APRIL 2007
Summer University Team
Tamera
www.tamera.org
www.igf-online.org
"A coming global peace
culture needs a fundamental education in all essential
areas of life including the science of transformation.
Only structures for education and re-education will
realize a Future without War."
Dear
Friends of Tamera,
This year
the International Summer University of Tamera, from the
19th to 28th July, will go under
the heading 'Global Campus'. The idea of the
'Global Campus' was born in the international Summer
University 2006 together
with our cooperation partners in
It is an
initiative that will provide education, training and
research in all aspects of peace work for the future -
community building and social dynamics, sustainable
technology, truthful reconciliation between the genders,
the connection between the spiritual and political.
The Campus
gains its 'Globality' in 2 ways: by creating a synergy
between organisations and individuals within all
continents of the world, and by revealing the synergy
between ourselves and the world. Its aim is to be a
global education initiative that knows no borders.
For the
Global Campus to succeed a major new global
infrastructure must be built up and developed - a
Globalisation with the motive of supporting a positive
transformation. To do this we must re-think and re-act in
the basic pillars that form our contemporary social
structures; Finance and Economy, Spirituality,
Information Technology and Sustainable Technologies.
The
International Summer University 2007 will focus on
Finance and Economy, Information Technology and Media and
Sustainable Technologies, in the form of think tanks -
spaces of constructive vision building and concrete
realisation.
Both
Sabine Lichtenfels (Nobel Peace Prize nominee
2005) and Dieter Duhm will be present and after the
Summer University Sabine Lichtenfels will host a think
tank entitled GRACE. This will act as a space that brings
synthesis between these pillars and plans the next
concrete steps.
Throughout
the
I warmly
look forward to your response.
In Peace
Kate
Bunney
- Sonja Schulze-Braucks Summer University Team Tamera www.tamera.org www.igf-online.org
THE OLYMPICS OF
THE MIND
MEDIA CONTACT: Renee Foster, Renegade PR
Tel. 718-441-8946 Mobile 347-278-4899
New York, NY – March 28, 2007 – Some 200 enthusiastic Black high school students from throughout the New York metropolitan area will converge under one roof to showcase their talents in the humanities, arts, and sciences at the 20th annual Olympics of the Mind competition set for Saturday, April 21, 2005 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Edward R. Murrow High School, 1600 avenue L (at 17th St.) Brooklyn, NY.
The New York City chapter of the NAACP
Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific
Olympics (NYC ACT-SO), proud sponsor of the Olympics of
the Mind, also will host the competition’s VIP
Reception & Awards Ceremony to follow on Monday,
April 23 at Con Edison, 4 Irving Place in Lower
Manhattan. The VIP Reception (invitation only) will be
from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., and the Awards Ceremony (open
to the public) will be from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. With 140
chapters nationwide, NAACP ACT-SO, one of America’s
best-kept secrets, is the largest program dedicated to
academic achievement of Black youth in the country.
The 2007 NAACP ACT-SO season is the 20th since its inception by founder Vernon Jarrett in 1977. Mr. Jarrett (1918-2004) was best known as a legendary award-winning journalist, civil rights activist, and co-founder of the National Association of Black Journalists Inc. NYC ACT-SO has upheld and expanded Mr. Jarrett’s legacy through its annual student enrichment and fundraising activities.
“I want NYC ACT-SO to live up to
Vernon’s vision,” said NYC ACT-SO Executive
Director Anton Tomlinson, who founded the NYC ACT-SO
chapter in 1987 with Benjamin Duster IV, a direct
descendant of justice crusader and journalist Ida B.
Wells. This program is among the most effective academic
programs for Black high school students in New York City.
There is still time for interested New York City high
school students to apply for the NYC ACT-SO
-----------------------------
Olympics of the Mind, in which participants compete in 25 categories:
Humanities – music composition, original essay, playwriting, poetry, and business/entrepreneurship; Performing Arts – dance, dramatics, music
Instrumental/ classical, music instrument/contemporary, music vocal/classical, music vocal/contemporary, and oratory; Sciences – architecture, biology, chemistry, computer science, mathematics, physics/electronics,
physics/energy and physics/general; and Visual Arts – drawing, painting, photography, sculpture, and filmmaking/video production. In honor of Vernon Jarrett, NYC ACT-SO will add a journalism category to the Humanities offerings in the next season.
The top three winners in each category receive a gold medal with $500 in cash,
Silver medal with $300 and bronze medal with $200. The gold medalists will advance (among 1,200 gold medalists from local competitions across the country) to the national NAACP ACT-SO Olympics of the Mind to be held July 5-8th in Detroit, Michigan, where prizes are a gold medal with $2,000; silver with $1,500; and bronze with $1,000. Every national medalist also receives a fully-loaded laptop computer!
More than 98 percent of NYC-ACT-SO student’s graduate from high school and 85 percent go on to college. Participants’ road to success and the Olympics of the Mind competition begins at the start of the school year with intensive enrichment workshops beginning in November. A kick-off rally is held in January, and the enrichment workshops, are conducted on Saturdays at Manhattan’s P.S. 84, 32 W. 92nd Street (between Columbus Avenue and Central Park West), and continue through April. The workshops are led by coaches who are accomplished professionals in the competition categories and help students choose and develop individual projects. NYC ACT-SO is a volunteer-driven and led organization. All coaches, mentors, judges, and others, therefore, donate their time to work with students. The chapter is seeking more judges for this season’s
Olympics of the Mind.
Since its inception, NYC ACT-SO has mentored more than 5,500 students through coaching sessions, the Olympics of the Mind, and other enrichment activities, which include field trips to Broadway plays, museums, and cultural centers; college admissions workshops; studies broad; and internships.
“The workshops help the students present their best at the Olympics of the Mind,” said Barbara Richards, chairperson of the NYC ACT-SO Workshop Committee for the past decade. “But the workshops are not just for preparing the students for competition. These sessions truly enhance their lives, fuel their dreams, and, in some cases, help discover hidden talents.”
Olympics of the Mind organizers agree the coaches are the backbone of the program. “Without the coaches, there would be no NYC ACT-SO,” Ms. Richards said. “They are the ones who elicit excellence from the students. We’ve had alumni who have returned to serve as coaches and volunteers. This is the result of the interaction that they had years before with a caring individual. It’s also a give and take – the kids learn from the coaches and the coaches learn from the students.” Presented with pageantry and excitement, the Olympics of the Mind offers young participants a singular experience and level of recognition that can greatly impact their lives long after their high school years.
Just ask some of today’s highly-accomplished NYC ACT-SO alumni, who have gone on to become everything from doctors to museum curators to world-renowned musicians! “ACT-SO helped me to excel, and that made all the difference in my career, and more importantly, my life,” said NYC ACT-SO alumnus and saxophonist sensation Mike Phillips, who won a silver medal in the music instrumental/contemporary category. Since graduation, he has toured with Stevie Wonder, given a command performance for Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg, South Africa, and toured with Prince’s 2004 Musicology Tour. Fall 2007 he was a featured performer on the BMW eight city tour of Young Jazz Musicians. Mr. Phillips is signed to Hidden Beach Recordings and he has released several albums since. He also is the first non-athlete to secure an endorsement contract with Nike.
“Even if you don’t win a medal in ACT-SO, you get to determine how far you go afterwards,” Mr. Phillips said to a captivated audience of young hopefuls at the NYC ACT-SO Kick-Off Rally. “I got to this level through hard work. Identify your calling or your gift, but know that it’s not free. You have to cultivate it. You control your destiny. So don’t just play ‘not to lose.’ Play to win.” History is moving forward at NYC ACT-SO, just as Vernon Jarrett first intended. New York City, America, and the world are taking notice!
“We have great respect for your organization and great respect for you,” said New York City Council Member Gale Brewer, who encouraged students at the Kick-Off Rally to shine. “I support you wholeheartedly.” For more information about NYC ACT-SO, the Olympics of the Mind, Awards Ceremony tickets, or becoming a student competitor or a volunteer judge, the general public can call NYC ACT-SO at 212-666-9348, or 212-666-7212. Or visit www.myspace.com/nyactso [TheBlackList] Black Olympics of the Mind setg for 21 April in Brooklyn
Killers in the Classroom
By Dr. June Scorza Terpstra
02/15/07 "ICH
" -- -- During a heated debate in a
class I teach on social justice, several US Marines who
had done tours in Iraq told me that they had
"sacrificed" by “serving” in Iraq so
that I could enjoy the freedom to teach in the USA.
Parroting their master’s slogan about “fighting
over there so we don’t have to fight over
here”, these students proudly proclaimed that they
terrorized and killed defenseless Iraqis. They intimated
that their Arab victims are nothing more to them than
collateral damage, incidental to their receipt of some
money and an education.
A room full of students listened as a US Marine told of
the invasion of Baghdad and Falluja and how he killed
innocent Iraqis at a check point. He called them
“collateral damage” and said he had followed
the “rules”. A Muslim-American student in front
of him said “I could slap you but then you would
kill me”. A young female Muslim student gasped
“I am a freshman; I never thought to hear of this in
a class. I feel sick, like I will pass out.”
I knew in that moment that this was what the future of
teaching about justice would include: teaching war
criminals who sit glaring at me with hatred for daring to
speak the truth of their atrocities and who, if paid to,
would disappear, torture and kill me. I wondered that
night how long I really have in this so called
“free” country to teach my students and to be
with my children and grandchildren.
The American military and mercenary soldiers who
“sacrificed” their lives did not do so for the
teacher’s freedom to teach the truth about the
so-called war on terror, or any of US history for that
matter. They sacrificed their lives, limbs and sanity for
money, some education and the thrills of the violence for
which they are socially bred. Sacrificing for the
“bling and booty” in Iraq or Afghanistan, The
Philippines, Grenada, Central America, Mexico, Somalia,
Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, or any of the other numerous
wars and invasions spanning US history as an entity and
beginning with their foundational practice of killing the
Indians and stealing their land.
Many of the classes that I teach now include students who
“served” in the US military and security
corporations. There are also many students who intend to
join the US military upon completion of a degree because
with the degree they get a bigger “sign on”
bonus of ten to fifty thousand dollars. Their position is
supported by many of the student body, who, vegetating
according to the American Plan, believe they should
“support their troops”. The excuses that they
give for joining or intending to join the US military
terrorist training camps are first and foremost motivated
by a desire for money. One student proudly said that he
is willing to kill for money, a better standard of living
and an education. Another student, who had done two tours
of duty to the Empire in Iraq, justified killing and
torture, citing the importance of staying on top as the
world’s number one super power so that his family
could have the highest standard of living and unlimited
access to the world’s oil supplies.
Yet another soldier-student said that there would always
be wars and someone had to do it. The”it” is
killing, rape, and plunder for profit. Some of the
soldier-students agreed that military terrorism was
thrilling. Stopping and killing people at checkpoints in
order to maintain a comfortable lifestyle in the USA was
worth the risk of being killed or maimed. Little did they
know that the very education they would kill for could
include a course on social justice in which they would be
compelled to examine their motives, beliefs and actions
in an evil, illegal, immoral and unjust invasion and
occupation of a people who never hurt or harmed them or
any of their fellow citizens.
To be fair, in this week’s discussion in class there
was some mention that some of the student’s
intentions had been honorable at the time that they
joined the military. They wanted to “help other
people”. A few woman students who want to join the
military commented that they would be working to
“free and defend” people here and abroad.
However, for the most part and by their own admission,
personal financial gain was their main focus in signing
on. Their bottom line was getting the money and their
thrills by joining and belonging to the biggest terrorist
organization in the world, the USA.
What appears to trouble the soldier student is that the
rhetoric of fighting for freedom and democracy is a lie
that cannot blanket the horror and guilt of their
terrorism. They do not want to hear that participation in
invasion and occupation, murder and pillaging, is
logically inconsistent with any legitimate concept of
freedom or liberation. They know the greed and programmed
lust for violence that motivates them. They expect that
if they can make it out alive, they get some money, a
comfortable lifestyle and an education. Their plan is to
secure the oil, the diamonds, the gold, the water, the
guns, the drugs, and the bling for their masters, who
they hope will cut them in on the swag. They say that
someone has to be on top and they want to be on the side
of the strong, not the weak. Robbing Hoods, not Robin
Hoods.
And now, here they sit in my course on social justice,
terrorist war criminals, wanting high paying
“criminal justice” jobs in a university Justice
Studies program. They want approval, appreciation and
honors for terrorism, torture, and murder. They want a
university degree so they can get an even higher salary
terrorizing more people around the world with security
companies such as Blackwater or Halliburton. They want
that appropriately named “sheepskin” so they
can join the CIA, FBI, and other police and track down
and terrorize US residents here.
These military and mercenary terrorist-students are
trained in terrorist training camps all under the USA,
funded by American taxpayers. In fact, people under the
USA are “sacrificing” their health care and
their children’s educations while donating their tax
dollars to these terrorist training camps. These
terrorist camps train money hungry working class stiffs
to murder, steal and plunder for the power hungry US
corporate war lords.
There is a saying that “if you do the crime, you do
the time”. My response is that “If you do the
war crimes, you will do time in hell, whether the hell of
war trauma and shock, of diseases such as those caused by
depleted uranium, the old-fashioned traditional hell,
fire and brimstone assigned to malefactors…or the
hell of sitting in a social justice class and discovering
what the hell you are in hell for, or are about to be.
Please visit Dr Terpstras' website www.juneterpstra.com
- Moyhabin said...
- Israel suffers the same way Nazi Germany suffered: as a result of its own criminal actions. If Israel hadnīt been created under false pretense, religious fanaticism and ethnocentric bigotry, and hadnīt in the process destroyed an entire nation, it wouldnīt suffer. Any other perspective on this issue is immoral. Fee speech should allow anyone to make this point. If a US University encroaches on this right, it means itīs really not a true educational institution founded upon elevated human ideals. Thus, if impeded by University authorities to freely present your views on the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, you should then organize a room on this issue: lack of true freedon of speech at your University. ............................
SAN JOSE STATE
UNIVERSITY APPLIES SOME THOUGHT TO FREEDOM OF THOUGHT FOR
UNIVERSITY EDUCATION
San Jose State University,California, is censoring the
truth about Occupation of Palestine and Students for
Change at SJSU needs your help!
San Jose State University is censoring the Tunnel of
Oppression and Students for Change needs your help!
We were selected, by application, to construct a room
themed Occupation Palestine at this year's Tunnel of
Oppression. After complaints from Zionists on campus, we
have been told that unless we compromise our room we
cannot participate. We are not being allowed to present
the Israeli occupation from a Palestinian perspective
unless we present how Israel suffers as well. Our
argument is that this room focuses on the oppression that
is occurring within the occupied Palestinian territories
but the university maintains that this is going to make
Israeli/Jewish students feel persecuted. I further argue
that, when dealing with oppression, you are always going
to have someone who says there is "another
side" and if this were to stop this room, it should
then stop the entire event. I am asking that you contact
the university and tell them you support the room
Occupation Palestine AS IT IS and that any attempt to
prevent this room from proceding as planned should be
deemed CENSORSHIP. Please contact Debra Griffith, the
Director of Student Conduct & Ethical Development at
Debra.Griffith [at] sjsu.edu
I am meeting with Debra Griffith Wednesday morning, April
21st at 9:30am. She is the person who is responsible for
the event, she is not the person who filed the complaint.
If you are going to send an email please send it by
Tuesday evening.
Thanks!
Sarah Morris
and please share your thoughts/suggestions with me as
well studentsforchange [at] sbcglobal.net
http://www.myspace.com/studentsforchange
Hello Jocelyn, Here is what is going on, in
December our group -Students for Change at San Jose State
University- applied, and were accepted, to participate in
the Tunnel of Oppression with a room themed
"Occupation Palestine". The organizer of
the event knew what we were doing, I was meeting with her
weekly to discuss our plans. Last week, she sent
out an email to faculty and advisors at the university
telling them about this years tunnel of oppression and as
soon as certain students and faculty members heard about
it they began to email her telling her they were
concerned, disgusted, etc.. that the suffering in
Palistine is because of terroism and not due to Israeli
policy. I then has to meet with assosciates the the
assistant vie president of student affairs and explain to
them the objective of the room..this was yesterday. When
I did that, they told me that I cannot only portray how
the Palestinians are suffering under the Israeli
occupation because it would make certain students on
campus feel persecuted or accused of being oppressors. In
effect, if we are unwilling to change our room by
including how the Israeli's are suffering, they said
there is a good chance we will not be allowed to
participate. I feel that we are being censored by
being unable to tell the story of the Palestinians and
the suffering the endure under the occupation.
Thank you, Sarah Morris
Jocelyn Braddell <Jocelynb@eircom.net>
wrote: