CALL NOW!

WHAT: Call OUAB (Ohio Union Activities Board)
HOW: 292-3117

WHAT: Call the President's Office
HOW: 292-2424

The Message;
Why is there money to bring a speaker who celebrates and encourages sexual violence but not any money for sexual assault survivors?

Other action suggestions listed at bottom.

***INFORMATION***
Yesterday OUAB (Ohio Union Activities Board) sponsored a speaker, Tucker Max. Mr. Max has built his career on representing himself as a non-conformist - he not to practice law despite having a law degree from Duke because he has published a successful book. His writing career is just a celebration of male privilege and sexual violence, the 'usual college stories' of sex and drinking, but with enough hyperbole and exaggeration it's packaged as humor. Most of his stories use sex and sexuality to humiliate women and pushes the bounds on what might be considered consent - at the very least it promotes a culture of sexual violence. Why OUAB is convinced that being a misogynist is non-conformist is perplexing to me.

There was a sizable protest yesterday and it appears that OUAB didn't know how to adequately respond. There's been a lot of administrative backpedaling and some luke-warm attempts at inclusivism. [http://media.www.thelantern.com/media/storage/paper333/news/2009/05/12/Campus/Dozens.Of.Students.Protest.Tucker.Max-3740222.shtml]

Strangely enough, Mr Max's visit was advertised right after some feminists kicked off a campaign for OSU to establish a sexual violence victims fund.

Meg Zakany, an affiliate of Women and Allies Rising in Resistance, was featured in a recent OSU issue of the Lantern describing the fund. [http://www.thelantern.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticle&ustory_id=e4440492-955a-4a78-813c-436bdb654520]

The article states:"A group of Ohio State students is campaigning against the university and OSU Medical Center, asking OSU to pay for the medical bills of students who have been sexually assaulted on campus and who seek help from the medical center."

Zakany is quotes, saying "We know this type of fund can work because it's already had eight years of success at another Big Ten university, Penn State.""It's actually needs-based so there's no cap on the amount of funding. We're hoping we can do something similar to that here."

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Other ideas:
1) Show up to Take Back the Night on Thursday! 5pm Wexner Center Plaza

2) Set up a meeting with OUAB. Find out how they work, how they represent different interests, and how they spend the student activity fee.

3) Propose an alternative event to OUAB. My idea is a sex fair (run by feminists, of course).

4) Start a feminist action group of your own. Look more into what you and your friends are good at and how to intervene within the patriarchal society we live in.