Hey Martians,

Meeting minutes

1) Rochester Hills deer culling demonstration this Saturday
2) Peter Young coming to speak @ UM next semester
3) MARS’s status next semester
4) Carcinogens (a.k.a. cancer-causing agents) in grilled chicken
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1) On the Diag at 2 p.m. on Saturday there will be a demonstration protesting the controversial deer culling issue that is going on in Rochester Hills, MI right now. For more info, please see http://www.theoaklandpress.com/articles/2008/11/22/news/doc4927f48692a83551166658.txt. If anyone would be willing to join us and help pass out flyers, we are going to try to get the press to come, much in the same fashion as our primate research lab protest earlier this semester. Please feel free to e-mail me for more information if you’re interested in attending
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2) Next semester we are bringing Peter Young to speak at the University of Michigan. For those of you unfamiliar with him, according to my contact he “…is an animal rights activist that spent 2 years in prison for releasing and conspiring to release 8,000 mink from various farms throughout the Midwestern United States. He was indicted in 1997 and was a fugitive until 2005 when he was arrested for his actions. Among his charges were the attempts to convict him under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, which states that any one who interrupts, in any way, the business of an “animal enterprise” can be tried as a terrorist. This even includes distributing information, educating and encouraging others to not give support to a particular company, vivisection lab, slaughterhouse etc. If you are familiar with the case of the SHAC 7, that is exactly what those activists were charged with and several are still serving prison sentences.

He served 2 years in federal prison, was released early ‘07 and is now lecturing across the country to tell his story, talk about his experiences as an activist and his experiences in prison and give some back round on what he was charged with, why and what implications that has for the future of activism.”

We are working with a group from Washington D.C., called Campus Progress, which will help fund his travel and stay in Ann Arbor. For even more info about Peter, please see the following links.

http://www.supportpeter.com.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEuBaGc1M-Y.
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3) MARS next semester:
Due to scheduling conflicts and health issues, I will be resigning as active president of MARS, but will still field questions, concerns and help organize events. However, Pranay has graciously volunteered to be vice president in my stead. The meetings will likely be on Mondays or Wednesdays in the evening; specific times will be posted on the website as the schedule is finalized. As a result of the decreased activity of MARS, I‘m hoping that those interested in getting involved will consider working with Students for Animal Rights at Eastern Michigan University. They are wonderful and have done many amazing things, along with being regularly active with organizations like SASHA farms, the Great Lakes Rabbit Sanctuary among others. For more information about this group, please contact Brooke Ratliff (bratlif2@emich.edu) and/or visit their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=26403753849.
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4) One of MARS’s founding presidents, Kirstie Stoick Sullivan, has recently released a research article per the Physician’s Commitee for Responsible Medicine about grilled chicken. Check out the abstract and the results at http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a902434974~db=all.
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As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns… good luck with finals, have a great holiday and check out the website frequently for updates!

Julianne