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Editors-in-Chief: Zibby Pillote & Darya Watnick Business Manager: Tracy Marvin Advertising Manager: Mari Yamato News Editors: Rye Druzin & Megan Quint Opinion Editors: Cassie Bishop & Alec Kerry Features Editors: Beau Broughton & Maya McOmie Arts Editors: Drew Lenihan & Hayley Trivett Sports Editors: Fiona Corner & Michael DAngelo Style Source: Kathyrn Wlodarczyk Backdoor Editors: Marcia Belsky & Erin Ruprecht Illustration Editor: Samantha Sarvet Illustrators: Liam OConnor, Kelsey Gray Photography Editors: Larissa Board & Maggie Mcdermut Photographers: Robery Amico, Brenda Barnum Copy Editing Chief: Sarah Gottlieb Copy Editors: Grayson Arango, Ailee Feber & Amelia Mulford Staff Writers: Jordan Anderson, Jake Bartman, Lindsey Bosse, Daniel Calfo, Alisha Gorder, Alicia Kroell, Micah Leinbach, Michelle Moulton, Kevin Muhitch, Brenna Murphy-Estus, Kevin Ryan, Jodi Snider, Taylor Wallau, Marly Williams Advisors: Peter Christenson & Jason Feiner
To order a subscription of the newspaper please e-mail: subs.piolog@gmail.com. To place an advertisement, please e-mail: ads.piolog@gmail.com. The Pioneer Log serves to inform the Lewis & Clark community on issues of concern to students. Advertisements, Letters to the Editor and Editorials do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Pioneer Log or Lewis & Clark College.

The Pioneer Log News

February 24, 2012

No sweatshop labor, only socially conscious Alta Gracia

tilation; fires happen really often, they worked forced overtime, and experienced discrimination and sexual harassment. Chiriboga-Flor, along with the student group SALE (Students Against Labor Exploitation), wants to raise awareness on campus about the sweatshop conditions that plague most clothing manufacturers. She learned about organizing and strategizing for a campaign to Vice President and Provost Jane Atkinson, who supported the movement. Lewis & Clark was one of the first schools to affiliate with the WRC. The idea was then brought to Bookstore Manager Janet Kehn, who was also in total support of providing LC students with socially conscious clothing. The bookstore affiliates with the Fair Labor Association as well as the Worker Rights Consortium for the clothing products that it sells. Kehn explained how the bookstore tries to stand by the morals that are held by these social equality groups, saying, The bookstore is making every effort to meet the needs of LC. They are a socially active group of students and we are trying to carry the type of merchandise they would feel good about purchasing. We use Cotton Exchange, local artisans and a recycled line of garments. Part of the bookstores mission is to be socially conscious, because we are here to represent the students and what type of merchandise they would feel comfortable buying. Alta Gracia is currently selling to about 400 universities nationwide, and Chiriboga-Flor hopes to increase that number by encouraging other local schools to join in on this effort and inspiring other students in the LC community to continue to carry on this mission. Chiriboga-Flor considers herself a social activist, and plans to pursue her passion for activism by seeking internships that deal with social justice for after she graduates. Anyone interested in working with Dre Chiriboga-Flor or learning more about her work can contact her at andreaec@lclark.edu.

ASLC Update

BY MICAH LEINBACH
Staff Writer

BY BRENNA MURPHY-ESTUS
Staff Writer

If youve walked into the bookstore during the past couple weeks, you might have noticed what looks like a normal rack of t-shirts and sweatshirts sporting our logo in the front and center of the store. While they look like any other clothes, these come from Alta Gracia, an apparel shop located in the Dominican Republic. Dre Chiriboga-Flor (12) interned at the factory in the spring of 2011 and has been the driving force for bringing attention to Alta Gracia on our campus. This shop provides its workers with living wage and respectable working conditions unlike the sweatshops that many clothing manufacturers use. The Worker Rights Consortium, an independent labor rights group, monitors and enforces laws to ensure that the workers are paid enough to provide their families with adequate food, clean water, shelter, clothing, health care, education and other basic human needs. Chiriboga-Flor interviewed workers at other factories in Santiago while working more extensive research about labor rights under the attention of Professor of International Business Diplomacy John M. Kline from Georgetown University. She talked about her experience during her research and relayed that the union workers said there was a big problem with bad ven-

PHOTOS BY BRENDA BARNUM

Alta Gracia provides living wages in its factory in the Dominican Republic.

and was eventually funded by the Political Science and Economics departments to create a program to educate the Lewis & Clark community about the work that Alta Gracia does to propel its workers fortunes forward. Chiriboga-Flor shared individual workers stories about the major impact Alta Gracia had on families and their ability to live in better conditions compared to if they were working for sweatshop wages. About thirty students showed up and signed a petition for Alta Gracia which was brought

Sustainability hits the ground running

BY ALISHA GORDER
Staff Writer

The Pioneer Log 0615 SW Palatine Hill Rd. MSC 121 Portland, OR 97219 piolog@gmail.com www.piolog.com

The revitalized Lewis & Clark Sustainability Council has continued its efforts to promote sustainability on campus. The Communication and Outreach Committee is working to increase the visibility of sustainability on campus in a variety of ways, says Dan Rohlf, Professor of Law and Of Counsel, Pacific Environmental Advocacy Center and Chair of the Council, through events, lectures and a general increase in information relating to sustainability. For example, the on-campus Sustainability webpage found through Facilities Services provides real-time energy use information for all buildings on campus. The Learning Committee is aiming to encourage cooperation between the faculties of the three campuses, to integrate the many overlapping interests in sustainability and environmental issues that they have. The Council recently sponsored a faculty Sustainability mixer, which Rohlf described to have a speed-dating feel and served as

a really fun and effective way of building connections between colleagues. He also said that the Learning Committee is looking to improve connections outside of the

ILLUSTRATION BY SAMANTHA SARVET

College and take advantage of the opportunities that Portland has to offer as one of the countrys most sustainable cities. A current project of the Operations Committee is to work with the grounds department so that one portion of the campus will be cared for using completely organic methods. The Operations Committee is also working to achieve Salmon-Safe certification for the

campus, an eco-label primarily concerned with watershed safety, according to Rohlf. The Council is beginning the certification process now and the campus should be certified within the year. The Council also hopes to integrate operations with learning by getting biology classes involved in Salmon-Safe. Rohlf says the Council hopes to increase the institutions sustainability practices and decrease impact while using the process as a tool for learning. The Council also provided each of the three schools with $500 for sustainability efforts chosen by the student government, which enables and encourages student governments to work on issues or events surrounding sustainability, says Rohlf. The Council has also contributed funding for the Take Back the Tap Initiative, which is concerned with minimizing the use and sale of bottled water. The next Sustainability Council meeting is at 7:30 a.m. on March 6 in the Law school faculty reading room.

Following a discussion last week, the constituency reports focused on at the ASLC meeting were centered largely on the student body and its perceptions of the ASLC. Senators from several classes provided a range of perspectives, which included both positive and negative views. While constituency reports occur on a weekly basis, many senators sought out more specific feedback for student government in general from those they represent. A discussion in the previous weeks meeting is summarized in ASLCs minutes and last weeks Pioneer Log. Due to limited attendance at the meeting, the student government only barely made it to quorum following several late arrivals to the meeting. After establishing quorum, a bill originally proposed a week before regarding student created art at the Designated Smoking Areas (DSAs) was brought up with several modifications. It would allow students to use DSAs as art spaces after going through an approval process for the art. As the bill currently stands, the legislation would utilize the DSA behind Manzanita for a trial run before the program continues for the semester with the utilization of the rest of the DSAs for student artwork. In order to address concerns brought up by the body last week, this weeks draft included significantly more details surrounding the process that art would go through to be approved. The name of the committee in charge of approving art for the DSAs was also changed from Art Committee to DSA Mural Committee. Primary parts of the discussion surrounded concerns about the meaning of some of the language contained in the bill, the bureaucracy surrounding the approval process for art and the degree to which the ASLC would be involved in the approval process. There was also discussion of possibly allowing more stakeholders onto the committee, including groundskeepers, due to their relevant work that they engage in to the upkeep the DSAs. Logistical concerns about the artwork in the DSAs also abounded, down to the details about how long paint would take to dry relative to how long murals are expected to stay on DSAs. The bill was sponsored by Tyler Church (14) and Isabella Fabens (14). Ali Crowley (12), a third sponsor, argued against the bill in its first appearance due to changes made without her consent, but was not present at this weeks meeting. The next ASLC meeting is March 1 at 7:00 p.m.in JR Howard 102.