Press Release: DECEMBER 4th – Emergency Demonstration to Protest Escalation of Afghanistan War

UNC-Asheville Students for a Democratic Society

www.unca.edu/sds | uncasds@gmail.com

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 3, 2009 

CONTACT: Katie Sue Cambell – (814) 482-0775, Jeremy Miller – (336) 710-0078

Emergency Demonstration to Protest Escalation of Afghanistan War

On Friday, December 4^that 5:30 PM, UNC-Asheville Students for a Democratic Society will hold an emergency demonstration with other students and members of the Asheville community in front of the Federal Building to protest the escalation of the Afghanistan War and to demand an immediate end to the war and occupation. This action is part of a nationally coordinated response to the escalation by Students for a Democratic Society.

Local SDS chair Sarah Buchner said, “We oppose the decision to escalate this failing war. The plan from the White House, to ‘surge’ more than 30,000 additional U.S. and NATO troops to Afghanistan in an attempt to prop up the illegitamate Hamid Karzai puppet government is an injustice, not only to the Afghan people, but to the American people as well. Every dollar spent on bombs and bullets to kill Afghans is money stolen from people here at home. We are in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, and trillions of dollars are being spent on this war while that money could instead be spent here on people’s needs.”

According to the call to action released by the national SDS antiwar working group, “We categorically reject U.S. wars, occupations, and bombings of the people of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq. The Afghan people have a right to self-determination, to control their own resources, and take care of their own affairs. It is not the place of the U.S. to bomb Afghanistan into submission and control its destiny. The only way for Afghanistan to be free is for the bombings to halt, and for all U.S. and NATO troops to leave the country immediately. We support the people of Afghanistan in their struggle for liberation and freedom from foreign occupation and domination.”

SDS member Josh Sykes said, “No amount of troops will be enough to stop the Afghan resistance to U.S. imperialism. The Afghan people, throughout their history, have made it clear that they will not allow foreign troops to ride rough-shod over their homeland. They want what everyone wants: self-determination. They will fight until have they have national independence, and nothing less. The sooner the U.S.-NATO forces leave, the better.”

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Education Rights Funeral for the EARN Scholarship: Video, Photos and Press Wrap-up

Here are links to news coverage of the event, to which we will add as more articles become available:

“Students hold funeral for scholarship benefitting low-income people” – Asheville Citizen-Times
http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20091110/LOCAL/91110030

“National Day of Protests for Education Rights” – Fight Back! News
http://www.fightbacknews.org/2009/11/13/national-day-protests-education-rights

November 10: Funeral for the EARN scholarship

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 4, 2009
CONTACT: Katie Sue Cambell – (814) 482-0775, Sarah Buchner – (828) 674-4928

Students to hold funeral for scholarship benefitting low-income people

On November 10, 2009, Students for a Democratic Society will hold a “funeral for the EARN scholarship” on UNC-Asheville’s campus as part of a national day of action for education rights called by the newly-formed Network to Fight for Economic Justice.

Students will assemble at 12:20 PM in front of the dining hall to begin the event. Sarah Buchner, the chair of the UNC-Asheville chapter of SDS, explained what will happen. “We’ll have pallbearers carry our mock-casket, with a few stops along the way, to the final destination on the quad where a tombstone will remain for the rest of the week to mark this scholarship’s short life struck down by the stroke of a bureaucrat’s pen.” SDS will also circulate a petition at the protest, collecting signatures that it intends to take to the North Carolina General Assembly.

The EARN scholarship, cut at the state-level due to ‘budget shortfalls’, was received by 10,700 students across North Carolina and was for persons that made less than 200% over the poverty line. The EARN scholarship was particularly for working class and low-income students.

According to a petition circulated by SDS about the scholarship, “Today, in the midst of the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression, when millions are being put out of work and even out of their homes, we cannot let working class and low income students be put out of school while the government spends trillions on wars and occupations all over the world and while the rich continue to get bailed out here at home. We believe that education, like housing, a job, or healthcare, is necessary to live in the United States, and is therefore a right for all people, not a privilege only for those who can afford it.”

SDS member Viviana Moreno said, “We want to send a message to North Carolina General Assembly that youth, students, and workers will not stand for this. Working people will not foot the bill for this economic crisis which has been created by the rich. We don’t want the budget balanced on our backs.”

“The U.S. is fighting two unjust wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, costing hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars. Why can’t we use some of that money here at home to take care of people’s needs?” commented SDS member Angela Denio.

Students for a Democratic Society is demanding that universities “chop from the top” by cutting the pay of top administrators who make more than $100,000 rather than cutting scholarships and programs that benefit low-income and working class people.

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Gender Dance Revolution

~featuring DJ Anwar Brown

You can win fabulous prizes for:

“best dressed”
“best moves” and
“most genderific”

• Date: Saturday, October 24, 2009
• Time: 8:00pm – 11:00pm
• Location: UNCA Alumni Hall (In the bottom of the Highsmith Student Union)

Party starts at 8pm, but we’ll be bending genders all night!

*come as you are, from fabulous to frumpy–bend your own gender or someone else’s!

Check out the facebook event!!!

Come out for this radical gender-bender dance party sponsored by UNCA Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and Alliance!

November 10 – National Day of Student Action for Education Rights

On October 3 in Chicago, IL, the We Say Fight Back! Conference drew hundreds of trade unionists, community organizers, leaders of housing struggles, students, and many others to talk about how to fight back against the savage cutbacks now afflicting workers, students, the poor, women, and oppressed minorities across the United States.

A student and youth workshop was held with folks from campuses and communities across the US. We passed a resolution calling for a national protest for education rights on November 10, 2009 (text of the resolution below). The purpose of the day of action is to help build the movement to demand education as a fundamental right, not a privilege. While we are all facing particular battles in our local situations, having a unified day of action can help us spark a broader movement by demonstrating our solidarity with all those struggling for education rights.

We are meeting via conference call weekly to help make this action a success. If you are interested in getting involved, sign up for the listserv to get call information!

UNC-Asheville students: Come to SDS meetings, Wednesdays @ 8pm in the Highsmith Boardroom (HU235)

Students Protest 8 Years of War in Afghanistan

The following article is from Fight Back! News:

By Kati Ketz | October 10, 2009

In a day of action organized by Students for a Democratic Society, October 7 saw dozens of protests across the country against the Afghanistan war on the 8th anniversary of the U.S. invasion. Students marched, conducted die-ins and skits, and some were arrested as they demanded money be spent at home on education and healthcare, instead of two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

UNCA SDS’s response to the elimination of the EARN Scholarship

This statement is in response to the elimination of the North Carolina EARN Scholarship.
by UNC at Asheville Students for a Democratic Society

Description of the Scholarship:
EARN was established by the 2007 North Carolina General Assembly to provide grants to eligible students to enable them to obtain an education beyond the high school level at community colleges, public universities, and private colleges and universities in North Carolina without incurring student loans during the first two years of their postsecondary education.

“Money for jobs and education, not for war and occupation!”

On the 8th anniversary of the war in Afghanistan, voices shouted “Money for jobs and education, not for war and occupation!” across the quad on the University of North Carolina at Asheville.

Over 50 students and members from the Asheville community gathered to speak out and rally against the war.  UNCA Students for a Democratic Society member Angela Denio said, “The people of Afghanistan have the right to self determination. Eight years of unjust U.S. occupation in Afghanistan has resulted in tens of thousands of civilian casualties, and displaced too many families that are now living in extreme suffering and poverty.”

UNCA SDS member Katie Sue Campbell ended with the cry, “What do we want?” and everyone demanded “Troops out now!”

See also the national SDS Antiwar Working Group: On 26 Campuses, Students Demonstrate Against Afghanistan Occupation

Oct. 7th: Protest 8 years of US Occupation in Afghanistan

For Immediate Release
October  — 2009   
                  
For more information, contact:
UNC-Asheville Students for a Democratic Society   
UNCASDS@gmail.com       

Asheville  – October 7th, 2009 will mark eight years of U.S. military occupation in Afghanistan.  Originally initiated by the administration of George W. Bush, this brutal war is based on lies. While having virtually nothing to do with fighting terrorism, it is instead a ploy for the long-term control of strategic resources in Central Asia for the benefit of the U.S. ruling class and its allies. 

“This war has brought nothing but misery for the Afghan people,” says UNCA SDS member Sarah Buchner. “It is a failed and hated occupation that should not be escalated but should end, like every other U.S. military occupation.”

Organizers are calling for the billions that are wasted on empire-building abroad to be used for providing jobs, health care, and education at home instead.  “With the current economic depression and the university budget in crisis, we demand that the billions of dollars currently being spent on ongoing war and occupation be brought home,” says UNCA SDS member Katie Sue Campbell.

At the 2009 National Convention of the Students for a Democratic Society, a resolution to mark the 8th anniversary of the war in Afghanistan was passed unanimously.  On October 7th, SDS chapters around the country will be organizing protests, actions and educational activities to raise awareness on campuses about the continuing war in Afghanistan.  Students for a Democratic Society is urging students and youth across the country to participate in whatever way they can.

To raise awareness about the ongoing occupation both on campus and in the larger Asheville community, the UNC Asheville chapter of Students for a Democratic Society will hold a speak-out against the war on the quad at 11:30am on October 7th.  Members of the campus and larger community are invited to assemble, voice their opinions, and sign anti-war petitions.  This event is designed to resist widespread apathy towards U.S. military aggression abroad and to offer the community options for activism at home.

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For more information on the SDS National Day of Action visit the SDS Antiwar Working Group, read the call to action, and check out the list of endorsers and participants!

Click for October 7 Poster PDF File

Film Screening – Tuesday, Sept 29th @ 7pm: Rethink Afghanistan

The videos are available online here: http://rethinkafghanistan.com/videos.php