II. Mass Action: Tell Congress to put Education Before Profits
IV. Montana YCLers hold House Parties for EFCA
I. In The News: 'Pirates' Strike a U.S. Ship Owned by a Pentagon Contractor, But Is the Media Telling the Whole Story?
By Jeremy Scahill
"Coverage of the pirates is similar to the false narrative about "tribalism" being the cause of all of Africa's problems. Of course, there are straight-up gangsters and criminals engaged in these hijackings. Perhaps the pirates who hijacked the Alabama on Wednesday fall into that category. We do not yet know. But that is hardly the whole "pirate" story."
To read the whole story visit Alternet's website.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. Do you think the pirates were justified in taking over the ship?
2. Do you think the pirates that took over the ship were interested in addressing the larger issues of unregulated fishing and the dumping of toxic waste?
3. What actions could Obama take to address the issue of piracy off the coast of Somalia?
II. Mass Action: Tell Congress to put Education Before Profits
Over a month ago President Obama addressed the nation and proposed some of the firmest commitments to education we've seen in a generations. His bold plan promised all of us that the government would permanently fund the Pell Grant programs so that anyone who wanted to go to college and needed help paying for it would be able to get the support they needed without taking out bad loans that would put them into decades of debt.
Today the private loan companies came out of the shadows to tell Congress they must choose between investing in America's future or funding the private loan companies.
Our country shouldn't be forced to choose between the Pell Grant and funding the private loan companies- WE NEED TO INVEST IN EDUCATION in order to rebuild America's economy and our future.
Sign the petition from the United States Student Association (USSA) and Studetnt Labor Action Project (SLAP) telling your Congressperson and Senators to invest to put our education before the profits of private loan companies.
Our next YCL College Call will be next Thursday April 23rd. Get updates from the Unites States Student Association (USSA) on upcoming legislative and national actions impacting students, discuss what is happening on campuses across the country with other YCLers, and get new ideas to build a club on your campus.
If you are interested in attending the call, email Ursula at ursula@yclusa.org
IV. Montana YCLers hold House Parties for EFCA
The YCL in Butte, Montana held an EFCA letter-writing house party (complete with red-frosted communist sugar cookies with hammer and sickles, and course, Lenin-lime punch!) this week that brought youth and students together to urge their Senators to support EFCA. After writing personal letters at the party, they drafted an open letter and spent the day tabling at Montana Tech and gather over 40 signatures from students on campus.
At 4 o'clock they took their packets of letters to the Senators' local offices. The United Students Against Sweatshops club at the University of Montana in Missoula coordinated with them and took theirs in at the same time. The Senators weren't in but their staff at the offices were really stoked to see and hear from young people getting active for the Employee Free Choice Act.
"I'm really excited about how things turned out. It seemed like just about everyone we approached was really cool with what we were doing, and we made a few new friends that are down with the what our YCL Club is doing. I don't know if they'll turn out to be YCLers, but I know I can count on them to help us out and come to our future events. I'm still really stoked, I feel like we might have really made an impact and at the same time got our YCL club into the public and made some new connections," said club member Jesse Jack.
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