Thanks to all PHR members who wore all black today to protest the Jena 6 injustice!

Please note that the Dominica Women’s Health Talk is now going to be in Classroom 5 today (Tuesday). The talk is scheduled from 6-7 pm, but we ask that you all take your seats by 5:45.

We look forward to seeing you all there!

The lives of six young black men are being ruined by Jim Crow justice in Jena, Louisiana. The District Attorney has refused to protect the rights of Jena’s Black population and has turned the police and courts into instruments of intimidation and oppression.

Click here for the full story.

Please join your fellow Ross PHR members, and protest against this injustice by wearing all black this Wednesday, September 26.

In addition, show your support of this important cause by signing this online petition.

An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.

-Martin Luther King, Jr.

AMSA and PHR are co-sponsoring a talk to be given by Ms. Roselyn Paul, who is the Research and Program Development Coordinator at the Ministry of Community Development and Gender affairs in Dominica. She will be discussing issues affecting women’s health in Dominca. Please join us on Tuesday, September 25 from 6-7 p.m. in Classroom 4 for the event. She will be giving a 40 minute presentation with a 20 minute question and answer session afterwards.

We look forward to seeing you all there!

Ross PHR is planning to have a Thanksgiving meal for the elderly home in Portsmouth. Please mark the date on your calendar: Thursday, November 22. We will be purchasing turkeys from Astafan’s, but we’d like to have all the side dishes donated by PHR members (or anyone else!). The Ross Spouses Organization is also interested in cooking some food. We’ll also need some volunteers to help serve the food, so please think about volunteering. We may also be setting a date to make some Thanksgiving decorations for the home. If you’re one of those crafty types, please think of some fun decorations to make. I think the residents of the home will be very happy to have us there. This will be a really great way to give to the community, so I really hope all of you will be able to help out in some way.

An announcement from PHR:

PHR has just released a video on YouTube to raise public awareness about the CIA’s “enhanced” interrogation techniques. Twenty interrogation methods reportedly used by the CIA amount to torture and are illegal under US and international law. We must keep public engagement on US torture policy at a maximum level as the Senate moves forward in the coming weeks with investigations into detainee abuses by personnel from the Department of Defense and the Central Intelligence Agency.

Please watch the video and help spread the word by sending this link to your family and friends:

http://physiciansforhumanrights.org/torture/face-the-truth.html

This page includes the latest action from the Campaign Against Torture and a convenient way to sign up for the Campaign.

You also can go to the YouTube website and leave comments, rate the video and/or add it to your favorites—all of which increase the chances of other viewers seeing it. If you have a blog, Facebook profile or a Myspace page, please post the link or embed the YouTube video player. These are simple yet significant things you can do to help broaden the call for a full accounting of the abuses that have occurred and for a ban on all twenty interrogation methods.

Thanks for your help. Together we will end the Bush Administration’s torture policy and restore the discipline, traditions, and honor of our armed services and our country.

PHR will be hosting a conference call on next Monday. We’ve been accepted as a chapter to call in. We’d love to have as many of our members participate as possible! Please see the announcement below.

To gear up for the Darfur National Week of Action, PHR will host a conference call for PHR Students to get a personal update on the political development from PHR’s Representative to the United Nations, Catherine Fitzpatrick. Students will have a unique opportunity to learn from an experienced UN-NGO Representative and to share ideas about how they can get involved during the National Week of Action. The conference call will take place on Monday, September 10, at 6 p.m. EST.

Please email kendracampbell@mac.com for call-in information.

I hope everyone fared well considering our friend Dean…

We are really excited about PHR projects this semester! We are planning a Thanksgiving meal for homeless Dominican people and others. Also, please send us your ideas or attend an officers meeting.

Also, we have a few board positions open for this semester. Send us a quick, informal bio and why you want to be on PHR board. Send to: KendraCampbell@mac.com.

-Laura Tommaso, Secretary/Webmaster PHR

Are you interested in joining Ross PHR? Are you a current PHR member? If you answered yes to either question, please join us on Thursday, September 6, at 12:00 in Classroom 5 for our first general meeting of the semester.

We look forward to seeing you all there!

Click here for a PDF version of the flyer.