96 letters down

Actually, it's 97 with Kurt's late-in-the-game last-ditch effort for one more concerned and active citizen in the Eckhardt.

So. 97 letters down. 97 voices for 30 million (30,000,000) oppressed and hurting North Koreans. Tables opened next to the SAC dance sales while the Grille opened for evening service and Praise and Worship began warming up and running sound check - it wasn't the entirety of campus, but there was an interesting, quivering and stark overlap of demographics and ritual.

The sad of the celebration, of our student body community's efforts today, is that there are 1,300 literate students at this school. Still 97 voices that responded to a gathering of open tables, borrowed pens, loose-leaf notebook paper, scribbled addresses and tired shoulders.

Let's call this a start, yes?

Please add to the count. Here are the very basics for what you need to start. If you would like us to quiet you down for Joel to stand on a chair and yell at you, feel free to make a request.

Sample Letter

(Your Name)

(Your Address)

December 9, 2009

The Honorable (Representative's Name)

(Representative's Address)

Dear Senator/Representative ________

[Part I: Introduction]

I am writing to you today about the ongoing human rights crisis in North Korea. While this crisis does not receive a great deal of coverage in the news media, it is of great importance to me as a voter.

[Part II: The Problem]

North Korea is ruled by a regime that denies its citizens the most basic liberties, and traps them in intolerable economic conditions. Millions of North Koreans have died of starvation or been killed by their government since the 1990s. The North Korean government currently holds 200,000 political prisoners - men, women, and children - in its prison camps.

Tens of thousands of North Koreans have risked their lives to flee into China, where they are hunted by the Chinese government and returned to North Korea if caught. If returned to North Korea, they face torture and perhaps execution. These actions put China in direct violation of the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees.

[Part III: Request for action]

I am writing to ask you to do everything in your power to address this crisis. Specifically, I want the United States to put pressure on the Chinese government to protect North Korean refugees, and to make human rights a central part of its engagement with North Korea. I would appreciate it if you wrote back to me explaining what you, as my senator/representative, are doing about the North Korean crisis, especially regarding the full implementation of the 2008 North Korean Human Rights Reauthorization Act.

[Part IV: Polite finish]

Thank you for your time, and for representing my [state/district] in the [Senate/House of Representatives].

Sincerely,

(your name)

North Korea Facts

- North Koreans are denied freedom of speech, religion, the press, travel, thought, and association.

- Millions of North Koreans have died of famine since the 1990s.

- 37% of North Korean children have stunted growth, 23% are underweight, and 7% are wasted.

- 200,000 North Koreans are serving life sentences in prison camps for political "crimes" committed by them or their family members. (Three generations of each prisoner's family are held responsible for political "crimes.")

- Prisoners in these camps are frequently subjected to summary execution, torture, hard labor, forced abortions, and other atrocities.

- Between 50,000 and 400,000 North Koreans have fled across the border to China in the hopes of reaching freedom. In violation of the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees, China hunts these refugees and returns them to North Korea if they are caught, where they face probable torture and execution.

Source: Liberty in North Korea, http://linkglobal.org

North Korea Letter-Writing Night!

On November 11, the organization LiNK (Liberty in North Korea) came to Dordt to screen the documentary Seoul Train, about the human rights crisis in North Korea, and the plight of North Korean refugees trying to escape to freedom.  If you'd like to get involved in trying to end this crisis, come to a letter-writing event this Wednesday night at the Grille, from 8:30-10:00 PM.  We'll be writing our congressmen and senators, urging them to take action.  Fact sheets, sample letters, pens, paper, envelopes and stamps will be provided.  All we need is you - the citizens.

As an added bonus, feel free to come to the Campus Center Board Room beforehand to enjoy snacks and socializing with your student symposium representatives.

For more on the North Korean human rights crisis, go to the LiNK or Seoul Train links on the left, or see these posts.

Iowa Tuition Grant cut

It might have been in October when John Baas, Vice President for College Advancement, contacted Troy and myself to gather Dordt's Iowa students. State legislators were deliberating budget-relieving options and the Iowa Tuition Grant, which provides private college and university students with need-based financial aid, was on the table. A handful of students gathered, called, texted, facebooked and tracked down their other friends until a couple dozen Iowa residents came to write their senators and representatives.

Today I received a letter in my mailbox, as I imagine every Iowa student had.

"The serious shortfall in state revenue caused by the recent economic downturn has resulted in a 10% mid-year cut to the Iowa Tuition Grant appropriation, a loss of over $4.7 million. To address this shortfall, the Iowa College Student Aid Commission has determined that all Iowa Tuition Grants must be reduced by up to $435 for the remainder of the year. While the maximum award has been lowered to $3,565, Iowa Tuition Grants continue to cover a significant portion of tuition charged by Iowa's independent colleges and universities."

The Des Moines Register has an article titled, Culver's cuts targeted us, private colleges complain. It might be a condescending title, it might be a tersely written article, pitting private college presidents against Governor Culver and his office, but it's a quick read.

Erryn Warnke, a student Wartburg College, said. "If support does continue to decrease, students will simply not be able to afford schools like Wartburg. The education will not be worth the cost.” (Source)

Gary Steinke, President of the Iowa Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, said cuts to the Iowa Tuition Grant could strip some students of the opportunity to go to college. (Simpson College article)

That's what the situation seems to be. Higher education is often seen as the expected post-high school experience, an avenue to a financial stability. Yet it is the private institutions - schools like Wartburg and Dordt College - that (brochure-speak coming) equips its students to actively lead, doing more than acquiring a comfortable lifestyle. At the risk of sounding haughty to students at public colleges and universities, we wonder how much the state government, and the state itself, values its private institutions. Private higher education used to be affordable. Higher education used to be affordable. Affordability often supports necessity, especially for Iowa families living in small towns who are doing their best to send their students to a small school that instills their values, where professors learn their students' names.

What should we do? Student Symposium Officer of the News Joel Veldkamp is in conversation with Dordt's partner schools in their response, possibly organizing a united response. We will continue to speak with Dordt administrators. We're asking you to talk to your parents, consider your current situation and let us know what you think.

---ADDITIONAL INFORMATION---

Thank you for writing about the benefits provided for you by the Iowa Tuition Grant program. I am pleased to hear that you are able to attend Dordt College because of the Iowa Tuition Grant. I am also concerned with the cuts that are being directed to this program by the governor and the current major party in the legislature. I think it is a real travesty that Governor Culver has back filled his own All Iowa Opportunity Scholarship program but not the Iowa Tuition Grant.

I will continue to strongly support this important program during the economic downturn with an eye on the future for our graduates, like yourself, who could become the future leaders of Iowa.

From the office of Iowa Representative Dwayne Alons. November 30, 2009.