Josh Lozman is the ONE Vote ‘08 Policy Manager so it’s very natural that he would be a part of the Power 100 Summit and speak to the nation’s leading activists [ ] about what’s going on in the upcoming elections and how ONE is getting its questions out there. The ONE Vote ‘08 campaign is dedicated to this purpose. It has launched a very successful project to get presidential candidates from both parties to deliberately outline their plans on issues such as foreign aid, debt cancelation - and everything that ONE is concerned with. Lozman gave all the students a handout that outlined this project, “On the Record,” and its successes. Over 10 presidential candidates have gone on the record for ONE. You can look at these records and even compare candidates side by side at www.onevote08.com

Josh Lozman also talked about the Iowa caucus that happened the night before. He had been there and flew to the Power 100 Summit (very early) to share his experiences. He shared a picture slide show and discussed the very apparent presence of ONE members at this important political event.

Education matters for every aspect of eliminating poverty, because it brings with it the power of change, which in turn leads us closer to a more peaceful, poverty-free world. So Gene Spurling says. Gene Spurling is a senior fellow for economic studies and director of the Center for Universal Education at the Council on Foreign Relations. Mr. Spurling also served in the Clinton administration as the President’s National Economic Adviser and Director of the National Economic Council.

We had the honor of hearing from Mr. Spurling on Friday afternoon of the Power 100 Summit. Mr. Spurling shared with us the large impact that education has on poverty. According to him, development assistance is directly linked to education.

72 million children are NOT in school today. There are more children out of school in Africa than there are children in school in the USA. We should be looking at getting universal education to a point of 9 to 10 years for every child, which is beyond the 5-year expectation we have right now under the Millenium Development Goals. Mr. Spurling talked to us about the Education For All Act, where the desire is to align the interests of children with the interests of parents.

We further discussed the fact that fees hurt the educational opportunities of children, as does distance beween schools and villages. Girls suffer more educationally because of distance and fees than do boys, simply because girls are needed at home for chores. We can help this situation by expanding the access and capacity of schools for the children. The Millenium Development Goals are a small start to making this happen, but more is needed…

Global Education Action Week begins April 21, 2008; visit www.campaignforeducationusa.org for more information on how YOU can get involved.

Hey Everyone!

I hope you all made it home safely from the Summit, and that those of you who are still on break are having a good time. Some of us had to head back to school yesterday.

When I was at the Summit, one of my favorite speakers was Paul Begala. Honestly, I didn’t know who he was before he spoke on Thursday, but I pretty much loved him just a few minutes in.

Mr. Begala started by talking about how people get information, and that those who are at the “top” of the pyramid (the decision makers) were the ones that were the most informed. He said that 79% of people were in the Mass Opinion section, and were choosing to be ignorant about certain things. As campus leaders, we needed to make people wanted to jump out of the Mass Opinion category and into the Highly Informed one.

John 3:16 can be read in 7 seconds. Did you know that? I didn’t, and I was the one that read it! Mr. Begala taught us that when you only have 7-8 seconds, like most presidential candidates do, you can still convey a strong message. He also taught us that there are six things that are important about a message:

1. A Message is a story - don’t use statistics, use stories! It brings people closer to the issue.
2. Keep it Brief - 7 seconds is all you need sometimes.
3. Make it Emotional
4. Make it Relevant
5. Be Unique - The hard thing about this one is that you still have to be ready to answer any question. Sometimes the ones that seem the easiest, are the hardest.
6. Repeat it, repeat it, repeat it, repeat it, repeat it - Build A Bridge, anyone?

Well, I hope you all enjoyed the Summit (and Paul Begala) as much as I did. Have a great Winter Term!

Patrick Schmitt, former Executive Director of STAND, spoke with the Power 100 Summit late Friday morning about the keys to productive student organizing. They are as follows:

1. Understand the difference between advocacy and charity. Charity is a short-term fix, but advocacy affects real change starting with grassroots activism like ONE.

2. An effective campaign is a MOVEMENT, not just an organization. Appeal to as many people as possible and get them involved!

3. Think outside the box, beyond the norms. Society notices campaigns that are different.

4. Get excited about “killing” projects that don’t work at the time. Even if you’ve worked really hard on a project, know that it’s okay to stop it short if it’s just not working. A better time for it may come around soon enough…

5. Use resources effectively towards ends of cause.

6. Know when to lead and when to follow - unify the message. Delegate leadership often and in small amounts; don’t overwhelm yourself or others.

7. Use technology to your advantage.

Have an agreement on your goals, and continue to grow as activists!

The Power 100 Summit made sure to send us all home with plenty of ideas on how to reach more people than ever before about ONE. On Friday morning, Tom Gavin, ONE’s Communications Director, and Kimberly Cadena, ONE’s Press Secretary, gave us a few helpful hints on how to spread the word about ONE:

1. Keep it simple. Have 1 engaging and clear sentence to open every conversation…

2. Stick to the script. Be creative with ONE’s core message…

3. Never fake it. ONE’s credibility is important, as is yours. If you don’t know, say so and then find out the answers…

4. Media amplifies voice. The more the media gets to know you and your involvement with ONE, the more others will, too. So keep trying!

5. Set the stage. Build compelling images into your ONE events. The media needs a reason to care about focusing on what you want them to…

Know beforehand all the points you want to make when contacting the media. Repetition is key. Start relationships with local reporters and keep on them about ONE. Always thank them. And remember, it never hurts to ask!

At the Power 100 Summit, we had the pleasure of attending a session held by ONE’s very own Press Secretary, Kimberly Cadena, and Communications Director, Tom Gavin. They gave us leader some tips on how to help get your message on global poverty and disease to really get through to the people you meet. Here are some of the key points we learned:

Keep it simple. Basically, if you can’t make your point in one sentence, it’s too long, thus you risk losing their interest. Think about one simple sentence you could use on your campus to really sum up what ONE stands for which reaches out to all varieties of people.

Stick to the script. Use the materials provided for you through ONE to help present your message. Use the contacts and tools you have in order to ensure that you are providing accurate and detailed information.

Don’t fake it! While being confident on what you know about the fight for global poverty is key, never act as though you have all the answers if you honestly don’t know the answer to a question. Say something along the lines of “I don’t know, but I will get back to you with that information,” and be sure to follow through!

Use the media While ONE is definitely one of the best campaigns for global poverty, you may still have to hound the media in order to recieve coverage for events. Work to entice not only your campus media resources, but also the media outside of your campus. Just remember: if at first you don’t succeed, try and try again!

Send a compelling message Just because global poverty compells you, doesn’t mean that everyone else feels the same way. The main reason behind his may simple be due to the fact that they either misinformed, or they simply are lacking adequate information. Make sure that your message is loud and clear, and is one that will reach out to people of all sorts and interests.

One other point made that I found to be key is that the relationship you have with others is very important! Make sure that your relationship with politicians and the media is a positive one. Also remember that repetition is very effective, and can help to emphasise the main points of what you are trying to acccomplish through ONE and the OCC!

On Friday, ONE Communications Director Tom Gavin and Press Secretary Kimberly Cadena gave students the run down on dealing with the media. Kimberly gave five important guidelines when dealing with the media.

1. Keep it Simple: Get the audiences attention in the first sentence.

2. Stick to the Script: A core message allows for acceptance from a wide audience.

3. Never Fake It: Credibility is key. Don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know” and always follow up later with the answer.

4. Media Amplifies Voice: Developing a relationship with a reporter is key.

5. Set the Stage: Think about why they should care. Grab their interest with visuals.

Don’t be afraid to be persistent!

On the morning of what, was it Friday??? (It feels like just yesterday) Erin (the Director of Government Affairs not our beloved Erin Eagan) found herself losing her voice but still managed to get up to that podium and speak to us on the effect of Grassroots on that infamous Hill. She also had help from Josh Peck who really helped us understand just exactly what we are capable of. They don’t call it the Power 100 for nothing.

I don’t know how many of the schools that are a part of the ONE Campus Challenge are in close proximity to Washington DC but it really presents an opportunity for student groups to take trips and vie for their issues. Team Erin & Josh gave us some good pointers on how to appeal to Senators which was later reinforced when listening to Newt Gingrich (so I won’t steal his thunder.) In essence they were patting us on the back for the work we had already done with the Jubilee Act and with getting our presidential candidates On the Record, but encouraging us to go and speak with them.

Sometimes I wonder beyond the fun and the success we have on our campuses with the phone calls and letters - do we realize that when added to the pool of schools that participate in these activities, the sum of these really change the minds of our policy maker? If there were any doubts of our strength as one they were definitely cleared at the Summit especially during Erin and Josh’s talk.

Hopefully, we all get the chance to visit our senators, congressman or foreign affairs staff persons, and carry out actual conversations, dialoging issues that are important to us and to them and the course of action we believe in. If not there are always those letters and maybe those phone calls. So let’s get a move on it!! February 14th - save the date and start advocating for the Child Survival Act because just like they said: “you don’t have to be an expert you just have to care.”

On Thursday, January 3rd, 2008, Erin Thornton (Policy Director of ONE) spoke on AIDS at the Power ONE Hundred Summit in Washington D.C.

Ms. Thornton works with a team to “ensure that ONE/Data principals and key staff members have the most up to date, factual, persuasive policy argumetns possible on all of ONE/Data Issues.” Ms. Thornton has been a part of ONE/Data for over 5 years and previously worked with the Export-Import Bank, the State Department and USAID.

This Partner Issue Break Out Session was very informative. Ms. Thornton informed us that when developing policy positions, reactions and analysis she looks to find persuasive, factual and up to date information. She cited UNAIDS as the “most reliable” source of inromation and as the place where the ONE Campaign gathers most of its AIDS related information.

From this session we learned that in 2008, there were 2.1 million AIDS related deaths and 2.5 million infections. The fact that the new infection rate was higher than the AIDS related mortality rate provides clear evidence that more work needs to be done; Not enough is being done in AIDS prevention and/or treatment. Ms. Thornton informed us that today there are currently 33 Million people living with AIDS within developing countries alone. The most vital information gained from this session, was the reemphasis that AIDS is not an independent goal, nor is it a seperate topic from any of the other 4 goals of our campaign.

We all understood that AIDS is linked to TB, Malaria and job creation and education. Unfortunately, Africa lost an extremely high number of health workers while having the highest demand for health workers in world. However, these health workers must feed their families as well, and without any financial support or equal access to medical supplies (in comparison to doctors around the wrold) it is almost currently impossible for these health workers to have a living.

Ms. Thornton also showed us that through the Global fund the net result would result in 3.3 million treated for TB, 46 million bed nets would be provited for malaria prevention, and 49 million people would be treated for malaria.

In regards to the existance or conjurinng of any policy in regards to sex slavery, and/or the rape epidemic (the aftermath of war children on the male psyche), it does not exist. We alaso discussed nations who’s stereotypes, or strong relgiously affiliated culture provides infostructure which unfortunately hinders the effectiveness of education regarding AIDS prevention and treatment. The proposed policy in dealing with this problem is to work within cultural infostructure inorder to try and gain awareness of prevention and treatment.

We all thank Ms. Thornton for taking the time to share her valuable experience and knowledge with us. We truly gained a lot from her session on AIDS!!!! We also would like to thank the staff of the ONE campaign and specifically the ONE Campus Challenge for the opportunity to meet with Ms. Thornton, ask questions, and gain from her insight and experience. The Power 100 Summit was an amazing experience and opportunity for all of us. And I truly think we all learned so much through the staff, speakers, and one another. Thank you for this expereince!!!!!

update: photos added and typo fixed.

Number six on the Millennium Development Goals list is, combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases. Probably one of the easiest sub-goals is to ERADICATE malaria by the 2015 goal set by the United Nations. At the Power 100 Summit on January 3rd, student leaders had the pleasure of listening to Suprotik Basu- the Public Health Specialist of the Booster Program for Malaria Control in Africa for the World Bank.

Mr Basu’s presentation covered the incredibly suprising history of malaria around the world. Malaria was a disease that was feared world-over because of the spread of host mosquito that still lives in much of the Western world. It was a goal of many nations to eradicate malaria in these parts of the world and was an immense success due to their diligence. Yet, Africa was left in the dark. Today, about 90% of malaria deaths globally occur in Africa. And what most people don’t know- this is a treatable and preventable disease. What used to be a threat in America is no longer a threat and the same can be done in Africa. For just under $6, a mosquito bed net treated with insecticide can protect family members for 5 years. Sprays known as IRS, indoor insecticide spray, can protect a family for a year from the disease-carrying mosquito.

And all of this has proven effective. A mission in Eritrea has show that there has been an 85% fall in malaria deaths and 63% fall in cases of malaria in four years. And even though malaria funding has increased about 300% in the past three years, estimates for $2.9 billion would provide effective treatment and prevention programs in 2007.

For more information you can check out www.worldbank.org/malaria