Make Our Spring Break Your Spring Break

Still looking for something to do this spring break? Want to help in the anti-war protests? Does the compelling urge to lobby keep you up at night? (Need somewhere to crash this break?) If you answered yes to any of these questions, then Yael Chanoff '11 has the program for you!:

Our Spring Break is a youth-led spring break trip, started by former Wesleyan student Ashley Casale '11[?], which brings hundreds of people from around the country to Washington DC during their spring breaks. We stand against all illegal war and occupation. We want the billions of dollars the United States on war redirected towards the education, jobs, housing, health care, green energy, and other programs that we desperately need at home.

By day, we lobby congress, do outreach and direct action, and by night we hold trainings, open mics, film screenings, and concerts, all working together to inspire each other, learn from each other and promote our goals.

Housing and transportation is free, and you can come join us at any time between March 8-22 (Wes spring break.)

Interested? There will be an informational meeting at 4:00, Monday February 23 in the 200 Church lounge.

There will be cookies.

For those curious about the former student mentioned in this, Ashley is one of two students who got some attention last year for their cross-country march. The Argus article on that accomplishment is here.

What: Meeting about Our Spring Break
When: Monday, February 23 @ 4:00
Where: 200 Church Lounge

[edit - 2/21/09 @ 1:03 pm - the difference between an alum and former student has been clarified]
[edit - 2/22/09 @ 11:23 pm - the difference between the 24th and the 23th has been clarified]

Saturday's Marriage Equality protests, in cities everywhere

This past Saturday, in cities all throughout the United States, individuals gathered to protest Proposition 8 in California, as well as other propositions in many states that limited the rights of non-heterosexual couples. According to the New York Times account, there were tens of thousands of people protesting overall, including about nine thousand in LA, four thousand in NYC, and a thousand in DC and Vegas and Minneapolis. Overall, there were protests in over 150 cities nationwide.

As one of only two states that is currently allowing gay marriages, Connecticut is in a unique position to show the rest of the country how successful non-heterosexual marriage can be.

Here are some photos from our local New Haven protest this past Saturday... and note that even the dog is, in fact, wearing a gay rights t-shirt:

Photos courtesy of Joan Bosco '09

Protest Prop 8 Saturday

Lindsay Walsh '10 writes:

Join the Impact!

On Saturday, November 15th, protests will be held across the nation to protest the passing of Proposition 8 in California last week. This proposition writes discrimination into the California Constitution and unfairly treats LGBTQ Californians as second class citizens. There are protests occurring at 1:30 on Saturday in both New Haven and Hartford at each city's respective city hall.

More information can be found at www.jointheimpact.com

and/or e-mail lwalsh@wes or gabriela.rivera@yale

Date: Saturday, November 15
Time: 1:30pm
Place: Hartford City Hall and New Haven City Hall

Columnist lambastes student behavior on Fountain

Rick Green of the Hartford Courant has some harsh words for Wesleyan students in his May 23 column, "Wesleyan Protests Dishonor Activism."

Green uses the ol' there-are-bigger-and-more-important-things-going-on view not only to ignore the questionable police response to the party, but also to make a claim that we're fighting for our right to party, rather than fighting what looks like an overreaction by the police.

Green's claim copies, word for word, the thoughts of Middletown resident and blogger Ed McKeon, who wrote—a week before Green took up the topic—an entry on his blog Caterwauled, saying:

This was a Beastie Boys protest. Do any of us really care about fighting for the right to party?

Calling student actions on that now-infamous Friday morning an "embarrassment to this school's noble tradition of bona fide protest," Green goes on to criticize students for relating the MPD's tactics to similar abuses in the past:

I don't know what's more depressing, reading the online comments from students comparing their brave bottle-throwing on Fountain Street to the civil rights movement or pulling out the yellowed clips from the not-so-long-ago days when a Wesleyan protest meant more than "This Bud's for You."

Green then goes on to overlook the legitimate issues at hand, I suppose because, for him, the fact that this started as a party and not some long-planned political protest means that police overreaction isn't anything that needs to be mentioned in a column about a party whose only reason for notoriety... was police overreaction.

You may also want to check out the Topix forum on the column, which has some interesting and occasionally on-point reader comments.

Thanks, Ashley Casale '11, for bringing this editorial to our attention!

1:10 AM: It's a column, not an editorial. Thanks, Shoutboxer.

Students protest with caution tape display

Katie Fabac '08, a resident of 57 Fountain Ave., sends us photos from a student protest today on that street:

Students put up caution tape and signs proclaiming phrases like "Trigger finger?" and "End Police Brutality: Keep Wes Safe" and "Safety in Numbers?" (the last of these signs is a reference to the message relayed from Public Safety to the students asking for rides back to campus after walking down to file police reports around 3:30 am. Public Safety told students that we should walk back to campus as a group as there is "safety in numbers."

The installation today is intended to draw attention to the event and ask students, administrators, and the greater community to consider the culpability of authority figures in the events of last night.

Rally for Physical Plant

Short notice, but if you're at Usdan for lunch tomorrow you might as well stop by North College at noon:

Tomorrow (Wednesday, 4/23) at 12:00, North College:

Rally with Physical Plant!

Put pressure on the Wesleyan administration to finally give PPlant the contract they deserve! Channel 3 News will be there, so let's show them that Wes students support campus workers.

Please forward widely, chalk, tell your friends, whatever.

Read about what's at stake in the Argus.

Students launch protest, open Divestment Office

If you're taking a walk by Admissions today, you'll no doubt notice the protest being held by students pushing for the University's divestment from weapons contractors. They've been out there since yesterday, says Laura Heath '11, pictured above. And they plan on camping out for as long as it takes—if needed, until May, when the trustees are set to decide on the divestment issue.

Students have also established a Divestment Office blog to chronicle the developments of the protest, and the divestment issues at stake:

After planning for several weeks, students were given permission to erect a tent city on the lawn of the Investment Office protesting Wesleyan University's investment in weapons contractors. Quickly, two tents were pitched and a small sign which reads "Divestment Office" was hung from one of the tents.

The tents were set up to protest Wesleyan's investment in several weapons contractors [that] have returned enormous profits since the start of the Iraq War. The school has an undisclosed amount of its endowment invested in companies such as General Dynamics and Raytheon. Both companies make the majority of their profits from government defense contracts. [...]

Until the Board of Trustees, which holds the power to divest, has removed Wesleyan's financial investment in weapons contractors, the tents will remain set up on the lawn.

Die-in for divestment happening really soon!

Lucas Guilkey '10 sent us a Facebook message!

This is just a reminder that today at 5:45 PM we'll gather in Usdan 110 for the die-in to bring awareness to Wesleyan's investments in weapons contractors and to call on the administration to divest. All are welcome to participate.

Yes, that's in less than 45 minutes.

Date: Thursday, Jan. 31
Time: 5:45 PM
Location: Usdan 110

Update on Ashley Casale '10's Peace March

Ashley Casale '10's peace march is picking up the closer she gets to Washington:

Ashley Casale, 19, and Michael Israel, 18, began walking across the country in a journey they hoped would mobilize the nation and inspire thousands to join their 3,000-mile trek from San Francisco to Washington, D.C., to protest the war in Iraq. But for weeks they walked alone -- crossing the Nevada desert, then climbing the Rocky Mountains and finally pushing on through the Great Plains.

As the days passed and the miles rolled by, more people began to gather by the road to see the two teenagers. About 100 people turned out to rally around them in Lincoln, Neb.; 200 people joined a peace demonstration in Omaha, and about 90 people gathered in Iowa City. As word spread, someone volunteered to drive a support car to carry the marchers' gear. More people joined them for daylong walks.

Now the lonely peace marchers -- once a movement of just two -- include six people, all committed to walking the remaining 800 miles to Washington, where they plan to hold a rally Sept. 11.

"I do feel heartened," said Casale, walking along a road lined with corn and soybean fields, alongside her small but growing band of marchers. "It's energizing to have a lot of people -- at least more than before. I think it's building. I think people are paying attention."

On Monday, Casale and Israel -- looking lean and tanned from weeks on the road -- walked into Normal among a group of nearly 20 supporters, many of whom drove from the Chicago area to march for the day. Two people carried huge rainbow flags that read "PEACE." Another woman held a sign that read "War is not the answer."

Julie Haverty, 68, and her husband, Jim, 69, of Frankfort, brought the marchers new shoes: a pair of size 9.5 Birkenstocks for Casale -- who had worn large holes in her sandals -- and a pair of size 9 New Balance sneakers for Israel.

Bernie Kopera, 62, of Orland Park postponed a vacation so he could meet the marchers in Bloomington. "Meeting the kids was a priority," he said. "I don't want them to lose their hope and idealism."

...

On Monday night, the marchers reached the campus of Illinois State University, where a crowd waited to meet them. A whoop went up as the marchers walked onto a concrete patio area. Cameras clicked, and a radio reporter held up a microphone for an interview. Nearly three dozen people held signs that read "Bring the troops home."

The marchers still have a month and many miles to go, but some in the crowd felt optimistic.

Tom Swanborn, 41, came the night before with his wife, Erin, 35, and their 4-year old daughter. He bought the marchers a pizza and paid for a hotel room for them. That gave the marchers -- who have been mostly camping -- a rare opportunity to shower, do laundry and enjoy some air conditioning. The Swanborn family had been following the progress of the marchers on the Internet and had worried about them out on the road.

"When I met them in person, they were hot and sweaty but super-optimistic," Tom Swanborn said. "I just thought, 'They're going to make it.'" He paused for a moment, then added: "I hope I'm right."

Check out the video of Casale and Israel here.

Sophomore Treks Across The USA for Peace

Ashley Casale '10 has been marching across the country (literally) to protest the Iraq War:

The idea for the march came to Casale last autumn. A freshman at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn., she had attended war protests but thought that a cross-country march could attract more attention. She established a Web site, www.marchforpeace.info, sent out hundreds of fliers to other college campuses and contacted peace groups around the country. Israel, about to graduate a home-school high school program in Jackson, Calif., spotted a notice online. Though dozens of people showed interest, in the end, only Israel and another woman agreed to walk.

They set off from San Francisco on May 21, carrying 40-pound packs. By the end of the first week, the third marcher dropped out. Another activist told them they would never make it to Washington by their target date, Sept. 11. But they pressed on, crossing into Nevada and making their way across the desert in two weeks. Then on to Utah and Colorado.

Their determination has endeared them to many. After seeing the holes in Casale's shoes, a man in Sacramento bought her a new pair of sandals. An elderly man in Colorado drove their packs ahead for two days and called his friends who lived along the route to arrange for shelter.

"I read about them in the paper yesterday and thought, 'Oh my God, we have to help them,'" said Bobbi Benson, 48, of Boulder, who helped drive the packs forward through Colorado. "They just have such courage."

'This is the whole point'

On July 4, Casale and Israel walked the 20 miles from Loveland to Greeley, two towns in a solidly Republican corner of Colorado. As they trudged along the roadside, the Rocky Mountains dominated the horizon behind them. And before them, fields of wheat and corn stretched for miles.

"People who see us today might see us as un-American or unpatriotic," said Casale, about to dart across an expressway ramp. "But I think this is the whole point of this country and July 4: People taking an active role, and speaking out."

They walked for hours under the hot sun. When they finally made it to Greeley, someone yelled an obscenity out a car window. A few minutes later, a man in a Cadillac waved dismissively at them. But others honked support, signaling with a thumbs up or a peace sign.

And when they ducked inside a restaurant, one customer, Carla DeVries, 51, cheered them on. With perfectly coiffed blond hair and wearing a bright pink sweater, DeVries said she is a Republican and supports the war but said, "It's refreshing to see anyone do anything that takes adversity." She smiled at Casale and said: "You stick to your guns."

Twelve hours after they began walking, the sun going down on Greeley and the rat-a-tat-tat of celebratory firecrackers echoing in the distance, the two marchers arrived at a beige split-level house, where someone had offered them a place to sleep. A gray-haired woman rushed to the screen door. "Welcome! Welcome!" called Jean Taylor-Smith, 74, embracing them on the doorstep. "We didn't think you'd ever make it!"

Nearly halfway to goal

The two marchers were exhausted, but they also were nearly halfway to Washington. On Sunday they were near Gothenburg, Neb. A peace group has arranged a rally in Omaha, where they hope to draw large crowds.

"If I could have it my way, I would have hundreds of people out here. The more people the better. But I still don't believe it's insignificant that two people are marching," said Casale, sitting on a couch drinking a tall glass of ice water, her list of contacts spread on her lap. "What we're doing can be significant on a national level. But it's also the individuals we meet. Everywhere we go, there's someone we can meet and talk to."

Taylor-Smith, standing in the kitchen, beamed with pride.

"One person can change the world," she said, rushing to fill everyone's water glasses, asking what the marchers wanted to eat. "These two will plant the seeds, and the movement will grow."

March on Washington

Date: Saturday, January 27th
Time: 11:00am - 6:00pm
Venue: Washington, DC

Wes students are taking part in a march on Washington to demand that Congress oppose Bush's escalation of the war, that they obey the wishes of the majority of both Iraqis and Americans and bring the troops home.

If you are in Middletown, the buses leave on Friday the 26th from Middletown at 11:15pm and will return on Saturday the 27th. SEWI is offering a limited amount of subsidized tickets (~$20), so contact ecaffery(at)wesleyan.edu to RSVP.