[Peace] minutes of weekly AWARE meeting 2009-05-17

Tue May 19 11:17:08 CDT 2009

Minutes of 05/17/2009 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
----------------------------
May 19 (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** May 19 (Tuesday) 7PM, Champaign City Council Chambers, 102
N. Neil St
Champaign City Council turnout call for action regarding the effective
eviction of (very low-income) residents at Gateway Studios apartment
complex (1505 N. Neil St - the old Holiday Inn complex), with only four
days notice before power was cut (which happened last Tuesday). Turnout is
requested in solidarity with those affected and to provide support for
suggested changes that would ensure this never happens again. Public input
period is near the end of the meeting, which starts at 7PM (late arrival
up to 7:45PM should still be OK).

May 19 (Tuesday, TODAY) 10PM, UPTV (cable channel 6)
Broadcast of "AWARE on the Air", taped earlier in the day (see above)

May 23 (Saturday) 8AM-noon, AWARE's weekly presence at Farmer's Market
(Urbana Market at the Square), providing literature, expression (bumper
stickers, buttons, etc) and conversation to further AWARE's mission.

May 26 (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)

May 26 (Tuesday) 10PM, UPTV (cable channel 6)
Broadcast of "AWARE on the Air", taped earlier in the day (see above)

May 28 (Thursday) 7PM, First Mennonite Church (902 W Springfield Ave,
Urbana)
"Jerusalem and the Three Abrahamic Faiths"
Mai Abdul Rahman, board member of the Washington Interfaith Alliance for
Middle East Peace and President and Founder of the American Palestinian
Women's Association, considers the importance of Jerusalem to and points
of understanding among Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. The lecture will
also explore the impact of the Israeli occupation on the Abrahamic faiths.
Sponsors: UIUC Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, UIUC
Center for Global Studies, First Mennonite Church of Champaign-Urbana,
UIUC Department of Religion, Central Illinois Mosque and Islamic Center,
St. Mary's Catholic Church, Interfaith Alliance of Champaign-Urbana &
Illinois Network on Islam and Muslim Societies

May 30 (Saturday) 8AM-noon, AWARE's weekly presence at Farmer's Market
(Urbana Market at the Square), providing literature, expression (bumper
stickers, buttons, etc) and conversation to further AWARE's mission.

June 6 (Saturday) 2-4PM Main St & Neil St, Champaign
The Main Event - AWARE's monthly 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 05/10/09 AWARE meeting:

About 8 in attendance

News of the week was reviewed jointly
-----------------
No Finance report

NOTE: AWARE funds are substantially lower than in the past ($2000 has been
typical for years, we're now under $1000).

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** Next event is three weeks away on June 6 (D-Day). Flyer
suggestions
solicited for something "outrageous", perhaps something on the disjunction
between what's happening in congress and what people believe and want -
the failure of our democratic system..

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** An AWARE Presents meeting may not be imminent, but is still in the
offing.

Ideas under consideration for the future:

- 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** Tasers apparently to be sought by Champaign Police again despite
the citizen uproar, particularly in the black community, that quashed the
effort last time. Public mobilization is already underway.

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.

Some "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.

Farmer's Market
===========
(AWARE's weekly seasonal presence at the Urbana "Market at the Square" AKA
"Farmer's Market")

**NEW** $12 proceeds from last week in Randall's possession. Weather was
distinctly disagreeable, drizzly, moist and gusty (more gusty than moist
as the morning went on). Mention made that materials definitely need to be
restocked now.

**NEW** Booth materials are now at Wayne's lab. Carl and Wayne will work
first shift next week. Carl will check with Stuart on who's scheduled for
the other two shifts. Ron volunteers for any shift, middle shift
especially convenient.

AWARE's space is much nearer the entrance this year.

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).

(nothing new this week)

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

(from last week): Glen Ford-inspired flyer used for the Main Event
yesterday to be converted to a guest commentary or letter to the editor by
Carl - though there may be possible objection to the content.

**NEW** Mention made of remarkable column space given over to voluminous
drivel by Mark Steyn on the front and second pages of Sunday's
News-Gazette Commentary section. Carl has a mind to take them to task on
this and perhaps submit a rebuttal.

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

Possible future showings:

1. "On White Privilege" (see
http://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=137 )

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

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

**NEW** Residents of low-income apartment complex Gateway Studios were
notified May 8 that they must move out by May 12 with power to be cut due
to non-payment by the landlord. The incredibly short notice, causing
massive disruption and uprooting of tenants, essentially an almost
immediate eviction creating homelessness, is seen as grossly unfair and a
violation of what should be a basic right for renters. Activists organized
to visit the site, talk with residents and call on local government to
take action to prevent this from ever occurring again. There was a
presence
at last night's (Monday's) Urbana City Council  meeting and there is a
call out for another presence and for speakers at tonight's (Tuesday's)
Champaign City Council meeting (see above in Upcoming Events Calendar).

**NEW** Anti-Recruitment - A meeting is being pursued with administration
at Centennial High School, where it was reported that apparently, military
recruiters were given free access to students in the hallways recently.
First request was rebuffed, purportedly due to lack of time. Message left
recently requesting a meeting Wednesday or Thursday this week. AWARE has
met with Centennial in the past regarding this issue, but there's been a
change of principal since then. Folks interested in pursuing this: Mort,
Linda, Dave H, Durl.

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.

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

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

**NEW** Mention made of absence of anti-war material from AWARE for the
IMC literature table on the ground floor: Carl will work on this.

**NEW** Mention made of State Rep. Julie Hamos petition regarding reform
or decommissioning of Tamms max security prison (due to unconscionable
prisoner abuse there including permanent solitary confinement of all
inmates). All urged to sign up that haven't already. See:
http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/5596/t/4115/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=514

**NEW** 4th of July - Theme this year is "The Lasting Legacy of Lincoln".
No report of contact from parade organizers - someone just realized that
the 4th was coming up soon. Folks wondered aloud whether Ricky or Durl
would be interested in being involved.

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

(nothing this week)

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

**NEW** Mennonites may offer a presentation this summer from a couple who
live in Tehran.

**NEW** Another Tea Party event is anticipated somewhere around July 4th.
80% of those involved or attending are estimated to be anti-war. Main
organizer, Kevin Waite is from the Constitution Party, which is strongly
anti-war.