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Here's a brief rundown of what the Student Action Network is all
about:
SAN is a registered student organization dedicated to building progressive activism and coalitions at the U.W. We are non-partisan but decidedly lefty, and support any group we feel falls into the broad scope of our mission statement: for peace, environmental responsibility, and economic justice; against racism, sexism, homophobia, and other forms of discrimination. We formed in the spring of 1997 and soon held a "progressive picnic and roundtable" to bring together student activists. At this meeting of more than 50 people and a dozen organizations, a general consensus was formed about a few obstacles to campus organizing: the conservative bent of the Daily (the UW newspaper), the lack of posting space on campus, and the difficulty of finding and retaining members in our organizations. In the fall of 1997, several solutions were implemented: Ruckus started in 1997 as a publication of the Student Action Network, but quickly became an autonomous monthly student newsmagazine. Articles in Ruckus highlight student activism and provide education about events ignored by the mainstream media. It was started as an alternative to the Daily, and encourages activist journalism and a plurality of media voices on the UW campus. SAN held an "Activism Fair" in October of 1997 to help all progressive groups recruit students. We're now working on the Fourth Annual Student Activist Fair, which will be held on the HUB lawn on October 11, 2000. It's a great way for students to check out the opportunities available, as well as some prime networking among the progressive community at UW. Although postering space is still dominated by off-campus businesses, SAN maintains a weekly email calendar (except for finals, breaks and summer quarter). This calendar is useful for distributing notices about progressive political and cultural events on the UW campus, as well as other events that pertain to the UW community. We also include progressive volunteer, job, and internship openings. At the 1998 winter quarter Roundtable, activists decided to work together to improve resources available to student organizations on campus, and formed the new Student Organization University Resources Coalition (SOURCE). This broad coalition, separate from SAN, has received funds from the Services and Activities Fee and space in the HUB sub-basement to create a student resource center. With four computers, telephones, and space for groups to meet, registered student groups (RSOs) can organize more efficiently. Currently, an officer of a RSO must check out a key to access the center, but plans are being made to staff the center during the daytime. Another separate group, the Campus Voice Coalition (CVC), formed after the fall 1998 Roundtable to address the related problem of bureaucratic red tape that hinders student groups from making full use of the Husky Union Building and raising funds on campus. CVC members found that UW student groups face far more restrictions than student groups at other public Washington universities, and are currently working with the Student Activities Office to ease the burden on all RSOs. SAN has also sponsored or co-sponsored several progressive speakers, and helped co-sponsor the first (of two) May Day Teach-In on Democracy and the Global Economy, organized by the Democracy and Globalization Working Group (DGWG). SAN has also worked with Ruckus to create the "progressive voter's guide" for the 1998 and 1999 ASUW elections. We have been successful in electing progressives both years. The future of SAN depends on you! If you want to help SAN:
Updated: 10.25.99 |