Upcoming schedule and Human Rights events this week

Hey everyone,

This email is to catch you up on a couple of things. First, for anyone who is interested in participating in visits to local high schools to invite them to get involved in Amnesty and Groovefest, we are having a meeting tomorrow (Tuesday) night at 8:30pm in the Bookmark cafe, located in the basement of Bizzell Library, to plan what we want to present and who we can get in contact with. If any of you have recommendations for teachers or administrators at Oklahoma high schools we should contact, please pass their names along.

New Updates on Calendar
At the last meeting we set a tentative schedule for the rest of the semester. It is posted on the calendar on our blog (ouamnesty.blogspot.com). Since we will be doing a lot of fundraising and preparation leading up to our two big events in April, we will probably be meeting frequently and irregularly so check back often to stay in the loop.

Also, there are several events happening on campus this week related to human rights.

Gaza: A Panel Discussion
Tuesday, February 3, from 4:00-5:30 in Meacham Auditorium, the Sooners for Peace in Palestine, Hillel, and Muslim Student Association will host a panel discussion on recent events in Gaza. Panelists include Dr. Norman Stillman, Dr. Maurice Roumani, Dr. Joshua Landis, and Dr. Husam Mohamad.

Norman Human Rights Commission "Inclusive Community Discussion"
The University of Oklahoma, Norman Human Rights Commission, City of Norman and Norman Chamber of Commerce are hosting an "Inclusive Community Discussion" at 6:30pm in the Oklahoma Memorial Union (the advertisement did not specify a room but it should be on the Union schedule posted in the hallways). They have specifically invited OU students to attend this discussion.

"What we hope to provide again at this second Inclusive Community Discussion is a safe and respectful place for people to discuss whether we are a community that is genuinely open to the participation and opinions of all of our residents," said Mayor Cindy Rosenthal, who is also a member of the OU faculty. Some of the issues to be discussed are public safety, transportation, housing, employment, and the business and shopping environment. "A central goal is to identify those areas where we can make Norman a more welcoming community."

Urgent Action Network
We received another Urgent Action today about a prominent human rights lawyer in China who is being held incommunicado in an unknown location. You can read the printable version of the report here:

http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa02409.pdf


You'll get another email soon about Groovefest, State Conference updates, and our Valentine's Day fundraiser.

As always, call me if you have any questions/concerns or if you want something to do!

See you soon,
Sarah