Attending: Lu
Stand, Mike Mulvaney, Judy Collins Cumbee, Ralp Banks, Javed Khan, and Terri
Albrecht-Schmitt
Minutes taken
and submitted by Terri Albrecht-Schmitt.
1) APJ signed onto a letter that was
composed by Arise that was sent to Senator Shelby. We used our new executive committee members for immediate
approval of this before the meeting.
Judy expressed that the committee was useful to better address immediate
concerns, such as this as they come up instead of waiting on a majority of
folks to respond. (Efficiency is
good.)
2) Judy encourages individual signatures
of the Gaza ceasefire. See JudyÕs
previous e-mail entitled ÒGaza Cease-fire Now!Ó.
3) Javed reported that our website (www.peaceeagle.org) allows us to have a group e-mail
account for contact purposes. We
could have one or perhaps each officer has one. We will address this again at next monthÕs meeting.
4) Judy asked for a member to call
representatives to tell them that APJ strongly supports HB 308 for a
Constitutional Convention. (Terri
Agreed.) She also encouraged
individuals to call or e-mail reps.
FYI: I spoke with reps Martin and
Sherer. I left messages for Davis and Moore with a staff person and
recorded messages for Love, Bandy, and Canfield. The rest I did not
get to. The bill passed 9 Ð
4. In 2010 we will have a chance
to vote IF THE BILL PASSES ON THE HOUSE FLOOR AND SENATE FLOOR---more steps
to go
5) Judy reminded those present that
Jubilee is going on March 7 & 8th in Selma, AL. It is remembering Bloody Sunday and celebrating enactment of
the National Voting Rights Act, but addressing current issues also as with
workshop on Immigration,etc.
6) Judy suggests that APJ buys an ad in
the O-A News, maybe other papers, showing the cost of war based on tax dollars
and referencing our first ad in 2003. This ad would be placed before April 15th,
if approved. She will find out
about ad cost and report back [I thought someone in Auburn was going to
check on this since it is long distance for me??
7) Judy suggested some folks, APJ, student
groups, etc may want to participate in Winter Soldier Hearings (March 13 Ð15th). This event is organized by Iraq Veterans
Against the War. Please see below
for more info.http://ivaw.org/wintersoldier
If you do
participate, please share your thoughts at AprilÕs meeting!
8) Alabama Arise is planning on a public
showing of ÒSickoÓ, film by Michael Moore. Stay tuned!
9) Lu brought up about a new web Peace
alliance for AL and MS. We said
yes we are willing to discuss project details with them and participate. Mike will tell Andrew Lieman our
response.
10) Javed suggests that we have a place on
our website for the actions that we participate in e.g. the letter that we
signed for Arise. He will create
this spot so that others can see more of what we have done. (Thanks, Javed!)
11) Ralph, Judy, and Jim Allen went to Alabama
AriseÕs Lobby Day. Ralph is
considering writing up his experience on Lobby Day. (Go! Ralph Go!)
12 Judy brought up the Second Chance Act
of 2007. This act gives people who
have been incarcerated a 2nd chance Ð a chance to start again with
some support to try to reduce their likelihood of repeating another crime. We agreed to sign a letter to Bradley
Hayes, a staff member of Jeff Sessions, who seems to be the person holding up
this act (Session, not Hayes).
Mike will send the letter.
(Thanks, Mike.)
13) Judy brought up the arrests of SDS
members (Students for a Democratic Society). Please see her previous e-mail about this. We will discuss at AprilÕs
meeting.
14) Mike gave us a campus update. A) Auburn Action Network is a
nonaffiliated AU student alliance that keeps different groups connected on
issues such as justice issues. We
are encouraged to participate in their events. (You must have a facebook account in order to look them
up.) B) ASAP is a student
environmental group on campus, primarily concerned about global warming. C) Student Action Network is the group
that Mike and Chris and others have been trying to get official university
recognition for their group. They
are primarily a peace group. They
were denied affiliation at an undisclosed meeting
15) Terri wants everyone to be aware of a
great event coming up on Saturday, April 5th. GrOw GREEN at the Forest Ecology
Preserve 9 am Ð 3 pm.
Sustainability speakers, vendors, services, lots of childrenÕs
activities and more!!!
16) Lu wants us to think about if we want
to get business cards to pass out at events.
17) 5th Anniversary of the
Invasion of Iraq-
March 19, 5:00-6:00 p.m. -- ToomersÕ Corner,
Magnolia & College Streets, Auburn
Participate in the Alliance for Peace and
JusticeÕs Public Witness to:
Support our
troops by bringing them home,
Commemorate
all the direct losses of this war, both U.S and Iraqi,
Call for
converting funds for wars abroad to meeting escalating human needs at home.
6:15-7:00 p. m. --Auburn Unitarian Universalist
Fellowship (AUUF), 450 E Thach
Covered
dish supperÑBring friends and also food to share (Beverage provided)
7:00-9:00 p.m.ÑAUUF--See and discuss NO END IN
SIGHT, nominated for AcademyÕs Best
Documentary Film
Jim made a PDF
of film, please see a previous e-mail.
Lu will contact Auburn Villager, Place Coalition, and AU Dems.
Mike made the
above press release. Javed will
contact (did) contact the Ministerial Association and request that the info go
into their church bulletins.
Mike will
contact Brittany Branyon of the O-A News, APR, and college Libertarians.
Terri
suggested that APJ folks write letter to the editor about the war and mention
the event too. Terri will contact
Ashley Hopkinson of The Plainsman.
Judy will
contact Rob about ÒEyes Wide OpenÓ.