Senator Danielle Duong !!

Best,

Nadir

Late last evening, the ASUC Senate voted to pass a bill to provide funding for The Co-op Zine, a student publication of articles, fiction, poetry, and art published by members of the cooperative community at UC Berkeley. The Zine will educate both members and non-members about affordable housing issues and cooperative living in the City of Berkeley.

Earlier this year, the ASUC Senate voted to establish a new position within the ASUC—the BSC Affairs Officer. These efforts will ensure that the Berkeley Student Cooperative continues to have representation within the ASUC for many semesters to come.

This isn’t the first time that Winston has expressed support for tree sitting. She voted to oppose the fence the University built around the oak grove by Memorial Stadium. And she voted against a new, safe facility for student athletes because of her support for that group of tree sitters.

This time Winston has put together a resolution that calls on the UCPD to allow this tree sitter access to food, water and anything else he wants. The resolution also calls on every possible party to the disturbance to “issue public and legally binding promises” of amnesty to the tree sitter and his supporters. Winston’s resolution even offers the tree sitter a “15-minute audience” with the ASUC Senate to reward his actions.

Meanwhile the resolution completely ignores the concerns of the campus community. The fact that UCPD is using up resources that could go towards protecting the campus community is completely ignored. The fact that the tree sitter is disturbing hundreds of students, faculty, staff and visitors is completely ignored. The fact that a group of out of control eccentrics is attempting to usurp Berkeley’s tradition of activism is completely ignored.

I urge students and my fellow ASUC senators to strongly oppose Senator Winston’s one-sided resolution. We should condemn the tree sitter’s actions and call on him to come down unconditionally. If he comes down he can get all the food and water he wants. If he comes down the UCPD can focus on real security issues like the strong arm battery that occurred near campus yesterday.

“2048: DRAFTING THE FUTURE OF HUMAN RIGHTS”

 HEY! ITS A GREAT EVENT! If you are interested in Business, Law, Economics, or Advocacy this is for you.

The first conference for the International Convention on Human Rights Research Project will be on February 29, 2008, LEAP YEAR DAY, in Booth Auditorium, U.C. Berkeley, School of Law. The purpose of the conference is to facilitate an open-ended discussion about the future of human rights and to launch the Project’s website. Our conference will last all day and include the following:

Friday, February 29, 2008

10:00 - 10:25 Professor David Caron, Welcome and Introduction of Keynote speakers

10:25 - 11:15 Opening Keynote Address

Mary Robinson, Past President of Ireland and a former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, will give a keynote on “The Realization of Human Rights over the next 40 years.”

11:15 - 11:45 Second Keynote Speaker

Robert Haas, Chairman Emeritus of Levi’s, will give a keynote on “The Role of Business in the Future of Human Rights.”

11:45 - 11:55 Short Break

11:55 - 12:35 Conversation on Implementation of the Visions of the Keynote Speakers

Christopher Edley, Dean of Berkeley Law School, in Conversation with the two keynote speakers and the audience, will discuss how the visions of the keynote speakers may be realized.

12:40 - 1:45 Lunch at Boalt Hall, Grassy Courtyard

2:00 - 4:00 Discussion Panel in the Goldberg Room at the law
school.

“Looking Back on the Future of Human Rights: 1948, Race, and the Cold War”

Panelists:

Jonathan Simon, Associate Dean for Jurisprudence and Social Policy, UC Berkeley (moderator).

Carol Anderson, Professor of History, University of Missouri, author of “Eyes Off the Prize: The United Nations and the African American Struggle for Human Rights.”

Elizabeth Borgwardt, Professor of History, Washington University in St. Louis, author of “A New Deal for the World: America’s Vision for Human Rights.”

Mary Dudziak, Judge Edward J. and Ruey L. Guirado, Professor of Law, History, and Political Science, author of “Cold War Civil Rights: Race and the Image of American Democracy” and “Exporting American Dreams: Thurgood Marshall’s African Journey.”

4:00 - 5:30 Rest period

5:30 - 6:00 Cocktails Adagia Restaurant next to Law School

6:00 - 7:00 Dinner,with speaker, at Adagia Restaurant

Speaker, Karima Bennoune, Professor, Rutgers University, Board Member,Amnesty International USA

Right now, the ASUC Senate is considering a bill put forward by the Bay-area Environmentally Aware Consulting Network (BEACN) to assist Bear’s Lair Restaurants with becoming green certified. (more…)

I’d like to take advantage of my first blog post as ASUC President to direct you all to the State of the Association address I presented to the ASUC Senate on February 4th.

In the address, I listed a number of the achievements that this administration has accomplished since we took office at the beginning of this year. These included developments on the Multicultural Center, the Activism Right There Festival, Spring Welcome Week, the Book Swap, Lower Sproul Redevelopment, lowering student fees by $145,000, registering thousands of new students to vote and the Count Me In Campaign.

However, even with the significant progress we’ve made on these projects, there is a lot more work to be done, and I will continue to do everything within my power to get as much possible accomplished to the benefit of the student body. (more…)

I want to thank the staff of the Office of the Executive Vice President, particularly our Webmaster, Yaman Salahi, for their dedication to increasing the transparency of our student government. This blog is an exciting opportunity for communication among elected officials and the broader student body. Now, more students than ever will be able to join in discussions about the need for a Multicultural Center, the redevelopment of Lower Sproul, ASUC finances, the affordability of a UC education, the quality of our academic experience, campus safety, and many more important issues.

This blog can serve as a virtual public forum, a complement to our open, weekly Senate meetings (without all the complicated procedures). I look forward to many engaging conversations.

Happy blogging!