The Lantern

Issue date: 4/23/07 Section: Campus

Media Credit: Shino Omura Students of Free the Planet! OSU marched into Page Hall Friday to deliver a letter to OSU President Karen Holbrook protesting some of the university's policies.

Friday, 53 students and community members participated in a rally protesting Ohio State's support of what they characterized as "socially and environmentally irresponsible corporations," according to the organizations' press release.

The coalition, composed of members of Free The Planet! OSU, Students for a Democratic Society and other groups, gathered at the corner of 15th Avenue and High Street at noon. By 12:30, they were ready to take their fight directly to OSU President Karen A. Holbrook's door, presenting her with a list of demands for the university.

According to the groups' press release, student tuition dollars support sweatshop labor, deforestation and corporate monopolies.

"What we buy says a lot, and it affects people and environments around the world," said Jane Harridan, the event's coordinator and a graduate student in agricultural, environmental and developmental economics. "As the largest university in the country, we can make a huge dent with our purchases."

Carrying signs that said, "Where do your OSU dollars go?" and shouting, "This is what democracy looks like," the group marched to the center of the Oval before gathering outside Page Hall, where Holbrook was attending an undergraduate research forum meeting, Harridan said.

Charlie Frederick, 23, said university administrators must take the initiative to find out whether money is going to socially and environmentally irresponsible corporations. If it is, university administrators must be responsible for making the necessary changes.

"If not, they're in direct violation of their mission and values statement," said Frederick, who plans to attend OSU and major in women's studies in the fall.

"In a capitalist society, you have to understand where the products come from to make knowledgeable decisions," said Emily Elise, president of Free The Planet! OSU and a junior in sociology.

Tripoli Uproot said she was attending the rally because the issue of recycled paper at OSU is important to her.

"Why use paper that we have to cut down trees for when we can use recycled paper?" said Uproot, a grad student in agricultural, environmental and developmental economics.

Xerox, a company specifically mentioned in the press release as souring paper from old-growth and indigenous forests, thereby "harming areas of great biodiversity," addresses environmental concerns on its Web site.

"As one of the largest distributors of paper for office printers and copiers, Xerox recognizes its obligation to responsibly source and produce paper," according to the web site.

From 2003 to 2005, Xerox instated requirements for the companies from which it buys its paper. Among the requirements is a sourcing process that excludes raw materials obtained from forests of "significant ecological or cultural importance, unless certified to a Xerox-accepted sustainable forest management standard," according to the web site.

Fredrick said the requirements are the result of corporate campaigning.

Harrison said she presented Holbrook with the letter and asked that she reply to the demands. She also asked that Holbrook address the students gathered outside Page Hall. Holbrook said she had another engagement and declined.

Harrison said she was not surprised.

"It's not in administrators' best interest to talk to students, because then they actually have to respond to our demands," she said.

Shelly Hoffman, assistant vice president for media relations at OSU, said Holbrook met with members of Free The Planet! OSU in February and asked them to join a task force addressing green campus issues.

"President Holbrook said she would be happy to sit down with their leadership again," Hoffman said.

Harrison said the task force is scheduled to meet for the first time Friday and will only deal with the Forest Resources Policy proposed by Free The Planet! OSU. It does not guarantee all our demands will be met, she said.

"I think it's important to keep pressure on the administration to ensure that our demands are met," Harrison said. "We really want to stress that this is just the beginning."

Megan Scholl can be reached at scholl.47@osu.edu.

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