Official BUCD Newsletter

Category: Volunteer

Weekly Update 10/14/2009

10/14/09 | by BUCD

| Categories: Announcements, Events, Campaigns, Volunteer

Hey College Dems,

This week, our meeting we will be divided into two parts. The first part will be pretty much the same old song and dance, some speakers (candidates [quickly]) explaining their positions and why we should care about their campaigns. Then we will turn to a discussion. We will be talking about the Supreme Court of the United States, the rule of law, and all that good stuff. We'll speculate as to who is leaving, where the court is taking the Constitution, and other things that might be tangentially related to the Supreme Court.

In case you need a refresher, here are some major cases before the Supreme Court in the 2009-10 term.

Campaigns: Whether federal and state laws that ban corporate and labor union contributions to political campaigns and political parties violate freedom of speech.

Guns: Whether the Second Amendment, which the court interpreted to guarantee an individual's right to own guns for self-defense, applies to state and local governments.

Religion: Whether an 8-foot cross in the Mojave National Preserve is an unconstitutional government endorsement of religion.

Animals: Whether a federal law making it a crime to possess images of cruelty to animals violates freedom of speech.

Terrorism: Whether federal laws that make it a crime to give "material support," including legal training and medical aid, to groups designated as terrorist organizations are unconstitutionally vague or overbroad.

Juveniles: Whether a state can sentence juveniles to life without the possibility of parole for crimes other than homicides, such as rape or robbery.

The second half will commence immediately after the first. We will be discussing plans for the newspaper that we will be launching. There are a wide range of issues that we will be discussing, everything from naming the beast to picking the font (fun!).

So you actually have options (beyond coming and going), you can come to the first half of the meeting and leave before the second, or come for just the second, or come for both. We realize that this is kind of a stressful time for everyone (exams etc), so that's why we've broken it down this way.

A few more things:

1. President Obama visits Boston!
President Obama will be visiting Boston on Friday October 23rd as a guest of the Deval Patrick Committee. Unfortunately, tickets for the event cost $500 (it's a fundraiser). Fortunately, you can attend for free, provided you volunteer. If you are interested in volunteering, please reply to this email for more information.

2. New Jersey Vote by Mail
Are you from New Jersey? Are you registered to vote in New Jersey?
New Jersey is one of only two states in the nation to hold a gubernatorial race this year. The outcome of this election will have national significance and will serve to either validate or undermine President Obama's progressive national agenda.
If you are from New Jersey and registered to vote in New Jersey, please visit www.njvotefromhome.com to register to Vote by Mail. With one simple form, you can request to have you ballot mailed to you at school!

3. Blog for BUCD!
We are always looking for new contributors for our blog. Please check it out at http://bucollegedemocrats.com/blog and if you're interested in blogging, email us!
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As always, stay blue, and have a great week!

See you Thursday,
Esha Rakhit
President, BU College Democrats

bucollegedemocrats@gmail.com
www.bucollegedemocrats.com
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Meetings Every Thursday at 7pm in Sargent 102.

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Weekly Update 9/28/09

09/28/09 | by BUCD

| Categories: Announcements, Events, Volunteer

Please join us, the BU College Democrats, for our general meeting this Thursday October 1st at 7pm, in Sargent room 102. This week we will be discussing the upcoming Senate race in MA, who has thrown their hat in the ring, what politicians and organizations have endorsed the contenders and most importantly giving you a chance to tell us who you are support and why. So whether you are strongly supporting a candidate or still haven’t decided (hey, it’s early!) and just want to learn more-- we can’t wait to see you at the meeting!

BUCD would also like to thank all of our brave freshmen, who stepped up to run for executive board positions last week; you are the lifeblood of the club, and we couldn’t exist without your enthusiasm. We would also like to thank all of our other members for voting in the election and bearing with us through the long democratic process of counting ballots (because Democrats believe every vote counts after all!). Lastly, congratulations and welcome to our three new board members: Caitlin Mauk, Peter Michelli, and Ashley Teamer.

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There's also quite a few awesome political events going on around campus/Boston this week:

1. Noam Chomsky: Building Democracy from the Grassroots
2. Free Screening of Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story
3. Coalition for Choice Lobby Day
4. Organizing for America Listening Tour

1. Noam Chomsky: Building Democracy from the Grassroots, 9/29/09 TOMORROW
The renowned Noam Chomsky will be giving a lecture sponsored by the Stop the Wars Coalition on "Building Democracy from the Grassroots." He will be discussing popular movements as the essential element of democracy. Learn about how people fight and have fought economic and political crises. The lecture will take place Tuesday, September 29th (TOMORROW), at MIT from 6pm-8pm. For more info, the lecture location (and a map!) visit http://events.mit.edu/event.html?id=11289331&date=2009/09/29.

2. Free Screening of Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story, 9/30/09 WEDNESDAY
We've been given passes to a free/advanced screening of Michael Moore's newest, Capitalism: A Love Story. Michael Moore himself will be at the screening for a Q&A session. We have a limited number of tickets, so if you are interested in going, email Caitlin at caitlin.mauk@gmail.com.

3. Coalition for Choice Lobby Day, 10/06/09
Do you support comprehensive sexuality education? Do you want to protect women’s reproductive health in Massachusetts? If so, the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts and other member organizations of the Massachusetts Coalition for Choice need your help!

On Tuesday, October 6th, they will be lobbying the Massachusetts legislature and urging them to support the following bills:

The Comprehensive Health Education Bill
1. An Act Relative to Providing Health Education in Schools (Senate Bill 218/ House Bill 3434) would require that all school districts provide age-appropriate health education in grades K-12
The Repeal Bill
2. The Repeal Bill, also known as An Act Relative to Updating the Public Health Laws (Senate Bill 1610/ House Bill 1745) would repeal archaic and unconstitutional abortion and contraceptive restrictions that remain on the books in Massachusetts.

Lobby Day will be held on Tuesday, October 6th, 2009 from 10 am to noon. Lobby Day will start out in the Great Hall at the State House in Boston. From there, we will break up into groups to go to our legislators’ offices and lobby them on these issues.

Please contact Amanda Mooers at 617-629-8613 or amooers@pplm.org for more information or to sign up!

4. The Organizing for America Listening Tour, 10/26/2009
The Organizing for America Listening Tour will be stopping in Boston on October 26th at 7pm. For more information and to RSVP, please visit http://ma.barackobama.com/ListeningTourMA

On the Listening Tour, OFA staff will update you on their plans and get your input on how to organize Massachusetts going forward. Whether you're already working to make change a reality, or if you've been waiting for the right moment to get involved, this is a great opportunity to share your thoughts and find out how to get active with OFA in your community.

If you have any questions please contact College Democrats of Massachusetts Campaigns Director Kate Moore at moorek@macollegedems.org.

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Lastly, if you're interested in blogging for the BU College Democrats, or just want to see what we all have to say, please visit http://bucollegedemocrats.com/blog, and if you're thinking about interning this semester, check out our internships page at http://bucollegedemocrats.com/internship.php for dozens of Democratic and progressive internship listings!