UT has the single largest licensing program out of any university in the country, and we know that the top two contenders, the Dallas Cowboys and VF Corporation, are embroiled in scandals concerning sexual assault, domestic violence, and sweatshop abuses. Dallas Cowboys - In May 2007, the WRC issued a report about the Dada Dhaka factory, a Bangladeshi factory that produced clothes for the Cowboys. The WRC investigated the factory in light of allegations of anti-union activity. Investigations demonstrated that workers who had attended labor rights trainings were threatened with violence and subsequently fired. One woman, who was previously injured while working at the factory, underwent threats by management that they would attack her if she did not leave her position. - In 2011, the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights reported on the Ocean Sky factory in El Salvador where workers sewed apparel for the Cowboys. The report reads “the 1,500 mostly women workers at Ocean Sky are locked in a Free Zone, surrounded by barbed wire and patrolled by guards armed with shotguns...Workers report being drenched in their own sweat, since afternoon factory temperatures reach 98 degrees Fahrenheit...Factory drinking water is filthy and contaminated with fecal coli which can cause diarrhea, intestinal illness and infections. Six workers were fired for daring to alert their colleagues that the factory water was unsafe to drink...Illegally, all overtime is mandatory...Workers earn a base wage of 72 cents an hour, and 92 cents counting the attendance bonus...Even the Salvadoran Ministry of the Economy puts the workers' wages at one-quarter of a family's basic needs." - Also in 2011, a report was released about the Apple Tree factory in El Salvador. Workers were producing Cowboys-logo infant apparel and were illegally forced to work overtime with no additional compensation for their time. Workers often became sick after drinking the factory-provided water, underwent vicious harassment and abuse from management, and were denied of a multitude of legally-ensured rights. - The same year, the Cowboys pulled orders from the PT Kizone factory in Indonesia, withholding severance owed to 2,800 workers. The company lied about its relationship with the factory, and it was only after immense pressure from labor groups like USAS that the Cowboys paid $55,000, a meager portion of the $3.3 million owed in total. - The Style Avenue factory in El Salvador also had numerous labor violations. According to a report conducted by the Worker Rights Consortium in 2011, “Style Avenue was found to have [...] forced overtime, illegal terminations, verbal abuse by management, failure to respect freedom of association, locking workers in the factory, excessive heat, and unsanitary conditions. After the publication of the report, additional violations occurred, which prompted the WRC to contact the licensees and urge remediation.” - ESPN Outside the Lines produced an expose in 2012 highlighting the Cowboy’s labor violations in the Cambodian factories Bright Sky and Suntex. Workers were routinely forced to work 60 hours a week, which is a clear violation of Cambodian labor law. VF Corporation - In December 2010, four Bangladeshi garment workers died and 100 were injured in clashes with police outside a factory owned by the Korean-based YoungOne group, a major producer of North Face and owner of the rights to North Face in Korea. At issue was failure of the YoungOne factory to implement a new minimum wage increase. - In 2010, VF was producing at That’s It Sportswear factory in Bangladesh (owned by Hameem Group), which burned, killing 29 workers and injuring more than a hundred. The factory had illegal construction, no proper fire exits, shoddy wiring, and locked exit doors. Workers were trapped on the top floors of the factory. Many jumped to their deaths. VF had repeatedly inspected the factory and yet had completely failed to address the safety hazards. - In October of 2012, another VF factory, Eurotex, which was disclosed as a producer of collegiate apparel, burned in Dhaka. This was a major fire, though it did not completely destroy the factory. No one was killed in the fire, because the factory was closed for a holiday – if the fire had occurred during the workday, many could have died. When contacted about this fire, VF claimed that their own disclosure data was wrong and they had stopped using the factory. - In August of 2013, the Worker Rights Consortium conducted a safety assessment of Optimum Fashion, a long-time VF contract factory producing collegiate apparel. After VF attempted to prevent the WRC from accessing the factory, the WRC’s inspection uncovered a number of very serious safety hazards, all of which constitute violations of university code of conduct provisions requiring licensees to maintain safe workplaces and any of which could result in injury or death to workers. These violations “included inadequate means for workers to escape the factory in the event of a fire and structural flaws that would facilitate the rapid and widespread propagation of deadly smoke throughout the factory building.” - In January of 2014, a 20 year old YoungOne worker was shot and killed by police during a strike over stolen wages despite promises by YoungOne group to change its practices after the aforementioned 2010 murders. YoungOne produces up to 40% of all of The North Face’s apparel. - On April 2, 2014, over 48,000 workers walked off the job at the Yue Yuen factory, a supplier for Timberland (a VF brand), in China’s largest strike in recent memory. The Yue Yuen workers had been robbed of years of legally owed social insurance payments and it was only after a massive strike in which several workers were beaten and kidnapped that the factory agreed to begin paying full social insurance and higher wages. - On June 20, 2014 in Bangladesh, the Medlar Apparels factory caught fire, a factory that has supplied VF apparel as fa...

WE ARE AGAINST THE NAME CHANGE OF ECSU TO UNC-EC. WE ARE AGAINST THIS NAME CHANGE UNTIL FURTHER INFORMATION IS GIVEN AND THAT THE PLANS THAT WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY THE NAME CHANGE ARE MADE COMPLETELY TRANSPARENT.

My son is enrolled in Reno County Parents as Teachers. Rep. Peggy Mast suggested cutting the program statewide to offset the state's deficit. I think this is a bad idea. Parents as Teachers helps families prepare their children for school and identify any barriers the child may be facing, such as health or developmental disorders, and develop strategies to deal with them.

WE ARE AGAINST THE NAME CHANGE OF ECSU TO UNC-EC!!

Anorexia Is one of the most lethal eating disorders in America. It takes over lives and forces people to see themselves in a way that they shouldn't. Anorexia makes people become extremely obsessive with their weight and the physical appearance in general. I believe that with making more and more people aware we can all find some sort of way to find a better way to heal anorexics with what they are struggling with because they do it alone. I believe that awareness can be raised for people going through the stages of the lethal eating disorder, Anorexia.

Common Core is stripping our students and teachers of their creativity and individuality. This is not an appropriate way to educate any child and the teachers become data collectors.

For 8 years, the community has demanded the removal of this disaster. After spending 3 million dollars over three years, only 60,000 tires were removed! Now the latest proposal is to spend 2 million dollars over two years to remove 100,000 tires, leaving 600,000 tires with their tie straps deteriorating. This is unacceptable! The local salvage community believes with use of proper equipment, a tub grinder, all of these tires could be removed at the same cost in the same time frame. Enough is enough. Time is of the essence: Stop this disaster before it becomes a major marine environmental disaster. Sign this petition demanding more for your dollar. Efficiency is the key to this project. Save our Oceans.

In recent weeks, attention has focused on the outrage surrounding Netanyahu’s March 3rd speech to Congress, and House Speaker Boehner's invitation to Netanyahu. After Netanyahu's speech, focus must revert to the real issues: Iran negotiations, deal or no deal, peace or war. Prime Minister Netanyahu has made clear that any viable, reasonable deal – a deal that both Iran could accept and one that meets the red lines of the P5+1 negotiators – would never reach his standard. With the deadline for a framework agreement with Iran approaching (March 23rd) and with AIPAC getting into gear, pressure is mounting on members of Congress to proceed with new legislation – sanctions and other initiatives – that could kill a deal before it is reached or render any deal dead on arrival.

Dear Provost Dai: I am a graduating senior majoring in African American Studies, and I support the right of my professors—including adjunct faculty—to vote to form a union. I urge you to allow the approximately 1,300 adjunct faculty at Temple University to proceed with a fair and timely election by dropping the legal challenges Temple has brought before the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board. Temple’s adjunct faculty should be able to exercise their right to make a choice about unionization. I urge you to let them vote. Every student who has attended Temple has been taught by at least one adjunct faculty member. After all, adjuncts make up half of the faculty at Temple. They are a valuable part of our university community. Their commitment to our education is compensated with low pay, few benefits and no assurances that they will be able to teach future classes beyond the current semester. This is unfair not only to faculty but to students as well. For example, a professor I make a connection with one semester may not be around the next semester, in spite of excellent teaching and student support. I believe that adjunct faculty, like all workers, deserve to be treated with dignity and respect by the Temple administration, and I strongly support their organizing to form a collective bargaining unit with the union they have chosen, the Temple Association of University Professionals. I call on you to allow Temple’s adjunct faculty to hold a fair and transparent election, and I demand that you not use any tuition funds or other resources to hinder their efforts. Sincerely, Sarah Giskin, African American Studies Temple University

Story (no longer available) from http://www.newschannel9.com Korean War Veteran Found Frozen To Death Inside Home This bitter cold weather has killed 11 people in Tennessee, most of them from hypothermia. On Wednesday, Sequatchie County deputies found a senior citizen frozen to death inside his mobile home atop Lewis Chapel Mountain. Bradley Sutter was an 85-year-old Korean War veteran. He lived somewhat in seclusion. From Shell Road, his house isn't visible. A snow covered path lined by frozen tree branches leads to his home. It's easy to never see it. Sheriff Ronnie Hitchcock said, "At the time we were on the mountain, it was 16 degrees outside and it felt as cold inside as it did outside." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Updated version from wrcbtv on February 20, 2015 includes: Fatalities Tennessee has eleven (11), confirmed, weather-related fatalities: Hamilton County - One (1) fatality: 63-year-old male, hypothermia related Henry County - Two (2) fatalities: 64-year-old female, hypothermia related; 69-year-old male, hypothermia related Hickman County (1) fatality: male, dialysis patient, unable to get to treatment Knox County - One (1) fatality: 30-year-old male, motor vehicle accident Overton County - One (1) fatality: 38-year-old female, motor vehicle accident Roane County – One (1) fatality, 44-year-old male, hypothermia related Sequatchie – One (1) fatality, 85-year-old male, hypothermia related Shelby County - One (1) fatality: 48-year-old male, hypothermia related Williamson County - Two (2) fatalities: 34-year-old female; 10-year-old male, motor vehicle accident Power Outages There are just over 6,300 customers without power this afternoon, down from more than 11,000 this morning, over six counties with the highest outage in Monroe at 5,693 customers. Shelters Open Red Cross (7): Warren, Sevier, Roane, Maryville, Loudon, Knox, Dyer Independent (6): Madisonville, Loudon, Lewisburg, Coffee, McMinn, Rhea http://www.wrcbtv.com/story/28140165/tema-confirms-6-cold-related-deaths-in-tennessee -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/local/story/2015/feb/21/war-vet-freezes-death-inside-home/289469/ War Vet Freezes to Death Inside Home DUNLAP, Tenn. -- After surviving two wars, frigid weather took the life of Bradley Sutter this week. Police found the 85-year-old dead in his rural mobile home with nothing but electric blankets for heat. With temperatures in the single digits this week, concerned neighbors asked the Sequatchie County Sheriff's Office to check on Sutter, whom neighbors hadn't seen in several days. Deputies found him dead of hypothermia Wednesday afternoon inside his squalid mobile home, which is tucked away in some woods off of state Route 111 near Dunlap. Deputies found an electric furnace in the home, but it was either broken or not turned on. Sutter's only source of heat came from two electric blankets -- one on top of him, the other underneath. A piece was missing from the bottom of the front door, plugged up with grocery bags. ...After days of searching for family members, investigators tracked down Sutter's son through an ancestry registry, though the sheriff said the two hadn't been in touch for some time. Sutter's son, who traveled from Englewood, Tenn., on Friday to sort through his father's things, declined to comment. The winter storm that swept through the country this week has so far claimed the lives of 18 Tennesseans. Nine of those deaths were hypothermia-related, according to the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency. One of those hypothermia-related fatalities was local 64 year-old Douglas King, who was found Tuesday morning near the railroad trestles at 600 E. 11th St., just a block from the Chattanooga Community Kitchen. ---------------------------------------------- Vance Perry, age 57, Madison, Wisconsin Army veteran freezes to death after being released from VA hospital He was found in a parking garage in below freezing temperatures, wearing only a light jacket. The medical examiner says he likely died of hypothermia. He was 57. Author: Staff, NBC January 5, 2018 Atlanta Erika Perry Vance Perry Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital Paul Rickert MADISON, Wis. -- An Atlanta family says it was negligence that led to the death of their father, an Army veteran. Vance Perry was found dead on New Year's Eve in a freezing-cold parking garage in Madison, Wis. http://www.ksdk.com/article/news/army-veteran-freezes-to-death-after-being-released-from-va-hospital/504994426 ---------------------------------------------- http://www.kcci.com/news/person-found-dead-at-water-works-park/31387656 Richard Miles, age 40 Des Moines "Police identified the man Saturday as 40-year-old Richard Miles. Des Moines Police Sgt. Jason Halifax said Miles was considered a missing person since Feb. 2 and that he likely died from natural causes.... Police said the man's body was 'frozen solid' and he was not wearing a coat or shoes. There was no trauma to his body." ---------------------------------------------- John Skelley, 69 Cancer-Stricken Vietnam Veteran John Skelley, 69, Freezes to Death after Michigan Utility Shuts off Gas http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/oakland/2015/02/12/vietnam-veteran-hypothermia-shutoff/23327507/ Detroit Free Press State asks: Why did Hazel Park veteran freeze to death? By Katrease Stafford, Detroit Free Press 10:47 p.m. EST February 12, 2015 John Skelley, 69, was found dead Feb. 1 in a home on West Pearl Street. Hazel Park police say Skelley died of hypothermia and other health issues. According to Consumers Energy, service was disconnected at the home on the afternoon of Jan. 19 and a tag with assistance and reconnection information was placed on the door. -----------------------------------------------...

Yes, I have a loved one who is incarcerated and am directly impacted by the unfairness of this practice. The cost are exhorbitant and find it extremely difficult to be able to afford to pay for extra food to keep him from feeling like we live in a 3rd world country. He goes hungry many nights and loses weight very easy. At times others will share some leftovers from their trays. On top of the high food gouging and daily fees we also pay over $3.00 per phone call. They are there to be punished but it is extreme to add this to important basic needs and must be changed!

My petition is about getting my uncle, Clifton McKinney and everyone else that has or is being wrongfully imprisoned, the chance at a fair and honest trial or new appeal!! This issue has affected me not only because he's my uncle, but also because I feel that justice is not served when innocent people are punished for something they didn't do.