This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_01B7_01C27C17.144121A0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Hey AMSA folks, Thanks to those who emailed or showed up to make yesterday's = organizational meeting a very productive one. =20 We described some of the AMSA positions that are up for the taking, = which Celia typed up and will soon distribue via email. For those = interested, check out the descriptions and reply to Celia by November 1. = [log in to unmask] We did some brainstorming of upcoming activities, the most notable being = World AIDS Day, which is coming up on Sunday, December 1. Last year, = nothing was really done for World AIDS Day. We will change that this = year (with a vengeance). We talked about bringing in a few lunch = lecturers on Dec. 2 and possibly Dec. 3 and to invite various AIDS = organizations in the area to come to setup booths. We also want to work = with other student and campus organizatoins, SIHC, SNMA, SCOB, IMER, = INTREPIDE, PHRM, etc.,.. to create a collection of activities to make it = a BIG, MONSTROUS World AIDS Day event. We have already began contacting = outside groups and other student groups. =20 Senor Todd See-gel is leading the charge like a bat out of hell. The = first World AIDS Day Action Group meeting will be next Tuesday, Oct. 29 = during lunch at Espresso Expose (corner of Harvard and Washington). = Hope to see many of you there. Below is a speech which gives a great summary of some international = health and social justice issues given at WHO a few years ago by a = notable world leader. See if you can guess who it is. You may be a = little suprised at who is speaking and why, or perhaps not. =20 To find out who it is, come to the Phi Rho Halloween Party and my place = tonight to see the world leader in person. Everybody is invited to stop by my place (628 Erie Street, top floor, = between the haunted house and the main party house) at around 10pm for a = spiked smoothie (the healthy way to get drunk), a flaming banana flambe = (redundant) and some halloween candy, before shaking your groove thing. Hope to see you there. Quy cell: 612-670-4163 =20 The Speech=20 -------------------------------------------------------------------------= ------- =20 Your excellencies, officials of the WHO, distinguished delegates.=20 All praise to the World Health Organization, which together with UNICEF, = has helped to save the lives of hundreds of millions of children and = millions of mothers, which has relieved the suffering and saved the = lives of many more millions of human beings.=20 These two institutions -- together with the Food and Agriculture = Organization, the United Nations Development Program, the United Nations = Conference on Trade and Development, the World Food Program, the United = Nations Population Fund, UNESCO, and other organizations so bitterly = opposed by those who would like to erase from the face of the earth the = noble ideas which inspired the creation of the United Nations - - have = made a decisive contribution to the establishment of a universal = awareness of the serious problems of the world today and the great = challenges which we have before us.=20 According to the calculations of renowned economists, the world economy = grew six-fold and the production of wealth and services grew from less = than five trillion to more than twenty-nine trillion dollars between = 1950 and 1997. Why then is it still the case that each year, 12 million = children under five years of age die -- that is to say 33,000 per day -- = of whom the overwhelming majority could be saved?=20 Nowhere in the world, in no act of genocide, in no war, are so many = people killed per minute, per hour and per day as those who are killed = by hunger and poverty on our planet -- 53 years after the creation of = the United Nations.=20 The children who die and could be saved are almost 100% poor and of = those who survive, we must ask why 500,000 are left blind every year for = lack of a simple vitamin which costs less than a pack of cigarettes per = year? Why are 200 million children under five years of age = undernourished? Why are there 250 million children and adolescents = working? Why do 110 million not attend primary school and 275 million = fail to attend secondary school? Why do two million girls become = prostitutes each year? Why in this world -- which already produces = almost 30 trillion dollars worth of goods and services per year -- do = one billion 300 million human beings live in absolute poverty, receiving = less than a dollar a day -- when there are those who receive more than a = million dollars a day? Why do 800 million lack the most basic health = services? Why is it that of the 50 million people who die each year in = the world, whether adults or children, 17 million -- that is = approximately 50,000 per day -- die of infectious diseases which could = almost all be cured -- or, even better, be prevented -- at a cost which = is sometimes no more than one dollar per person?=20 How much is a human life worth? What is the cost to humanity of the = unjust and intolerable order which prevails in the world? 585,000 women = died during pregnancy or in childbirth in 1996, 99% of them in the Third = World, 70,000 due to abortions carried out in poor conditions, 69,000 of = them in Latin America, Africa and Asia? Apart from the huge differences = in the quality of life between rich and poor countries, people in rich = countries live an average of 12 years longer than people in poor = countries. And even within some nations, the difference in life = expectancy between the richest and poorest is between 20 and 35 years. = It is really sad to think that just in the area of maternal and = post-natal services, in spite of the efforts of the WHO and UNICEF over = the last 50 years, the number of deaths from lack of medical services = has been 600 million children and 25 million mothers who could have = survived. That would have required a more rational and more just world.=20 In that same post-war period, in the area of military expenditure, 30 = trillion dollars were spent. According to UN estimates, the cost of = providing universal access to basic health care services would be 25 = billion dollars per year -- just three percent of the 800 billion = dollars which are currently devoted to military expenditure -- and this = after the end of the Cold War.=20 There is no let up in arms sales, which have the sole purpose of = killing, while the medicines which should be provided to save lives = become increasingly expensive. The market in medicines in 1995 reached = 280 billion dollars. The developed countries, with 14.6% of the world's = population -- 824 million inhabitants -- consume 82% of the medicines. = The rest of the world -- 4 billion 815 million people -- consume only = 18%.=20 Prices of medicines are prohibitive for the Third World, where only the = privileged sectors can afford them. The control of patents and markets = by the large transnational companies enables them to raise those prices = as much as ten times above their production costs. Some of the latest = antibiotics are priced at 50 times their production cost.=20 And the world's population continues to grow. We are now almost six = billion and growing at a rate of 80 million per year. It took two = million years to reach the first billion people, a hundred years to = reach the second billion, and 11 years to reach the last billion. In 50 = years, there will be four billion new inhabitants on the planet.=20 Old illnesses have returned and new ones are appearing: AIDS, the Ebola = virus, Anthrax, BSE or mad cow disease -- more than thirty according to = the specialists. Either we defeat AIDS or AIDS will destroy many Third = World countries. No poor person can pay the 10,000 dollars per person = each year that current treatments cost -- which merely prolong life = without actually curing the disease.=20 The climate is changing. The seas and the atmosphere are heating up. The = air and water are becoming contaminated. Soil is eroding, deserts are = growing, forests are disappearing and water is becoming scarce. Who can = save our species? The blind, uncontrollable law of the market? = Neo-liberal globalization, alone and for its own sake, like a cancer = which devours human beings and destroys nature? That cannot be the way = forward or at least it can only last for a brief period in history. The = WHO is fighting heroically against these realities and it also has the = duty of being optimistic.=20 As a ______ and a revolutionary, I share their optimism. With a current = infant mortality rate of 7.2 per thousand live births during the first = year; a doctor for every 176 inhabitants -- which is the highest level = in the world -- and a life expectancy of more than 75 years of age, = ______ has fulfilled the WHO Health for All program for the year 2000 = since 1983 -- in spite of the cruel blockade it has suffered for almost = 40 years, in spite of being a poor, Third World country. The attempt to = commit genocide against our country has only made us redouble our = efforts and increased our will to survive. The world can also fight and = win.=20 Thank you very much.=20 The above is the full text of the speech delivered by _____________ at = the Palace of Nations in Geneva on the occasion of the presentation to = him of the Health for All Medal by the World Health Organization, = Thursday, May 14, 1998. ------=_NextPart_000_01B7_01C27C17.144121A0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; = charset=3Diso-8859-1"> <META content=3D"MSHTML 6.00.2719.2200" name=3DGENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Hey AMSA folks,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Thanks to those who emailed or showed = up to make=20 yesterday's organizational meeting a very productive one. = </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>We described some of the AMSA positions = that are up=20 for the taking, which Celia typed up and will soon distribue via = email. =20 For those interested, check out the descriptions and reply to Celia by = November=20 1. <A = href=3D"mailto:[log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]</A></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>We did some brainstorming of upcoming = activities,=20 the most notable being World AIDS Day, which is = coming up on=20 Sunday, December 1. Last year, nothing was really done for World = AIDS=20 Day. We will change that this year (with a vengeance). We = talked=20 about bringing in a few lunch lecturers on Dec. 2 and possibly Dec. 3 = and to=20 invite various AIDS organizations in the area to come to setup = booths. We=20 also want to work with other student and campus organizatoins, = SIHC, SNMA,=20 SCOB, IMER, INTREPIDE, PHRM, etc.,.. to create a collection of = activities=20 to make it a BIG, MONSTROUS World AIDS Day event. We have already = began=20 contacting outside groups and other student groups. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Senor Todd See-gel is leading the = charge like=20 a bat out of hell. The first World AIDS Day Action Group = meeting=20 will be next Tuesday, Oct. 29 during lunch at Espresso Expose (corner of = Harvard=20 and Washington). Hope to see many of you there.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Below is a speech which gives a great = summary of=20 some international health and social justice issues given at WHO a few = years ago=20 by a notable world leader. See if you can guess who it = is. You=20 may be a little suprised at who is speaking and why, or perhaps = not. =20 </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>To find out who it is, come to the Phi = Rho=20 Halloween Party and my place tonight to see the world leader in=20 person.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Everybody is invited to stop by my = place (628 Erie=20 Street, top floor, between the haunted house and the main party house) = at around=20 10pm for a spiked smoothie (the healthy way to get drunk), a flaming = banana=20 flambe (redundant) and some halloween candy, before shaking your groove=20 thing.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Hope to see you there.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Quy</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>cell: 612-670-4163</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2> </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2> <P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center"=20 align=3Dcenter><B><SPAN=20 style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 26pt; COLOR: red; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; = mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">The=20 Speech</SPAN></B><SPAN=20 style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 26pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; = mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">=20 <?xml:namespace prefix =3D o ns =3D = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"=20 /><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P> <DIV class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; TEXT-ALIGN: center" = align=3Dcenter><SPAN=20 style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; = mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"> <HR align=3Dcenter width=3D"60%" SIZE=3D2> </SPAN></DIV> <P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 12pt"><SPAN=20 style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; = mso-bidi-font-family: Arial"> <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN=20 style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; = mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">Your=20 excellencies, officials of the WHO, distinguished delegates.=20 <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN=20 style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; = mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">All=20 praise to the World Health Organization, which together with UNICEF, has = helped=20 to save the lives of hundreds of millions of children and millions of = mothers,=20 which has relieved the suffering and saved the lives of many more = millions of=20 human beings. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN=20 style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; = mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">These=20 two institutions -- together with the Food and Agriculture Organization, = the=20 United Nations Development Program, the United Nations Conference on = Trade and=20 Development, the World Food Program, the United Nations Population Fund, = UNESCO,=20 and other organizations so bitterly opposed by those who would like to = erase=20 from the face of the earth the noble ideas which inspired the creation = of the=20 United Nations - - have made a decisive contribution to the = establishment of a=20 universal awareness of the serious problems of the world today and the = great=20 challenges which we have before us. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN=20 style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; = mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">According=20 to the calculations of renowned economists, the world economy grew = six-fold and=20 the production of wealth and services grew from less than five trillion = to more=20 than twenty-nine trillion dollars between 1950 and 1997. Why then is it = still=20 the case that each year, 12 million children under five years of age die = -- that=20 is to say 33,000 per day -- of whom the overwhelming majority could be = saved?=20 <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN=20 style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; = mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">Nowhere=20 in the world, in no act of genocide, in no war, are so many people = killed per=20 minute, per hour and per day as those who are killed by hunger and = poverty on=20 our planet -- 53 years after the creation of the United Nations.=20 <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN=20 style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; = mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">The=20 children who die and could be saved are almost 100% poor and of those = who=20 survive, we must ask why 500,000 are left blind every year for lack of a = simple=20 vitamin which costs less than a pack of cigarettes per year? Why are 200 = million=20 children under five years of age undernourished? Why are there 250 = million=20 children and adolescents working? Why do 110 million not attend primary = school=20 and 275 million fail to attend secondary school? Why do two million = girls become=20 prostitutes each year? Why in this world -- which already produces = almost 30=20 trillion dollars worth of goods and services per year -- do one billion = 300=20 million human beings live in absolute poverty, receiving less than a = dollar a=20 day -- when there are those who receive more than a million dollars a = day? Why=20 do 800 million lack the most basic health services? Why is it that of = the 50=20 million people who die each year in the world, whether adults or = children, 17=20 million -- that is approximately 50,000 per day -- die of infectious = diseases=20 which could almost all be cured -- or, even better, be prevented -- at a = cost=20 which is sometimes no more than one dollar per person? = <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN=20 style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; = mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">How=20 much is a human life worth? What is the cost to humanity of the unjust = and=20 intolerable order which prevails in the world? 585,000 women died during = pregnancy or in childbirth in 1996, 99% of them in the Third World, = 70,000 due=20 to abortions carried out in poor conditions, 69,000 of them in Latin = America,=20 Africa and Asia? Apart from the huge differences in the quality of life = between=20 rich and poor countries, people in rich countries live an average of 12 = years=20 longer than people in poor countries. And even within some nations, the=20 difference in life expectancy between the richest and poorest is between = 20 and=20 35 years. It is really sad to think that just in the area of maternal = and=20 post-natal services, in spite of the efforts of the WHO and UNICEF over = the last=20 50 years, the number of deaths from lack of medical services has been = 600=20 million children and 25 million mothers who could have survived. That = would have=20 required a more rational and more just world. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN=20 style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; = mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">In=20 that same post-war period, in the area of military expenditure, 30 = trillion=20 dollars were spent. According to UN estimates, the cost of providing = universal=20 access to basic health care services would be 25 billion dollars per = year --=20 just three percent of the 800 billion dollars which are currently = devoted to=20 military expenditure -- and this after the end of the Cold War.=20 <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN=20 style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; = mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">There=20 is no let up in arms sales, which have the sole purpose of killing, = while the=20 medicines which should be provided to save lives become increasingly = expensive.=20 The market in medicines in 1995 reached 280 billion dollars. The = developed=20 countries, with 14.6% of the world's population -- 824 million = inhabitants --=20 consume 82% of the medicines. The rest of the world -- 4 billion 815 = million=20 people -- consume only 18%. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN=20 style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; = mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">Prices=20 of medicines are prohibitive for the Third World, where only the = privileged=20 sectors can afford them. The control of patents and markets by the large = transnational companies enables them to raise those prices as much as = ten times=20 above their production costs. Some of the latest antibiotics are priced = at 50=20 times their production cost. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN=20 style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; = mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">And=20 the world's population continues to grow. We are now almost six billion = and=20 growing at a rate of 80 million per year. It took two million years to = reach the=20 first billion people, a hundred years to reach the second billion, and = 11 years=20 to reach the last billion. In 50 years, there will be four billion new=20 inhabitants on the planet. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN=20 style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; = mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">Old=20 illnesses have returned and new ones are appearing: AIDS, the Ebola = virus,=20 Anthrax, BSE or mad cow disease -- more than thirty according to the=20 specialists. Either we defeat AIDS or AIDS will destroy many Third World = countries. No poor person can pay the 10,000 dollars per person each = year that=20 current treatments cost -- which merely prolong life without actually = curing the=20 disease. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN=20 style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; = mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">The=20 climate is changing. The seas and the atmosphere are heating up. The air = and=20 water are becoming contaminated. Soil is eroding, deserts are growing, = forests=20 are disappearing and water is becoming scarce. Who can save our species? = The=20 blind, uncontrollable law of the market? Neo-liberal globalization, = alone and=20 for its own sake, like a cancer which devours human beings and destroys = nature?=20 That cannot be the way forward or at least it can only last for a brief = period=20 in history. The WHO is fighting heroically against these realities and = it also=20 has the duty of being optimistic. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN=20 style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; = mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">As=20 a ______ and a revolutionary, I share their optimism. With a = current infant=20 mortality rate of 7.2 per thousand live births during the first year; a = doctor=20 for every 176 inhabitants -- which is the highest level in the world -- = and a=20 life expectancy of more than 75 years of age, ______ has fulfilled = the WHO=20 Health for All program for the year 2000 since 1983 -- in spite of the = cruel=20 blockade it has suffered for almost 40 years, in spite of being a poor, = Third=20 World country. The attempt to commit genocide against our country has = only made=20 us redouble our efforts and increased our will to survive. The world can = also=20 fight and win. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN=20 style=3D"FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; = mso-bidi-font-family: Arial">Thank=20 you very much. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P> <P class=3DMsoBodyText style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=3D"Comic = Sans MS">The=20 above is the full text of the speech delivered by _____________ at the = Palace of=20 Nations in Geneva on the occasion of the presentation to him of the = Health for=20 All Medal by the World Health Organization, Thursday, May 14,=20 1998.</FONT></P></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2></FONT> </DIV></BODY></HTML> ------=_NextPart_000_01B7_01C27C17.144121A0--