[Peace] minutes of weekly AWARE meeting 2008-09-21

[Randall Cotton]

Minutes of 9/21/08 AWARE meeting are below, but first, the Upcoming
Events Calendar:

Sep 23 (TODAY, Tuesday) 1PM, Urbana City Council Chambers, 400 S. Vine St.
Taping of this week's "AWARE on the Air" for UPTV.

Sep 23 (TODAY, Tuesday) 7PM, 163 Noyes Lab on campus, 505 S. Matthews,
Urbana
Coalition meeting for the local Winter Soldier event, organized by Campus
Anti-War Network. AWARE presence requested.

Sep 23 (TODAY, Tuesday) 10PM, UPTV (cable channel 6)
Broadcast of "AWARE on the Air", taped earlier in the day (see above)

Sep 25 (Thursday) 7:15PM, Channing-Murray Foundation, 1209 W. Oregon St.,
Urbana
Documentary:  "Divided We Fall", award-winning documentary tells the story
of hate violence in the aftermath of 9/11 and explores the question: who
counts as American?  Prof. Robert McKim, chair of the Program for the
Study of Religion at UIUC, will moderate a discussion following the
screening.  This event is co-sponsored by AWARE.

Sep 30 (Tuesday) 1PM, Urbana City Council Chambers, 400 S. Vine St.
Taping of next week's "AWARE on the Air" for UPTV.

Sep 30 (Tuesday) 10PM, UPTV (cable channel 6)
Broadcast of "AWARE on the Air", taped earlier in the day (see above)

Oct 4 (Saturday) 11AM, Corner of Randolph and Green Streets, Champaign.
Unity March - an annual event uniting many groups and communities
throughout Champaign/Urbana that focuses on issues and injustices faced by
minorities and/or the poor. This year's theme will focus on supporting the
November ballot referendum asking for a small property tax increase (2
cents per $100 assessed value) to help fund a partial restoration of
Champaign Township "General Assistance" financial support for the city's
poorest residents. This year's Unity March will begin at the Champaign
Township Supervisor's office (where the "General Assistance" service is
administered) and will wind up at Douglass Park. AWARE is a co-sponsor of
this event.

Oct 4 (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.

Oct 6 (Monday) 7PM, Room 317 Gregory Hall on campus, 810 South Wright
Street, Urbana
Dave Zirin: A People's History of Sports in the United States: 250 Years
of Politics, Protest, People, and Play

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 10 (Friday) noon-2PM, 123 English Building on campus
Dan Kenney of Clearwater: "Outsourcing our Sovereignty - Blackwater and
the privatization of War". Brown bag lunch 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. Expected cost
around $10/plate. Contact Barb Kessel at barkes at gmail.com to reserve a
seat.

123 English Building on campus
Dan Kenney of Clearwater: "Outsourcing our Sovereignty - Blackwater and
the privatization of War". Brown bag lunch sponsored by History Discussion
Group.

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 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 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 9/21/08 AWARE meeting:

About 15 in attendance

News of the week was reviewed

Finance Report:  Treasurer out of town. Donation jar passed around.
Current balance is around $1600

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 October 4th (see details above in Upcoming Events
Calendar)

Flyer suggestion: advertisement for Dan Kenney events

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

(no new info this week)

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).

Public Square spot is planned for publicity

2. Jeremy Scahill event still being pursued (he is on a book tour this
Fall).

Tentative date of October 28th still possible. This would be the day
before Naomi Klein's appearance on campus.

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's Unity March organizing continues. Details on the March are above
in upcoming events calendar.

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).

Sign-up sheet passed around.

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 edition is now on AWARE's website (anti-war.net). More
editions planned for uploading.

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 )

Research into Blackwater yields at least 29 companies
identified with Blackwater through Small Business Administration records.

Student Groups
************
AWARE is asked to attend September 23 coalition meeting (see upcoming
events calendar above). Three AWARE members volunteer to attend (though
not all were certain they could make it).

Upcoming David Zirin event highlighted (see upcoming event calendar)

Old Business
**********
"News of the week" meeting format.
Discussion of proposal for changes to format of "News of the Week" section
that kicks off each AWARE meeting. Some agreement with proposal to change
10-minute reservation for Carl's news summary to a 15 minute reservation
for anyone to contribute (with a maximum of 10 minutes for any one
individual). But also some sentiment that a change may not be really
needed. More discussion next week.

New Ideas
********
Proposal to add a section to the minutes enumerating opportunities for
anyone to volunteer for AWARE. Examples include website maintenance, media
relations, publication/literature maintenance, help with specific events,
etc. A contact person would be needed for each volunteer opportunity. This
is a way to promote more participation and growth in AWARE and perhaps
folks who are already doing work to pass that off so they can migrate to
different, additional work.

Events of the Past Week
*******************
Mention made of Sep 18 "Interfaith Breaking of Bread" event at the Urbana
Civic Center. Well attended, 4 speakers - Jew, Christian, Muslim and
Buddhist.

Upcoming events
*************
There is discussion of demonstrations regarding SAIC (Science Applications
International Corporation) on campus.

Reminder that IHSA Football Championships are coming up later this fall
(counter-recruitment opportunity).