A letter signed by 48 professors was delivered to Penn State President Graham Spanier yesterday asking that university approved sanctions against an anti-sweatshop activist be dropped and voicing support for anti-sweatshop policies.

The letter requested that Olivia Guevara, a graduate student recently found in violation of Penn State's code of conduct for allegedly chalking university buildings with anti-sweatshop messages, be cleared of all charges. The university said Guevara, who received a $400 fine and a seven-year citation on her academic record, vandalized the buildings.

Guevara also faced criminal mischief charges involving tampering with private property in Centre County District Court, but the charges were dismissed Feb. 5, citing lack of evidence.

"In the interest of moving forward with this issue, we would like the university to make the appropriate gesture and drop Olivia's charges," Penn State Professor Mark Anner said.

Guevara is a member of the Student Labor Action Project and United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS), which have been pressuring the university to adopt the Designated Supplier Program (DSP), a plan that ensures licensed apparel for universities is not being made in overseas sweatshops.

The professors also said they are concerned the university is not doing enough to ensure its licensed apparel is not being produced by unfair labor practices overseas.

When they delivered the letter to Old Main, professors Jane Juffer, Paul Durrenberger, Major Coleman and Anner were told that Spanier was in a meeting and would be unavailable all day. Instead, Stephen MacCarthy, vice president of university relations, met the group to address its grievances.

MacCarthy replied that the university is continuously dedicated to the elimination of sweatshop labor from its product chain.

"The university commitment to do something about this is sincere," MacCarthy told the professors. "There is no lack of desire to do the right thing here."

The letter that the professors delivered requested a meeting with university administrators, members from the USAS, and several professors with knowledge about labor practices to discuss the signing of the DSP.

MacCarthy said during the meeting that the university has been doing research, and was given legal advice that signing an agreement like the DSP could present anti-trust issues for the university. He also said that although Penn State hasn't signed the DSP, it is still actively pursuing the sweatshop issue.

McCarthy also said during the meeting that Guevara had exhausted her appeals within judicial affairs and the decision would stand.

When asked if the university was singling her out to squelch her cause, MacCarthy said, "the case was solely about vandalism."

MacCarthy also said both the trial process and the evidence introduced at the judicial affairs hearing was different than the criminal hearing.

"They don't have evidence that can stand up to the scrutiny of the legal process," Durrenberger said after the meeting. "If they do, we want it made public."

Penn State spokesman Bill Mahon has said in the past that judicial affairs and criminal court are two separate entities and a discrepancy in rulings is not unheard of.

After the meeting, the professors said their main objective is to start "some real dialogue" between activists and administrators at a meeting where Spanier would be present.

"The standard has been to just talk and talk and fill the air with pretty words until the meeting is over," Durrenberger said. "It's the same song and dance and then we start all over."

MacCarthy said he would deliver the letter to Spanier as soon as possible.