Occupy Penn State

Occupy Penn State Forum Tonight at 7:30, 104 Keller

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 13:18:24 -0500

Hey, tonight from 7:30 to 9:30, we’ll be having a forum in 104 Keller, sponsored by media professors in the College of Communications, to discuss Occupy Penn State. Inevitably discussion will probably include last night’s riots and the purpose of civic protest in general. I’ll be leaving Occupy’s General Assembly early tonight, along with several other students, to participate in the forum — and I think this is a good way to round off the discussions we’ve been having at Occupy for the past month.
-Ricky

The OccupyPennState movement is not associated with any of the current rioting or protesting currently going on in State College. We denounce the use of violence in riots, especially the destruction of public property. The principles of the Occupy movement include nonviolence and if any individuals choose to participate in violent actions, they will no longer associated with our movement.

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 01:36:27 -0500

Tonight's General Assembly is a discussion about the future of the Occupation

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 19:27:00 -0500

The general consensus seems to be that Thursday should be our last night: declare victory and end the occupation.

Reasons cited while discussing include lack of attendance as well as wanting to focus on activism involved with the recent scandal.

Other items discussed include:

Talk on Marcellus Shale hosted by the Geography department. Students are outraged that questions to the “industry expert” are screened in advance and censored. We want to flood the discussion with people aware of this censorship.

-The discussion is in Walker, in room 112 this friday at 4pm. Try to arrive by 3:30.

Photos from the student protest at Old Main tonight. Though the...

Sun, 06 Nov 2011 20:48:00 -0500

Photos from the student protest at Old Main tonight. Though the event was not affiliated with Occupy Penn State, we feel that all forms of student activism should be advertised!

Sandusky Case Protest @ Old Main at 8pm

Sun, 06 Nov 2011 19:02:00 -0500

Sandusky Case Protest @ Old Main at 8pm:

Students will be protesting in front of Old Main at 8pm tonight regarding the corruption in our school’s leadership. Though some of these students come from Occupy, this isn’t an official Occupy event and we just thought this would be a good outlet to let the details of the event be known. See you there

General Assembly Minutes - 11/31

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 19:29:15 -0400

General Assembly Minutes - 11/31

Pictures from our current Teach-In: a great discussion from...

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 17:48:00 -0400

Pictures from our current Teach-In: a great discussion from Sociologist Sam Richards. Thanks everyone for the huge turnout!

Occupy Penn State Newsletter 2

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 13:45:53 -0400

Occupy Penn State Newsletter 2:

Here’s today’s newsletter, created by the new Info-Reach working group!

Come to the Occupation at 3pm today

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 12:26:00 -0400

We’ve just received word that a fellow student group, the Young Americans for Freedom, is planning on protesting our occupation at 3pm.

Their goal is, “to promote the principles of capitalism, individual freedom, limited government and draw attention to YAF ”

I think this would be a great opportunity to do some outreach — they are in support of limited government, and we are protesting the government bailout of banks. Also, we have many capitalists standing in solidarity with our protest against corporatism, so perhaps we can use this time to foster conversation.

We’d like to have a strong showing for the protest, so if you have free time, please come!

Occupy Penn State Calendar

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 22:19:00 -0400

Occupy Penn State Calendar:

We now have a calendar with meeting times for most of our groups, as well as times for GA’s and special events. Check back for updates — meeting times for all groups will be available over the next day or so. Stop by the occupation to find out how you can get involved.

Contact Ricky, the point person for Info-Reach, at ric.morales22@gmail.com, if you’d like to put an event on the calendar.

Important Announcement About General Assemblies:

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 19:49:00 -0400

Tonight’s General Assembly just decided to reduce the number of General Assemblies each week. From now on, we will only be meeting as a GA on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

Working groups have also been restructured in order to facilitate more direct action. New working groups are…

Info-Reach - Meets on Mondays at noon and Thursdays at 8pm
*A combination of information, media and outreach, which includes making pamphlets, newsletters, organizing social media and contacting community members
Contact Ricky at ric.morales22@gmail.com

Housekeeping - Meets Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 6:45
*A combination of cleaning and food, this group is responsible for making sure that every member of Occupy is involved with general housekeeping, making sure it gets done
Contact Bernadette bmb5285@psu.edu

Facilitation - Meeting time TBA
*This group will continue to organize the agenda in order to run the General Assemblies
Contact Paige at paheimark@gmail.com

We are developing the action groups further. More information to come soon.

General Assembly Minutes - 11/2

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 19:16:44 -0400

General Assembly Minutes - 11/2:

We’re discussing the organizational structure of the movement — it is important for us to have as many voices as possible. If you can’t be at the meeting, shoot us an email at occupypennstate@gmail.com with your comments.

So Wednesday's General Assembly is Really Important

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 01:05:00 -0400

At Wednesday’s 7pm General Assembly, we’ll be discussing the structure of the occupation This extremely important meeting will determine how we approach the occupation from here on out — if you can only make it to one General Assembly this week, this one has to be it. Potential topics of discussion include cutting down on the number of General Assemblies each week and finalizing meeting times for every one of our subgroups so that more direct action can take place. Brainstorm ideas and bring them with you — see you there

General Assembly Minutes - 11/1

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 19:30:26 -0400

General Assembly Minutes - 11/1

Schedule for our Teach-Ins over the next few days

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 19:01:00 -0400

SCHEDULE

-Wednesday-

Dr. Jamie Campbell - 9am
Speaking on MLK Legacy and Non-Violence

Prof. Sajay Samuel - 10am
Speaking about Ethics and Economic Ideology

Prof. Dan Letwin - 11am
Informal Q&A with Students

Dr. Eric Hayot - 2pm
Speaking on Fall and Rise of Socialism

Dr. Nan Woodruff - 4pm
A Historian’s Perspective

Prof. Alan Derickson will speak after Dr. Woodruff

-Thursday-

Doug Mason - 2:45pm
Speaking on Nuclear Weapons and Their Current Threat

Jon Gobeil - 4pm
Speaking on Income Inequality and the Economic Crisis

Dr. Sam Richards - 5pm
Speaking on Why the Movement Started

Peter Buckland from Sustainability Now - 6:00pm
Education as the Assembly Line to Obsolescence or a Garden for Regeneration

-Friday-

Prof. Paul Clark - 12:30
Speaking on Labor Issues

General Assembly Minutes - 11/31

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 19:22:00 -0400

General Assembly Minutes - 11/31

Chris explains his involvement with Occupy Penn State.

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 11:30:55 -0400

Chris explains his involvement with Occupy Penn State.

So what is Occupy, anyway?

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 22:39:00 -0400

The Information Working Group came up with the following answer to the ubiquitous question…

What is Occupy?

Lower Manhattan, September 17th. Hundreds of protesters gathered at Wall Street to denounce a system that benefits the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans with tax loopholes and bank bailouts — leaving the other 99 percent of us struggling with rising unemployment, crumbling infrastructure, and the stagnation of essential social programs.

Since then, occupations have spread from New York City to Los Angeles, to London and Beijing. Students, union workers, teachers, veterans, and factory workers have taken to the streets in protest. And police forces have met some of these peaceful demonstrations with violence, unjustly dispersing them from the public spaces they inhabit with tear gas, rubber bullets, pepper spray, and physical aggression.

So what is Occupy?

It’s the declaration that something is wrong with existing circumstances. Our concerns may manifest as attacks on corporate greed and the government that supports it through corporate welfare, but these are just symptoms of a larger problem.

The profit-motive driving our country reduces humanity to the position of means, not ends. Occupy is an attempt to reverse this logic; it’s about building a movement against increasing inequality. Corporate culture has for decades widened the gap between the rich and the poor, and in addressing this problem, a new democratic culture has been created to facilitate discussion.

Occupy could be called an experiment in horizontal democracy. Here, everyone has a voice. Decisions are made on the basis of consensus and anyone can comment on a decision. The process is slow, but it’s fair and representative. Broad national issues are discussed, and at Penn State specifically, we’re discussing what change we can effect at the local level.

Though Occupy began in retaliation to corporate greed, it’s since become much more than that. The movement is really about building a new future — together.

General Assembly Minutes - 10/30

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 21:22:00 -0400

General Assembly Minutes - 10/30:

A small GA today, we discussed how to maintain a strong presence / build a stronger community at Occupy, as well as the tentative teach-in schedule for Nov. 2 and 3

RIcky talks about his involvement with the Occupy Movement.

Sat, 29 Oct 2011 11:10:00 -0400

RIcky talks about his involvement with the Occupy Movement.