class assignment

Billie Sue Atkinson's 12/1 class assignment

Date: November 30, 2000

To: Jesse Rosenbaum

From: Billie Sue Atkinson

Re: Junior Golf Tournament

As you know, the College has been offered the opportunity to co-sponsor a regional Junior Golf tournament and summer camp with the mayor of Trenton, Douglas Palmer, with support from Nike's Tiger Woods Foundation. This is an opportunity of which the college must take advantage.

Who will be affected?

If the college does host the event, Trenton children ages four to 18 will be brought to the campus and supplied housing and facilities for the week long camp and tournament. During that time, the children will be taught how to play golf or have their skills sharpened by various volunteers and local golfers. Tiger Woods is scheduled to make an appearance to interact with the children as well as give out awards at the closing of the week.

Why should The College host the event?

The College should host the camp and tournament in conjunction with local golf courses for the simple fact that the lives of the children involved will be improved. The College’s mission says, "The College, in both its liberal arts and professional programs, prepares individuals to lead and serve in their chosen fields and to preserve and transmit knowledge, skills, and wisdom to benefit the people of New Jersey, the nation, and the world." This camp is a perfect opportunity to serve the children of Trenton as well as transmit knowledge, skills, and wisdom.

Since the name change, The College has been striving to falsify rumors that it seeks separation from the city of Trenton. If Trenton is, in fact, essential to the identity of TCNJ, then hosting the event will publicize that.

What is Nike’s Tiger Woods Foundation?

Between 1997-2001, Nike is investing $2.3 million to help Tiger Woods teach and inspire kids to play golf. Clinics have been conducted in Chicago, Dallas, Memphis, Miami, New York, Orlando, Cincinnati and Indianapolis.

In addition to monetary and product support of the Tiger Woods Foundation and the youth clinics, Nike is donating $20,000 per clinic to the National Minority Golf Foundation to assist local grassroots youth golf programs.

The Trenton Recreation department has been running a Junior Golf program for years, with scant funding and volunteer support. Yet, the program is significantly under-funded.

Hosting the event and allowing the children of Trenton contact with such big names as Nike and Tiger Woods will inspire the children as well as provide funding for the Junior Golf program. Organized programming gives the children constructive activities to participate in. The funding provided by Nike’s Tiger Woods Foundation would make the program available to more children. Therefore, the college would be improving the lives of many more children than the ones that attend the camp.

Where role does the anti-sweatshop movement play?

Opponents cite the possibility of anti-sweatshop protest as reason not to host the event. As TCNJ opposes sweatshops, Nike as stated improved conditions and wages among the workers in the factories that it subcontracts. Nike is not legally responsible for the conditions of the international factories manufacturing its apparel because subcontractors of Nike own the factories.

However, Nike has vowed to improve the conditions for these workers. A statement from Nike said, "Nike will increase the entry-level cash wages for its Indonesian

footwear factory workers from 250,000 Rupiah (Rp) to 265,000 Rp per month. In addition, Nike also pledged to implement a new minimum monthly wage package for workers totaling 332,000 Rp, including bonuses, housing, health care, transportation and meal allowances. The new Nike wage standards are effective April 1, 1999, concurrent with an anticipated increase in the Indonesian minimum wage to 231,000 Rp monthly. When combined with allowances for meals, housing, health care and transportation, the new Nike minimum wage package will provide 100% of an individual worker's basic needs (including maintenance of household family members and modest savings) as determined in research conducted by both the Indonesian government and various non-governmental organizations, including Global Exchange."

Nike is supplying wages above the national averages in the countries. Inflation rate and standard of living in these countries cannot be changed by Nike and is not its responsibility. It is doing what it can to improve the quality of the Nike workers lives. The rest is concern on the government level.

However, students involved in Amnesty International and other campus groups actively against supporting companies involved with sweatshop labor threaten to protest if the event is held.

The size of the protest is expected to be minimal. The event will be held during the summer when most students are not on campus. Outside protest support is unlikely as well. The College is relatively distant from any major city and probably would not attract much anti-sweat attention.

What should be done?

The benefit for the children of Trenton that this program will cause is undeniable. They cannot be denied the opportunity of a lifetime at our hands. We cannot deny them the opportunity to learn a sport that will aid in their upward mobility or to make contacts that will influence them throughout the rest of their lives. The mission calls for activities that enhance the lives of the community and Nike along with the Junior Golf program and Mayor Palmer have offered us the opportunity to show that we stand behind the college’s mission and the city of Trenton.