WHO’S YOUR DADDY?: Toby Keith host private concert, party (PAGE 7) The University of Oklahoma’s independent student voice since 1916
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School stands firm on apparel OU cutting off VF Corp. over workers’ rights concerns DAYTEN ISRAEL news reporter
OU has found new apparel to sell after ending a relationship with previous licensee of the university due to a dispute over fair labor. Last spring, OU severed ties with VF Corp., an American clothing corporation, because of its refusal to sign the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety. The Bangladesh Accord
followed the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory, a large, multi-story building that was poorly constructed in Bangladesh, in which approximately 2,515 workers were injured and 1,129 were killed on April 24, 2013, Leah Kennedy, Sooners Against Sweatshops founder, said. A lot of the workers noticed the dilapidated structure of the building and didn’t want to go in but were forced to go or else they would lose their jobs, Kennedy said. With most people who are working in sweatshop conditions, their only option is to endure it so they can provide for their families, Kennedy said.
The Accord is legally binding and would have ensured that the companies that signed it would take control and responsibility for safe building practices and would be under strict monitoring, Kennedy said. Though VF Corp. is a member of the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, this group doesn’t require its companies to do anything financially towards ensuring factories are built to higher, safer standards, unlike the Accord, Kennedy said.
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Alicia Cervantes, psychology junior, looks for backpacks in the OU Bookstore. SEE VF CORP PAGE 2 Northface is among brands that the University is no longer getting from the VF corporation after cutting ties with the corporation whose labor practices are not aligned with the university’s values.
I CAN’T
Bicycle sharing program pondered
BREATHE
SGA gauging level of student interest in idea JESSE POUND news editor @jesserpound
Workshop allows for attendees to let it all out BRYCE MCELHANEY NEWS REPORTER @BRYCE_MAC
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n OU professor hosted the “I Can’t Breathe” workshop and discussion in Zarrow Hall Wednesday night, where she held discussion topics from poverty, to race and gender identification. Sherri Irvin, director of Graduate
Admissions, began the event by quoting a man named Eric Garner, who said “I can’t breathe” 11 times before police choked him to death. Irvin said people and systems tell others their bodies are not good enough in subtle and unsubtle ways. “There are all sorts of forces in society that tell us that our bodies are not acceptable — our racialized bodies, our gender bodies, our queer bodies, our aging bodies, our trans bodies, our disabled bodies are not good enough,” she said.
“There are all sorts of forces in society that tell us that our bodies are not acceptable — our racialized bodies, our gender bodies, our queer bodies, our aging bodies, our trans bodies, our disabled bodies are not good enough.” SHERRI IRVIN, DIRECTOR OF GRADUATE ADMISSIONS
SEE WORKSHOP PAGE 2
The OU Student Government Association is exploring the idea of bringing a bike share program to campus, allowing students to bike from class to class without having to buy their own. A mass email was sent to OU students, asking them to answer a poll about the potential program. The poll consists of just one question, asking students if they would like to see the program on campus. The program has been in the idea stage for awhile, said Kevin Gaffney, an SGA cabinet member. “We need to know that students support the idea for the next steps to be taken,” Gaffney said. SGA has been looking at different companies to possibly implement the program, Gaffney said. It has also looked at other universities that have started bike share programs, including Ohio State University and Harvard University, Gaffney said. Many cities in the United States have bike share programs, including New York, Boston and Oklahoma City. There is no goal date for implementation, Gaffney said. The poll runs through Friday.
Diversity, travel on fall SGA docket Student Congress also excited by book group BRIANNA SIMS news reporter @briannana18
The Student Government Association is trying to pass a collection of initiatives to help students with connectivity, transportation and diversity. Recently, Student Congress has been focusing on diversity on campus with the Good Neighbor Initiative, for which SGA has
WEATHER Cloudy with a high of 92, low of 70.
partnered with the Department of Diversity. On Tuesday during the Student Congress meeting, SGA announced there would be a new committee to solely address diversity issues within the university. For the new Human Diversity Committee, SGA is looking for students who are passionate about diversity and standing up for people who don’t have a voice, said SGA Human Diversity Chair Daniel Pae, whose position was confirmed on Tuesday night. SGA’s other major focus is to provide students with an easier way to travel to campus. Turn Up for Transit offers students alternate
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options for transportation, so commuting students don’t have to find a parking spot after OU lost 600 in order to build new student residences. “We’ve been encouraging people to park at the Lloyd Noble Center and taking the transportation to and from campus using the trolley system. However, a lot of people have been doing that, but we’re experiencing line delays, so we’ve been working with Parking and Transportation to encourage other ways to get to campus, and we hope to continue these initiatives for alternate forms of transportation,” SGA President Alex
Byron said. Another plan SGA is really excited about is One Campus, One Book, which is essentially a campus-wide book club where the all students will read the same book and participate in a collective discussion of the topics addressed in the novel.
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Jesse Pound jesserpound@gmail.com
SEE SGA PAGE 2
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Elementary education sophomore Alex Martinez locks her bike in the bike racks.
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