October 29, 2007 A.I. (UWest) Minutes

29 October, 2007

1. Danny welcomed everyone and mentioned a few pieces of news:
   
   1. the Amnesty International UWest webpage/blogspot is now up and running; and
      
   2. Dr. A.T. Ariyaratne will be giving a talk concerning his grassroots peace movement, Sarvodaya Shramadana, on Oct. 31, 2007 at 10am.
2. Jesse raised the question as to how we might be able to receive Urgent Action news from Amnesty International by email. Both Danny and Daphna replied that there are options on Amnesty's website to be put on the emailing list.
   
3. Danny reminded everyone that there are petition sites on A.I. UWest blog for Niger, Darfur, etc. if anyone is interested.
   
4. There was only one Urgent Action announcement for this week - Brazilian agricultural workers and land activists; over 200 agricultural workers are threatened in the Santa Teresa do Oeste in Paraná state, southern Brazil; two others have been killed, with another hospitalized and in a coma.
   
5. The group agreed verbally to the "corporate" letter writing and signing method.
   
6. 2 letters were written, one by Daphna one by Jesse - everyone present signed each letter.