'Behind the Swoosh' examines Nike labor practices Sept. 29

The University Program Council at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln will present "Behind the Swoosh," a film and lecture critical of the labor practices of Nike Inc., at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 29 at the ballroom of the Nebraska Union, 1400 R St.

Admission is free for UNL students, faculty and staff with a valid NCard. For the general public, admission is $3.

"Behind the Swoosh" is a 2-hour, interactive, multi-media presentation that includes slide shows, role-playing, powerful video footage, and a question-and-answer period with Leslie Kretzu and Jim Keady. co-directors and founders of Educating for Justice Inc., a nonprofit corporation that develops and distributes social-justice oriented programming and content to the educational marketplace.

The presentation details the month Kretzu and Keady spent in an Indonesian factory workers' slum living on $1.25 a day, a typical wage paid to Nike's subcontracted workers. Along with personal accounts of lived solidarity, the presentation includes the latest information on Nike's labor and environmental practices that Educating for Justice researched in Indonesia in 2001 and 2002. Kretzu and Keady have visited more than 200 universities and high schools across the country and have spoken to more than 50,000 students, administrators, faculty and community members.

"Our goal is to introduce students to the issue of sweatshops through the lens of social justice by using an exciting and easily understandable case study: Nike's labor and environmental practices in Indonesia," Kretzu said.

The University Program Council is a volunteer student organization designed to address the co-curricular, social, recreational, cultural and educational needs of the UNL campus.

CONTACT: Karen Wills, UPC Adviser, (402) 472-8153