Fall 2010 kickoff

First meeting of the semester was last week on Wed. at 8 p.m. in CC 223.

Notes from last week's meeting are as follows:

Just wanted to drop a line with last week's notes and news for tonight and the next week or so.

At last week's meeting we talked about what Students for Global Change is (a group that works toward empowering students to fight for justice in the world - both environmental and social. It's also a group that seeks to build a community among those who are interested in being activists in their respective field. AND, it's an awesome group filled with awesome people). The next meeting is this Wednesday, the 15th, at 8p.m. in Campus Center Room 223.

Also we talked about our groups (scan through the names and check out the ones you're interested in):

Books for Benin - writing, editing, publishing, sending books for students in Benin, Africa. Writers, editors, English-French translators, designers, marketers, etc. needed for group. Contact Zach Keddell at keddell@oswego.edu for more information.

The Go-Green Team - meetings at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday (tonight) at Lake Effect Cafe. Go-Green works toward educating students on how to be more environmental and where to find information on being as green as we can be. TONIGHT'S MEETING --> Michael Bonney from the Oswego Center for Sustainable Living is coming to let us know about his Carrot Mob and the different campaigns they're doing HERE IN OSWEGO!!! Contact Alisia Engle at engle@oswego.edu.

Pro-Peace Council - meetings on Friday afternoons work for people? E-mail us back with a confirmation :) We're thinking around 5/6 on Friday nights. We can meet every other week or whatevs to get people there! Pro-Peace is about spreading the message of Gandhi and of Martin Luther King Jr. and all peace activists all over the world. We're about educating the population on and off campus about how to be a peaceful person, recognize our part in conflicts around the world, and how we can change things. Meet this Saturday at 11 a.m. in Campus Center Food Court to decorate signs for the ALANA Peace and Unity walk (from West 1st St to the Quad) on SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 19, 2010 (this Sunday) at 9:30 a.m. Contact Katherine Raymond at kraymond@oswego.edu for more info!

Amnesty International - A group on campus that has continually tried to branch out but has dwindled because of lack of support. AI is an international organization that focuses on ending human rights violations. They're very prominent in the international scene, especially with the UN. They've been part of ending genocides and horrible atrocities for many years. We need people (like Alex L.) to come together to start spreading the news! Contact s4gc.osu@gmail for info.

Conscious Consumption - This group takes care of a lot of the fair trade and recycling and Terracycle stuff. We have a fair trade coffee and tea day where we give out free coffee to promote buying fair trade items (fair trade means paying for an item that has been fairly traded - the producer gets a living wage, there are no high mark-ups where someone benefits more than others, sustainable practices, and supporting development in countries all over the world). We also do Reverse Trick-or-Treating where we go door to door and hand out free chocolate with info about fair trade attached to it. We put on Earth Fair and help out with Mother Earth Week. Also, we attend different events where we see Fair Trade products prominently in sales. Contact Katherine for more info: kraymond@oswego.edu

Campus Composting - this group is working towards getting compost bins in the dining halls on campus. We need students to help promote this idea to the students to raise support. We need to collect petitions from students as well as attend the meetings where the campus is going to decide how to implement composting on-campus. Contact Grace Maxon at gmaxon@oswego.edu for questions and answers.

PILLOWS FOR PEACE AND WORLD PEACE DAY - come out this Saturday at 11 a.m. in CC Food Court to decorate bed sheets with all sorts of peace signs. We'll be hanging this up in the quad on World Peace Day, which is a week from Tuesday (the 21st). Also, there will be a flash mob pillow fight in front of Cooper Dining Hall. This will take place at exactly 12:45 p.m. Wear a white t-shirt, pajama pants and comfy shoes. BRING A PILLOW and join the fight. In the end, we'll form a peace sign on the ground for a minute and then we'll leave without saying anything and in different directions. See Facebook Page - PIllow Fight for Peace. Contact Dr. Becky Burch at rebecca.burch@oswego.edu for more information about decorating sheets. Please remember to think "green" when buying/using sheets - go to thrift store!

Hug Day, Lake Clean-Ups, Volunteering - if you need volunteer hours, let us know and we'll put together some events. The lake could always use a clean-up, so get a couple of friends together and let us know and we'll provide gloves and bags. Hug Day - once a semester near finals week. We'll need huggers to give people free hugs :) More to come on that.

Earth Fair/Mother Earth Week- our two big events of the fall and spring semester, respectively. Earth Fair is a fair trade festival featuring vendors who sell fair trade items, as well as carnival games and fair trade food. We want another band to come this year and to have more outdoor activities. Join the planning committee by e-mailing Katherine at kraymond@oswego.edu. More info on Mother Earth Week (which is our "green" week during the same week as Earth Day in April).

This is a LOT of information, but some of you wanted this written out so you could see in more detail what all the group is involved in. There's talk about Invisible Children the group and starting up a Charity Water group. We'll talk more about this as interest builds.

the next students for global change meeting is this wednesday (the15th) at 8 p.m. in campus center room 223. come on out!

Thanks for your time! This is a lot, but choose what you want to be a part of as much or as little as you want! And have a great week. <3 Oh, and check out the volunteer and career fair tomorrow in the campus center - http://www.oswego.edu/student/career/calendar/index.html

Peace,

Katherine Raymond
PR Students for Global Change
s4gc.osu@gmail.com