SPRING 2007 Archived Announcements

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Ben & Jerrys ice cream fundraiser benefits school in Gambia!

Well, Tuesday, TONIGHT! at Ben and Jerry's on University Avenue (next to the Swamp), from 7-8 PM, Human Rights Awareness on Campus will be hosting an 'end of semester' fundraiser! To participate, all you need to do is show up at Ben and Jerry's at some point between 7 and 8 PM and buy some ice cream! Bring your friends, because we need to have as many people as possible show up to raise any money!

Purpose of the Fundraiser:

Nikolas Wolfe, the treasurer of HRAC, will be working on a project to install a solar array on a new high school in the Gambia this summer. The project is funded through a non-profit organization called 'Durokuto' and you can learn more about it (or donate directly) on the project's website here: http://www.durokuto.org.

The proceeds from the fundraiser will go directly to Durokuto to support project costs. We encourage anyone interested to spread the word about the project so as to raise awareness and support. We also have a cheaply-made MySpace page that we hope is becoming more and more visible.

Our latest friend is a fire hydrant!

Mia Farrow speaks on Darfur

Come listen to Mia Farrow, actress and longtime activist, share her personal experiences from Darfur, Sudan. ACCENT asked us to co-sponsor this event, so let's support them for bringing someone to UF to talk about this important human rights subject.

On Wednesday, April 11, the doors to the Phillips Center open at 7:15 pm, and the even begins at 8 pm. Come a few minutes early to grab a good seat!

Street Children of Kinshasa

Tuesday, April 3, at 7:30 pm in NPB 1002 (New Physics Building)

We will be screening a short movie about the lives of kids in the Democratic Republic of the Congo called Street Children of Kinshasa this Tuesday. Gilbert Mulamba, who directed and produced the whole movie, as well as composed all of the music in the movie, is traveling to Gainesville to speak about what kids in the Congo are subjected to due to the fight over Coltan, a resource used in all of our cell phones. Come listen to Mulamba's worthy cause. To read more about it and how you can help, go to his website.

Upcoming HRA Meeting! Wed 2/28

The meeting will be Wednesday, Feb 28th, at 7:30 PM in the Anderson Hall Conference Room 216. Now that we have our allocation, it's time to announce events! We have a lot in store, so come out and hear about them, and if you want to get involved, let us know.

Support Renewable Energy at UF!

This week, on the SG election ballot will be a student referendum on renewable energy, authored by Gators for a Sustainable Campus. The referendum will endorse a fee of $0.50 per credit hour to go towards renewable energy initiatives on campus at UF. Human Rights Awareness on Campus would like to enthusiastically encourage all of our members to vote in FAVOR of this referendum.

The issues of environmental stewardship, sustainable and renewable energy, recycling and so on are all closely related to human rights in the context of their potential for the alleviation of poverty and international development. Advocating for renewable energy on campus at UF is a very tangible and concrete objective, but one also symbolic of what SHOULD be taking place on both a national and international scale. As advocates of human rights and environmental responsibility (in most cases the two are closely linked), we have an imperative to act on such opportunities as this. Please vote favorably!

More info available here: http://grove.ufl.edu/~sustuf/

Institute of black culture hosting save Darfur rally

It seems as though the student Darfur advocacy movement has been gaining increasing attention on campus, and we would like to support such initiatives, as we have been actively pursuing this issue ourselves for quite some time. The Institute of Black Culture is hosting the Save Darfur rally on March 1, 2007 from 10am-2pm. This event seeks to raise awareness of the genocide and starvation issue present in the Darfur region of the Sudan.

HRAC allocation to pass Senate, Tues 2/13, 7:30 pm

Our allocations bill for the Spring 2007 semester is set to pass through Student Senate this Tuesday, Feb 13. In order to give our bill more weight, we need as many people as possible to come to the meeting with us and show support for our organization. It takes LESS THAN AN HOUR of your time, and is absolutely crucial to the furthering of our organization. We have done this in the past and the support of our members is always a huge help!

If you are coming:
7:30 PM, Feb 13
Reitz Union, room 282

Come on out! We can't hold events without funding, and your support is crucial!

"Darfur Diaries" Screening and Forum on helping Darfur

For those of you who want to know more about the situation in Darfur and how YOU can help, be sure to attend! There will be a panel discussion as well as film screening.

When: Wednesday, February 7th 6:00 PM
Where: HPNP Auditorium, behind the Health Science Center on Newell Drive
Information session, panel discussion and screening of the film "Darfur Diaries"

Panel members include:

Alma Amaya Burns, MD, MSc - Professor,UF
College of Public Health and Health Professions

Rene Lemarchand,
PhD - Professor Emeritus, UF Political Science

Winston Nagan,
FRSA, JD - Professor, UF Levin College of Law

For more information or to volunteer contact Yolanda Jameau at yjameau@ufl.edu Sudan is a large country in Northeastern Africa that has recently been placed in the media spotlight for unfortunate reasons. You may have heard about the genocide currently taking place in the Darfur region of Sudan. Darfur is approximately the size of the state of Texas. According to recent estimates, at least 400,000 people have died in Darfur since the genocide began in February of 2003. It is impossible to know what the final number will be, however, as the genocide is still taking place today. You're invited to come learn more about the situation as well as actions that every individual can take to address this tragedy.

Emory conference UPDATE

The STAND conference at Emory University on Feb 2-4 is approaching fast! Anyone who is interested to attend needs to contact us BY WEDNESDAY, Jan 24, so we can finalize arrangements for travel and put you on the list to be reimbursed. HRAC will pay back the whole $20 registration fee and 75% of the gas money (please save your receipts). That should make the cost of the trip extremely minimal!

*IMPORTANT NOTE* In order to be eligible for travel reimbursements you MUST print out a copy of your registration form and turn it in to us. We will arrange a final meeting for those who are confirmed to go next week.

The registration for the conference can be found here.

Those of you who do not reply in time are still welcome to come, but at your own expense. We will of course try to travel as a group regardless. Please still contact us at hrac.uf at gmail dot com.

Film Vote! We want your feedback

At the last meeting we were unable to get to a vote as to what film we are going to screen with Americans for Informed Democracy. The two films are as follows:

Outlawed or Between Two Fires

Please review the film that you think would be most interesting to you, and e-mail us at (hrac.uf at gmail dot com) with your choice. We will go with the majority.

Emory STAND conference sign-ups now!

February 2-4 at Emory University in Atlanta, STAND (Students Taking Action Now: Darfur) hosts the annual conference to which students from schools around the nation get together to hear famous speakers from around the nation and brainstorm ways to raise awareness to help stop genocide and human rights violations.

Registration is $20, half of which will be subsidized by HRAC. STAND provides housing in Emory dorms for the weekend, but most meals are not included. We will carpool up to Atlanta. If you can drive, please e-mail us so we can count on you to do that. Everyone else, please let us know if you register so that we can make sure we have enough seats.

Click here to read more about the conference and register for ours. This is a great opportunity to see how strong the student movement has become, and to learn more and actively participate in making changes!

First semester meeting

Come out for our first meeting of the spring semester on Thursday, January 18th at 7:30 pm in Anderson 216! We'll be discussing our plans for the semester and addressing various human rights issues we want to cover this semester, as well as ask for volunteers for these awareness events.

This meeting is held the night that we are tabling for the Student Organization Fair in the Reitz Colonnade. Send us an e-mail if you can help us table between 10am - 3pm on Thursday the 18th and spread notice of our meeting.

Old announcements archived

Want to see what we've done in the past? Read our archived announcements from Spring 2007, Fall 2006, Spring 2006, or the totally retro Original HRAC site!