[Peace] minutes of weekly AWARE meeting 2009-05-24

Tue May 26 11:55:11 CDT 2009

Minutes of 05/24/2009 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 26 (TODAY, 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 (TODAY, 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.

Jun 2 (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)

Jun 2 (Tuesday) 10PM, UPTV (cable channel 6)
Broadcast of "AWARE on the Air", taped earlier in the day (see above)

Jun 6 (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.

Jun 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.

Jun 7 (Sunday) People's Potluck

*****
Minutes of 05/24/09 AWARE meeting:

About 10 in attendance

News of the week was reviewed jointly
-----------------
Finance  Report:
Funds are significantly down partly due to recent heavy expenditures,
after expected expenses, balance would be $166.05, though between $200
would be recouped at Farmer's Market.

**NEW** AWARE funds are substantially lower than in the past ($2000 has
been typical for years, we're now in the *few hundreds*).

**NEW** Discussion made of possible fundraising efforts - perhaps direct
appeals to individuals or a big fundraising event as has been conducted in
the past.

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).

Next event is two weeks away on June 6 (D-Day).

**NEW** Recent Glen Greenwald comments on Torture mentioned in the context
of possible flyer.

**NEW** Focus urged for flyer regarding what's happening in NWFP in
Pakistan regarding military action displacing and killing civilians.

Last week: 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)

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)

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.

**NEW** Resistance in Canada to tasers mentioned as a possible source of
information/help.

**NEW** Mention made of failed Steve Beckett proposal to eliminate the
Justice & Social Services standing committee of the Champaign County
Board. Opposition regarding this from several quarters, including
CUCPJ/AWARE members, can be credited in part for this victory.

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** Thanks to Wayne for drop-off and pickup yesterday. More interest
noticed  in our printed literature of late. $12 proceeds from Saturday
before last turned over to Stuart. $6 from yesterday. Weather was quite
pleasant.

**NEW** Bumper sticker/button order is in, so our stocks should be
replenished soon.

**NEW** Booth materials are at Wayne's lab, Wayne happy to drop them off
again next week.

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)

(nothing new this week)

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** Regarding the issue of Champaign low-income residents at Gateway
Studios apartment complex (1505 N. Neil St - old Holiday Inn).
Effective presence at last Tuesday's Champaign City Council spotlighting
the injustice of essentially an almost immediate mass eviction creating
homelessness. Idea proposed for municipal program and ordinance to require
landlords to pay for relocation of tenants when the property becomes
condemned as uninhabitable due to the fault of the owner (e.g. power cut
due to landowner failing to pay bills, as happened at Gateway). Relocation
fund would also be maintained by the city to pay for relocation if
landowners refuse or are unable, with the cost to be extracted later from
landlord, including possible fees/penalties. Next major effort is advocacy
at the Champaign Neighborhood Services Advisory Board, June 4 (perhaps
June 11, still need to confirm).

**NEW** Anti-Recruitment - Meeting still 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.
Repeated attempts by Mort to contact and set up a meeting went nowhere.
Linda will try in the upcoming 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.

**NEW** July 4th - There are about 3 weeks to get application in. Ideas
for a float given much discussion on peace-discuss. However, this effort
generally needs an individual to take the lead in organizing, calling
meetings, etc (someone to "bell the cat"). Entry deadline is June 20,
2009.

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)

(none this week)

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)

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

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.

**NEW** Wayne makes mention of a possible upcoming "Midwest Liberty
Festival" perhaps this Fall - maybe several thousand people, probably in
Illinois.