If you are interested in more information on LUPE you may visit their website.

I will also be adding some of my previous work to to this site in case you may have missed some of it.

Over the last three days NVLSP has kept us rather busy. After working on powerpoint presentations for an upcoming training course we started working on writing case summaries for recent cases from the United States Court of Appeals for Veteran’s Claims and the Federal Circuit. Writing these summaries can be a little bit challenging because the law is not familiar, but it is a great experience because we get to learn the current law for Veteran’s affairs and also because we get to apply some of what we learned in Administrative law.

We have enjoyed sightseeing in the City, and tomorrow we will be touring the Court of Appeals for Veteran’s Claims. Overall this has been an excellent opportunity to work with a non-profit organization that is obviously committed to the rights of Veterans and honoring them for their sacrifice for our country.

Amanda Rekow and Danielle Sigmund

    The beginning of today's march was a pilgrimage. It was a pilgrimage from the beautiful river to the hot pavement of industrial parks south of McAllen, a pilgrimage through the small land-grant town of Granjeno past welcoming gas stations, a journey from our lowest numbers to our biggest turnout for the walk thus far. The journey was shortened as we learned the stories of this Valley, the stories of La Lomita, Granjeno, McAllen, Mission, Las Milpas, and Pharr, as well as the stories stories of each other and those to whom we wave our tired hands. As Geoffrey Chaucer wrote in Canterbury Tales,

                    You each, to shorten the long journey,

Shall tell two tales en route to Canterbury,

And, coming homeward, another two,

Stories of things that happened long ago.

Whoever best acquits himself, and tells

The most amusing and instructive tale,

Shall have a dinner, paid by us all,

Here in this roof, and under this roof-tree,

When we come back again from Canterbury. (“General Prologue)

Today was our shortest day of walking so far, coming in at only 12 or so miles. We took it slow, though, especially as we gave and received hope in the tiny town of Granjeno. Families like the Rendons were extremely welcoming, and they were wholly supportive of our efforts against the wall. They have boldly decided to stand up to the federal government by refusing to sign government survey waivers. Many of them are involved in the class-action federal lawsuit being launched Peter Schey, and many of them are vowing civil disobedience if bulldozers come to their front yards. Each of us on this walk will stand beside them in solidarity.

    Leaving the shade and encouraging multilingual words of encouragement from grandmas and children, dogs and roosters, cats and swaying trees, the sun could have discouraged our positivity. Instead, it gave us some much-needed time to reflect and connect with each other. Walking down a lonely road with like-minded people, one is drawn to Proverbs 27:17, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” Walking with these worthy women and men, I have been consistently challenged by their calls to the higher plane of nonviolence and encouraged on this March Against the Wall. Men and women such as the steadfast Jay Johnson-Castro, the tranquilly wise Nat Stone, the perceptive Elizabeth Stephens, the questioning Cole Farnum, the united smiles of the Johnson famiily, the motherly care of Beth Golini, the passionate dancing of Matt Smith, the quiet strength of Crystal Canales, the extremely personal encouragement and candor of Kiel Harell, the dependable leadership of John Moore. These people have challenged and will continue to make the entire nation listen to our moral indignation at this issue.

    At our usual 2:00 lunch stop at a Valero gas station, we were once more showered with blessings. News crews found us, and so did workers from the G & G Auto Wrecking Company, who graciously donated a case of Coke and a box of waters. This support from la gente, the everyday men and women of this Valley who would be most profoundly impacted by a wall between their families and heritage and culture and land, is really what empowers us day after day. We left with renewed vigor.

    The most powerful moment of the day came as students from the Palestine Solidarity Committee expressed their solidarity with our efforts and joined us for the hottest part of our march. Their showered and beautiful faces marched alongside our trail-weary souls, and we were all enriched and comforted that this is an issue which all people of faith, from all over, can rally behind with confidence. We sang “Father Abraham” and “And the Walls came Tumblin' Down.” http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1287042959/bclid1287021539/bctid1453536169

    And just as they left and we were resigned to walking the final 2 miles with our 15 through-walkers, a group of 50 spring-break students from Miami, Texas State, St. Mary's, and many other universities, joined us after a long day volunteering at Cesar Chavez's LUPE organization. Their energy was all we needed to bring it in to the Las Milpas rally with style. We blocked off a whole lane of traffic, and our sheer positivity even won over a police officer who looked as if he were about to write us a citation. He asked for all my information, but when I told him a resounding thanks for all the police officers' support along our walk so far, he smiled and told me to call him for tomorrow's march to Progreso.

    One of the most amazing things about walking with these idealistic college students is the misinformation that is currently circulating our good country. If we truly believe that all people are inherently good, then we must also believe that the conscience of this nation has been miseducated about this issue. Well-intentioned college students who were devoting their whole spring break to help out the Valley's people, thought that people on la frontera were united in support of the wall. How they couldn't be more wrong! It was encouraging to see each honk of a car horn and each index finger pointing to the air educate them more and more that no one in the wall's proposed trajectory wants this symbol of disgrace and division. The border wall would not go through barren wasteland but through backyards, not desert but downtowns.

    The Las Milpas rally was amazing. We had the pleasure to witness 4 members of the ARISE student ballet folklorico, and their dancing feet made our spirits light; my soul was dancing with them, even if the only part of my body I could mobilize were my clapping hands. It was encouraging to see schoolbuses and kids playing on the playground, seeing that Pancho Villa is not our hero, but Cesar Chavez. Joe Krause did an amazing job organizing this community event, even getting the 36h District Representative. Our meeting broke with chants and excitement. We are together, we are solidly united.

    And so ends this 5^th day, a March day of pilgrimage that called out the entire community to join its voice with ours. In his “Letter from Cesar Chavez to Friends,” Chicano activist and social organizer Cesar Chavez wrote,

But throughout the Spanish-speaking world there is another tradition that touches the present march, that of the Lenten penitential processions, where the penitantes would march through the streets, often in sack cloth and ashes, some even carrying crosses, as a sign of penance for their sins, and as a plan for the mercy of God. The penitential procession is also in the blood of the Mexican-American, and the Delano march will therefore be one of penance—public penance for the sins of the strikers, their own personal sins as well as their yielding perhaps to feelings of hatred and revenge in the strike itself. They hope by the march to set themselves at peace with the Lord, so that the justice of their cause will be purified of all lesser motivation.

As we approach Semana Santa, the Holy Week, we are most assuredly marching for many reasons. We walk for penance that we did not speak out sooner when walls were being built in California and Arizona, we walk to rid ourselves of that self-defeating bitterness and hate which piles up if direct action is not taken, we walk on a pilgrimage to encourage the people of this Valley and renew our call to campaign for justice for both the immigrant and the border region.

FEMA Trailer_________MCJ Office__________ Closed Store_________ Housing

After spending the first two nights in New Orleans, we arrived in Biloxi at 8:30 this morning. From what I have seen of the city thus far, it is basically a few large casinos surrounded by severely run down neighborhoods. Most of the trees appear dead and have no leaves. The area looks thoroughly depressed.

We spent most of the day learning about the situation here in Biloxi and getting an overview of what we will be doing for the rest of the week. I wasn’t aware of the details of the storm before today. The eye of Katrina came directly over this area, causing a 30 foot high storm “surge” to crash into the Gulf shore. This surge flooded houses over 12 miles inland. As one of our supervising attorney’s put it today – “New Orleans was a bad situation because the faulty leaves failed. In Biloxi, the storm surged caused most of the damage, and many homes outside the “flood plain” were totally flooded.”

We also received a history of Mississippi Center for Justice and a description of current activities from attorneys John Jopling, Reilly Morse, and Crystal Utley. We had a great lunch with the students from Roger Williams, about 20 of us in total, at a nice Vietnamese restaurant – Long Kim’s. After lunch, we received more in depth instruction on the projects we were going to be working on.

The staff at Mississippi Center for Justice is very professional and passionate at the same time. I think the students here are going to be in for a real treat seeing these lawyers at work. It is also refreshing to see “big” firms like DLA Piper and O’Melveny & Meyers are partnering with MCJ and providing many pro bono hours.

We are working with two other schools – Roger Williams School of Law and Duke University School of Law.

Idaho students are participating in three different projects:

Track I – SURVEY FOR NORTH GULFPORT COMMUNITY LAND TRUST

Track II – CONTRACTOR FRAUD CASE PROCESSING

Track III – HOME GRANT OUTREACH

We will have details on each soon.

In solidarity,

Jordan

One is tournament basketball, on several levels.

March Madness can also be Spring Break in Florida, or Mexico, perhaps.

But another form of March Madness, since August 29, 2005, is what's called "Alternative Spring Break." ASB.

And it's happening all through the Gulf Coast of Mexico, from Mobile, Alabama all the way west to New Orleans, Louisiana, as thousands of high school and college students, their advisers and other adults, swarm all along the Gulf Coast to help affected families there rebuild their homes and their lives after Hurricane Katrina.

Not too long after the huge storm came ashore and wrecked havoc with everyone and everything in its path, I was in New Orleans for a short visit, and happened to see a classic T-shirt for sale in one of the dozens of such stores in the French Quarter.

The lettering on this particular shirt said: "Katrina, you Bitch!"

After all the billions in property damages it caused, and more than a thousand people it killed, I guess the description on the shirt was appropriate. No, I didn't buy the shirt.

In the aftermath, some two years and a half years later, people still care about what happened then, and about the incredible amount of rebuilding there still is to do before homeless families all get back in their homes again.

This weekend in the small, rural marsh-land territory of Pearlington, Mississippi, people from all over the United States are arriving to celebrate their own form of March Madness, reaching out for a week, or more, to help their southern brothers and sisters in their continuing battle to set things right again.

Saturday, students and adults from the University of Maryland, The University of Texas at Austin, and adults from Massachusetts, Minnesota, Illinois, Colorado and several other states, arrived at the Pearlington Recovery Center (PRC) with their duffels and gloves in hand, ready to bring a week of hope, hard work and fellowship to area residents so long at wits end.

These early Saturday evening arrivals, some 75 strong, including 12 young adult volunteers in service to Americorp, are but first wave of this coming weeks' group of some 250+ hurricane relief volunteers that are descending upon this grass roots recovery organization to try to make a difference in people's lives these next six days.

These caring folks are full of energy, enthusiasm, faith and hope for the task ahead. Many are back for their fourth time as Hurricane relief volunteers, bound and determined to do their best for as long as it takes to undo Katrina's powerful deeds.

The woods in Pearlington will reverberate loudly this week with the sounds of hammers, chain saws, nail guns, circular saws, battery drills and other tools making scores of noises, as their users move area families farther along the road towards hearth and home again.

At the weeks end, lots of hugs, and some tears, all around, from visitors and residents, as they recount what love, service, dedication and faith can accomplish, how lives of all involved continue to be moved and touched, a nail, a board, a shingle, a length of wire, a sink and bathtub, one at a time.

My part today in the drama during much of the day, was to help formulate plans for future wiring updates on the grounds of the PRC, physically update much of the wiring in many of the lodging facilities, prior to the first wave of volunteers arriving in the early evening, and later to repair old steps to the bunk houses.

Sunday will see me working on installing additional electrical wiring in several of the structures, with the goal of making them more efficient in hosting the hundreds and hundreds of volunteers that will pass through the volunteer camp during this month of March Madness.

What a privilege and blessing to be able to be a small part of the moment, in the lives of the movers and the moved.

This is what I consider, pretty close to heaven...

Spring Break 2008 - Where are we going?

This year, we are again planning to do a spring break - this year's trip will be much bigger. We are going to send students to three different destinations: the Gulf Coast - New Orleans, LA/Biloxi, MS, Washington, D.C., and Boise.

Here is a short description of the different projects we will be working on:

New Orleans, LA/Biloxi, MS

We will again be returning to the devastated Gulf Cost region. As New Orleans continues to rebuild, many of the outlying areas are being neglected. This year we will be flying into New Orleans, and then working on the legal needs of the people in these outlying areas.

• New Orleans portion - Physical Labor - Help with Rebuilding
• Biloxi, MS
  • Mississippi Center for Justice
    • Housing Issues created by Katrina
    • Landlords who can raise rent in an impossibly tight market,
    • Foreclosures, Insurance disputes,
    • Contractor Issues
    • FEMA benefits

Boise

• Idaho State Bar's Volunteer Lawyer Program
  • Matching attorneys with pro bono projects
• Idaho Legal Aid
  • Indigent civil legal service
• ACLU
  • civil rights and civil liberties
• State of Idaho Appellate Public Defender
  • Public Defense Appeals
• Advocates for the West
  • Environmental law
• Idaho Coalition Against Sexual & Domestic Violence
  • Sexual & Domestic Violence

Washington, DC

• National Veterans Legal Services Program
  • Legal Consultation and Assistance for Veteran's Claims

The UI College of Law will be sending 27 students to these destinations - that's almost 10% of Idaho law students!
If you would like to donate please send a check to:Pay to "University of Idaho College of Law" with "PILG" in the memo line.

Address

University of Idaho
College of Law
P.O. Box 442321
Moscow, ID 83844-2321

Tax Deductions - All donations made are tax deductible. The UI Gift Administration office sends out the applicable statements.

Jordan Taylor
President - Public Interest Law Group
jordan.taylor@vandals.uidaho.edu
(208) 305 - 2991

Tuesday, 12 February 2008

It was good, home-style cooking. But the food was unlike what many community members, such as Larry and Carol Lass, are used to.
The two Moscow residents went to the Big Easy Banquet on Friday. They supported University of Idaho College of Law students while enjoying traditional Southern cooking.
The food was good and different, Carol said of the options that included gumbo, chicken po-boy, peach cobbler, cheese grits and sweet tea. The Moscow Food Co-Op donated king cakes to the event.
The Public Interest Law Group, a three-year-old UI law school organization, hosted the banquet to raise funds for alternative service break trips to New Orleans, Washington, D.C., and Boise.
"There is still a lot that has to be done down there," said Jordan Tayor, PILG president, a second-year law student from Lewiston.
PILG member and third-year student R.J. Linnan was the main chef for the banquet. Linnan, who used to live in Florida, spent more than 15 hours preparing the food. He used his grandmother's recipes.
"It's comfort food for me," Linnan said. "You don't get that kind of food anywhere else."
The Moscow Volunteer Peace Band's Southern-sounding horn music filled the room at the Emmanuel Lutheran Church. Banquet attendees nodded their heads and clapped to the music.
The banquet served a dual purpose, said Lacey Rammell-O'Brien, PILG member and third-year law student.
"It's not just a social event, but (it is about) helping people, "Rammell-O'Brien said. "It is very jovial. People seem happy to be here."
The event was held last year and raised around $1,500. This year around 150 people attended the banquet and the goal of $2,000 was met, Taylor said.
Taylor asked the local band on Tuesday, when he saw them at the Democratic Caucus, if they would play at the event three days later.
Only 30 minutes into the three-hour event several people had arrived.
"So far I'm really excited by how many people are here," Taylor said.
There are around 60 members of PILG, which strives to help law students prepare when going into public interest fields, Taylor said. He said the Alternative Spring Break trips fit in with the goals of the group.
The banquet and trips give PILG a good reputation, Taylor said.
"We are one of the most active groups (in the law school) and it gets us a lot of respect," Taylor said. "It shows we are passionate."
PILG member Brett Judd said he likes how unique the ASB trips are.
"We are tying to help out all these (different groups)," he said.
After PILG submitted the trips' proposal to UI President Tim White and College of Law Dean Don Burnett, they were told UI would match the amount of money they raise. Taylor said the group hopes to raise $5,000 on their own, for a total of $15,000. The banquet was the main fundraiser but smaller other ones will be held, Taylor said.

Law Students Expand Scope of Alternative Spring Break

MOSCOW, Idaho – Last spring, 14 University of Idaho College of Law students headed for post-Katrina New Orleans to unwind. Specifically, to unwind the red tape that tends to bundle into a Gordian knot when governmental, social and legal infrastructures are swept away.

The students participated in Alternative Spring Break, helping victims of Hurricane Katrina to untangle legal issues and providing manual labor, free of charge.

It’s a decidedly different kind of spring break.

“The trip was a success because it was both eye-opening and a great application of our legal skills,” wrote now second-year law student Jordan Taylor in a recent letter to University of Idaho President Tim White. “We were actually helping people, not just discussing legal theory. Everybody that went on that trip will confirm two things about their experience: one, they had never seen anything like it; and two, the trip impacted their lives in a big way.”

A case in point, Taylor now is pursuing a law degree, and career, focused on public interest law. He currently is president of the student-led Public Interest Law Group (PILG) in the College of Law. The PILG is working with the college’s Law School Student Bar Association, led by President Anna Faller, to raise funds for an expanded Alternative Spring Break program this year.

Twenty-five Idaho law students have already applied to participate in Alternative Spring Break 2008, set for March 10-14. Students hope to raise $7,000 to finance the trip. The Dean’s Office in the College of Law and the Univeristy of Idaho President’s Office each have promised matching funds up to $7,000. The $21,000 total covers airfare and lodging for participants.

This year, students will return to New Orleans, La., venture into nearby Biloxi, Miss., and also provide pro-bono services in Boise and Washington, D.C.

In New Orleans and Biloxi, students will help victims secure and maintain FEMA benefits, and will deal with foreclosures, insurance disputes, and disputes with landlords and contractors. They also will provide manual labor.

In Boise, students will work with Idaho Legal Aid, the ACLU, the Wildland Firefighter Foundation, the State of Idaho Appellate Public Defender, Advocates for the West, and the Idaho Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence.

In Washington, D.C., students will work with the National Veterans Legal Service Program.

At their Gulf Coast destinations, Idaho law students will partner with the Student Hurricane Network (SHN), a national association formed to provide legal assistance to Hurricane Katrina victims. Through the SHN, more than 3,000 law students from 110 law schools have traveled to the Gulf Coast to provide pro-bono service in the past two years.

A University of Idaho third-year law student, Faller looks forward to joining their ranks.

“There will be ample opportunity in our lives to take vacations,” said Faller. “Students who choose to go on an Alternative Spring Break trip do so because of the opportunity to positively impact the lives of others. The experience allows us to spend a week providing legal services to those truly in need.”

To support Alternative Spring Break, send donations to: University of Idaho, College of Law, P.O. Box 442321, Moscow, ID 83844-2321. For more information, contact Taylor at Jordan.taylor@vandals.uidaho.edu. Please type PILG in the memo line.

Other organizations also sponsor volunteer trips, or you can get a group of students together to plan your own, but going with an established non-profit will likely save you a lot of time and effort. You don't even have to be a student. Anyone aged 18-24 can join up as long as you're willing to pitch in and make a difference.

Read more about the United Way's Alternative Spring Break programs in the Gulf Coast and other locations on their website: http://www.unitedway.org/asb/

I have finally registered for all my classes with minimal complications. And being a pseudo-analytical freak, I decided to draft exactly what classes I will take till Spring 2009 (Summers included). However, after a few minutes of staring thoughtfully at my in depth scribbles, I became slightly annoyed. I'm not getting ahead fast enough even though I've planned to take classes for two summers. Thoughts of how am I supposed to become an RA, study abroad at Sweden for a semester and still live off campus in senior year flashed through my mind. I want to apply for RA in junior year, which means I have to study abroad during sophomore year, so that I have a year free to live off-campus and host parties. I don't know if the last two sentences made any sense, but to put this shortly, my plans are important. Honestly, I've almost always had what I wanted, especially if I think about it long enough but unfortunately I have doubts about my plans this time.

Short term

There's less than 3 days left to the coveted Thanksgiving break! I'll be volunteering on an ASB trip to Memphis for the first half of the break helping out at the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center, doing good things in the day and being a good ol' tourist at night. And a week from now, I'll be in Chicago where the real fun begins. I'm definitely looking forward to Thanksgiving week especially after a very mediocre birthday weekend. Yes, I'm an unsatisfied reveler.

Before the fun begins, I am obligated to decide in a couple of hours if I would want to apply to become a site facilitator on another ASB trip in Spring. Applications are due in 3 days and six essay type questions await me if I decide to do it. It sounds oh so tempting but I suck at writing and there'll even be an interview! Decisions, decisions...

And another wave of midterms and FINALS are waiting for me after the break.

Then, home :)

"A little free time goes a long way. It doesn't take much to make a difference." ~ MTV on the Jewish National Fund's Alternative Spring Break in Israel program.

Alternative Spring Break 2008

This year, hundreds of young adults will come to Israel in pursuit of David Ben Gurion's goal: to make the desert bloom. Volunteering with the Jewish National Fund's Alternative Spring Break program, participants will work in one of the Negev's 25 developing communities as part of the JNF's Blueprint Negev campaign.

Operation Northern Renewal

In its third year, the JNF returns to the Negev, having sent last year's participants north as part of Operation Northern Renewal, a campaign to help Israel recover from the damage done during the Second Lebanon War. Together they planted trees, cleared forest damaged by fire, painted bomb shelters, and raised $215,000 dollars to forward recovery efforts.

During previous spring breaks, groups engaged in the following:

• Neighborhood beautification projects
• Tree planting
• Learning about ecological solutions to environmental problems
• Visiting the sick
• Playing with children in a Purim carnival

Raising Funds to Participate

Although heavily sponsored by the JNF and the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, participants must raise $1,050 of their own. Participants are given the opportunity to join fundraising teams to help support their efforts. Click here to download the JNF's excellent fundraising guide for Alternative Spring Breakers.

Not in the right age bracket but still want to volunteer to help promote Israel's natural beauty? See the JNF's other travel and volunteer opportunities here.

About the Negev

• The Negev region of Israel is located in the south below Tel Aviv and Jerusalem
• The Negev desert spans more than 4,600 square miles, occupying almost 60% of Israel's land mass
• Although Israel's size is often compared to that of New Jersey, this doesn't take into consideration the fact that the majority of its land is desert
  • If you look at the map above, everything south of Jerusalem is considered desert
• Be'er Sheva, the capitol of the Negev, is Israel's fourth largest city
• 70% of Israelis live in the area around Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Haifa, driving property values so high that many families cannot afford to buy homes there, or even find adequate housing
• Today, some 379,000 Jews and 175,000 Bedouins live in Israel's Negev region

Wishing you a happy Cheshvan!

(The second month in the Jewish calendar)

I am soo stoked (yes, that was the first word that came to mind!). I got into an Alternative Spring Break (ASB) fall trip! It was even my first choice! Woooo! I'm going to Tennessee this fall!

Political Activism - Memphis, TN
midsouthpeace.org
The Mid-South Peace and Justice Center is a community based organization developing communities of peace, social justice, and human rights for education and nonviolent action. Volunteers will be involved in numerous projects including office work focused on seeking peace, working in local community organic gardens, and volunteering in a local, low-income community.