Students set date to protest Wal-Mart opposition

Protesters for Wal-Mart to serve breakfast for construction workers

by Laura M. Schneider and Kate Whaley
THE POST

Students for a Free Market, a new political organization comprised of Ohio University students, plans to protest Friday morning against anti-Wal-Mart sentiments.

"Students really want (a Wal-Mart here), and their voices aren't being heard," said OU junior Marcus Winters, president and founder of SFFM, which formed three weeks ago.

"We are going to bring doughnuts and coffee to all of the workers and show them there are a lot of students here who really want the Wal-Mart ... to happen."

But Citizens for Responsible Development opposes Wal-Mart for various reasons, member Duane Jager said. The environment is one issue the CRD addresses. Members agree building on the floodplain could cause damage to the environment.

A Wal-Mart also would hurt the local economy and might carry products produced using child labor in foreign countries, said Jager, who cited the Campaign for Labor Rights, a national organization that has conducted research on the topic.

Five people attending a protest organized by CRD were arrested Tuesday for persistent disorderly conduct after blocking the East State Street construction site entrance.

"It's statistically proven that small businesses go out of business when super-stores come to small towns," Jager said. "It's not a free market; it's a corporate-dominated market."

A dozen students attended last night's SFFM meeting.

SFFM distributed signs at the meeting that read: "I love capitalism." The group will protest Friday at the construction site to support capitalism and a free market economy.

"I believe people who attempt to interfere with the marketplace have an anti-American agenda," said SFFM faculty adviser Rebecca Thacker, OU associate professor of human resource management.

The controversy about building Wal-Mart served as a catalyst in forming the group, Winters said. The counter-protest on Friday will be a response to CRD-planned protests on Tuesday.

John Kotowski, OU director of facilities planning, confirmed suspicions about the future occupants of the East State Street development site in an Oct. 17 Post article.

"Not only will Wal-Mart come, but they will attract others," he said in the article.

SFFM is an anti-government group that believes in smaller government to create a purer form of freedom, Winters said.

CRD member Art Gish, in response to SFFM, said he welcomes dialogue about the issue. He said there should more discussion about the possibility of a Wal-Mart in Athens.

"The more people that talk about this, the more these issues get out on the table; it's a good thing," Gish said. "The thing I'm opposed to is the way that Glidden has gone about this. We need to bring things out and debate them."

Gish also argued against the benefits of a free market economy.

"I think free market without any concern for morality and social justice is a frightening thing," he said.

While SFFM members said the group formed partly to protest Wal-Mart, the group will voice opinions on other issues.

"It's going to go way past the Wal-Mart thing," Winters said.

SFFM meetings are held at 8:30 p.m. Wednesdays in Baker University Center.