Activist at Quest

'Behind the Swoosh' anti sweatshops activist to speak at Quest

Jim Keady had life all mapped out: Go to a good college, play high level soccer, find a trophy wife, Men Nike Roshe Run Anti-Fur become a broker and a millionaire, retire young.

Dynamic, energetic and focused, he moved down that path. Yet he began to seek spiritual nourishment and to see life goals differently. Then, when Keady was a master degree candidate in theology and graduate assistant soccer coach at top ranked St. John University, the athletic department required him to wear Nike gear, thanks to a multimillion dollar endorsement contract, or lose his job. He refused, left the university, and a new path opened.

Keady since has spent 12 years investigating, filming and bedeviling the sportswear giant on the issue of fair wages and working conditions for factory employees in developing nations. April 21 in the Campus Center auditorium.

Rachel MacWhorter, director of the Student Association Programming Board, said last year board made the choice of Keady as a featured speaker for Quest, and she feels it a terrific one in the rich world of Quest ideas, issues and research.

think it really going to be beneficial, said MacWhorter, a senior business administration major. has ties to lots of majors on campus. Many people don think about what we wear, like Nike, and I think it will stir a lot of that discussion and thought. view

Keady, who had done research on Nike at St. John decided he wanted to know for himself what was going on at Nike supplier factories in Indonesia and elsewhere.

going to go find out, he says in the documentary entitled the Swoosh that has become an iconic face of the Team Sweat and Educating for Justice organizations. want to see it, I want to smell it, I want to hold it in my hand. 2000, Keady joined fellow activist and college classmate Leslie Kretzu living the sweatshop life in a Nike supplier factory in Indonesia. They worked for and tried to live on $1.25 a day for a month. The no holds barred video they produced showed the world the difficulties of living that way.

Nike, weary of its swoosh logo as target for anti sweatshop campaigners like Keady, began a three year monitoring plan and, in 2005, earned accreditation from the Fair Labor Association and praise from former critics. It long has said it works diligently to monitor and improve conditions cheap nike free in its supplier factories.

Keady acknowledges Nike has made some reforms, but the activist says the company has a long way to go in providing fair wages, factory monitoring and worker negotiating rights.

This year Quest on April 21 features at least 275 student and faculty presenters, the music of the West Bengali group Ganga, a display of environmentally advanced cars, a six foot tall exhibit with tracks for marbles, creative writing awards and much more.

Jack Gelfand, Quest coordinator and director of the Office of Research and Special Programs, roams his planning room and gestures excitedly from one list of undergraduate research projects to another. Here he points out a presentation titled Power Potential in New York State. There, another titled Ecology of Coyotes in New York State. Here, he sees Qiong June Dong, professor of marketing and management, pulling together a series of presentations on humanitarian logistics in catastrophes like the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti. There, Gelfand sees one end of the Campus Center arena dotted with an electric car, a wood gas conversion truck, a Smart car and other vehicles. in the arena. really looking forward to this, Gelfand said. booths and the cars in the arena is going to be a real show. Rarely have the same actors performed both plays on the same stage, making this residency a must see for lovers of the theatre. The famed New York City theater troupe has received a Tony Award for Excellence in Theater among many other honors. $18, including parking in front of Culkin Hall or adjacent lot. ($5 for SUNY Oswego students) $25 ticket combo to both "Hamlet" and "Rosencrantz." 312 2141. Rarely have the same actors performed both plays on the same stage, making this residency a must see for lovers of the theatre. The famed New York City theater troupe has received a Tony Award for Excellence in Theater among many other honors. $18, including parking in front of Culkin Hall or adjacent Men Nike Free 3.0 V3 lot. ($5 for SUNY Oswego students) $25 ticket combo to both "Hamlet" and "Rosencrantz." 312 2141.

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