Next Meeting Sunday, November 23rd

Hey everyone,

We won't have a Wednesday meeting this week, but our next general meeting is this Sunday, November 23rd at 5pm in the Heritage Room of the Union. Check out the latest Urgent Action at
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa31608.pdf and bring your letter to the meeting.

Please find some new info on the Corporate Accountability section of our wiki. http://sites.google.com/site/ouaiwiki/ (Extra special thanks to Jace for all the info on living wage). If you would like to contribute to the research on this wiki, all you need is a google account. Send your google account info to this address and we will authorize you.

As far as Corporate Accountability goes, for the rest of the semester we will be screening documentaries on this subject to watch as a group and planning for the film series on this campaign, that will happen in the two weeks leading into the Statewide Conference.

Good luck with classes and see you soon

Sarah

2008 Southern Regional Conference in Memphis

We dressed up for halloween on the drive to Memphis

Jaribu Hill and William Lucy were two of the panelists in the opening session, both labor leaders from the south.  

Jaribu Hill led us in song to open the panel discussion.  She is the founder and director of the Mississippi Workers' Center for Human Rights, and also founded the Southern Human Rights Organizers' Conference.  Check out this article she wrote about Human Rights organizing in the south that touches on some of the things she talked about last weekend.  If you want to hear some of her powerful singing in front of crowds, check out this video I found of her singing at the Million Worker March in D.C. in 2004.  

 

Here's some info I found about Bill Lucy on his bio on AFSMSE website:  "For more than three decades, Lucy has been involved in international affairs; he is the highest-ranking African American in the Labor movement. He was one of the founders of the Free South Africa Movement that launched the successful anti-apartheid campaign in the United States in the mid 1980s. He led an AFL-CIO delegation to South Africa to monitor the first democratic election. Lucy serves as vice-president of Public Services International, the world's largest union federation. He also serves on the boards of directors for the International Rescue Committee, Americans for Democratic Action and the Center for Policy Alternatives.

He is a founder and the president of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU), an organization of union leaders and rank-and-file members dedicated to the unique needs of African Americans and minority group workers."

This is the Southern Regional Director, Jared Feuer, keeping us updated on Amnesty's membership drive.

Larry Cox, Executive Director of Amnesty USA, speaks to us at lunch on Saturday about the new direction of AmnestyWe sat next to him on the bus to the Civil Rights Museum and he was really interested in coming to visit us in Oklahoma!The motel where Dr. King was assassinated has been turned into the National Civil Rights Museum.  They have a cool website with a lot of photos and information.  

We had a great time and can't wait for the 2009 conference in Atlanta!!

UN Day, Corporate Accountability

Hey everyone,

Just a reminder that there will be UN day activities on our campus tomorrow, Friday, October 24th. There will be a discussion about Human Trafficking in Beaird Lounge at 3pm. The discussion will feature Famke Janssen, a UN Goodwill Ambassador and international film actress, Dr. Jill Irvine the director of OU's Women's Studies Program, and Zach Messitte, OU's vice provost for international programs. The discussion will be followed by a reception from 5:00-6:00pm.

Also, we will be having our next informal meeting on Sunday, October 26th at 5pm at Katie Baker and Katie Knutter's apartment, Traditions East A304. At this meeting we will be talking about Corporate Accountability. At our last informal meeting, we agreed to look into the human rights records of some corporations on our campus (Among them, ConocoPhilips, Starbucks, Wendy's, Coca Cola, and businesses in the bookstore.) We mentioned others (Dell, Apple, Nike) that should be looked into - if you would like to research these or any other corporations on our campus, please bring what you find to share with everyone at Sunday's meeting. Please see the attached documents from Sarah Whitten and her message at the bottom of this email for more info.

Finally, we will have a brainstorming session on Wednesday, October 29th at 7pm for our Oklahoma AI State Meeting, scheduled for February 7th. We will meet in the Bookmark cafe (in the basement of Bizzell library) and then head up to a study room. If you arrive late or can't find the group, call Will on his cell phone at (918) 669-2372.

Thanks everyone and see you soon,
Sarah Warmker



Hey guys,

Here's some info I found on the Amnesty site about corporate accountability. It has parts of the UN's Norms of Business and Amnesty's explanation of different ways that companies can be complicit with human rights abuses. It also has the articles from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that deal with labor. It think this will give us basic concepts that we can all agree upon to help us harness our efforts and produce more eloquent and powerful communication with others. The page I got it from is full of other awesome information.

I also had the idea that we could create a Code of Labor Conduct that states particular labor rights, human rights, and environmental rights criteria that a company must uphold before the university does particular business (sell items on campus, use the OU logo, etc) with it. This would be longlasting after we were gone, and it would hold the university accountable.

Let me know what you guys think about this idea! I can't wait to see what kind of discussion we can get going this Sunday!

Sarah Whitten

Next meeting October 19th, UN day activities

Hey everyone,

Thanks so much to everyone who volunteered at WorldFest. The World Neighbors staff has expressed their excitement about the success of the event and their appreciation to all volunteers. Sales exceeded all of the past four years, which is great because all proceeds from WorldFest benefit World Neighbors and the continued expansion of their program areas. The impacts on the awareness levels of our local community and the opportunities that fair trade gives to all the producers and artisans are getting bigger every year. Keep in mind, especially if you had a good experience at WorldFest, that World Neighbors is a great place to do an internship - you can find out more on their website.

Upcoming Meetings
Our next general meeting is on Sunday, October 19th at 5pm in the Heritage Room of the Union. We will hear a short presentation from Teach for America and then plan our events and activities for the rest of the semester. Based on the interest list that we brainstormed at our last general meeting, we will start working first on education and action on the following issues, that got the most votes of interest:

Corporate Accountability
Torture and the Counter Terror with Justice campaign
GLBT rights
Violence Against Women

These issues were also of interest and we will make sure to include them in our agenda soon:

Darfur
Human Trafficking
Institutionalized Violence/Police Brutality
US War on Drugs
Israel/Palestine
Death Penalty

Keep in mind these lists are flexible and can always be added to or adapted. So if you have an idea, let us know!

Volunteering
Our Volunteer Coordinator, Chris Schroeder, has been talking with representatives from Habitat for Humanity about setting up our next volunteer activity. We will probably have our next volunteer event within a month. We'll let you know when we get confirmation on a date.

Student Action Network
The first meeting of the newly formed Student Action Network will be held this Sunday, October 19th at 2:30pm in the Heritage Room of the Union.

The goal of this new student organization is to put representatives from the activists organizations here at OU into the same room to see how we can: a) quit competing with each other, b) help each other, and c) let each other know what else is going on. Many of us have goals that overlap, and we need to cooperate more whenever we can, we hope to at least begin to facilitate this.

The group has initiated a message board to act as a centralized and accessible forum for communication between student groups at ouactionnetwork.proboards.com.

This will be a great opportunity to find out about and meet representatives from many of the best groups on campus.

Troy Davis Update
Unfortunately, this past Tuesday, the Supreme Court declined to hear Troy Anthony Davis's appeal. The high court's decision to deny Troy Davis' petition sets a precedent that no court of law will ever hold a hearing on the witnesses who have recanted their trial testimony in sworn affidavits. An execution warrant has been issued for Troy Davis for October 27 at 7pm. We can discuss possibilities for further action at our meeting on Sunday.


United Nations Day Activities
On Friday, October 24th, there will be a discussion about Human Trafficking in Beaird Lounge of the Oklahoma Memorial Union from 3:00-4:30pm, featuring Famke Janssen, a UN Goodwill Ambassador and international film actress, Dr. Jill Irvine the director of OU's Women's Studies Program, and Zach Messitte, OU's vice provost for international programs. The discussion will be followed by a reception from 5:00-6:00pm.

Famke Janssen was named a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for Integrity on January 28, 2008. As a Goodwill Ambassador for Integrity, Ms. Janssen uses her celebrity status to raise awareness about the chronic problems of human trafficking, illicit drugs, and governmental corruption. She is an actress best known for her roles in the James Bond movie GoldenEye, the television series Nip/Tuck, and the X-Men trilogy where she played Dr. Jean Grey/Phoenix. She has also appeared in Woody Allen's Celebrity, Robert Altman's The Gingerbread Man, and Ted Demme's Monument Ave. Born in The Netherlands, Janssen speaks Dutch, English, German and French. She is a graduate of Columbia University where she majored in literature. Ms. Janssen will be discussing her role as a UN Goodwill Ambassador and her new film, Taken, in which she plays the mother of a child sold into slavery.

The dinner will begin at 7 p.m. in the Sandy Bell Gallery of the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Avenue in Norman. A discussion with Dr. Jill Irvine of Women's Studies will follow the dinner and a trailer of the movie will be shown.

On Saturday, October 25th, there will be a luncheon and discussion on Women and Human Rights from 12 noon - 1:30pm at the University of Oklahoma Faculty House Restaurant (601 NE 14th Street, Oklahoma City).



Hope that midterms are going well for all of you. As always, let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

See you soon,
Sarah Warmker

Groovefest, Troy Davis, and other updates

Thanks so much for making Groovefest such a huge success! The weather was perfect, the music was great, and I heard a lot of positive comments about the theme & discussion that was generated in the park. Thanks especially to everyone who volunteered along the way researching the theme, painting signs, setting up the displays, working the booth, cleaning up, and talking to folks about Amnesty. Groovefest couldn't have happened without you! Our school paper covered it today, and though the article is a bit confused on some points it is still good that we got some publicity so people can keep an eye out for the spring event. We got some good advance publicity on KGOU's website, in the Gazette, and in the Norman Transcript.

Troy Davis Update
According to this article from an Atlanta newspaper, the Supreme Court is expected to announce its decision on whether it will hear Davis's case. The article gives some of Davis's back story and explains some of the legal questions at stake in the case. We'll keep you updated as we get information.

World Neighbors Events
World Neighbors will be offering a special presentation tomorrow called "The Food Crisis in Africa: Effective Solutions from the Field" on Tuesday, September 30 from 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. at their headquarters building (4127 NW 122nd Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73120). The evening's featured speaker, Qureish Noordin, a member of World Neighbors Kenya-based team, will discuss the current impact of the food crisis on African women, and why the way World Neighbors responds is so vital to long-term solutions. Your RSVP welcomed by September 30 to Kylie McBride at 405.418.0489 or kmcbride@wn.org.
Also, don't forget the fair trade event WorldFest this weekend Friday-Sunday October 3-5 at the Bricktown Event Center in Oklahoma City. Many of us will be going up to Oklahoma City to volunteer, so if you can offer to drive or need a ride, please contact Chris Schroeder at schro87@ou.edu so we can try to carpool.

Regional Conference
If you are interested in attending the Regional Conference in Memphis from October 31-November 2nd, please check your schedule and decide by THIS FRIDAY so we can get a head count, start planning for travel and accomodations, complete our group's registration, and get on the waiting list for some possible travel subsidies from AI. Also, be thinking of fundraisers we could do to raise the gas money. I know most of us don't have much money, but if we plan ahead and put a little work into raising the funds, I think we could get it covered so we don't have to rely on money out of pocket. If you are interested in going, please reply to this email or call me at (405) 816-1613. For more information about the conference, visit amnesty's website.

Upcoming Meetings
We have a letter writing meeting coming up on Sunday, October 12th - time and place TBA. Which means, if you have any suggestions, I'm all ears. Our next general meeting is on Sunday, October 19th at 5pm in the Heritage room of the Union.

Troy Davis event tomorrow, Groovefest meeting Wednesday

Hey everyone,

We will be on the grassy lawn on the east side of Dale Hall tomorrow from 9am until 4pm asking people to call, text, or email the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles asking for a stay on the execution of Troy Davis. We will have fliers with information, laptops for sending emails, and phones for making calls to the Board, so if you can bring any of these things or you want to come by to help during any time during the day, please do.

If you want to take action online or want more information about Troy Davis's case, visit www.amnestyusa.org/troydavis

We will be meeting Wednesday night at 7pm at Sarah Whitten's house (420 College Ave) to finalize our preparations for Groovefest and get all of our facts & information ready to be hung from trees in the park. We will also be writing Urgent Action letters at this meeting.

See you soon!

Worldfest learning village volunteers

Worldfest needs more volunteers in the learning village. If you are interested in switching over to the learning village instead of just a general volunteer, you will need to have some training because you are going to be molding people's minds directly. It should be really rewarding and fun, so get in contact with me if you are interested. My email address should be on this side bar over here >>>
Chris

Hey everyone,

We will be getting together this Sunday at 3pm at my house (816 S. Lahoma Ave.) to have our first letter writing meeting of the year. We have several things to do and talk about.


Troy Davis and the death penalty

I think it's important that we do something in support of Troy Davis. This case is getting worldwide attention (look at his website here, for french speakers, here is the coverage in LeMonde, and take a look at this opinion piece in a student paper here).  He is scheduled to be executed this Tuesday (the 23rd), and even though there is no material evidence linking him to the crime and 7 of the 9 non-police eyewitnesses have recanted or changed their testimony, on Sept.12th the Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole refused to grant him clemency. Please find out more about the case and send your appeals to the Board here: http://www.amnestyusa.org/troydavis

Here is what the OSU group did last week 

We should put something together on Monday. We need to speak out in the southern region when things like this happen. Please come forward with ideas for Monday - I think that spelling out the word "justice" on the south oval would be a good way to do it if we can get enough folks together, we just need to coordinate our school schedules.

Groovefest

We still have some work left to do on our materials for Groovefest. We have most of the banners finished for our theme but we still need to make the fact sheets and articles so that they can be hung from trees, put together the book lists, and make some decorations and handouts. I will probably start working on these on Saturday so call me if you can help (405.816.1613).

Also, for those of you who are of age, there will be a Groovefest fundraiser on Thursday night (the 25th) at the Deli.


Urgent Action

Here is a description of our Urgent Action this week:

On 12 September, a group of 24 Uzbekistani nationals, who have been living for around a year in the eastern Turkish town of Van, were expelled to Iran. The group is now held by an unidentified Iranian group. Amnesty International fears for their safety while they are being held by the unidentified group and also that they could be subjected to forcible return to Uzbekistan by the Iranian authorities if and when they are released by the group that is currently holding them.

If returned to Uzbekistan the adults of the group would be at risk of incommunicado detention, torture or other ill-treatment. The group has been recognized as refugees by the UNHCR.

Police officers at the Security Directorate in Van reportedly invited the group to visit the Directorate to receive educational materials for the children's schooling. When the group arrived at the Security Directorate, they were allegedly put onto a bus and transported to an isolated area close to the Iranian border. The Turkish security officials who transported them told the group that "we don't need you here" as they forced them into Iranian territory. Once there, an unidentified group apparently not linked to the Iranian government seized them and allegedly threatened to kill them.

To read the rest of the Urgent Action report, please click here


As always, let me know if you have any questions/concerns. See you Sunday!

Agenda from September 14th meeting

Introduction Meet and Greet/Sign In
About Amnesty International:  How to be a more strategic activist, National Priorities

Constitution
Proposal of amendments, discussion, clarification
Vote to approve 2008-2009 Constitution

Planning the Year
Compile list of issues/interests
Develop Semester Plan for Meetings

Groovefest “See the Cycle, Be the Cycle: Vote with your Dollar”

September 28th, 2008 2-9pm in Andrews Park (201 W. Daws)
• Volunteer Signups
• Meeting this coming Wednesday the 17th at 7pm at Sarah Whitten's house (420 College Ave)

Southern Regional Conference
“Our Rights, Our History, Our Vision”
Memphis, Tennessee October 31-November 2, 2008

Oklahoma State Meeting

Tentatively scheduled for February 7th in the Union

Added Items
Fair Trade Norman meeting immediately following this one

Historian Katie Baker mentions that our photo blog is up

WorldFest is coming up - October 3rd-5th in OKC

Close Meeting
Next meeting Sunday, September 21st at 2pm at Sarah’s house (816 S. Lahoma Ave.) time TBA

Photoblog

Hi guys,

Since we're using everything Google, I've begun using our Picasa Web Albums account (Google-operated) for photo hosting. The username and password are the same as the ones for the gmail account. I uploaded some pictures, including some new ones from the Meet and Greet Picnic. Check it out!

http://picasaweb.google.com/okamnestyinternational

See you later,
Katie B.

Updates on Fall 2008 semester

Hey everyone! Hope that you are all feeling good about school starting again.

Here's what our schedule looks like for the semester so far

Immediate events
SOW (Sooner Orientation Week) Involvement Fair Sunday (tomorrow!) from 2-6 in the Walker-Adams mall between the dorms.
CAC Howdy Week

Start-of-School events
August 28th - chalking for picnic & informational meeting
September 1st (Monday) 5pm - Labor Day Picnic (Pot luck) in Reeves' Park (back to school party!)
September 2nd (Tuesday) 7pm - Informational Meeting in the Scholars Room of the Union

General Meetings
So far all have been scheduled for 5pm on Sunday evenings in the Heritage Room of the Union. Here are the dates:
Sept. 14
Oct. 19
Nov 9
Nov. 23
Dec. 7

Other dates to keep in mind:
Fall Groovefest September 28th in Andrews Park
WorldFest Fair Trade Market in OKC Oct 3-5 (Volunteer opportunity for our group if we want it!)
AI Southern Regional Conference in Memphis Oct 31-Nov 2
International Human Rights Day & 60th Anniversary of Universal Declaration of Human Rights Dec 10th

More updates coming soon!!

July 2

Please please read this article I read in the NY Times. It says we pretty much stole our interrogation techniques at Guantanamo from Chinese communists during the Korean War. Torturewhat?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/02/us/02detain.html?ex=1372737600&en=727ea9eaf9d71aa3&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Meeting June 24th

Fall Groovefest
Groovefest board meeting tomorrow at 7pm in the Will Rogers room of the Union
Sarah Whitten presented her idea for the theme (look on the groovefest blog!)
We talked about trying to prepare the educational materials this summer since the event is relatively early in the semester - September 28th!

Ideas for Summer Activities
Statewide Conference Planning
Prepare education materials for Groovefest
Fundraising
Awareness activity on Guantanamo Bay

Urgent Action
It would be a good idea to do fundraising for our postage expenses
We watched "Sierra Urban," a documentary about residents of Medellin, Colombia
For more info about the human rights situation in Colombia, read this

First summer meeting, Urgent Actions

FIRST SUMMER MEETING

Since several of us are in town for the summer and have expressed interest in holding summer meetings, we will have our first summer meeting tomorrow (Tuesday June 24th) at 7:30pm at Sarah Whitten, Chris Schroeder, and Matt Whiteway's house on 420 College Ave. It is very close to campus, but if you need a ride feel free to call me (Sarah) at 405.816.1613 and I'd be happy to pick you up.

URGENT ACTIONS

For those of you not in town, you can still write Urgent Action letters with us. I have attached the latest ones to this email. Our newest one is about the Human Rights situation in Colombia. Trade unionists and human rights defenders have been threatened by paramilitaries there, and we have a movie that explains the complex, ongoing conflict in that country that we can watch tomorrow. It's called "La sierra urban: warfare in the barrios of Medellin, Colombia."

You can keep up with our Urgent Actions and find more on our UA blog at ouamnestyua.blogspot.com

GROOVEFEST NEWS

Also, a date has been set for the Fall '08 edition of Groovefest - Sunday, September 28th. There will be a Groovefest meeting Wednesday night (June 25th) at 7pm in the Will Rogers room of the Union (home of the booths and the sooner schooner, by the food court) Next fall's theme and slogan will be voted on, and other issues like nonprofit status for the event will be discussed. If you are interested in getting involved with Groovefest, Norman's biannual human rights music festival, this would be a good meeting to attend. If you want to know more about Groovefest you can visit www.groovefest.org

If you want to get on our Groovefest committee, which is in charge of Community Awareness and Education for the event, our Groovefest coordinator for Fall is Sarah Whitten. You can email her at sarshgirl@ou.edu.

See you soon!

Thanks for a great 2007-08!

Hello fellow human rights activists,

Thank you for being amazing! This message is to send you well wishes for summer, a year-in-review summary of our activities this past year, and a little bit of info about what is coming up, including changes in our mailing list.

This year our group experienced a lot of growth and success, thanks to efforts from many of you who helped us meet our goals. At our first few meetings of the year, we listened to several great short presentations about several different human rights topics from both members and visitors, and had great discussions that, more often than not, lasted long after the meetings were over. Many of us attended our first "Groovefest" human rights music festival in October, where several new group members got acquainted with each other and with the Groovefest crowd at our information table. In November, John Perkins, author of "Confessions of an Economic Hitman," came as our guest speaker and gave an inspirational presentation about the role of corporations in the contemporary world. At the end of November our group constructed a cardboard "Maze of Injustice" installation on the south oval to raise awareness about the April 2007 Amnesty International report of the same name that uncovered a failure to protect indigenous women from sexual violence in the U.S. During the spring semester, with the help of our new Urgent Action Coordinator, Mady Ohs, our chapter started meeting every week, changing our meeting format to include alternating general and letter writing meetings. In March, we participated in the World Neighbors' "Walk for Women" on International Women's day. In April, we volunteered at a coop support center for foster parents with Big Event, held a constitutional convention to talk about changes to our group and amend our constitution, and later that month held elections for the 2008-2009 school year, creating six new officer positions (Historian, Assistant Treasurer, Volunteer Coordinator, Groovefest Coordinator, Campus Liaison, and even a Mascot). For our last event of the year, we cohosted the Spring '08 edition of Groovefest at the end of April, during which our volunteers at the Groovefest/Amnesty table collected an impressive number of signatures for our Urgent Action letters. Our presentations on the main stage for the "community forum" segment of Groovefest included a presentation about Guantanamo Bay by Will ODonnell and poetry from Chris Schroeder. Our Groovefest volunteers that day got the chance to talk (and dance!) with a lot of other activists from Norman. All of these events happened in addition to all the meetings, letter writing sessions, discussions, movie screenings and other events we attended together. This remarkable level of activity would not have been possible without the energy and spirit of our human rights community, and undoubtedly our momentum will allow us to do even more next year!

Speaking of next year, we've got a lot in the works, including another round of Groovefest, regularly scheduled volunteer events, and hosting the second annual AI Statewide Conference in the spring. Of course, we will continue our regular meetings and Urgent Action letter writing too.

For those of you in Norman over the summer, we will be holding informal meetings periodically to write our UA's, screen films, and enjoy each other's company. If you're not in Norman, you can still keep up with our Urgent Action Network online - so either way, make sure you sign up for our "members" mailing list for 08-09 if you want to stay informed!

About our mailing list

Our group has grown a lot this year, and with it the volume and frequency of our emails. In order to communicate better with people who have different levels of involvement, we have decided to discontinue our old mailing list and create two new lists to replace it - one for "members" and one for "friends."

Our "members" list will receive all of our emails, including weekly reminders about meetings, details about activities and events, urgent actions, and committee reminders. This list will normally receive one or two emails a week. If you would like to be on this list for the 2008-2009 school year and this summer, please send an email with the subject "members" to okamnestyinternational@gmail.com

Our "friends" list will receive monthly updates about our most recent news and upcoming events. If you would like to be on this list for the 2008-2009 school year, please send an email with the subject "friends" to okamnestyinternational@gmail.com

Thanks for everything!

OU Amnesty International

COMMUNITY FREE SPEECH FORUM

PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release
April 23, 2008

HUMAN RIGHTS MUSIC FESTIVAL TO FEATURE COMMUNITY FORUM

The University of Oklahoma chapter of Amnesty International will be hosting a community forum during "Groovefest" music festival this Sunday in Andrews Park to provide information and promote discussion about human rights issues.

The forum will be held in seven brief sessions, each with its own theme. The sessions will be moderated by OU Amnesty International members and other local activists.

Starting at one o'clock, there will be a short presentation about Human Rights focusing on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 2008 marks the sixty year anniversary of this founding human rights document.

At 1:45, Kara Joy McKee will lead a session on non-violent communication.

At 2:30 session will cover the theme of the festival, "Use your vote to promote human rights."

The 3:15 session will consist of a short presentation and discussion about the 2007 report "Maze of Injustice: the failure to protect indigenous women from sexual violence in the USA." A significant portion of the research in the report was conducted in Oklahoma.

The 4:30 session will focus on human rights issues surrounding Guantanamo Bay and Amnesty International's "Denounce Torture" campaign.

At 5:45, OU students will present their thoughts in verse form for "Poetry of Dissent," followed by an open mic for other local poets.

At 7:00, local musician and OU student Rachel Kastner will share her thoughts and songs about freedom and political courage.

Groovefest began in 1986 as a musical gathering of Norman locals and has evolved into a forum for human rights awareness and community building. The biannual festival has become an important meeting place for local activists, artists, musicians, students, and families.


COMMUNITY FORUM SCHEDULE SUMMARY
1:00 Universal Declaration of Human Rights
1:45 Non-violent communication
2:30 "Use Your Vote to Promote Human Rights"
3:15 The Maze of Injustice Report
4:30 Denounce Torture
5:45 Poetry of Dissent
7:00 Freedom and political courage

Election Results - Announcement of 2008-2009 Officers

Amendments to the Constitution - all approved

Article 2 – Object of Organization
-add “The Convention on the Rights of the Child” and “The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families” to Section 4.
Article 4 - Executive Committee
Section 1
-change six permanent positions to five – section to read “The executive committee is composed of five (5) permanent positions including one(1) faculty advisor and four (4) officers (see Section 6).
Section 6 – Officer Duties
-delete “keeps records on membership” and “responsible for directing the Programming Coordinator in his/her responsibilities” from The Vice President’s duties.
-delete The Programming Coordinator from list of permanent officers
-add “keeps records on membership” to The Secretary’s duties
Section 8 – Elections
-add a clause (6) on Voting Requirements – “To be eligible to vote in elections, a member must have attended at least one (1) chapter meeting, not including the meeting at which the elections take place.”
Article 8 – Supremacy Clauses
-delete clause “Even though this chapter of Amnesty International is not officially affiliated with Amnesty International” from Section 2.

2008 - 2009 Officers
President - Sarah Warmker
Vice President - Ephraim Alajaji
Secretary - Cindy Woods
Treasurer - Will O'Donnell
Assistant Treasurer - Katie Knutter
Urgent Action Coordinator - Mady Ohs
Historian - Katie Baker
Volunteer Coordinator - Chris Schroeder
Groovefest Coordinator - Sarah Whitten
Campus Liaison - Serena Prammanasudh
Mascot - Matt Whiteway

Thanks and congratulations everyone! It looks like we're on the road to have a great year next year... complete with our own real live candle to be a walking, talking Amnesty logo at our events. Seriously!

Agenda for April 20th General Meeting

Introduction
Meet and Greet/Sign In

About Amnesty International
About Us!! Review membership committee’s brochure

Old Business

Constitutional Convention
· Review 2007-2008 Constitution
· Amendments proposed at Constitutional Convention
· Propose revision committee for next year

New Business

Review Officer Responsibilities

Hold elections

Groovefest - Sunday April 27th 11am – 11pm

• Moderators for second stage for community free speech forum
• 2 Volunteers each hour for AI/Groovefest table to handle money (partnered with a board member)
• Other volunteers – set up 8:30, during show 11am – 11pm, clean up morning after
• Tabling and fundraising for AI (Tabling should include components of education, membership, and action)

Working in the OU, Norman, and Oklahoma communities

• Campout to Stampout Genocide sponsored by Students for Action in Darfur – Tuesday, April 22nd, in the South Oval
  
• Fair Trade Week April 21st – 24th
  
• Human Rights Watch International Film Festival April 21st – 24th sponsored by International Affairs Society
  
• Unite for Uganda sponsored by Oklahoma Students for Uganda – Saturday, April 26th at Westmoore High School from noon to 7pm (our table will need to be staffed from 1- 4 p.m. for the Club Fair of Africa related organizations in Lobby) Westmoore High’s Address is 12613 South Western, Oklahoma City, OK 73170

Urgent Action Network
Presentation of latest UA
Next Letter writing meeting Sunday, May 4th – time and place TBA

Close Meeting
Take end of year Survey

2008 - 2009 Elections to be held Sunday, April 20th

Upcoming elections will be held during our general meeting this Sunday, April 20th, at 7pm in the Presidents Room of the Union. As determined at the constitutional convention last week, these are the positions and voting requirements:

President
Vice President
Secretary
Tresurer
Urgent Action Coordinator
Historian
Volunteer Coordinator
Groovefest Coordinator (elected each semester)

To vote in an election requires attendance to two general meetings (including the meeting at which the election takes place).
To run for office requires attandance to two general meetings and two other events or meetings.

If you would like to run or nominate someone to run, please send an email to okamnestyinternational@gmail.com.

We will also be voting to approve new materials and procedures for our group. Keep in mind it will be an open ballot so even if you decide last minute you can still run or propose something for a vote.

International Affairs Society Human Rights Watch Film Festival

The OU International Affairs Society and the School of International and Area Studies will be hosting a Human Rights Watch Film Festival on the OU campus April 21st, 22nd and 24th. Documentaries are free and open to the public. The focus is human rights issues on several continents. For detailed descriptions of the films please visit www.hrw.org/iff/2007/traveling/titles.html

For film schedule and brief synopsis see below.

Monday April 21st, Dale Hall 218:

Enemies of Happiness @ 6pm -- Set in Afghanistan in 2003, tells the story of a young woman running a dangerous campaign for a seat in the country's first democratic parliament in 30 years.


White Light/Black Rain @ 7:30 pm -- A film that reveals both unimaginable suffering and extraordinary human resilience in the light of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II.


Tuesday, April 22nd, Sarkeys Energy Center room A235:

City of Photographers @ 6pm -- A story about the motley group of photographers who recorded and documented a nation under the turmoil of the Pinochet regime.


Cocalero @ 7:30pm -- A film about controversial Bolivian president Evo Morales and his rise to prominence.


Thursday, April 24th, Dale Hall 200:

Lumo @ 5:30 pm -- Documentary of a young Congolese woman on an uncertain path to recovery at a unique hospital for rape survivors.

Agenda from General Meeting April 6

Introduction
Meet and Greet/Sign In

Human Rights in the news
headlines

About Amnesty International
A little bit about the organization – the Counter Terror with Justice Campaign

Old Business

Letter Writing Meeting March 23rd
· sign and turn in letters
· Ghosts of Abu Ghraib

Big Event

New Business

Budget
· Allocation announced
· Emergency funding?

Constitutional Convention April 13th

Elections at next general meeting April 20th

Groovefest - Sunday April 27th 11am – 11pm
· Second stage for purpose and theme, free speech/spoken word
· Volunteers for Groovefest table to handle money (partnered with a board member)
· Other volunteers – set up 8:30, during show 11am – 11pm, clean up morning after
· Tabling and fundraising for AI (Tabling should inlcude components of education, membership, and action)

Working in the OU, Norman, and Oklahoma communities

“Project Barefoot”
Opportunity to Volunteer with Norman Music Festival
Fair Trade Week April 21st – 24th

Urgent Action Network
Presentation of latest UA
Next Letter writing meeting Sunday, April 13th at 6pm (in conjunction with Constitutional Convention)

Added Items


Close Meeting

Next general meeting and 2008-2009 elections Sunday, April 20th – time and place TBA

Big Event

Big Event was great!  We were assigned to a clothing and equipment coop that helps foster parents take care of their kids.  

We helped clean the facility and sort the donated clothing and supplies.  

The ladies from the Methodist church prepared lunch for us.  

(Thanks, ladies!) 

We had a really great time and we all agreed that we want to try to do volunteer work more often.  

Officer Meeting April 3rd

This meeting was short and sweet.

The agenda for Sunday's meeting was amended and approved. Our short presentation will be a representative from the ONE campaign.

We scheduled elections for 2008-2009 will be held at the General meeting on April 20th, with two new positions offered: Historian and Volunteer Coordinator.

At that meeting we will also have everyone sign up for their volunteer positions for Groovefest.

Big Event is under control - we will be going to clean a foster home this Saturday, April 5th.

Next weekend (April 13th) is the Constitutional Convention.

Amnesty Budget for 2008-2009

If you're interested, our allocations for next year are posted outside of the Conoco-Phillips Student Center at the Union. I'll post more details later, but I do know that we were allocated a total of $1,100 for 2008-2009. The good thing is, we have some money for next year.

Meeting March 23

We went over to Mady's apartment and she shared some of her mom's banana bread and homemade cookies. We talked a little bit about the National Week of Student Action coming up March 31 - April 5.

Then, we watched the film Ghosts of Abu Ghraib. It was a really powerful film and got us talking about of a lot of the problems that have surfaced since the current administration's handling of the "war on terror." The film's website has a really good resource page.

Some of the issues involved include

• the Third Geneva Convention (this text from the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights) and whether it does or does not apply to "unlawful enemy combatants." Here is a background paper on some of the issues in terms of international law.
  
• The use of and definition of torture (this article from the Washington Post talks about how the justice department and the department of defense have been pushing legal limits in defining torture, allowing things that are explicitly prohibited in the Army Field Manual)
  
• the Military Commissions Act of 2006 (here's a Wikipedia rundown of the act. You can read Amnesty's position here)

Here is "A Guide to the Memos on Torture"

And here are a few more articles...

"Abu Ghraib Techniques were first Used at Guantanamo"
"Secret U.S. Endorsement of Severe Interrogations" (this article has good explanations of the interactions between the different branches and characters in the U.S. government)

Agenda from March 9 General Meeting

Introduction
Meet and Greet/Sign In

About Amnesty International
A little bit about the organization – National Week of Student Action (March 31- April 4, 2008)

Short Presentation
David Slemmons talks about the history of Amnesty International at OU and Groovefest

Old Business

Walk for Women

Letter Writing and Groovefest Planning Meeting March 2nd
· sign and turn in letters
· Groovefest – purpose and theme, tabling (education, membership, and action)

New Business

Budget
· Overview – what’s in it, what’s different, and why
· Interview
· Emergency funding and fundraising for next year

Committees – Tasks and Updates
· Urgent Action
· Short Presentations
· Groovefest
· Membership
· Tshirt
· Volunteer Coordinating

Working in the OU, Norman, and Oklahoma communities

· One Campaign – petition to get 100% Fair trade coffee on campus

· Don’t forget to register for the Oklahoma Sustainability Conference: March 28-29 . This year’s theme is “Red Dirt, Green Culture — Growing Healthy Communities.” The 7th Annual Conference of the Oklahoma Sustainability Network is a continuation of excellence in education and networking, bringing together over 500 individuals from non-profit organizations, business, and family farms to learn and grow sustainably together.

· UOSA presidential candidates Matt Brown and Carol Bodine

Urgent Action Network

Presentation of latest UA
Letter writing (and Easter Egg hunt?) Sunday, March 23rd

Added Items

Fundraiser for Groovefest - March 15th 10pm at Bison Witches on Main Street (must be 21 to enter!)

OKC Peacehouse events for the 5 year Mark of the US war in Iraq -

• March 15th 11am to 1pm - Rally to end the war and bring the troops home - NW highway and Meridian
• March 16th 3pm - Spiritual Walk for Peace from Civic Center park across from OKC City Hall
• March 19th 7pm -Flashlight Vigil for "Remembering the Human Cost of War" on the State Capitol South Steps

Close Meeting

Next general meeting March 30th – time and place TBA

Walk for Women

Walk for Women was a lot of fun!

We learned about World Neighbors and their Work of Women program,
made art out of recycled materials,

listened to some great music, and walked a mile to celebrate the work of women on International Women's day!



Can't wait for more outdoor events now that the weather will be warming up!

Officer Meeting March 6th

Walk for Women

• we set the location for the carpool and need to send out another reminder email

Groovefest

• discussed possible presentations to include national priorities as well as more general information about what Amnesty International is, and what Groovefest is.
• tabling should include components of education, membership, and action
• need to request materials from Adiyah

Individual Officer Reports

President

• proposed participation in the National Week of Student Action

Vice President

• everything is set to go on Big Event, we should have a total of about 30 between our group and Our Earth

Secretary

• attended the ONE campaign meeting on Monday and got information about the campaign for 100% fair trade coffee on campus.
• will get copies of the petition so we can try to help them reach the necessary 500 signatures, or their desired 1000

Treasurer

• sumitted emergency budget for Groovefest and we have a meeting for that Sunday

Urgent Action Coordinator

• will be sending out reminder email about meeting with UA tips

Looked over agenda for this Sunday's meeting

Set a date for Constitutional Convention for April 13th and moved some of the meeting dates around

March 2 Letter Writing and Groovefest Planning

There was a lot to talk about at this meeting, and in all the excitement we decided to write these letters on our own. To write on our UA for this week, click here.

And, don't forget to check out the latest Urgent Action newsletter. Reading the newsletters is a good way to get to know more about AI's work.

Groovefest is in the works, and there is a lot to be done, but for right now our main contribution will be in developing the content for the purpose and theme. The theme they have talked about is "Vote to Promote Human Rights."

This should be a really exciting opportunity for us to get involved in something that is a big part of our group's history. And we'll be lucky to hear more about that history at our next general meeting - David Slemmons will come and give a short presentation about the history of OU Amnesty International and Groovefest. Don't forget, it's this Sunday, March 9th, at 6:30 in the Associates Room of the Union. See you there!

Officer Meeting February 28th

The committee heads will be coming up with task lists by this Sunday's meeting (March 2nd), with the exception of Groovefest, which Will should have by next Thursday (March 6th).  

Individual Officer Reports

President

• We're searchable!!!  Our website is now listed under the regional listings on amnestyusa.org
  
• Fundraising answers - Sarah heard back from Adiyah about our concerns with fundraising for other organizations.  We got the green light for co-sponsoring Groovefest and participating in Walk for Women (with a donation/information table for AI & their stop violence against women campaign)

Vice President

• Ephraim was not here, but he is working on Big Event!

Secretary

• We talked briefly about ways to improve the active members list 
  
• Cindy mentioned a campaign to make 100% of the coffee on campus fair trade, and will forward some contacts

Treasurer

• Will set up our budget interview with UOSA for Sunday, March 9
  
• He is looking into emergency funding for Groovefest this spring, and will have a phone conference today with the Groovefest planners
  

Urgent Action Coordinator

• Mady is trying to think of ways to make the letter writing go more smoothly
  

We talked about transitioning from the gmail account to our OU account and thinking about making a new system for our listserv

We also talked about staying informed with the other Oklahoma Amnesty groups

Groovefest is happening!

That's right, folks. I've received word that Groovefest IS happening this spring (tentatively Sunday, April 27) and OU Amnesty International is co-sponsoring! I'm putting together an application for emergency funding so that we can do our part to help make Groovefest an awesome success.

Our informal meeting this Sunday will be coordinated with a Groovefest planning meeting. We will meet at Blu Wine and Foods on Crawford, just south of Main, at 6:30 and conduct our UAN letters and group business. Right around 7:00 pm we will meet with the Groovefest board and start talking about ways we can raise money and support for Groovefest. Hope to see you all there!

-Will

Agenda from Feb. 24th General Meeting

Introduction
Meet and Greet/Sign In

About Amnesty International
A little bit about the organization - successes

Short Presentation
Ideas/requests for short presentations/guest speakers

Old Business

Statewide Conference
Letter writing meeting Feb 17th – sign and turn in letters

New Business

Budget turned in February 21st

Get Into Committees
· Urgent Action
· Short Presentations
· Groovefest
· Membership
· Tshirt
· Volunteer Coordinating

Working in the OU, Norman, and Oklahoma communities

· Conflict in Kenya – Oklahoma Wow! (Work of Women) Network Program on Thursday, Feb. 28 from 6 to 8 pm. Peter Gubbels, World Neighbors vice president of the international program, will discuss the current conflict in Kenya, its roots and how it is impacting Kenyan women and World Neighbors programs in East Africa. (presentation begins at 7pm, Village Tours begin at 6)

· Walk for Women: March 8. The purpose of the Walk for Women is to unite several Oklahoma City metro area community members in an effort to advocate against global issues such as hunger, poverty, disease, access to safe water, environmental degradation, illiteracy, gender inequalities, etc. This event will be held on March 8, 2008 from 9 am to 12 pm at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond (around Broncho Lake) in honor of International Women’s Day

· Don’t forget to register for the Oklahoma Sustainability Conference: March 28-29 . This year’s theme is “Red Dirt, Green Culture — Growing Healthy Communities.” The 7th Annual Conference of the Oklahoma Sustainability Network is a continuation of excellence in education and networking, bringing together over 500 individuals from non-profit organizations, business, and family farms to learn and grow sustainably together.

· National Week of Student Action 2008 – Shut Down Guantánamo - registering to participate in this year's NWSA (March 31- April 4, 2008)

Urgent Action Network

Presentation of latest UA
Letter writing Sunday, March 2nd

Added Items

Big Event registration deadline is this Friday, February 29th - register under Amnesty International/Our Earth

Katy talked to Student Affairs about barefoot for children project

Close Meeting

Next general meeting – March 9th time and place TBA

Spring Groovefest

I went to a Groovefest planning meeting tonight for information on the biennial concert which is scheduled for April 27th (the day after the Norman Music Festival). For those of you who don't know, Groovefest was started in 1986 by Oklahoma Amnesty International! We had a table up at last fall's concert, but other than that we have been conspicuously absent for three or for years. Everyone was really excited that OU-AI was ready to be a part of Groovefest once again.

Groovefest needs a lot of help, and I think we are in a position to help make it happen. Quite simply, Groovefest needs time and money. I'm going to check tomorrow to see what kind of funds we have left in our UOSA account; there's a possibility we might be able to co-sponsor Groovefest. This is going to be a pretty sizeable commitment, but I think we can do it. We could also apply for emergency funding through UOSA, or obtain additional funds from the CAC Speaker's Bureau and Concert Bureau. We will also be contacting Adiyah Ali, our regional AI-USA coordinator, to see about the possibility of getting funds from the regional or national AI offices.

There are two questions that I will be trying to answer this week:
1) If Groovefest is co-sponsored by Oklahoma Amnesty International (that's us), would the University's insurance coverage for events extend to Groovefest? This may not sound like much, but we would be saving Groovefest about $500 for event insurance. However, that leads me to question
2) If Groovefest is co-sponsored by OU-AI, is it subject to the same rules/restrictions as a University-sponsored event? For example, would all vendors have to sell Coca-Cola products? Would Groovefest be alcohol-free? Could we only use the money for things like printing/tabling materials, or could we spend it on things that are necessary to make Groovefest run (like the thousands of permits, sound equipment, etc.)?

We will be having our next informal meeting in conjunction with the Groovefest planning meeting. I will have more information on that sometime soon. Thanks!

-Will O'Donnell

Letter Writing meeting Feb. 17th

At this meeting we wrote on two Urgent Actions - our first one about a child offender facing the death penalty in Iran and another about in Kenya. It's not too late to write letters of your own, even if you didn't make it to the meeting! The reports can be found here and here. If you need some help getting started, Amnesty's website has some great resources and tips to explain how to write the letters most effectively.

We talked about ideas and plans for next year, including the issues we will be focusing on and possible events.

And everyone got to see the hole in Sarah's house...

Don't forget to bring your letters to our next general meeting on the 24th at 6pm in the Scholars room.

Statewide Conference in Stillwater

The statewide conference was really inspirational. We got some valuable information and listened to some really talented speakers, as well as getting to know other human rights activists from other chapters across the state.

Jennifer McLaughlin from the Oklahoma Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault gave a really informative presentation on the some of the problems highlighted in Amnesty International's "Maze of Injustice" report. We really felt inspired to continue working on this campaign, and hopefully now that Oklahoma's legislature is in session we can do some lobbying to bring attention to the issues she presented.

Adiyah Ali, our AI regional coordinator, put on a fundraising workshop that gave us some great ideas and tips for fundraising, which is a really important aspect of human rights work - after all, human rights work costs money! Fundraising is one thing that our chapter really needs to work on, so it was great to get some help in that area.

Rockey Robbins was the keynote speaker at the conference, drawing on his experiences working in Native American communities to bring our attention to other ways of thinking about our relationship to human rights work. He is currently an Associate Professor in Counseling Psychology here at OU.

After the conference, we went out for Thai food with students and professors from several other schools. We had some great conversations, and ate a lot.

Who knows, maybe we can host next year's conference...

Agenda from February 10th General Meeting

Introduction
Meet and Greet/Sign In

About Amnesty International
A little bit about the organization – National Priorities
(for more information on this, click here)

Short Presentation
Ephraim gives a short presentation about short presentations
Esha Mufti from Students for Action in Darfur (more info)
Ideas/requests for short presentations/guest speakers

Old Business
Letter writing meeting Feb 3rd – sign letters

New Business

Budget

Statewide Conference this Saturday (!!) February 16th from 10am-4pm in Willard Hall at OSU

Get Into Committees
· Urgent Action (Mady)
· Short Presentations (Ephraim)
· Groovefest (Will)
· Membership (Sarah)
· Tshirt (Ephraim)
· Volunteer Coordinating (Will)

The Vagina Monologues – Performance February 11th and 12th in Meacham Auditorium at 7pm

Working in the OU, Norman, and Oklahoma communities

· Walk for Women: March 8. The purpose of the Walk for Women is to unite several Oklahoma City metro area community members in an effort to advocate against global issues such as hunger, poverty, disease, access to safe water, environmental degradation, illiteracy, gender inequalities, etc. This event will be held on March 8, 2008 from 9 am to 12 pm at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond (around Broncho Lake) in honor of International Women’s Day
· Oklahoma Sustainability Conference: March 28-29 . This year’s theme is “Red Dirt, Green Culture — Growing Healthy Communities.” The 7th Annual Conference of the Oklahoma Sustainability Network is a continuation of excellence in education and networking, bringing together over 500 individuals from non-profit organizations, business, and family farms to learn and grow sustainably together.
· National Week of Student Action 2008 – It's that time of year again! National Week of Student Action (NWSA) 2008 is quickly approaching and we need YOUR help. Help us Shut Down Guantánamo by registering to participate in this year's NWSA (March 31- April 4, 2008). Join other student activists in demanding the closure of Guantánamo and release of prisoners unless they are to be charged and tried in accordance with international standards of fair trial.

Urgent Action Network
Presentation of latest UA
Letter writing Sunday, February 17th at 7:30pm at Sarah’s new house (816 Lahoma, just south of Brooks)

Added Items
There are many opportunities for us to get out into the community this semester - here are just a few we talked about at the end of the meeting.

• The Oklahoma WOW! (Work of Women) Network Program will give a presentation about the current conflict in Kenya on Thursday, February 28th at the World Neighbors Headquarters located at 4127 NW 122nd Street in Oklahoma City. For more information about this event and the Walk for Women on March 8, click here.
• Sarah Whitten talked to us about the Clinton Global Initiative.
• Katie Baker informed us of her idea for an awareness-raising project about poverty that we will find out more about at our next meeting.

Close Meeting
Next general meeting – February 24th

Officer meeting Thursday, Feb. 7th

Officer Reports

• Treasurer - Will is looking into the requirements for the UOSA budget, which is due soon. He will attend the UOSA budgetary meeting next week to find out more information.
• Urgent Action - Mady is finding out the necessary procedures for postage to mail our UA letters, and had the idea to send out the UA as an attachment to the email announcement of letter writing meetings so people can read & become familiar with it in advance
• Vice President - Ephraim is formulating a list of committees and will make sign up sheets
• President - the OU website has been updated with mostly correct information, and we now have access to our OU email account, but we need a web developer
• Secretary - Cindy suggested that we do an event related to poverty and we discussed the importance of making activists in the developed world understand the significance of social, economic, and cultural rights

Dr. Skeeters gave us information about the allocation of UOSA funds and suggested some ideas for next year's events, including putting together a panel discussion or inviting a speaker, having a banquet (an awareness raising "hunger banquet," perhaps)

We need to get a good idea of what events we're having next year so they can be included in our budget.

Letter Writing meeting February 3rd, 2008

We met at Ephraim's apartment and wrote letters for our latest Urgent Action, concerning the safety of human rights workers at a center in Coahuila, Mexico called "Fray Juan de Larios."

After we finished our letters, we watched the film "Invisible Children" and had some great discussion about it. Thanks so much to Audrey for bringing the movie and giving us background information on the film and about Students for Uganda.

Officer Meeting January 31, 2008

Officer Reports

Treasurer

• Will be working on putting together a “blue form” (UOSA accounting request form) policy
  
• Budget – need to find out deadline for 2008-2009 budget and requirements
  

Urgent Action

• Will send out email to inform everyone about Sunday’s meeting
  
• Purchase supplies (stamps, envelopes, etc) and make sure copies of letters are made
  

Vice President

Will be putting everyone into committees

• Urgent Action (Mady)
  
• Short Presentation (Ephraim)
  
• Groovefest (Will)
  
• Statewide conference (Sarah)
  
• The Vagina Monologues (Kylie)
  
• Membership (Sarah)
  
• Tshirt (Ephraim)
  
• Volunteer coordinating
  
• Camping (yes, really) (Will)
  

President

• Trying to get website going so we can have a calendar
  
• Dr. Skeeters might start coming to meetings
  
• Organizing, organizing…
  

Constitutional Convention – we should plan one, to work on our group’s constitution

Agenda for General Meeting January 27th

Introduction

Meet and Greet/Sign In

About Amnesty International

• History and significance of organization
  
  
• Our group new format for meetings (formal/informal meetings on alternating Sundays)
  
  

About us: As the OU chapter of Amnesty International, we are dedicated to promoting the impartial protection of human rights by

• providing opportunities for education and discussion to encourage awareness of human rights violations committed both internationally and domestically.
  
• meeting regularly to write letters and organize actions on behalf of victims of human rights violations.
  
• supporting organizations that improve the quality of life in our community.

Working in the OU, Norman, and Oklahoma communities

• Oklahoma Sustainability Conference: March 28-29
  
• Next week’s “Focus the Nation” on Global Warming
  
  

Short Presentation

Danny Terlip, president of Our Earth (OU’s Environmental Student Organization) will be talking about “Focus the Nation,” an effort to focus people's attention on global warming solutions through their own disciplines. Next week’s nationwide teach-in will include brown bag lunches as well as a round table discussion and webcast.

Old Business

• Last semester – Groovefest, John Perkins, Maze of Injustice
  
  

New Business

Scheduled Events

• Statewide Conference – February 16th from 10am-4pm in Willard Hall at OSU - Registration, Transportation


• The Vagina Monologues – Performance February 11 and 12
  Dress Rehearsal with talk back about the performance February 10th at 2pm at the Unitarian Church (1301 W. Boyd, just west of Berry), free to the public
  Sign-up sheet for selling tickets (two free tickets if you volunteer!)
  
• Groovefest - Spring edition
  
  
• Big Event – Saturday, April 5, 2008 – volunteer applications due Friday, February 29th

Urgent Action Network

• Presentation of latest UA
  
• Letter writing Sunday, February 3rd at 7:30pm at Traditions East

Added Items

Close Meeting
next general meeting Sunday, Feburary 10th at 6pm in the Frontier room of the Union