1) YDS GIFT MEMBERSHIPS FOR THE HOLIDAYS
                   2) THE ACTIVIST MAGAZINE WANTS YOU TO SUBMIT!   
                   3) DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS IN THE NEWS
                   4) SERVICE WORKER SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN CONF.
                   5) LINK OF THE WEEK: SUPREME COURT CREATURES

1) GIVE THE GIFT OF YDS MEMBERSHIP THIS HOLIDAY SEASON
YDS relies on your support to carry on our important work for social and economic justice.  It should come as no surprise that we Socialists don't receive any corporate funding to continue doing what we do best.  We rely entirely on the dues and financial contributions of our members and people like you.  Becoming a dues paying member of YDS means reaffirming your commitment to the fight for liberty, equality and solidarity.  Fighting for a better America and a better world requires working together collectively and building organizations for change.  While we don't pretend to be the be-all, end-all of politics on the Left, YDSers do play a critical and principled role in the struggle for justice.  With your help and your active participation, we can grow and continue our work into the future.

Joining YDS (or renewing your membership) is EASY, and it's CHEAP! (the student/low-income rate is only $20 a year).

To join, to make a holiday tax-free donation or to give a gift membership to a friend or family member, click on the link below (as YDS is the youth section of the Democratic Socialists of America, YDSers join by becoming DSA members).
http://www.dsausa.org/join/index.html


2) YDS' THE ACTIVIST MAGAZINE WANTS YOU TO SUBMIT!
The Activist, YDS' magazine about youth politics and culture is in full production mode, but not without your help!  We are looking for smart and sassy writers, book reviewers, designers, illustrators, and opinionated folk of all skill sets to help us with our upcoming issue.  If you have article proposals, know of a book, cd or film that you think activists should hear about, or anything else that you would like to see in a magazine, please join us.

With a printing in the thousands twice a year, the magazine offers a unique opportunity to publish your ideas!  Our upcoming issue of The Activist will be called "Full Spectrum Democracy" and will investigate different concepts of democracy, from the economic sphere, education, community organizing, trade unions, the environment, student power, reproductive rights, foreign policy, etc.  We welcome all submissions or proposals related to these subject matters, but also encourage you to send any and all work, regardless of its thematic content. 

We will work with you to get your article published, so do not hesitate sending us a pitch for something you would like to see in the pages of The Activist and on its website.

Contact The Activist Editor: malav@dsausa.org and visit www.theactivist.org more information.


3) DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS IN THE NEWS
The Really Other America
"Back in the 1960s and 1970s, when conservatives were largely on the defensive, conservatives spent part of their time studying what their enemies (that's us) were doing, what worked, what could be applied toward building a conservative movement. We should do the same."
by Bob Roman (Chicago DSA)
http://www.chicagodsa.org/ngarchive/ng97.html#anchor204160

For Labor, Tough Choices
by Harold Meyerson (DSA Vice Chair, writer for L.A Weekly, Washington Post & American Prospect)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A133-2004Dec14.html?referrer=emailarticle

A Midwest Academy online slide show entitled, "Social Security Is Not Broke." 
produced by Steve Max (DSA Vice-Chair and Director of Organizing and Training, Midwest Academy)
http://www.midwestacademy.com/Social/index.htm


4) SERVICE WORKER SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN CONFERENCE
If your school has a contract with Sodexho, Compass or Aramark as their food service provider, listen up!
The Service Worker Solidarity (Bi)National Gathering is taking place from Friday, January 14 to Sunday, January 16 in the D.C. area.  Some YDS activists are planning to attend this conference.  YDS helped lead the fight against Sodexho several years ago in a campaign to force the notorious corporation to divest from private prisons.  And we succeeded.  Now we're at it again, this time taking on the whole low wage/poor benefits multi-service industry with student activists across the country.  If you have Aramark, Sodexho or Compass on your campus (if you don't know, ask us and we might be able to find out for you) this is a perfect campaign for your YDS chapter to work on.  Contact YDS for more details, related materials, or for info about how to register for the Service Worker Solidarity (Bi)National Gathering:

Where: In or near Washington D.C. (Housing provided, travel scholarships available)
Who: Student activists from across the U.S. and Canada
Why? Because you want to: Help launch a national effort to win justice for campus and other service workers; share experiences and strategies with other activists; meet workers (employed by the same
companies that operate on your campus) who have fought for better working conditions and a voice on the job to learn more about the problems they faced and how they won; get trained on campus organizing, workers’ rights, corporate accountability campaigns, etc.
How: By contacting the campaign IMMEDIATELY to get registered!
(We have a limited number of slots and travel scholarships)


5) LINK: WHO PUTS THE AAAAHH! BACK IN ANTI-CHOICE?
Creatures from the Far Right: Supreme Court Under Attack!
A flash animation about the looming fight to project abortion rights from Bush Supreme Court appointments.
http://prochoiceaction.org/ct/V713FO41qXS1//