PSU, colleges to implement conduct code

By BETH BAUMGARDNER
Collegian Staff Writer

In response to student protests across the country and a threat to the university's reputation, Penn State President Graham Spanier plans today to announce a code of conduct Penn State has adopted to ensure products bearing the Penn State name are not produced by sweatshop labor.

Previously, Penn State had no code of conduct, but during the last year, the university has been involved in a Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC) task force with about 15 universities. Together, they have formulated requirements and will monitor labor practices of apparel producers, Spanier said in an e-mail.

The licensing company acts as a licensing administrator for more than 160 universities. CLC also handles logo designs and collects royalties from apparel for universities, said Dan Sieminski, Penn State director of finance and business.

In addition to Penn State, several universities, such as the University of North Carolina and Duke University, wanted to ensure apparel and athletic companies could not use sweatshop labor for university-affiliated products.

"The Pennsylvania State University's trademarks and logos are some of the most popular collegiate trademarks in the nation. Licensing these marks for athletic apparel and other products generates significant revenue which is used toward student scholarships and support of athletic programs for students," Spanier said in the e-mail. "It is imperative that Penn State license its trademarks to companies who do not support or use sweatshop labor."

At the same time the CLC task force began, national human rights organizations, religious groups and labor unions also were working to develop their own code of conduct with the support of the White House.

The partnership, which came to be known as the Apparel Industry Partnership, is currently made up of seven prominent manufactures, including Nike Inc. and several human rights groups, according to The New York Times.

The CLC and the association's code of conduct are similar, except the CLC code focuses on university-licensed products while the partnership's code covers all products.

Because the same organization monitors both the partnership code and the CLC code, all products produced by the manufacturer at that location are protected from sweatshop labor.

The monitoring organization will release an annual report of its findings to involved universities, Sieminski said, adding the report will be public and therefore available to students.

Ned Schmidgal (senior-non-degree liberal arts), a member of the Penn State Society for International Development, said he would take advantage of such a list when making purchases and perhaps he would do further investigations of manufacturers.

"I think it's a consumer responsibility," he said. "It's an appropriate step of action."

Adopting a code of conduct and a monitoring program will cost the university about 1 percent of its licensing revenue, Sieminski said, who would not give the total licensing revenue. It also will require Penn State not deal with companies unwilling to adhere to the code.

"If you have companies not willing to participate, we're really not interested in their licensing," Sieminski said.

SOURCE: Dan Sieminski, Penn State director of Finance and Business
GRAPHIC: Amy Eichler