March 2011

Taking OP to the next level: editors!

For the folks who missed our OP Happy Hour on Friday, you missed my big announcement. Ever since I launched this site in 2003, I have always wanted OP to be led by a team of people who can bring in a wider range of perspectives. This month, we are beginning an experiment that is a first step toward establishing something like a board of editors or formal leadership team for the site!

The inaugural board of editors is: Damon SeilsMolly DeMarcoJason Baker, and Erin Crouse. They have alrerady had a positive effect on the amount and quality of discussion here on OP. I'm so excited to have their energy and ideas invested in this community.

Getting students on board

Apparently students have been applying to serve on the Town of Chapel Hill's Transportation Board, but none have been appointed recently. I'm a bit surprised to see this, but it's hard to draw conclusions without knowing the details of each applicant. In the past students have contributed a lot to the T-board (and others). In fact, joining the board when I was a student in 1991 is one of the things that got me hooked on participating in local politics two decades ago!

With a seat on the board, Medlin said students would have more of a voice about routes and bus schedule times.

Dakota Williams, student body treasurer, said students should embrace the higher fees and advocate for better representation.

“If we’re paying 41 percent … there is no excuse for a student not to be on that board,” he said.

“Those decisions need to be made by the people who are paying for them, which is students more than ever,” he added.

Content within the Bounds of Reason

Could there ever be any semblance of justice for any of Orange County's Native Americans? Perhaps.

Before the Europeans

I am not an archeologist or anthropologist, but it is clear from historical records that the area that is today Orange County was inhabitted by Native Americans long before the advent of Europeans.  The closely related Eno (a.k.a. Occaneechi or Sapponi) and Saxapahaw (a.k.a. Sissipehaw) people lived throughout the Haw and Eno River valleys.  There were numerous Native American villages in this area, but there was a particularly prominent village called Acconeechy (or Occaneechi) on essentially the same site that is now Hillsborough.

UNC Young Democrats Presents: Jeff Kreisler, Political Comedian

Jeff Kreisler is a political comedian in the style of Jon Stewart, coming to UNC at the invitation of the UNC Young Democrats. UNC YD hopes to use this event to reach out to members of the community to make stronger connections for the future, and to raise money to fund much of the work we do on campus and around the community.

Date: 

Tuesday, April 5, 2011 - 6:30pm to 8:30pm

Location: 

Varsity Theater - 123 W Franklin St

Moving forward for the IFC

Last Monday night (March 21st, 2011) the Interfaith Council finally made it through the Special Use Permit process to present their plans for a Men’s Homestart-like Transitional Housing Facility.

The process of finding a location for a men’s facility has been going on for over two decades. In that time, many potential sites have been considered and each time discarded after vigorous complaint by potential neighbors.

This time, IFC has gone through the rigorous Special Use Permit (SUP) process with a higher level of scrutiny by town residents than most SUPs receive. The application has now been unanimously approved by all necessary advisory boards, including the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, Planning Board, Community Design Commission, Transportation Board, and Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board.

Premiere Film Screening of END:CIV & Discussion w/ Director

Friday April 8th at Internationalist Books & Community Center at 405 W. Franklin St. in Chapel Hill

Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Movie starts at 8:00 p.m.  $6.00 a person
afterwards there will be a discussion with director, Franklin Lopez of Submedia
Hosted by Croatan Earth First!

END:CIV examines our culture’s addiction to systematic violence and environmental exploitation, and probes the resulting epidemic of poisoned landscapes and shell-shocked nations. Based in part on Endgame, the best-selling book by Derrick Jensen,END:CIV asks: “If your homeland was invaded by people who cut down the forests, poisoned the water and air, and contaminated the food supply, would you resist?”

The causes underlying the collapse of civilizations are usually traced to overuse of resources. As we write this, the world is reeling from economic chaos, peak oil, climate change, environmental degradation, and political turmoil. Every day, the headlines re-hash stories of scandal and betrayal of the public trust. We don’t have to make outraged demands for the end of the current global system — it seems to be coming apart already.

But acts of courage, compassion and altruism abound, even in the most damaged places. By documenting the resilience of the people hit hardest by war and repression, and the heroism of those coming forward to confront the crisis head-on, END:CIV illuminates a way out of this all-consuming madness and into a saner future.

Backed by Jensen’s narrative, the film calls on us to act as if we truly love this land. The film trips along at a brisk pace, using music, archival footage, motion graphics, animation, slapstick and satire to deconstruct the global economic system, even as it implodes around us. END:CIV illustrates first-person stories of sacrifice and heroism with intense, emotionally-charged images that match Jensen’s poetic and intuitive approach. Scenes shot in the back country provide interludes of breathtaking natural beauty alongside clearcut evidence of horrific but commonplace destruction.


END:CIV features interviews with Paul Watson, Waziyatawin,  Gord Hill, Michael Becker, Peter Gelderloos, Lierre Keith, James Howard Kunstler, Stephanie McMillan, Qwatsinas, Rod Coronado, John Zerzan and more.


“A fierce critique of systematic violence and industrial civilization, End:Civ is not intended for garden-variety environmentalists. If you are anywhere below, say, an 8 on that sliding scale of pissed off, then this film is going to scare you — which means you should watch it.”
-Eugene Weekly

Date: 

Friday, April 8, 2011 - 8:00pm

Location: 

Internationalist Books & Community Center 405 W. Franklin St. Chapel Hill

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