CAN Eastern Regional Conference

Starting Date: 04-26-2003
Ending Date: 04-27-2003

Address

Providence, Rhode Island
United States
401-867-6384

http://www.antiwarnetwork.org

Description

INVITATION TO THE CAMPUS ANTIWAR NETWORK (CAN) EAST COAST REGIONAL CONFERENCE
April 26-27, 2003 * Brown University, Providence, RI

With the Bush administration declaring victory in Iraq?a ?victory? of chaos, dehydration, death, and amputation?its war on Iraq moves on to a new phase, and the antiwar movement is faced with stark new challenges. The occupation of Iraq is now the order of the day, with its viceroy and colonial governors already preparing their indefinite rule. And, to the shock of the whole world, the US has put Syria in the crosshairs, threatening economic sanctions and dropping broad hints of military action.

Yet among the horrors of this war, there is substantial hope. The war is more unpopular in world opinion than ever; remarkably, thousands of people in Iraq have courageously begun to demonstrate against the American military presence. The millions of people who demonstrated on February 15 cannot and will not be silenced. The 400,000 students who will be denied a college education next year due to attacks on education spending?at a time when billions are found to bomb schools in Iraq?will experience the war's twisted priorities first hand. Campuses remain important centers of antiwar activity, but we need organization to make our voices heard on the national stage.

On February 22-23, delegates from over 100 [number???] schools gathered in Chicago for the first national conference of the Campus Antiwar Network (CAN) to build an independent, grassroots, and democratic organization of the student antiwar movement. At that conference it was decided to convene regional conferences before the end of the school year to assess our work and decide how to move forward. CAN has had some great successes since then, particularly in the CAN-initiated April 5 demonstrations across the country. Now it's time to figure out where we go from here.

In order to help achieve these goals, the East Coast Region of CAN, in league with the other CAN regions, is organizing a regional conference in Providence, RI on April 26-27. We believe that the best way to build an independent student voice within the anti-war movement as a whole is for the many East Coast schools with anti-war groups to get together, face to face, and democratically decide how we can all work together to stop this war.

All student anti-war activists are encouraged to attend the conference, but each school will be limited to two voting delegates to take part in decision making at the conference so that schools are not geographically under or over represented. All national anti-war groups are invited to send non-voting observers in order to build unity and coordination, but decisions will be up to student delegates.

TIME/AGENDA: Conference will open at 9AM on April 26 and close in the afternoon of April 27. Exact schedule is still being determined. Likely we will follow the pattern from the national conference: speakers, workshops, proposal presentations on Saturday; voting and breakout sessions on Sunday.

REGISTRATION: AS SOON AS YOU KNOW YOUR DELEGATION, REGISTER! This will really help out the organizers. Email can_conference_east@yahoo.com
with your information, or call 401-867-6384. There will be a modest, sliding-scale registration fee per person to offset our costs, which will be announced ASAP.

LOCATION: Salomon Hall at Brown University, and possibly other buildings nearby as space demands. Providence is easily reached by train, bus, car, or plane. For directions and campus maps, see http://www.brown.edu.

HOUSING: Free housing of the stay-on-someone's-floor variety will be provided. There are cheap hotels in Providence, but not really in walking distance of Brown. Email Catherine_Strauss@brown.edu
or call 401-867-6283 to request housing. Please note any special needs (allergies, handicap-accessible, etc).

FOOD: You'll get food! Probably! People with special dietary restrictions (vegan, allergies, etc) should contact philippebierny@yahoo.com
now to help us plan.

PROPOSALS: Proposals submitted ahead of time can be included in the conference packet and scheduled for discussion. A delegate must be willing to present the proposal to the conference in order for it to be considered. Submit proposals in writing to Shaun_Joseph@brown.edu
.

WEBSITE: Get the most up-to-date information at http://antiwarnetwork.org.

GET INVOLVED: This is YOUR conference! Send an email to EastCoastCAN-subscribe@yahoogroups.com to get organizing updates. Planning chats are held quite frequently, and your campus should be represented. Check the email list or the website for chat times and instructions.

GENERAL INQUIRIES: can_conference_east@yahoo.com
or 401-867-6384.

Geographical Scope:

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