Tufts sex scribe eyes web TV show

Amber Madison went from college newspaper sex scribe to landing a major book deal. What’s next for the 24-year-old Tufts University graduate? An Internet television show where teens to 30-somethings can get advice on topics like sexually transmitted diseases and masturbation. The former sex-advice...

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Humanities or Human Resources?

Humanities or Human Resources?
The Future of Ethnic Studies and Labor
in the Corporate University

FRIDAY, APRIL 13, 2007
9:30AM-5:30PM
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ANALYSIS
41 EAST 11TH STREET 7TH FLOOR
NEW YORK NY 10003

As corporate models of management and decision-making
take hold of more and more colleges and universities, 
a growing number of students, faculty and staff are
facing threats to ethnic studies programs, assaults on the 
integrity of academic decision-making, and the casualization of the
university labor force. Through analyses of funding,
diversity, disciplinarity, labor movements, and struggles
over area studies programs, this conference will recast
and address questions of race, gender, sexuality,
ability, nation and class in relation to what
has been termed the corporate university.

KEYNOTE
Dr. George Sanchez,
Director of the Program in American Studies and Ethnicity,
University of Southern California

SPEAKERS INCLUDE
Joe Berry, Adjunct Labor Education Specialist
and Program Developer, Chicago Labor Education Program
at the Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations,
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Ashley Dawson, Associate Professor of English, 
CUNY Graduate Center and the College of Staten Island

Cate Fallon , Adjunct instructor in Photography and Imaging,
Tisch School of the Arts, NYU and Recording Secretary 
for ACT-UAW Local 7902

Penny Lewis, Co-chair of the PSC/CUNY's Solidarity Committee 
and Adjunct instructor in Social Science,
Borough of Manhattan Community College

Randy Martin, Professor and Director of the Graduate Program 
in Arts Politics, Department of Art and Public Policy,
Tisch School of the Arts, NYU

Ali Zaidi, Assistant Professor of Spanish, CUNY

FILM SCREENING, 5:00pm
"I'm on Strike Because..." (21 min) Directed by Steve Fletcher, 
PhD student in American Studies

SPONSORED BY
The Program in American Studies, GSCO/UAW Local 2110, 
& the Department of Performance Studies at NYU

KINDLY RSVP
Please send an email with your name, affiliation,
and contact information to:
corporate.conference@gmail.com  .

For more information, please visit
http://corporateuniversityconference.blogspot.com  .

The conference is free and open to the public.

Support the Quincy 4!

Support the Quincy 4!
COME Fill the Court Room

On April 30, 2006, Quincy Police viciously assaulted Chinese Progressive Association organizer, Karen Chen; Quan Manh Thin and Tat M. Yuen of Quincy; and Howard Ng of Somerville while they were coming home from a Chinese engagement party. All are young Asian Americans.

While the victims were talking with the state trooper next to Super 88 Market, a Quincy police car pulled up. Without warning, a police officer jumped out and pepper-sprayed three of them directly in the eyes at close range.

Karen Chen, who is just over five feet tall, was then tackled by three male officers; receiving a black eye, a swollen face, and bruises from the attack. Another victim, Tat M. Yuen was knocked unconscious by the police officer. Throughout the incident, the police officers repeatedly yelled at the victims, used profanities, and called them derogatory names.

The Quincy Police took the four innocent Asian Americans to the police station in handcuffs and falsely charged them with resisting arrest and/or disorderly conduct. If convicted, they may face jail sentences of up to 2.5 years and a criminal record detrimental to their future.

Over 150 people attended the first community meeting that was held on May 21, 2006 in show of support and solidarity for the Quincy 4. Since that first meeting, Karen Chen and Joanna Ng, a witness to the incident, have filed formal complaints with the Quincy Police Department about the police misconduct. The complaint is now being investigated by the FBI.

Eleven months after the incident and five pre-trial hearings later, the case is now scheduled for a trial to begin on April 9, 2007. The defense team expects the trial to last three days.

We ask that you come and bring your friends to fill the court room throughout the trial, to let the police officers know that the community is watching and to make sure that these victims of police brutality will be cleared of all charges.

Date: Monday to Wednesday, April 9 - 11, 2007
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Location: Quincy District Court
1 Dennis Ryan Parkway, Quincy Center
(Red Line to Quincy Center)

Come to the TRIAL to show SUPPORT!

Should TPAN join TUAA?

A few of us have been discussing the possibility of joining the alumni association. The board has had a conversation about this in the past. In October of last year, as the '06 Board cohort was just coming on, I had started the process of applying for Chapter membership to TUAA and then aborted the process after consensus was not obtained on the issue. This was after almost a year of people talking about doing this.

Some questions we've had:

1) Could we use TUAA's 501(c)3 status to collect money from our members for TPAN's operating budget?
2) Would there be restrictions on what TPAN could say or do?

I think this question about joining TUAA is becoming increasingly urgent. TPAN is growing and we cannot organize effectively if we have no way to fund our activities or to collect donations from our members. Many of our initiatives have been paid for out of pocket by individuals on the Board listserv. What do you guys think?

[WEIGH IN ON THIS ISSUE]

Radical Bay Area Friends

Hey Radical Bay Area Friends,

I'm writing to let you know about a friend of mine, Marina Sitrin, who will be visiting the Bay Area this week. She is an anarchist author who has recently produced an oral history of the autonomous factory worker movement in Argentina called Horizontalism. It was recently reviewed in Left Turn and has gotten a lot of attention in the movement. She'll be speaking at the Modern Times Bookstore at 7pm today and will be at the Anarchist Bookfair on Saturday and Sunday and will also be at New College on Monday and Tuesday.

You can read about her book on the front page of the AK Press website.

Here is a recent article of hers in Left Turn.

Pass on the word and I hope you can make it!

Pride on the Hill at Plexiglass Menagerie

This Friday, March 16th, celebrate the arrival of spring with your friends from Pride on the Hill at Ryan Landry and the Gold Dust Orphans' Plexiglass Menagerie!

One of the greatest plays in American theater, The Glass Menagerie broke through all convention when it premiered in 1944. The Gold Dust Orphans are proud to bring you their slightly twisted version of this undisputed masterpiece, now set in modern day New Orleans against a conflicting backdrop of Southern perseverance and the corruption of urban renewal. The Gold Dust Orphans is a legendary Boston performance company that provokes, challenges and entertains audience with low-budget, high-octane original shows.

The show is at 8PM at Machine in Boston. Tickets go fast, so buy them online now at www.golddustorphans.com! Look for the Tufts table before the event to meet Pride on the Hill's Boston organizing committee and catch up with alumni and friends. We know it's late notice, but we hope you can join us for this informal Pride on the Hill celebration!

Also, look for information coming soon about our Gaypril reception on April 19th at Felt in Boston!

Solidary Rally in Copley Square for New Bedford Immigrants

if you can't make it out to new bedford (which really isn't that far from boston!) then there is also a solidarity event going on in copley square

A RALLY TO SUPPORT NEW BEDFORD WORKERS AND THEIR FAMILIES

HEAR FROM WORKERS AND FAMILIES DIRECTLY AFFECTED BY THE RAID IN NEW

BEDFORD.

COME AND SHOW YOUR SOLIDARITY!

A GROUP OF MAYAN WORKERS AND REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE ORGANIZATION MAYA

K’ICHE WILL COME TO BOSTON TO TALK ABOUT THE IMPACT OF THE RAID ON

THEIR COMMUNITY, TO ASK FOR OUR SUPPORT AND TO JOIN THEIR STRUGGLE FOR

JUSTICE WITH THE LARGER MOVEMENT FOR IMMIGRANT AND WORKER RIGHTS.

LOCATION: Trinity Church

Copley Plaza

206 Clarendon St.

Boston, MA

DATE: Tuesday, March 13th,2007

TIME: 5 PM to7PM

This is the time for members of the Boston community to voice their

support for the New Bedford workers and tell the US government enough is

enough!

Please try to bring others with you!

A Call to Action - New Bedford

**DISTRIBUTE FAR & WIDE !!

************ ********* *********
SUPPORT NEW BEDFORD - A  CITY OF IMMIGRANTS

PROVIDENCE will have CARPOOLS leaving from Faunce Arch  (Brown University) and DARE (340 Lockwood St, Providence, RI) at 1:30pm.
************ ********* ********* *


Call to Action!

Rally to Support Detainees, Deportees, and their Families

Saturday, March 17 @ 2:30 PM

53 North Sixth Street (Corner of Sixth and Elm)
New Bedford, MA

On Tuesday, more than 500 armed homeland security officers descended upon Michael Blanco Inc in New Bedford, MA. Over 350 employees, mostly mothers with young children, were swept up in the raid, shackled together in groups of three by their wrists and ankles and marched to buses bound for Fort Devens, 100 miles away.

Community activists in New Bedford have scrambled to locate the children and their parents. One baby who was breast-feeding had to be hospitalized for dehydration because her mother remained in detention, authorities said. One mother was located in Texas after her 7-year-old child called a state hot line set up to help reunite the families.

This is not a new story, but the story keeps getting more horrific. In recent months raids have hit nearly every state in the country. According to ICE's own numbers over 500 people are deported from this country everyday ! Each one of these deportations has a very human element that is about families and children. It's time that we pressure the President to "Stop the Raids" and lead on passing a Fair and Humane Immigration Reform Bill. Everyday we wait hundreds of more families are torn apart, children abandoned, and communities disrupted.

In New Bedford, families will be holding a huge rally at the federal building here calling for the release of all detainees, a congressional hearing on the raids, and immediate passage of humane and fair immigration reform.
.


OTHER WAYS TO HELP
1)      Monetary Donations Are Needed:

MIRA is collecting money in a separate account to be distributed to community organizations responding in the affected areas. All donations through this account will be distributed to the affected New Bedford families.

To Donate On-Line: [ https://www. communityroom. net/donate. asp?id=331]   Choose "MIRA" as the recipient, then specify that the funds are for "New Bedford Immigrant Families / Ninos Fund." Or send a check to the MIRA Coalition, 105 Chauncy St , Boston , MA 02111 . Please specify in the memo line that the funds are for "New Bedford Immigrant Families / Ninos Fund." Donations are tax-deductible and all donations marked "New Bedford Immigrant Families / Ninos Fund" will be distributed to the affected families through the appropriate local community and service organizations.


2)      Attend Tuesday's Press Conference


PRESS CONFERENCE, MARCH 13th at 5pm, at the immigration Office (200 Dyer Stre. Providence)

Enough! No More Raids - solidarity with our companeras in New Bedford.  Providence shows our solidarity as we declare our city A Raid-Free Zone.

Together, we reject the terror.

Sponsored by: Nuevo Amanecer of St. Teresa, English for Action, Olneyville Neighborhood Association, Comite de Inmigrantes en Accion, International Social Organization, Uniendo Fronteras, Catholic Diocese of Providence, New Life Ministry and other organizations.

BROWN: meet at 4:30pm at Faunce on Tuesday.


3)      Call Your Congressmen: Ask them to speak directly with Secretary Chertoff to request that he "Release the Moms." Demand a moratorium on deportations until reform has passed.

Senator Jack Reed  (202) 224-4642
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (202) 224-2921
Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy (202) 225-4911
Congressman Jim Langevin (202) 225-2735

4)      Volunteer
If you are or know a lawyer who is willing to take pro-bono cases, or are a mental health professional, preferably a bilingual Spanish speaker, please call MIRA with your name and contact information at 617-350-5480 x212.



SEE: http://www.miracoalition.org/

A Plea for New Bedford & Against Bostoncentrism

a letter from my friend camilo:

Colours of Resistance comrades,

This email was written for the Boston activist scene but how does it resonate for the broader activist scene, including some self-proclaimed "anti-racists"? We should think about if this same event happened in a different city that is already tapped into the sensationalized activist scene. How would the response to it might have been different?

Of coarse I do not expect everyone from around the country to stop what they are doing and come to New Bedford. Your local work and connections is what makes you relevant and is where your potential lies to make change. I do encourage people to try to do at least one solidarity action/event in their community around solidarity with New Bedford before May 1st. We all know that the raid in New Bedford was not isolated so please connect this issue to immigrant rights issues in your community.

It is not too late to make the difference between freedom or deportation, family or tragedy for those who have been detained. I challenge my comrades to not just make New Bedford a poster child victim of ICE raids but to build real solidarity tied to demands to free all those arrested in New Bedford. We want strategic solidarity and mutual liberation!
With respect, Camilo Viveiros camiloviveiros@yahoo.com

A Plea For New Bedford & Against Bostoncentrism

Please mobilize people for this Saturday's rally in New Bedford.

New Bedford a City of Immigrants Rally
Saturday, March 17th, 2pm
Come out to support New Bedford workers and families.
Gather at the Federal Building, Downtown New Bedford

Push Boston people to transcend Bostoncentrism! If this raid happened in Boston there would have already been national solidarity actions. Challenge the classism that ignores oppression when it does not happen in widely known places. Please come down, organize carpools and pressure Boston based organizations to provide buses for Saturday. We have to break out of the idea that the largest rallies should always be in Boston. I have driven low-income tenants, immigrants and youth of color up to Boston countless times for events and lobbying at the statehouse. Let's give back some of that solidarity that Southeastern Mass. communities have shared with Boston for years. We from Southeastern Mass. are mostly people of meager incomes yet we have made the commute to Boston and filled your ranks at protest after protest. Let's make it cool to come down here for once!

When they attack us in smaller working class cities like New Bedford we need to challenge the idea that resistance should be stronger or is strongest only in the big cities. We should fight the classist myth that activists only live in cities with a lot of affluent college students or cities where there is a concentration of capital. Let's make this rally truly a regional event.

Thanks for your solidarity, Camilo Viveiros

To counter raids like this from happening in other communities we need to stand up
for New Bedford workers and their families and show that we will not tolerate this!

IT IS IMPORTANT THAT WE TURN OUT IN LARGE NUMBERS
TO SUPPORT NEW BEDFORD!

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Federal immigration agents raided a New Bedford leather manufacturer Tuesday March 7th using militaristic tactics, including helicopters. At least 340 workers were detained from the Michael Bianco Inc. factory. The factory employs mostly women and mostly immigrants from Guatemala and El Salvador (but also immigrants from Cape Verde, Brazil and Portugal). The raid has torn apart hundreds of families and left dozens upon dozens of babies and young children without a home. Over 100 children were directly affected. Some of the detainees have been flown to Texas and many families still do not know where their loved ones are. Somewhat coincidentally, the raid led to the arrest of a handful of managers - none of whom were charged for any of their violations of labor law related to factory working conditions. Factory workers detained by the Department of Homeland Security's ICE where making leather products for the US military operations in Iraq. The US contract with the employer was not canceled. Federal officials are calling Tuesday's attack the largest INS raid in recent history.

See: http://www.miracoalition.org

Photos of the Raid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxnHGeENkmE

Jobs in Urban Public Education

There are two opportunities for alumni and seniors interested in working to close the acheivement gap in urban public schools.

The Boston Teacher Residency is a one-year urban teacher preparation and certification program developed as part of Boston's aggressive commitment to improving instruction in every classroom. Go to www.bpe.org/btr to learn more.

People can still apply to be a resident for the 07 08 school year. Applications are due April 6. (There's even a high school in BPS called the Social Justice Academy!)

OR

If teaching's not your bag, but you want to get involved, a teacher recruitment position is opening very soon. I'll have more on that (job description and contact info) as the information becomes available.

Tufts Feminist Alliance launches T-shirt campaign to combat negative stereotypes - News

Tufts Feminist Alliance launches T-shirt campaign to combat negative stereotypes - News: "unch a T-shirt campaign today to coincide with International Women's Day."

Membership Drive: Lets reach 100 by the end of the month!

TPANners: We've been growing by leaps and bounds over the last several months. As of the time of this post, we have 86 members on the TPAN Monthly Update Listserv! We can easily break the 100-mark by the end of the month: all we need is 14 additional members. Pitch in and let your friends know about the great work that TPAN is doing for students and alumni. Rumor has it that there is also a Progressive Senior Award Ceremony in the works for late April. Stay Tuned!

I.C.E. Immigration Raid in New Bedford happening now

CNN News article about the Immigration Raid in New Bedford

Dear All,

The numbers keep changing, up to 350 workers detained is the last I've heard.  The articles even from the biased press are truly heartbreaking.  The feds are calling this one of the largest raids in recent history and it is in our bioregion (Southern New England). This is the time for us to be showing our solidarity and support.  Please spread the word about what is happening and find out who would be willing to help in what ways.

I am in contact with some of the people involved in organizing a response.  If you'd like to help, e-mail me: thomaschen@riseup.net

-Tom

Killer Coke

www.killercoke.org

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

We need your help to stop a gruesome cycle of murders, kidnappings and torture of SINALTRAINAL (National Union of Food Industry Workers) union leaders and organizers involved in daily life-and-death struggles at Coca-Cola bottling plants in Colombia.

In July 2001, the United Steelworkers of America and the International Labor Rights Fund (www.laborrights.org) filed a lawsuit on behalf of SINALTRAINAL, several of its members and the estate of Isidro Gil, one of its murdered officers. The lawsuit and campaign aim to force Coca-Cola to prevent further bloodshed and to provide safe working conditions.

Coca-Cola bottlers “contracted with or otherwise directed paramilitary security forces that utilize extreme violence and murdered, tortured, unlawfully detained or otherwise silenced trade union leaders,” the lawsuit states. It also notes that Colombian troops connected with the paramilitaries have trained at the U.S. Army’s School of the Americas (SOA) at Fort Benning, Ga., where trainees were encouraged to torture and murder those who do “union organizing and recruiting;” pass out “propaganda in favor of workers;” and “sympathize with demonstrators or strikes.” This was made public when the Pentagon was forced to reveal the contents of training manuals used at the school. (For more information, see www.soaw.org, the website of SOA Watch.) The year that the lawsuit was filed, The Coca-Cola Co. made $4 billion in profits and paid its CEO, Douglas Daft, more than $105 million. Coca-Cola continues to rake in billions each year, yet the frightening conditions at the Coke plants remain unchanged. Labor unions and human rights advocates in the United States can stop these atrocities at Coca-Cola’s bottling plants.

Please read the enclosed exposés. The Campaign to Stop Killer Coke will move the fight to the doorsteps and into the boardrooms of Coca-Cola and its key financial ally, SunTrust Banks. As long as SunTrust, “the bank of Killer Coke,” maintains its intimate ties to Coke through board interlocks, large stock holdings and credit relationships, SunTrust, along with Coca-Cola, will be a principal target of this campaign. We ask you to take part in this most important struggle. Any contribution you can make to the campaign will serve as a critical building block and act of solidarity to help end one of the ugliest chapters in labor history. Please make a financial contribution, participate in protest activities and mail in the coupon below. By working together, we can protect our sisters and brothers and restrain corporations like SunTrust and Coke that behave so immorally and irresponsibly. Any support you give will be greatly appreciated and acknowledged.

In solidarity,

Javier Correa, President, Sinaltrainal
William Mendoza, President of SINALTRAINAL, Barrancabermeja.
Ray Rogers, Director, Campaign to Stop Killer Coke

Download PDF

Campaign to Stop Killer Coke
P.O. Box 1004, Cooper Station
New York, NY 10276-1004

You can email us at: stopkillercoke@aol.com

You can call us at the following number:
(718) 852-2808
(718) 852-2412 (Fax)

Ray Rogers, Campaign Director

Left Forum Update

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Left Forum 2007
Forging A Radical Political Future
March 9-11

www.leftforum.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Friends,

Left Forum 2007 - FORGING A RADICAL POLITICAL FUTURE takes place this weekend, MARCH 9-11, at Cooper Union.

Conference information is on our 98 panels and plenaries is available at www.leftforum.org. We also want to let you know about the other events we have planned.

FILM FESTIVAL: On Friday, March 9, we are hosting an indy film festival at NYU. It is free and open to all - please tell your friends.
WHAT: Film Festival
WHEN: Friday 12 to 5 pm
WHERE: NYU, 721 Broadway, Between Waverly Place and Washington Place, Room 006

COCKTAIL PARTY: Immediately preceding our Opening Plenary, (which begins sharply at 7pm on Friday evening) please join us and your fellow Forum participants at a cocktail party. We ask for a contribution of $5 each to help defray the costs.
WHAT: Cocktail Party
WHEN: Friday, 5 to 6:30 pm
WHERE: Peter Cooper Suite, Cooper Union

SATURDAY EVENING PERFORMANCES AT 8PM:
We're very excited to be offering two cultural performances that are free and open to the public:
1. Karen Finley's "George and Martha"; a solo performance detailing an illicit affair between George Bush Jr. and Martha Stewart.
WHAT: Karen Finley performing "George and Martha"
WHEN: Saturday 8 pm
WHERE: New York University
19 W4th Street between Green and Mercer, Room 101

2. Readings from Howard Zinn's Voices of a People's History of the United States, with Amy Goodman, Anthony Arnove, Staceyanne Chin, Brian Jones, Deepa Fernandes, and Erin Cherry, and others.
WHAT: Voices of a People's History of the United States
WHEN: Saturday 8 pm
WHERE: Cooper Union's Great Hall
7 East 7th Street (at 3rd Ave)

Of course, the focus of the Forum remains our plenaries, panel discussions, and bookfair. Our full program is online at: http://leftforum.org/leftforum2007/program.html

Check it out! We hope to see you March 9-11 at Cooper Union in New York City! Please come early enough to allow for the lines at registration.



Solidarity,

Left Forum

212.817.2003
www.leftforum.org

Left Forum - NYC

I will be attending the Left Forum 2007 conference at Cooper Union this weekend. They have an impressive roster including Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now!; AK Press author Marina Sitrin; Anarchist Anthropologist David Graeber; Howard Zinn; and also people from The Nation, the Black Radical Congress, the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, and many more. I'll be mostly going to the Latin America and Social Movement panels, but I will be around. If anyone else is going or interested in going, do let me know: louis [at] tuftsprogressives [dot] org. See you there! -Lou

Mothers Alliance -- new feminist group

Here's some news about the Tufts Alliance for the Advancement of Mothers, a newly formed student organization that meets weekly at the Women's Center:

Currently, TAAM's primary goal is to secure on-campus housing for undergraduate mothers. Ideally, parenting students would live in nearby suites for community and shared childcare -- much like the Rainbow House suite in Hillsides. However, the administration has been resistant to granting any on-campus housing to students with children.

For more information about TAAM or suggestions for negotiating housing, etc. please contact tuftsparents@yahoo.com.