Schools Group targets Burma dictatorship

At our mid-May retreat at Sanborn Park, the BAA High Schools Group unanimously decided that when we regroup in the fall we will focus our attention on conditions in Burma. This issue encompasses human rights violations, destruction of the environment, existence of a military dictatorship, and slave labor. One or more of these issues reaches all members of our group, so we’re planning to personally choose issues to focus on and then educate each other.

For several months, a coalition of Paly and Gunn students has urged the Palo Alto City Council to put pressure on companies that do business in Burma. We hope the City will follow in the footsteps of San Francisco, Oakland, and Santa Monica, which have adopted policies of selective purchasing, which means refusing to do business with companies involved in Burma such as Pepsico, Texaco, and Unocal. The hope is that we, as a city, will take a personal stand against the inhuman actions occurring in Burma.

Accomplishments have been abundant this year for the Schools Group. We were the first to work with the City of Palo Alto to begin eliminating non-native plants from the Arastradero Preserve. We hope this alliance will strengthen our ties with the City in future projects.

This summer the BAA Schools Group will participate in regular habitat restoration projects and will help in the East Palo Alto and Midtown gardens. We also plan to work on the Romic and Salvage Rider campaigns.

Three of us are working as interns in the office this summer, so it will definitely be exciting and productive. We hope to see you in the gardens, at the Arastradero Preserve, or taking part in the campaign of militant bikers. Have a great summer!

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Originally published in Action vol 7, no 3, Summer 1996.