[Peace] REMINDER: AWARE counter-recruiting TODAY and TOMORROW

[Randall Cotton]

Just a reminder that frigid weather (even blizzards) never stopped
AWARE from protesting on the street. So it goes with our first public
anti-recruiting event today and tomorrow at the Army National Guard
tent set up for the IHSA State Football championships. Join us for as
little or as long as you like from noon to 4PM both today (Friday) and
tomorrow (Saturday) at First and Kirby and Champaign. We've added
additional flyers - one with information for prospective recruits on
alternative means of funding their education. And another for folks
who are already in the military who might be interested in what their
rights are, particularly regarding how to get out of the military.

Full details, including other flyers and signs and posters we're
featuring, are below in Monday's announcement:

And again, feel free to contact AWARE organizers if you have any
questions...

Randall Cotton - 722-8470 (coordinator for Friday's presence)
recotton at earthlink.net

Durl Kruse - 766-2684 (coordinator for Saturday's presence)
jandurl at insightbb.com

R

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Randall Cotton" <recotton at earthlink.net>
To: "Randall Cotton" <recotton at earthlink.net>
Sent: Monday, November 21, 2005 1:10 AM
Subject: Join AWARE as we counter Army National Guard recruiting!


: Just after Thanksgiving, the Army National Guard has plans to
recruit
: Illinois high school football players, their friends, family members
: and fans near Memorial Stadium. The AWARE counter-recruitment
working
: group will be there with signs and flyers to provide a counterweight
: to that effort. Join us anytime (for as long or as little as you
like)
: between the hours of noon and 4PM on the Friday and Saturday after
: Thanksgiving as we demonstrate with flyers and posters near an
actual
: military recruitment event. We especially welcome and encourage
: veterans to attend.
:
: Our counter-recruitment presence will take place near the Army
: National Guard tent facility planned for this year's IHSA state high
: school football championship games at Memorial Stadium on November
: 25th and 26th.
:
: WHAT: AWARE counter-recruitment presence (signs and flyers)
:
: WHERE: Army National Guard tent, 1st and Kirby
: (for map, see http://tinyurl.com/8fhfe )
:
: WHEN: noon to 4PM (arrive and leave anytime),
: Friday November 25th and Saturday, November 26th
:
: CONTACTS: Randall Cotton - 722-8470 (for Friday's presence)
: Durl Kruse - 766-2684 (for Saturday's presence)
:
: If you're interested, but would like to know the details, read on...
: ---------------------------------------------------------
: Every year, high school football teams from across the state, their
: families and sometimes a substantial portion of their communities
come
: to Champaign for two days of state-wide championship games at
Memorial
: Stadium (see reference 1 below). And the Army National Guard (which
is
: increasingly being deployed to Iraq) apparently views this as a good
: opportunity to recruit high school kids. Last year, the military had
a
: flashy presence there, complete with a neon-lit Hummer.
:
: AWARE's counter-recruitment working group has confirmed that they'll
: be back this year, with the Army National Guard trying desperately
to
: make up for their recruitment shortfall of more than 10,000 so far
: this year, the worst (or best, depending on how you look at it 8-)
in
: the U.S. military (see reference 2 below).
:
: We've planned a four-hour presence on both days of the IHSA
: championships, from noon to 4PM, rain or shine.
:
: The Army National Guard tent will be located on the southwest corner
: of 1st Street and Kirby, at the edge of the sprawling parking lot
: there, next to large sidewalks along both streets. We've alerted the
: Champaign Police Department of our plans and have confirmed that we
: have the right to be present with signs on those sidewalks so long
as
: we don't block traffic. Flyering is fine too, so long as we don't
: force folks to take anything.
:
: We will be featuring signs showing a particularly compelling poster
: depicting a military cemetery with the slogan "You Can't be All You
: Can Be ... If You're Dead". See the poster on-line at:
:
:
http://www.syrculturalworkers.com/catalog/catalogIndex/CatCounterRecruitment.html
:
: We'll have other signs as well, including the casualty portraits
(both
: military and Iraqi) that we often feature at AWARE events (you can
see
: them in the top page banner photo at www.ucimc.org  ).
:
: In addition, all are welcome, indeed encouraged, to bring their own
: signs as well.
:
: And we'll have hundreds of copies of two flyers we've chosen for the
: occasion, both from the American Friends Service Committee
(Quakers).
: You can see them on-line as follows:
:
: Do You Know Enough to Enlist?
: http://www.afsc.org/youthmil/Military-Recruitment/Enlist.PDF
:
: Ten Points to Consider Before You Sign a Military Enlistment
: Agreement:
: http://www.afsc.org/youthmil/Military-Recruitment/10pts.pdf
:
: The tide of public opinion is turning against the war in Iraq.
Current
: polls, such as the latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll, show that 60%
of
: Americans believe the war is "not worth it" (see reference 3 below).
: Anti-war activism is increasingly accepted and even welcomed. With
: this in mind, we feel that as the military has an increasingly
: difficult time meeting recruitment goals and they become more and
more
: desperate for new recruits, counter-recruitment is increasingly
: important and effective.
:
: So please consider joining us for as long or as little as you like
on
: the southwest corner of 1st and Kirby anytime between noon and 4PM
on
: Friday, November 25th and Saturday, November 26th as we provide a
: counterweight to recruiting efforts aimed at Illinois high school
: kids.
:
: And please feel free to contact us by phone or e-mail if you have
any
: questions or concerns:
:
: Randall Cotton - 722-8470 (coordinator for Friday's presence)
: recotton at earthlink.net
:
: Durl Kruse - 766-2684 (coordinator for Saturday's presence)
: jandurl at insightbb.com
:
: References:
: 1. (IHSA football championship info)
: http://www.ihsa.org/activity/fb/index.htm
:
: 2. (military recruiting shortfalls)
:
http://www.political-news.org/breaking/14438/army-poised-to-miss-2005-recruiting-goal.html
:
: 3. (recent polling on Iraq)
:  http://www.usatoday.com/news/polls/2005-11-15-iraq-poll.htm
: also:
: http://www.pollingreport.com/iraq
: