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Milica.Njegovan's blogKICK OFF AUGUST IN SOCIAL JUSTICE STYLE BY VOLUNTEERING WITH OPIRGFor OPIRG August means planning and lots of it! We put on our brainstorming hats and start drawing up plans for the fall. This includes what events we want to hold, what campaigns we want to create or become a part of, creating workshops, and doing outreach within our community to see what opportunities exist for collaboration! As you may know if you are a regular visitor to our site, we are a public interest group, which essentially means our communities guide the work that we do. That means YOU can direct the work we do! If there is an issue you are passionate about and think we should create programming around it, or better yet if you want to work with us to create programming, workshops or campaigns let us know. We are always open to ideas and learning new ways of doing things. Here are project we have on the go- we need volunteer help to either get them off the ground or to sustain them.If any of the following projects catch your eye send us an email at OPIRGBU@GMAIL.COM and let us know! THE PROJECTSProject 1: Getting Crafty: We're making an OPIRG radical calender!This is a big project for August; Creating an OPIRG Calendar of Radical Events for 2010-2011!
The calender will be full of radical dates for every day of the year, space to write your phone numbers, a contact list of radical groups around the province, menstrual calendar, info on DIY projects, tips on sustainable living etc, extra note pages, plus much more. If you want to get creative with DIY art, adbusting images for the calendar, or gathering radical dates that should be included, let us know we’d LOVE to hear from you! We don’t think our scene is just an isolated bubble! Radical community spaces are popping up everywhere. You can help us by doing liaison work with rad communities in our region and getting them involved in our calender project! Project 2: Looking for folks to start up a DIY Collective!Wait- what’s this DIY thing all about? The DIY ethic (do it yourself ethic) refers to the ethic of being self-reliant by completing tasks oneself as opposed to having others who are likely more experienced complete them. The term can indicate “doing” anything from home improvements and repairs to healthcare, from publication to electronics. DIY questions the supposed uniqueness of the expert’s skills, and promotes the ability of the ordinary person to learn to do more than he or she thought was possible. Interested?
Other possible projects: -Turning recycled paper and old novel covers into funky notebooks! - Painting murals in the InfoShop! Let’s showcase our artistic talents Niagara! -making our own furniture! -we’re open to ideas! We believe in being the creators of culture rather than consumers. We believe in promoting a just society that supports itself through mutual aid and without hierarchies. We believe in fighting against institutionalized oppression (racism, sexism, ageism/adultism, and homophobia), and we support environmental justice, animal rights, egalitarianism, and human rights. Project 3: Orientation Week PlanningDis-orientation is a week of workshops, discussions, tours and events brought to you by OPIRG.
Originally designed to generate awareness and provide an 'alternative' lens, this tradition has existed to engage new students, with not only the political struggles on campus, but also within the community, and the world at large. A closer look at issues surrounding sexuality, gender, ability, race, student unions, environmental sustainability, polices and ethical purchasing, all comprise a portion of the exciting platter we can display during o-week. We hope you'll take this opportunity to learn and explore ideas with us! What do you think? Come on out and brainstorm new engaging disorientation week events with us. First meeting: This Thursday- July 29th at 6pm in the OPIRG InfoShop on 10 Summer St. If you can’t make this meeting but you are interested in getting involved let me know and I will keep you up to date on the next meeting! Project 4:FreeSkool Fall Classes CALL OUT!!
This means we are looking for eager facilitators! Anyone can facilitate a class on any topic whether they have skills or want to meet up with people that have skills. Send an email to opirgbu@gmail.com to propose your idea.
InfoShop Summer of Activism!OPIRG staff and volunteers are spending their summer getting the downtown InfoShop in shape for community use! We have just started organizing a series of committees to look after different aspects of the Infoshop and we need you to lend your creativity! So what is an Infoshop?An Infoshop is a volunteer-run and self-managed community and social center for action-oriented activities, including a computer center, meeting space, a library with radical literature, a shop with books, zines, patches, and more. An Infoshop is a free space where people are invited to hang out, talk, meet, play and organize. Everyone is welcome! The CommitteesThe following is a list of the committee we having running right now, if you are interested in joining one..two..or all of them just send us an email at opirgbu@gmail.com and let us know what peaked your interest!If you're interested in something entirely different then what we have right now send us an email and let us know-we'll help you get started! SWAP IT Center
The idea of the SWAP IT Center is to connect folk that are looking to trade stuff, skills, rides and many other swappables!We have a SWAP IT board in the Infoshop where you can put what you need, what you have, and where you can donate what you no longer need. Next Meeting; Tuesday May 18th @ 12 in the InfoShop Zine LibraryMiss the days of white glue and cut and paste??
We do too! To deal with our nostalgia for cut and paste days we are putting together a zine making committee who will work towards producing zines for the InfoShop zine library! Zines are self-made, independently published booklets made by cutting and pasting text and images! They can be about anything and are a great way to share information! Bike RepairThe very exciting Bike Repair committee will be focused on a few things this summer and many other things that we will figure out with your help!
So far we’d like to build a bike tool storage space in the InfoShop that can be accessible to anyone needing to fix their bikes. Going along with this logic, we plan on holding a number of “ Know Your Bike” workshops that will take folks on a guided tour of their bikes, getting to know the parts, the tools and of course how to fix any bike related problems! Fundraising will also be a part of this committee; we need mulla to buy bike tools! There have been whispers of putting together a “wine route bike tour” as a fundraisers! Fundraising/Commercial
This committee will be working on different fund-raising strategies to raise income for the Shop. Activist Art Zone
This committee will also be putting on activist art workshops to share their crafty skills! Rotating GalleryThis is a gallery for us all; if you have drawings, photographs, paintings, and in general art as you define it this is a space available to you. This will be a great way to cover up our currently white walls with lots of rad local art!We will collectively decide how often to meet, how to run our meetings and of course what art we will feature in the Infoshop! If you want to connect with local artists, like art, do art yourself, or want to help with organizing and helping this project start , the Rotating Gallery is the committee for you! FreeSkoolFreeskool is a space where people can come together across communities and share in learning. The summer term of FreeSkool is beginning in June and we are looking for eager facilitators! Anyone can facilitate a class on any topic whether they have skills or want to meet with people that have skills! Send an email to us to propose your idea. Looking forward to some summer learning in the sun! for more information about courses being run, check out opirgbrock.org/freeskool
BIKES ! BIKES! BIKES!Do you have an old bike lying around your garage/shed/basement/apartment? We can find a new home for it!
Working with the Migrant Workers Support Center in Virgil, we are running a Bike Collection for the next two months! We will take care of fixing up the bikes and making them road safe, all you have to do is bring them to our downtown InfoShop! If you have any questions or would like to make a donation email Milica at opirgbu@gmail.com You can also bring your old bike to our downtown InfoShop:
International Womens Day Art Contest2009 marked the 20th anniversary of the Montreal Massacre when a gunman shot and killed 14 women, and injured a further 13 people at L'École Polytechnique de Montréal. In recognition of this event OPIRG is joining with the Center for Women’s Studies to sponsor an Art Contest which highlights women’s and men’s resistance to gender based violence.
About the ContestYour work could be selected to be part of an art event that will engage the community in dialogue on violence against women. Entries will be displayed on March 8 on International Women’s Day, and during the Social Justice and Equity Studies Forum on March 20th 2010. Contest GuidelinesThemesOne in three women worldwide experiences violence in their lifetime, making violence against women one of the gravest human rights violations of our time. Submission Topics: This contest aims to showcase and educate people on the multiple forms of violence against women. We hope to raise thought-provoking questions about the roots and means of perpetuation of violence, as well as possible solutions. We seek to show stories of struggle and also stories of empowerment and victory. Forms of violence that artworks might reflect upon include: •Violence on university campus Additional themes might include: Stories of victories might include: FeeThere is no fee to enter. Entry1.One entry per person Timeline1.Entries must be received by February 22nd 2010. JudgingJudges will select two winners. One winner will be selected from each category: (a) Inspiration, (b) Incisive Social Commentary. Judging will be made based on subject, creativity, and composition. The decision of the judges is final.Judges will be made up of members of OPIRG, the Centre for Women Studies, and the Department of Visual Arts. PrizeThe selected winners will each receive a $ 100 honorarium generously donated from the Center for Women’s Studies and the Ontario Public Interest Research Group. For more information about this contest email opirgbu@brocku.ca
Ontario Health Coalition Reveals Paramedics ReportOn the evening of June 17th, concerned citizens of Port Colborne come out to hear the findings of a report carried out by the Ontario Health Coalition. As most citizens of Ontario know, a major round of hospital restructuring and cuts are underway across the province, and in light of this the Ontario Health Coalition interviewed 50 paramedics across the providence to hear their views on the consequences of closing local hospital emergency departments. "Absurb".. "Idiotic".. are just some of the words used to describe the provincial plan. Every paramedic interviewed stated that ambulances cannot replace the functions provided in local hospitals emergency departments, they expressed that this plan will only put patience at risk, worsen wait times, deprive communities of access to care or cause poor outcomes and even death. You can hear the interview with Natalie Mehra about her new Paramedics Report, unveiled last night at the public forum in Port Colborne. Just go to the Ontario Today archives (url below), and scroll down to item five for June 18. URL: http://www.cbc.ca/ontariotoday/story_archive.html VOLUNTEER with the Niagara Health Coalition:
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As our summer 
An exciting project that encourages communication and connection in our community!
We are so excited to finally have a physical space in downtown St Catharines so it goes without saying that we are keen to keep it downtown for as long as we can. In order to keep the Shop running it needs to become financially sustainable.
Patches-T-Shirts-Murals and oh so much more! So far, the Art Center has a screen-printing station, a button making station, a ton of art supplies, and room for anything else we can imagine! Projects we have in mind include making custom t-shirts using different patches and silk screened images/text, tote bags, and murals to decorate our white walls!
We all know things and have stories or skills to share, and Freeskool works to provide an egalitarian, radically inclusive, anti-oppressive setting for that sharing to take place.
