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Tuesday, April 15, 2003 |
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"If patriotism in the best sense (not in the monarchical sense) is loyalty to the principles of democracy, then who was the true patriot, Theodore Roosevelt, who applauded a massacre by American soldiers of 600 Filipino men, women and children on a remote Philippine island, or Mark Twain, who denounced it?"
- - Howard Zinn
APRIL 15 IN HISTORY:
1967 -- US: First mass burning of draft cards as 400,000 march in New York City & 80,000 in San Francisco opposing the Vietnam War. Culmination of April 10-15th Vietnam Week featuring draft card burnings & turn-ins & anti-draft recruiter demonstrations all over the country. In NY speakers include Martin Luther King, Jr., Floyd McKissick, Stokely Carmichael, Benjamin Spock.
http://www.webcom.com/peaceact/history.html
RHINO HERE:
A group of students from Santa Cruz High School, located 50 or so miles down the shoreline South of San Francisco, have lobbied their local School Board to pass a resolution resisting certain provisions of the 2001 federal education bill known as The No Child Left Behind Act.
In particular, they don't want their class lists with addresses & phone numbers passed to the military, or those pesky telemarketers either, without their approval. Their educational & lobbying effort convinced the town elders & a resolution was passed. The students coordinated all aspects of the campaign including writing the Press Release which for today is THE BOTTOM LINE. They're now reaching out through the anti-war blog network & via veteran anti-war groups to encourage students, parents, teachers & school boards to take similar actions. Rhino says, "That's what democracy looks like."
Tax Day 2003 (for fiscal year 02)
Another year our representatives in Washington allowed corporate welfare to run rampant.
How much of that $75,000,000 war chest will be paid by Halliburton et al?
And how much by American families?
http://www.thebermudaproject.com
A Kinder, Gentler Patriotism
Howard Zinn , professor emeritus at Boston University & author of the historical/cultural classic,
The People's History of the United States (available in audio book, read by Matt Damon) asks a number of on-point questions in an article from New York Newsday (http://www.newsday.com/). Questions such as:
— Do we want to be feared for our military might or respected for our dedication to human rights?
— If national boundaries should not be obstacles to trade - we call it globalization - should they also not be obstacles to compassion and generosity?
— Should we not begin to consider all children, everywhere, as our own?
http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-vpzin133217156apr13.story
7:31:50 AM 
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SANTA CRUZ, CA, STUDENTS GO NATIONAL
WITH CAMPAIGN FOR PRIVACY AND TRUTH IN MILITARY RECRUITMENT For IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Josh Sonnenfeld, student spokesperson, 831-459-8466
Malcolm Terence, faculty adviser, 831-3942
Bob Fitch, Resource Center for Nonviolence, 831-423-1626, ext. 102
Tim Willis, Santa Cruz School Board, 426-6468
Cece Pinheiro, Santa Cruz School Board, 465-8327
For additional Information:
YAC: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/militaryrecruitment/links
RCNV: http://www.rcnv.org/rcnv/archives/2003/sccounterrecruit.htm
Student activists, encouraged by the unanimous support of the Santa Cruz school board, are urging other students and school boards throughout the country to protect student privacy and honesty in the military recruitment process. Two weeks ago the Santa Cruz Board passed a resolution that resisted, at least in part, provisions of the 2001 federal education bill which require every high school to give the names, addresses and phone numbers to military recruiters. The education bill is often called the No Child Left Behind Act.
Josh Sonnenfeld, spokesman for Youth Alliance (YA) at Santa Cruz High , which brought the proposal to the school board, said he has had a dozen inquiries from all over California and across the country since the school district decision. Now, Sonnenfeld says, students want the privacy and truth initiative to spread across the country. He urged them to reach Santa Cruz student activists at: yacsantacruz@yahoo.com
.
He said students would use the long reach of anti-war groups on the Internet as well as older anti-war networks to invite students, parents, teachers and school boards to take similar actions. Sonnenfeld also said students hope to continue work with the Santa Cruz district and added, "We understand the lack of time, yet seek to protect students as much as possible. We suggest that bi-lingual opt-in cards are sent out immediately. In accordance with the law, there should be a date that the families must return the card by or the information will not be sent out."
The Santa Cruz resolution stated: "military recruiters have been known to mislead young recruits about assignments they will have in the service, the training they will receive for future employment and the Constitutionally protected rights that they forfeit by entering the military." The law allows parents to protect the privacy of their students and one thrust of the Santa Cruz resolution did that with what is called an "opt-in" notification. The district will notify parents and they will be given opportunity to say whether their children's names can be shared. Names from non-responding families would not be shared under the resolution.
The resolution also asks that every high school student be informed every year about "their rights to privacy and information about the practices of military recruiters and student alternatives to military service." District administrators announced at the start of the discussion that the district lawyer said the Opt-in approach was illegal and that it might cost the district federal education funds. Student organizers and supporters of the resolution presented two opposite legal opinions, one from the San Francisco ACLU, stating that the approach was legal.
Tim Willis, chairman of the Santa Cruz board, echoed the students' campaign to spread the measure to other districts, saying, "I'd urge other districts to adopt the opt-in as opposed to the opt-out. I'm generally opposed to anything being automatic -- names being released to tele-marketers, corporations, military, even colleges. It should be an individual's choice, especially today in this era of dwindling privacy. Shouldn't we own the copyright of our names?"
Willis said public reaction to the board resolution via phone, e-mail and messages had been running 4:1 in favor of the opt-in policy. Cece Pinheiro, another school board member and one who worked closely with students in the formation of the proposal, said she was communicating with trustees on neighboring districts so they would consider the Santa Cruz approach.
Ms. Pinheiro said the key to resolution's success was the participation of students and their collaboration with faculty, board members and the local Resource Center for Nonviolence. She saluted the students for marshalling strong support at successive board meetings and for not getting discouraged at the pace of the process. "I really loved that the process of democracy worked. It is a bright glimmer of hope," Ms. Pinheiro said.
Submitted to Rhino's Blog by Malcolm Terence
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All copyrights belong to original publisher.
7:22:51 AM
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© Copyright 2005 Gary Rhine.
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