JHR Minutes #23

Wednesday, October 31, 2007 @ Smith 311

Present: Diana Archambault; Nari Corley-Wheeler; Jacob Galfano; Janice Goh; Todd Price; Anthony Shelley

Speak Silence!: With completion of The Liaison, the group shifted the initial focus of the meeting to continue organizing for JHR’s fundraiser, Speak Silence!. It achieved consensus that its original date – November 2 – is unfeasible, and decided to hold the event on Friday, November 16.

Nari proposed holding the event indoors (weather friendly), and Jacob added that if it is held in the HUB, the group may receive funding to help with the event. Nari will inquire about reservations and stipulations of this possibility. If the event is to be held indoors, Diana and Nari proposed the idea of creating an exhibit that students can walk through and interact with. Nari added that this can be tied into the themes of The Liaison. Diana and Nari will create a PowerPoint slide show, and Janice will find photography.

Janice suggested complementing this event with blank spaces around campus and the city for people to write freely about media and human rights. If this is done, it may be interesting to compile these thoughts and contributions in some way presentable to the public!

The group also agreed on holding a silent auction during this phase of the fundraiser, and will approach businesses on The Ave for donations. Nari will create a letter to address to these businesses, and the group also needs a letter to use during the vow of silence itself.

Diana added the idea to create incentive for donations by publishing “thank yous” to donors in the next issue of The Liaison. A raffle was also proposed to entice more people to participate.

For the “breaking the silence” phase, the group is still looking at an event at Café Solstice. Todd has friends who might drum, and Janice proposed a host/emcee in her friend Imtiaz.

To publicize and raise funds, the group talked about creating fliers and posters (Anthony is on this), a facebook event and cause (Diana), emailing folks in our respective address books using JHR’s website (Nari is researching this), and promoting the event in The Daily.

Tabling: JHR will table Tuesday and Wednesday over the next two weeks (11/6, 11/7, 11/13, 11/14) leading up to Speak Silence!, as well as to promote The Liaison, the upcoming FCC hearings, and other potential events. Jacob will have literature ready to go, and we need volunteers to help out! Please contact j4hr@u.washington.edu if you are interested.

Finance: To augment the potential to raise money with Speak Silence!, JHR is also registering at UW Bothell to reach out to satellite campuses as well as tap into the human resource-rich Human Rights minor pool of students. The Liaison is already distributed at Bothell. Jacob has started this process.

ASU funds will help with Speak Silence!, as well (Diana is looking into this). Janice also suggested looking into applying for the Mary Gates Scholarship next quarter to help fund projects.

Collectively, the funds we raise will go to:

- JHR UW Banner

- Paper for printing posters, fliers, The Liaison, etc.

- The ad in The Daily

- Reimbursements for members

- Internship program and Chapter Summit in Toronto

Newsletter: The Liaison has been printed and distributed across the U-District and into surrounding communities. The group wants to continue distribution, and has suggested more possible sites (Capital Hill, SAO mailboxes) along with the usual suspects.

Keep in mind, a pdf version is available on our websites:

students.washington.edu/j4hr

projects.takingitglobal.org/JHR-washington

Reflection on Chapter Structure: Join us next week for a very important discussion about JHR UW’s organizational structure. As we’ve already started informal dialog about the challenges and successes of different strategies, we hope to include as many members as possible to help strengthen the chapter’s sustainability.

Media Literacy Workshop: Jacob, Nari, and Janice will meet with representatives of The Common Language Project next week to discuss logistics of a workshop at UW (to be held in the next couple of weeks). Once these details are confirmed, the group will move to promote the event across the campus.

Practice your interview skills!: JHR has set up an interview with the executive director of the Seattle Debate Foundation. This will be held on Monday, November 5 at 10 am, and Janice has expressed interest in participating in this wonderful opportunity. Keep your eyes open for more opportunities to practice interviewing!

Next Meeting: Join us next Wednesday, November 7th at 6:00 pm in Smith 311, where we will continue our chapter’s Speak Silence campaign and talk about the future!

Tentative Agenda for Meeting #24:

- Speak Silence! (see above)

- Reflection meeting details/Deeper editing/Presentation feedback

- CLP Workshop details

- Ethan Casey/Steve Bezruchka events

- 12/10: International Human Rights Day

Announcements: Some exciting media and human rights events are happening in the Seattle area in the upcoming weeks!

Official FCC Hearing on Media Ownership: In November, Seattle will host a formal FCC hearing regarding media ownership and access. These topics include issues of cross-ownership of media outlets, network neutrality, and fair representation. The public is encouraged to attend and testify about why these issues are important, as commissioners are obligated to stay as long as testimony lasts.

The date is still un-announced, but a series of workshops are being held to help the public strengthen their testimonies.

Visit www.reclaimthemedia.org for more information!

Dahr Jamail: A leading independent journalist, Jamail will speak at Kane Hall on Saturday, November 3, at 7 pm. The title of his talk is Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches from an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq.

Contact for Information:

Phone: 206 406 4238

Email: seattleiso@yahoo.com

Web: www.nwsocialist.org