Students Protest Burmese Holdings

Students from 56 universities across the nation will fast today to urge corporations and univerities to get rid of their financial holdings in Burma.

It is impossible to do business in Burma without dealing with the country's repressive military regime, said Jeremy S. Woodrum, director of the Washington office of the Free Burma Coalition.

"We want U.S. companies to stop working with the military regime," he said.

Though a New York Times story exposing the links between garment and apparel exports to the U.S. and the Burmese military regime gave the movement important exposure last Thursday, protesters say one of their main goals is to increase awareness on college campuses.

Many protesters say they feel deeply passionate about the protest.

"I am fasting, because what is happening in Burma is so horrendous I cannot even imagine what it's like," wrote Julia Earl, a student at Emory University in Atlanta, in an e-mail. "When there is torture, forced labor, censorship, destruction of the environment, and killing, something has to be done; these are the conditions in Burma, so I cannot sit around and do nothing."

"I'm going to wear a sign that says 'Ask me why I'm fasting,'" Earl added. "I'm hoping that other students around campus will take notice."

But at Harvard, only a handful of students are expected to fast today, according to campus organizer Joanna L. Chan '02, a Burmese native.

She said she wants to "increase pressure on corporations to withdraw from the country," and said she believes that Harvard students can have an impact.

"We have influence and power to make a difference," Chan said.

Unlike at other campuses where the fast is being organized through a student group, at Harvard, Chan alone is spearheading the effort because Harvard does not have a Free Burma student group. She said Harvard used to have a Burma action group but that it disbanded because of declining membership.

Protesters hope their efforts will cause clothing companies to quit their involvement in Burma. As a result of protests last year, the Dress Barn, JanSport, and Kenneth Cole all promised to quit sourcing from Burma, according to the Free Burma Coalition.

At each university, protesters are aiming for different results.

Meighan J. Davis, a sophomore at Peace College, an all-women's school in Raleigh, N.C., said students there want to "show the Burmese people that we support democracy."

She said the student government has passed a resolution denouncing any involvement with Burma and that the group is planning to meet with the college president.

Andrew C. Price, a junior at the University of Virginia, said in a press release that his state's Burmese investments sends a contradictory message to students.

"Through its investments in UNOCAL oil company, the State of Virginia and the University of Virginia are still supporting slavery. This investment offends every value we are taught in our schools and universities," he said.

Student organizers from around the country have been planning today's fast for about three weeks.

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who provided the impetus for the Times article by providing unclassified State Department documents to the newspaper, has promised in conjunction with Republicans Jesse Helms of North Carolina and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky to introduce legislation calling to prohibit imports from Burma.

Burma was known as Myanmar until 1989, shortly after military rule was imposed on the country in 1988.

Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the nation's pro-democracy movement, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize while under house arrest in December 1991, and remains imprisoned in his home.