Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Summary of Spring 2007 semester

University of Wisconsin-Madison Students for a Free Tibet had our most ambitious and successful semester in recent memory. At the beginning of the semester we made a laundry list of goals. To our own surprise, we were able to reach the majority of these goals (China hasn't left Tibet, so our work is not done yet :)


Buddhist monks from Soquel, Cal. watch a street artist on State Street in Madison, WI.
On the Front Page of The Daily Cardinal on May 4, 2007.


Our Press This Semester:

February 15, 2007
Wisconsin State Journal
The Dalai Lama Will Speak At Kohl Center In May
by Heather LaRoi

February 15, 2007
The Badger Herald
Dalai Lama to visit city
by Peter Sielski

March 12, 2007
The Badger Herald
Madison rallies for ‘Free Tibet’
by Peter Sielski

April 24, 2007
The Capital Times
Mixing Integrity, Sustainability
by Mary Bergin

April 26, 2007
Wisconsin State Journal
Tibetan Flag Sparks Controversy
by Patricia Simms

April 26, 2007
The Capital Times
Plan To Raise Tibet's Flag Here Raises China's Ire
by Pat Schneider

April 27, 2007
The Capital Times
Tibetan Flag Will Fly Despite Flap
by Pat Schneider

April 27, 2007
Wisconsin State Journal
Tibetan Flag Will Fly In Madison
by Patricia Simms and Brittany Schoepp

April 27, 2007
The Badger Herald
Concern arises over flag display
by Courtney Johnson

April 28, 2007
The Capital Times
Flying Tibet Flag Just Neighborly
Editorial

April 29, 2007
Wisconsin State Journal
We Need To Resist Chinese On Tibet
by John Nichols

April 30, 2007
Wisconsin State Journal
Madison Shouldn't Fly Tibetan Flag
by William Wineke

May 1, 2007
Wisconsin State Journal
Flag For Tibet, Not For Soldiers
Opinion by Charles R. Clarke, Boscobel

May 2, 2007
The Badger Herald
Tibetan flag flap should blow over
by Jack Garigliano

May 2, 2007
The Badger Herald
Tibetan student speaks on campus
by Peter Sielski

May 2, 2007
The Daily Cardinal
Tibetan speaks to students before Dalai Lama’s arrival
by Marly Schuman

May 3, 2007
The Badger Herald
Dalai Lama begins city tour
by Courtney Johnson

May 3, 2007
The Daily Cardinal
Mayor, state Reps. Black and Parisi meet with Dalai Lama

May 3, 2007
The Daily Cardinal
Dalai Lama to address sold out UW crowd
by Lara Sokolowski


Returning members:

  • Hilary (Midwest Regional Coordinator)

  • Tom (Chapter Coordinator)

  • Annie

  • Abi

  • Asius
What We Did This Semester:

January 4 - 10, 2007: Tom, Asius, and Abi attend 9th International Free Tibet! Action Camp in San Diego.

January 18 and 20, 2007: Hilary, Tom, and Abi draft goals for Spring 2007 semester.

January 29, 2007: Info Table at Student Organization Fair in Memorial Union.

January 31, 2007: Kickoff. We had 4 interested students attend, including 2 new members:

  • Allison

  • Tina
February 4, 2007: Tibetan Movie Night at Hilary's house. We watched Windhorse.

February 9, 2007: Creation of UW SFT blog!

February 14, 2007: Valentine's Day Inventory Party at Abi's house and tour of our Union South office.

February 24, 2007: Tom, Asius, Hilary, and Abi attend the Wisconsin Tibetan Association's Losar Party.

March 2, 2007: Hilary and Abi go to Madison Avenue club to reach out to young Tibetans, especially promoting March 10th demonstrations.

March 5, 2007: Weronika, Hilary, Annie, Tom, and Abi have an info table at the International Women's Day Film Screening in the Memorial Union.

March 7, 2007: Allison, Annie, Asius, Hilary, Abi, and Tom meet to get ready for March 10th demonstration and end up making a commercial. Watch the commercial.

March 10, 2007:

  • Asius and Weronika attend Madison demonstration.
  • Tina, Hilary, Abi, and Tom attend the Chicago demonstration. See pictures.
March 12, 2007: Tom speaks at Amnesty International (Madison chapter) meeting

March 21, 2007:

  • Wisconsin Tibetan Association's Vice President, Jampa Khedup-la, speaks at our weekly meeting.

  • Tenzin attends our meeting and joins our chapter.
April 12 and 14, 2007: Info Table at Wisconsin Film Festival's screening of Tibet: A Country in Exile.

April 14, 2007: Dechen Tashi-la has SFT members over for Lunch.

April 17, 2007:

  • Abi holds Taco Bar lunch fundraiser at her work.
  • Tom, Hilary, and Abi attend the Madison Common Council meeting where the Tibet Flag resolution is voted on. Hilary spoke in support of the resolution, along with local Tibetans and Tibet supporters. The resolution passed unanimously.
April 18, 2007: Hilary holds Taco Bar lunch fundraiser at her work.

April 20, 2007: Tenzin, Tom, Allison, Asius, and Annie hold pizza fundraiser in front of Social Sciences building on UW campus.

April 21, 2007: Hilary speaks in front of the Tibetan Alliance of Chicago about the Panchen Lama and Beijing 2008 Olympics.

April 22, 2007: Tom, Tom's brother Nick, Asius, Abi, and Hilary receive a teaching from Geshe Sopa-la at Deer Park Buddhist Center.

April 25, 2007: Allison, Asius, Tom, Annie, Hilary, and Abi hang banners reading: "WHERE'S TIBET'S PANCHEN LAMA?" and "NO OLYMPICS BEIJING 2008" from a bridge on campus during rush hour.

April 27, 28, and 30, 2007: Info and Merchandise Table at the Orpheum Theatre during their screening of Vajra Sky Over Tibet.

April 29, 2007: Annie, Tom, Hilary, Asius, Abi, and Jampa Khedup-la hold a service focused on Tibet and Buddhism at Prairie Universal Unitarian church.

May 1, 2007: Tenzin Dickyi gives her presentation "Land of the Melting Snows" on the UW campus.

May 6, 2007: End of the Year Tapas Party at Hilary's house.


During the summer many of us will be traveling and resting after a semester well done. But we can still be reached by email: sft.uwmadison (at) gmail.com

Also, you can join our events email list to receive an email notification of our public events.