Staff Writer
laurasgoshen.edu
    Didier Leton, from Costa Rica, spent 18 years picking pineapples and bananas for Del Monte, earning minimum wage in inhumane conditions.
    Savin Phal, from Cambodia, was recently fired from her sewing job for trying to form a union at her factory.
    Goshen College students along with faculty and community members heard stories like these last Sunday night at the Sweat Free Communities Presentation held in Newcomer.
    Leton and Phal are traveling with Sweat Free Communities, a network for local action against sweatshops, in a tour through Midwest cities to urge government implementation of policies that protect the rights of sweatshop workers.
    “We are all part of the global economy because we eat food and we wear clothes,” said Victoria Kaplan, Midwest regional organizer for Sweat Free Communities.
    Leton spoke first of his experiences in Costa Rica, stopping every few sentences for Spanish translation. His work on the banana and pineapple plantations involved low wages, poor health conditions and exposure to chemicals. In addition to working 12-hour days, they were not provided places to sit or use the restroom and were denied life insurance.

Staff Writer
alyshablgoshen.edu
Six Goshen College students were happier than most about the warmer weather this weekend.  They spent the night sleeping in cardboard boxes in downtown Goshen.  
Participants included Phil Schmidt, Hope Langeland, Heather Clark, Mary Fowler, Bryce Bow, Josh Miller and Melanie Antram.  A community member and active member of Habitat for Humanity also accompanied them.
Sleeping in cardboard boxes was just one part of the Shack City event put on by campus ministries last Friday.  Other activities included a walking tour of Goshen: looking at some lower class areas that may not often be seen by Goshen College students, and a time of worship and reflection.  
As they worshipped, the students focused on seeing God in the world around them and learning to serve and be used by God.  Time was also spent praying for awareness about the homelessness and low-income situation in the Goshen Community and the need for more affordable housing.  During this time, the students were also able to connect with some participating programs, such as the Inter-faith Hospitality Network, The Window and La Casa.

Next week, the Women in Text and Image class will be hosting a weeklong awareness event. This event will focus on the negative body images the media presents, as well as the healthy, beautiful realities of women on the Goshen College campus.
From April 14 to April 19, examples of unrealistic women’s bodies found in advertisements will be juxtaposed with body casts of real women, decorated by the women themselves.
In addition, lyrics of popular songs that contain gendered language and images will be on display in the cafeteria and the Leaf Raker, with questions to spark discussion and opportunities to submit feedback.
This event will culminate in an open discussion forum on April 19 in Newcomer 17 at 4:00 p.m. Here, students can reflect and process their thoughts and feelings regarding how the media has affected them personally and socially.
    Participation in this event can take many forms, from discussing topics in the forum to submitting feedback in the cafeteria, or simply observing the pieces on display across campus. 

Staff Writer
danieltvgoshen.edu
Ruth Stoltzfus is leaving her position as Director of the Student Wellness and Health Center at the close of the academic year.
Stoltzfus has cared for the physical health of Goshen College students for eight years. She has worked with serious and minor health problems and physically prepared droves of SSTers to depart for foreign countries.
“I am privileged to work with students in huge ways and in little ways,” said Stoltzfus. “Sometimes it is simply helping them think about different ways of eating, and sometimes it is much more complex and painful stuff that the student is dealing with.”
Along with her work at the health center, Stoltzfus has co-taught “Human Sexuality” with Keith Graber Miller and a variety of nursing classes.

Staff Writer
reubenemgoshen.edu

    As the Indiana primary nears, unlike some previous elections, there is still a decision to be made within the Democratic Party: the run of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.  
The Obama Campaign effort by students offered places to register on campus and a petition to get the Obama family to come out to Goshen.  The movement started with a table within the entrance to the ‘Rott and evolved into an all out canvassing and clip-boarding effort headed by student volunteers and a few faculty along with help from the Goshen Obama Campaign offices.  
In terms of the city of Goshen, the only candidate to open an office so far has been Obama and this has been done through his focus on the grassroots organization.  That may also be the cause of the more centralized support for Obama on campus.  With the grand opening of the Obama campaign office on 211 South 5th Street in Goshen, interest was bolstered.  As many as 200 community members came out for the event, including around 50 students and faculty from the college.