitment to
higher learning and student enlightenment. Your supposed
commitment to human rights is not apparent from the opportunities FSU
is passing up. That the paltry sum of $17,000 will break the bank is a
feeble excuse not to join the WRC. We wouldn't want to do away with
our "ice cream socials" and other little extras in order to
protect the basic rights of workers (other human beings) that lie
beyond the ivory tower. I assure you, joining the WRC is a small cost
that will bestow upon you much prestige and honor from your students.
In the meantime, may I suggest we change our name to FSU CORP.?
Travis Hodges, an angry and disappointed FSU student
LETTER THREE
Dear President D'Alemberte,
My name is Jessica Tice, and I am an alumni of Florida State
University.
I am appalled to know that twelve of your students were arrested as
they expressed their first amendment rights. I am truly concerned
about the message that Florida State is sending to students and
universities across the country with this action. Believe me when I
tell you this: potential faculty, future students, alumni, and people
on both sides of this issue are definitely paying attention.
I chose Florida State as my school and Tallahassee as my home in part
because of Florida State's reputation of being the "Berkley of
the South." You can imagine, then, why I am disappointed by your
refusal to join the WRC; but mostly why I am shocked by your hypocrisy
regarding these student's right to peacefully demonstrate, and your
participation in the FSU PD's violation of the civil rights of these
students who simply voiced dissenting opinions. I learned from my
experiences and education at FSU, that we encourage our students to be
conscientious citizens, that we are proud of our diversity and we
foster an academic environment of political action. I am proud of my
school for being known for it's activism, it's involvement, and it's
administrative support of free speech- especially in these times of
blind patriotism and widespread youth apathy.
In the last seven years, I have seen many examples of our school's
tolerance and support for political and intellectual controversy. I
attended Mary Daly's SGA sponsored lecture, the very term after her
own university had removed her from the classroom for being too
controversial. I attended Elaine Brown, of the Black Panther Party as
she instructed audiences in strategic, if often violent, philosophies
of civil protest.
I watched students organize to form an entire department whose mission
touted WAR on the administration. I attended classes that admonished
the students who didn't vote, urged me to learn about candidate
platforms, taught me how to investigate issues, and ultimately forced
me to take and defend my own position. I also keenly remember Dean
Foss supporting an admitted white supremacist under the authority of
academic sensitivity to free speech. Although I feared for the
treatment of minority students in that man's classroom, I was proud of
our administration for taking an unpopular stand to defend it's
ultimate purpose of learning. I was also comforted by the protection
afforded to even the most extreme people, proving that in our diverse
university, "we may disagree with what others say, but we will
defend to the death their right to say it".
We, as a research institution, need to remain an intellectually
cutting edge environment, one where critical thinking and occasionally
controversial thinking is encouraged. You, as our school's champion
against censorship in the past, will surely curb any trend in our
campus police or administrative policy, that would threaten Florida
State's open academic environment. These student's imprisonment and
prosecution on criminal charges, is an effort to intimidate and
silence legitimate political demonstrators. But it is also a slap to
every professor that encouraged those kids to care, speak out, and get
involved in their world. It is also a message to every high school
senior trying to decide which college to go to. It is a clear signal
to the alumni that the school they proudly remember is back-sliding
under the pressures of conformity.
These students specifically chose a peaceful means of protest, devoid
of any civil disobedience, by camping in front of your office. It is
utterly outrageous that you would have peaceful students, who were
simply exercising their first amendment right, arrested. It is
scandalous that camping out on University grounds for football tickets
is a time-honored tradition, and camping outside an office building in
protest is an arrestable offense. Clearly it is not a zoning issue, so
are we to understand that to express an opinion different from the
President of FSU is the crime? Are we to understand that hypocrisy
flourishes, while freedom of speech is persecuted at FSU?
In conclusion, I hope to see you take the following steps:
* Honor these people's concerns and make a decision about the issue of
sweatshop labor.
* Ensure that all of the charges against the 12 students who were
arrested are dropped.
* Allow all students on your campus the most basic of freedoms
promised by our forefathers in the constitution - the freedom of
speech.
* Declare every square inch of FSU campus a "Free Speech
Zone" and head off incidences like this in the future
I, along with all of my colleagues, will be watching this case closely
over the next few weeks.
I sincerely hope that you will uphold our campus legacy of freedom
when you act on these issues.
Respectfully,
Jessica Tice
ITEM FOUR - DEFENSE FUND INFORMATION
This past Monday, 12 members of the Florida State University chapter
of Students Against Sweatshops were arrested protesting FSU's refusal
to join the Worker Rights Consortium. The WRC is a grassroots
organization that
monitors conditions in factories manufacturing licensed apparel that
displays university logos. FSU is one of the country's largest
licensers (the university receives $1.7 million annually from
licensing fees) so its failure to join the 95 colleges and
universities that support the WRC is
particularly notable.
The position that FSU should join the Worker Rights Consortium has
been endorsed by resolutions passed by the Faculty Senate and the
Student Senate. These resolutions followed upon a year long study by a
joint
faculty/student committee appointed by the Faculty Senate.
To date, students' legal expenses have been small ($600 in bail bond
fees) but they may rise considerably. A legal defense fund has
been established to provide for the students who, along with their
supporters, are now living in a tent city on Landis Green and
subsisting on food donations.
For more information on the anti-sweatshop movement, the arrest, and
ongoing protests, as well as information on how to make a contribution
to the legal defense fund, visit the website at <http://www.westcott12.org>.
Please circulate this message to other colleagues who might be
supportive of this effort.
ITEM
FIVE - NEWS MEDIA ARTICLES
Latest First
FSU VIEW - March 28, 2002
Associated Press - March 27, 2002
The Miami Herald - March 27, 2002
Tallahassee Democrat (FL) March 5, 2002
Tallahassee Democrat (FL) March 4, 2002
FSU VIEW March 4, 2002
********
FSU VIEW March 4, 2002
SAS makes good on ultimatum Students Against Sweatshops protest FSU
stance on joining WRC, camps out on Westcott March 28, 2002
Jason Schneider and Ashley Roque
News staff
During the combustible years of the 1960s and '70s, Florida State
University was known as the 'Berkeley of the South' due to the mass
demonstrations and powerful voices that rang from within the student
population.
On Monday night, a bit of that rebellious attitude resurfaced in front
of the Westcott Building, as 12 members of the Florida State
University Students Against Sweatshops (SAS) were arrested after
making good on their ultimatum to FSU President Talbot D'Alemberte,
demanding that D'Alemberte explain why FSU would not join the Workers'
Rights Consortium (WRC).
"We're talking about an issue of sweatshop labor, where those
workers don't have (the option to leave)," said SAS President
Tony Williams, explaining why he wouldn't leave the Westcott Fountain
area. "The President apparently doesn't feel the need to take
that into consideration when he makes his decisions. He also isn't
interested in what we have to say."
The point of contention between SAS and D'Alemberte is FSU's
membership in the WRC, which is a group that monitors working wages
and conditions in factories around the world. Florida State has a
contract with Nike to supply the University with athletic equipment,
and also makes money from licensing fees that comes from selling
merchandise that bears the FSU logo or name.
Florida State is a member of the Fair Labor Association (FLA), another
organization that monitors working wages and conditions. SAS feels
that FLA does not do an adequate job of monitoring factories and has
had an ongoing dialogue with D'Alemberte about FSU joining the WRC.
SAS delivered an ultimatum to D'Alemberte on Feb. 26, which gave
D'Alemberte seven days to justify his reasons for not joining the WRC.
On March 4, SAS suspended the ultimatum while the administration
discussed potential membership in the WRC. According to SAS,
communication broke down with the administration and it reinstated the
ultimatum, setting the deadline for 5 p.m. on March 25.
When the deadline came and went, the SAS group set up a "tent
city" on the grassy areas around the fountain at approximately 5
p.m. Monday evening and promised to camp out until D'Alemberte
satisfied the group.
"(We) are all people from our university, from my university and
we're here to demand (the factory workers) be treated like human
beings, as all people should," SAS Vice President Shahar Sapir
said. "Until that happens, until the University takes a proactive
step to do that we're gonna stay here."
What SAS apparently didn't know is that the Westcott Fountain area,
and in fact the majority of the FSU campus are not designated as
"free-speech zones." This news was delivered by FSU Police
Chief Carey Drayton, who arrived shortly after SAS set up their
"tent city", and took charge of the scene.
Drayton briefly spoke with the student group upon his arrival and then
left to get copies of the 2001 Florida Statutes and the University
Code of Conduct. The University Code of Conduct stipulates the areas
of the FSU campus where students are allowed to hold demonstrations,
protests and meetings without the prior knowledge of the University
Administration -- the area where the SAS protesters were was not one
of the areas designated as a free speech zone.
"(Drayton) basically said that (SAS) is not allowed to exercise
our first amendment rights and the (area around Westcott Fountain) is
not a designated free speech zone," Williams said.
Drayton himself seemed to be a bit surprised by the rules.
"I've been in four different states and this is the first time
that I've ever seen these statutes," Drayton said.
Drayton went on to explain why the statues were necessary.
"(FSU) is a public facility, so what is stopping any group from
coming and occupying classroom space," he said. "If we
didn't have any campus use facility policies, then we wouldn't have
any way to regulate them."
As the night went on, Drayton continued to talk with Williams about
the possible repercussions that the protesting students might face,
which included misdemeanor and felony charges, carrying the weight of
fines and jail time. The punishment that most SAS members seemed to be
the most concerned with though, was possible expulsion from Florida
State University.
"Getting expelled would be a terrible thing, but we don't back
down from our beliefs," Sapir said.
Despite the weighty penalties that the students faced, 12 SAS members
including Williams and Sapir decided to stay-the-course with hopes to
drive home their point with their now seemingly imminent arrests.
The other members of the group lent their support, but decided to not
enter the fray to the point of arrest. A few of those who decided to
not put themselves in the position to be arrested did so, so that they
could document the protests. Others remained to reorganize and ensure
that there would be people that would be in a position to bail out the
arrested members.
The 12 students moved next to the fountain, where 10 of the students
knelt in front of an American flag while Williams and Sapir held the
flag as a backdrop for the group.
A compromise was reached between Drayton and Williams, in which
Drayton publicly assured the students that he would testify on their
behalf at the student judiciary hearing to the fact that though the
students were in violation of the law, they fully cooperated with the
police officers on the scene in regards to the their arrests.
"I will have my voice heard," Drayton said. "I will say
to the panel members or the hearing officer that these students were
cooperative."
Williams, who was standing next Drayton when the police chief
announced that he would support the students at the judiciary hearing,
affirmed the students' part of the agreement assuring the officers
that the students would not resist arrest, actively or passively, and
added "I don't think we have a constitutional right to violently
assault police officers, but I do plan on staying and asserting my
constitutional rights."
At that point, Drayton left the students, who began various chants and
were joined by other members of the SAS and other students who had
begun to gather in front of the Westcott building in cheering. Drayton
returned 15 minutes later and read a statement informing the 12 SAS
members as to which statutes they were in violation of --
"unlawful assembly and disorderly conduct under section 870.02
and 8070.03 of the Florida Statutes."
Drayton asked the students if they understood and when all 12 either
said "yes" or nodded their heads, he motioned to a group of
officers standing off to the side of the fountain.
After being arrested, the students were taken away one-by-one from the
Westcott fountain to a waiting Leon County Sheriff bus, where they
were frisked, their belongings placed in paper bags, and eventually
taken to the Leon County Jail.
The students that remained took down the "tent city" and
began to make arrangements to bail out their fellow students.
The bail was set at $500 per-student and at approximately 3 a.m. the
12 SAS members bonded out.
********
Associated Press 03.27.02
Florida State students arrested for protesting outside 'free-speech
areas'
Tallahassee Democrat (FL) March 5, 2002
Column: Local TALLAHASSEE
Author: Democrat staff and news services
Edition: TD, Section: B, Page: B3
Students stall on ultimatum: Florida State University Students
Against Sweatshops temporarily suspended its ultimatum to President
Sandy D'Alemberte on Monday because of new signs that the group's
issue may be solved through discussions with administrators. The group
had called on D'Alemberte to provide public justification for his
refusal to permit FSU to join the Workers Rights Consortium, an
organization monitoring factories that make university-licensed
apparel.
The group warned it would take some kind of additional action if its
demand wasn't met by 8 a.m. today. But Tony Williams, the group's
president, said Monday that students are waiting to see what
transpires at a Friday meeting of administrators.
FSU VIEW March 4, 2002
Seven-day ultimatum to D'Alemberte suspended USAS promises further
action, raises concerns from FSUPD by Hadia Mubarak, Assistant News
EditorMarch 04, 2002
In another bold step, United Students Against Sweatshop (USAS)
issued a seven day ultimatum to FSU President Sandy D'Alemberte on
Feb. 26, urging FSU for membership in the Workers Rights Consortium (WRC).
Students from the organization delivered the typed ultimatum to the
President's office in Westcott. However, after meeting with Director
of the Center for the Advancement of Human Rights Terry Coonan on
Friday, USAS leaders agreed to temporarily suspend the ultimatum as
long as the administration promises to continue the dialogue.
"If we find a way to make sure that FSU does join the WRC, as
long as those discussions are taking place, we're willing to suspend
that ultimatum," USAS President Tony Williams said. "It by
no way means that things are over, but it means that we're willing to
handle things diplomatically."
The ultimatum stated, "We, FSU Students Against Sweatshops, are
now demanding that you publicly offer a valid justification for
refusing to join the WRC within the next seven days."
The statement included a list of demands, such as that it must be
issued by 8 a.m. on March 5, it must appear on the front page of the
FSU website by the specified time and it must involve a press
conference, giving USAS a 24-hour notification via e-mail.
USAS members also demanded a videotape copy of the press conference
and a paper copy of D'Alemberte's public statement.
After delivering the letter, Williams received a message on his phone
later that Tuesday from the FSUPD.
FSUPD questioned the group's demands and 'further actions' that would
be taken if the demands were not met.
"I don't know what the President thinks, but the FSUPD wanted to
know what to expect because they're concerned with our First Amendment
rights," Williams said.
A meeting was scheduled on March 1 between Williams and Sergeant Bill
Taylor of the FSUPD.
"He said he's curious about the demands, but I think it's clear
what they are," Williams said prior to the meeting. "They
wanted to see if we were going to stage a protest to see if we needed
a permit or anything like that. Apparently, the FSUPD is really good
about letting students voice their opinions."
USAS would not disclose what further actions it would take if its
demands were not met.
The FSU Center for the Advancement of Human Rights, which has been
supportive of the public campaign for WRC membership, also met with
the administration during the week.
In a meeting on Thursday, Coonan, gave Vice President of Student
Affairs Capt. Winston Scott and his staff the perspective of the
international human rights community on the WRC.
Coonan, who has been at the forefront of the dialogue between USAS and
the FSU administration, is creating a middle ground where both sides
can reach a compromise. That compromise might be well under-way with
Coonan's last meeting with USAS leaders on March 1, when they agreed
to temporarily suspend the ultimatum on the basis of the
administration's commitment to reinitiate the dialogue.
"There is a legitimate role for civil disobedience and protest,
but it should be a last resort and I'm hoping we're not at that point
right now," Coonan said. "We need to explore the president's
decision and see if there are ways to address the legitimate concerns
he has articulated."
Scott echoed Coonan's stance that dialogue should not be abandoned.
"As far as the University's position is concerned, President
D'Alemberte sets the direction and we must all follow," Scott
said. "I will say that I have found President D'Alemberte to be a
fair and open-minded person who will discuss any issue with anyone. I
think students should, and must continue to have, constructive
dialogue with the president on this issue."
Scott's recent efforts to negotiate with the students led to USAS'
decision to suspend the ultimatum.
"Our hope this whole time was just giving enough information as
we could, to allow the president to make the right decision, but it
did get to the point where there was no longer a rational dialogue
going on," Williams said. "We were just talking to a brick
wall. But as long as people from the administration are willing to
talk to us and make things happen, we're more than happy to do
that."
USAS members have held several meetings, both public and private, with
D'Alemberte over the course of the last two years.
Faculty Senate and Student Senate have both passed resolutions urging
FSU join the WRC, a fair labor rights organization that advances the
rights of workers in multi-national corporations. The organization
strictly monitors working conditions of businesses and informs
university members of any abuses or unfair labor laws the company
employs. The university can choose to take action or inaction based on
knowledge provided to them by the WRC.
USAS' latest confrontation, prior to the ultimatum, had been at the
Board of Trustees meetings on Feb. 14-15 and earlier at Student Senate
on Feb. 13.
After D'Alemberte's objection with the WRC, attesting they advocated
policies that infringed on free trade, USAS members provided him with
an official letter from the WRC executive director refuting his
argument.
"TYPE=PICT;ALT=endofarticledingbat"
Tallahassee Democrat (FL), March 4, 2002
FSU REFUSES TO JOIN 2ND FACTORY-MONITORING GROUP
SWEATSHOP CAMPAIGN BY STUDENTS COMES TO HEAD
Author: Melanie Yeager, DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER
Edition: TD, Section: A, Page: A1
Article Text:
Wearing white shirts and red carnations in a show of solidarity, they
formed a silent circle
around the Florida State University board of trustees. They delivered
letters one at a time to FSU President Sandy D'Alemberte and finally
dumped more than 300 on the table in front of him. When they felt
ignored, they interrupted the final minutes of last month's trustees'
meeting,
demanding action. To D'Alemberte, they crossed the line. "I'm
very disappointed," he said to them as he left the room.
But to the students, it was an outpouring of pent-up frustration after
more than a year of what they considered unfruitful dialogue with
D'Alemberte. Members of the FSU Students Against Sweatshops have been
trying to persuade D'Alemberte to affiliate the university with the
Workers Rights Consortium, an advocacy group that would monitor the
factories that manufacture FSU-licensed products.
Although D'Alemberte says he has fewer doubts about the
consortium's merits than he did a year
ago, he's still not convinced that FSU should spend 1 percent of its
licensing revenue ---
nearly $17,000 last year and more than $21,000 when FSU wins national
football championships
--- to affiliate with the group.
He originally balked because he thought the group was against
free trade. But now he bases his
refusal on two points: One, FSU is already one of the 17 original
universities that joined the
Fair Labor Association, a monitoring group that involves the
corporations paying for clothing
labor. And two, if the university were to support human rights
organizations financially, he
says, others such as the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights and
Amnesty International may be
more deserving.
Trustees plan to come up with guidelines on whether or when FSU
should join advocacy groups.
"I don't mean to be hardheaded, but ultimately the judgment
has got to be mine as long as I have this job," said D'Alemberte,
who has met with students and responded to numerous e-mails on the
issue. "Where you stand may depend on where you sit. I'm sitting
in a chair where I have
to make decisions about university resources."
Support for students' effort
The students' effort to join the consortium has the backing of
the Student Senate, the Faculty Senate and Terry Coonan, the director
of FSU's new Center for the Advancement of Human Rights. Each has
concluded that FSU can't go wrong by being affiliated with the
consortium as well as the Fair Labor Association, which already takes
1 percent of FSU's licensing revenue.
The consortium is considered a grass-roots organization that
empowers factory workers to act quickly against abuses. Its biggest
success so far has been at Mexmode, a factory producing collegiate
sweatshirts in Mexico, where workers were fired for boycotting the
cafeteria. The
consortium's investigation, which threatened Nike's image, resulted in
the rehiring of workers, raises and improvement in cafeteria food.
By comparison, the Fair Labor Association --- which has more
than 160 colleges and universities participating in it --- works
top-down with the companies to fix problems by
weighing their contracted factories' practices against an established
code of conduct. When companies enforce such conduct, D'Alemberte
says, "real change can occur."
For the past two years, joining the consortium has become the
chief cause of United Students Against Sweatshops groups nationwide.
Ninety-two universities are now affiliated with the consortium. The
campaigns start with fliers and education, then escalate to increasing
pressure on college presidents to support the effort.
Students at the University of Michigan and the University of
Wisconsin held a joint three-day sit-in in administrative offices in
2000 that led to their schools participating in the
consortium.
This past fall, San Diego State University joined after more
than a year of campaigning by students. Among the tactics used by
students was a mock sweatshop fashion show during which students
modeled apparel made in factories with questionable practices.
Demand for statement
FSU students last week called on D'Alemberte to publicly issue a
statement by 8 a.m. Tuesday justifying his refusal to join the
consortium. If he does not, they caution that more action will follow,
though they won't discuss their plans. D'Alemberte said he's already
made public statements on the matter.
"We've been doing this for two years, and we've just got to
the point that the president is pretty much stonewalling us,"
said Tony Williams, president of the anti-sweatshop student
group.
Freshman Kelly Bohlander, another student leader, agreed.
"He just blows us off, even after so many parties of the
university have told him to join," said the social work major
from Port Charlotte. "We've been diplomatic . . . and it's not
working. So we'll have to find alternative means."
The ugly truth, Williams said, is that most clothing is made in
sweatshops under horrible conditions.
"Unfair and destructive conditions in the apparel industry
have existed in large part because of insufficient scrutiny,"
said Scott Nova, the executive director of the consortium. "A lot
of this over the years has happened in the dark."
More than 3,000 of the tens of thousands of factories in the
world contribute to the nearly $3 billion annual sales in collegiate
apparel, Nova said. It's just a fraction of the $100
billion-plus annual sales in clothing each year.
"It's really a matter of changing how business is done on a
global scale," Williams said. "We feel it's important to use
our leverage through the universities."
The thinking is that any improvements will have a far-reaching
effect since many factories making university apparel also produce
other clothing.
"This is only the beginning, but it's a necessary
start," Williams said.
D'Alemberte has suggested the consortium affiliation fee be paid
for with student money appropriated by the Student Senate.
But Senate President Alex Mullineaux said he'd rather see the
administration commit to the cause long-term.
Said Mullineaux: "If they want to give us the millions of
dollars in licensing fees each year, then, yes, we'll pay for
it."
or (850) 599-2306.
Caption:
ALLISON LONG /Democrat
Karma Bennett is involved in Students Against Sweatshops, which
is asking FSU to join a workers' advocacy group to monitor factories
that make FSU-licensed products. [note from TOM, Karma is pictured
wearing a Veterans for Peace Convoy to Nicaragua T shirt. FEED the
CHILDREN, NOT the WAR!] She is also senior director of the Center for
Participant Education; the student group holds meetings at the
center's offices. ALLISON LONG /Democrat
Gabriel Pendas, 19, is one of the student leaders of Students
Against Sweatshops support group at FSU.Color Photo Color Photo
Copyright (c) 2002 Tallahassee Democrat
*********
Tallahassee Democrat (FL) March 4, 2002
'PROGRESSIVE' GROUP HAS MAINSTREAM SUPPORT
Author: Melanie Yeager, DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER
Edition: TD
Section: A
Page: A2
Article Text:
Having the backing of mainstream campus government leaders is unusual
for a group that describes its members as "progressive," a
politically correct alternative for liberal.
But Florida State University's Students Against Sweatshops has
won support for its goal from the Student Senate.
The group is lobbying FSU President Sandy D'Alemberte to join the
Workers Rights Consortium, which fights for better conditions for
factory employees.
"I see a lot of my peers occupying their time with
unimportant and petty things," said Jonathan Luna, a Miami
sophomore majoring in anthropology and environmental studies.
Member Steve Payne, a sophomore English major, said he wants to
avoid the stereotypical college experience of going to school to
secure a high-paying job and getting drunk every weekend.
"We're all really privileged here," Payne said.
"It's important to us, the privileged, to help people who are
less privileged in the world."
The anti-sweatshop group, which started as an offshoot of the
school's Amnesty International club, registered as an official campus
organization in January 2001. The grass-roots effort, however, began
at least a year before that.
"It pretty much started at one person's home, sitting
around with 10 or 15 people," said Tony Williams, the group's
current president. Now the group boasts 15 active members, defined by
Williams as those ready to endure at times four-hour meetings. Another
15 students are ready to
help out when possible.
Primarily, the group has focused on educating students about the
anti-sweatshop issue through fliers and a booth at Oglesby Student
Union every Wednesday.
Said Kelly Bohlander, a freshman and core leader of the group:
"We do and say what we do because we feel like it's the
truth."
Copyright (c) 2002 Tallahassee Democrat
Record Number: 0203120044
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