[Peace] minutes of weekly AWARE meeting 2009-03-15

[Randall Cotton]

These are minutes for the Sunday before last. Sorry for the big delay in
getting these out. My apologies especially to the AOTA crew. Normally I
get these out each Tuesday morning, but I just plain forgot to put it on
my Tuesday todo list last week and blithely busied myself with other
things. The rest of the week was kind of a disaster for me - I'm moving
into a new routine and did not adjust well. I've calenderized this task
now to help avoid this in the future 8-P. Last Sunday's minutes are also
coming this later this morning.

Minutes of 03/15/09 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
----------------------------
[PASSED] Mar 17 (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)

[PASSED] Mar 17 (Tuesday) 10PM, UPTV (cable channel 6)
Broadcast of "AWARE on the Air", taped earlier in the day (see above)

[PASSED] Mar 17 (Tuesday) 4-5PM, (location TBA)
Tentative event on campus with Phil Wilayto, who will be in town for a
presentation later in the day (see below). To be sponsored by the Persian
Cultural Association.

[PASSED] Mar 17 (Tuesday) 7PM, Champaign Public Library, 200 W Green St,
Champaign
Phil Wilayto, author of new book "In Defense of Iran: Notes from a U.S.
Peace Delegation's Journey through the Islamic Republic" - see
http://www.defendersfje.org/dpi . This event is part of a Midwest book
tour. AWARE members met with Phil in December 2008 at the United for Peace
and Justice National Assembly Conference and his appearance here is a
result of that.

[PASSED] Mar 21 (Saturday) - March on the Pentagon, sponsored by the
ANSWER
coalition. See pentagonmarch.org. There is bus service from Champaign for
this event (see below under Student Groups).

**NEW** [PASSED] Mar 23 (Monday) - 7:30PM, 2003 S George Huff Dr, Urbana
(home of Phyllis & Mort Brussel)
AWARE Presents Working Group meeting

**NEW** Mar 24 (Tuesday, TODAY) 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** Mar 24 (Tuesday, TODAY) 10PM, UPTV (cable channel 6)
Broadcast of "AWARE on the Air", taped earlier in the day (see above)

Apr 4 (Saturday) - National and International demonstrations on the
anniversary occasion of NATO's birth (60 years ago), MLK's "Beyond
Vietnam" speech and MLK's Assassination. Also, the date of this year's
NATO Summit. See, for example:
http://unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=4027
http://stopwar.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1087&Itemid=235 .

Apr 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.

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.

**DATES/VENUE UPDATED** Apr 17-18 (Saturday-Sunday), 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.

*****
Minutes of 03/15/09 AWARE meeting:

About 12 in attendance

News of the week was reviewed jointly

Finance report: AWARE balance is: $2006.36
Verbal finance report

Contribution jar passed around

**NEW INFO APPENDED** The IMC will need AWARE to sign a year lease on
rental of our meeting space. An individual person will need to sign on
behalf of AWARE (making them technically liable financially for the full
amount - $780). No one has stepped up yet, but this is a requirement that
must be met. **NEW INFO** Stuart, as Treasurer, has volunteered to sign
this.

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 April 4. See details above in the Upcoming Events
Calendar.

**NEW** Carl volunteers to put together flyer for April 4th

**NEW** Conrad will consider a WILL AM-580 "Public Square" piece to
draw attention to the significance of the April 4th date and invite people
to join us on the street at the Main Event.

Old Main & Neil site was scouted during this month's event and recommended
for next month's (April) event.

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)

**NEW** AWARE Presents Working Group meeting has now been scheduled for
Monday March 23rd. See details above in the Upcoming Events Calendar.

Current AWARE Presents event lineup:

1. Phil Wilayto (author of new book "IN DEFENSE OF IRAN: Notes from a U.S.
Peace Delegation's Journey through the Islamic Republic" - see
http://www.defendersfje.org/dpi ). Phil is on a book tour and AWARE
members discovered him in December at the UFPJ National Assembly
Conference in Chicago, where he had a table. Phil requests only
reimbursement for gas money and a place to sleep. At the event, his book
will be available to AWARE folks at a much-reduced price, around $15 for
others. Phil Wilayto's appearance is now set for March 17 at Champaign
Public Library - see above in Upcoming Events Calendar for details. A
private meal may be planned with organizers. WILL AM-580 Public Square
announcement planned by Conrad. An additional campus event may be put
together by the Persian Cultural Association (see tentative announcement
above in the Upcoming Events Calendar).

2. 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.

Additional ideas under consideration:

- Invitation to Paul Street (suggestion: invite him for the 100 days panel
since he has researched and written on Obama extensively).

- Invitation to Stephen Kinzer to appear again.

- Invitation to William Blum

- Jeremy Scahill event still being pursued. Contact made, 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)

(nothing new this week)

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

Discussion on who can make it this week. Some volunteered, more always
welcome.

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

**NEW** Plans are for having Phil Wilayto on the show this week.
Different, more intimate staging may be used.

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).

Campus Anti-War Network bus from Iowa will be coming through Champaign to
pick up folks who want to attend the March 21st March on the Pentagon (see
www.pentagonmarch.org ). All seats are filled. More details at:
http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/archive/peace/2009-February/022033.html

**NEW** AWARE members participated in an event for the "Change Club", 8th
graders at University High School. Event was a debate on the premise
"Political parties have been destructive of Democracy in the United
States."

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

**UPDATED INFO APPENDED** Carl has submitted a piece to the News-Gazette
based on the flyer we
distributed at this month's Main Event. ** UPDATE INFO** There has been no
news on this from NG, Carl will follow up.

**NEW** Mention made of devastating NG article regarding Champaign County
Democratic Party head (and County Auditor) Tony Fabri. See:
http://www.news-gazette.com/news/politics/2009/03/15/phone_records_show_county_auditor_frequently_absent

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

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

**NEW** Soldiers of Conscience event was well-attended, though few AWARE
folks were in attendance. Good discussion with Paul McGuire and Martin
Smith.

"The Take" (see http://www.thetake.org ) will almost certainly be shown in
early May at the Socialist Forum event being planned (based on the idea of
a localized "Social Forum").

Showings being considered for the future:

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

2. "The Take". See: http://www.thetake.org/

3. Tim Wise: On White Privilege. See
http://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=137

**NEW** Mention made of advertisement opportunities for AWARE Films in the
published Thursday and Sunday News-Gazette calendars and the Thursday
Daily Illini calendar. Also mentioned, additional opportunity through the
UPTV community bulletin board.

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

**NEW** Farmer's Market starts up again May 2. Mort will contact Jan/Durl
to see if they're willing to handle reservations.

**NEW** US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation requests dues.
Membership renewal form has been received. Steering committee members
recited. Favorable comments stated regarding this organization. $100
proposed for dues contribution (to be ratified at a future AWARE meeting
as per standing rule).

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

**NEW** Finkelstein/Abunimah event regarded as excellent, impressive and
well attended. Noteworthy absence of UofI faculty mentioned.

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

Mar 24 (Tuesday, TODAY) 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 .

**NEW** Mar 28 (Saturday) 8:30-3:30, Bone Student Center, Illinois State
University, 100 N University Street, Normal, IL
2009 ACLU Action Summit: "Building An Illinois We Can Be Proud Of..."
see:
http://il.aclu.org/site/PageServer?pagename=IL_Content_2009MemberConf_Index

**NEW** Mar 29 (Sunday) 7PM, Independent Media Center, 202 S Broadway Ave,
Urbana
"Slingshot Hip Hop" film screening with film director Jackie Salloum
Sponsors: Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Center for
Global Studies (UIUC), and Illinois Network on Islam and Muslim Societies
(I-NIMS)
 Slingshot Hip Hop braids together the stories of young Palestinians
living in the West Bank, Gaza and inside Israel as they discover Hip Hop
and employ it as a tool to surmount divisions imposed by occupation and
poverty. From internal checkpoints and Separation Walls to gender norms
and generational differences, this is the story of young people crossing
the borders that separate them. (http://slingshothiphop.com)

**NEW** Mar 31 (Tuesday) 7:30PM, Auditorium, Spurlock Museum, 600 S
Gregory St, Urbana
"From Looney Coons to Tacos & Tequila: The Aesthetics of Race in Middle
Class America"
The Seventh Chancellors CAS Special Lecture
Speaker  James D. Anderson, Gutgsell Professor of Educational Policy
Studies, Illinois
Sponsor: Office of the Chancellor, Center for Advanced Study
In this presentation, Jim Anderson explores the ways in which evolving
forms of race and ethnic performance entered into and shaped the culture
of middle class America from the late nineteenth century to the present.
He begins with an analysis of the art and lyrics of minstrel sheet music
in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and then traces its
legacy through television, playful racialized antics in educated
environments and into the theme parties of contemporary campus life. Then
and now, race performances have supplied Americas middle class with fun
and entertainment while offering up ethnic and race caricatures that have
reinforced entrenched dynamics of race superiority, national identity and
citizenship status.

**NEW** 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 .