Highland Park becomes second town to support de-federalization of the NJ National Guard

On Tuesday, December 6 the borough council of Highland park voted to support SRJ55, the bill before the state legislature to de-federalize the New Jersey National Guard. The vote was a culmination of a 6 month long pressure campaign and a large town hall meeting.

Several groups attempted to pass an antiwar resolution and a de-federalization resolution in July. After repeated delays, the council passed a weaker version calling on the president not to call up the guard. This was toothless and after several more months we finally succeeded in achieving a council vote calling upon the governor to de-federalize our guard.

A better explanation of the meeting and the text of the resolution can be read at: http://www.bluejersey.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=10016

NJ STATE ANTIWAR CONFERENCE

Description: We are currently organizing a conference on December 6, 2008 in New Brunswick for students throughout New Jersey in order to create a unifying strategy on how to successfully end the occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and to propose a day of action across college campuses in the region. The conference will involve student speakers, educational and organizational workshops, and an environment in which students and student groups throughout New Jersey will be able to share opinions, ideas, etc. We've gotten a very positive response from students here at Rutgers and we're expecting a great turn out.

Location:Rutgers University in New Brunswick
milledoler 100, and scott 102, 104, 105, and 106(on college avenue)

The schedule for 12/6 is as follows:9:00-10:00 AM:
Registration at Milledoler Hall
10:00-10:45 AM: Current State of the Student Movement: SDS, YDS, CAN speakers
10:45-11:45 AM: Building the NJ Student Antiwar Movement open discussion12:00-1:30 PM: Break into student-led educational workshopsIraqi Refugees- The Economy and the War- Organizing on college campuses
1:30-2:30 PM: Lunch
2:30-4:00 PM: Break into student-led organizational workshops- Divestment- Working with veterans- Counter-recruitment-
4:15-6:15 PM: Re-group for discussion on state-wide NJ action in March 2009 (Rutgers presentation of proposal)
6:15-8:00 PM: Dinner (on your own)
8:00- 10:00 PM: Plenary (Iraq Veterans Against the War)
10:00 PM- 2:00 AM: Socializing/Partying

In addition to students taking part in the conference, we would also like to invite any members of your organization that are interested in helping out or organizing workshops! If you are interested, or know someone who is interested, please email us at studentantiwar.njconference@gmail.com. We?ll put you on the listserv so you can send us your ideas.

RUSA, RAW rock message of ‘drop beats not bombs’

RUSA, RAW rock message of ‘drop beats not bombs’
Daily Targum
Jared Khan / Contributing Writer
Published: Sunday, November 16, 2008


The house band Toad played rock music that sounded throughout Room 101 in Hickman Hall on Douglass campus and trailed into the hallway as students, city residents, poets and activists, young and old, filled the auditorium. The band stopped playing as poets took the stage to begin a night of spoken word.On Friday night, Rutgers Against the War and Rutgers University Student Assembly hosted the public event Drop Beats Not Bombs featuring the poet, writer, musician and actor Saul Williams.RAW and RUSA worked with the Justus League, Combat Paper, Verbal Mayhem and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual, Queer and Questioning People of Color Alliance to organize the event, said Tiffany Cheng, a School of Arts and Sciences senior and a main administrator for the event.

Money from the Rutgers University Student Association helped to fund this event but organizers tried to stay with the lowest budget possible, Cheng said.Cheng said she estimated a total of 19 poets listed to perform along with Williams. This number included but was not limited to poets from RAW and members of the Combat Paper Project, an Iraqi veteran mission that encourages reconciliation for their overseas military experience.The event attracted more than 200 people. This was about three times the amount since last year, said Ian Khadan, a spoken word poet who attended last year’s event.Cheng said the event was located in a smaller venue last year, but this year they expected a larger turnout with Williams speaking. “I’m impressed … I don’t know how they got Saul Williams,” said Annalise Leonelli, a Douglass College senior. “The band’s pretty good, too.”

Cheng said Williams’ appearance was done at the last minute.“We were trying to combine someone who became successful with someone with a socially conscious message,” Cheng said.Williams brought his books “Said the Shotgun to the Head” and “The Dead Emcee Scrolls” to the event and they were available for purchase along with some “Drop Beats Not Bombs” T-shirts near the entrance of the lecture hall.Williams held a question and answer period, where he welcomed attendees to inquire about anything on their minds, including asking for advice.The questions varied in topic, going so far as one student’s question on a conflict of interest between romance and her art.Williams answered that romance is integral to the art experience and without his romances his art would be lost.“It’s a mixture of culture and a political message,” said James Mona, a School of Environmental and Biological Sciences sophomore and member of RAW. “Being an activist isn’t all about marches and stuff. You can have fun too.”

Rutgers Against the War puts on Drop Beats Not Bombs

"DROP BEATS, NOT BOMBS"--

It means dissent through words, not violence; it means creating not destroying; it means expression not repression.

Come out to a night of politically and socially conscious spoken word and poetry from Saul Williams, Iraq war veterans, and student orgs.

Featuring:SAUL WILLIAMS--world renown poet and musician--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_Williams--http://www.saulwilliams.com/

Readings from Warrior Writers of the Combat Paper Project--http://www.combatpaper.org/--Warrior Writers of the Combat Paper Project with members of Iraq Veterans Against the War share their writings

JustUs League--Your friendly neighborhood poets Ion, Ian Khadan, Assasin, and Nate Kostar--http://www.myspace.com/justusleague0

with Rutgers Against the War,Verbal Mayhem, Native Tongue, Radigals, CASAA, Tent State University, and more to come..

Location: Hickman 101 on Douglass Campus at Rutgers University Street: 89 George St City/Town: New Brunswick, NJ at 7:45 PM
More Information: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=33139682950

Rutgers should cut ties to war profiteers

Home News Tribune Op/Ed
November 6, 2008
By: Ryan Olander

Rutgers students and community members involved with the student organization Rutgers Against the War, or RAW, have undertaken the arduous task of pressuring the Board of Governors to divest from those companies who profit from the illegal and unjust occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.

RAW members obtained the list of companies in which Rutgers is invested. It should dismay everyone to know that the state's educational institution paid for its computers, chalk, microscopes and faculty salaries with money that was soaked in the blood of many innocent Iraqis, Afghanis, Pakistanis and Syrians. These companies include: Raytheon, DynCorp, Halliburton, and L-3 Communications.

After the discovery of Rutgers' profits from the above-named companies and eight other war profiteers, RAW members wasted no time. They began drafting a proposal to present to the Board of Governors imploring the university to divest all monies in these companies, disseminated many petitions for divestment and networked widely with other student unions and organizations, garnering many endorsements for the divestment campaign. It should be noted that the current campaign is modeled after the successful Rutgers South African divestment campaign that gained notoriety in the 1980s. I was astounded to find out that this divestment campaign recently tripled in size with Rutgers-Camden and Rutgers-Newark also beginning active divestment work on their campuses.

New Jersey residents should show their disgust for our state university's value of profits over justice, life and liberty — a sad trend engulfing the American political system and its policies and now creeping into its great beacons of learning. Please be prepared to stand in solidarity with Rutgers students throughout their struggle to make their university live up to an ethical standard to which its students and American citizens at large adhere with steadfast dedication.

In defense of divestment

In defense of divestment
Rutgers Daily Targum
Allie Graham

Published: Sunday, October 26, 2008
Updated: Sunday, October 26, 2008


The Targum published an editorial last Thursday that expressed hesitation at Rutgers Against the War’s divestment campaign. The editorial objected that some of these 12 companies targeted by the campaign, specifically General Electric and Caterpillar are not strictly “military contracting firms.” While these corporations do have many and varied subsidiaries, the editorialists seem to say that this makes the corporations not responsible for their subsidiaries. General Electric builds engines for military aircraft, drones, tanks and ships on a scale that makes it one of the world’s largest arms manufacturers. Caterpillar produces a wide array of military vehicles including the specific adaptable bulldozers that are used in Iraq and Palestine for reprisal attacks on homes. We don’t accept that the people responsible should be able to hide behind complex ownership arrangements, as Haliburton has attempted to do.Not all of these corporations have been consistently profitable. Stock in Boeing, a self-described military contractor, recently fell 38 percent, and Caterpillar has seen its growth slow. We would like very much to be able to give a more definitive answer to this very important question regarding the specifics of divestment, but our hands are tied by the lack of transparency in Rutgers University’s financial arrangements. While we have written a proposal that explains our requests and reasoning, we can’t make concrete proposals without more detailed information and making this information available to the University community and ourselves is also a key element of our campaign. Rutgers has a history of divestment. In the 1980s, Rutgers was one of the first universities to divest from South Africa, and in 2006, Rutgers divested from companies that do business in the Sudan. We think that this experience shows that divestment is a useful and affordable option, and that the situation in Iraq makes it morally imperative as well.

Allie Graham is a School of Communication, Information and Library Studies graduate student and a member of Rutgers Against the War.

Campus Antiwar Network Offers An Alternative Education For Students and Youth In The Streets Of Sector 6

The Republicans have conveniently decided to hold their convention during the first week of school. So to take advantage of the amazing learning opportunity, CAN wants students and youth to converge on Sector 6 of the RNC Welcoming Committee's map to receive an alternate education in a wide array of topics.

Politics: What happens when a large amount of committed young people act as a catalyst for change?

History: Living History on September 1, 2008: The day the Republican National Convention was shut down

Urban Planning 201: Identify infrastructure failings in St Paul and strategically assess them; hands on experience blocking roads. What happens when traffic comes to a stand still?

Engineering: Construction of semi-permanent and permanent structures Drivers Education: yielding to pedestrians in the streets

Theater 101: Guerilla theater Home Economics: Making effective household compounds to nullify pepper spray and other police weapons

Spanish: Discover the meaning of "Ya Basta" Physical Education 101: "Giving the pigs a workout". Make sure to bring your running shoes!!!

Music: Recitation of the "Teargas Song"

Cinema 101: Direct your own film on Police Brutality and People Power

Psychology: Teach the meaning of "Ochlophobia"

Many of these classes are taught through the use of group work, so come ready to learn and participate!

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On Labor Day, the Campus Anti-war Network (CAN) will be sending a mobile blockade brigade to the streets of St. Paul, Minnesota. We are coming to demand an end to the wars waged on Iraq, Afghanistan, and our futures. We are coming to demand that student voices for peace be heard in a political system that excludes us. We are coming in solidarity with the RNC Welcoming Committee. We are coming to crash the convention. Business cannot continue as usual while our futures, and the futures of our brothers and sisters, are condemned for us.

These are their wars-- But We Will Show That We Control the Streets!

We recognize the damage to our futures the current wars are causing and we recognize that both political parties are complicit in them. We refuse to be cannon fodder for the wars of the rich. As tuition and the cost of the wars rise, so do our voices. As our job prospects and the reins on US imperialism fall, so does our patience decline. We encourage all students and youth to join us. The disruption of the RNC is only one part of what we do. We recognize the need to build up as the war machine tears down.

http://www.campusantiwar.net/

http://www.nornc.org/