[Peace] Aware Minutes 9-29-02

[marina manetti]

Susan Parenti, trained as a “classical” music composer, teacher/director/facilitator of the School for Designing a Society, spoke of her recent trip with Patch Adams to S. Africa.  They travel speaking and performing on the subjects of care and performance.  The intent of their invitation was to spread joy and laughter, instead “You are depressing us. We came for fun and laughter” was shouted at them from the S. African audience when she and Patch spoke of pressing contemporary social and political issues.  
Susan and Patch get to know a place by their host(s) which this time were two women with British accents who were into New Age and tarot card readings.  
Susan, Patch and the rest of their group were lodged at the most amazingly luxurious Hilton Hotel Susan had ever seen and were attended by bodyguards for their entire stay.  In contradistinction to the Yugoslavians, especially the Serbians, she encountered on a former trip, the S. Africans very much wanted to talk about their recent experiences.  
-The whites are a (20%) minority in S. Africa.  
-noteworthy and unusual was how the S. African people speak of loving their leader Nelson Mandela...much like the Cubans speak of their leader Fidel Castro.  
-Susan and Patch mostly visited AIDS places/hospitals.  The disease is rampant particularly among the children of S. Africa.  They went to a hospital in Johannesburg with 40,000 beds---S. Africa has some of the biggest hospitals in the world.  Susan was struck most of all by the smiles of the people there.  Smiles had not turned into commercialized items of currency but were warm, genuine, alive as smiles she had never before encountered.
-People there talked of making the place safe for structural adjustment so transnationals would find S. Africa worthy and bootstrap them up.
-In December of this year she will travel with Patch to the West Bank. 
-As far as the effects of the trip.  They spoke with thousands of medical students about how medical students not taught care.  Discussion was ripe with how to change the students’ medical school curriculum to include care and the politics of care as Patch and Susan mean it.

Carl Estabrook’s News of the Week:
-U.S. Stock market this week was the deepest bear market since before WWII.
-Friday Al Gore and Kennedy made speeches that sanctioned the current direction of things.
-The Bush administration sent its resolution to the UN security council. 
-In the Washington protests this weekend 600 people were arrested and put in preventive detention so they wouldn’t protest.  Five people from the IMC (including Sehvilla) went to the protests.  Washington was effectively shut down. 
-A conservative estimate of 150,000 people (a BBC site said 400,000) protested in London against Tony Blair and the impending war in Iraq.

Events from last week:
-Sandra and Lisa, among others, orchestrated and realized a postcard campaign from a table outside Strawberry Fields.  Other tables were set up at the Red Herring and the Farmer’s Market.  More than 500 postcards were sent protesting the imminent war with Iraq.  This ranks the most delightful and rewarding political work Sandra can remember ever doing.  Of the people who came 80% were against the war, 1-5% said we ought to bomb Iraq, and the rest were in a fix for time and could not stop though they were sympathetic to the effort.
-Lisa’s trip to Tim Johnson’s office.  Three people showed:  Lisa and two others who don’t come to AWARE meetings but read the announcements/minutes.  Doug Rokke’s (?) information was communicated to the office and the media secretary there appreciated receiving the information.  Staff people of representatives were characterized.   People in rural towns are very much against the war in Iraq.
-Prof. Kagan’s trip with Carol to Durban’s Chicago office  was reported on.  In 1982 Durban was elected to congress against a 24 year old Republican who was against the U.S. support of Israel.  Reactions of Senator Durban’s secretary were interestingly described.
-Meredith Kruse reported on Monday’s talk by Osama Saba
-Kim was the sole anti-war protester on Prospect this week.

Announcements:
-Moslem Student Association will show photos on the quad from 10-3 Wed. depicting the effects of sanctions against and bombings of Iraq.  
-Each Friday there is an informative talk and discussion at the Mosque. 
-Elder Sanchez from Columbia will speak at the IDF on October 10 at 7 p.m. on the impact of U.S. policy in Columbia. 
-There will be the annual IDF fall fund-raiser 6:00 dinner on Sat. Nov. 9 at the IDF.  Marino Cordoba, who just received asylum in the U.S., will be speaking there.
-AWARE signs on to endorsing the GTO’s push for free and fair election process.
-October 1 Tues. 7-9 p.m. at the 407 Levis Ctr. 919 W. Illinois St. ACDIS (arms control disarmament intl. security) is putting on “A Campus Forum on Iraq.”  AWARE needs to be there passing out literature or our point of view won’t get out.  For more info. contact: www.acdis.uiuc.edu or call 333-7086.
-Estabrook for Congress Bread Co. fund-raiser event this weekend was successful.  Wed. Oct. 2 at 8:00 p.m. Canopy Club there will be another, and this time it will be a Hip Hop Estabrook for Congress campaign event.
-Paul Mueth & the IMC report that Tues. noon October 1, at the Boeing plant in St. Charles Missouri that pumps out smart bombs 24-hours/day, a sit-in will take place that will block trucks going out of the plant.  For more information see IMC site: tom at stlimc.org<mailto:tome at stlimc.org> 
-Rickey’s presentation at the campus forum will be brief on the “Pending War with Iraq”. Carol will forward an e-mail about it tonight.
-Sandra Ahten will have an Art Sale open house 7-9 Fri., 12-3 Sat. and  1-4 Sun. at 1408 S. Vine in Urbana.
-There will be a “Terrorism Conference” at UIUC Oct. 3-5.  Opening talk will be at 7:30 room 180 Bevier Hall.

Finance report:
-Passed around the donation vase.
-Last Sat. the table at the Farmer’s Market was a great success.  $70.00 worth of donations was made without even asking people for it.  This covers Sharon’s $68.00 cost for postcards.

Working Groups reports:
-Postcards for peace flyer was read by Sandra.  
-Nov. 10 Cafe Paradiso or Art Attack.  Sandra is expecting 100 people will drop $30.00 each to help reach a $4,000 goal.  There will be a display of the artworks set up at the library. Someone will be in charge of framing and getting donated glass for framing.  We need to contact celebrities.   
-AWARE Care:  Starting on time is a controversial problem.
We need to start at 5:00 sharp.  Culture and education at each meeting or alternate between the two?  Majority voted to alternate.
-On Oct. 26 the Washington and San Francisco responses to the anniversary of the Patriot Act will be a national event.  What might we do locally?
The Chicago Solidarity march will be happening at the same time.
-Mon. Oct. 7 there will be a rally to commemorate the anniversary of the first day to the bombing of Iraq at noon on the quad.  Matt Reigel and the Student Peace Action is coordinating this.  Aware will co-sponsor it.
Mike Weisbrot will write an article on the Patriot Act for the next Private (I) issue.  The 300+ page Patriot Act has not been read by most representatives who signed it.
-”The Denver demonstration had a lot bigger turn out than they expected.”
-”Once Congress approves the war on Iraq it will be too late.”
-The PRC anti-chief/anti-Columbus Day rally will be held Mon. on Oct. 14 will probably meet in front of the Alma Mater.  Aware endorses this.
-Robert proposes that we draw up the “People’s Patriot Act” as opposed to the “Patriot Act.”

Working Groups:
peace, postcards and rally organizing.
Carl Estabrook will be on WEFT from weeknights TWR (?) 2 a.m.- 6 a.m. The next three weekends Carl’s usual Sat. WEFT radio slots will be taken up by the Democrat’s hour.

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