The Rice Thresher, Vol. 89, No. 7, Ed. 1 Friday, September 28, 2001 Page: 7 of 28
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THE RICE THRESHER NEWS FRIDAY, SEFFEMBER 28, 2001
i'
Labor activist comments on Charleston 5
by Lindsey Gilbert
FOR THE THRESHER
Learning from a pro
KUANA KNIGHT/THRESHER
Evie Zambetakis gets makeup advice irom a Clinique consultant in the
Student Center Tuesday. Free consultations and sample products
were given to people who visited the Clinique booths.
Will Rice RAs resign
by Mark Berenson
IHKI SHf.R EDITORIAL STAFF
Will Rice College Resident Asso-
ciates Heather Syrett and Sharyn
Malatok announced their resigna-
tion, effective at the end of academic
year, in an e-mail to the college
listserv Wednesday.
Syrett, who is also director of the
Community Involvement Center,
said she and Malatok, who lives with
Syrett, never planned to stay the full
seven-year term, and now seemed a
good time to leave.
"Next year is when a lot of the
other RAs are coming to their term
limits, and we didn't want Will Rice
to be searching at that time because
it would be hard for the college when
they are competing with all of the
other colleges," Syrett said.
Will Rice President Jesse Halpern-
Dickerman said Syrett and Malatok,
who have been RAs since 1997. were
like older sisters to college members.
"I'm just glad they will be here as
long as I'm here," Halpern-
Dickerman said. "I can't imagine Will
Rice without them."
Some students said Syrett and
Malatok enjoyed hanging out with
them.
"Heather and Sharon are always
around... and they're totally cool with
having people come over to their room
Thursday nights [to watch TV1," Will
Rice junior Amanda Hines said.
Syrett said her favorite part of
being an RA was watching students
change in their time at Rice.
"The best part of being an RA.
especially having been here for over
four years, is watching the students
grow from when they come in as
freshmen to graduating four or five
years later," Syrett said. "We feel
privileged for getting to be a part of
that for so many students."
Syrett said she and Malatok plan to
stay active in the college as associates.
Halpern-Dickerman said Will Rice
Vice Presidentjoey Favaloro will chair
the search committee for the new RAs.
Favaloro, a senior, said the com-
mittee has not yet been chosen.
"It is going to be open to the
whole college to express an interest
' to me in being on the committee,"
Favaloro said.
Halpern-Dickerman added that
he will take no role in the process, as
he is currently involved in Will Rice's
search for new masters.
Will Rice Masters Dale and Elise
Sawyer's term ends at the end of the
academic year.
Syrett said she and Malatok were
willing to help in the RA selection
process as much as the search com-
mittee desired.
"We offered to be of help to them
in whatever way they decided they
would like our help," Syrett said.
"We'll help them out with recruiting
people and just telling people across
campus what a great experience we
had at Will Rice, and leave it up to
the search committee to decide what
role we will play beyond that."
Favaloro said she anticipated ei-
ther Syrett. Malatok or both would
be on the committee.
Halpern-Dickerman said while it
will be difficult for Will Rice to have
both new masters and a new RA next
year, he is not worried.
"It is not going to be so bad."
Halpern-Dickerman said. "We've al-
ways had really strong leaders at
Will Rice among the students, and it
looks like it is going to continue.
Sure it is going to be strange, but
they will learn together."
Political Science Professor Gilbert
Cuthbertson, who has been an RAat
Will Rice for over 30 years, will con-
tinue to be an RA.
Syrett added that from her per-
sonal experience she didn't think
having new masters and an RA si-
multaneously would be a problem.
"We came in at the same time as
the Sawyers and we all survived
okay." Syrett said.
Syrett said she and Malatok de-
cided to announce their resignation
earlier than planned because of other
RA searches currently going on in
the colleges.
"We wanted to make sure that
they had plenty of time to do a thor-
ough search, especially with the
other RA searches going on across
the campus," Syrett said.
Halpern-Dickerman said he is not
concerned about attracting RAs to
Will Rice.
"Will Rice has a bunch of good
people here, we have a bunch of
spirit and a lot of people like Will
Rice." Halpern-Dickerman said. "It
is a tolerant place, and with new
masters, it is going to be exciting.
Labor activist Ken Riley came to
Rice to garner student support for
the Charleston 5, a group of South
Carolina fishermen arrested during
peaceful picketing last year.
A group of about 50 students
heard Riley speak Wednesday at
noon in the Grand Hall of the Rice
Memorial Center.
Riley is president of the Interna-
tional Longshoreman's Association
Local 1422 and vice president of the
AFDCIO in South Carolina. He was
one of 150 protesters overpowered
by about 600 policemen at the Port
of Charleston on Jan. 20.2000. while
picketing a shipping company called
the Nordana Line. The union mem-
bers, all of whom were black, were
protesting Nordana s decision to ter-
minate ties with the ILA.
The violent run-in drew national
attention. Riley said.
'We were met with 600 riot cops,
helicopters in the air. gunboats in
the water, snipers on the roofs with
night-vision goggles, policeman on
horseback, canine units, you name
it." Riley said.
Nine union members were ar-
rested during the altercation, five of
whom were charged with felonies
and placed under house arrest. As
evidence of police misconduct came
to light, Riley and others took their
case to the public arena, speaking
out against racial and social injus-
tice.
Riley's quest has taken him all
over the world, most recently to
Norway, France and Spain.
Wednesday's lecture was Riley's
first stop in Houston. The lecture
was hosted by Rice Students for Glo-
bal Justice, the Black Student Asso-
ciation. the Black Graduate Student
Association and the new Rice chap-
ter of the NAACP.
Wednesday evening, Riley ad-
dressed the Harris County AFL-CIO
Council.
Although Riley primarily speaks
to union members, he emphasized
the importance of student support.
"It's very special to us to have
student groups come out and sup-
port us because this struggle that we
are engaged in is a struggle for you,"
Riley said. "We are trying in this day
and time to make the workplace bet-
ter, so that when you enter the mar-
ket conditions will be better for you."
Riley invited audience members
to imagine working conditions in
the Deep South. With only four per-
cent of its workers unionized. South
Carolina is one of the least union-
ized states in the country.
According to Riley, this low per-
centage is not a coincidence.
"Unions in South Carolina are
targeted because legislators want to
maintain a pro-business climate,"
Riley said. "There's an aggressive
movement to stamp out labor unions
in the state."
Riley has experienced anti-union
hostility firsthand. His 1998 nomina-
tion to South Carolina's Port Author-
ity Board was opposed by the state's
Chamber of Commerce and eventu-
ally defeated. Riley said he was out-
raged at such blatant discrimination.
'Unions in South
Carolina are targeted
because legislators
want to maintain a pro-
business climate.
There's an aggressive
movement to stamp out
labor unions in the
state.'
— Ken Riley
Labor activist
"Being brought up in the South. I
understood what it was like to be
discriminated against because of my
race and because of my color," Riley
said. "And now that I've made a ca-
reer choice to become a union mem-
ber, I'm still going to be discrimi-
nated against."
Riley said he views the Charles-
ton 5 incident as yet another ex-
ample of conservative strong-arm-
ing. When the state Attorney Gen-
eral intervened in the case, the
charges were increased from 5 mis-
demeanor trespassing charge to
felonies, including inciting a riot.
The five defendants are still await-
ing trial and are currently under
house arrest, confined to their
homes between the hours of 7 p.m.
and 7 a.m.
"Hardened criminals are being
arrested on the streets of Charles-
ton and around this country every
night, every day, but they do not face
this type of persecution," Riley said.
"This is nothing less than political
persecution."
With pro-business interests domi-
nating politics, Riley said he fears
for the future of South Carolina's
workers.
"South Carolina is now becom-
ing the Third World alternative,"
Riley said. "No longer do you have to
take your corporations over the bor-
der, to Indonesia, to the Philippines
— bring them to South Carolina. We
have Third World conditions right
here "
Rilev said he will continue his
fight against anti-union sentiment
intil the bitter end. A preliminary
hearing is scheduled for the Charles-
ton 5 on Oct. 5. Organizations
throughout the world have pledged
support on the day the case comes
to trial.
RSGJ President Miles Rodriguez,
a Wiess College junior, said the Rice
Charleston 5 Defense Committee
will offer its full support. The com-
mittee presented Riley with a $264
check and issued a resolution stat-
ing. "In solidarity with the Charles-
ton 5. the Rice Charleston 5 Defense
Committee agrees to fully support
and attend the local AFL-CIO spon-
sored events in solidarity with the
Charleston 5 the day that their trial
begins. ... This solidarity is an un-
flinching stance against racism and
union busting and in favor of full
racial equality and the full expres-
sion of workers' rights."
In addition, 46 audience mem-
bers signed a petition calling for jus
tice for the Charleston 5. ,
Lovett College freshman and BSA
member .Alicia Malik was among
the signers.
"I thought the speech was excel-
lent," Malik said. "I want to start
something or be a part of something
here on campus the day of the trial."
Riley said he hopes for a swift and
just resolution to the Charleston 5
case.
"We feel that we simply cannot
afford to let one of these workers
go to jail," Riley said. "We want to
fight for workers' rights and civil
rights, to make the workplace bet-
ter for those generations that come
behind us."
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Liu, Leslie & Reichle, Robert. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 89, No. 7, Ed. 1 Friday, September 28, 2001, newspaper, September 28, 2001; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443118/m1/7/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.