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.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/10/04/MNR119VTSS.DTL#ixzz0TreaJ1Hh
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.
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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
Join our Facebook group! http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2200386764
Follow us on Twitter! http://twitter.com/BUCollegeDems
Meetings Every Thursday at 7pm in Sargent 102.
To unsubscribe, please send an email with the message "unsubscribe" to bucd-list-request@bu.edu or visit our website at http://bucollegedemocrats.com/contact.php.
Hello Democrats!
This week, we will be doing something a little different... Instead of meeting in Sargent 102, we'll be going on a little field trip to hang out with... our Governor, Deval Patrick. Governor Patrick will be holding a forum specifically tailored to young people this Thursday at 6:00pm. The event is taking place at Northeastern, and we will be meeting at 5:30 in front of Sargent to head down together. If you miss us or would like to meet up with us at the event, please feel free to do so! You can reply to this email in order to get one of our phone numbers. Here is some more information about the event-
What's Your Massachusetts?
A Forum for Young Adults
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=162551053627&index=1
@
Thursday, October 8, 2009
6PM
Northeastern University—Cabral Center
40 Leon St. - West Village F, Boston
This forum is part of a state wide listening tour that is an opportunity for the Administration to ask young people to stay in Massachusetts and ask for their input on the state’s issues, as well as give them a chance to network with each other and discuss a common vision.
Additionally, we want to get to know you, and we hope you want to get to know us. So! Since this event obviously conflicts with dining hall dinner service, we were thinking that anyone who wanted to, after the event was over, could join us to grab some food. It'll be a great way to get to know the Eboard and perhaps get the inside scoop on any plans we are developing for BUCD in the coming weeks (mysterious panels, future meetings etc. etc.)
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A few more things:
1. College Democrats National Healthcare Call to Action Day
For months now, we've watched Congress debate about healthcare reform, but our country's need for reform grows stronger every day. College students have been called "healthcare's invisible minority" because one in three adults under 30 is uninsured. President Obama himself has said that most of the young uninsured are just one accident or illness away from bankruptcy.
So what can you do? Well, you can show your support for healthcare reform and share your own ideas on reform. You can even tweet your representatives to tell them to support real healthcare reform this year.
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. Register to Vote
Are you registered to vote? If not, please visit rockthevote.com to register. If you want to vote in the Boston municipal elections this November, October 14th is the last day to register. If you want to vote in your home state, both Virginia and NJ have gubernatorial elections in November, and municipal and special elections are taking place all across the country, so please, please register!
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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!
As always, stay blue, and have a great week!
See you Thursday,
Esha Rakhit
President, BU College Democrats
bucollegedemocrats@gmail.com
www.bucollegedemocrats.com
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2200386764 Join our Facebook group!
Follow us on Twitter! http://twitter.com/BUCollegeDems
Meetings Every Thursday at 7pm in Sargent 102.
To unsubscribe, please send an email with the message "unsubscribe" to bucd-list-request@bu.edu or visit our website at http://bucollegedemocrats.com/contact.php.