Present: Peter, Ellyn, Glenda Rae, Reynaldo, Lois.
Old business
1. Approval of Minutes for December 16: The minutes were approved with Glenda Rae's name corrected.
2. Progress Reports:
a. Topic of the Month: Ellyn sent ideas how to save paper. She will add to that report ways to save water.
b. Book of the Month report: Lois is reading "Better Angels of our Nature" by Stephen Pinter which talks about how violence has declined. Ellyn read "The Half Life of Madame Curie," which described how she was assaulted by mobs and was denied work because she was a woman even though she was the only one to win nobel prizes in two different disciplines. Reynaldo recommended "A very Stable Genius" by Carol D. Leonnig and Philip Rucker. He also recommended "The Plot to Betray America" by Malcoln Nance which describes the connections between Russia and Trump's campaign and his administration.
c. Immigration Coalition Report: Jobs with Justice is under new leadership with Jaz Alexander taking over from Joe Carbone. Glenda Ray said that no one has yet stepped forward to keep the Immigration Coalition going.
d. MLK table and LTOP: Not many people came by the table. Reynaldo recommended that people who staff the table not get into extended conversations right in front, preventing other folks from looking through the materials. The MPJC banner seems to have disappeared. We will contact Diana to see if it is still in her car. The 200 pie chart fliers that arrived at Lois' house the morning of the MLK day tabling seem to have been left at Century Center or else they are buried in someone's car. Only 40 people attended the Little Taste of Peace at Saint Mary's College, the lowest number since the start of the event. Tha announcement went out a week late due to communication problems with new staff at the Human Rights Center.
3. Treasurer's Report: $93.50 with $20 in petty cash.
New Business
1. What do we (can we) do next? We incorporated this topic into other discussion
2. Topic of the Month: We discussed a possible topic: Social Media. Ken Riemann, pastor at Prince of Peace Church of the Brethren, expressed interest in organizing this for the coalition at our Iran vigil. Reynaldo, who has the rights to update our facebook page, is in contact with him and will pursue this issue.
3. Tax Day and Earth Day: We will dedicate our April 13th vigil to holding tax day signs. Lois wants us to start holding at least some tax day signs starting on March 16 since most people will have already filed their taxes by April 13. Earth Day will be celebrated on Wednesday, April 22 at 5:30 pm in Leeper park by the fountain. There will be a joint celebration with the Audobon Society on Saturday, April 25 at St. Patrick County park. Note that after 10am, the entry fee is $7 unless you have a park pass. We will further discuss this at our March meeting.
4. Updating our social media profile: Ken had a funeral to preside over and was unable to attend the meeting. Reynaldo will follow up with him.
5. Other Topics and Issues: Ellyn and Peter asked the Peace Ed Fund Board if it was okay to be reimbursed for expenses incurred during their recent trip to Nicaragua to check up on the students we support. The PEF board unanimously agreed.
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4. Next meeting: Monday, March 16, at 2:30pm at Lois' facility. We will send the directions in the meeting announcement.