Stanford STAND has made strides in urging its university administration to address the presence of conflict minerals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo in electronics products. The chapter has recently released a statement encouraging the university’s Board of Trustees to approve guidelines that will encourage companies to clarify the origins of minerals used in electronics products:
While STAND began as a Darfur group, recent years have seen our mission expand to concern all areas of genocide and mass atrocities world-wide. Fulfilling such an expansive mission is no easy task. As strong of an organization as STAND is, it is unrealistic to think that we could educate and advocate on any and every spot in the world where civilians are targeted for systematic violence. To be most effective, we must prioritize and focus on a few, most urgent, crises around the world. How do we decide?
Last week’s trivia and discussion concerned the possible MONUC withdrawal from Congo and consequences as a result.
Trivia: possible repercussions of MONUC leaving Congo
An invite from a STAND Alum:NOI New Media BootCamp for recent graduates
July 1-8, 2010, Washington, DC
All-expenses-paid new media training
Apply Here by April 30th
Know someone who should apply? Recommend someone here.
Iraqi refugee, Ihab Basri, is a freshman at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. His life story is a powerful one—a story of war, of family, of survival, and of hope that peace is coming to Iraq once again.
Trivia: Give two repercussions of the UN’s impending withdrawal from Eastern DRC.
Why is the UN considering pulling out of DRC?
What are the likely immediate effects of their withdrawal on the civilian population?
Will the UN’s withdrawal necessarily point DRC in a direction to peace?
This week’s trivia and discussion focused on what happens after genocide–focusing particularly on Rwanda.
Trivia:
While the UN established the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), the national courts in Rwanda were unable to process the large number of cases of accused perpetrators that remained. In light of this, the government adapted the pre-colonial, traditional gacaca courts to handle the remaining cases.
When fellow TerpsSTAND member Rachel Gordon and I went in to lobby House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s office on April 5, we were feeling pretty out of place among the oversized leather couches and solid marble interior. As college students we’re used to the typical college life surroundings of well-worn dorm furniture and condensed spaces. The normal wardrobe of jeans, t-shirts and Chuck Taylor all-stars wouldn’t fly in such a professional setting, so we opted for “business casual”; the advice of no sneakers echoing in our heads.
This past week, my high school STAND chapter in Ann Arbor, Michigan, put on a benefit gala featuring the poet, positive rapper, and artist Omékongo Dibinga. As many of you are aware, STAND chapters now have the opportunity to enter a raffle to win a performance by Omékongo at their schools.
