Published at UCSD June 2003 By the n.i.collective 36th Year of Publication Democracy or Occupation? inside A comparisonof the U.S. conflicts in Afghanistan andIraq page 2 EFFreviews Total Information We havebeen told by theU.S. media that forwhere it cameto theministry of oil. saryresources such as hospitals,drink- Awareness (ieorgeBush has led two successful armed In the lootingthat accompaniedthe ablewater and fix)d are not available to conflictsand liberatedtwo oppressed sackingof Baghdad,museums including alland valuable history has been stolen page3 populationsfromtyrannical rule. Ill Iraq, theIraq National Museum, the Koranic and destroyedunder the eyesof the How to FindNews on the Web theUnited States military along with thcir Libraryand the Iraqi National Archives U.S.Pcacekecpmg lbrces. Instead, the Britishsidekicks have toppled Saddam wereburned, priceless historical arlilhcts militaryhas done an outstandingjob of page 4 ihmscin’srule and replacedit with weremethodically stolen and history was protectingtheMinistry of ()iland all Why War? tlemocracy.Unlbrtnnatcly lbrthe citizens purposefullydestroyed under the supervi- theoil fields. of Iraq,"democracy’" seems to bcacode sionof theinvading American amay. TheU.S. military has not been trained page5 wordfor American Occupation. Despite I)espitcrepeated calls from various to dealwith the post-conflict situation Instant-MixImperial Democracy claimsthat the United States wants Iraqis U.S.archaeological associations to the in Iraq.Soldiers arc trigger happy and by ArundhatiRoy torule lhemsclves+ Iraq is still under mar- Pentagonurging the military to protect nervous.Repealed warnings that the tiallaw with the U.S. military making the thehuge amount of historystored in the U.S.military lbrccs nccdcd pcacckcepmg page7 decisions.There have beennumerous nluseunl, pleasIt) exercisecaution went trainingwcrc ignored. Instead, soldiers WE ALMOSTFORGOT IT WAS A LIE! attemptsto setup a U.S.friendly govern- unheeded.Mc(iuirc Gibson of theUni- regularlyfire on carspassing checkpoints Morefun for the whole family! mentbut they did not even make the pre- versityof (’hicago’sOriental Institute becauseot" misconlnlunication, hi one textof includingthe highly popular and toldTit(" (’hronich, ~IIligher t:¢h/cation. situation,a whole lhmily was shotto page8 (theback one!) organizedShiitc Muslims. "1have been talking to themilitary since deathin theircar becausethey didn’t WMDs? What WMDs? I)cspitcthe so called end of hostilities January24th, and wc suppliedthem with unt!erstandAmerican soldiers shouting in Iraq,in thepast week alone two U.S. a lislo|" nlorc than 5,000 archaeological througha bullhorn m Englishto stop. Soldierswcrc killed and anothernine sites,which they’ve been putting on their (DemocracyNow) ~3crcwounded. In addition,eighteen maps.They know where those locations Well,ofconrsc the road will be bumpy Iraqicivilians were killed. There have are."(www.electroniciraq.net) butthings will get better in Iraq... beenregular protests by thousandsof As bad as SaddamHusscin was, the Notnecessarily. Justlike Iraq, the U.S. Iraqicitizens demanding that the U.S. U.S.is worse. (ioveynnlcnIsaid thal Ills nlain reason soldiersleave. The U.S. administration At leastunder the dictatorshipof for invadingAfghanistan was to bring hadno planslbr how to fillthe organiza- Hussem,there was somelaw and order tionalrole of theIraqi government except m Iraq.Now, looting is common,ne,-es- continuedon page 4 UC Wide Student-Labor Network Price Center Expansion Studentsand Workers Unite Fee ReferendumPasses by Renee Maas underthe AFSCME3299 union. Workers nowreceive S9-$12/hr plus benefits. Undemocratictactics by UCSDAdministration and Studentsfrom each UC campus and some workersand unionrepresenta- Studentgroup formed (as a resultof cam- Pro-referendumStudents Unfairly Bias the Results tivesmet on May 3-4,2003 to create paign):Students for Economic Justice a statewidestudent-labor organizing Mostof us haveheard that the Price a seeminglyneutral campaigning group network.Theconference was madepos- UC Los Angeles -- 2002 Centerexpansion Referendum passed two givesthe referendum more legitimacy. sibleby a grantwritten by theStudents weeksago. After five days of votingon Inaddition tothe lack of equal funding, forLabor Solidarity at UC SantaCruz, and Issue:80 ASUCLAStudent Center Dining studentlink, 29% of thestudents at UCSD theadministration refused in writingto wasfully funded by UC unions.The rise ServicesWorkers earning $6.75 with no votedand about 54% of thosewho voted, givethe "no" campaign equal opportunity in student-workerorganizing in the UC benefitsand categorizedas temporary votedin favorof theexpansion. While the foradvertising space. In section18.14.19 systemis partof a nationaland interna- workers. turnoutat theelection was very good for of theStudent Policies and Procedures, tionaleffort to reshapesocial and eco- a UCSDvote, most of thestudents voting it statesthat, "when funding for printed nomicconditions for the working poor. Results:In Fallof 2002the contract didnot have the full story. electionmaterials is providedby the The Student-Labormovement first withStar Staffing was terminatedand Unfortunately,the campaigningby UCSDadministration, equal funding and explodedonto the scenein the 1990s workerstitles changed from temporary the"Yes" and the"Neutral" sides fell publicationopportunity must be givento withthe United Students Against Sweat- to full-time.Workers went under the wellshort of fair and this unfairness kept thosestudents with opposing arguments shops (USAS).USAS beganfighting AFSCME3299 unionand now earn 59- studentsmisinformed about the issues andpoints of view.’+The administration for "sweatshopfree" conditions in the $12/hrdepending on experiencewith surroundingthis referendum. First of usedspaces that wcrc inaccessible to factoriesof multinational corporations benefits. all,students were lied to by the "’Neutral" studentsto advertisefor the referendum, likeNike, that create collegiate apparel. campaign.Students who were"Neutral" suchas theGilman parking structure. The Over time they have expandedtheir Studentgroup formed: Student Worker wereconstantly helping with the "yes" reasonsbehind this policy arc the admin- organizingefforts from global worker Front campaign,including campaigning, fold- istration’sgreater access to fundingand solidarityto communityand on-campus ingflyers, passing out literature andeven resourcesIhan a typical[.J(’SI) student. campaigns.Surprisingly fewer student- UC Santa Cruz -- 2003 literallyswitching to the"yes" campaign Theadministration hasa greatpower that workercampaigns have come out of mid-week.One of themost verbal "neu- canaffect the outcome of studentelec- Californiathan the rest of thenation, Issue:350 subcontracted dining services tral,+campaigners, James Lynch, wrote the tionsand referendumunless checks and butthose numbers are on therise in the workersearning $7.50/hr with no ben- languagefor both the "neutral" and "yes" balancesexist. Unfimunately, therules new millennium.Since 2001 there have efits. advertisingandstatements on the ballot. werenot followed and the administration been3 victoriouson-campus student- Whilethis may not seemoverly unfair wasallowed to overlyinfuence this stu- laborsolidarity campaigns within the Results:In September2003 the Sodexho initially+it becomesso whenone takes dentreferendum UC systemalone, here’s how they break contractwill be terminatedand workers intoaccount that the +’Neutral +"campaign This becomeseven more important down: will be broughtunder AFSCME3299 wasgiven funds in excessof $7,000!The whenone takes into account that the "yes" union.Workers will earn $10/hr and up "Yes"and the "No" sides were both given campaignwas systematicallydestroying UC San Diego -- 2001 dependingon experience,with benefits. $3,500.In effectthe whole reason for the information,banners and other printed creationof a "neutral"side was to enable materialsof the "no"campaign. On at Issue:57 sub-contractedjanitors earning Studentgroup formed (as o resultof cam- the administrationto give more than leastthree separate occasions, more than S6.7S/hrwith no benefits. paign):Students for Labor Solidarity doublethe fundingto pro-referendum20 bannersmade by the "no"side were studentsas theanti-referendum students. destroyed.Each time,"yes" banners Result:In Fallof 2001the contract with Thecoalition between students, workers, Theirother reason for existence was from wereput up in theplace where there had Bergenson’sjanitorial services was theadministrative advisors, Braiisford terminatedand workerswere brought continu~lon I~ 6 and Dunlaveywho recommendedthat continuedon INIge4 new indicator new indicator Page3 EFF review of May 20 report on t~le new indicator reporterlists sources of more How to Find News on the Web informationthat are credible. copywhich is printed without a byline It iswise to be criticalofcor- maybe assumed torepresent the positionofthe new indicator collective The mass-mediatoday have poratefunded think tanks and Total Information Awareness or suppressedin the major sports. line.Even if youdon’t have your corporateresearch as theseare vestedinterests in not report- U.S.media. The UnitedStates Thereis a wealthof informa- articlesandletters arewelcomed. ing on storiesthat threaten own computer,you can go to usuallyinvestments made by pleasetype them and send them to: has morematerial wealth and tionavailable butthe trick is to a libraryto searchfor informa- /,’v/colh’n (;enisysprogram, is It)"createtechnolog}