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Tuesday November 14, 2000

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SAS must adjust strategies to bring change

By The Wildcat Opinions Board

Last Thursday morning, the cold light of dawn found the main entrances into the Administration building blocked by protesters affiliated with the campus group Students Against Sweatshops. Using various devices to moor their bodies to the four ground-level doors, they brought normal business in the building to a halt. Police did not remove and arrest them until 2:30 that afternoon.

Earlier this semester an unknown group or individual canvassed the campus with posters, and the anonymity of the action prevented accountability. In contrast, this action conformed to the best standards of social activism. Having a point to make, a group of citizens took part in an illegal activity designed to bring publicity to its deeds and more importantly, its cause. These people recognized that their actions were illegal, and when the time came, they took responsibility for their actions. It is in taking this responsibility that they gain legitimacy as an activist group: they demonstrate that they are willing to suffer for their cause.

However, their actions failed to hit the mark. UA President Peter Likins did not find himself overly inconvenienced by the protesters, as he was able to enter the building through an unblocked, underground staircase, and go about his day.

This mitigated the impact of the protest, as it is against Likins that SAS has a legitimate gripe. As a result of negotiations in previous semesters, Likins agreed that the university would leave the Fair Labor Association if that organization failed to meet four requirements within a determined amount of time. It did fail to meet the requirements by the assigned time - Aug. 1- and, by the terms of the agreement between Likins and the SAS, the university should have withdrawn from the organization and joined the more liberal Worker Rights Consortium. However, Likins declined to make this move. He went back on his agreement, appalling SAS members, who demanded that he move into the WRC as previously agreed. To this point, Likins has ignored them.

Currently, there is no reason Likins should alter his policy. As noble an effort as this is, it will not affect any change in university policy. Despite the publicity that the group gets, the truth of the matter is that it is a small organization, with a core membership of less than 20 students. Likins can ignore the protests, no matter how loud, of such a small group.

Thus, while the protest Thursday may have served as a moral victory for those involved in SAS, it cannot be claimed as a real victory of any sort. No number of protests of this nature has the capacity to effect change: only a wide-spread, grass-roots movement can sway Likins' position on these matters. The best that the protesters can hope for is that their action might have attracted the attention and sympathies of those that might participate in future, larger actions designed to bring their concerns to light. To effect the desired change, SAS must change its strategy. It must show Likins that this is an issue important to more than 20 members of the campus community. It must bring out hundreds, even thousands of students before the university has to take note. It must become a movement, more than a group, or it is doomed to failure.