JHR Minutes #24

Wednesday, November 14th, 2007 @ Smith 311/Janice’s Place

Present: Nari Corley-Wheeler; Jacob Galfano; Janice Goh; Rachel Proefke; Nick Wong

Tabling: Thanks to Nari, Janice, Bobby, Anthony, and Kevin (Resource Center) – who helped JHR table on campus last week to promote the FCC hearing and pass out copies of The Liaison. As mentioned, we’re starting to get noticed more and more – with comments by our audience as well as being promoted by websites like City Lights Books and Reclaim the Media.

Speak Silence!: The group decided to push back UW’s version of this fundraiser to late January. The process to reserve a room in the HUB (and with that, become eligible for ASUW funding) is lengthy and requires a detailed budget (to be created soon). Nari looked into reserving Room 108 B – a space conducive to the kind of exhibit the group hopes to create.

Also, the group hopes to time the fundraiser with the potential visit by JHR’s Domestic Programs coordinator, Bronwyn Bragg. We hope that, if she is in Seattle at that time, she might help with the ‘Breaking the Silence’ component and talk about JHR, its student chapters, and why donations are so important. We also hope that Bronwyn may be able to help provide photographs from JHR’s work in Africa for our silent auction.

The group also hopes to inquire with local businesses and artists to donate items to be auctioned.

Janice suggested adding a clothing drive to coincide with the fundraiser – a wonderful idea in this cold part of the year. Further, Speak Silence! can be promoted this way (e.g. posters on clothing bins). Promotion will begin in early January; Anthony has expressed interest in leading promotion of the event – if you’re interested in helping him out, please contact us immediately: j4hr@u.washington.edu

Get Published!: The group still plans to begin publication its next issue of The Liaison in January. Its theme remains “Justice & Human Rights;” if you’re interested in contributing to this very important topic, please send your ideas and/or drafts to j4hr@u.washington.edu

The group also added that it would like to create and distribute a regular pamphlet that captures the individuals in this student chapter and their conceptions and interpretations of human rights – a very ambiguous idea that is manifest in a number of ways (legal, cultural, economic, social, political, etc.). If you have written on this topic (papers for class, personal journaling, etc.), please send your contributions – and they will be published! The group will also create a component to the website where contributions will be made available to a wider audience.

If you are interested in contributing, we invite you to frame your pieces by answering the overarching question “Why Human Rights?” and send them to j4hr@u.washington.edu

Potential Speakers: JHR would like to organize, sponsor, and promote speaking engagements on or near campus. Potential speakers:

- Ethan Casey (Winter 08)

- Steve Bezruchka (Winter 08)

- Pat Graney (Winter 08)

- Physicians for Social Responsibility (Winter 08)

- The Common Language Project (Spring 08):

o JHR met with Sarah, Jessica, and Alex of The CLP to discuss setting up media literacy workshops at the University of Washington. This collaborative project will offer students of all disciplines the opportunity to learn more about the American media landscape as well as what that means “globally.”

o The workshop will be held in mid-May, after the CLP returns from their project in East Africa. This may be a single workshop or a series of workshops during a conference focusing on media issues; JHR & CLP will inquire with both students and faculty to determine the best option. If you are interested in helping set up this wonderful event, please contact j4hr@u.washington.edu

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.

Next Meeting: Join us next Wednesday, November 28th at 6:00 pm in Smith 311, where we will facilitate a dialog about “Why Human Rights?” among other items on the below agenda.

Tentative Agenda for Meeting #25:

- Speak Silence! (Bronwyn, budget)

- Reflection on organizational management

- Discussion: Why Human Rights?

- CLP Workshop details (12/10?)

- Potential Speakers

- Anthony: Workshop reportback

- Yuhei: Website (Minutes/Articles)/Why HR?

- Pres. Meeting at Bothell: 12/5 (Nari)

- Other funding: IHS/Mary Gates/Pride Foundation

- Publish: UW site/Rabble/The Liaison

Upcoming Events:

- Come see JHR’s very own Yuhei Miyauchi perform in the Puget Sound Symphony Orchestra, this Saturday at 7 pm at Town Hall: http://washington.facebook.com/event.php?eid=6374857307

- Youth Speaks Open Mic at Café Allegro: http://www.cafeallegromusic.com/

- JHR Group Dinner: Wednesday 11/21 (j4hr@u.washington.edu for details)