Olivia Guevara was one of more than 300 students and community members who created a 10-mile long human billboard in California last March to protest a wine distributor's worker rights relations.

The large-scale event proved to be successful in soliciting demands, Guevara (graduate-industrial relations and human resources) said, and that's just the kind of student involvement she hopes to see at Penn State.

The Student Labor Action Project (S.L.A.P.), a new student-run organization focused on labor issues, will serve as a forum for students interested in creating change in the Penn State community.

"This is a student-run event where we can work together to improve things," project co-founder Guevara said.

The primary goal is to inform and make people aware of labor issues that surround the community and the nation as a whole, she added.

First on the project's agenda is a campaign against Wal-Mart, which event organizers said is guilty of many workers' rights violations.

The project was inspired by a national campaign called Wake-Up Wal-Mart, said group adviser Paul Clark, a professor in the Department of Labor Studies and Industrial Relations.

"This is an issue that has a lot of potential for making a difference in this country," Clark said. "It's not just a local project."

Project co-founder Zach Scheid (graduate-industrial relations and human resources) said that the group, using Wal-Mart as its first issue, hopes to see what other labor concerns students have.

"We will use this organization to show issues and what the labor unions are doing in our own backyard here," Scheid said.

The project has scheduled a number of awareness activities such as information sessions, guest speakers, workshops and even satirical plays, he said.

The preparation will result in protest in front of Wal-Mart, 1665 N. Atherton St., on Nov. 12.

Guevara, who had participated in five previous demonstrations, said preparation is key. The police and the store being protested must be notified.

Project organizers said they hope for a big turnout for the picket line. Getting as many people involved and interested is S.L.A.P.'s main goal, although project organizers said they would demonstrate regardless of how many people show up.

Theresa Haas (senior-biology), a labor rights activist and president of United Students Against Sweatshops, said she will be participating in the protest.

"We need to guarantee that when we purchase things that they're produced under responsible conditions," Haas said. "I'm getting involved because I think labor relations are important [and] students can affect labor issues."

Another project supporter, Krista Ziegler (junior-labor and industrial relations), said her main reason for getting involved came from discussions of unfair treatment and labor issues in her sociology class.

She said the class brought to light some of the instances of unethical treatment of workers and slavery, which still happen around the world today.

"S.L.A.P. is related to my major and I really like to support and argue [for] things I believe in," Ziegler said. "People can make a difference."