Report on the May NAWC Meeting

Dear friends,

The May planning meeting of the Northland Anti-War Coalition was held this afternoon at the Chester Creek Cafe. Below is a summary of what happened for those who were unable to attend.

-Attendance: Laura, Michelle, David, Ron, Sharla, Bob, John & Adam

1. Report on Last Month's Activities: NAWC tabled at a series of events, from the Free Democracy Summitt to Earth Fest. We got a number of new names on our mailing list, hunreds of signatures on our petition to Oberstar and distributed a fair number of our new one sheet flier on Duluth's share of the cost of the Iraq war. NAWC also organized a referendum on the Iraq war at Northland College, which was held on May 2. The vote was 115 to 10 opposed to the war, a huge success for us. This was followed up by a march and rally in Ashland that was held on May 5 that drew about 30 people, despite rainy weather. The biggest event though of this past month was the week long Hungry for Peace fast that was organized by our campus affiliates, UMD Students for Peace and CSS Amnesty International. Each day of the fast there was a camp out, and at least two forums or other events. Most forums drew at least a couple of dozen folks. The whole thing culminated in a rally at the Duluth Civic Center on May 4, which 60 people attended. At the end of this rally we delivered all of our petition signatures to Congressman Oberstar's office.

2. UFPJ National Assembly: United for Peace and Justice, a national peace coalition that NAWC is affiliated to, is holding a national assembly in Chicago on June 22-24. NAWC is entitled to 2 voting delegates, plus an unlimited number of observers. We voted to send delegates to this event. Documents from UFPJ that will be discussed and voted on at this assembly have been sent over this list. We'll be discussing them, along with any proposals that folks want NAWC to make at this event at our June 10 planning meeting.

3. Strike for Peace: There is a growing national effort coming together to hold a "Strike for Peace" on Sept. 21 [and that would perhaps happen on a monthly basis after that] in which folks would be asked to stay home from work, much like the succesfuly May 1 Immigrant Rights strikes of the last two years, and instead attend a rally or in some other way participate. It was voted for NAWC to make this upcoming event our main project for the summer and fall. For more info see generalstrikeforpeace.org

4. Summer Plans: A suggestion was tenatively made that we hold a monthly forum series, like we did last summer, but it was decided to focus instead on the Strike for Peace project, outlined above. David also mentioned that there will be an upcoming event in August to commemorate Hiroshima Day. He agreed to keep NAWC posted.

5. Other Things: Sharla talked about her run for Duluth city council, and offered to distribue some peace literature. Ron presented a proposal he is promoting for the Duluth School Board called the "Green Plan". Contact either of them for more info on their projects.

NEXT MEETING: Our next meeting will be on Sunday, June 10 at 2pm at the Chester Creek Cafe in Duluth [1902 E. 8th St.].

"Red"ily yours,


Adam Ritscher
Northland Anti-War Coalition
http://northlandantiwar.blogspot.com
P.O. Box 16853, Duluth MN 55816

Northland College Votes Against the War!

Students at Northland College went to the polls on Wednesday, May 2, to vote on a campus referendum on the Iraq war. The question on the ballot was a simple one, "Do you support the current war in Iraq?" Of the 123 students who voted, only 18 voted "yes", while 105 voted "no" - a resounding anti-war vote.

Northland College has now joined the ranks of a growning number of campuses around the country that have held similar referendums, and gotten an anti-war answer.

The referendum was held in the Northland College Ponzio Student Center, and students had the whole day to vote. According to Julia DeFranco, a Northland student and volunteer poll watcher, the whole process "went smoothly".

The Northland College Student Association sponsored the referendum. It was held to gage the campus community's views on this important topic. With more and more Americans passionately debating the pros and cons of the war, organizers wanted to give students a chance to add their voices to the debate.

While the ballots used in the referendum were a simple "yes" or "no" ballot, space was also provided for voters to write comments. Typical of the comments written were the following:

"I don't support President Bush's indecisiveness and lack of responsibility, but I support completely our troops" and "It is a war that involves a complicated history of which our Presient does not have enough understanding. It is a war that cannot be won!"

This referendum comes at the same time as students on other area campuses are also organizing against the war. All this week, for example, students at the College of St. Scholastica and the University of Minnesota-Duluth are holding a week long fast for peace.

And here in Ashland, students and other activists are planning on following up the anti-war vote with a march and rally that'll be held this Saturday, May 5. The protest is being held to celebrate the vote, and to call on Bush to withdraw the troops from Iraq now. The assembly point for the march is the parking lot of the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute. From there protesters will leave at 3pm for a march to the Band Shell, where there'll be a 4pm rally with speakers, music, poetry and more. This Saturday's protest is sponsored by the Northland Anti-War Coalition.

For more info on the referendum, or on this Saturday's protest, you can contact Reena Patel at patelr01@northland.edu