First Fall 2007 Meeting

Hello everyone!

The first International Human Rights Law Society meeting will be on Wednesday, September 19 @ 12pm to 1:00 in WH 2B. Spread the word... FREE LUNCH

This is going to be the year that we kick IHRLS into a higher gear! In the past we have brought speakers to campus and gone to events at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice. This year we are hoping to add a couple of more activities to the mix. We would like to coordinate a field trip to a "sweat shop" in Tijuana and begin doing monthly film screenings. There is so much injustice out there it should, unfortunately, be easy to stay busy.
If you are looking for some opportunities to fill out your schedule or resume there are some great opportunities with the International Human Rights Law Society.

Events Already Planned:

Meeting: Wednesday, September 19 @ 12pm to 1:00 in WH 2B

Speaker: Ken Roth Executive Director of Human Rights Watch Thursday, September 20, 7 - 8:30 p.m., Peace & Justice Theatre: Joan B. Kroc Distinguished Lecture Series: "The Dynamics of Human Rights and the Environment."

Peace Fair: Friday, September 21, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m., IPJ Garden of the Sky
International Criminal Court Debate: October 4th 12 p.m.

Check our Blog for information from last year and upcoming events at http://usdhumanrights.blogspot.com/

Positions Available:

IHRLS will be holding the elections for the incoming board members plus a bunch of other positions that will be needed for our projects this semester/year. There are tons of opportunities!

Interested students need only respond to this email with their name, position of interest, phone number, and class year. We are particularly interested in developing a base of 1L members so the club will have ready-and-willing hands to carry the torch when the old board graduates. Obviously, many of these positions will go uncontested and you'll get it. I will email those that have picked a contested position and we'll do a quick vote on Wednesday after hearing from each candidate.

The available positions include...

· Vice President: an essential job to ease the burden of the President(s), ideally being groomed to take over the following year/semester.

· Secretary: manager of web communications and blog, emails about club meetings, coordinates the new email account, email lists, and meeting minutes.

· Treasurer: budget manager, reimbursement slips, etc. A great position for those interested in SBA Treasurer or who have a finance background.

· SBA ELS Rep.: goes to SBA meetings and announces club business and insures ELS announcements are on the SBA meeting agenda and minutes. A particularly important position because club attendance is now required at SBA meetings. Good for 1Ls who want to be involved, but don't have a ton of time.

· Fundraising Chair: you guessed it! This position finds and organizes ways to get funding for IHRLS activities and events. For the glad-handing, not-afraid-to-ask-for-anything kind of law student. Anybody up for the challenge? This is a massively important role for any organization. Plus, you get to make a lot of contacts in the community that are environmentally conscious and have money to give.

· Community Service Chair: organizes community service events for our club. Ideally we would like to take this money use for non-profits like Amnesty or One.org.

· Public Relations Chair: help disseminate to the community updates about all the good work we are doing up here at USD. Must be willing to write one article in Motions (our school newspaper) and keep the pulse on International Human Rights stories. You get published!

· Local Current Events Chair: tracks new and existing human rights outreach around the San Diego area, updates the blog with stories they find, and creates a handout for meetings. This is a great job for an Institute of Peace and Justice Work Study. This is a job that I did last year, working at the IPJ keeps you up to date with what is happening in the community, plus you get paid for it, and its more fun than working in the library.

· International Current Events Chair: same as above, but on a international level. Great for students interested in global conflict and human rights initiatives.

· Webmaster: publishes minutes on our blog and both the sandiego.edu and SBA websites. This individual will share a lot of responsibility with the secretary. Great for anyone with web experience, considering IP law, or just good with computers!

· ABA Liaison : a dual role position that helps you connect IHRLS and yourself to the International Law Bar by actually serving on their board as a student representative. A great spot to hunt for summer and permanent job opportunities!

· USD Organizational Outreach Chair: responsible for making connections to other human rights inclined organizations and persons associated with USD Law, undergrad clubs, business school, Institute for Peace and Justice, etc. A great way to get work with our on campus organizations. Having USD connections = job connections!

· Community Organization Outreach Chair: same as above, but for the San Diego Community. Again, another great way to find jobs.

· Special Projects/Events Coordinator/Field Trip Planner (one for each event--need only 3 to start): takes the lead, but gets tons of help, organizing an event.

· Organizational Growth Chair: helps grow the prestige and influence of IHRLS using leadership skills and business acumen. Takes us from being just a "club" to an institution. This position, along with a business plan report, would serve as an excellent JD/MBA application attachment.

· Film Festival Coordinator: We would like to have a film festival or a weekly/monthly film where we show a feature that pertains to International Human Rights. Whether is is Sudan or Child Soldiers or Latin America is up to you. This person would also be in charge of advertising the film and should probably draft a committee to assist them on the program.

Name your own position... If there is any other way that you would like to help IHRLS, please fill in your own position and we'll make it work.

Well, that is it for now. I hope all the 1L's are getting settled in and enjoying USD and I hope the rest of us are happy to be back. Remember the words of the great anthropologist Margaret Mead:

"Never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
I look forward to seeing you all on Wednesday.

Your Presidents,

Brett Barley & Kevin Grigsby