Thursday, October 30, 2008

Wednesday October 29, 2008 Meeting

Hey everyone! This week was full of exciting things!!!!

Political Action Committee: Sue talked about phone banking and the upcoming canvassing trip to Philadelphia this Saturday (Nov. 1). She also mentioned that people can go to the Obama website (if that's the candidate that you endorse) and call people who aren't sure where they're supposed to go vote. You can just whip out your cell phone and they have everything there for you! Names, numbers, info and even a small script.

Women's Center Committee: Nicole said that she found out a lot of information on some steps that need to be taken. Our first step is to get out a petition (soon to come) for people to sign. We can also look at other major schools that are NYU competition and see which have women's centers (sort of a "look what your competition has" thing). Also, we need to start outreach and find faculty and students that are interested in this. It's a good idea to see if we can contact any faculty or grad students that have gone to other schools with women's centers and get them on board saying why they thought it was helpful to have one. There's a draft of the petition to come!

Take Back NYU! Committee: We have a VERY VERY VERY VERY exciting event planned for us! (Share the excitement!!!!!).
EQUAL PAY FOR EQUAL WORK! -- Has NYU Broken the Glass Ceiling? A march demanding budget disclosure in the interest of insuring gender pay equity. Taking place in and around Washington Square Park (start place TBA), on WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 12th, 2008 from 1:00 to 2:00. We will be marching around Washington Square Park with plexiGLASS ceilings demanding gender pay equity. We will also need people to hand out fliers and hold up signs. -- This is a NOW-NYU event but it's important that we get other clubs and interested parties. If you are involved in any clubs, feel free to ask people to participate or, if there's interest, co-sponsor. Julie e-mailed more specific information to the listserve. If there's any questions or people want to co-sponsor the event or help out at it, feel free to contact Julie.

Also, we talked about wanting to do a monthly community service project. We originally thought of GEMS but realized that we should have a backup in case things don't work out with them. There was TORCH, Planned Parenthood, and a few others suggested. Next week feel free to bring in information about any volunteer opportunities that you'd like us to be a part of and we'll make a decision as to what to do as a club.

Have a great Halloween everyone!!!!!
I'm excited for this NOW/TBNYU! event! Tell your friends! Tell other clubs! Tell other organizations around the city!

Love,
Sarah

Monday, October 20, 2008

Last Week

Hey everyone! Hope midterms are going well! I know I'm stressed and trying to get everything done.

On another note, last week was Love Your Body Day. At the meeting, we heard the different updates from our Committee Chairs. There are plenty of e-mails going around that you should take a look at. There's phone banking and canvassing for the election. To know more, e-mail Rachael or Nicole.

We talked about loving our bodies and what everyone was going to do that day or this week or even this year to try and love our bodies. I think everyone set some good goals. We heard things like "I'm going to try and eat healthier" "I'm going to try to accept my body weight", etc. All different kinds of things. Even if you didn't make it to the meeting or couldn't celebrate last week, by all means, set a goal of your own! We should celebrate ourselves and our bodies every day.

We then had a discussion about times when we've failed to love our bodies or our images of ourselves clashed with the things we tell others or want to believe. It was a good conversation about body image, the media, self-esteem, body weight and issues and more.

After some delicious cookies, snacks and drinks, we were blessed to have a demonstration of Wing Tsun by Sihing Dan. It was all about self-empowerment through self-defense. We learned about the principles of Wing Tsun and some of the moves they do. We did this class for about an hour, learning different techniques, practicing them on each other and the instructors. There are things we can all do to feel empowered and safe, especially while walking through the streets of New York City and I think that Wing Tsun is definitely one of those things that will help. For more information about classes, prices or Wing Tsun, contact Sihing Dan at 917-328-3555 or khemica369@yahoo.com. You can also take classes at 18 W. 18th Street, 6th floor -- between 5th and 6th avenues on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 7:30-9:00.


Also, there is an event that Nicole wanted everyone to take a look at: SPACE To Talk about Consent, Sexual Assault and Supporting Survivors: This interactive program explores myths and facts about sexual assault and trains members of the NYU community on how to help a survivor of sexual assault. Participants who complete this program will receive an “Ally” card which they can display to designate that they can provide a safe space for a survivor to come to them for support. Date: Friday, Nov. 14, 1:45-4pm. Location: Student Health Center, 726 Broadway, 3rd floor, Lafayette Conference Room. Light refreshments will be provided. Registration is required. Please email alyssa.lafosse@nyu.edu to register. (This program is free for all NYU students, faculty and staff.)

From Julie: The Take Back NYU Coalition is planning an action for Tuesday October 28th from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM! The action will be street theatre (Halloween theme) taking place around Washington Square Park supplemented by flyering and other outreach.The specifics of the performance will be determined during a meeting on Monday October 20th Kimmel 405 7 PM.As an endorsing club of Take Back NYU!, we hope that some members can volunteer for the action. We need actors, people to distribute flyers and talk to people, and people to help prepare for the action (costuming, brainstorming ideas, making publicity materials).If you are interested in volunteering for the action, please attend the Take Back NYU Coalition Meeting on Monday October 20th Kimmel 405 7 PM. -- I know it's too late for the meeting, but contact Julie for further information or any questions you have.

Sue sent a video link for people to take a look at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKPaxD61lwo.

Also, some of us went to the breast cancer walk this past Sunday. I had a great time and thanks everyone who came out and joined me. I will post pictures from both the Breast Cancer Walk (as soon as I get them developed) and from the Wing Tsun demonstration soon.

Have a great rest of the week and hope everyone can come out this Wednesday for our meeting!
Love,
Sarah

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

October 8, 2008 Meeting

Hey everyone.

Sorry I've been slacking off a bit the past two weeks. Things have been hectic. I'll try and be more on top of things again.

In this meeting we talked a lot about the new committees that have been formed and some upcoming events.

-One of our new committees is headed by Julie (also President), called the "Take Back NYU! Committee". We had members from SCRC (Students Creating Radical Change), also Take Back NYU!, come and talk to us about the Take Back NYU! campaign that we, NOW-NYU sponsor. I have a flyer and the "Disorientation Guide" in case anyone wants to take a gander. Julie has extra copies so you can e-mail her or get one at an upcoming meeting. According to the flyer that TBNYU! gave out, they are "a coalition of students and clubs dedicated to ensuring democracy, transparency and accountability at NYU." TBNYU's next meeting is October 17, time TBA. SCRC meets Mondays at 7pm in Kimmel room 405. If anyone wants to get more involved with this campaign or wants more information, please contact Julie.

-The next committee is the Women's Center Committee, headed by Nicole. She will give more information next week as to a timeline and what needs to be done in order to get faculty support and for possible letter writing/grant writing.

-The Reproductive Rights Committee, headed by Rachael had a few things to discuss this week. There are three things that she is interested in getting people together for, or just for individuals to do on their own: 1) A rally on October 15th outside the last presidential debate in Hempstead, NY. All expenses paid. 2) Canvassing in Philadelphia on October 18th and/or November 1st to discuss Obama's pro-choice record on women's health with voters. Buses leave at 8am. (many of us expressed interest and are thinking of possibly getting some NOW members together as a group and going on the 1st of November). It costs only $10 and includes membership to the Planned Parenthood NYC Action Fund. 3) Phone banking. There are many dates for this and Planned Parenthood is always in need of volunteers! Please contact Rachael for more information regarding these events. She also previously sent out an e-mail with more information. She can forward that e-mail to anyone interested. She also gave out a flyer for a t-shirt that states "Regulate the banks not our bodies" in support of the Obama-Biden campaign. To order, go to: www.ada-obamashirt.com.

-Another new committee is the Political Action Committee headed up by Sue. She talked about an upcoming phone banking even with the College Dems tomorrow night at 7pm in Kimmel. She also talked about the Palin Rally in Florida and how it has effected voters. Please contact her for more information.

-The Breast Cancer Walk in Central Park is in a few weeks. Feel free to join us, even if you can't donate. Just walking and showing your support means a lot to these women and men who have fought long and hard. It's on Sunday October 19th. For more information, feel free to contact me, Sarah, or look at the previously posted information on this website.

-Love Your Body Day is next Wednesday. We will be celebrating in our regular meeting room at 7pm by having food and a self-defense class! Feel free to bring friends. It will be empowering and I think people will have a lot of fun with it. We will be loving our bodies and learning how to kick ass with them! :)

-Lastly, there is a movie showing on October 17th and/or 18th at the Angelica Theater titled "Who does she think she is?" Contact Julie for further information.

Thanks! Hope everyone had a good week, good Yom Kippur and hope to see everyone next week to learn how to kick some serious ass!

<3 Sarah