1)  2 WEEKS TO GO! YDS CONFERENCE UPDATES
                      2)  RECAP OF UFPJ ASSEMBLY: PEACE MOVEMENT PLANS
                      3)  NEW DEMILITARIZATION GUIDE FOR YOUTH & STUDENTS
                      4)  THE CASE FOR SOCIALISM IN THE 21ST CENTURY
                      5)  WINTER EDITION OF NEW POLITICS NOW ON-LINE
                      6)  PROGRESSIVES TAKE ON BUSH'S ECONOMIC POLICIES
                      7)  DSA EVENTS ON EAST & WEST COAST
                      8)  STUDENT LABOR WEEK OF ACTION CONFERENCE CALL

1)  "WHEN BUSH COMES TO SHOVE" YDS CONFERENCE UPDATES
YDS' national conference is only 2 weeks away!  Book your flights!  Get your bus tickets!
You can REGISTER ON-LINE at the following website: http://dsausa.org/yds/confreg.html

WHEN BUSH COMES TO SHOVE:
Youth Organizing Against Right-Wing & Corporate Power
MARCH 11-13,  NEW YORK CITY

YDS is proud to announce the addition of Marx in Soho, a performance *free* to all conference-goers.  Description: "Agitating the authorities of the afterlife to clear his name, Karl Marx comes to earth for one hour to make his case. Marx launches into a passionate, funny, and moving defense of his life and political ideas in Howard Zinn’s brilliant, timely play Marx in Soho starring Bob Weick as Karl Marx." For more info on Marx in Soho: http://www.ironagetheatre.org/marx.html

If you register on-line for the conference on or before Friday, March 4th, you can get a $10 discount!
Any travel scholarship or housing requests should be made by this date as well.

In these last two weeks before the conference, even if you can't make it to New York, we hope that you can help spread the word, put up flyers, send announcements to your listservs, etc.  If you live in the NYC area, please let us know if you can offer space to house out-of-towners.  The conference is gearing up to be an incredible event and we want to ensure the largest turn-out possible.

Please check the YDS website for continued conference updates, and contact us if you have any questions or need help arranging your trip to New York City.  www.ydsusa.org


2)  RECAP OF UFPJ ASSEMBLY: PEACE MOVEMENT PLANS
This past weekend, United for Peace and Justice convened its 2nd National Assembly. More than 500 people from groups in at least 36 states gathered to develop a common program of work for the next 18 months, and elected a new national steering committee.  Members of the Democratic Socialists of America and the Young Democratic Socialists attended as delegates.  Both DSA and YDS and member organizations in the UFPJ coalition.

It was an exciting, powerful weekend; a gathering that re-energized everyone and gave new focus to our work to end the Iraq War and resist the Bush Administration's agenda. We agreed to a range of strategically targeted initiatives. Some highlights:

* a major grassroots education campaign to bring our message of peace and justice to new allies and communities
* a campaign of state-by-state local organizing to oppose the deployment of the National Guard to Iraq
* a major national anti-war protest in New York City on September 10, the World Day of Mobilization Against War, coinciding with the Millennium+5 Summit at the United Nations

UFPJ will soon be posting more details about these and other decisions from the Assembly on its website: www.unitedforpeace.org

If you have questions or would like to become more active in UFPJ-sponsored initiatives or the National Youth & Student Peace Coalition (where YDS focuses much of its anti-war work), please contact us.  There will be UFPJ mobilizing materials at the upcoming YDS conference in NYC for those planning actions around the March 19th international day of action on the 2nd anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.  There will also be a training for high school and college students at the YDS conference on counter-military recruitment.  UFPJ and the NYSPC are both committed to supporting counter-recruitment work as an integral part of resisting unjust wars and the effects of a possible draft. 


3)  NEW DEMILITARIZATION GUIDE FOR YOUTH & STUDENTS
The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation just released the publication of "A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste: A Guide to the Demilitarization of America's Youth & Students."  Also called the "Demil Guide" for short, this excellent resource was written and produced by and for youth and students.  The Demil Guide includes articles on military recruiting in high schools, universities of mass destruction, how to struggle against militarism, organizing tools and success stories.  Contributors to the guide include the American Friends Service Committee, National Youth and Student Peace Coalition (of which YDS is an active member org.), the Sunshine Project, and Tri-Valley CAREs, among others.

There will be *free* print copies of the Demil Guide at the upcoming YDS conference in New York City (March 11-13).  We've ordered several hundred Guides so that conference-goers can bring them back to their campuses and use them as an effective educational and organizing resource.

You can also download a PDF copy of the Demil Guide at:
http://wagingpeace.org/menu/programs/youth-outreach/index.htm#demilguide


4)  THE CASE FOR SOCIALISM IN THE 21ST CENTURY
The Case for Socialism in the Twenty-First Century
by Jason Schulman (YDS member, CUNY graduate student and editorial board member of New Politics)
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=41&ItemID=7301


5)  WINTER EDITION OF NEW POLITICS NOW ON-LINE
The winter edition of New Politics, a journal of socialist thought, is now available on-line.  There are articles on the crisis in public education, women and work, the ongoing crisis in Iraq and various other topics. You can view content here: http://www.wpunj.edu/~newpol/default.htm

There will be a panel discussion at the upcoming YDS conference (March 11-13, NYC) on left-wing media.  We will be joined by the executive editors of the publications Dissent and New Politics, in addition to others.  New Politics editorial board member, Joanne Landy, will be speaking at a separate workshop at the YDS conference on Iraq, U.S. foreign policy and the anti-war movement.


6)  PROGRESSIVES TAKE ON BUSH'S ECON. POLICIES
Rebuild the American Economy: Progressives Talk Back to George Bush
by Steve Max (DSA Vice Chair; Director of Organizing and Training, Midwest Academy)
http://www.midwestacademy.com/Economics/choice.html

Steve Max will be speaking at the upcoming YDS conference as part of an inter-generational panel of activists.  Max was a leader of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), one of the most influential organizations of the "New Left" in the 1960's.  He will be joined by others who were active in movements past and have continued their organizing work to this day.


7)  DSA EVENTS ON EAST & WEST COAST
Local chapters of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA, of which YDS is the youth section) host occasional forums and conferences that are open to youth and students.  Below are two upcoming events that you might want to check out.  If you would like to be put in touch with DSA members in your community, let us know.  There might even be a DSA faculty member at your school that can help you with organizing, or that can serve as a sponsor for your YDS chapter.

San Diego DSA Hosts Western Regional Conference
The San Diego Local of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) will host the 2005 Western Regional Conference on March 5th.  YDS and DSA members from San Diego and the West Coast, as well as non-members who are interested in the related topics of the US/Mexico border, the maquiladora industry, cross-border organizing, corporate globalization and workers' rights, are all invited to attended.  All sessions of the conference are open to the public.
For more info: http://www.dsausa.org/LatestNews/2005/Update%20San%20Diego%20conf.html

Boston DSA Hosts "After Capitalism - Socialist Alternatives"
The Boston Local of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) will host a talk and discussion with David Schweickart (Professor of Philosophy, Loyola University, Chicago) on March 3rd.  Schweickart, author of After Capitalism will be joined by a panel of discussants including Ellen Frank of Dollars & Sense and Noemi Gizspenc of Ownership Associates.

The victory of global capital and its primary theology ­ classical economics often seems complete.  We've all heard Maggie Thatcher’s dictum: that there is no alternative.  But is that right?  Is this unjust, plutocratic system, with wealth and power for the few, and hunger, incessant labor and insecurity for the many, really the best we can do?  Now, more than ever, we need study and discussion of other conceptions.  In this event, David Schweickart will develop his ideas for an alternative to global capitalism.  Production of goods and services would be primarily by worker cooperatives; distribution by a market system; investment would be controlled by democratically accountable banks.  Prof. Schweickart, in his books “Against Capitalism” and “After Capitalism” has shown that this is a feasible system, and superior to capitalism by every meaningful social and economic criterion. 
For more info: http://dsaboston.org/calendar.htm.


8)  NATIONAL STUDENT LABOR WEEK OF ACTION CONFERENCE CALL
YDS encourages all its members and chapters to organize for the upcoming Student Labor Week of Action (March 31-April 4).  Standing side-by-side with workers and their unions is central to the struggle for social and economic justice.  The National Student Labor Week of Action is a perfect opportunity for YDSers to raise awareness on their campuses and in their communities about corporate greed and capitalist globalization, the need to strengthen the labor movement at home and abroad, and the principled role that youth and students can play in building solidarity, working on local campaigns and fighting for a better world. 

The National Student Labor Week of Action is fast approaching!  On Wednesday March 2 there will be a national conference call with activists and organizers that are planning events for the week of action- AND YOU'RE INVITED!  Find out what other campuses are doing for the National Student Labor Week of Action and share YOUR plans!  The information for the call is as follows:

Date: Wednesday March 2, 2005           Time: 6PM-8PM
Tel: (877) 214-0402                               Participant Code: 624908

Visit http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/v11LzJp1nPvE/ to see what's being planned in your city for the National Student Labor Week of Action.
Visit the web address below to tell your friends about this.
http://www.unionvoice.org/join-forward.html?domain=slap&r=Pp1LzJp1sqva



 
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