Minutes for October 12, 2004 Meeting

Present: Zae, Paul, Lee, Pam, Peter, Rey, Glenda Rae

Old business

  1. October 29th gathering plans and flyer -- Lee brought up the plans for a proposed rally on Saturday afternoon, October 30, and asked the coalition to endorse it and combine our vigil with this rally. The location is not yet set, but folks are trying to get permission for the green space in front of Morris Civic Auditorium. At least 7 groups had planned separate "Get out the vote" events for that weekend, including union locals and the black community. There will be a meeting on Friday, October 15, 4 P.M., at the Building Trades Council, 1345 Northside Blvd in South Bend, to plan the October 30th "Get Out the Vote" coordinated rally. Lee and Paul will represent us at that meeting. Anyone else who can make it is welcome. We decided to endorse the Saturday rally provided that we are allowed a speaker to present our peace and anti-war perspective. Cathy Liggett will be asked to speak for us. We also decided to keep our own vigil at 6:30pm on Friday, October 29th, near the corner of Colfax and St. Joseph, in front of Morris Civic. We felt that we could get out publicity earlier and target the vigil to the peace and justice community. We will encourage folks who come on Friday to return for the afternoon rally on Saturday. Lee also mentioned that there will be an effort to get people to the polls in Elkhart in the morning of October 23rd, and in South Bend on the morning of October 30. Contact Democratic headquarters for more information or to volunteer to help.

    We passed around for corrections a copy of the vigil flyer which Peter had prepared and Paul had adjusted. We decided to make our “Stop the War” message very clear and insert the address of the vigil location. Paul will modify the flyer and sent an electronic copy to those at the meeting who have email. Peter will make some copies and leave them in a box on his porch on Wednesday.

  2. Providing high school students with info on alternatives  to military service -- Paul met with Zae's daughter and is willing to meet with a group of her friends to discuss issues surrounding military service, such as the economic draft and pressures from military recruiters. He will follow up on this.

       

  3. Promulgation of the Open Letter to Candidates – We decided to put this letter on the back of the vigil flyer for distribution before the election. Everyone was encouraged to use it as a position paper for the coalition.

New Business

  1. Make signs urging folks to vote on Nov 2 for the weekly vigil and Oct 29th gathering. -- Ron will take care of making the signs and bringing them to the Monday vigils. This suggestion came from a passer-by at last Monday's vigil. While it seems hard to believe that folks don't know how important it is to vote on Nov 2, it doesn't hurt to remind them.

  2. Endorse and attend Run against Bush events?  Publicize on website? -- "Run Against Bush" is a national effort sponsored by "Running for Change," www.runagainstbush.org. People gather at 9A.M. a block down the East Race trail from St. Joe High School on Saturdays, and 6P.M. at the Football Hall of Fame on Wednesdays, wearing Run Against Bush T-shirts, and either run or walk together for 30-45 minutes. All are welcome. The T-shirts are $25, but you don't need one to participate. The coalition decided to endorse this effort and publicize it on the website.

  3. New list serv will not accept MS Word attachments -- Kevin, the list-serv coordinator, said that no list serv supported by Notre Dame allows attachments. Lee pointed out that most of the left-wing list-servs he is aware of have this restriction since they have been attacked by right-wing hackers. Kevin suggested including the attachment info in the body of the message or, if that would destroy the formatting, post it on the website for folks to access. Please send me any documents you want posted to psmith@saintmarys.edu.

  4. After-the-election plans -- We thought we would either celebrate or drown our sorrows. No matter who wins, the war will go on and we will still be on the corner on Mondays. Other than that, no one could think past the elections.

  5. Announcements -- Vice President Cheney will stay overnight in South Bend at the Marriott on Thursday, the 14th, prior to his swing through southwest Michigan. He will arrive around 6pm on Thursday, and leave about 7am on Friday. We thought at the meeting that he would be arriving at 6am on Thursday and decided not to try to plan anything as all are busy working on the elections.

  6. Other business -- none was proposed.

  7. Next Meeting -- We decided to meet at 7pm on November 9th at 1036 N. Niles Ave.