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Hunger strike continues

Students defend cause in week two of protest, activism

By Vanessa Renderman
Features Editor

Carly Maitlen/Entertainment Editor

Students stand tied to the pillars of Hovde Hall of Administration on Friday to symbolize that red tape is preventing them from being heard by the University.

About 13 anti-sweatshop activists tied themselves to a pillar on Hovde Hall of Administration Friday afternoon, using red ribbon to symbolize the red tape they feel is preventing Purdue from joining the Worker Rights Consortium, a factory monitoring agency.

"Six of my friends are starving and I'm sick of this bull----!" yelled John Warner, a senior in the School of Science and anti-sweatshop supporter.

"It's more important than basketball," hunger striker and graduate student Fouad Jaber shouted through a megaphone at the steps of Hovde.

Members from Indiana University, University of Michigan and Western Michigan joined the Purdue anti-sweatshop protesters and chastised the Purdue administration for not joining the consortium. Earlier this week, students from Miami University-Ohio visited Purdue to show support for their cause.

Carly Maitlen/Entertainment Editor

Students stand tied to the pillars of Hovde Hall of Administration on Friday to symbolize that red tape is preventing them from being heard by the University.

"Institutions of public education have to do better than this," said Kenneth Miller, a graduate student at IU and a member of IU's No-Sweat organization.

"Human rights are not a public relations issue," he said, calling the administration "totally belligerent."

This demonstration is the most recent act of protest since six students began a hunger strike last Monday afternoon.

They untied themselves and pulled the ribbon off of their mouths then walked up to Purdue president Steven Beering's office with the intention of handing him the ball of red ribbon.

"He gave us the red tape; we're just returning it," said Damon Hall, a senior in the School of Agriculture.

Captain of patrol for the Purdue Police Department Tyree Harris was in Beering's office and said Beering was not available to talk.

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Question on FAFSA confuses applicants

Purdue students who left question 28 on their Free Application for Federal Student Aid forms unanswered will still be eligible for financial aid.

The U.S. Department of Education decided that students who left the question blank meant to say that they had not been convicted of using illegal drugs, despite the fact that a blank answer actually means they have been convicted.

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