| College of William and
Mary |
Education
Students at the College of William and Mary have been working hard
to educate their campus about the Bhopal disaster. Student organizers
there have been talking with campus groups and their professors
about the campaign, and one professor was so enthusiastic that he
included the disaster as a major part of the curriculum in his class.
William and Mary has also hosted a teach-in, led by Greenpeace's
Jackie Downing, that dealt with the disaster, the campaign, and
Dow's ongoing liability.
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Confrontation with
Dow's CEO
The Bhopal organizers at William and Mary were ready when Michael
Parker, Dow's CEO, came to town. He was at the campus to give a
speech about Dow's 'sustainability' practices and its 'commitment'
to the natural environment. Unfortunately he didn't expect Azita
Ranjbar to be front and center at the presentation. After his speech
during the Q&A session, Mr. Parker got a preliminary question
from the back about Bhopal. He gave his usual "I feel your
pain, it was awful, I remember where I was when Bhopal happened,
oh . . . but we have no liabilities thankyouverymuch" shtich.
Azita wasn't buying it, but Parker bought her sweet cherub smile
and called on her next, expecting a soft question from the peanut
gallery. Instead, he got the following (as retold by Azita):
Azita: Mr. Parker, the liabilties in Bhopal can't be 'over' when
people are still being poisoned every day.
Parker: Well, I, uh, meant that our liabilites are over.
A: Call me foolish, but I didn't think that corporations, could
just determine when and if their liabilities are over. That's why
we have courts.
P: Um, yeah . . .
A: And you forgot to mention that your company is being sued in
the Federal District Court of New York for contamination at the
Bhopal site.
P: Well, we're actually trying to find a solution to this -- we
are currently in negotiations with Bhopal survivors --
A: No you're not. You see, I'm with Greenpeace ---
P: (groan, face contorts)
A: And we've been trying to ask you for almost a year to sit down
with Bhopal survivor organizations and talk about the problems in
Bhopal. And we've sent you over 50,000 postcards, emails and faxes
to remind you to do this!
P: Well, I --
A: And that's why I want to present you with this book (Dominique
Lapierre's Five Past Midnight in Bhopal) so you can read how the
people of Bhopal suffer while you drag your feet in dealing with
your liabilties...
P: (Begrudgingly takes the book. Gives Azita the look of death)
Facilitator: Well, that's all the time we have today for questions
for Mr. Parker. Thank you all for coming...
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