Some members of the Apparel Advisory Committee feel Penn State has made progress in its involvement with sweatshop labor since last spring despite not yet reaching a solution.

The committee continues to discuss whether Penn State should leave the Fair Labor Association and join the Worker's Rights Consortium to monitor the manufacture of products with Penn State's logo.

"I think that we've been very hesitant to come to any conclusions," said Karen Bierman, director of the Children Youth and Families Consortium. "It's a very rapidly developing situation."

Penn State joined the FLA in March 1999, but some people criticized the university for the decision.

Students for Accountability and Reform (STAR) spent 19 days living in tents on Old Main Lawn in April to protest Penn State's refusal to join the WRC. Penn State President Graham Spanier eventually created the Apparel Advisory Committee to investigate the organizations, which met last Friday for the thirteenth time.

The committee of 10 voting members — three students, three faculty, three administrators and a committee chair — has been meeting about the issue for two to three hours on Fridays, gathering and researching information about the organizations.

"It's a time consuming process, but considering the commitment of the committee it is well worth the effort," said Dan Sieminski assistant vice president for finance and business and committee chair.

Committee members have also been meeting with and talking to leaders from the organizations involved in the issue. The biggest obstacle right now, Bierman said, is that the committee hasn't been able to talk to leaders of some organizations, including the WRC.

Samantha Chirillo, a student committee member, agreed that it is important for the director of the WRC to discuss the issues with the committee before any decision can be made.

She said she believed the committee has focused too much on details, a problem brought to light during a public discussion last Thursday.

"The committee has been looking so narrowly at things like trying to define 'living wage,' " she said. "Our ethical obligation is stronger than the details."

Justin Leto, a STAR activist who camped on the lawn last spring, said the WRC concentrates on the living wage, a term the organization uses to determine whether or not a factory can be considered a sweatshop.

"In the FLA they only monitor for minimum wage — that is still a sweatshop," he said. "Minimum wage is not enough for their workers to live."

The final decision will come within a month, Sieminski said.

The committee's consensus and finding will then be forwarded to Spanier for final approval.

Thus far, future protests aren't in the works if the university decides to stay with the FLA, Leto said, because the current focus is on getting the information to the committee.