v 2005-2006 Year in Review
v "Women on the Frontlines" to be Shown on Feburary 28
v Textbook Drive to Benefit Better World Books: December 14-19
v Professors Deane, Henry and Massino to Participate in Teach-In on Iraq
v 240 Mainers Travel to D.C. to Participate in Massive Anti-War Demonstration!
v T-shirt design contest
v Bowdoin Students Join in Blue Angels Protest
v Buses from Maine to Washington D.C. Details now posted.
v End the War in Iraq: Bring the Troops Home Now!
v "You Can't Ignore the War" Campaign
v Allen to Introduce Bill: U.S. Plans No Long-term Military Presence in Iraq
v Allen to hold Town Hall Meeting on Iraq War
v Plans for Fall 2005
v Accomplishments from Spring 2005
"Women on the Frontlines" to be Shown on February 28
Bowdoin Students for Peace, the Bowdoin Women's Association, and Circles for Peace will be showing "Women on the Frontlines" on Tuesday, February 28.
Narrated by Academy Award-winning actress Jessica Lange, Peace by Peace profiles women who are building the foundation for sustainable peace out of conflict and crisis. Filmed in Afghanistan, Argentina, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Burundi, Peace by Peace has been showing around the world and broadcast throughout the U.S. on Public Broadcast Stations. It premiered at the UN Headquarters in 2003 and recently received the CINE Award for documentary excellence.
The film will be shown at 7:30 PM at the Women's Resource Center, a small brown house on College Street to the left of Ladd House. The film is 55 minutes in duration and will be followed by tea and discussion.
The event is free and open to the public.
To learn more about the film, please visit the website of Peace x Peace and have a look at the Preview. For more information, you may contact Sara Schlotterbeck or Alison Driver.
Textbook Drive to Benefit Better World Books: December 14-19
The Community Service Council and Bowdoin Students for Peace are running a campus book drive to benefit the National Center For Family Literacy’s Hurricane Relief projects (www.famlit.org) and would like to ask you for your support. You can help with this book drive by simply donating those textbooks that you don’t want and the campus bookstore is not buying back. We have set up a number of collection boxes around campus, which will remain up until Monday, December 19th. You can donate your books at the collection boxes at the following locations:
1. The Textbook Annex (in the basement of Moore)
2. The Bookstore (on the second floor of Smith Union)
3. Hawthorne Longfellow Library
4. Smith Union Info Desk
We are working to collect relatively recent college books that are in good condition. Writing and highlighting in books is fine. We are, however, unable to accept books that are missing pages or are clearly damaged. We are also unable to accept magazines, academic journals, mass-market paper backs (supermarket novels), and books with outdated content.
The mission of the National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL) is to create educational and economic opportunity for the most at-risk children and parents. Since its establishment in 1989, the NCFL has grown to be recognized worldwide as the leader in family literacy development. Based out of Louisville, the NCFL has a number of projects throughout the south, including many in and around New Orleans. Following the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, the NCFL has formed a national partnership with Better World Books with the shared goal of putting books and other educational resources in the hands of those who have so little left.
The textbooks collected in this drive will be sold by Better World Books to raise unrestricted funds for NCFL’s Hurricane Relief projects. The partnership has just been developed in the last few months, and already Better World Books’ efforts have provided funding for the purchase of over 5,000 brand-new books for two major projects. The first project will begin rebuilding an elementary school library in Mississippi which lost every book, and the second will provide books to be distributed through literacy programs in five cities in Texas that have seen a huge influx as evacuees fled the Hurricane-affected region.
For more information, you may contact Sara Schlotterbeck (sschlott@bowdoin.edu) or Emma Sears (esears@bowdoin.edu).
Professors Deane, Henry, and Massino to Particpate in Teach-In on Iraq
We have been hearing about the war in Iraq since it started almost two years ago, in the news, in the papers, and of course on the Daily Show. We tune it out some times, get angry or frustrated at other times, and on some occasions we feel hopeful. But how much do we really know about the war in Iraq? Why are we there? Why is there an insurgency? What is happening with Iraqi women? Can we rebuild Iraq with democratic institutions? We are asking these questions, and we will be getting together to learn enough to start working out the answers.
Bowdoin Students for Peace is sponsoring a teach-in on Iraq. On Thursday December 1 st, students and professors will discuss what is happening in Iraq, why it is happening and what can be done about it (and eat home-made cookies). It will be held from 7:00-9:00 on Thursday night in the Chase Barn.
Three Bowdoin professors will be speaking: Shelley Deane and Laura Henry from the Government Department, and Jill Massino from Gender and Women’s Studies.
Professor Deane will talk about the origins of Iraq and the insurgency. Professor Massino will discuss gender, conflict and feminism in the Iraqi context. Professor Henry will discuss the design of democratic institutions for divided societies and how that applies to Iraq. She will touch on the Iraqi constitution, federalism, the electoral system, and consider the strengths and weaknesses of these institutions.
Bowdoin Students for Peace member Clark Gascoigne says that he is most looking forward to hearing what Professor Massino has to say, because he has not heard much about feminism in the Middle East and Iraq, and feels that it needs to be addressed. Meredith Segal is looking forward to learning more about the history of Iraq.
The concept of a “teach-in” began during the Vietnam era, as a form of protest against the war. College students and professors would meet to educate each other and discuss questions and ideas in order to understand and challenge America’s role in Vietnam. A teach-in is a great tool for the anti-war movement because it is not only a form of protest, but it creates well-informed, educated activists and it is an opportunity to engage students who feel ill-equipped to discuss the issues.
The purpose of Thursday’s teach-in is more a form of education than protest. It will provide a fun and engaging environment for students to develop a good understanding of the situation in Iraq in order to become better citizens and activists. Kai Parker, a member of Bowdoin Students for Peace, says that the importance of this teach-in is that “People can have good solid reasons for why they are for or against the war, rather than simplifying the issues and jumping to easy conclusions.”
We hope that students who are not active in the anti-war movement or who are pro-war to varying degrees will attend this as well as anti-war activists. A diversity of opinion reflective of the student body will allow us to have productive and interesting discussions about where we are in Iraq, why we are there, and where we can go from here.
For more information, please contact Sara Schlotterbeck (sschlott@bowdoin.edu) or Meredith Segal (msegal@bowdoin.edu)
240 Mainers Travel to D.C. to Participate in Massive Anti-War Demonstration
On September 24, between 150,000 and 300,000 Americans convened on the nation's capital to demand an end to the Iraq war. 240 Mainers made the trek to Washington to join in Saturday's rally and march on the White House. This contingent included seasoned peace activists, children as young as nine, and twenty-one Bowdoin Students. Though people's reasons for making the trip differed, all seemed to share the sentiment that the time had come to make heard the voices of Mainers for Peace.
Five buses organized by Midcoast Peace & Justice Group and Bowdoin Students for Peace departed Maine late on the evening of September 23rd to arrive in D.C. Saturday morning. While in D.C., Mainers joined in a rally that featured Jesse Jackson, Cindy Sheehan, and Tom Hayden, marched on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House, and enjoyed a concert featuring Joan Baez, the Thievery Corporation, and The Coup. After travelling overnight Saturday, everyone returned home weary but inspired. One student reflected that, "[September 24] was quite possibly the most amazing, surreal day of my life."
To see more of the trip to Washington D.C., visit the Picture Gallary.
And have a look at the media coverage that Bowdoin Students for Peace and other Mainers for Peace received:
"Mainers bound for D.C. Peace March" (Bangor Daily News)
"Iraq war mints 2 unlikely protesters" (Kennebec Journal)
"Protesters flock to D.C. to oppose the Iraq war" (The Bowdoin Orient)
"Air show thrills fans, irks opponents" (Portland Press Hearld)
"Mainers join D.C. peace march, blast Iraq war, Katrina efforts" (Bangor Daily News)
"Brunswick: Some 241 Mainers going south for war protest" (Portland Press Herald)
"Tens of thousands protest Iraq war" (Baltimore Sun)
"Report from DC" (The Free Press Online)
T-shirt Design Contest!
Bowdoin Students for Peace and Midcoast Peace & Justice Group are going to be printing t-shirts to raise money to support scholarships for the September 23-25 trip to Washington D.C.
Theme: Maine for Peace
Text and graphics: Designer's choice
Colors: You may select one background color and one ink color (either light on dark or dark on light)
Deadline for Design Submissions: September 1, 2005
Prize: 2 free t-shirts and worldwide fame!
Please send all submissions as e-mail attachments to peace@bowdoin.edu.
Bowdoin Students Join in Blue Angels Protest
"Protesters Offer A Different Point of View:
More than 300 march to BNAS's front gate in protest of air show and the Iraq war."
Article curtesy of the Brunswick Times Record
BRUNSWICK — It is after 8 a.m. on Saturday and Doug Rawlings, president of Maine Veterans for Peace, has been up all night with about 20 others holding a vigil at the main gate of the Brunswick Naval Air Station.
Now he's looking over the growing crowd of demonstrators on the Brunswick Mall, chewing over in his mind a question just asked of him: Why protest the Navy's Blue Angels, Brunswick Naval Air Station, the air show and not the politicians who send sailors and soldiers to war?
"Because without soldiers there would be no war," he says. "We can't go to war if our youth say they won't fight."
So Rawlings and more than 300 others gather on a gloriously bright and clear Saturday morning to march up Bath Road to the main gate of the base. Their timing is such that as they march cars full of spectators will be lining up for entrance to the Great State of Maine Airshow, featuring the Blue Angels flight team.
That seems to be the idea of such demonstrations, to remind people of an opposing or different view than that within the base.
As protesters mill about the Mall before the march, the faces are familiar. The peace community in the Mid-coast region is small but vocal, and there is a sense of reunion as groups cluster together with a brilliant blue sky above and a hint of fall in the air. Organizer Bruce Gagnon walks around with a megaphone. A group organizes around the six or seven panels displaying the names and ages of every soldier killed in Iraq since the war started.
When the four-foot drum on wheels arrives — a regular participant at peace demonstrations — there is suddenly a soundtrack to the drama. Over the soundtrack Kathy Kelly, a long-time anti-war activist and founder of Voices in the Wilderness, answers the question posed earlier to Rawlings.
"The politicians speak for us," she says. "So the focus should be on us, the people. Fighting an illegal war jeopardizes our security instead of strengthening it."
Signs abound on the Mall: "The War is a Lie," "Real Angels Don't Drop Bombs," "Build Levees Not Bombs."
Mostly the crowd is older, grayer, many of them in second careers as peace activists. But Rawlings said about 10 Bowdoin College students came to the vigil the previous night. Some young kids threw eggs at the vigil participants, but the police responded quickly, Rawlings said.
And here on the Mall there are some young faces looking earnest. One of them belongs to 14-year-old Esther Schlottenbeck, who looks like she should be playing field hockey on such a fine day. She attends Edward Little High School in Auburn. She is here because she thinks it's wrong to use lies to recruit people for the military.
"I don't like war," she says.
Jen Arredondo, 20, has a camera around her neck. She's snapping photos for her own work at the Maine College of Art.
"I'm here partly for the photos," she says, "but also because I think the war in Iraq is wrong."
Another couple said they will be joining the march because of the whales.
Russell Wray says he's here because he wants the Navy to stop sonar testing in the Atlantic, because such testing kills whales.
"There are a lot more dead whales than are being reported," he says.
On the road
The march leaves 15 minutes later than the scheduled 9 a.m. departure time. As the blocks-long line —organizers count the number of people leaving the Mall at 300 — snakes up Park Row, a Ford Expedition pulls to the curb and a young man wearing a Norwich University sweatshirt gets out. He wears a baseball cap backwards, leans against his truck and stares at the demonstrators passing before him.
"I disagree with them," he says. "I was over there and I'm going again. I see them doing this, they're discrediting our troops over there."
A few hot words fly between him and one of the Veterans for Peace, but tempers remain cool.
The Brunswick Police Department presence is obvious but not overbearing and the two patrol officers on bicycles are polite and friendly to the demonstrators, even while keeping the peace when a line of cars stopped on Bath Road begin honking to show their displeasure, setting up a cacophony including some epithets thrown at the demonstrators.
On the other hand, at Fat Boy Drive-In across the road from the demonstrators' route, people sit on lawn chairs or in their cars watching the air show, which by now has begun. There are no catcalls from that group, even a few friendly waves. And over in the corner of the parking lot the Lobster Ladies are doing business as usual.
At the gate
At the main gate of BNAS, the demonstration continues in a grassy area between the fence and the road, just before making the right turn onto the base. Across the street a handful of counter demonstrators hold signs in support of President Bush. One of the signs reads: "Liberalism is a mental disorder."
"Their (the demonstrators) intentions are good," says Laura Vaughn of Durham. "But they're misguided. You can't support the troops and not the mission. We're here to show we support the mission, too."
Holly Christensen of Freeport said her husband is on his second tour of Iraq.
"I'm here to show they don't speak for all of us," she said. "Some of us are standing behind our troops."
At the rally, Rawlings — who is a poet and teacher at University of Maine Farmington — reads a prepared statement in which he recalls being in Vietnam 36 years ago at a front-line firebase and taking solace in the fact that there were people back in the States trying to end the war.
"We stand with the soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan," he says, "in protest and in witness, to stop the war now."
Perhaps the most moving words comes from Dexter Kamilewicz of Harpswell, whose son Ben is in the Army in Iraq. Ben communicates regularly with his parents and with the Maine congressional delegation.
"My son was sent to Iraq as a member of the Vermont National Guard," Kamilewicz says. "When he got there he found the equipment in bad shape, the morale low, and a distinct difference between the reality on the ground and what the American public is being told."
Kamilewicz urged support of an upcoming march in Washington, D.C., the weekend of Sept. 24.
"Americans must take a stand against the war," he says. "And hold our leaders accountable."
By 11:30 a.m., the rally is breaking up. Rawlings stands in the shade, leaning against the chain-link fence separating the military base from the rest of the world.
"Was it worth it?" he is asked.
His initial response is a shrug.
"Well," he says, "we had 350 people get the message across to the people of Brunswick: Think twice about offering this kind of 'entertainment.' I guess it was worth it."
To see more photographs, check out the photo page.
Travel from Maine to Washington D.C. with Peace Activists from across Maine!
Bowdoin Students for Peace and Midcoast Peace and Justice Group are organizing buses to travel from Maine to participate in the September 24 massive peace march, rally, and festival in Washington D.C. United for Peace and Justice, the A.N.S.W.E.R Coalition, and hundreds of other national peace groups are teaming up to make this an amazing event. Highlights include the rally at the Washington Monument, the march on Pennsylvania Avenue, and the Operation Ceasefire Concert.
Currently (updated 9/14/05), we have booked 5 buses. We are very happy to be able to offer a seat to everyone on the standby list. In addition, we have 10-15 open seats, but space is going fast, so please e-mail us as soon as possible if you would like to travel to D.C. with Midcoast Peace & Justice Group and Bowdoin Students for Peace.
Trip Schedule: The bus will depart from Maine on Friday evening according to the schedule below, will leave D.C. Saturday evening, and will be back in Maine by Sunday morning.
| Location |
Departure |
Rockland
Rockland Middle School lot |
6:00 PM |
Nobleboro
Park & Ride on Route 1 |
6:30 PM |
Brunswick
Farley Field House (at Bowdoin) |
7:15 PM |
Portland
Marginal Way Park & Ride |
8:00 PM |
The roundtrip cost is $75 per seat. There are a limited number of full and partial scholarships for those for whom the cost would pose a financial hardship. The availability of these scholarships depends on the generosity of peace activisits from around the state, so please consider making a donation or buying a t-shirt.
Please make out all checks (bus fares, donations, and t-shirt purchases) to "Midcoast Peace and Justice Group," and please mail all checks to the following address:
Sandy Yakovenko
PO Box 453
Tenants Harbor, ME
04860
To sign up or for additional information, please contact one of the following trip organizers:
Steve Burke, stevbee@midcoast.com, (207) 273-3247
Meredith Segal, msegal@bowdoin.edu, (207) 653-4631
Sara Schlotterbeck , sschlott@bowdoin.edu, (508) 596-7904
End the War on Iraq: Bring the Troops Home Now!
(courtesy of United for Peace & Justice)
Leave no bases behind - End the corporate occupation of Iraq
Stop bankrupting our communities - No military recruitment in our schools
More than two years after the illegal and immoral U.S. invasion of Iraq, the nightmare continues. More than 1600 U.S. soldiers have died, at least another 15,000 have been wounded; even the most conservative estimates of Iraqi deaths number in the tens of thousands. Iraq, a once sovereign nation, now lies in ruins under the military and corporate occupation of the United States; U.S. promises to rebuild have not been kept and Iraqis still lack food, water, electricity, and other basic needs.
A majority of Americans believe that this war never should have happened, but our elected representatives in Washington continue to rubber-stamp the Bush Administration's disastrous Iraq policies. They have given military recruiters nearly unrestricted access to our schools -- and the Pentagon nearly unrestricted access to our tax dollars. At a time when our vital social programs are eroding or completely decimated, an overwhelming majority in Congress recently approved Bush's request for an additional $82 billion in war funding, and there's already talk of another $50 billion appropriation this fall.
It's time to hold all pro-war politicians accountable for the deaths, the destruction, the lies, and the toll on our communities! Join United for Peace and Justice in Washington, D.C. for three massive days of action against the war: a major march, rally, and festival on Saturday, September 24; an interfaith religious service and day of grassroots trainings on Sunday, September 25; and a large-scale grassroots lobbying day and mass nonviolent direct action and civil disobedience on Monday, September 26.
From every corner of this country, people will travel to Washington to bring our demands directly to the policymakers responsible for this unjust war. These three days of actions will send a clear message to the White House and Congress: The Iraq war must end. It's time to bring all the troops home, leaving no U.S. military bases behind, and to stop the corporate theft of Iraq's resources. Instead of draining our national treasury for endless war, we demand that our tax dollars be used to repair the damage done to Iraq and to fund services in our communities. We call for an immediate end to our government's assault on immigrants, the unethical pressures on our young people to join the military, and the undermining of democracy through relentless attacks on everyone's basic rights.
Our mobilization will coincide with the meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, whose economic policies place corporate profits ahead of basic human needs worldwide. We will speak out against the corporate theft of Iraq's resources and the decimation of the Iraqi economy through privatization and "free trade."
Join our weekend of action to stop this war, and help prevent any new wars!
Bowdoin Students for Peace to launch "You Can't Ignore the War" Campaign, and we need your help!
The news from Iraq recently has been overwhelmingly negative, and people are not happy about the war. Approval ratings for the Iraq war and the Bush administration are at record lows. This is the perfect time for the peace movement to make our voice heard.
We need as many students as possible to start working on our first event of the year. Along with the "What Peace Means to US" campaign, we are going to do a mass posting of articles around campus to remind everyone that they can't ignore the war.
Here's what you can start doing now:
Cut out as many articles from current newspapers on Iraq and Afghanistan as you can find (or print them out from the internet). The articles can be positive, negative, or neutral, as we want to present opinions from all sides. We hope to have thousands of articles!
In conjunction with our "What Peace Means to US" campaign, this effort will bring the war closer to home and into the "Bowdoin Bubble."
For more information or to offer your suggestions, please e-mail us at peace@bowdoin.edu.
Rep. Tom Allen to Introduce Legislation Affirming U.S. Plans No Long-term Military Presence in Iraq
The following is a press release from the office of Congressman Tom Allen on June 28, 2005
Washington, D.C.---U.S. Representative Tom Allen announced today that he will introduce the Iraqi Sovereignty Promotion Act, legislation to affirm that the U.S. plans no long-term military presence in Iraq and to reassure the Iraqi people that the U.S. will not seek permanent bases in their nation. Representative Allen unveiled his legislation as President Bush prepared to address the nation about Iraq in a live speech this evening from Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. “I have become convinced that a major factor fueling the growing insurgency in Iraq is the apprehension held by many Iraqis that the U.S. plans to maintain a long-term military presence in their country,” Representative Allen said. “My bill states that it is ‘the policy of the United States not to maintain a long-term or permanent military presence in Iraq.’ By unequivocally asserting that the United States does not seek a permanent armed presence in Iraq, our government would send a clear signal to the Iraqi people that we fully support their efforts to establish democracy and exercise sovereignty. By making our intentions crystal clear, we also reassure our allies, our potential allies and a skeptical world community that Iraqis will choose their own destinies. I hope this legislation contributes to the desperately needed debate about our future policy in Iraq.”
“White House spokesman Scott McClellan told The New York Times that this evening the President will detail a ‘strategy for success’ in Iraq,” Representative Allen said. “After more than two years of conflict, Americans wait anxiously and with increasing skepticism for a real plan to achieve a positive outcome in Iraq. As American and Iraqi casualty tolls mount and the scenes of daily carnage continue unabated, the American people yearn for more than the same rosy scenarios and unconvincing progress reports. The brave men and women of our Armed Forces who have served with such skill and valor, especially the nearly 1,750 who have sacrificed their lives and the thousands more who have suffered life-changing injuries, deserve more.”
Congressman Tom Allen to Hold Town Hall Meeting on Iraq War
Congressman Allen has agreed to hold a Town Hall Meeting to hear and respond to his constituents perspectives on the war in Iraq. Possible topics of discussion include troop withdrawal, exit strategies, America's responsibilities in rebuilding Iraq, and the role of Maine's Congressional delegation in guiding our foreign policy.
The meeting will be from 2:00-4:00 PM on Sunday, July 17 at the Portland High School Auditorium.
Directions to Portland High School:
From I-295: Take Exit 7 (Franklin St. exit). Once off the ramp, continue through 2 sets of traffic lights. At the third traffic light, turn right onto Cumberland Avenue. Portland High School is approximately 3/4 mile down on the left hand side.
From I-295: Take Exit 9 (Falmouth). After the tollbooth, take the Falmouth-Route 1 South exit. At the 1st traffic light, take a right and follow signs to I-295 South. Follow the directions above.
For more information or to sign up for an opportunity to speak, please contact Peace Action Maine at (207) 772-0680.
