[Peace] minutes of Oct. 24 AWARE meeting

[Randall Cotton]

Please post additions/corrections as necessary.

Sorry I didn't get this out sooner...
R

1. Carl Estabrook's "News of the Week" (typically posted separately)

2. New Ideas:

- There is a new grassroots coalition against the multi-year exclusive
contract between Coca-Cola and the U of I and also advocating
divestment from Coca-Cola by the U of I. The coalition's name is
"Coalition against Coke Contracts", web site is
http://caccuc.blogspot.com/ . (Until recently, the core organizers
called themselves the "Coke Action Group", but they have evolved into
this newly-named coalition). This effort originally grew out of the
South Asian Collective, but is now more of a separate coalition
entity.

Coca-Cola is responsible for human rights violations and environmental
atrocities around the globe. The contract with the U of I is a 5-year
agreement and it expires in June 2007, so organizing is getting
underway now.

Representatives (Lori and Tulsi) from CACC presented a letter to AWARE
(text included as an attachment) requesting:

1. ongoing co-sponsorship and other support of CACC efforts and events
as a member of CACC.

2. AWARE endorsement of their "Resolution Regarding the Exclusive
Beverage Contract between University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
and the Coca-Cola Company" (text included as an attachment)

All requests were granted by consensus. No funds were requested.

Lori and Tulsi announced two upcoming CACC events:

Wednesday, Oct. 26th  7PM
Documentary screening - Mehandiganj: Where Life is At Stake
192 Education Bldg - 1902 S. Sixth St., Champaign
Mehandiganj: Where Life is At Stake offers a view into one community's
struggles against a local Coca-Cola bottling plant and it's
destructive environmental practices. The film highlights the courage
and hope of the local people, while leaving the viewer with a clear
picture of the violence and intimidation that Coca-Cola is willing to
use to protect its $4.8 billion in annual profits. Runtime is
approximately 36 minutes, and a question and answer session will
follow.

Thursday, Nov. 3rd 7:30 PM
A talk by Amit Shrivastav of India Resource & Global Resistance, On
Coke in India
(venue to be announced)

Durl reminds everyone of the Chris Chandler event, Oct 24th 8PM
Channing-Murray (already over, sorry)

Durl relays info from Nancy Dietrich-Rybicki regarding an upcoming
screening of the documentary:
Walmart: the High Cost of Low Price (95 minutes)
Saturday, Nov. 19th 7PM at Channing-Murray (1209 West Oregon, Urbana)

Working Groups:

AWARE presents:
There is a meeting of the "AWARE presents" working group Wednesday,
October 16th at 7:30PM at Jan and Durl Kruse's house (2007 S. George
Huff Drive, Urbana).

Two "Stories from Iraq" presentations are coming together:
1. Urbana Public Library on Nov. 16th at 7PM
2. Community United Church of Christ on November 29th at 7PM

Events of the Past Week:

"Beyond the Split" labor event (Saturday, Oct. 22) was well-attended.
A prominent theme was that the split (of the "Change to Win Coalition"
from the AFL-CIO) really wasn't that important and what mattered most
was grassroots organizing.

Illinois Disciple Foundation's anti-war teach-in: Durl attended a
counter-recruitment seminar featuring Ray Parrish. Interesting tidbits
gleaned include:

1. Counter-recruitment folks are allowed "equal-time" when recruiters
show up at schools.
2. One can call recruiting stations to discover when and where
recruiters will be canvassing (this is apparently required on their
part)

Durl made mention of a yearly event in town involving state-wide high
school sports that was attended last year by recruiters. A working
group was formed to look into organizing counter recruitment for that
event.

Durl also made mention of impending funds for "AWARE presents" coming
from the "Peace Bazaar" as we were selected as a beneficiary
organization for the proceeds from this event. This year's "Peace
Bazaar", by the way, is on Dec. 3rd at the Community United Church of
Christ.

The intrepid anti-war/impeach bush demonstrator we've recently learned
about was out again Sunday, Oct. 23rd, this time out at Vineyard
Christian Fellowship.

Upcoming Events:

Monday, Oct 24th 8PM
Chris Chandler
Channing-Murray

Wednesday, Oct. 26th  7PM
Documentary screening - Mehandiganj: Where Life is At Stake
192 Education Bldg - 1902 S. Sixth St., Champaign

Saturday, Oct. 29 6:30PM
AWARE and friends potluck at Jan & Durl
Kruse's home, 2007 S. George Huff Dr., Urbana

Wednesday, Nov. 2nd 7pm
Poetry in Insane Times
Matt Murrey will be reading some of his poetry. Matt has been writing
poems for 19 years. His work has been published in a number of
journals including The Progressive. He received a National Endowment
for the Arts Fellowship in poetry in 1995. He states, "My poems are
serious, funny, disturbing, and enjoyable. I like to connect with my
audience, and I want to inspire people to love the beauty and
possibilities of language in general and poetry in particular."
Channing-Murray Foundation (Oregon and Mathews in Urbana).

Thursday, Nov. 3rd 7:30 PM
A talk by Amit Shrivastav of India Resource & Global Resistance, On
Coke in India
(venue to be announced)

Friday, Nov. 4 at 6pm
screening: Blue Vinyl
(by Students for Environmental Concerns) This film is described as a
toxic comedy look at vinyl, the world's second largest selling
plastic. With humor, hope and a piece of vinyl siding firmly in hand,
Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Judith Helfand and co-director Daniel
B. Gold travel to America's vinyl manufacturing capital and beyond in
search of answers about the nature of polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
University YMCA (1001 S. Wright St. Champaign)

Saturday Nov. 5th 2-4PM
Main Event - monthly anti-war street demonstration
Main & Neil St., Champaign

Monday, Nov. 14th 7pm
screening: Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price
"takes you behind the glitz and into the real lives of workers and
their families, business owners and their communities, in an
extraordinary journey that will challenge the way you think, feel..and
shop."
Channing-Murray Foundation (Oregon and Mathews in Urbana)

Wednesday, Nov. 16th 7PM
AWARE Presents: Stories from Iraq (first of two)
Urbana Public Library

Tuesday,  Nov,. 29th 7PM
AWARE Presents: Stories from Iraq (second of two)
Community United Church of Christ
805 S. Sixth Street, Champaign



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Dear Members of AWARE, 

Greetings! 

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has a five year exclusive contract with the Coca-Cola that is up for renewal in 2007. According to this contract only Coke products can be sold on campus. Considering Coke's egregious records this exclusive contract with Coke forces you to subsidize human rights, labor violations and environmental degradation every time you want a soft-drink, bottled water etc. while on campus. 

Coalition Against Coke Contracts (CACC) is a broad coalition of campus and community groups in Champaign-Urbana that has mobilized to demand that the University cut its contract with Coke and divest from Coke since it has repeatedly violated labor rights in Columbia, and is responsible for severe environmental abuse in India. [For more information, please visit: 
http://www.killercoke.org; http://www.indiaresource.org; http://www.cokewatch.org]. 

CACC invites your organization to join the coalition and get involved in the struggle against corporate callousness. Here are ways in which your organization can contribute to the local campaign against Coca-Cola:

Pass the resolution against the University's exclusive beverage contract with Coke [Resolution is attached] 
Allow CACC to use the name of your organization as a member of the coalition 
Boycott Coca-Cola products at the public meetings of your organization
Co-sponsor public lectures, film screenings and other events organized by CACC 
Help publicize CACC events to the members of your group 
Get involved! (Attend our bi-weekly meetings on the 1st and.3rd Thursday at 7:30 PM; Rm 192, Education Building, UIUC) 

We look forward to working with your group and are certain that together we can create a socially just campus. 

In solidarity, 

CACC
http://caccuc.blogspot.com
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Resolution Regarding the Exclusive Beverage Contract between University Of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign  and the Coca-Cola Company 

WHEREAS various courts, government agencies and independent studies have confirmed community concerns in India that the Coca-Cola Company is responsible for polluting the groundwater and soil, distributing toxic waste as fertilizer, causing severe water shortages and selling drinks with high levels of pesticides in India; 

WHEREAS a lawsuit in the US federal court charges the Coca-Cola Company and its bottler, FEMSA, with complicity in the murder, torture and intimidation of union organizers in Coca-Cola bottling plants in Colombia; 

WHEREAS the Coca-Cola Company uses sugar harvested by children in E1 Salvador who, in the process of harvesting, suffer from smoke inhalation, burns, and cuts from machetes yet not provided with health care; 

WHEREAS other colleges and universities in the US and UK have taken action to remove Coca-Cola products from their campuses as a result of the company's egregious record; 

WHEREAS the Coca-Cola Company currently holds an exclusive beverage contract with University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign that encourages members of our campus community to subsidize human rights and labor violations as well as environmental degradation by purchasing Coca-Cola products; 

WHEREAS as a premier institution of higher learning, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is committed to actively protecting human rights and promoting environmental responsibility; 

WHEREAS renewing the contract with the Coca-Cola Company would, in essence, serve to validate the Coca-Cola Company's record of corporate social and environmental irresponsibility; 

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Coke Action Group calls on University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign to commit to urging the Companies it contracts with to pledge to respect and promote human and workers' rights around the world, and environmental responsibility, and 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Coke Action Group stands in solidarity with the groups and community members in India who hold the Coca-Cola Company accountable for the environmental degradation they have caused, and 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Coke Action Group voices its support for labor rights worldwide and condemns corporate complicity in any violence against labor organizers or members, and 

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the Coke Action Group calls upon the Administration to immediately cut all contracts with the Coca-Cola Company and to divest all holdings in the Coca-Cola Company. Furthermore we ask that the University of Illinois not enter into future contracts with the Coca-Cola Company so long as the company does not affirmatively demonstrate that it is sincerely committed to and abides by the highest standards of environmental stewardship and respect for human rights.