Cornell U. Severs Ties to JanSport

Cornell University announced Friday that it is severing ties to JanSport, a manufacturer of college apparel with which Cornell had worked, over concerns about the safety of workers in Bangladesh. A statement from the university said that it acted because VF Corporation, which owns JanSport, has not signed the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh. A spokesman for VF, which maintains a website in which it says it works to promote safe working conditions in Bangladesh, said that the company has joined another group -- Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety -- to help its employees there.