[CIMC-work] fyi: events

[Emily Lonigro]

PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY

Updated agenda, with confirmed speakers, workshops, working groups, locations and party info!

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INVITATION TO THE CAMPUS ANTIWAR NETWORK (CAN)
MIDWEST REGIONAL CONFERENCE
May 3-4, 2003 * Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
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WHY WE ARE MEETING

With the Bush administration declaring victory in Iraq--a "victory" of chaos, dehydration, death, and amputation--its war on Iraq moves on to a new phase, and the antiwar movement must respond. In addition, Bush’s threats towards Syria and Iran illustrate that future wars loom on the horizon.

Yet among the horrors of this war, there is substantial hope. The war is more unpopular in world opinion than ever; remarkably, thousands of people in Iraq have courageously begun to demonstrate against the American military presence. The millions of people who demonstrated on February 15 cannot and will not be silenced.

On February 22-23, delegates from over 100 schools gathered in Chicago for the first national conference of the Campus Antiwar Network (CAN) to build an independent, grassroots, and democratic network of campus- and school-based antiwar committees. At that conference, it was decided to convene regional conferences before the end of the school year to assess our work and decide how to move forward. CAN has had some great successes since then, particularly in the CAN-initiated April 5 demonstrations across the 
country. Now it’s time to figure out where we go from here.

In order to help achieve these goals, the Midwest Region of CAN, in league with the other CAN regions, is organizing a regional conference at Northwestern University outside of Chicago, IL, on May 3-4. We believe that the best way to build an independent student voice within the anti-war movement as a whole is for the many school based anti-war groups to get 
together, face to face, and democratically decide how to build resistance to the Bush’s wars and occupations.

All student anti-war activists are encouraged to attend the conference, but each school will be limited to two voting delegates to take part in decision making at the conference so that schools are not geographically under- or over-represented. All national antiwar groups are invited to send non-voting observers in order to build unity and coordination, but decisions will be up to student delegates.

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TENTATIVE AGENDA

Saturday, May 3--Northwestern U., Fisk Hall

9am-10am
Registration with light breakfast provided 
Organizational fair

10am-10:30
Welcome from Conference Organizers
Approval of Agenda

10:30-11:30
Keynote Address "War, Occupation and What's Next for the Antiwar Movement" 
(Confirmed speakers: Bitta Mostofi with Voices in the Wilderness, Salim Muwakkil, editor of In These Times magazine, Ray Lotta, economist and author of Not In Our Name Statement of Conscience)

11:30-11:45
Break

11:45-1:30
Discussion and Votes on CAN Points of Unity and Future Mission

1:30-2:15
Lunch break with food provided

2:15-3:15
Educational Workshops:
--The Bush Doctrine
--History of U.S. Occupations
--What's the U.S. Agenda in the Middle East


3:15-3:30
break

3:30-4:30
Working Group Breakouts on CAN organizing projects

--CAN Publications (group to plan production of organizing packets, position papers, promotional materials)
--Finances and Fundraising (group to plan fundraising events, work on establishing treasury department for CAN)
--Fall Initiatives-Speaking Tour (group to work on Fall CAN speaking tour of Midwest Campuses)
--Fall Initiatives-Counter Militarism at our Schools (group to work on fall campaign against military recruiting on highschools and campuses)
--Urban Confusion Protest Art (group to plan and create creative resistance to war and occupation including banners, guerilla theater, posters, etc.)

4:30-4:45
break

4:45-5:45
Panel Discussion on "War at Home" (confirmed speakers: James Fennerty of the National Lawyer's Guild speaking on the Patriot Act, Hakim Husien of the 
Palestine Aid Society speaking on the racist backlash against Arabs and Muslims, and Chris Roche of Lane Tech High School Political Club speaking on the education cuts and militarism at our schools.)

5:45-7:00
Dinner on your own

7:00-8:00
Optional session to organize proposals for next day

8:00-midnight
Party at the Norris Center at NU with Blaq Dawn, Primeridian and other hip-hop and spoken word! All ages welcome, free to conference participants, $5 for all others.


Sunday, May 4--Northwestern U., Fisk Hall

10am-12noon
Report from CAN Coordinating Members and Discussion and Voting on Working Group Proposals

12am-12:45
Lunch provided

12:45-1:30
Voting on new Midwest Rep and new High School Rep for CAN Coordinating Committee

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DETAILS

REGISTRATION: AS SOON AS YOU KNOW YOUR DELEGATION, REGISTER! Each campus or school antiwar group is entitled to two delegates and can bring as many 
guests as they like. Non-student guests are also welcome to attend, though all decisions will be up to the student delegates. Email can_midwest_conference@yahoo.com with your information, or call us at 773-250-7721. There will be a sliding-scale registration fee per person of $5-$20 per registrant to offset our costs. No student will be turned away for lack of funds.

LOCATION: Northwestern University, in Evanston, IL. Northwestern is located just north of Chicago, IL on the shore of Lake Michigan. Northwestern is easily accessed by public transportation. For directions, please see 
http://www.northwestern.edu/campus/directions/ All meetings will be held in Fisk Hall and the party will take place at the Norris Center. The Northwestern website has excellent directions and an interactive campus map 
that you should check out.

HOUSING: Free housing of the stay-on-someone’s-floor variety will be provided. Email can_midwest_conference@yahoo.com with your needs, or call us at 773-250-7721. Please note any special needs (allergies, handicap-accessible, etc).

FOOD: Chicago area activists will do their best to provide at least some free meals during the course of the conference. People with special dietary 
restrictions (vegan, allergies, etc) should contact 
can_midwest_conference@yahoo.com with your information, or call us at 773-250-7721 to help us plan.

PROPOSALS: Proposals submitted ahead of time can be included in the conference packet and scheduled for discussion. A delegate must be willing to present the proposal to the conference in order for it to be considered. Submit proposals in writing to can_midwest_conference@yahoo.com.

WEBSITE: Get more information about CAN at http://www.antiwarnetwork.org.

GET INVOLVED: This is YOUR conference! Planning chats are held quite frequently, and your campus should be represented. Check the CAN email list at campusantiwarnetwork@yahoogroups.com for chat times and instructions.

LOCAL ORGANIZING MEETINGS: For those in the Chicago area who would like to help plan and organize this conference, please get in touch about local planning meetings. Write or call for more information: 
can_midwest_conference@yahoo.com,  773-250-7721.

GENERAL INQUIRIES:  can_midwest_conference@yahoo.com with your information, or call us at 773-250-7721.





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