Minutes for MPJC Meeting for October 3

Old Business

1. Approval of the Minutes for September 5: The minutes were approved as written.
   
   
2. Progress Reports
   1. Declaration of Peace Events: We marked this event at the vigil on September 25 by making signs identifying the issues being raised by the folks doing CD in DC.
      
      
   2. MPJC statement on Lebanon/Gaza: Caroline brought several pages of notes on the issue that she had condensed from a six inch stack of materials. We were concerned that the listed facts, while true, would raise charges of MPJC bias against Israel. We decided to send the facts to Neve in Jerusalem and Sis in Hebron to ask them to give us an analysis from the ground. The question we need addressed is "What would it take to bring about reconciliation among the parties in the conflict." When their replies arrive, we will try to pull together a statement to post to the list for comments.
      
      
   3. CLAP project: CLAP met in closed session with the University Staff Advisory Council. Caroline and Lisa were barred from attending so we do not know what the results were. There is a good article in the current Scholastic magazine about wages at ND. ND staff are being asked to sign a petition asking the administration not to outsource jobs at ND when there are local workers available to staff them.
      
      
   4. Meeting with Donnelly: Caroline sent a letter to Donnelly's schedule manager several weeks ago, but has heard nothing back. The chances of a meeting before the election are small. Donnelly appears to be focusing on fundraising events. We need to attend a fundraiser and also send the Questions for Candidates to those oranizing the remaining two debates asking them to consider using some of them. The national democratic party has given big bucks to the Donnelly campaign and probably has more influence over him than we can hope to have.
      
      
   5. Meeting with FCNL representative: Lois has been in contact with Jay O'Hara from FCNL who wants to come during the week of October 9-13 to brainstorm questions to ask the 2nd district candidates. Peter will send Lois our questions to send Jay. She will ask him how he expects to gain access to the candidates in the next few weeks. If he has a feasible plan, she will try to set up a meeting.
      
      
   6. September 11 vigil: Lois prepared a banner with the slogan "September 11 -- No Iraqi Connection" and we held it at the vigil on Monday, Sept. 11. The letters kept sliding off -- wallpaper does not make a very adhesive surface.
      
      
   7. Jobs with Justice Banquet: It was a nice occasion. We decided not to take out an ad in the program because the price had been raised to over $100. Glenda Rae did not get the word on this and gave Greg, the JWJ organizer a check for $25. We decided to count this as our annual dues payment.
   
   
3. Treasurer's Report: We have $371.26 in the bank and $16.52 cash on hand. Glenda Rae has set up the account for online access and is waiting for her password to be sent in the mail. This should eliminate the $3 per month service charge. We received a $200 donation in memorial. Ellyn will send a thank-you note to both the donor,Michael, and the parents of the deceased. Michael is a graphic artist and would be happy to help design any flyers we need done.

New Business

1. Planning for Fall Activities -- CPNV participation in the Monday October 30th vigil as part of their St. Marcellus celebration: Brenna and Liz had dropped off some flyers re this event earlier in the day. The schedule is 4pm welcome at Seitz park including a one-act play for which they need two more players, 4:45 procession to the Federal Building for the Monday vigil 5-6pm, 6-7:30 simple meal at the First Unitarian Church, 7:30 prayer service at the ND basilica followed by an address by Bishop Gumbleton.
   
   
2. Demonstration re October 12 visit of Mrs. Bush: Kathy has recommended we make signs about the number killed and wounded in Iraq. Pam offered her house for this. The unions are planning something and seniors will be demonstrating about health care. Karen in Goshen has been contacted to see who she can bring. We need to find out who is planning what and fit into their planning. Very few of us will be free to attend a rally and no one stepped forward to help plan one. The doors open at Century Center at 11:15 and no one will be admitted after noon. There will be pictures at 12:30 and the lunch with Laura Bush speaking starts at 1pm. Ellyn will talk to Pam and Karen and contact the list when events have crystalized.
   
   
3. Advertizing Common Ground T-shirts on the website: We need a policy on this. For now we will approve ads sponsored by one of our members which conform to our mission and which advertize products of interest to our members. These T-shirts seem to meet these criteria and we will put a note on the web giving the information and suggesting a donation. Caroline will get the information to Peter.
   
   
4. Link "No Flame" policy to the listserve signature: We agreed to add a line to the signature with a link to this policy. Peter will ask Kay to do this. We noted that the complaint that MPJC lacks vision during the latest email controversy is not valid. Our mission statement is posted on the web.
   
   
5. Can out-of-town listserve members join discussions?: We all agreed that any member on the listserve should feel free to post regardless of geographical location.
   
   
6. Topic of the Month: We will continue with the Lenanon/Gaza topic. We ran out of time when brainstorming other ideas. We started discussing how to resolve the UFPJ pledge not to vote for candidates who are opposed to immediate pullout from Iraq in districts where no candidate holds a pull-out position, but rejected this as a topic because it could not lead to an MPJC position. Voting is an individual decision.
   
   
7. Other Topics and Issues: There is a demonstration at the State House in Indy on October 5. It was unclear from the flyer who was sponsoring it. There is a meeting with Francis Tobin, new coordinator with Jobs with Justice at 10am on October 6 at the Building Trades (1345 Northside Blvd. Rsvp to 574-292-8137. There is a Stop Violence speaker, Dr. Prothrow-Smith, 6pm, October 11, Century Center. Hopefully this will encourage action to alleviate the killings South Bend has experienced in recent months.
   
   Rey attended the Secretary of State debate. It focused on ballot issues and whether the BMV offices should remain under the governor. Indiana is the 5th most difficult state in allowing candidates to get on the ballot because so many signatures are required. It is ironic that we are fighting in Iraq for ballot access for all parties, but in the U.S. we effectively cut out all but the Republicans and Democrats.
   
   
8. Next Meeting: Peter and Ellyn will be in New Orleans during the first half of November. We may not be able to meet again until the week of November 20. We thought of rotating meetings between Tuesdays and another weekday that Lee can attend. Peter will contact Lee and propose a date for the meeting.