[Peace] AWARE meeting minutes for 5/14/06

[Stuart Levy]

Minutes from 5/14/06 AWARE Meeting

   Randall Cotton facilitated,
   Stuart Levy took minutes

1. News of the Week

Besides those Carl's already posted, a couple tidbits raised there:

  - Qwest reportedly refused NSA requests for phone records.

  - New person Brian mentioned the Dept. of Justice's having
    abandoned their warrantless-wiretapping investigation,
    since the NSA had refused repeated requests for security
    clearance for the DoJ lawyers on the case!

2. Introductions

About 16 people attended.

Shara Esbenshade invited all to a showing of the film
"Invisible Children", on the lives of Ugandan children who
are abducted -- or flee abduction -- by the Lord's Resistance Army,
to be shown Wednesday 5/17, 7:30, at the IMC.  The film was
brought here by Uni High students including Shara.  More at
   http://www.invisiblechildren.com

3. New Ideas

The YMCA Friday Forum has a (partial?) lineup of speakers for its
fall semester series, titled something like "What on Earth Are We
Doing - Prospects for a Healthy Planet".  (Among the speakers is
ex-Sierra Club president Robert Cox.)  The Y seeks Friday Forum
Series support from local organizations including AWARE;
they ask for a reply by June 9th.  

Sponsoring an environmental series seems appropriate, notes Carl, re
Chomsky's comment in book Failed States, that the greatest dangers
the world faces are war and environmental catastrophe.

Durl Kruse -- AWARE has become important enough that people are now
asking to be associated with us.  Our name is valuable.

As for money to offer, $25? $50? $30?  No resolution;
let's return to this next week.

The Sun 5/14 News-Gazette, under heading "Debate Continues on the
Local Front", ran two facing opinion pieces: one from Carl
Estabrook, answering some arguments made during the town-hall
meeting (the returning-GIs-spat-upon-by-leftists myth etc.);
the other from UIUC Poli Sci prof. Paul Diehl, opposing
withdrawal from Iraq.  The two may appear to counter each other,
but they weren't coordinated; at least Carl (who had submitted
his piece a couple of weeks earlier) didn't know about Diehl's.

 - Carl -- Anyone willing to write a followup, whether in AWARE's name or not?

 - Durl -- Why are the N-G raising the advisory referendum question in May?
   We'd do well to have a series of pieces, comments to the newspaper,
   billboards, whatever, as election time comes closer -- not merely now.

 - Surely it's worth preaching the gospel wherever we can.

Some question over what's the best tack to take:
 - Bob Illyes -- The soft underbelly of this administration is its
   incompetence -- that makes a better bipartisan issue.
 - Carl -- But is the aim to get the other party elected,
   or to stop the war?

---
4. Working Groups

- Is the Urbana city council resolution, to bring troops home from Iraq,
  being implemented?  Jan Kruse finally got a (partial?) response from Urbana.
  The resolution's last line says the council voted to send it to our
  "state and national representatives".  Has it been sent already?
  To which ones?  Hope someone else can ask them -- they're tired of
  hearing from Jan about this.

- 4th-of-July parade float.   Application has been submitted,
  and Jennifer Cartwright paid the $25 entrance fee.
  Those interested in working on it (list passed around last week,
  again today) meet at Jan & Durl's house on Monday evening 5/15,
  7PM.  First task is to pick a theme to fit into the parade theme
  for this year.  [But what's the parade theme again?  I missed it. -ed]

- Billboards.  Durl -- Want one up in time for Aug (13th? 16th?)
  celebration of returning National Guard -- and another
  in October or so, pre-election.   Need designs to bring
  to Adams Outdoor Advertising for approval, seek contributions, etc.

  Carl -- Are we still taking advantage of the public service rate?
  Durl -- Yes.  C -- Let's reconsider.  Adams won't put up what we want.
  Jan -- Even if we paid full price, Adams would retain their veto
    on grounds of maintaining their standing in the community.
  Durl -- We should just do what we think is right, get designs we like.
    If we submit them in June we'll have 4-6 weeks to negotiate,
    resubmit, even consult a lawyer if need be.
  Carl -- Then it's possible we won't be able to post any billboard.
  Durl -- Yes.
  (Adams' sole competitor in town, Redfish, has now been bought by Adams.)
  Bob Illyes noted this as a different kind of media consolidation,
  a serious infringement of free speech.

--
Finances
  Jan -- We received our check, $429, from the Peace Bazaar
   (fund-raising event held last December).  Paid $100 to Anna Baltzer.
   $2331 account balance -- back above $2000.

--
IL Coalition for Peace and Justice activities:
    June 7 walk for Peace and Justice
    Sponsored Rachel Corrie event
    Presentation on torture by Dianna Ortiz
    [There may have been other items under this heading,
     I wasn't following this -- sorry -- Stuart]

--
New flyer?

--
Farmers Market
   Market opened yesterday 5/13, we've paid for a space, but
   didn't attend due to cool damp weather.
   Will try next Saturday 5/20.

--
AWARE Presents

   Anna Baltzer's events were well-attended, engaging, enlightening --
      at Community United Church of Christ, Channing Murray Foundation,
      Central Illinois Mosque & Islamic Center [CIMIC]
      (speaking with David Green), Uni High.  And she spoke with
      Carl & Paul on 5/13 News from Neptune, and with Steve Hartnett
      (for broadcast on WEFT Mon 5/15 6-7PM), and Steve Shoemaker
      (for broadcast sometime on WILL-AM's Keepin' the Faith).
      Hit a lot of venues during her time in town.

      At Pages for All Ages, only ~7 people showed up for
      book-signing, but enough that Pages bought more copies
      to put on their shelves.

      Jan -- Next AWARE Presents meeting will be in a couple weeks --
      please keep ideas in mind.
   

Church Presence

   We'll keep up our church-outreach-on-random-Sundays.

   [Lots of comments on the previous week's Presence,
    with much I didn't understand and some I didn't transcribe;
    here's a review provided by Annette --Stuart]:
  --
     AWARE held a Church Presence at the Vineyard Church on Sunday 5/7.
   The pastors knew AWARE was coming but they perceived it as a protest and
   disrespectful since they had had 2 discussions/dialogues earlier in the
   year with AWARE delegates on war & peace & the Christian response.  Both
   groups felt frustrated & dissatisfied with the outcome of the dialogues.
   Some AWARE delegates maintained the issues of peace & social justice
   are central to the Christian message as moral issues. Vineyard maintains
   they are political issues and are diversions to the Christian message and
   would bring divisions among church members.  AWARE would like to see
   church members become better informed of current global events.
   Conversations with individuals prove they have very limited knowledge.
   
      Annette feels she has to be tenacious in encouraging
   informal conversations & Jan urged trying to engage Vern Fein, Director
   of Mercy Works at the Vineyard, to initiate a peace & justice study
   group at the church.  They both felt if the laiety began to express
   interest in peace issues, the church leadership would be more open.
   Annette mentioned Pres. Ahmadinejad's letter as being outstanding in
   the religious questions he posed to Bush. Carl agreed. Could American
   Christians respond as a matter of courtesy & conscience since Bush &
   Condoleeza obviously won't?  Such a letter deserves an answer.

      It was discussed to do a follow-up church presence at the Vineyard.
   No agreement was reached.  A follow-up presence will held at the Newman
   Foundation on Pentecost Sunday, June 4.
  --

   Carl notes that Msgr. Stuart Swetland is no longer at
   St. John's/Newman -- dismissed?  His strong reaction to
   AWARE's Presence there makes sense if he already felt
   under pressure to leave.

   Durl: I'd agree to return to Newman Center if the Catholic Workers
   will too.  <someone>: Yes, they will now.

   
5. Last Week's Events

- Counter-recruitment opportunity for next time:
    military recruiters were out in force at the
    Don Moyers Boys & Girls Club Duck Race last weekend.

- C-U Citizens for Peace and Justice

    Bob Illyes -- Court Watch protests continue well-attended;
       seem to be annoying the police.
       Still trying to decide on the issue to press: unequal justice
       based on race, or badly-administered justice in general?

- Cable Access Channel - Champaign City Council

    At least 50-odd people showed up for the 5/9 City Council
        study session to consider what to ask for in upcoming
	negotiations for the next cable-TV provider contract.
	The C-U Telecommunications Commission's Public Access
	Study Committee had recommended seeking an additional
	public access channel and a well-supported community
	media center; the Urbana City Council agreed; but Champaign
	city staff had recommended against either a new channel
	or a media center.

	More than a dozen spoke, including Dennis Roberts of
	Urbana City Council and the Telecomm Commission,
	Randall Cotton, Robert McChesney, Leigh Estabrook,
	Will Hawkins of the Urban League, and lots of others.
	[Details on UCIMC web site:
	    http://www.ucimc.org/feature/display/114430/index.php
	]

    The Council voted 5-3, to keep the issues alive
	at least for the time being.  But commitment was tentative --
	Mayor Schweighart cast the deciding Yes, saying that he
	was keeping options open as bargaining chips for negotiation,
	and might vote against a channel + media center later.

    Urbana supports Urbana Public TV, even though about half of UPTV's
	members (who use its facilities) are from Champaign.
	Currently Urbana residents pay 7% on their cable bills
	(5% franchise fee + 2% public-educational-government fee)
	while Champaign asks only 3%.

    Randall Cotton noted the myth that cable bills go up by just
	the amount of the fees, i.e. they'd fall by that amount if
	the cities didn't charge them.  Unlikely.

    One of the No votes was from Marci Dodds, who objected to
	giving public money to an unaccountable media-center board --
	unlike, she said, the Library, say, or unlike WEFT which
	is accountable to its supporters.  It wasn't clear where the
	unaccountable-board scenario had come from.  Stuart Levy
	wrote Dodds, suggesting other schemes for governance,
	got encouraging reply.  Apparently the councilmembers
	had received (from the Commission report?) a specific
	recommendation for a media-center board with effective "tenure".
	But she acknowledges that there are other options,
	would like to see them discussed, and "would hate to lose
	the channel - or even the media center - over it".
	

6. Upcoming Events

  [See "Some events for this coming week" posted to peace on Mon 5/15]

  Summary of what hasn't passed yet as I type this:

    5/20 Sat AM  AWARE boothlet at the Farmer's Market, Urbana

    5/20 Sat 4-8PM Channing Murray Foundation
	Anne Feeney, benefit for locked-out boilermakers in Meredosia, IL

    5/20 Sat 9-5PM Lincoln Square Mall,
    5/21 Sun 9-3PM    "       "     "  
        U-C Books to Prisoners Very Big Used Book Sale


  - Stuart Levy