Editor in chief: Laura Cadiz
Editorial Editors: Bret Jacobson, Laura Lucas
Newsroom: (541)346-5511
Room 300, Erb Memorial Union
P.O. Box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403
E-mail: ode@oregon.uoregon.edu
Thursday
May 4,2000
Volume 101, Issue 145
Emerald
too late
Students now
questioningthe decision
to sign onto the WRC
should have been
involved from the
beginning, rather than
making an uninformed
vote or no vote at all
I know you’ve been hearing about it
for weeks now, and the three letters
W-R-C are rudely invading even
your most peaceful dreams. The re
sult of the Johnson Hall protests and Nike
CEO Phil Knight rescinding his $30 mil
lion pledge is an indelible and ubiquitous
mark on campus. But the source of all this
fuss is just recently being scrutinized and
the average individual is just now asking,
“What exactly is the Worker Rights Consor
tium?” This should have been interrogated
much sooner, but angry students are only
now paying attention because of WRC’s af
termath.
Did students even know what they were
voting for when they marked “yes” next to
WRC on the election ballots back in
March? Of course those who voted must
have associated the term with human
rights. If any of them have changed their
mind since, claiming they were misin
formed, that’s their own fault. And others
who didn’t vote at all just didn’t care
enough to be informed. Oh, but now they
care. Only now are angry students investi
gating the WRC, but only because Knight
got their attention. Losing $30 million dol
lars can create a whole new perspective.
Students who walked by the protesters
indifferently, making ignorant comments
such as “just those damn hippies again,”
are just now criticizing the VVRC. But it
doesn’t mean much now, does it? If they
would have educated themselves in the*
first place, perhaps they could have made
an effort to change the final outcome. For
example, since there’s always two sides to
every controversial
issue, why didn’t
anyone step up and
form an anti-WRC
organization? Why
didn't people like
Andy Koper and
Caleb Smith, the
sports marketing
students selling “I
agree with Phil” T
shirts, form a cam
paign earlier to
warn students of
what could happen
if they didn’t vote
“no" for the WRC. Smith told the Emerald
on Tuesday, “Basically, we’re just trying to
... get students motivated on the other side
of the issue ...” That would’ve been useful
before the final decision was made.
As a consequence of students not being
Beata
Mostafavi
fully aware of the subject and not voting,
the decision that was made was in favor of
the minority. But again, whose fault is that?
University President Dave Frohnmayer
even said that if the student vote had
turned out differently, then it could have
affected the end result.
Many are just now learning about the
WRC or finding out new information about
it. Some actually had the impression that
the WRC was an established organization
that monitored sweatshops better than the
Fair Labor Association. But as Duncan Mc
Donald, the University’s vice president for
public affairs and development, said in the
May 1 issue of the Emerald, “The thing that
I think has never been made very clear is
that the WRC is still a concept, not an or
ganization.” Those who are just now criti
cizing this fact should have figured this out
sooner and voted no for the WRC when
they had the chance.
Because of the lack of knowledge among
students, our University signed on to a
group that many knew nothing about. Stu
dents are suddenly focusing on the moni
toring group’s flaws and concluding that
we made the wrong decision, but only after
the University suffered financially. People
are just now questioning whether this
“concept” can even live up to its aspira
tions. McDonald also noted that the WRC
could possibly be two years away from any
factory monitoring because it has no gov
erning body and lacks sufficient financial
means and staff infrastructure. But appar
ently we voted for this, so why are we dis
covering these weaknesses just now?
The WRC has an uncertain future, and
there’s no guarantee that it will even ac
complish its goals. This means that the loss
of Knight’s donations and all the anger and
commotion it caused could end up being
all on the account of something that may
not even work out. WRC critics should
have presented this side of the issue earli
er.
Decisions such as signing on to the WRC
are the results of people not caring from the
beginning. Students who went from disin
terested to deeply disturbed about the is
sue should have become involved sooner
for their complaints to be justified. But un
fortunately, it seems these days $30 million
dollars is the going rate for people to turn
their heads and pay attention.
Beata Mostafavi is a columnist for the Oregon Daily
Emerald. Her views do not necessarily represent
those of the Emerald. She can be reached via e-mail
at bmostafa@gladstone.uoregon.edu.