By Daisy Hassani & Michelle Gao
Gargoyle assistant editor & staff reporter
Posted Friday, May 19, 2006, The OG, features

Suzanne Linder's Social Advocacy class will premiere two documentaries tonight in the North Attic:
“Recruiters: Coming to a High School Near You” and “Don't Sweat It: The Concious Consumer's Guide to Buying Clothing.”

The films will be shown from 6 to 8 p.m., followed by another premiere.

International Film Makers United, a student group, will show “The Planetarium Secret,” written by juniors Devin Johnson and Scott Sapp. The cast includes Sapp, English teacher Elizabeth Majerus, history teacher Bill Sutton, and juniors Amelia Breault and Rohun Palekar. Johnson directed the movie, which was filmed and edited by senior Daniel Jacobs and sophomore Micah Berman.

Admission to the entire extravaganza is free, and a discussion will take place after Social Advocacy's films. Free snacks will be provided.

While Linder's class has typically chosen only one topic to cover, this year's large class size allowed the students to investigate two subjects: military recruiting in high schools and sweatshop labor.

The “Warr” group, consisting of seniors Lucy Schiller, Annie Fehrenbacher, Mo Kudeki, Leah Imlay, Rebecca Alper, and Colette DeJong, looked into the controversy of military recruiting in high schools. The group interviewed local high school students and recruitment officers to create an in-depth look at the issues surrounding military recruiting.

The sweatshop labor group, consisting of seniors Josie Chambers, Julie Chen, Ben Erickson, Roveiza Irfan, Alex Johnson, Rose Kory, and Cordelia Loots-Gollin and juniors Mandy Grill and Marquis Wang, has made a spoof of the TV show “What Not To Wear,” with an intriguing twist. They decided to go through Grill's closet to analyze her fashion sense and document her quest to put together a good wardrobe while trying to steer clear of benefiting sweatshops.

In addition, the sweatshop labor group has created a consumer-guide brochure that examines big-name clothing companies such as Gap, Limited, and Nike to find out about their backgrounds and their plans regarding sweatshop labor. The brochure will be available at the film premiere, as well as in local libraries.