Military Recruiting: Meeting Notes: Aug 12th, 2003

You're LUCKY - we have TWO sets of notes for this meeting! :D

We had 10 people present, including students from Stoughton, East, and West high schools. (I will not list names for privacy reasons)

ANY ITEMS WITH **** ARE ACTION ITEMS - if you'd like to help, look for these!

We discussed opt-out forms and flyering at the Madison high schools on August 20 and 21 from 8am-noon during junior and senior registration. ****We need volunteers (some have already signed up, and an email will go out asking for more) and we'll need to have someone "captain" each school to make sure they have flyers, literature, and identification for the volunteers. Michelle will search for leaflets through the national orgs, and a student from West who does graphic design will be asked by another student if he is interested in designing one.

East and West high schools have different forms than the ones posted on the Madison Metro School District website (the students said they are easier to understand, and will try to get copies of them for the group). Stoughton high school has one form that removes your information even from the yearbook, with no option to single out military recruiters. They also will NOT accept parents' individual letters.

A letter was shared that was sent to all Madison HS, directing principals to include the opt-out forms in all registration packets and to have a separate table at registration that will be staffed and assist parents and students in filling out the forms. ****We need someone to check and see WHO is staffing those tables.

We also discussed being present at the high schools during Career Days or when the military is there - the district policy that recruiters can only be there 2 days a year was discussed, and that they should be providing prior notice to the counselor at each school that coordinates it. The students would like to have literature available so if recruiters show up, they can have an immediate presence in the cafeteria or wherever else they set up tables. *We also need to get counter-recruitment lit in the counseling offices, which Clarence Sherrod, the MMSD attorney, agreed to.

Michelle will write a letter to the editor about opt-out forms, but ****we need more! Possibly an op-ed piece, too.

Veterans for Peace will discuss having a press conference about the opt-out forms at one of the HS - possibly East at the Path of Voices (?), a monument for parents who have lost their children to violence. They will set up, and will let us know what we can do.

Other ideas - ads or editorials in school newspapers, posters that the students can hang up, students would like help planning events during the school year (e.g. teach-ins). ****Please post any ideas for events to this list!

The student from Stoughton would like help speaking with the principal about some of the rigid regulations that are preventing the formation of a peace group at the school, opt-out forms, and teach- ins. We suggested she contact the Stoughon Peace Coalition, who is planning a Town Hall meeting, and said we would support her however we could.

We will plan our next meeting for the second week of September, to allow the students to settle into the school routine.

AND THE SECOND SET:

Leafletting outside the Madison high schools next week Dates are Aug. 20 & 21 in the mornings (what are exact times?). These are the registration days for juniors and seniors. We already know students have been mailed registration packets including the Opt-Out forms. Reports from East and West high students say their Opt-Out forms differ from the district version. This is especially interesting because of the confusion about opting out of sharing info with colleges vs. recruiters. Madison high schools have been instructed to dedicate a staff person on registration days to helping students and parents fill out the forms. Our leafletting will supplement this.

· We started to gather names of leafletting volunteers. We'll need quite a few. We may need to pick one school to leaflet or one day, if we don't get enough volunteers. · East High entrances to target include the one in back by the tennis courts, and the one by the cafeteria and small principal parking lot, on the left if you're on E. Wash. Facing the school. West High entrance is at the back of the school, from Van Hise, which leads to the cafeteria. · Stoughton high situation is different. Although we're not planning to leaflet there yet. They have one opt-out form that doesn't distinguish between colleges and recruiters. Also they let recruiters into the school a lot. · We probably want to phone the principals to let them know we'll be leafletting · We need to be technically off school property. Let's ask exactly where that is. · We'd like to get a copy of the Opt-Out forms that people will use in each school · Suggestion not to use puppets. However, signs would be useful to let folks know why we're there. · We need a volunteer to design a leaflet. Suggestions were for a 1/4 sheet, which explains college vs. recruiters issue. "Military Telemarketing" might be a good phrase to use. Maybe a West student would help with this? · We won't have another meeting before leafletting. We'll have to organize the rest by phone and e-mail. · Michelle and Barbara will send in letters to the Editor for the local papers on the Opt-Out issue.

Press Conference Idea Rae suggested that Veterans for Peace could hold a press conference next week. · Location could be Path of Voices at East, Stonehenge-like monument to children who died violently. · Message could be: we honor veterans, and ask young people to withhold further service to this military empire · Press conference could announce campaign to provide Madison students info on alternatives to military service, starting out with Opt-Out leafletting action during h. school registration days · Students present thought Vet conference would add great credibility · Possible speakers could include Don McKeating, Will Williams, and Jeff Knupp

Update on High School Groups

At West, most SIR members have graduated. A student will ask the principal or counselor when the recruiters are scheduled to be there. Last year they were there more than the allotted time. The new principal may need to be reminded about the district policy.

Stoughton has great challenges. A student there is in a catch-22, not able to post posters until she has a group, not able to collect a group because she can't post posters. Planned Town Hall meeting may help her identify like-minded students. She's also planning to write for the (good) student paper. Maybe she can supply her contact info and hook up with others that way. She requested support, in the form of MAPC or Vets for Peace coming with her to the principal, to get support for starting a peace group in the school.

All students asked for support for carrying out their ideas (once they get going in the fall), and also for us to pass on ideas for events. They'd also like speaker ideas. They said doing big teach-ins is only realistic once a year, they are a lot of work. One idea is to hand out information at lunch when recruiters are there. We also need to make sure counter-recruiting literature is in the counselors' offices.

GI Rights Hotline

Michelle told us about a request from the national organizers for Madison to contribute to this project. We'd need to send some folks for training, then commit to 2 hours a week of staffing the line. It helps soldiers wanting to get out.

Other ideas for future discussion: · Partner with LGTB groups in high schools. Contact GLISTEN group to see if there's a way to work together on this.