HIGHLIGHTS

    During the recently concluded Campaign for the Libraries, parents of the UAlbany classes of 1999 through 2003 contributed more than $300,000 to help equip the new library. Now, their generosity will be commemorated with a lasting monument: the Parents Fountain, located in the spectacular gardens in front of the building.
    The library campaign was launched in April 1998 to raise $3 million and earn a $500,000 challenge grant from The Kresge Foundation for the purpose of furnishing and equipping the new facility. By December 31, 1999, fundraisers had more than achieved their aim. In fact, thanks to support from 6,500 donors, the campaign exceeded its goal by more than $302,000.
    In recognizing the parent donors to the campaign, said Vice President for University Advancement Robert Ashton, the naming will pay tribute to both “their generous support and their concern for students at the University.” 
    Michael Boots, director of annual giving, credited Parents’ Fund co-chairs Karen and Dan Covitt for rallying other UAlbany parents to the cause. He also praised Annual Fund student callers for “doing an outstanding job.”
    All 6,500 Campaign for the Libraries donors will have an opportunity May 3 to visit Parents Fountain during a “Victory Celebration” scheduled to honor them for the $3.3 million they contributed to the fundraising effort. Special guest speaker John E. Kelly III, general manager of IBM’s microelectronics division, will receive the Medallion of the University, the highest award UAlbany bestows. A reception for all donors is planned as part of the celebration.
    Aside from providing a focal point for the May 3 celebration, the Parents Fountain is expected to become a new gathering place on the main campus. “It is our hope that generations of students will come to sit quietly on the benches in this garden, enjoy the music of the fountain, and recall the vital role parents and families have played in helping students experience the growth and excitement of study at a great University,” Ashton noted.
    Added Boots: “We are very grateful to our parents for their phenomenal support. They gave Albany something very tangible that will benefit their children - and their grandchildren.” 

    President Karen R. Hitchcock has announced the formation of a Task Force on Sweatshop Labor to carry out an in-depth examination of this issue.
    “The University at Albany is committed to ensuring that apparel and other goods sold on our campus are not produced under sweatshop conditions. Because the University operates in a global economy, and often under contractual and legal obligations, it is not a simple matter to achieve this objective,” said Hitchcock. “Therefore, I am appointing a Task Force on Sweatshop Labor to advise me on this complex issue.”
    The Task Force on Sweatshop Labor will be charged with examining the issue in detail and recommending the most appropriate ways in which the University can have an impact. Among those who will be asked to serve on the task force will be students, faculty and staff, representatives of Sweat-Free SUNY and the University’s Barnes & Noble campus bookstore.
    “It is my expectation that the task force will carry out an in-depth examination of these issues and report back to me,” said Hitchcock.
    “Let me reiterate that, in keeping with the University’s commitment to social justice, we support basic human rights for all people and are emphatically opposed to sweatshop labor. We will continue to work to see that apparel and products bearing the University logo are manufactured in an ethical manner under safe, healthy and fair working conditions,” she said.
    Carol Van Denburgh, manager of the University’s Barnes & Noble, said the bookstore does not sell apparel or other items produced under sweatshop conditions. She said the bookstore “aggressively and proactively” supports the code of conduct of both the Fair Labor Association (FLA), organized by human rights activists, and Responsible Apparel Production Principals (RAPP), which is run by the contracting and manufacturing community.
    “Every vendor we have has been notified of our requirements and certified that they agree to our needs,” Van Denburgh said. “Every vendor is aware of our intention to support FLA and RAPP monitoring now under way. And every vendor is aware that we will cease doing business with them if future monitoring reports show non-compliance.”
    Van Denburgh said Barnes & Noble College Bookstore has on file at its offices in New York City signed documents from all of its vendors certifying compliance with the FLA and RAPP guidelines.
    Barnes & Noble College Bookstore first informed all of its vendors on Oct. 8, 1998, that it had adopted the Fair Labor Association’s code of conduct.
    “We initially asked all 220 general merchandise vendors to certify that they could comply with the code, and 215 certified that they could and would,” Van Denburgh explained. The products of the others were dropped. “No new vendor is set up in our system until they certify to the FLA code,” she said.
    Van Denburgh said that, while some of the specific procedures of the FLA and the RAPP differ, their motives - to create acceptable standards for manufacturing - are the same.

    The cases of 16 University students and 1 non-student arrested and charged with trespassing during campus protests April 4 were adjourned until next month by Albany City Court on Friday, April 7.
    Eleven students, representing a group called Sweat Free SUNY, had occupied the office of President Karen R. Hitchcock for almost five hours on Tuesday and were arrested when they declined to leave. Six others were arrested later in the day after refusing to leave the Administration Building when it closed at 5:30 p.m.
    Sweat Free SUNY representatives had met with Hitchcock and other officers of the University on February 22. They discussed their concerns regarding the working conditions and wages of employees in some factories around the world, and particularly with regard to companies that produce goods bearing the University logo. At that time, Hitchcock committed to continuing these important discussions with Sweat Free SUNY, and issued a statement praising UAlbany students both for their dedication to pursuing issues of social justice and for their responsible citizenship.
    The meetings between Sweat Free SUNY and the University continued as recently as Friday, March 31, when UAlbany and State University of New York officials met with Sweat Free SUNY representatives, at least two of whom were among those who later occupied President Hitchcock's office, at SUNY headquarters in Albany.
    In a statement read and distributed to the students occupying her office, President Hitchcock, who was not in her office at the time of the occupation, reaffirmed her commitment to continue meeting with concerned students. She also noted, however, that she would not continue the dialogue while students occupied her office and disturbed, through the use of bullhorns and noisemakers, the studies and work of other students, faculty and staff.
    The students were encouraged to reassemble in the area outside the President's suite in order to allow staff in the office to continue their work. When the students declined to leave the President's office, University Police Chief Frank Wiley informed them that they would be arrested if they continued to occupy the office and disrupt the work of the staff. The students declined to leave, locked arms and were taken into custody and transported without incident to University Police Department offices, where they were charged with trespass, a violation.
    While the sit-in students were quietly leaving the President's office, supporters outside entered the Administration building, where they were stopped by two University Police Department officers. The supporters attempted to push past the officers and a shoving incident occurred. Shortly thereafter, the same officers, attempting to close doors in order to secure the already-locked building, were accosted by several persons who were attempting to force the door open. In this incident, an officer was struck about the head and face, breaking his glasses. A student has been charged with assault. The University Police Department investigated both these incidents and turned over its results to the Albany County District Attorney's office for an independent review.