[Peace] minutes of weekly AWARE meeting 2009-04-05

[Randall Cotton]

Sorry for the delay in getting these out. I fell ill on Tuesday and
haven't felt up to it, but I'm on the mend now.
R

Minutes of 04/05/2009 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)

AWARE is considering moving our monthly demonstration venue from Main &
Neil in Champaign to a higher-traffic site. It would be helpful for us to
discover which intersections in Champaign/Urbana have the most traffic to
help us in that decision. A volunteer is needed to contact the appropriate
city department/official in both Champaign and Urbana to obtain a list of
and available statistics on, say, the 10 busiest intersections in each
city. It's probably a fair assumption that this is tracked by both cities
and that it's public information. For assistance, contact Randall Cotton,
recotton at earthlink.net, 351-8644/722-8470.

AWARE is helping search for locations to set up
a portable electronic LED display that reports (in a loop) various
statistics on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (casualties, financial
cost, etc.). Here's a video of the sign going through a typical loop:
http://dart.ncsa.uiuc.edu/stuffed/slevy/costofwar-sign.mp4 Dimensions of
the sign are: 50.3" L x 6.3" H x 1.7" W and it weighs 12 pounds. Full
specifications are at: http://www.bigbrite.com/product.aspx?id=78 . The
display could be set up anywhere indoors - home, business, event - where
it will be seen by many, for as long or as little as you like. If you can
volunteer to display the sign somewhere or have any ideas where it could
be set up, contact Barbara Kessel, barkes at gmail.com, 365-9473 or Randall
Cotton, recotton at earthlink.net, 351-8644/722-8470. As of March 2009, the
sign is installed in the lobby of the Urbana/Champaign Independent Media
Center, right next to the Post Office there in the building (202 S.
Broadway, Urbana).

Help is needed with content creation and maintenance for AWARE's website,
anti-war.net. Technical experience (UNIX/HTML/CSS) required for
maintenance work (but not content creation) 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 AWARE publicity documents
(and arrange for copies, as needed). This includes our business card,
intro sheet for new meeting attendees and our 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
----------------------------
[NOW PASSED] Apr 9 (Thursday) 7:30PM, 2003 George Huff Dr. (home of
Phyllis & Mort Brussell)
Meeting of AWARE Presents Working Group. Preparations need to be made for
upcoming panel on Obama's first 100 days.

**NEW** Apr 14 (Tuesday) 1PM, Urbana City Council Chambers, 400 S Vine St
Taping of "AWARE on the Air" for UPTV to be broadcast later the same day
(see below)

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

Apr 15 (Wednesday) 7:15pm, Channing-Murray Foundation, 1209 W. Oregon,
Urbana  (corner of Oregon & Matthews)
"Kilowatt Ours: A Plan to Re-Energize America", award-winning documentary.
A timely, solutions-oriented look at one of America's most pressing
environmental challenges: energy.   Viewers will discover how they can
save hundreds of dollars annually on energy bills, and use a portion of
the savings to purchase renewable energy.  The film also explores mountain
top removal and other harmful by-products of coal & nuclear power.  The
film will be followed by discussion. Free and open to the public.
Refreshments will be served. This event is co-sponsored by AWARE.

Apr 17-18 (Friday-Saturday), People's Church, 941 W Lawrence Ave, Chicago
Annual statewide conference of Illinois Coalition for Justice, Peace and
the Environment. See www.icjpe.org .
AWARE has attended in the past (when the conference was held in
Champaign).

Apr 24-27 (Friday-Monday), Stockton Unitarian
Universalist Church, Stockton, IL
Midwest Catholic Workers Resistance Retreat and Conference. Focus: is
Blackwater. Civil Disobedience at Blackwater's Jo Daviess County, IL site
being organized by Catholic Workers and Clearwater. Speakers include
both Jeremy Scahill and Kathy Kelly.

Apr 25 (Saturday) 7PM, First Mennonite Church of Champaign-Urbana, 902 W
Springfield Ave, Urbana
Anna Balzter: Life in Occupied Palestine
Anna Baltzer, Jewish-American granddaughter of Holocaust refugees and
volunteer for the International Womens Peace Service is a Human rights
worker & supporter of Palestinian-led nonviolent resistance to Occupation.
Her presentation will recount first-hand experiences with the conflict
while living with Palestinians in the West Bank. She wishes to share
information difficult to obtain through US mainstream media sources and to
encourage dialogue towards taking action for peace with justice.
Sponsors: Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Center for
Global Studies (UIUC), First Mennonite Church, Central Illinois Mosque and
Islamic Center, Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort, and Illinois Network on Islam
and Muslim Societies (I-NIMS)

**REVISED INFO** May 2 (Saturday), all-day event, IMC (Independent Media
Center), 202 S Broadway, Urbana
Central Illinois Social Forum.event arising out of the recent monthly
"People's Potluck" activity.

May 2 (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.

*****
Minutes of 04/05/09 AWARE meeting:

About 10 in attendance

News of the week was reviewed jointly

-----------------
Finance report:
AWARE balance is: $1328.71
Recent expenditures:
- $100 dues for US Campaign to End the Occupation
- $75 for rights to show "The Take"

Anticipated expenditures:
Notes n Quotes expenses for Main Event flyers
- $75 contribution for Illinois Coalition Justice Peace and the
Environment's upcoming conference
- $100 ($25 from Randall) UFPJ (United for Peace and Justice) dues for the
year (twice the UFPJ-suggested amount of $50)

upcoming events that could incur expenses - Anna Baltzer, Paul Street

Mention made that AWARE funds are running low and could use replenishment

Contribution jar passed around

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).

**NEW** The next Main Event is May 2. See details above in the Upcoming
Events Calendar. Location will be the traditional Main & Neil site in
Champaign.

**NEW** Mention made that the upcoming May 2nd Central Illinois Social
Forum conflicts with the Main Event

**NEW** Most recent  Main Event (last Saturday) not heavily attended.
Motorist traffic was heavy, though, and folks were receptive to flyers -
excellent flyering opportunity - 280 copies of Carl's NATO/Afghanistan
flyer distributed.

**NEW** Mention made that we could use more Afghanistan signs and probably
should make some.

Stuart has volunteered to create an AWARE Facebook page.

No new information yet on Champaign/Urbana's busiest intersections.
Volunteer opportunity posted for this.

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

Current AWARE Presents event lineup:

1. A panel on the occasion of the first 100 days of Obama Administration
(April 30) at Urbana City Hall (already reserved). UPTV
recording/broadcast planned. Invitations for panelists have gone out.
Confirmation so far from Paul Street and Robert Naiman and Carol Ammons.

**NEW** Carol Ammons now confirmed (in the past week) for the 100 days
event.

**EXPANDED INFO** Anna Baltzer coming to town thanks to UofI - AWARE may
not need to do anything other than publicity. Date (April 25) and venue
now finalized - see above in Upcoming Events Calendar.

Additional ideas under consideration:

- Invitation to Stephen Kinzer to appear again.

- Invitation to William Blum

- Jeremy Scahill event: previously contacted, currently in a "wait and
see" pattern.

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)

**NEW** Coordinated effort coming together under CUCPJ to provide
community input on the process, procedure and performance so far of the
Citizens Police Review Board. Important portions of the original ordinance
establishing the CPRB appear to have been unimplemented.

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

**NEW** April 7 edition of AOTA cancelled due to General Election, back
next week on April 14

Many "Aware on the Air" recordings are now available on-line. See the
AWARE home page at anti-war.net .

Taping typically 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.

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 )

(nothing new this week)

Student Groups
===========
(AWARE's efforts to keep apprised of and provide support for local
chapters of student-affiliated progressive and anti-war groups such as
Campus Anti-Network, International Socialist Organization, and Iraq
Veterans Against the War).

**NEW** Trip being planned for St. Louis on April 21st to attend 2 events:
1. Trial of Matthis Chiroux, 9AM (see http://matthisresists.us/ )
2. possible Winter Soldier St. Louis event (unconfirmed)

**NEW** BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions of Israel): Meetings are
taking place - Hampshire College precedent (see
http://www.bdsmovement.net/?q=node/301 ) being studied and may be
followed.

Monthly Message
============
(Efforts to propagate the content of the Main Event monthly flyer through
various media channels)

**NEW INFO APPENDED** Carl has submitted a piece to the News-Gazette based
on the flyer we distributed at last month's Main Event. There has been no
news on this from NG, Carl has followed up by email with no response.
**NEW INFO** 4/5/9 update: Multiple follow-up phone calls made, none
returned.

**NEW** Carl planning to submit most recent Main Event Afghanistan flyer
material to NG

AWARE Films:
===========
(Organization of film and video showings in the community)

AWARE Films may be shown within an IMC Film series. Discussion ongoing.

**UPDATE APPENDED** "The Take" (see http://www.thetake.org ) will almost
certainly be shown in early May at the Central Illinois Social Forum event
being planned. Alternatively, "On White Privilege" may be shown instead.
**UPDATE** It's no longer certain that any AWARE film may be shown at the
Central Illinois Social Forum.

Other showings being considered for the future:

1. Another showing of Naomi Wolf's "The End of America".

Old Business
**********
(new developments regarding ongoing issues)

Pursuit of meeting with Senator Durbin regarding his letter in support of
Israel during Gaza attack: Follow up attempts are planned to contact
Durbin after initial non-response. 3/1/09 update: Written response
received from Durbin, but making no reference to the meeting request.

**NEW** Proposed advertisement in Champaign County Health Care Consumers'
"Adbook" did not work out due to the fact that the deadline was earlier
this week and today was the first opportunity we could have ratified the
expenditure. CCHCC was informed earlier this week that we couldn't
contribute this year.

**NEW** Farmer's Market application received: 28 weeks, May 2 to Nov 7,
$189. After suggestion to just pay for half the season for now, proposal
made to go ahead with expenditure for full season, to be ratified at
subsequent AWARE meeting as per standing rule.

Sweet Corn Festival application has been received. Some folks wonder
whether early submission will help us get a choice booth.

**NEW** UFPJ (United for Peace and Justice) dues are confirmed as last
paid February of last year ($50). Proposal ratified from last week to pay
$100 with $25 of that coming from Randall.

**UPDATE APPENDED** Regarding local composer Jacob Barton, who attended
last week requesting $50-$100 to help pay for travel costs from the West
Coast of the performing group "The Change of State Performance Project"
(see http://changeofstate.org/ ) so that they can perform their work "Take
this house (and float it away)" on April 21 at Allen Hall and April 23 at
the IMC. Jacob' s e-mail address is utterbot at gmail.com. This event will be
tailored to the local community and input is being solicited. **UPDATE**
4/5/9: Some folks still unsure, want to check the website for the group.
No proposal made.

**NEW INFO APPENDED** AWARE folks encouraged to consider attending the
upcoming statewide conference of Illinois Coalition for Justice, Peace and
the Environment (see http://icjpe.org ) on April 17th and 18th. Stuart
plans to attend,
others express interest. Mention made of investigating and connecting with
current statewide BDS efforts (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against
Israel) in Chicago as one possible motive for attending. **NEW** Proposal
made to contribute $75 in support of this conference, to be ratified at
subsequent AWARE meeting as per standing rule.

New Ideas
*********
(never before discussed ideas brought up during this meeting)

**NEW** Mention made that we may need to work on publicity/recruiting as
AWARE participation/attendance seems to be diminishing. It was noted,
however, that the election season may have something to do with low recent
attendance.

Events of the past week
******************
(comments/reviews of recent events since the last AWARE meeting)

**NEW** Mention made of Prof. Cornel West's appearance on campus. Some
described his talk as great, some were less impressed. Criticism of Obama
in his talk was noted by some, and suggested as inappropriately
insufficient by others.

Other Upcoming Events
******************
(events of note which aren't listed in the upcoming events calendar above)

[NOW PASSED] Apr 7 (Tuesday) 7PM, Spurlock Museum, 600 S Gregory St,
Urbana Film Screening: "The Last Ghost of War"
Sponsor: Asian Educational Media Service and Spurlock Museum
The use of Agent Orange as a defoliant during the Vietnam War and the
devastating effects of this chemical on both Vietnamese villagers and U.S.
soldiers are well known. This film follows that legacy into the 21st
century, revealing the dreadful, if unequal, impact Agent Orange had on
subsequent generations in both countries. While giving a human face to the
medical statistics, this film also traces the attempts made by Vietnamese
victims to find reparation through the legal system. (Janet Gardner, 2006,
54 minutes).

Apr 14 (Tuesday)  6-7:30PM Free Community Veterans Clinic at
Urbana-Champaign Friends Meetinghouse, 1904 E Main St, Urbana
As an outcome of AWARE's panel on PTSD in 2008, this free acupuncture
clinic was started in February 2009 and is held the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays
of each month. Credentialed professionals insert acupuncture needles into
both ears while recipients remain seated for 20-40 minutes. Much research
has shown the effectiveness of this treatment for stress reduction. This
free clinic is open to U.S. military veterans, current members of the
Armed Forces, or their immediate support network. Sponsored by
Acupuncturists Without Borders, www.acuwithoutborders.org .

Apr 28 (Tuesday)  6-7:30PM Free Community Veterans Clinic at
Urbana-Champaign Friends Meetinghouse, 1904 E Main St, Urbana
As an outcome of AWARE's panel on PTSD in 2008, this free acupuncture
clinic was started in February 2009 and is held the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays
of each month. Credentialed professionals insert acupuncture needles into
both ears while recipients remain seated for 20-40 minutes. Much research
has shown the effectiveness of this treatment for stress reduction. This
free clinic is open to U.S. military veterans, current members of the
Armed Forces, or their immediate support network. Sponsored by
Acupuncturists Without Borders, www.acuwithoutborders.org .