Tag Archives: Washington DC

Mass Incarceration Spring Break Lobby Weekend Info Session

From Caroline Monahan ’16:

This spring break, work to end mass incarceration.

Come to 41 Wyllys Room 113 for an info session on a Wesleyan lobbying trip to DC from March 12-15. On this trip led by Wes for Peace, we’ll lobby our Congress members with over 200 other college students on the Sentencing Reforms and Corrections Act of 2015 (http://fcnl.org/events/slw/FCNL_SentAct2015_Sum.pdf).

Come lobby with us. Tell your representatives to make the right choice about mass incarceration. Come find out more at our info session, or email cmonahan[at]wesleyan[dot]edu if you can’t make it.

“We could choose to be a nation that extends care, compassion, and concern to those who are locked up and locked out or headed for prison before they are old enough to vote. We could seek for them the same opportunities we seek for our own children; we could treat them like one of “us.” We could do that. Or we can choose to be a nation that shames and blames its most vulnerable, affixes badges of dishonor upon them at young ages, and then relegates them to a permanent second-class status for life.”
— Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow

Date: Monday, February 15
Time: 8:00 – 9:00 PM
Place: 41 Wyllys Room 113

Wesleyan Spring Lobby Weekend in DC

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From Caroline Monahan ’16:

Looking for something to do over break? Live in DC or willing to travel? Passionate about politics? Want to make some connections on Capitol Hill?

Join us on the Wesleyan trip to Friends Committee on National Legislation’s Spring Lobby Weekend in DC!

U.S. Health Care Reform: Images and Realities of Costs, Quality, and Access

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From the Center for the Study of Public Life, Jennifer Enxuto has an announcement:

Free and open to the public.

Three of the country’s leading specialists in health policy, economics and health communication will address the implementation and effects of the Affordable Care Act, and consider how political messaging by both proponents and opponents of the ACA is helping shape public opinion and frame the terms of the debate.

John Dankosky, News Director of WNPR and radio host of “Where We Live” (CT Public Broadcasting Network) will moderate a question/answer discussion with the panelists and audience following the presentations.

Date: TODAY
Time: 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM
Place: Powell Family Cinema
Cost: Free!

Read about the panelists after the jump!

Spotted at the Supreme Court: Lezra ’11 Participating in “Most Obscure Protest”

Tons and tons and tons of young activists (including a handful of conservatives) descended on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court this week to express their support or opposition towards same-sex marriage as justices hear arguments that may well strike down the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8. Of the many demonstrators, perhaps none are nerdier than a pack of students from the Georgetown University Law Center, who are predominantly peeved about the Court’s decision to “review the arguments in Hollingsworth v. Perry using rational basis, the most lenient form of judicial review in the U.S. court system.” Haven’t been to law school yet? DCist’s Benjamin Freed, who dubs it the “Most Obscure Supreme Court Protest,” explains:

In a rational basis review, judges test if a law or other governmental action is in the reasonable interests of that government in a way that passes muster with the Fifth or 14th amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The standard gives a wide berth to state laws, such as Proposition 8.

Spotted among the crew, second from the left in that photo, is former Argus editor, prolific soccer blogger, and all-around friendly dude Gabe Lezra ’11, who elaborates on his crew’s moral indignation:

“Rational basis means that the court will give great deference to any state law passed so long as that it is rationally related to government interests,” said Gabe Lezra, who was propped up one of four posters decorated to look like a court brief.

“We were going to do a table of authorities, but we ran out of time,” he said.

Rob Wohl ’11 Occupies Russian Television

Rob’s message to the Wesleyan student body: “Drop out of college and occupy something.”

Given how much attention we’ve given to Wes alums commenting on the Occupy movement from afar, it’s nice to hear from one recent grad taking a direct role in the movement itself, with scathing conviction and a trademark look of rage I haven’t seen since Lightning Bolt occupied Eclectic.

In between his day job as a research fellow at Medicare and Social Insurance Works in DC, former Argus overlord and part-time Rocktimist Rob Wohl ’11 seems to have taken an active role with the Occupy DC Action Team. Earlier this week, Wohl appeared on RT, a prominent Russian news channel, discussing the current state of economic affairs, the future of Occupy Wall Street, and whether or not OWS warrants comparison with the Tea Party Movement. “We will do what’s necessary to interrupt this system,” says Wohl on cable television. “We want the members of Congress to know that we demand meaningful, powerful, overwhelming change in this country.”

As Ezra Silk ’10 puts it over at America Occupied: “Rob, I knew that one day I would see you play the revolutionary on Russian television. I just never knew it would happen this soon.” (Wohl also contributed a piece to Silk’s blog a few days prior.) Here’s the video interview:

Weskids Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear

Recent alum and former frequent Wesleyinger MC Hall ’10 proudly repped Wesleyan at this weekend’s massive Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear. Hall writes in from beyond the grave graduation:

Here are some weskid photos of the rally. Spencer Sheridan ’10 and I made a sign that said “Keep gov’t out of my Justin Beibers.” A bunch of people stopped us to take pictures! I don’t understand why it isn’t featured here. Clearly our mimosa-filled selves took us to the places where the WashPo photographers were not.

I realize, of course, that more than a few current students made the trek to DC this weekend for the rally. If you have worthwhile photos or stories from the event—particularly from a Wes perspective—we’d love to post them. Send to staff(at)wesleying(dot)org.

[Two more photos from Hall after the jump]