Old business
1. Approval of Minutes for January 3: The minutes
were approved as written.
2. Progress Reports
a. Martin Luther King Day Events(Peter):
Lois had a table from 8 to 4 and talked to lots of people about counterrecruitment.
Five of us marched with the MPJC banner and the Vets for Peace banner in the
noon walk from City-County building to Century Center.
b. MPJC statement on Lebanon/Gaza ( Lee, Caroline): We have not heard back from Neve (Caroline contacted him) or Sis ( Lois contacted her) in answer to our outline of response to this situation. We asked them to suggest ways to resolve the conflict. We decided to drop this effort as the crisis is past.
c. CLAP project (Carol): Carol has lost contact with CLAP, although Caroline and Lee are in touch with the effort to improve worker conditions and pay at Notre Dame. They will inform us when action is needed. We decided to drop this topic until that point.
d. Meeting with Donnelly (Caroline): We arranged a half-hour meeting with Donnelly on Saturday, February 10, at 10am. So far, Caroline, Justin, Lois, Damian, and Iris have agreed to go. Caroline will contact Kathy. It is possible that Pam will be contacting Caroline as well. We agreed to discuss the Iraq war, Iran, health care, the Employee Free Choice Act, immigration, and, if time, the environment in that order. Peter modified the list of questions for candidates to reflect thses issues. We will thank Donnelly for cosponsoring the Employee Free Choice act and ask him to support HR 606 (the Conyers national health care bill) and also the Iraq War Deescalation Act.
e. MPJC Statement on Withdrawal from Iraq (Lee): Lee was not able to attend the meeting. We noted that MPJC already has a strong statement on immediate withdrawal and those at the meeting did not see a need to modify it. We should bring our statement to the Saturday meeting to give to Donnelly. We will drop this topic unless someone reactivates it.
f. IPJN report (Lee): Lee emailed information about the Midwest Peace and Justice Summit. It will be held April 13-14 in Indianapolis, and the organizers are looking for folks to do 90 minute workshops. If you are interested, email Peter or Lee and they will email information and an application form.
g. UFPJ Jan 27 rally events (Peter): We had over 30 folks brave the cold to vigil at Grape and Cleveland in solidarity with the hundreds of thousands who marched in DC. CPNV mobilized their members to come out. There was also a candlelight vigil on January 11 in response to Bush's announcement of the troop surge and also in commemoration of five years of torture at Guantanamo. More than 150 folks attended. It was sponsored by CPNV and the Catholic Peace Fellowship. There was only 48 hour preparation time. Besides holding signs along the road, we read the names of the Indiana war dead.
3. Treasurer's Report: We have $512.86 in the bank and
received a $5.00 donation at the meeting. Glenda Rae will write a check to
Peter for $14 to cover the new registry of our domain name.
1. Future of the Working Families Coalition: There were some meetings after the union rally but then everyone got busy with the elections. There has been no work done on this issue since the election.
2. Door-to-door Leafletting Campaign (Caroline): Caroline has been out of touch with the person creating the leaflet to pass out. She will contact us by email when progress has been made.
3. Appoint new Press Contacts (Peter): The press has been calling us recently. Peter is willing to be available as a press contact and Caroline is willing to be a backup contact. We will call Lois to see if she is willing to serve as she is more likely to be home during the day and is very articulate.
4. Topic of the Month: We decided that Caroline would post the results of the meeting with Donnelly and we could have a discussion on the listserve how best to respond to his positions on our issues.
5. Other topics and issues: On Tuesday, February 13, there will be a free concert by Peggy Siegert. Contact Rey for more information. UFPJ is pushing an Occupation Project - a nonviolent campaign to sit in at congressional representative offices. During the week of February 19th the representatives should be in their districts. Perhaps we can discuss this at the next meeting. Tax Day is April 16. After some discussion of the efficacy of leafletting in this age of electronic submission, we decided to leaflet and hold signs at the post office. It is possible we may shorten the stopping time from midnight to 10pm.
6. Next meeting: Wednesday, March 14, at 1036 N. Niles Ave.