Schoolcraft SDS and Detroit SDS is organizing a counter-recruiting action at Schoolcraft College in Livonia on Monday. Northville doesn’t have school that day so ya’ll should come out and help pass out lit about how recruiters will lie to you. And if anyone is going the Scraft next year, get in contact with me… myspace.com/scraftsds

-a.m.

I think it would be a good idea to hold an open meeting, however small, to discuss the recent news of extreme changes to NHS that will dramatically affect students, faculty, and staff.

N-SDS Open Meeting on Board of Education Proposals
Friday, January 18, 2007 @ 3:00PM
Tuscan Cafe (Center Street in Downtown Northville)

I urge anyone to come, regardless of their membership/knowledge of SDS. The purpose of the meeting (besides discussion) is to begin radically organizing against the Board of Education’s proposals (see below) in order to stop them BEFORE they become permanent/take effect. I also hear that the Teacher’s Association is planning an All Black Day on Tuesday to protest, it’s my opinion that we should join them in solidarity and also wear black.

Recently, the Board of Education proposed a new contract to the Teacher’s Association. The association rejected the proposal, but in reality that doesn’t mean anything. So this is what Northville High might look like next year if we don’t do something about it:

• Significant increases in class sizes at all levels
• Elimination of the block schedule at the High School and the team concept at the Middle Schools even though these are considered “best practices for learning”
• Reduction of certain academic/elective programs
• Teacher layoffs as a result of schedule restructuring
• Redistricting to accommodate the increased class sizes and reassignment of teachers

It is extremely important that we begin organizing around this NOW. We must assert our influence to the administration and board of education as well as collaborate with faculty and staff to form a campaign that will block the proposals.

I am proposing an emergency meeting ASAP, I’ll call everyone and set a time. I’ll post the time/location once we decide.

Website has a New Look!
The website has a new look! I still have a few bugs to work out, but it’s defiantly better then the last.

Membership
I just want to remind anyone looking at this site that registering for this blog does NOT mean membership into SDS. If you want to be a member of SDS, please sign up at the national website, come to a meeting or contact Aric Miller. We are working to fix this confusion and make it easier to become a member.

Midwest Convention
We just finished a regional Midwest Convention in Ann Arbor, MI last weekend. Minutes will be available soon, I’ll keep everyone posted. One of the things we accomplished was creating a midwest website, please sign up if you want to post on it.

January 27 March on Washington
Many SDS chapters from the Northeast and Midwest are planning on meeting in Washington D.C. on January 27, 2007 for a demonstration against the War in Iraq. We are either meeting at Dupont Circle or the Smithsonian, updates on the plan are available through a temporarylistserv. Hopefully we will be able to make it, or at least 1 of us.

Chapter Meeting
I’m hoping to have a chapter meeting next week sometime, I’m planning on making flyers to distribute throughout the school, so we need to set a time and place. Also, I was thinking about getting a teacher sponsorship so we can hold meeting in school without risking any trouble.

anything else?
Being that we are called “Students for a Democratic Society,” we welcome any newcomers who share the values of participatory democracy. We welcome any voices and encourage newcomers to join in, all members have equal power, and no one person hold a high position then another.

Thank you…..

– Aric Miller

As the Midwest convention of Students for a Democratic Society we recognize that sexism and patriarchy within the organization is one of the most important problems facing SDS and shaping its future. Furthermore, we acknowledge that this issue intersects with other forms of identity based oppression, such as race, class, and sexuality, and that oppression to one of these can not be defeated without defeating oppression to all of these. We recognize that we are responsible for addressing this issue directly on all levels and bringing it to the consciousness of others. To help address this issue we commit to working to institute anti-oppression trainings and facilitator trainings at the chapter level and holding regular discussions about this problem and how it can be further addressed. We also propose an anti-oppression training at the National Convention and that anti-oppression will be a major lense for the agenda at the conference.

Meaghan Linick
Josh Russell
Kyle Taylor
Matt Roney
Ian Pikula Gallagher
Matthew Smyth
Aric Miller
Michael Merriweather
Carmen Mendoza-King
Erkki Kochketola
Dawson Barrett
Jay Burseth
Claire Cortright
Matt Snyder
Geoff Zimmer
Will Klatt
Dustin Reese
Sicily A. McRaven
Aaron Petcoff
Alan Haber
Marisa Holmes
Nick Kreitman
Lexi Forbes

I (Aric) was at the 2007 SDS Midwest Regional Convention today, and will be returning tomorrow. I’ll post back with notes and hopefully some pictures and video of the event.

Some of the things we accomplished today:
establishment of a regional (midwest) List-serve
establishment of bi-weekly regional conference calls
creation of a list of 5 areas of focus for the constitution
workshops in ‘establishing student syndicalist movements,’ and ‘building a vision toward student liberation’
as well as a workshop on the iraq study group report
in addition, other major issues regarding regional and national structure were addressed

tomorrows agenda includes:
regional structure
drafting of a regional constitution
national structure
workshop in ’strategic chapter building’
caucus on the role of woman, combating sexism, etc…
planing/discussion of the January 27th march on Washington

more to come…

-aric

from indymedia.us
Hundreds of community members in Jamaica, Queens mourned and protested this weekend on behalf of Sean Bell, a 23-year-old black man killed by police last month. Bell was killed on November 25 when when five undercover police officers fired 50 shots at a car carrying him and two friends. Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield survived the shooting but remain hospitalized. None of the victims were armed. The killing, which occurred on the very day Bell was to be married to his high school sweetheart, has provoked a barrage of criticism and community outrage.

Photo by Stanley W. Rogouski

I found this little video on Google produced by Encyclopedia Brittanica. It’s hard to believe; today this would probably considered ‘far left” propaganda. This video couldn’t relate better to SDS.

If anyone is interested in organizing a general meeting, please get back to me as soon as possible. We need to have this meeting before the new year if possible.

We need to discuss the following:
Chapter By-Laws - who does what at meetings, who acts as leadership, who gets to join, what our main objectives are and other organizational stuff
Imperative Objectives - what we need to get done as soon as possible
Secondary Objectives - what is important but is not vital to get done immediately
Propaganda - getting our word out to the student population, getting as many members involved as possible, etc.

My house will always be open for a meeting if there is no place else for it to be held.

These meetings should be an open discussion, but fascists and neo-Nazis are not welcome. Any student should be welcome to come regardless if they live Northville or go to any school in Northville. Observers should always welcome.

-aric

In response to Tuesday nights incident at the UCLA library, students gathered in solidarity and rallied against unjust police. Footage of the event is accessible on YouTube. Click the links below to view the footage.

Part 1 of Protest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GTPip_XSSM
Part 2 of Protest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBdnX_F0250
Part 3 of Protest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lturHqxVjH0