10.5.13

Amnesty Going Green


Hey Amnesty! This is David King, you’re outgoing Sustainability Officer! As you may know, UCB Amnesty has been a certified Green Group by the ASUC Green Certification program for the past few years, and we are seeking re-certification for this following year. Environmental justice is a real and important aspect of social justice, and I wanted to start to outline some of the things that we at UCB Amnesty do to stay green, why it matters, and what individuals can do.

Today I’ll talk about plastic water bottles.

This semester, UCB Amnesty purchased a 5-gallon water jug to be used at our events, cutting the need to have individual plastic water bottles at our events. This water jug can be used along with compostable cups, or even better, personal reusable water bottles. We encourage members to bring personal canteens with them to our events so as to create no plastic water trash.

Why does it matter? Plastic water bottles have important ramifications for both the environment and social justice concerns. Every year, we use 1.5 million tons of plastic water bottles, produced from nearly 50 million gallons of oil. While plastic water bottles can be recycled, less than 20% actually are, and recycling plastic is no more than a band aid- plastic can only be recycled into non-recyclable plastic, so all plastic ends up in the landfill anyway, in much shorter time than you may think. Almost all plastic ever made in the world is still around- that’s how slowly it decays, and when that plastic ends up in the ocean, as it often does, it threatens the seafood that is the major protein source for 1 billion people- mostly in developing countries.
Additionally, from a human rights perspective, bottled water is far, far more expensive than tap water, and studies consistently show that it is really no healthier in the developed world, even as our water infrastructure ages and begins to decay, since it is far less regulated. However, one does have to wonder whether our country would have stronger water infrastructure if the more affluent people didn’t have the choice to switch to bottled water when they became uncomfortable with how their tap water tasted, or whether the prevalence of bottled water weakens the push for maintaining the tap water infrastructure upon which the poorest Americans rely.

So what can individuals do? Well, buy personal reusable water canteens and enjoy free, healthy tap water, available all over campus and in all of our homes. Feel free to bring these water bottles to all Amnesty meetings and events, and encourage other student groups to invest in water jugs like Amnesty has- and tell all your friends to buy reusable water canteens as well. Maybe we can turn that 1.5 million tons of plastic to zero if we can just recognize what little need America has for plastic water bottles.

Stay tuned for more information about Amnesty’s green initiatives from our incoming sustainability officer, Megan Rae Maurino, this coming fall!

27.2.13

Events this Week

Hey Amnesty! All of our General Meetings are now from 8-9pm in 101 Wheeler. Check out two of our events this week on facebook and feel free to stop by with any friends! 

Free China The Courage to Believe: Wednesday 2/27/13 170 Barrows 7-9:30pm

https://www.facebook.com/events/460517297336175/permalink/462099333844638/?ref=notif&notif_t=like

UCB Amnesty International presents a film screening of the documentary "Free China: The Courage to Believe" and welcomes two renowned guest speakers, Bu Dongwei and Yu Li.


Free China: The Courage to Believe is an award-winning documentary by Michael Perlman. It tells the courageous stories of Jennifer Zeng and Charles Lee, who were persecuted by the Chinese government for their practice of the ancient meditation of Falun Gong. The film exposes the widespread human rights violations that still take place today in China. It examines the conditions in the Chinese prison re-education program, the brutality of an authoritarian state, and the efforts by people of conscience to end the persecution and abuse.

This event will also feature honored guest speakers Bu Dongwei and Yu Li.

Bu Dongwei worked as a project coordinator in China Office (Beijing) of The Asia Foundation, a San Francisco based NGO before he was arrested and placed into a labor camp for his practice of Falun Gong. With the help of international organizations, he came to US at the end of 2008 after being
released from the labor camp. Now he lives with his family in San Francisco and spends his spare time working as a volunteer for Sound of Hope Radio, a not-for-profit radio network that broadcasts shortwave radio programs to
China.

Yu Li is currently a Live TV host for "Health is Fortune" at
NTDTV-SF, and she is also one of the local presenters of the "Free China" film. She has been with different Chinese media outlets, radio, and newspapers for about 10 years now as an editor, news reporter, anchor, and hostess.

Free pizza from Sliver will be provided!





US And the Future of Immigration Reform: 3/1/13 103 Moffit 5:15-7:45pm

https://www.facebook.com/events/369406199832881/

UCB Amnesty International and Inside the Living Room present a thought-provoking immigration related panel entitled “U.S and the Future of Immigration Reform.” This panel discussion will feature respected professors, graduate students, undergraduates, and human rights activists, all expressing their views on future challenges and current successes in the immigration reform debate. With Congress set to launch ground-breaking immigration reform, all eyes are on the nation and we’ll delve into some of the hot-button issues unfolding in the debate. Also featured are Inside the Living Room (ILR) and the East Bay Sanctuary Covenant. ILR is a UC Berkeley internship connecting students to the various volunteer opportunities available at East Bay Sanctuary Covenant (EBSC), a 501(c)3 non-profit in Berkeley that provides legal and social services to immigrants and asylum seekers. Free food and drinks will be provided. 

6.2.13

UCB Amnesty International Spring 2013

Hope everyone had a fantastic Winter Break! It looks like UCB Amnesty International is going to have a busy Spring 2013 semester. We already started off the New Year with our Write4Rights event at Cafe Milano and Free Speech Movement Cafe where coffee lovers came in to write letters on behalf of worldwide prisoners of conscience. As of right now we are still solidifying upcoming events and our schedule but feel free to join our weekly meetings Wednesdays 8-9pm in 83 Dwinelle (room location subject to change so check email/ twitter/ fb/ and the blog for weekly locations) to meet others passionate about human rights, and to help plan/organize events! We are always open to new ideas and can even help you organize your own event if you have a specific human rights passion. Hope to see you all soon!

24.10.12

UCB Amnesty International: Fall 2012 Events


UCB Amnesty International has been keeping busy this semester. This fall we have been focusing on raising awareness for Proposition 34. Prop. 34, the SAFE California Act, will replace California’s death penalty with a sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole as the maximum punishment for murder. This means convicted killers will remain behind bars forever – with no risk of executing an innocent person. California taxpayers will save $130 million each year without releasing a single prisoner. We went to a movie screening called After Innocence about men on death row who were wrongly imprisoned and found to be innocent, and also have been tabling and phone banking for Prop 34.
            Along with our work for Prop 34 we also hosted an amazing event, which was the Ginetta Sagan Women Human Rights Defenders Tour. There was a discussion panel with two amazing speakers and human rights activists, Jenni Williams and Beatrice Mukansinga, who reminded us that, “Defending your rights is tough, you need to defend your rights even in stable places.” They gave us motivation to continue fighting for human rights and bringing awareness to the Berkeley community about current event issues. Just recently we also hosted a film screening of the Coathanger Project about reproductive justice. As a group we will also be volunteering at the Berkeley Project together in November.
            As Election Day approaches we are putting all our efforts into raising awareness of Prop 34, yet we are also beginning to brainstorm new ideas for film screenings and any other events to help raise advocacy and awareness for worldwide human rights issues. 

Feel free to come to our weekly meetings Wednesdays 8-9pm in 101 Wheeler if you want to meet Berkeley students, have any ideas for events, are passionate about a human rights issues, or just want to learn more about Amnesty! Hope to see you there! 

3.10.12

Fall 2012 Meeting Times

Hi everyone,

We are still alive! We meet every week for human rights activism on Wednesdays at 8PM in 101 Wheeler.

See you soon!

-Amnesty @ Cal