Thursday, October 8, 1998
Community Briefs
California legislators laud Higher Ed Act
Amendments to the Higher Education Act that were signed into law
by the president Wednesday drew praise from California legislators,
including Rep Howard "Buck" McKeon (R-Palmdale), the author of the
amendments.
"Today we have fulfilled a major goal of the Republican
Congress: to help make the American Dream attainable for every
child in America," McKeon said. "To do that, we needed to make
college affordable."
Under the amendments to the act, a typical student borrower at a
four-year public institution, graduating with $12,000 in debt,
would save $650 over a 10-year period.
Senator Dianne Feinstein also joined the approbation,
proclaiming that "since half of California’s college students
receive some form of financial aid, I am delighted that this law
could help enable more students to better afford a college
education."
The bill was signed into law by President Bill Clinton, who
said, "This is the way America should work. This is the way
Congress should work."
Students gather to protest sweatshops
Students from across the country gathered in Washington, D.C.
Tuesday to take part in "No Sweat U," a conference organized by the
Department of Labor to treat the issue of sweatshops in the
production of university apparel.
Over 30 students from 10 different schools, including UCLA and
UC Riverside, raised their concerns about the processes in which
many universities are taking part to ensure that goods with
university logos are not made in sweatshops.
The students’ basic message was that while universities have
taken important first steps toward eliminating sweatshop labor from
the production of goods with university logos, they have not gone
far enough. The codes of conduct being considered by many
universities are inadequate, they say, because most of them do not
contain provisions ensuring that factory workers are paid a living
wage, and they do not require that companies make public the
locations of factories where apparel is made.
"Any code of conduct that does not include these provisions will
serve only to cover up violations, not to eliminate them," said
Xochitl Marquez, a UCLA student.
Currently, the Associated Students of UCLA, which has been in
charge of licensing the UCLA logo to clothing companies, has a
policy against licensing the logo to companies that use sweatshop
labor.
Adult video shop remains in Westwood
Hot Body International, a mail-order video store that has been
operating out of Westwood, is still in the village, drawing the ire
of the local homeowners association.
According to a news release from the Holmby-Westwood Property
Owners Association, developer Ira Smedra promised the association
in February that he would evict Hot Body from his property at 10872
Weyburn Ave.
"This continuing porno operation is another example of why
Smedra’s empty promises cannot be believed by the Westwood
community," said Jackie Freedman, co-president of the homeowners’
association.
Members of the homeowners’ association have long opposed
Smedra’s Village Center Westwood plan, a proposed movie mall that
would require the closing of Glendon Avenue to street traffic and
waivers from the City Council on local limits on movie screens and
parking requirements.
"With all the wonderful new businesses and restaurants coming
into Westwood Village, this porno operation undermines
revitalization," said Laura Lake, president of Friends of
Westwood.
Compiled from Daily Bruin staff reports.
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