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.