Last week, Penn State President Graham Spanier released a statement reaffirming Penn State's stance on improving labor conditions for apparel workers.

Wait ... let's rephrase that.

Spanier released another pointless statement in an effort to appease students concerned with the working conditions, i.e. sweatshops, where Penn State apparel is being produced.

Interestingly enough, this 757-word response was three times longer than Spanier's statement about sexual assault released last month.

It seems as though groups like the United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) and Student Labor Action Project demonstrate once a week, highlighting the important issue of unfair labor practices. Of all the issues for a university president to care about, this should be one of them.

So the university releases a statement, but what does it actually say?

Nothing.

Spanier's statement says nothing new to address students' concerns over how Penn State gear is made. But, he did release a statement, so now when these student groups continue their protests, university officials can smile and point at this response and say, "Hey guys, we care, really we do!"

And after cookie-bearing students are turned away from Old Main's doors once more, university officials can sit back in their chairs, prop their feet up on their desks, and idly wait until USAS President Theresa Haas graduates.

What these students need is support from their peers, not meaningless statements from the university.

Penn State is the 14th largest seller of university apparel in the country. If students can actually get the university to commit to fair labor practices, it could influence other institutions to do the same thing.

So maybe we should all get behind these student groups, and hopefully Spanier can get back to us when the university actually does something.