Adam Weinberg Democracy Matters Colgate University and other Campuses Overview: A year long non-credit course for students who are working as paid interns for Democracy Matters. Initially, students work through an 8 component web-based correspondence course that culminates in a day- long session that trains students to become Campus Coordinators who will create and lead Democracy Matters chapters on their own campuses. Throughout the year, students receive weekly tutorials, write reflective reports on the campus work, and participate in a winter three day student summit. The training program draws about 25-30 students per year, representing a range of years, majors, and campuses. A total of 400-600 students participate through the campus chapters throughout the year. Description: Democracy Matters is a non-profit organization focused on strengthening democracy through campaign finance reform and especially public financing of elections. The program involves training interested students from various colleges to be campus coordinators, who then create and lead DM chapters at their own schools. It is run by several Colgate professors and political activists. In addition to the political goal, Democracy Matters is also overtly focused on training students to become political leaders who encourage political activity among their peers. The training program consists of four phases:

(1) Learning The Issues And Acquiring Political Skills: Students work themselves through an eight-component web-based tutorial that includes readings, exercises, and reflection pieces completed from their own campuses or homes (typically during the summer). Democracy Matters staff try to give the tutorial the feel of an interactive correspondence course: they respond to students questions; share interesting questions or insightful answers that come up in the assignments; and offer their own reflections. The program culminates in an intensive day- long meeting, led by the Democracy Matters staff and other speakers, including Democracy Matters founder Adonal Foyle. Students leave the meeting with an Action Plan for organizing a Democracy Matters chapter, educating a core group of students about the issues, and training these students with the political skills needed to work on the issue.

(2) Generating Campus Politics: Students return to their campuses and create local chapters

that develop their own political projects. Training and mentoring for the student coordinators continues throughout the semester. Democracy Matters staff are in contact via phone and email each week to help student coordinators develop organizing strategies and to mentor their hands-on activities. They also visit each campus to run training sessions and give lectures for students and faculty. Although the campus chapters may emphasize different issues depending on their members interests, all have some focus on campaign finance reform and a common goal of building partnerships between student groups and local community organizations. Through these chapters and partnerships, students develop their own strategies for building awareness and organizing their campus or community. Thus, they learn about the issues in ways that also develop political skills. At East Carolina University, for example, the Democracy Matters coordinator and

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chapter have worked with the political science department, the League of Women Voters, and the NAACP, co-sponsoring a meet-the-candidates forum, a campus voter-registration drive, and an evening panel discussion on Who Owns Democracy.

(3) Reflection And Strategy. At the end of the semester, the campus coordinators write a

summary of the semesters work. This is used by Democracy Matters staff to plan a two day student summit that takes place at the start of the winter semester. The first half of the summit focuses on the issues. Outside faculty are brought in to lecture and run seminars. The second half gives coordinators a chance to report and reflect on activities at their campuses and engage in some additional training exercises.

(4) Engaging In Community Politics. During the spring semester, campus chapters continue

their work. However, there is more focus on linking with the community and with other chapters. For example: this year, ten chapters in New York State worked with Citizen Action on deve loping strategies for making the candidates for governor take a stand on campaign finance reform. They went to Albany to lobby both parties, including the current governor. They met with another candidate. In Austin, students worked with a local coalition on a municipal public financing initiative. Students hosted a forum, met with editorial boards, and provided support for the campaign. The groups finish the year with a report that assesses their successes and failures, and takes steps towards planning for the next year.

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Deepening Democracy:

Changing The World By Building A Youth Base

For Replacing Money With People As The Driving Force In American Politics

Today, we are taking up two issues. First, how do sociologists think about social problems and social change. Second, how do we deepen democracy in the United States. Any effort to deal with a social problem by creating social change has to inform people about a problem, propose a solution, and offer people ways of taking concrete steps that can remove the problem by implementing the solution. We have talked at length about the problem of money in politics, and clean money as a solution. Now, I want to turn to next steps. What can you do to replace money with people as the driving force in American politics? Students often remark that they believe in an issue but do not know what to do to show support for the issue. What underlies this is a sad fact of modern life. Most people have never been taught how to exercise their rights as a citizen in a democratic society. Hence, they lack a political tool-kit. Once they are educated about a problem and a solution. They do not know what to do next. For sociologists, creating social change requires altering both culture and structure. Typically, conscious social change comes about through collective action. Collective action occurs when people do three things:

(1) organize a core group of friends (2) raise awareness in their community (3) get people to take actions that alter both culture and structure

We need a tool-kit for accomplishing these three steps. Remember Margaret Meads statement: Of course a small group of people can change the world; nothing else ever has.

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Ways To Participate In A Democracy: Creating The Tools Of Political Citizenship

PART 1: TOOLS FOR RAISING AWARENESS 1. Actions A Citizen Can Take To Inform Their Peer Networks Get your friends to agree to take a pledge. They agree to do one of the following (you pick):

a. Get people to agree to tell one person a day about your group and the issue for a week. Some people call this lettucing. People agree to informally talk about your group and your issue while they are standing in line at the cafeteria, waiting for the bus, or during some other mundane activity.

b. Get people to agree to email other people about your group and issue for a week. These can be a casual. At they are emailing people about other things, they just happen to mention your group and the issue. Did you hear about what Adam is doing. He is starting something called Democracy Matters. He told me that.

c. Get people to agree to host a study break. They would invite 5-10 friends. You would bring a pizza and talk to people about the issue. This is really fun. At the end of the break, you can ask people to agree to do either of the previous actions (a or b).

2. Actions A Citizen Can Take To Inform Their Community Get students to agree to do the following.

a. Write a letter to the school newspaper in support of your group or issue. b. Write an editorial to the school newspaper in support of your group or issue. c. Carry fifty leaflets and leave them at various places at school. For example: show up

to class ten minutes early. Leave the leaflets on every seat. Students will read them as they come to class.

d. Identify a reporter at the school newspaper. Set up a meeting with them and convince them to write about your group.

e. Give people a one page leaflet and get them to agree to hang them in ten places. f. Get people to agree to be your liaison with a specific social group. They would

disseminate your materials, and talk to people about your group in informal conversations.

PART 2: TAKING ACTIONS

3. Educating People In Your Larger Community These require a bit more preparation. You might ask students to work with your group to do one of the following.

a. Go speak to a high school class. b. Go speak to a local civic association- a Rotary club. c. Go speak to people at a senior center. d. Go stand in a public place (a park or outside a post office). Hand out leaflets and talk

to people about the issue.

4. Helping Pass A Piece of Legislation It is easy to get people to do things to support passage of legislation. Remember- legislation gets passed when people support it. The only way to build support is to talk to

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people and convince them. This means doing many of less everyday actions listed above. There is nothing more effective than getting people to agree to talk to other people, to host small study breaks for you, and to hang materials for you. a. Write a letter to an elected official. b. Make a pledge, When I am old enough to vote, I agree to vote for public officials

who support this issue. This will be a litmus test issue for me. I also pledge to talk to my parents and to ask them to vote for public officials who support reducing the role of private wealth in politics.

c. Make an appointment to go see a staff member of an elected official to talk about this issue.

d. Go to a public appearance of an elected official and ask a question about this issue. e. Participate in a campaign. Try to locate local groups working on an issue. See what

you can do to help build support to pass a piece of legislation.

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Evaluation Sheet: Raising Awareness and Taking Actions

For each option address three questions: (1) feasibility- will it work, (2) desirability- are the potential benefits, and (3) planning issues- obstacles to be overcome. Then evaluate it (1 to 5). 1 2 3 4 5 Bad Idea Probably Will Ambivalent Probably Will Work Great Ideea Not Work At Least A Little Option #1: Spreading The Word: (Get people to agree to tell one person a day about your group and the issue for a week.; Get people to agree to email other people about your group and issue for a week). Option #2: Host A Teach-In : (Get people to agree to host a study break)

Option #3: Working With The School Paper: (write a letter to the school newspaper in support of your group or issue; Write an editorial to the school newspaper in support of your group or issue). Option #4: Leafleting : (carry fifty leaflets and leave them at various places at school; Give people a one page leaflet and get them to agree to hang them in ten places).

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Option #5: Coalition Building : (Get people to agree to be your liaison with a specific social group. They would disseminate your materials, and talk to people about your group in informal conversations).

Option #6: Speak To Groups : ( high school classes, local associations) Option #7: Grassroots Lobbying: (Stand in a public place and out leaflets and talk to people about the issue, go door-to-door). Option #8: Help Pass Legislation (lobby elected officials, participate in a campaign, take a pledge) ONE GREAT IDEA THAT COULD BE DONE AND SHOULD BE DONE:

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Bill Moyers Keynote Address Environmental Grantmakers Association. Brainerd, MN October 16, 2001 This isnt the speech I expected to give today. I intended something else. For the last several years Ive been taking every possible opportunity to talk about the soul of democracy. Something is deeply wrong with politics today, I told anyone who would listen. And I wasnt referring to the partisan mudslinging, or the negative TV ads, the excessive polling or the empty campaigns. I was talking about something deeper, something troubling at the core of politics. The soul of democracy-the essence of the word itself- is government of, by, and for the people. And the soul of democracy has been dying, drowning in a rising tide of big money contributed by a narrow, unrepresentative elite that has betrayed the faith of citizens in self-government. This wasnt something I came to casually, by the way. Its the big political story of the last quarter century, and I started reporting it as a journalist in the late 70s with the first television documentary about political action committees. Whats happened since the attacks would seem to put the lie to my fears about the soul of democracy. Americans have rallied together in a way that I cannot remember since World War Two. In real and instinctive ways we have felt touched? singedby the fires that brought down those buildings, even those of us who did not directly lose a loved one. Great and low alike, we have been humbled by a renewed sense of our common mortality. Those planes the terrorists turned into suicide bombers cut through a complete cross-section of America-stockbrokers and dishwashers, bankers and secretaries, lawyers and janitors, Hollywood producers and new immigrants, urbanites and suburbanites alike. One community near where I live in New Jersey lost twenty-three residents. A single church near our home lost eleven members of the congregation. Eighty nations are represented among the dead. This catastrophe has reminded us of a basic truth at the heart of our democracy: no matter our wealth or status or faith, we are all equal before the law, in the voting booth, and when death rains down from the sky. We have also been reminded that despite years of scandals and political corruption, despite the stream of stories of personal greed and pirates in Guccis scamming the treasury, despite the retreat from the public sphere and the turn toward private privilege, despite squalor for the poor and gated communities for the rich, we have been reminded that the great mass of Americans have not yet given up on the idea of We, the People. And they have refused to accept the notion, promoted so diligently by our friends at the Heritage Foundation and by Grover Norquist and his right-wing ilk, that government-the public service- should be shrunk to a size where they can drown it in the bathtub (thats what Norquist said is their goal.) These right-wingers at Heritage and elsewhere, by the way, earlier this year teamed up with the deep-pocket bankers who finance them, to stop the United States from cracking down on terrorist money havens. As TIME Magazine reports, thirty industrial nations were ready to tighten the screws on offshore financial centers whose banks have the potential to hide and often help launder billions of dollars for drug cartels, global crime syndicates-and groups like Osama bin Ladens Al-Quaeda organization. Not all off-shore money is linked to

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crime or terrorism; much of it comes from wealthy people who are hiding money to avoid taxation. And right-wingers believe in nothing if not in avoiding taxation. So they and the bankers lobbyists went to work to stop the American government from participating in the crackdown on dirty money, arguing that closing down tax havens in effect leads to higher taxes on the poor people trying to hide their money. I am not kidding; its all on the record. The president of the Heritage Foundation spent an hour, according to the New York Times, with Treasury Secretary ONeill, and Texas bankers pulled their strings at the White House, and presto, the Bush administration folded and pulled out of the international campaign against tax havens. How about that for patriotism? Better terrorists get their dirty money than tax cheaters be prevented from hiding their money. And that from people who wrap themselves in the flag and sing the Star Spangled Banner with gusto. These true believers in the god of the market would leave us to the ruthless cruelty of unfettered monopolistic capital where even the law of the jungle breaks down. But listen: todays heroes are public servants. The twenty-year-olddot.com instant millionaires and the pugnacious pundits of tabloid television and the crafty celebrity stock pickers on the cable channels have all been exposed for what they are-barnacles on the hulk of the great ship of state. In their stead we have those brave firefighters and policemen and Port Authority workers and emergency rescue personnel, public employees all, most of them drawing a modest middle-class income for extremely dangerous work. They have caught our imaginations not only for their heroic deeds but because we know so many people like them, people we took for granted. For once, our TV screens have been filled with the modest declarations of average Americans coming to each others aid. I find this good, and thrilling, and sobering. It could offer a new beginning, a renewal of civil values tha t could leave our society stronger and more together than ever, working on common goals for the public good. The playwright Tony Kushner wrote more than a decade ago: There are moments in history when the fabric of everyday life unravels, and there is this unstable dynamism that allows for incredible social change in short periods of time. People and the world theyre living in can be utterly transformed, either for the good or the bad, or some mixture of the two. Hes right. This could go either way. Heres one sighting: in the wake of September 11th; theres been a heartening change in how Americans view their government. For the first time in more than thirty years a majority of people say we trust the Federal Government to do the right thing just about always or at least most of the time. Its as if the clock has been rolled back to the early sixties, before Vietnam and Watergate took such a toll on the gross national psychology. This newfound hope for public collaboration is based in part on how people view what the government has done in response to the attacks. I have to say that overall, President Bush has acted with commendable resolve and restraint. But this is a case where yet again the people are ahead of the politicians. Theyre expressing greater faith in government right now because the long-standing gap between our ruling elites and ordinary citizens has seemingly disappeared. To most Americans, government right now doesnt mean a faceless bureaucrat or a politician auctioning access to the highest bidder. It means a courageous rescuer or brave soldier. Instead of representatives spending their evenings clinking glasses with fat cats, they are out walking among the wounded.

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In Washington it seemed momentarily possible that the political class had been jolted out of old habits. Some old partisan rivalries and arguments fell by the wayside as our representatives acted decisively on a forty billion dollar fund to rebuild New York. Adversaries like Dennis Hastert and Dick Gephardt were linking arms. There was even a ten-day moratorium on political fundraisers. I was beginning to be optimistic that the mercenary culture of Washington might finally be on its knees. But I once asked a friend on Wall Street what he thought about the market. Im optimistic, he said. Then why do you look so worried? And he answered: Because Im not sure my optimism is justified. Im not, either. There are, alas, other sightings to report. It didnt take long for the wartime opportunists-the mercenaries of Washington, the lobbyists, lawyers, and political fundraisers-to crawl out of their offices on K Street determined to grab what they can for their clients. While in New York we are still attending memorial services for firemen and police, while everywhere Americans cheeks are still stained with tears, while the President calls for patriotism, prayers and piety, the predators of Washington are up to their old tricks in the pursuit of private plunder at public expense. In the wake of this awful tragedy wrought by terrorism, they are cashing in. Would you like to know the memorial they would offer the almost six thousand people who died in the attacks? Or the legacy they would provide the ten thousand children who lost a parent in the horror? How do they propose to fight the long and costly war on terrorism America must now undertake? Why, restore the three-martini lunch-that will surely strike fear in the heart of Osama bin Laden. You think Im kidding, but bringing back the deductible lunch is one of the proposals on the table in Washington right now. There are members of Congress who believe you should sacrifice in this time of crisis by paying for lobbyists long lunches. And cut capital gains for the wealthy, naturally-thats Americas patriotic duty, too. And while were at it, dont forget to eliminate the Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax, enacted fifteen years ago to prevent corporations from taking so many credits and deductions that they owed little if any taxes. But dont just repeal their minimum tax; give those corporations a refund for all the minimum tax they have ever been assessed. You look incredulous. But thats taking place in Washington even as we meet here in Brainerd this morning. What else can America do to strike at the terrorists? Why, slip in a special tax break for poor General Electric, and slip inside the Environmental Protection Agency while everyones distracted and torpedo the recent order to clean the Hudson River of PCBs. Dont worry about NBC, CNBC, or MSNBC reporting it; theyre all in the GE family. Its time for Churchillian courage, were told. So how would this crowd assure that future generations will look back and say This was their finest hour? Thats easy. Give those coal producers freedom to pollute. And shovel generous tax breaks to those giant energy companies; and open the Alaskan wilderness to drilling-thats something to remember the 11thof September for. And while the red, white and blue wave at half-mast over the land of the free and the home of the brave-why, give the President the power to discard

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democratic debate and the rule-of- law concerning controversial trade agreements, and set up secret tribunals to run roughshod over local communities trying to protect their environment and their health. Its happening as we meet. Its happening right now. If I sound a little bitter about this, I am; the President rightly appeals every day for sacrifice. But to these mercenaries sacrifice is for suckers. So I am bitter, yes, and sad. Our business and political class owes us better than this. After all, it was they who declared class war twenty years ago and it was they who won. Theyre on top. If ever they were going to put patriotism over profits, if ever they were going to practice the magnanimity of winners, this was the moment. To hide now behind the flag while ripping off a country in crisis fatally - fatally! -separates them from the common course of American life. Some things just dont change. Once again the Republican Party has lived down to Harry Trumans description of the GOP as guardians of privilege. And as for Trumans Democratic Party-the party of the New Deal and the Fair Deal-well, it breaks my heart to report that the Democratic National Committee has used the terrorist attacks to call for widening the soft money loophole in our election laws. How about that for a patriotic response to terrorism? Mencken got it right-the journalist H. L. Mencken, who said that when you hear some men talk about their love of country, its a sign they expect to be paid for it. Understandably, in the hours after the attacks many environmental organizations stepped down from aggressively pressing their issues. Greenpeace canceled its 30th anniversary celebration. The Sierra Club stopped all advertising, phone banks and mailing. The Environmental Working Group and the PIRGs postponed a national report on chlorination in drinking water. That was the proper way to observe a period of mourning. Furthermore, in work like this you have to read and respect the mood of a country in crisis, or a misspoken word, even a modest misstep, could lose you the publics ear for years to come. But the polluters and their political cronies accepted no such constraints. Just one day after the attack, one day into the maelstrom of horror, loss, and grief, Republican senators called for prompt consideration of the Presidents proposal to subsidize the countrys largest and richest energy companies. While America was mourning they were marauding. One congressman even suggested that eco-terrorists might be behind the attacks. And with that smear he and his kind went on the offensive in Congress, attempting to attach to a defense bill massive subsidies for the oil, coal, gas and nuclear companies. To a defense bill! What a shameless insult to patriotism! What a slander on the sacrifice of our armed forces! To pile corporate welfare totaling billions of dollars onto a defense bill in an emergency like this is repugnant to the nostrils and a scandal against democracy! But this is their game. Theyre counting on your patriotism to distract you from their plunder. Theyre counting on you to be standing at attention with your hand over your heart, pledging allegiance to the flag, while they pick your pocket! Lets face it: they present citizens with no options but to climb back in the ring. We are in what educators call a teachable moment.

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And well lose it if we roll over and shut up. Whats at stake is democracy. Democracy wasnt cancelled on the 11th of September, but democracy wont survive if citizens turn into lemmings. Yes, the President is our Commander- in-chief, and in hunting down and destroying the terrorists who are trying to destroy us, we are all the Presidents men-as Henry Kissinger put it after the bombing of Cambodia. But we are not the Presidents minions. If in the name of the war on terrorism President Bush hands the state over to the energy industry, its every patriots duty to join the local opposition. Even in war, politics is about who gets what and who doesnt. If the mercenaries in Washington try to exploit the emergency and Americas good faith to grab what they wouldnt get through open debate in peace time, the disloyalty will not be in our dissent but in our subservience. The greatest sedition would be our silence. Yes, theres a fight going on-against terrorists around the globe, but just as certainly theres a fight going on here at home, to decide the kind of country this will be during and after the war on terrorism. To the Irishmans question-Is this a private fight or can anyone get in it? the answer has to be: Come on in. Its our economy, our environment, our country, and our future. If we dont fight, who will? What should our strategy be? Here are a couple of suggestions. During two trips to Washington in the last ten days I heard people talking mostly about two big issues of policy: economic stimulus and the national security. How do we renew our economy and safeguard our nation? Guess what? Those are your issues, and you are uniquely equipped to address them with powerful language and persuasive argument. For example: if you want to fight for the environment, dont hug a tree; hug an economist. Hug the economist who tells you that fossil fuels are not only the third most heavily subsidized economic sector after road transportation and agriculture-they also promote vast inefficiencies. Hug the economist who tells you that the most efficient investment of a dollar is not in fossil fuels but in renewable energy sources that not only provide new jobs but cost less over time. Hug the economist who tells you that the price system matters; its potentially the most potent tool of all for creating social change. Look what California did this summer in responding to its recent energy crisis with a price structure that rewards those who conserve and punishes those who dont. Californians cut their electric consumption by up to 15%. Do we want to send the terrorists a message? Go for conservation. Go for clean, home-grown energy. And go for public health. If we reduce emissions from fossil fuel, we will cut the rate of asthma among children. Healthier children and a healthier economy-how about that as a response to terrorism? As for national security, well, its time to expose the energy plan before Congress for the dinosaur it is. Everyone knows America needs to reduce our reliance on fossil fuel. But this energy plan is more of the same: more subsidies for the rich, more pollution, more waste, more inefficiency. Lets get the message out. Start with John Adams wakeup call. The head of NRDC says the terrorist attacks spell out in frightful terms that Americas unchecked consumption of oil has become our Achilles heel. It constrains our military options in the face of terror. It leaves our economy dangerously vulnerable to price shocks. It invites environmental degradation, ecological disasters, and potentially catastrophic climate change.

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Go to Tompaine.com and you will find the two simple facts we need to get to the American people: first, the money we pay at the gasoline pump helps prop up oil-rich sponsors of terrorism like Saddam Hussein and Muammar al-Quaddifi. Second, a big reason we spend so much money policing the Middle East-$30 billion every year, by one reckoning-has to do with our dependence on the oil there. So John Adams got it right-the single most important thing environmentalists can do to ensure Americas national security is to fight to reduce our nations dependence on oil, whether imported or domestic. But dont stop there. Before the 11th of September the nuclear power industry was salivating at the prospect of the government giving it limited liability for the risks of the meltdown or other nuclear accident. We were told by Vice President Cheney that nuclear power was a safe technology that could help alleviate energy shortages and not contribute to greenhouse gases. But when Dick Cheney invited the energy companies and their lobbyists to write his energy plan, he didnt reckon on terrorism or the advice of Harvey Wassermann. Harvey Wassermann has spent years studying these issues and writing about Americas experience with atomic radiation. He tells us that one or both planes that crashed into the World Trade Center could easily have obliterated the two atomic reactors now operating at Indian Point, about 40 miles up the Hudson River. Regulations put out by the nuclear regulatory commission regarding plant safety dont address that sort of event, and neither plant was designed to withstand such crashes. Until now Harvey Wassermanns scenario was unthinkable. Had one or both of those jets hit one or both of the operating reactors at Indian Point, the ensuing cloud of radiation would have dwarfed the ones at Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. At the very least the massive impact and hellish jet fuel fire would destroy the human ability to control the plants functions. Vital cooling systems, back-up power generators and communications networks would crumble. The assault would not require a large jet. The safety systems are extremely complex and virtually indefensible. One or more could be wiped out with a wide range of easily deployed small aircraft, ground-based weapons, truck bombs or even chemical/biological assaults aimed at the operating work force. Dozens of US reactors have repeatedly failed even modest security tests over the years. And even heightened wartime standards cannot guarantee protection of the vast, supremely sensitive controls required for reactor safety. Without continuous monitoring and guaranteed water flow, the thousands of tons of radioactive rods in the cores and the thousands more stored in those fragile pools would rapidly melt into super-hot radioactive balls of lava that would burn into the ground and the water table and, ultimately, the Hudson. Striking water, they would blast gigantic billows of horribly radioactive steam into the atmosphere. The radioactive clouds would then enshroud New York, New Jersey, New England, and carry deep into the Atlantic and up into Canada and across to Europe and around the globe again and again. The immediate damage would render thousands of the worlds most populous and expensive square miles permanently uninhabitable. All five boroughs of New York City would be an apocalyptic wasteland. All real estate and economic value would be poisonously radioactive throughout the entire region. Who knows how

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many people would die? As at Three Mile Island, where thousands of farm and wild animals died in heaps, and as at Chernobyl, where soil, water and plant life have been hopelessly irradiated, natural ecosystems on which human and all other life depends would be permanently and irrevocably destroyed; spiritually, psychologically, financially, ecologically, our nation would never recover. This is what we missed by a mere forty miles near New York City on September 11th. And remember-there are 103 of these potential bombs of the apocalypse now operating in the United States. 103. I know you see the magnitude of the challenge. I know you see what were up against. I know you get it-the work that we must do. Its why you mustnt lose heart. Your adversaries will call you unpatriotic for speaking the truth when conformity reigns. Ideologues will smear you for challenging the official view of reality. Mainstream media will ignore you, and those gasbags on cable TV and the radio talk shows will ridicule and vilify you. But I urge you to hold to these words: In the course of fighting the present fire, we must not abandon our efforts to create fire-resistant structures of the future. Those words were written by my friend Randy Kehler more than ten years ago, as America geared up to fight the Gulf War. They ring as true today. Those fire-resistant structures must include an electoral system that is no longer dominated by big money, where the voices and problems of average people are attended on a fair and equal basis. They must include an energy system that is more sustainable, and less dangerous. And they must include a media that takes its responsibility to inform us as seriously as its interest in entertaining us. My own personal response to Osama bin Laden is not grand, or rousing, or dramatic. All I know to do is to keep doing as best I can the craft that has been my calling now for most of my adult life. My colleagues and I have rededicated ourselves to the production of several environmental reports that were in progress before September 11. As a result of our two specials this year-Trade Secrets and Earth on Edge-PBS is asking all of public televisions production teams to focus on the environment for two weeks around Earth Day next April. Our documentaries will anchor that endeavor. One will report on how an obscure provision in the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) can turn the rule of law upside down and undermine a communitys health and environment. Our four-part series on Americas First River looks at how the Hudson River shaped Americas conservation movement a century ago and, more recently, the modern environmental movement. Were producing another documentary on the search for alternative energy sources, another on children and the environment the questions scientists, researchers and pediatricians are asking about childrens vulnerability to hazards in the environment-and we are also making a stab at updating the health of the global environment that we launched last June with Earth on Edge. What does Osama bin Laden have to do with these? He has given me not one but five thousand and more reasons for journalism to signify on issues that matter. I began this talk with the names of some of them- the victims who died on the 11th of September. I did so because I never want to forget the humanity lost in the horror. I never want to forget the e-mail Forrester Church told me about-sent by a doomed employee in the World Trade Center

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who, just before his life was over, wrote: Thank you for being such a great friend. I never want to forget the man and woman holding hands as they leap together to their death. I never want to forget those firemen who just kept going up; they just kept going up. And I never want to forget what Forrester said of this disaster-that the very worst of which human beings are capable can bring out the very best. Ive learned a few things in my 67 years. One thing Ive learned that the kingdom of the human heart is large. In addition to hate, it contains courage, in response to the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, my parents generation waged and won a great war, then came home to establish a more prosperous and just America. I inherited the benefits of their courage. So did you. The ordeal was great but prevail they did. We will, too, if we rise to the spiritual and moral challenge of survival. Michael Berenbaum has defined that challenge for me. As President of the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation, he worked with people who escaped the Holocaust. Heres what he says: The question is what to do with the very fact of survival. Over time survivors will be able to answer that question not by a statement about the past but by what they do with the future. Because they have faced death, many will have learned what is more important: Life itself, love, family, community. The simple things we have all taken for granted will bear witness to that reality. The survivors will not be defined by the lives they have led until now but by the lives that they will lead from now on. For the experience of near death to have ultimate meaning, it must take shape in how one rebuilds from the ashes. Such for the individual; so, too, for the nation. Were survivors, you and I. We will be defined not by the lives we led until the 11th of September, but by the lives we will lead from now on. So go home-make the best grants youve ever made. And the biggest-we have too little time to pinch pennies. Back the committed and courageous people in the field-and back them with media to spread their message. Stick your own neck out. Let your work be charged with passion, and your life with a sense of mission. For when all is said and done, the most important grant youll ever make is the gift of yourself, to the work at hand.

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Democracy Matters Training Handout

Introduction - Adonal Foyle Democracy Matters: Philosophic and Political Issues - Jay Mandle Developing A Strategic Plan - Adam Weinberg

Organizing On Campus Starting a group Running a group

Running Campaigns Goals Strategies/Tactics 13 Ideas: Canvassing; Posters; Tabling; Street Theater; Letter Writing;

Lobbying; Public Lectures (schools, churches); Petitions; Public Hearings; Rallies; Leafleting; Newsletters; Email.

Hidden Resources: The Media and Faculty

Connecting To Democracy Matters - Joan Mandle Connecting to the staff Connecting to other campuses

If you do not exist in the media, for all practical purposes you do not exist. Daniel Schoor We have a fundamental task to renew our role as agents of our democracy. This task is both urgent and long-term.This country cannot afford to educate a generation that acquires knowledge without ever understanding how that knowledge can benefit society or how to influence democratic decision making. We believe that the challenge of the next millennium is the renewal of our own democratic life. Thomas Erhlich, President Emeritus Indiana University

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Democracy Matters Training

I. Introduction- 10 Minutes

A) Start with Adonal B) Joan gives an update about Democracy matters- website, materials, service

learning C) Adam introduces the exercise

II. Small Group Exercise- One hour These are just the lead questions. We will prod the students as the discussion progresses. There is no magic to these questions. If the conversation is good, we should let it flow. If we do not get to all the questions that is fine. The goal is to ignite a good sharing of ideas. Your principle task this fall is going to be find ways of informing people on campus and in the community about the problem of private money in politics and the promise of changing the way campaigns are financed as a way to deepen democracy in the United States. We are going to work through a series of question about the issues that we need to think about. Some of this is designed to build from the conversation that we started yesterday afternoon. As we do this, we really should all pull from our own experiences. This is really about spending the next hour sharing ideas with each other. We are all going to be resource people for each other. Lets start Topic #1: Organizing On Campus- lets start with a general discussion about organizing on your campus.

A) Starting a group QUESTION #1 TO ASK THE GROUP: First we need to understand our school. Somebody start us. How is your school organized? What other activist groups are on campus? How are other groups organized? Who are the campus leaders? How might we start to work with them? QUESTION #2 TO ASK THE GROUP: Now lets turn to nuts and bolts issues about the way to use your Student Activities office. Somebody start us. Is there student activity money available? How do we get those funds? Do we want to be an official group? How would we register? Is there a student activity night. Is it worth attending.

QUESTION #3 TO ASK THE GROUP: Before we leave this part of our conversation. Somebody summarize for us. What are the take away points about how to use the first two weeks to organize a group that is going to work with you.

B) Running a group

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This is going to be really different on each campus. Some of you will be running Democracy Matters chapters. Some of you will be the money in politics person for a larger political group. Some of you have talked about virtual organizing.

HOWEVER, each of you are going to be responsible for working with a group of people to develop and run campaigns. The section in the manual on running a group is really good. But, a lot of you have experience. Lets take a few minutes and share ideas.

QUESTION #4: Lets go around the circle. What is the worse group that you ever participated in. What was wrong about the way the group was organized and/or run. QUESTION #5: Lets go around again. What would make a great group? How would it be organized and run?

QUESTION #6: Now lets take a look at some issues in running a group (if these did not arise already) How do we make meetings worth attending. How do we make sure that people follow through on their tasks. How do we make sure that everybody gets to participate. How do we make sure that we continue to recruit new members. How do we make sure that the group does more than focus on keeping the soup warm

QUESTION #7: Now a more specific issue. How do we get start? How should you go about developing a strategic plan for your group?

Topic #2: Campus Campaigns A good campaign is based on a coherent idea of what is going to be achieved and how to achieve it. In the manual there is some great insights about goals, strategies, and tactics. Lets pull from your own experiences on campuses: QUESTION #8: What are our goals for this year? In other words, what sorts of changes would you like to see in yourself, your friends, your campus, the political landscape? QUESTION #9: What is the best campaign you have seen on campus? What made it a good campaign? QUESTION #10: What would be mistakes in designing campaigns for your campus. QUESTION #11: Depending on Time. If have time do the following lets briefly talk about 13 ideas for campaigns. If not, just mention the following ways to run campaigns:

1. Canvassing

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2. Posters 3. Tabling 4. Street Theater 5. Letter Writing 6. Lobbying 7. Public Lectures (schools, churches) 8. Petitions 9. Public Hearings 10. Rallies 11. Leafleting 12. Newsletters 13. Email

QUESTION #12: Lets talk about two hidden assets that we typically do not use very well. How do we use the media If you do not exist in the media, for all practical purposes you do not exist QUESTION #13: how do we involve faculty

III. Philosophical and Political Issues: 30 Minutes This has been a really exciting couple of days. We wanted to end by talking about three big issues that you will face. These are not answerable questions, but they are issues to keep in mind. At the very least, we thought that we would share the issues we care about and want to talk to you about as the year goes on. Jay- talk about first amendment issues. Joan- why campaign finance reform and not other reforms: PR, free air time. Maybe hand out the public campaign flyer. Adam- eternal vigilance, or reaching out beyond ourselves to the mainstream kids on campus and then into the communities. IV. Connecting to Democracy Matters- Last 30 Minutes Democracy Matters should matter to what you are doing. We want to take the last 30 minutes and open the conversation to you. Two final topics:

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Topic #1: The Connection To Democracy Matters: the link between campus coordinators and Democracy Matters staff should be a close one. What Do You Want From Us? How should it work- email/phone How often should we communicate What kinds of mentorship/advice do you want What dont you want Topic #2: You are a great group of human beings! We feel proud that you will partially comprise our first class of Campus Coordinators. What do you want from each other? Question #1: what are the obstacles that you are going to face on campus when you try to inform other students. Question #2: what are some of the opportunities that exist on campus.

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Public Campaign Conference Building A Base On Campus

Work Session #2 July 14, 2001

Earlier, we talked about the problem, the solution, and the importance of student organizing. We now want to turn to next steps. This fall, each of you will return to your campus. What are the initial steps for building a base on your campus? There are three steps: getting organized, getting educated, and taking actions. This is a timed three part exercise. You should break up into groups of 4-6 people. Each part of the exercise should take 15 minutes. We will keep time for you. Somebody should take notes and agree to report back to the group. When the session is over, MAKE SURE THAT YOU GIVE YOUR NOTES TO ADAM. He will summarize all the notes and send them to everybody in the next week (or two!). Part 1: Organizing A Group What are six different ways that you could organize a group of students. Remember Margaret Meads statement about groups: of course a small group of people can change the world, nothing else ever has. It is most important to have a group of people who are reliable, committed, and (most important) fun to work with. The size of the group is unimportant. It will grow as you have success, and others realize that you are doing important work in ways that is meaningful and fun. Now evaluate the strategies. Given the dynamics of your campus, which of these is the most appropriate and least appropriate. Think about issues like timing (which of these can be done early in the year), secondary effects (which ones also help get the word out on campus), and ease. Part 2: Educating Ourselves We have to be educated on the issues. At some point, people are going to ask questions. We need to prepared to give thoughtful and convincing answers. What are some ways that your group could educate itself? Try to come up with three initial strategies. Educating ourselves should be a continuous process of reflection about ourselves, our beliefs, and the world we are trying to create. We dont want to get so focused on the details of actions, that we forget to the intellectual side of our work. What is one way that your group can continue to educate itself as you move on to taking actions. Part 3: Taking Actions What are four to six actions that your organized and educated group can take to start to inform people on campus and in our community. Remember, our goal is inform others in ways that will move some to action while garnering the support of many more. Now evaluate the strategies. Given the dynamics of your campus, which of these is the most appropriate and least appropriate.

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Democracy Matters Organizing: Nuts and Bolts

Noon-2:15 Pm Since we met in the summer, Democracy Matters chapters have done a significant amount of organizing. This working lunch is designed to give different chapters an opportunity to share ideas and to help each other problem solve. Below is a series of questions. You should work through the questions at your own pace. Do not feel obligated to get through all of the questions. However, we do ask that you approach the questions in the order listed. We also ask that somebody in each group take notes. We will take the notes and write a Summit Summary for the website. This document will be useful to Chapters that could not join us. Finally, make sure that you finish your lunch by addressing the last two questions (marked Lead Off Questions). We will use your responses to gear our conversation tonight. Topic #1: Structuring Your Chapter

1. Lets start by talking about recruiting members: a. On a scale from one to ten (with one being poor and ten being perfect), how

would you rate your chapters recruitment efforts: b. Explain your response: c. Name strategies of recruitment that have worked: d. Name strategies that have failed: e. What recruitment strategies do you have for this semester:

2. Now lets talk about your chapter meetings: a. Explain how you organize and run your chapter meetings: b. On a scale from one to ten, how would you rate your chapters meetings: c. Explain your response: d. What advice do you have for other chapters about running a meeting: e. What is the greatest obstacle that you have to overcome when running a chapter

meeting and how have you overcome it:

3. Not lets talk about your campaigns/actions : a. What campaigns/actions did you take during the fall:

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b. Name one thing you learned: c. Name one mistake you made: d. What do you plan to do this semester: e. What could Democracy Matters do to help you:

4. Now lets talk about faculty: a. Have you included faculty: b. If so, how did you include them: c. Name one way faculty could support your chapter:

5. List three things you would like your chapter to accomplish this semester:

6. Not lets talk about obstacles: a. As a group, list five obstacles that your chapters need to overcome: b. As a group, come up with strategies for overcoming those obstacles:

7. Finally, lets talk about the community: a. Have you done any work in the community: b. If so, explain it: c. If not, explain why: d. Come up with one major action you could take in conjunction with or in the

community: e.

LEAD OFF QUESTIONS:

8. List three pieces of advice that you would give to a new Democracy Matter chapter:

Name one goal for the entire Democracy Matter organization to aim for in the next year:

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Democracy Matters Coordinating Campus Campaigns

7:00-8:30 PM

Introductory Remarks- Tracy Sturdivant (Public Campaign)

Assessing Our Work The Democracy Matters Strategy- Adam Weinberg

Stage 1- Getting Organized Stage 2- Getting Educated While Taking Actions To Raise Campus

Awareness Stage 3- Getting In The Community To Engage In Politics

Lessons From The Fall- Group Reports

Looking Ahead Getting Past Myths- Adam Weinberg

We Need More Members We Need To Know More

Challenge #1- Using The Classroom Introduction- Adam Weinberg Brainstorm Strategies

Challenge#2- Moving Into The Community By Using The Media Introduction- Adam Weinberg Brainstorm Strategies

Challenge #3- Moving Into The Community Engaging In Politics Introduction- Adam Weinberg Brainstorm Strategies

Challenge #4- Working Together By Coordinating Campaigns Introduction- Adam Weinberg Brainstorm Strategies

Goals and Strategies For 2002