ICmRS TO THE EDITOR
Nike misinformation
Nike recently had a press
conference via telephone with
18 student publications around
the country (ODE, Oct. 15). Uni
versity of Oregon students
should understand this is a
public relations ploy to divert
attention away from the Inter
national Day of Action that was
scheduled Oct. 18. There’s no
need to read the details on Page
Six since the Emerald has sum
marized the article in a tidy lit
tle sound bite in the large green
box, “Company officials say
conditions and wages for their
workers are good."
If you critically read the arti
cle, you will find some incredi
ble misinformation that was
churned out by Nike labor prac
tice manager Dusty Kidd. He
says, “A lot of people sort of put
into the memory bank that the
average person needs $2.10 a
day just for food ... That’s sim
ply not true in a country where
the per capita income is $300 a
year." Per capita income tells us
nothing about the cost for basic
necessities. The cost for three
meals a day in Vietnam is
$2.10. Nike workers make an
average wage of 20 cents per
hour, or $1.60 a day. Therefore,
the Nike pay in Vietnam is a
wage below subsistence level.
Kidd tells us the information
that the labor right abuses are
“anecdotal" and not based on
“facts.” Here are some facts:
• This year on International
Women’s Day (March 8) 56
women employed at a factory
making Nike shoes in Dong Nai,
Vietnam, were forced to run
around the factory in the hot
sun because they hadn’t worn
regulation shoes. As a conse
quence, 12 women were taken
to the emergency room (Bob
Hebert, New York Times, Mar.
28).
• Jang Mi Baek, a forewoman
at the Sam Yang factory in Viet
nam, lined up women workers
and beat them in the face with
an unfinished shoe (Far Eastern
Economic Review, Aug. 22,
1996).
• Thuyen Ngyen, founder of
Vietnam Labor Watch, reported
violations of minimum wage
and overtime laws and the use
of corporal punishment at the
Sam Yang Company (Jeff Man
ning, Oregonian, Mar. 27).
Ngyen is not your typical labor
activist; he was previously a
New York investment banker.
Students should also be
aware that Nike recently chal
lenged the sweatshop resolu
tion introduced by shareholders
and the United Methodist
Church. The Securities and Ex
change Commission allowed
Nike to omit the sweatshop res
olution from its proxy state
ment (Campaign for Labor
Rights, Oct. ‘97).
For more details on these is
sues, check out the following
sources:
www.cleanclothes.org/l/nike
high.htm
www.globalexchange.org/ca
mpaigns/nike/faq.html
www.globalexchange.org/ca
mpaigns/nike/resources.html
clr@igc.apc.org (Request the
Stephen Glass article published
in The New Republic, Aug.
1997)
Julia Fox
Andrea Coukos
Sociology department
Write living will
Why the euphemisms? Isn't
“suicide” the taking of one’s
own life? If someone else gets
into the act, is it still “suicide”?
If we do not do the deed but
assist someone who does, we
are “accomplices" and share the
blame.
Those who take life have
been known for ages as murder
ers, butchers, military aggres
sors or executioners. Do we re
ally want to add another name
to that list — doctors?
If people are determined to
kill themselves, they are free to
do so, but let them take full re
sponsibility for their actions.
Don’t dump some of the guilt
on a doctor.
As an alternative to “assisted
suicide,” I suggest that every
one over 18 have a living will
refusing extraordinary medical
measures and requesting
enough painkillers to keep
them comfortable should they
ever be verified as terminally ill
by more than one doctor. Then,
should the occasion arise, they
can wrap themselves in the love
of their families and friends
while they get their spiritual
and temporal affairs in order.
Nature will take care of the rest.
Meanwhile, vote yes on Mea
sure 51.
Veronica Sitton
Corvallis
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Correction
An article in last week’s edition of Well
Now, which is published by the University
Health Center, incorrectly stated that RIM
intramural sports are free. In fact, fees
range from free to $40. Nor is crew an
intramural sport, as the article suggested.
Well Now regrets the errors.