UPCOMING CCSJ EVENTS
Wednesday, December 4 - 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. - Morgantown Public Library
downstairs meeting room - Economic Justice Discussion
Our initial discussion, on October 23, included 13 people with a wide
variety of interests. We decided to continue our conversation on December
4 and, at this time, to try to develop a better idea of how the City of
Morgantown, Monongalia County, and Monongalia County Board of Education
spend their money on personnel and who the major contractors are (like
BFI for the City of Morgantown). In many communities with living wage
requirements, for instance, these requirements apply to contractors with
government agencies. This discussion is still extremely preliminary, for
programs that work in larger cities may not be necessary or possible here.
All meetings are open to the public. For further information about our
economic justice work, please contact Tim
Hairston or Paul Becker
.
Wednesday, Decenber 11 - 7 p.m. - Place to be announced - Steering
Committee Meeting
Please share your ideas for future events and projects with any of the
members of the steering committee or contact Tim
Hairston if you would like to attend a steering committee meeting
to discuss your ideas.
POSSIBLE FUTURE CCSJ EVENTS
We continue to be interested in a program on community service alternatives
to jail sentences. If you wish to participate in this program, please
contact Mike Sharley.
LIBRARY BOOKS AND VIDEOS
We have sent letters to the elementary school librarians and counselors
in the Monongalia County public schools, offering to buy several books
that the librarians select for each of these schools. We have budgeted
about $30 for each of the 15 schools. To date, we have received responses
from about six schools and will be ordering these books soon.
If you have suggestions for future purchases, please contact Judy
Cohen.
STATUS OF WOMEN IN WEST VIRGINIA REPORT PUBLISHED
The Institute for Women's Policy Research has produced a major document
entitled The Status of Women in West Virginia, which gives current information
on women's political participation, employment and earnings, social and
economic autonomy, reproductive rights, and health and well-being. The
report also compares West Virginia women to those elsewhere in the United
States and offers policy recommendations that could improve women's status.
It will probably be no surprise to CCSJ members to find that West Virginia
women do not fare well when compared to their sisters in the other 49
states and the District of Columbia. In part, this is due to the fact
that we are older, on average, than other women in the state and, in large
part, it is due to the rural nature of the state that makes access to
public transportation, health care, jobs, and child care difficult. Our
ranking for the political participation index was D- (46 of 51), in part
due to low voter turn-out. Our employment and earnings index was F (51
of 51), due to our low media annual earnings and the fact that we have
the lowest labor force participation rate for women in the country - and
have had the lowest rate for many, many years. The social and economic
autonomy index (health insurance, educational attainment, business ownership,
and percentage of women above the poverty level) also rated a grade of
F (48 of 51). While we have the lowest percentage of women with four or
more years of college (1990 figures are latest available) in the country,
we rank 12th in terms of women's business ownership, but these are very
small businesses. Our composite reproductive rights index grade is B-
(21 of 51), and our health and well-being index grade is D- (48 of 51).
Barb Howe and Joan Browning are the co-chairs of the advisory committee
that worked with the Washington, D.C.-based IWPR to prepare the report.
Barb will present a summary of the report on December 2 at 7 pm. in the
WVU Mountainlair Greenbrier Room as part of the WVU Institute for Public
Affairs' On-Campus Speaker Series. Ann Dacey will also participate, talking
about a new report on women's health in the state. This event is free
and open to the public.
For further information about the report, please contact Barb
(293-2339, ext. 1155). You may download a copy of the report at www.iwpr.org
- then go to the "Status of Women in the States" section on
the home page and click on "West Virginia."
CIVIL RIGHTS TEAMS UPDATE
As far as we know, the State Board of Education has not yet appointed
the promised committee to review the civil rights teams in the schools.
If you wish to follow the progress of these teams through the deliberations
of the State Board of Education, you can access the board's minutes at
wvde.state.wv.us/boe-minutes/
It is not too late to express your support for these teams by contacting:
Howard Persinger, Jr., President
WV Department of Education
1900 Kanawha Boulevard East
Charleston, WV 25305
Governor Bob Wise
Office of the Governor
1900 Kanawha Boulevard East
Charleston, WV 25305
www.state.wv.us/governor
David Stewart
State Superintendent of Schools
WV Department of Education
1900 Kanawha Boulevard East
Charleston, WV 25305
Attorney General Darrell V. McCraw, Jr.
Office of the Attorney General
1900 Kanawha Boulevard East, Room 26E
Charleston, WV 25305-9924
PLEASE SEND YOUR DUES AND IDEAS!
We have about 200 individuals and organizations on our mailing list now
and would very much appreciate having all of you as dues-paying members
so that we have the resources to continue our work. Dues are $5 for individuals
and $25 for organizations. Youth under the age of 18 are free. Please
send your checks, payable to CCSJ, to PO Box 160, Morgantown, WV 26507-0160.
Please send your web site suggestions to Mike
Attfield.
Please contact any of the steering committee members to volunteer to help
and to share your suggestions for our work or e-mail
us.
Deadline for items to include in next Update will be December 10. Please
send items to share with our membership to us.
INTERFAITH GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE CAMPAIGN UNDERWAY
West Virginia is one of 18 states where an Interfaith Global Climate Change Campaign is active. The goals of the campaign are to educate congregations, communities and elected officials about global climate change and the importance of the voices and actions of the faith community in addressing this threat to all people and to all of creation. The North-Central WVIGCCC regional group will have a breakfast meeting in the VIP room at Panera's restaurant on Tuesday, November 26, at 8:30 a.m. Members will review the response to the demonstration of hybrid vehicles at 2 area churches on November 10. We welcome inquiries and participation from people of all faiths. For further information, please contact Fr. Christopher Bender at 292-8670 or Mary Rehmann at 296-1322.
OTHER LOCAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
The Morgantown Human Rights Commission had its first meeting on October
28. T. Anne Hawkins is the chair of the commission, and David Stelzig
is the vice-chair. We hope to include regular reports from the commission
in these updates. For further information, please contact T.
Anne.
The West Virginia Economic Justice Coalition has a new comprehensive website.
The WVU Center for Black Culture and Research is sponsoring its Annual
Kwanzaa Program on Tuesday, December 3. Dr. Molefi Asante, professor of
African American Studies at Temple University, will be the featured speaker
that night. The program begins at 6:30 p.m. in the Rhododendron Room of
the WVU Mountainlair. Dr. Asante's publications included Afrocentricity;
The Afrocentric Kdea, and Kemet, Afrocentricity and Knowledge. This event
is free and open to the public.
WORLD AIDS DAY EVENTS IN MORGANTOWN: THEME: "Stigma and Discrimination"
December 1- Wine and Cheese Tasting at Purple Rain, 9:30 pm.
December 2- "Under the Foundation" art show at Vice Versa, 5
pm. and World AIDS Day info table at show.
December 4- Interview on Feedback, U92's weekly talk radio show, 7-8 pm.
91.7 FM
December. 6- Open mic poetry reading at the Blue Moose, 7 pm.
December 2-6- Silent auction in WVU Mountainlair lobby booth. Items donated
by local artisans.
For further information, contact Justin
Hale.
REPORT FROM INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON LANDMINES AND HUMANITARIAN LAW - NORA SHEETS
Nora Sheets, a CCSJ member and art teacher at St. Francis School in Morgantown,
provided the following report about her on-going work that includes St.
Francis students:
"On October 26th,2002 I once again attend the 2nd International Conference
on Landmines and Humanitarian
Law in Sarajevo, Bosnia. While there, I made a presentations based on
the work of St. Francis Students Against Landmines and met with Damir
Atikovic of Norwegian people's Aid, Director of De-mining Operations and
Mirza Muminovic of the Bosnian medical Students Association. I was honored
to represent our concerned school and community. One of my goals for attending
this conference was to document everything I saw and experienced in order
to educate others.
"While there I learned that Bosnia is the most heavily-mined country
in Europe. There are an estimated 30,000 minefields and about 750,000
mines in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with an average of ten mine injuries
each month. Minefields are located throughout the country, with concentrations
located along the boundary lines between the Federation and Republika
Srpska. It is estimated that one out of every 173 people in Bosnia and
Herzegovina were disabled due to the civil war. Fifteen percent of the
population suffers from psychological trauma, especially
post-traumatic stress disorder. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, a major hurdle
for landmine victims is the prohibitive cost of artificial limbs. With
the average annual income in Bosnia and Herzegovina at US$880, an artificial
limb can be a nearly impossible expense for some. The cost of a prosthesis
is between US$780 and $900 for a below-the-knee device and from US$1,350
to $2,000 for an above the knee device. In a country still recovering
from the effects of war, job prospects for all are poor. Unemployment
still hovers around 30%, and among the disabled the number is much higher.
The war cost an estimated 240,000 lives and displaced an estimated 3 million
people out of a pre-war population of 4.3 million. Sixty percent of the
population lived in conflict-affected areas.
"Our trip to watch de-mining dogs in action was cancelled when a
live mine was found in ‘cleared area'. A new program is being introduced
there and around the world in mine-infected areas. "Adopt a Mine
Dog" program allows schools to "adopt" a mine-sniffing
dogs by raising money for training, food and shelter. Students receive
a photo and updates and are permitted to name the dog. Dogs are very reliable
yet must always be followed up by a human de-miner for deactivation.
"I was delighted to be able to meet with Kemo, the 10 year old Bosnian
landmine victim that students of St. Francis so graciously raised money
($1200.00) for last year so that he may have a properly fitted prosthetic
leg. I am happy to report that he is adjusting so well to his new limb
that he now plays soccer! The Bosnian Medical students have worked this
past year to rebuild his home which was destroyed due to a shelling attack
during the war there. He sends his love and thanks to all of the St. Francis
community for helping him.
"I was also able to deliver 65 lbs. of art supplies (crayons and
coloring books donated by the students of St. Francis and Garfield's Restaurant)
to a School for Disabled Children on behalf of the students of St. Francis.
I also had the opportunity to meet with Greg Auberry, Director of Catholic
Relief Services and investigate the cooperative schools program in Bosnia
and Kosovo in hopes of organizing a cooperative art project between students."
For further information or if you are interested in helping on this project,
please contact Nora.
AWARD NOMINATION DEADLINES
The WVU Center for Black Culture and Research has extended the deadline
for the Martin Luther King Jr., Achievement Award and Scholarship Award
to December 6. Scholarship award recipients must be WVU students, but
community members are eligible for the achievement award. For information
and application forms, see the CBC&R
web site.
The West Virginia Women's Commission is accepting nominations for its
Celebrate Women Awards for the categories of The Arts, Business, Education,
Government, Labor, Public Service, Professions, Math/Science, Sports,
Volunteer Service, Mountaineer Spirit, and Unsung Hero. The deadline is
December 31. For further information, contact the Women's Commission at
304-558-0700 or see the web
site.
The WVU President's Office for Social Justice is accepting nominations
for the Neil S. Bucklew Award for Social Justice. This award must go to
a WVU faculty, staff, or administrator. The deadline is January 30. For
further information, contact Sharon
Mallow (293-5496).