[Peace] minutes of weekly AWARE meeting 2008-10-05

Tue Oct 7 02:02:13 CDT 2008

Correction to the as-always-excellent minutes: The FREE showing of Michael Moore's Slacker Uprising is no longer tentative. It will be shown at 7p on Tuesday October 28th in Allen Hall's mail lounge. More soon, please mark yr calendars meanwhile.
 --Jenifer

--- On Mon, 10/6/08, Randall Cotton <recotton at earthlink.net> wrote:

From: Randall Cotton <recotton at earthlink.net>
Subject: [Peace] minutes of weekly AWARE meeting 2008-10-05
To: Peace at lists.chambana.net
Date: Monday, October 6, 2008, 7:47 PM

Minutes of 10/05/08 AWARE meeting are below, but first, AWARE Volunteer
Opportunities and the Upcoming Events Calendar:

AWARE Volunteer Opportunities
-----------------------------------
(various ways to volunteer in AWARE's work)

Help is needed with posting flyers on campus to publicize Dan Kenney's
campus appearance (Friday noon, 123 English building). Contact: Stuart
Levy, slevy at ncsa.uiuc.edu, 351-9264/244-1543 or Barbara Kessel,
barkes at gmail.com or Randall Cotton, recotton at earthlink.net,
351-8644/722-8470

Help is needed with content creation and maintenance for AWARE's website,
anti-war.net. Technical experience required for maintenance work
(UNIX/HTML/CSS). Contact: Stuart Levy, slevy at ncsa.uiuc.edu,
351-9264/244-1543 or Randall Cotton, recotton at earthlink.net,
351-8644/722-8470.

Meeting minutes: Someone is needed to share or take over meeting minutes
duty (preparing these notes each week). Help will be provided (as much as
necessary). Contact: Randall Cotton, recotton at earthlink.net,
351-8644/722-8470

AWARE publicity: Someone is needed to maintain and arrange for copies, as
needed, of AWARE publicity materials (our business card, intro sheet for
new meeting attendees, general information sheet for tabling events). All
reproduction costs reimbursed, Help provided as needed. Contact:
recotton at earthlink.net, 351-8644/722-8470

Upcoming Events Calendar
----------------------------
Oct 7 (Tuesday) 1PM, Urbana City Council Chambers, 400 S. Vine St.
Taping of this week's "AWARE on the Air" for UPTV.

Oct 7 (Tuesday) 10PM, UPTV (cable channel 6)
Broadcast of "AWARE on the Air", taped earlier in the day (see above)

Oct 8 (Wednesday) 7:15PM, Channing-Murray Foundation, 1209 W. Oregon St
Documentary:  "The End of Suburbia:  Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the
American Dream". This film explores the American Way of Life and its
prospects as the planet approaches a critical era, as global demand for
fossil fuels begins to outstrip supply.  Discussion follows the film. This
event is co-sponsored by AWARE.

Oct 9 (Thursday) 6:30PM, Phillips Recreation Center, 505 W. Stoughton St.,
Urbana
Candidate forum presented by Campaign for Better Healthcare. Candidates
will field questions regarding health care reform from an expert panel.
103rd State Rep District: Naomi Jakobsson (D), Frank Calabrese (R)

Oct 10 (Friday) noon-2PM, 123 English Building on campus
Dan Kenney of Clearwater: "Outsourcing of our Sovereignty: Privatization
of War, Emergencies and Everyday Life". Brown bag lunch and informal
discussion sponsored by History Discussion Group.

Oct 10 (Friday) 5:30PM, Tang Dynasty Restaurant, Lincoln Square Mall, 300
S Broadway Ave
Dinner w/Dan Kenney of Clearwater. Reservation required. $12/plate.
Contact Barb Kessel at barkes at gmail.com or call 365-9473 to reserve a
seat by Oct. 8.

Oct 10 (Friday) 7PM-9PM Urbana City Council Chambers (400 S. Vine St.,
Urbana)
Dan Kenney of Clearwater: "Outsourcing our Sovereignty - Blackwater and
the privatization of War". To be recorded for broadcast on UPTV. ** NOTE
** Some flyers had a start time of 7:30PM, but 7PM is, indeed, the
confirmed start time.

Oct 13 (Monday), 7PM, Champaign City Council Chambers
Candidate Forum presented by The League of Women Voters. Scheduled to
Appear:
15th US Congressional District: Steve Cox (D), Tim Johnson (R)
103rd State Rep District: Naomi Jakobsson (D), Frank Calabrese (R)
Champaign County State's Attorney: Julia Reitz (D), Janie Miller-Jones (R)

Oct 14 (Tuesday) 1PM, Urbana City Council Chambers, 400 S. Vine St.
Taping of next week's "AWARE on the Air" for UPTV.

Oct 14 (Tuesday) 10PM, UPTV (cable channel 6)
Broadcast of "AWARE on the Air", taped earlier in the day (see above)

Oct 16 (Thursday) 7PM, Champaign Public Library, 200 W. Green St.
"Freedom to Vote: Protecting the Ballot", presented by The Champaign
County ACLU. Watch the half hour film "Voting Rights," which takes
you to
communities where people's electoral power is diluted through intimidation
at polls, unfair laws, and the manipulation of political districts.  Learn
the story of everyday heroes who are doing their part for true democracy
by defending equal access to the ballot. After the film, join the
discussion with the Illinois ACLU Executive Director and Constitutional
lawyer, Colleen Connell, who will speak and answer questions.

Oct 18 (Saturday), 8PM, UPTV (cable channel 6)
Broadcast of ""PTSD: Our Troops, Our Community" panel
presentation
sponsored by AWARE and IVAW that took place at the Urbana Free Library on
September 7, 2008

Oct 19 (Sunday) 9:30PM, UPTV (cable channel 6)
Broadcast of ""PTSD: Our Troops, Our Community" panel
presentation
sponsored by AWARE and IVAW that took place at the Urbana Free Library on
September 7, 2008

Oct 26 (Sunday) 4PM, UPTV (cable channel 6)
Broadcast of ""PTSD: Our Troops, Our Community" panel
presentation
sponsored by AWARE and IVAW that took place at the Urbana Free Library on
September 7, 2008

Oct 28 (Tuesday) 7PM Allen Hall
Tentative date/venue  for showing of Michael Moore's "Slacker
Uprising" by
Library Resources Working Group.

Oct 29 (Wednesday) 7:30PM, Auditorium, Smith Memorial Hall, 805 South
Mathews Ave., Urbana
Naomi Klein: "Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism in Latin
America" (hosted by the UofI Center for Latin American and Caribbean
Studies as part of the CAS/MillerComm Lecture Series). See:
http://www.cas.uiuc.edu/casmillercomm.php#oct29

Nov 1 (Saturday) 2-4PM Main St. & Neil St., Champaign
The Main Event - AWARE's monthly (first Saturday of each month) street
demonstration event. Largely focuses on opposing U.S. occupations of Iraq
and Afghanistan, but is open for anyone to join us either using one of our
signs or one of their own. We try to have a topical flyer to distribute to
motorists and passers-by each month.

Nov 7 (Friday) (time TBA) Channing-Murray Foundation, 1209 W. Oregon St,
Urbana
First performance of "The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail", by Jerome
Lawrence
and Robert E. Lee, Directed by Matthew DeMarco. A minimalist
interpretation of the play, which focuses on the life of Henry David
Thoreau, in particular the night spent in a Concord jail for tax
resistance, which inspired his "Civil Disobedience."  A call for
activism
over withdrawal. This event is co-sponsored by AWARE.

Nov 8 (Saturday) (time TBA) Channing-Murray Foundation, 1209 W. Oregon St,
Urbana
Second performance of "The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail" (see details
immediately above)

Nov 8 (Saturday) 7PM, UPTV (cable channel 6)
Broadcast of ""PTSD: Our Troops, Our Community" panel
presentation
sponsored by AWARE and IVAW that took place at the Urbana Free Library on
September 7, 2008

Nov 12 (Wednesday) 7:15PM, Channing-Murray Foundation, 1209 W. Oregon St.
Life and Work in Palestine: Rev. John Setterlund. Pastor Setterlund served
at St. Andrew's Church on campus 1991-2006.  He has recently returned from
two years as a volunteer at a Lutheran congregation in Palestine. This
event is co-sponsored by AWARE.

Nov 13 (Thursday) (time, venue TBA)  IVAW (Iraq Veterans Against the War)
Winter Soldier: Champaign/Urbana
Testimony by Iraq veterans from throughout the Great Lakes region. Also
scheduled to speak: Camilo Mejia, who spent nine months in jail for
refusing to redeploy to Iraq.

*****
Minutes of 10/05/08 AWARE meeting:

About 15 in attendance

News of the week was reviewed jointly

Discussion of "News of the Week" segment format:
After discussion, proposal was accepted by consensus without objection to
continue the "News of the Week" segment as a 15-20 minute period
equally
open to all for contributing news items with a limit of 10 minutes for any
one person. No provision was included for the facilitator to allocate time
to contributors (we'll "wing it").

Finance Report: Current balance is $1580 Finance report w/deposit receipts
passed around.

NOTE: There will be no finance report next week (treasurer will be
absent). A volunteer is needed to remember to pass around the contribution
jar at the next meeting.

Working group reports:
*****************
Main Event:
========
(AWARE's monthly street protest held at the intersection of Main & Neil
2-4PM on the first Saturday of each month).

The next Main Event is November 1 (see details above in Upcoming Events
Calendar)

Flyer suggestion put forth: the "Peace Voter '08" guide from
Peace Action
Wisconsin.
See: http://www.peace-action.org/PV08/prezvoterguide.pdf

Suggestion: Possibly changing monthly demonstration venue to University &
Neil. Stuart volunteers to scout this location during the next Main Event
to compare traffic counts, explore flyer distribution issues, etc.

As an aside, mention is made (and copy passed around) of the new book "We
Who Dared to Say No to War",  Edited by Murray Polner & Thomas E.
Woods,
Jr. See: http://www.amazon.com/We-Who-Dared-Say-War/dp/1568583850

Library Resources:
=============
(Compilation of valuable reference materials w/strategies to make them
available in the community through various channels including local
libraries).

Meeting held last Monday night for film series planning.

Plans are to make the first showing to be Michael Moore's "Slacker
Uprising" slacker uprising - oct 28th monday at allen hall (Tuesday) 7PM.
See: http://slackeruprising.com/ .

AWARE Presents:
=============
(Organization of AWARE-sponsored events in the community)

Current AWARE Presents event lineup:

1. Dan Kenney of Clearwater on the privatization of war, including
Blackwater, in an event for the community (to be recorded as well) on
October 10 (see above in upcoming events calendar for date/venue details).

2. Jeremy Scahill event still being pursued (he is on a book tour this
Fall). Contact made, currently in a "wait and see" pattern.

3. Proposal under development: Invite Juan Cole to speak (University
of Michigan Professor of History, middle-east expert, author of Informed
Comment blog, see: www.juancole.com ). Initial contacts to promote
interest in this at UIUC: Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern
Studies and Center for Global Studies.

Anti-Racism:
=========
(AWARE's efforts to keep apprised of and provide support for
anti-racism/anti-discrimination efforts, including efforts of CUCPJ -
Champaign-Urbana Citizens for Peace and Justice)

CUCPJ Unity March held yesterday - solid turnout, 150-200 people total.in
attendance. Extra copies passed around of issue flyer on the Township
Referendum, which was the focus of this year's March.

Monday: Urbana City Council considering Marijuana decriminalization
measure - making possession of small amounts an ordinance violation
instead of a state criminal charge. However, current proposal is to make
it up to individual officer discretion as to whether to charge criminally
or just issue ordinance fine. With individual discretion, there could
easily be unequal application of the law due to arbitrary choices
resulting from individual officer discretion. There is a call to advocate
in favor of uniform charging of ordinance violations ONLY.

Farmer's Market:
============
(AWARE's presence at the Urbana "Market on the Square" each
Saturday from
8AM to noon where we offer progressive and anti-war materials, generally
at or below cost).

Suggestion that more change be provided to start out with (in particular
to deal with $20 bills). Meeting contribution jar proceeds will be added
to the usual change supply for next week.

Sign-up sheet passed around. There is still one slot open each for
9:20-10:40 and 10:40 to noon. Dave volunteers to help with teardown.

NOTE: Someone will need to hold on to the Farmer's Market proceeds next
week in order to pass it on to the treasurer.

Suggestion for Farmer's Market flyer - the "Peace Voter '08"
handout (see
details on this document above under "Main Event").

AWARE on the Air:
==============
(AWARE's weekly television show on public access cable channel 6 - UPTV,
Urbana Public Television)

Taping occurs each Tuesday at 1PM and is broadcast later the same day at
10PM. AWARE members (and friends) invited to participate - the more the
merrier (see details above in upcoming events calendar). Program quality
is always better with more participants.

August 12th and September 16th editions are present on AWARE's website
(anti-war.net). More future editions planned.

There is always room for more participation in AWARE on the Air - prepared
statements OK. Arriving late/leaving early is OK.

Blackwater
========
(Activism regarding notorious domestic policing and international
mercenary contractor Blackwater, including coordination with
Illinois-based activist group Clearwater: see:
http://www.noprivatearmies.org )

Mention made of news story that broke last week regarding a Blackwater
weapon found in possession of Iraqi insurgents in 2006. See:
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5931528&page=1

Student Groups
==========
AWARE requested for support with Nov. 13 IVAW Winter Soldier event:

1. Cosponsorship
2. Veteran support - gathering mental health professionals to assist
testifying veterans as needed.
3. Housing for out-of-town vets coming to participate
4. Water bottle supply for all speakers - donation already received for
this

Jake and Eric recently visited Illinois-Wesleyan to network with anti-war
efforts there.

Local CAN (Campus Anti-War Network) members plan on attending this year's
CAN national conference at DePaul University October 10-12th, perhaps
conducting an anti-torture workshop.

Old Business
**********
SAIC working group and demonstration efforts in development.
Demonstrations being considered for Oct 19th and Oct 26th home football
days. Stuart has since posted Vanity Fair's detailed expose on SAIC. See:
http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/archive/peace-discuss/2008-October/018646..html

There may be an SAIC article in the soon-to-be-printed October Public I.

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