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SANTA BARBARA FRIENDS OF TIBET
MAY 2002 NEWSLETTER
The mission of Santa Barbara Friends of Tibet is to encourage a
community in Santa Barbara that actively supports Tibetans and
autonomy for Tibet. Our objectives are to:
? Enhance public awareness through education and events
? Aid Tibetan refugees both here and abroad
? Contact political leaders
? Support other national and international Tibet organizations
WEDS. MAY 22 SB FRIENDS OF TIBET SPONSORS THE NITE MOVES 5K RUN at
Leadbetter Beach, 6:30PM run, 7-8PM dinner, music and a Tibet speech,
Tibet
bumper stickers on sale. Info 564-3400 kyoung@sbre.com
PROTEST RALLY, MAY 15, 2002 UC REGENTS MEETING, UCLA
UCLA Corwell Commons at 12:00noon. We will
all meet at the Campbell Hall turnaround at UCSB at
10:00am on that day for transportation. Email Leron Kattan, UCSB SFT,
tibetpeace@yahoo.com for carpool info from SB to UCLA. (UCSB SFT MEETS
WEDNESDAY EVENINGS AT UCSB)
HELP US GET UC REGENTS TO DIVEST FROM BP/ARCO, WHO ARE FUNDING PETROCHINA.
SEE THE SB FRIENDS OF TIBET LETTER TO THE EDITOR ABOUT IT MAY 7 P. A12
Schedule Wednesday, May 15 UCLA Regents Meeting
8:30 a.m.
Committee of the Whole - Public Comment Period (Agenda-related issues)
8:45 a.m.
Board(Open Session)
8:50 a.m.
Committee on Educational Policy (Open Session)
11:45 a.m.
Committee on Audit (Open Session)
12:00 p.m.
Committee on Finance (Open Session)
12:20 p.m.
Committee on Investments (Open Session) (This is a perfect time for SFT to
be there)
Write these Regents to get them to divest from BP/ARCO:
David H. Russ
Treasurer of the Regents
P.O. Box 24000
Oakland, CA 94623-1000
(510) 987-9600
e-mail: treas.regents@ucop.edu
Chairman of the Committee on Investments
Judith L. Hopkinson
Office of the Secretary
1111 Franklin Street, 12th floor
Oakland, CA 94607
(510) 987-9220 President of the University
Richard C. Atkinson
President of the University
1111 Franklin Street, 12th Floor
Oakland, CA 94607-5200
(510) 987-9074
GYUDMED MONKS BACK TO SB IN SEPTEMBER
I am writing to invite you to come to the retreat with
us Gyudmed monks in Santa Barbara, California in
September. Many people asked about making a retreat so
this year we will do it. It will be very good to have
people with right motivation being together for many
days for teachings and ceremonies. We will also be
supporting the monks at my monastery home here in
India.
Please try to come. We are very looking forward to
this retreat time in the USA. You can see more at our
website www.gyudmed.com
Sponsored by Bodhivista
Presenting works with Buddhist themes
by artists throughout the tri-counties.
May 14th through June 1st, 2002
Artists Reception: Friday, May 17th from 5 to 8pm
Gallery: The Frameworks and Caruso/Woods Fine Art
131 E. De La Guerra
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
Tel: (805) 965-1812
Email: carusowoods@earthlink.net
Back by popular demand this exhibition, curated by Lark Batteau Bailey,
provides an opportunity to witness the flourishing of American Buddhism in
art.
See how American culture has added its view to the lexicon of our ever
deepening understanding of The Way as reflected in paintings, drawings,
mixed media, original prints, sculpture, ceramics and photography.
Experience the essential and eternal made visible as a continuum,
a reformation, a revolution.
Come purchase art that will not only enhance the beauty of your home, but
will inspire and empower your spirit.
10% of the profit from sales will go to the Santa Barbara Women's Shelter
and Tibetan Children's Village.
Tibetan Doctor in Santa Barbara
Tuesday & Wednesday; May 14 & 15, 2002
Dr. Tsering Lhamo is a dynamic young Tibetan woman trained at the
prestigious Men-Tsee-Khang, the Tibetan Medical and Astrological Institute
in Dharamsala, India established by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
For appointments and information about her visit in Santa Barbara please
call 805-687-6138 or email drtsering@yahoo.com
Vairotsana Foundation-Santa Barbara
729 Mission Canyon Rd
Santa Barbara, CA 93105 805-563-8883
Saga Dawa, the 4th month of the Tibetan calendar, marks the birth,
enlightenment, and parinirvana of Shakyamuni Buddha.
This is a special time for practice. The birth of the Buddha is on the 7th
day of the month. Saga Dawa Duchen, the 15th day, marks the enlightenment
and parinirvana of Shakyamuni Buddha. (This day corresponds to Wesak in
the
Sri Lankan tradition and Vesakha Puja in the Thai tradition.) This is one
of
the 4 great religious festivals on the Tibetan Buddhist calendar. On this
day, the effects of positive and negative actions are said to be
multiplied
by 10 million.
Saga Dawa begins (1st day) - Monday, May 13, 2002
Birth of the Buddha (7th day) - Sunday; May 19, 2002
Saga Dawa Duchen (15th day) - Sunday; May 26, 2002
Saga Dawa ends (30th day) - Monday; June 10, 2002
On June 10 there is a partial solar eclipse. During a solar eclipse, the
effects of positive and negative actions are multiplied by 10,000.
Therefore
practice is emphasized.
Special practices and times to be announced.
(2) US CONGRESSIONAL RESOLUTION on the PANCHEN LAMA - NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT!
Senator Paul Wellstone (Mn) introduced a resolution on April 25th, on the
eve of Hu Jintao's visit, marking the 13th birthday of the detained
Panchen
Lama and calling for his release. The resolution will bring to Hu's
attention the widespread support in the U.S. Congress for Tibet.
Please contact your Senators and ask them to cosponsor and support the
Wellstone resolution!
Click here to find and contact your Senators:
http://www.capwiz.com/savetibet/dbq/officials/
The screening of Shadow Circus on PBS has been made possible through the
National Asian American Telecommunications Association (NAATA) in San
Francisco. NAATA has excellent outreach among the Asian American community
and this is the first time that they've taken on a Tibetan film. NAATA has
set up a special website for Shadow Circus
(http://www.naatanet.org/shadowcircus) and also produced a kit to go along
with the broadcast. Shadow Circus is a revealing documentary highlighting
the United States'
role in encouraging Tibetans to violently resist the Chinese invaders but
ultimately abandoning them and revives the debate on the need for a
long-term American policy on Tibet.
From mid 1950s until 1969 the United States' Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA) was involved in a covert operation in Tibet. This project, one of
the
longest-running operations by CIA, was code-named ST CIRCUS. The CIA
started the operation because the Tibetans, who were then resisting the
Chinese invasion and occupation of Tibet, fit into a larger U.S. Cold War
era policy:destabilizing or overthrowing Communist regimes. When the
policy
changed with the United States warming its relations with the People's
Republic of China, the Tibetans were abandoned.
"Shadow Circus shows how quickly America's position changed -- and how a
violent resistance movement can become non-violent" said John Ackerly
President of the International Campaign for Tibet.
Shadow Circus reveals this little known chapter in Tibet's tragic modern
history. The documentary contains archivAL footage as well as exclusive
interviews with former Tibetan resistance members as well as CIA
operatives
involved in the operation. Among former CIA officials interviewed include
Ken Knaus, coordinator of the Tibet Program; Roger McCarthy, who set up
the
CIA operations in Tibet; John Greaney, who worked with the Pentagon to set
up the training for the Tibeans at Camp Hale in Colorado; and Bruce
Walker,
who spent considerable time at Camp Hale where the Tibetans were trained.
UC out of South Africa 1985,
UC out of Tibet and Sudan 2002
It is now known by many scholars and human rights
activist, including Nelson Mandela, Elie Wiesel, and
Desmond Tutu, that one of the main factors that
assisted in the freedom of Blacks in South Africa was
the UC wide campaign to get the UC Regents to divest
from companies that assisted in the continuous
oppression in South African Apartheid. It took the
students and faculty 15 years to get "UC out of South
Africa" but the victory brings tears to our eyes. It
is a light of hope for all activists. The solidarity
and the passion embodied by those peace advocates
brought Apartheid to its knees. The awareness that the
"UC, USA, out of South Africa" protests brought to the
region was immense.
We have been fighting a yearlong campaign to get our
money out of the genocide in Sudan and the destruction
of Tibet. On Monday April 29th at his talk Dr. Alan
Wallace stated that what is going on in Tibet is
Genocide. This is a strong word, I know, but the
implications are even more intense. What is happening
behind our backs in BP Amoco and UC Regents
meetings is the consensus of distributing money to
fund Genocide. We must not allow this to happen! It is
like donating money to build prisons for innocent men,
women, and children as opposed to socially responsible
investing.
We have all heard Dr. Martin Luther King state that
those who are complicit in an evil system are just as
much a part of the perpetration of that evil. This
situation takes that idea to another level. Not only
are we complicit to the system if we do not stand up,
we are helping to fund it.
Dr. Alan Wallace and Dr. Jose Cabezon will sign on to
this campaign through their signatures on a letter
that we will read at the UC Regents meeting urging
them to pull out of BP. I have also sent a request of
signature to Dr. Elie Wiesel, Dr. Orvell Schell, Dr.
David Krieger, Dr. Walter Kohn and other scholarly
humanitarians, to show the Regents that we are not
minor activists playing around.
These professors and Human Rights activists will bring
a needed strength to this movement. A strength to add
to the pressure of the University of California Santa
Barbara Students for a Free Tibet who plan on
shutting down the UC Regents meeting in May with acts
of non-violent civil disobedience, who have sent over
2500 signatures stating the disapproval of the
students, faculty, staff, and California tax payers of
such an inhumane investment, who have protested four
times at UC Regents meetings, who have written many
opinion articles, sent letters, called, and
protested at the Capital for a Free Tibet! We must
show the Regents that we are not going away. We must
stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in
Tibet and Sudan and not allow for our money and our
names o be used in the destruction of human lives.
Imagine the glory of such a success!
I appeal to all people of conscience to help Students
for a Free Tibet and the people of Tibet and Sudan by
joining us in organizing and actualizing the rally and
civil disobedience at the UC Regents meeting on
Wednesday May 15th at UCLA Corvil Commons at 11:45am.
For free transportation meet us at UCSB at the Cheadle
Hall turnaround at 9:45am.
Thank you for your support.
Peace will Prevail on Earth...
UCSB Students for a Free Tibet
PUBLISHED IN THE SANTA BARBARA NEWS PRESS:
UC REGENTS INVEST IN TORTURE
Dear Editor, 4-26-02
This letter is to register my strong indignation at the UC Regents policy
of
investing in companies that promote torture and genocide. Specifically,
UC
investments include an ownership position in British Petroleum/Arco, which
is the largest foreign investor in PetroChina, a Communist Chinese
government owned company which is removing the oil and gas reserves in
Tibet. PetroChina has built a pipeline to transport Tibet's gas to
China's
eastern seaboard, turning Tibet into a resource-extraction colony,
degrading
the sensitive ecology of the Tibetan Plateau, and using the profits to
further brutalize and control the local Tibetans.
China invaded Tibet in 1950 and since then continues to torture Buddhist
monks and nuns in prisons. Even in the face of word-wide protests,
BP/ARCO
has refused to withdraw their funding of PetroChina, and the UC regents
have
refused to divest its holdings in BP/ARCO. Chancellor Yang of UCSB has
been
particularly unresponsive, even after promising to take action after a
sit-in in his office last year by UCSB Students for a Free Tibet. In the
late 1970's and early 1980's, massive student protests led the UC Regents
to
divest its holdings in companies that did business in apartheid South
Africa, helping to end that form of bigotry. On May 15-16 at the UCLA
Regents meeting, we again will be asking the Regents to do the right
thing,
putting ethics and morality ahead of profits, and to divest their holdings
from BP/ARCO.
Sincerely,
Kevin Young
Santa Barbara Friends of Tibet
564-3400 kyoung@sbre.com