RNC Convergence at Macalester Bulletin 8/19
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RNC at Macalester
Aug 19, 2008, 4:00:50 PM8/19/08
to rncatma...@gmail.com
==FORWARD WIDELY!!!==
Friends, Comrades, Allies,
As the days tick away until the RNC, we continue to work hard at Macalester to make the coming RNC Convergence a success. Here are some updates and pieces of information for visitors.
--CONVERGING--
The Convergence starts in the early afternoon of Friday, August 29th and runs through the morning of Friday, September 5th.
We have heard a lot of rumors about the Convergence from around the country, some of them true, many of them false. Hopefully, this bulletin will help clear things up. If you have any questions at all, please email us at RNCatMa...@gmail.com. Rumors make things really hard for us and for you, so please ask if you think something you heard is a little suspicious.
--STUDENTS--
We've heard whispers about folks who aren't students who are planning on showing up at Macalester and we'd like to address that head on. There are two types of things going on at Macalester: events and housing. Events are open to everyone and their cousin. We have a lot of cool things going on and we'd love for everyone to drop by. Housing, however, is for students only.
The reasons for this are many, but most of them deal with what we're prepared to deal with. We are students, we are organizing students at our college and in the area, and the convergence housing is set up for students. This is in no way to discourage or denigrate non-students! Higher education is not more important a location in the war against capitalist and imperial domination than any other, and indeed is often less important than many other sectors of society. But the fact of the matter is that we are organizing from within that social location, and we are not logistically set up to deal with non-students staying here. This is not a political position, but a practical one.
There are plenty of other great folks organizing for spaces to stay during the RNC. Check out the RNC Welcoming Committee (www.nornc.org) or Protest RNC 2008 (www.protestrnc2008.org) for other housing offers.
--HOUSING--
We've made this appeal numerous times, but we'll make it again: Please, if you have not already done so, register for housing. It's a 1 minute process. Go to www.minnesotasds.org/housing and register your chapter/organization/affinity group. This helps us figure out how many people are coming and estimate what our response will need to be.
For the last two months, we've been knocking on doors, handing our fliers in the neighborhood, emailing, calling, and harassing everyone we know in order to find housing. This housing will take on a variety of different forms, from dormitories to houses to churches. When people arrive in St. Paul, they will be asked to check in and we will match them with a space, based on their needs, the needs of those offering housing, and the logistical priorities of our committee. If you have space needs and haven't indicated them when you registered, please contact us as soon as possible. Additionally, if you plan to arrive before 3:00 pm on Friday, August 29th and need housing, get in touch with us right away.
We also want to make another appeal, which is about tents. If you have them, PLEASE bring them. In order to make the logistics of this housing situation easy, we need people to be as flexible as possible. If you have a tent, or could throw together some money to purchase one, please do so. The more tents we have, the easier things can go down.
--FOOD--
Just a reminder: Food will NOT be provided by Macalester SDS, nor by the folks you may be staying with. We identified food as the one thing that folks coming to town can find on their own. We just don't have the logistical capability to make it happen. But consider this: Talk with your friends, or your host, or comrades you meet on the quad and see if you can work something out. Just because hosts aren't expected to make you food doesn't mean that they won't find time to cook a meal with you if you do the work together. Otherwise, there are restaurants and grocery stores all over the place and we'll point you towards them.
--INFORMATION/EVENTS--
The final schedule of events is still being put together. Do you have a skill-share, lecture, conversation, or other educational event that you'd like to put on during or before the RNC at Macalester? Then contact us! We'd love to hear from you and involved you in what's going on. Right now we have lots of activities being put on by Macalester students and faculty, but we're still short of where we'd like to be on events being put on by visitors. Get in touch with us if you'd like to share your knowledge with others!
Additionally, we'd like to let folks know about our Convergence Pamphlet. Are you coming to St. Paul with little more than a bag on your back and fire in your heart? Are you raging against the Republicans but don't know how to channel your anger? Good news, friend! Our Convergence Pamphlet will be chock full of informative goodies: maps, schedules of on-campus events, schedules of protests downtown, information about mobile kitchens, legal hotlines, transit, and more!
--SEE YOU SOON--
The Convergence is only 10 days away and the Convention only 13! We'll see you in the streets!
-The RNC Committee of Macalester SDS
Friends, Comrades, Allies,
As the days tick away until the RNC, we continue to work hard at Macalester to make the coming RNC Convergence a success. Here are some updates and pieces of information for visitors.
--CONVERGING--
The Convergence starts in the early afternoon of Friday, August 29th and runs through the morning of Friday, September 5th.
We have heard a lot of rumors about the Convergence from around the country, some of them true, many of them false. Hopefully, this bulletin will help clear things up. If you have any questions at all, please email us at RNCatMa...@gmail.com. Rumors make things really hard for us and for you, so please ask if you think something you heard is a little suspicious.
--STUDENTS--
We've heard whispers about folks who aren't students who are planning on showing up at Macalester and we'd like to address that head on. There are two types of things going on at Macalester: events and housing. Events are open to everyone and their cousin. We have a lot of cool things going on and we'd love for everyone to drop by. Housing, however, is for students only.
The reasons for this are many, but most of them deal with what we're prepared to deal with. We are students, we are organizing students at our college and in the area, and the convergence housing is set up for students. This is in no way to discourage or denigrate non-students! Higher education is not more important a location in the war against capitalist and imperial domination than any other, and indeed is often less important than many other sectors of society. But the fact of the matter is that we are organizing from within that social location, and we are not logistically set up to deal with non-students staying here. This is not a political position, but a practical one.
There are plenty of other great folks organizing for spaces to stay during the RNC. Check out the RNC Welcoming Committee (www.nornc.org) or Protest RNC 2008 (www.protestrnc2008.org) for other housing offers.
--HOUSING--
We've made this appeal numerous times, but we'll make it again: Please, if you have not already done so, register for housing. It's a 1 minute process. Go to www.minnesotasds.org/housing and register your chapter/organization/affinity group. This helps us figure out how many people are coming and estimate what our response will need to be.
For the last two months, we've been knocking on doors, handing our fliers in the neighborhood, emailing, calling, and harassing everyone we know in order to find housing. This housing will take on a variety of different forms, from dormitories to houses to churches. When people arrive in St. Paul, they will be asked to check in and we will match them with a space, based on their needs, the needs of those offering housing, and the logistical priorities of our committee. If you have space needs and haven't indicated them when you registered, please contact us as soon as possible. Additionally, if you plan to arrive before 3:00 pm on Friday, August 29th and need housing, get in touch with us right away.
We also want to make another appeal, which is about tents. If you have them, PLEASE bring them. In order to make the logistics of this housing situation easy, we need people to be as flexible as possible. If you have a tent, or could throw together some money to purchase one, please do so. The more tents we have, the easier things can go down.
--FOOD--
Just a reminder: Food will NOT be provided by Macalester SDS, nor by the folks you may be staying with. We identified food as the one thing that folks coming to town can find on their own. We just don't have the logistical capability to make it happen. But consider this: Talk with your friends, or your host, or comrades you meet on the quad and see if you can work something out. Just because hosts aren't expected to make you food doesn't mean that they won't find time to cook a meal with you if you do the work together. Otherwise, there are restaurants and grocery stores all over the place and we'll point you towards them.
--INFORMATION/EVENTS--
The final schedule of events is still being put together. Do you have a skill-share, lecture, conversation, or other educational event that you'd like to put on during or before the RNC at Macalester? Then contact us! We'd love to hear from you and involved you in what's going on. Right now we have lots of activities being put on by Macalester students and faculty, but we're still short of where we'd like to be on events being put on by visitors. Get in touch with us if you'd like to share your knowledge with others!
Additionally, we'd like to let folks know about our Convergence Pamphlet. Are you coming to St. Paul with little more than a bag on your back and fire in your heart? Are you raging against the Republicans but don't know how to channel your anger? Good news, friend! Our Convergence Pamphlet will be chock full of informative goodies: maps, schedules of on-campus events, schedules of protests downtown, information about mobile kitchens, legal hotlines, transit, and more!
--SEE YOU SOON--
The Convergence is only 10 days away and the Convention only 13! We'll see you in the streets!
-The RNC Committee of Macalester SDS
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