[nader-colo-students] Saturday Night Live, reports from CU, Colorado College

["Damon Haley " <dhaley@greens.org>]

Here are some updates on Nader TV appearances.  Below that are recent 
reports from Colorado College and CU-Boulder.  Please read the action 
report at the end of this message.  It has some great topics for 
writing letters to your campus paper.  Also discussed are Nader's 
recent rise in the polls and comparisons of his death penalty and 
corporate prison stands with the other guys.

Damon Haley
Colorado Nader 2000 Campus Coordinator
dhaley@greens.org
www.coloradonader2000.com

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NADER ON TV

Monday, October 2nd
Ralph Nader and Pat Buchanan will appear on Larry King Live at 9:00pm 
EASTERN (7:00pm Mtn) on CNN.
 
Saturday, October 7
 
11:30 pm Saturday Night Live - WFLA - Channel 8 (NBC)

---------------------------------------------------------------
Colorado College Report

We're going to stage our own debates with Nader included (people
representing each person). We are tabling this week, getting people
registered to vote and distributing lots of materials.  We are 
photocopying printouts for a huge paper coup in the coming weeks. 

Bettina at CC
E_SWIGGER@ColoradoCollege.edu 
---------------------------------------------------------------
CU - Boulder

Meeting Minutes for 9/27/00

* Colorado Nader 2000 is handing out literature on Perl street during
the weekdays. 
* Participating in CU student presidential debates on Oct. 24
* "Dorm Storms will be occurring."  
* People will be leaflet at football game.
* Voter awareness event on Oct. 18th at Chatauqua, aimed at 
non-voters.
* Sponsoring Barbara Ehrenreich event on the 11th. 
* tabling next week (10/2-10/6).
* "Campus Crusade on The 1st (of November) in the ballroom
Upcoming Rallies:
* 11th for Forthofer
* 10th at the Fountain for Nader
* Showing Bullworth in dorms

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GatorGreens-NadersGators
Press Release
October 1, 2000
CONTACT:  Paddy Newell
352.481.2621  padicita@ufl.edu


STUDENTS FOR NADER TO PROTEST "LET RALPH DEBATE" AT
DEMOCRATIC and REPUBLICAN HEADQUARTERS

Gainesville, FL, October 2 -- A local university students group,
the GatorGreens-NadersGators, will stage a protest outside of
the Democratic and Republican Party offices in Gainesville on
Monday and Tuesday, October 2nd and 3rd, from 4pm-6pm.
The students are demanding that Ralph Nader be included
in the presidential debates scheduled to begin in Boston,
Massachusetts on October 3rd.

The protest is part of a nation-wide protest scheduled to
take place at the same time by 'Students for Nader', a
coalition of over 800 student groups on college campuses in the U.S.

Florida Campus Coordinator for Nader 2000, Paddy Newell,
said that " thousands of students are angry that the
Commission on Presidential Debates, a panel
of former democratic and republican leaders, is allowed
to dictate the criteria for candidates participation.
Nation-wide polls confirm that over 64% of Americans want
to see Ralph Nader and Pat Buchanan in the debates.

"Young people also blame corporate sponsors and the
television broadcast stations.  It is ridiculous to claim
that we live in a democracy where free speech prevails,to
then have such critical events monopolized by corporations
and the two major parties. As students, we are
taught that in a democracy, the media has an obligation
to provide citizens with ample access to unbiased truthful information
so that they can make intelligent informed decisions.
These debates belong to the American people - not the
corporations and two major parties.
If young people are to become participants in the
electoral process, this is certainly not the message
to send to them."

In a recent 4-day tabling event at the University of
Florida, Ms. Newell said that "we collected hundreds
of signatures from students who demand that Nader
be allowed into the debates. Though some students
were democrats and republicans, they shared one
thing in common. They believe that it is wrong to
exclude Nader from the debates."  Also, in a recent
Gainesville Sun online poll, 72% of participants agreed
that Ralph Nader should be allowed to debate.

Student supporters point out that Governor Jesse Ventura
was not expected to win the Minnesota governor's election
until he participated in their debates, and that the
participation of Ross Perot in a previous presidential
debate resulted in a much higher viewer audience.

"We support Rep. Jesse Jackson's suggestion that if a
candidate is on enough state ballots to logistically
win an election, that candidate should be included in
the debates. We are confident that if Ralph Nader and Pat Buchanan
are included in the debates, not only will more people
watch the televised debates, the voter turnout will
be greater than expected. Over 100 million Americans
did not vote in 1996. What does that tell us?
It's time for change."
----------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Citizen Activist:

Our hard-work is starting to have an impact. The incredible turnout
at 
our Super-Rallies, and the constant protests to Let Ralph Debate have 
raised the eyebrows of the establishment media who had declared our 
campaign dead in the water. We are also moving up in the polls. We
are 
at 7% in California, 9% in Maine, 7% in Connecticut, and an
astounding 
17% in Alaska.

We must now broaden our focus to include efforts that demonstrate our
strengths at the grassroots level. Simple things like wearing a Nader
Button, putting that bumper-sticker on your car, and helping 
distribute literature in your neighborhood or putting up yardsigns 
will be critical to our success. Most people don't know that Ralph is 
in the campaign or that there is an alternative to the tired old 
politics as usual.

DIRECT ACTION MISSION:  This week we need to protest that Texas 
prisoners aren't the only ones on death row, by excluding Ralph Nader 
from the debates the two parties are placing democracy on death row. 
Hold silent vigils, mock funeral processions, and show trials for the 
corrupt major party candidates who also support the death penalty,
the 
drug war, and the for profit prison industry.  These events can be 
held in front of your local Rep. or Dem. office to highlight the 
placing of American democracy on death row.  Alert local media, dress 
in black, build caskets, and put tape over your mouths to show that 
you've been silenced.  Have fun, but always be polite and peaceful.

OUTREACH MISSION: This week we need to reach out to local community 
groups that are holding candidate forums. You don't need to have 
public speaking experience to explain why the current political
system 
isn't working for you. Two ideas that are important to express are : 
1) That the campaign finance system is corrupting the political
system 
and the two major parties are marinating in corporate money. 
2) If you are not in one of the half dozen "battleground" states, a 
vote for Ralph Nader is not a wasted vote.  The winner take all
system 
of the electoral-college means that if Bush is going to win your
state 
anyway a vote for Gore is a wasted vote. If Gore is going to win your 
state  then a vote for Ralph Nader won't hurt and you can be free to 
vote your hopes and dreams instead of your fears.

FUNDRAISING MISSION: The Nader 2000 Campaign Needs You to Party!

With the election only 5 weeks away you may be wondering "What can I 
do to get involved in the Nader 2000 Campaign?" One great way to 
contribute is to raise funds and awareness about the campaign by 
throwing a campus or neighborhood houseparty! Houseparties are 
small-scale fundraiser/time-raisers held in homes, campuses, or 
community centers by folks who want to help spread the word about the 
only Presidential team with an authentic record of reform - Ralph 
Nader and Winona LaDuke. Houseparties are a great way to get involved 
in the grassroots political process to organize a truly progressive 
third party while having fun with your friends, family and co-workers.

During the month of October the campaign will be sponsoring a "Get
Out 
and Vote-Houseparty Rally Contest". Between the dates of October
1-28, 
the states that raise the most money, volunteers, and support, through
house-parties, will win a rally the weekend before the election
hosted 
by one of our Citizen Committee Members.

For more information about hosting a house-party and contest 
guidelines,
please visit our website: 
http://www.votenader.org/materials/houseparty/


PRINT MISSION: The topic for this week's letter to the editor is the
connection between the failed war on drugs, the death penalty, and the
for-profit prison industry. Both major party candidates are
supportive 
of these failed policies and are taking money from the prison 
industrial complex. Some points to include:

* The War on Drugs:

Nader:
The War on Drugs unfairly targets people of color and the poor.
Drug abusers do not need to be incarcerated-they need opportunity and
treatment.  Opposes the criminalization of drugs, and the 
incarceration of nonviolent drug offenders.

Gore and Bush:
The Clinton-Gore Administration has shown little creativity in coming 
up with new approaches to drug problems.
Neither Gore nor Bush have shown any inclination or ability or the 
courage necessary to come up with new approaches that would reduce
the 
drug problem.

* The Death Penalty:

Nader:
Has opposed the death penalty since he was a law student at Harvard.
Opposes the death penalty because it does not deter and is 
discriminatory against people of color and those who cannot afford 
competent legal counsel.  
Supports moratorium on the death penalty

Bush:
Supports the death penalty.
Texas has one of the highest execution rates in the United States.
People of color are disproportionately represented on death row in 
Texas.

Gore:
Supports the death penalty.
Has been silent on the injustices of the death penalty, such as the
disproportionate representation of people of color on death row.

* Prison Industrial Complex:

Nader:
Calls for corporations, such as the Corrections Corporation of 
America-the largest multinational prison corporation operating in the 
United States-to get out of the prison industry; human dignity should 
come before profits.
Corporations wrongfully exploit prisoners, who are disproportionately 
people of color. Prisoners are used as cheap labor to increase 
corporate profits.
He believes that public policy should be aimed at reducing the 
incarceration rate through treatment and rehabilitation-not locking 
people up by the masses.

Bush and Gore:
Both encourage the growth of the corporate prison industry.
Both have accepted more than $100,000 in soft money that corporations
running for-profit prisons have given to both the DNC and RNC.
The corporate-prison industry has grown tremendously under the eight 
years of the Clinton administration, particularly in George W. Bush's 
state of Texas.



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