"It's rare to have something this major in the extracurricular sphere," Epps says. "This effort is on par with earlier efforts."

But committee members credit students only so far. While they applaud students for identifying the problems of low-wage workers, they say the students' proposed solution of wage increases is neither desirable nor feasible.

"I thought we did the right thing not to focus just on the issue the students helpfully brought up," Sander says. "[Student action] was more of a nudge, a push to examine the overall working conditions at the University."

Committee members also say the living wage campaign's sustained program of rallies and demonstrations did not affect their work.

"We did what we were going to do regardless of the agitation," Mills says. "We didn't pay much attention to that. It had almost no impact."

For their part, students say they planned to demonstrate regardless of whether their actions influenced the committee.

"We did a lot of actions that were more aggressive and effective," Offner says. "PSLM's activities were somewhat divorced from the University's actions."

While PSLM members originally praised some of the committee's recommendations, they now attack the committee for failing to address their core concern--a living wage.