After the defeat of a similar resolution last week, Student Government voted Tuesday to pass a resolution which openly calls upon University officials to renounce a portion of the funding it receives from Dow Chemical Company. It also encourages an active administrative response to the issue of Dow's alleged involvement in a poisonous gas leakage in Bhopal, India, in 1984.
In its second attempt through assembly, Resolution A26, originally presented as Resolution A21, requests that the University only accept donations from Dow if the company donates matching funds to the Bhopal cleanup effort.
At the previous SG meeting, the vote came down to 16 in favor of the old resolution, 17 against it and two abstaining.
The main difference between the new resolution, A26, and the defeated one, A21, is the new resolution requests that the University not accept funds from Dow's "directly associated foundations." Another difference is a removed stipulation that sought a letter to be written by UT President Bill Powers to Dow about the issue.
Both resolutions have similar stipulations to accept only those funds which match that spent on Bhopal but specified that this be implemented only until the cleanup completely meets U.S. safety standards.
"Initially we tried to focus on the ethical and emotional issues. It was about Bhopal, India - a place an ocean away - but now we are emphasizing the facts because they are so important to the relationship between UT students and Dow," said Pragya Bhagat, a biology senior and member of the UT Association for India's Development.
After the resolution's narrow defeat Feb. 7, the association consulted the administration about what course of action should be taken next, Bhagat said. Juan Sanchez, UT vice president for research, met with the association and suggested they continue to seek the support of SG because it would enhance the weight of their argument when presented to the administration, she said.
In addition to revisions to the original resolution, the association gained access to documents, which revealed that Dow's cumulative contributions to the University through June 2003 was $4.4. million, Bhagat said.
However, as the debate progressed, proponents and opponents of the resolution presented contradicting figures reflecting the grand scheme of contributions from Dow.
According to Mark Blount, director of Corporate Relations at the University, Dow has been involved with UT since World War II.
Blount said he could not confirm the amount of Dow's contributions to UT, because the University does not divulge the gift amount of any donor.
Complaints from other students at the SG meeting focused on needed money being taken away from students and the University.
Rather than deny donations from corporations like Dow, the University should use them for research that could benefit those in Bhopal and in other similar situations, said anthropology senior Ben Durham.
"As it stands, pushing for divestment is not the most strategic campaign," Durham said.
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