Letters and Emails

Students dispute views on Gap informational meeting

I AM RESPONDING to the article posted by Jessica Alway last week regarding the California Students Against Sweatshops (CALSAS) Conference. It is my belief that the members of the Santa Clara community are not living the values taught by the conference.

Being a senior, I, like many students, am avidly searching for a career after graduation in a time when the recruiting season is less than fertile. Gap, Inc., last week held an informational session for potential new hires, aimed at assisting those interviewing with the company the following day. A group of students abruptly entered in the middle of the meeting and proceeded to ask pointed questions to the recruiters about their fair labor policies and outsourcing. Their arguments were very valid, but the venue in which they posed the questions was not appropriate.

Alway wrote in her article that USAS (United Students Against Sweatshops) encourages "communities to come together in under [sic] the common cause." Additionally, on the USAS Web site, they state as one of their principles that "[Members of USAS] do not impose a single ideological position, practice, or approach; rather, we aim to support one another in a spirit of respect for difference, shared purpose and hope." Rather than using the ethic of shared purpose and hope, the individuals exuded a poor attitude and approached the issue with no regard as to the ideals and principles presented by USAS. Their arguments served as more of a hindrance to those seeking employment, than assistance for those individuals exploited by firms.

Santa Clara University students take pride in the knowledge that their education centers on the whole person, not just that which is learned in the classroom. I believe that we, as students, can learn from opportunities such as CALSAS, students such as those at the meeting protesting fair labor practices, and students searching for employment at multinational organizations. Our ideals are likely similar.

Timothy Beach,

finance, '02

LAST WEEK A group of students, including myself, attended an informational meeting on the Gap Corporation that was held on campus. During the meeting, we raised specific questions about the labor practices that were behind the production of Gap clothing. The reactions to our questions were so negative, that I felt it necessary to write in with some further explanation.

The Gap Corporation has been blasted by human rights groups throughout the world for the disgusting and unethical manner in which their clothing is produced. They claim to have a strict code of conduct that dictates the manner in which they sub-contract the production of their clothing, but piles of evidence exist showing otherwise. Recent reports like these taken from UNITE (a large garment workers union) continue to highlight extreme abuses of human dignity.

One example is when workers in the Dominican Republic were fired after organizing an independent union (their legal right). They made hats for Gap.

We had the right to question Gap representatives on this material. It was an open meeting on the campus of the school we pay to attend. This is a Jesuit institution, and should be a place where human rights activists are allowed to voice their opinions. Many of the reports I have read about sweatshop conditions in Honduras came from a community of Jesuit priests working to end sweatshop labor there. In our minds, the importance of offering a different viewpoint outweighed the consequences of our actions. Could we have thought of a better way to inform people? Probably. This was a spur of the moment action by a group of concerned students, not a pre-planned protest.

If representatives from a company with a history of unjust labor practices have the right to come to our campus to recruit students, we have the right to ask them a few questions. Please do not close you ears to what we have to say. We are not trying to destroy The Gap, or to prevent you from getting a job; we just want workers to be treated like human beings.

Blair Thedinger,

chemistry, '04

Santa Clara police abusing power

As I read August Sebastiani's letter about the Santa Clara Police Department in the Feb. 21 issue, it brought out feelings of anger and frustration toward the law enforcement agents that patrol our community. I too was arrested on Feb. 2 for "my own safety." I will not deny that I had been drinking but since when has standing on a public street become illegal? When the officer initially approached me, I thought it was quite innocuous. I am 22 years old, did not possess an open alcoholic beverage and was not disturbing the community. At the beginning of our interaction, I was willing to cooperate. He proceeded to ask me if I knew what time it was and when I began to look at my watch, the officer grasped my wrist and notified me this was not allowed. I estimated it was 1 a.m., but in reality it was midnight. This assumption on my part was the reason I was taken down to the Santa Clara jail, for my own safety.

I admit after my arrest and booking, I did not display a cooperative attitude towards the police officers. Frankly, I was irate and appalled by the actions of those who are supposed to protect me. The students that reside in the houses around Santa Clara are not dangerous criminals, and we do not deserve to be treated as such. I do not appreciate being sent to county jail and placed in a cell with two women who were arrested for possessing crack cocaine. I do not appreciate the female officer calling me "a snotty rich college student." I do not appreciate officers laughing at me and ignoring my requests for water and a sanitary bathroom. And I do not appreciate being handcuffed to a chair because I had been drinking.

The actions of the police department are becoming out of control, and they are overstepping their boundaries. Arresting students for endangering themselves and others is one thing, but arresting students for playing football or standing on the street is certainly another. It is our responsibility and right as citizens of the United States to check those in power. Because we are students does not take away this right and it is necessary to inform the SCPD and Santa Clara University that many of us will not tolerate their treatment.

The question is, how do we achieve this? Forums with the police department and "open" discussions with Father Locetelli are a start, but more has to be done. The first step is for the University to support the students who feel violated. Their evident influence on the police department, is deep-rooted and until they begin to advocate for our rights nothing will change. If it continues to be our word against the police department and no other authority steps in, the police will continue to prevail. Many students do not feel that they have the power to change the current situation, but we need to continue to stand up for ourselves and file complaints against the police department and with the University.

The police are here to protect us, not mistreat us. If we do not speak up, they will continue their practices - and win.

Jenna Zak,

management, '02