Calendar

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Meeting and elections this Sunday, Lots of Updates

Hey Everyone,

Our next meeting will be this Sunday, March 29th at 7pm in the Associates Room of the Union. We will be electing new officers for the 2009-2010 school year.

Elections
New officers will take over their roles effective immediately, so that we can make sure our transition to next year is a smooth one since many of our current officers are studying abroad next year. Whoever becomes the group coordinator can also apply for my job with Amnesty as an SAC (Student Activist Corps leader) for Oklahoma. Also remember that the officer positions are flexible and ultimately the group decides how responsibilities are distributed! If you want more info about positions, email okamnestyinternational@gmail.com.

Big Event
If you signed up to do Big Event 2009 this Saturday, don't forget that tomorrow (Thursday) is the last day to register in Beaird Lounge of the Union between 9:00am and 4:00pm. Bring your student ID! If you want to fill out the forms to speed up the registration process you can print them off at bigevent.ou.edu. On the day of the event, Cassie Ketrick from OU Web Communications will be coming along to make a video for OU's official youtube channel (www.youtube.com/universityofoklahoma). Email Chris Schroeder (schro87@ou.edu) if you have any questions about Big Event!

Don't Look Away: Violence Against Women and Human Rights in Oklahoma
The Women's and Gender Studies Program and the Xenia Institute are hosting a Panel Discussion on Thursday, April 2nd at 7pm in the Sandy Bell Gallery at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art. See the flier for more details.

Amnesty International Releases Report on Immigrant Rights
Amnesty International USA just released a report about detention of immigrants called "Jailed without Justice." The keynote speaker for our statewide conference, Rosa Clemente, recently became Amnesty International's campaign director for immigrant rights, and she will be talking about some of the things in this report at the conference. You can find more info on Amnesty's website here.

Statewide Conference
As you all know, we are hosting the Oklahoma Statewide Amnesty International Conference at Sarkey's Energy Center from 9am-4pm on Saturday, April 4th. The registration form is attached, please fill it out and send it back if you plan on attending, even if you are a volunteer. If you want to volunteer the day of the conference but you have not been assigned a task yet, just reply to this email - we have a few more things left to cover, especially on the day of the event.

Videos needed - Peace Not Prejudice Film Festival
The Muslim Student Association has invited us to participate in a "Peace not Prejudice" film festival. We need at least two volunteers to use handheld video cameras to film our statewide conference and interview a few people during our state conference, also so that we can send this documentation to our AIUSA field organizer, who will be unable to attend our conference because of a scheduled surgery. If the videos are good, we might be able to get them on OU's youtube channel as well. Let me know if you're interested in doing this - we have cameras you can use. If you want more info about this, email okamnestyinternational@gmail.com.

As always, call/text/email me if you have any questions.

See you soon!
Sarah

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Updates and Meetings this weekend

Hey everyone,

Thanks for all your work on getting information for our state conference. I know some of you have had trouble getting calls back from your contacts. Ultimately, if they don't call you back by Friday, don't worry about it, we can always go with what we already have.

In light of an city ordinance passed a few weeks ago that requires us to do a substantial amount of paperwork for Groovefest, we will have a Groovefest planning/Board meeting on Sunday, March 8th at 5:30 in the Associates Room of the Union, prior to our 7pm State Conference planning meeting in the same room. This is a lot of work so we will have food at this meeting (fruit, veggies, and pizza). Please try to make it to one if you can't stay for both.

We are making good progress following our timeline, thanks guys for all you do.

Sarah

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Reminders

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to remind you all of a couple of things - we need to have those phone calls made by Wednesday at the latest. I have attached the minutes from Sunday's meeting in case you need a reminder of what you signed up for.

For contacting food vendors - when you make contact, you should send an email to okamnestyinternational@gmail.com with
1. The name of the business/group you talked to, including the individual you talked to
2. Their contact info, and
3. What they said they would/could do (or not)

Remember to let them know that we would include their name/logo in all promotional materials for the event.

Also, there will be an event tonight that you should try to make it to if you can:

A Night for the Women of the Congo
TONIGHT, Tuesday 3/3
7-9 pm
Meacham Auditorium in the Union

After the presentation, documentary, and vigil, we will also have t-shirts and handmade bags made by Congolese survivors of rape for sale. The money raised goes directly back to the women of the DRC to aid in their recovery. T-shirts are $10 and bags are $20.

Come make a difference for the Women of the Congo. Hope to see you there!

Sunday, March 1, 2009

General Meeting March 1, 2009

Introduction
Meet and Greet/Sign In

Old Business
  • Valentine’s Day Fundraiser - We raised $166, see photos at www.flickr.com/photos/ouamnesty
  • Budget
  • Vagina Monologues – tabling

Elections
Set Election Dates for next year's officers (March 29th, 7pm)

Groovefest
“Human Rights Here and Now”
Sunday, April 26th, 2009 in Andrews Park (201 W. Daws)

State Meeting
Draft Workplan & sign up for tasks

Urgent Action Network
Sign Letters for UA cases
  • Weapons in Gaza
  • Women in the DRC
  • OPIM in Mexico

Added Items
Groovefest Vendor Prices


Close Meeting
Next meeting will be a State Conference Planning Meeting - Sunday, March 8th at 7pm, location TBA

Sunday, February 22, 2009

News and Updates - lots of events this week!

Hey everyone,

There are a lot of events coming up this week that I wanted to let you know about. First off, we will be having a Groovefest planning meeting today at 2pm in the Will Rogers room of the Union (next to the food court). Our next General Meeting will be Sunday, March 1st at 7pm - location TBA.

Creating for the Women of the DRC
For this week's V-day events, the Norman Women's Collective will be putting together an installation piece in the South Oval for the women of the DRC. They are meeting today at 5pm at 783 Debarr (aka "Universe City") to work on the project. "Please bring art supplies, glitter, all kinds of paper, fabric, boxes to make into cell phones and laptops, canned food cans, and creative ideas about creating the following: Bricks of "gold", "silver", and other "metals", diamonds and gemstones, flowing water, and lumber/timber."

The Vagina Monologues
The Women's Outreach Center will be hosting the 2009 edition of the Vagina Monologues at OU. We will be tabling at the Vagina Monologues this Monday and Tuesday (February 23rd and 24th) from 6-7pm in the hallway in front of Meacham Auditorium. We still need volunteers to sit at the tables and help get the supplies from my house to the events. It would also be great if someone could help writing Urgent Action letters on this issue. "Suggested donation of $5 with personal care item for Women's Resource Center or $7 without. The Vagina Monolgues will be preceded with a performance of "Still That Girl" by Ella Rhodes. V-Day, a non-profit corporation, distributes funds to grassroots, national and international organizations and programs that work to stop violence against women and girls. For more info visit www.vday.org"

Women's Studies Activist-in-Residence
This week Igballe Rogova, the Executive Director of Kosova Women's Network, will be visiting OU as the Women's Studies Activist in Residence. The Women's Studies department is hosting a series of events around her visit:
Wednesday, February 25th 7pm-9pm: "Calling the Ghosts" Film, a story about Rape, War, and Women in the Balkans. This event will be held in the Women's Studies lounge in the Physical Sciences center 530.
Thursday, February 26th 10:30am-12pm: Symposium lecture "Europe's Newest State: Women's Organizations, Democratization, & the Politics of Peace in Kosovo" OMU Scholars Room
Thursday, February 26th 2pm-3:30pm: Workshop with Rogova "From One Activist to Another: learning lessons from activism around the world" OMU Weitzenhoffer Room
Thursday, February 26th 5pm-7pm: Reception Honoring Igballe Rogova - Recognition of Igballe Rogova as the WS Activist-in-Residence 2009 OMU David L. Boren Lounge
Friday, February 27th 9am-11am: Breakfast with Rogova - a personal breakfast with an international women's rights activist. Women's Studies Lounge, Physical Sciences Center 530.

"Intelligence and Torture" Panel Discussion
The Center for Middle East Studies & International Programs will present a panel discussion, "Intelligence and Torture" with Staff Sergeant Eric Maddox, author of "Mission: Blacklist # 1" and panelists Dr. David Edger and Dr. Christopher Howard. The panel discussion is open to the public and will be held on Thursday, February 26, 2009 from 4:30pm - 5:30pm in the Gaylord College of Journalism library. "Join us in an open discussion with Staff Sergeant Maddox about his key role in the capture of Saddam Hussein and the controversy between violent and non-violent interrogation methods." The panel will be moderated by Dr. John Fishel.



Thanks guys and see you soon! As always, call/email if you have any questions

Sarah

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

News and Updates

Hey everybody,

We've got a lot going on so here's the latest:

Groovefest Theme and Call for Artists
We will be having a brief meeting tomorrow (Thursday February 12th) at 7pm in the Sooner Room of the Union to vote on the theme for Groovefest and finalize our call for artists so that we can start publicizing that this weekend and get those fliers out ASAP.

COSO (Council of Student Organizations) Meeting
Anyone interested in taking on a leadership role in Amnesty next year should try to attend the COSO meeting tomorrow from 5-7pm in the Associates and Regents Room of the Union. It is mandatory for student organizations who want funding from UOSA (which is our main source of funds!). They will be talking about the budget process for getting funding from the school, among other important logistical things.

Valentine's Day Fundraiser
Thanks to everyone who has volunteered to help with this fundraiser, it looks like it's going to be great! We will start setting up at 11am so if you want to be part of the set up crew show up then and I might even make you breakfast. Anyone bringing things to sell should try to arrive between 1 and 1:30 so we can have all the tables set up by 2. If anyone has extra folding tables or tablecloths and could lend them for the day, we could use a few more. We have some craft supplies for DIY valentines but if anyone has extra glue/paint/paper etc and would like to donate we could use more of that as well.

High School Visits
We got a last minute invitation to give a presentation at Norman High School today. Will and I talked to a group of about 25 students about Amnesty and invited them to come to our events and start a chapter of their own if they're interested. A couple of students from the Young Democrats and Global Awareness clubs asked if we would be willing to also give presentations to their groups, which usually meet on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. If anyone is interesed in coordinating these visits let me know.

As always, email/call/text me if you have any questions.

Sarah

Saturday, February 7, 2009

buttonmaking and flier posting today

Hey everyone,

Sorry I forgot to send this earlier - the warm weather must have gone straight to my head. For anyone who hasn't gotten it through the grapevine, we will be meeting today at 2pm at my house (816 S. Lahoma Ave) to make buttons and post fliers for our Valentine's Day fundraiser. Thanks to Danny & Our Earth for lending the buttonmaker. Bring any art supplies you want to use for buttons and tape or tacks if you can.

If you can't make it at that time but still want to put some fliers up or make buttons, we might do another round on Sunday. Just call/text/email/facebook me if you want to pick up fliers or make buttons on Sunday.

More updates soon.

Sarah

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

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

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Groovefest Vendors

Okay, guys,

I have been working hard to get stuff ready so we can get lots of vendors this year at Groovefest. When I went through the pile of papers we got from the Groovefest committee, I found contact information for 15 former vendors and 11 non-profit groups. I also looked up contact info for many non-profit advocacy groups at OU and added them to the list.

I will post the list to the Blog so that everyone can look at it and add to it if they come up with more ideas. We probably have enough in the way of non-profits, but we could definitely use some more vendors and artists, especially since we probably won't be able to convince every person we contact, even if they have come in the past.

Should we just charge one price for all vendors, regardless of whether they are selling artwork or “crafts”? It seems there is a fuzzy line between the two – last year they charged a henna artist/palm reader the artist price and charged a guy who made tie-dyed tee shirts the vendor price. Maybe one price for food sales and one price for everything else? Non-profits should still be free, of course.

I am going to need help contacting these people, I think. What do you guys think we should do: send emails, call, go in person? All three? For anyone who wants to help, I would write up an example schpiel that you could use when calling people.

There is a scrap of paper that says "Noise Ordinance". Do we need one of these, or any other permits for selling things or having music?

Could we ourselves sell things at Groovefest if we are already selling the t-shirts? We could raise money to help cover the Flobots that way. Maybe food, etc?

Anyway, it's stuff to think about. See you guys later!
Katie B.