yeah, i'm starting out the school year slacking already. sorry guys! but for those who missed the meeting on tuesday and have been wondering what the heck all those "as we talked about on tues" emails have been referring to... this is for you! :)

item number one: its election year!! and that means lots of get out the vote events
    - especially as our own little mcfo is now all grownsed up and the co-chair of MSA Voice Your Vote commission (committee? whichever)
    - there has already been lots of welcome week action --> 300 registered voters so far!
    - dorm storm and festifall yet to come (well, festifall is today!)
    - "hail to the voter" t-shirts are now available. somehow, somewhere. talk to mcfo
    - there will be a VYV/GotV (U of M loves acronyms!) mass meeting sunday the 12th at 4:00
    - VERY IMPORTANT: VYV gets $1.50 per voter registered, and we will get $1.00 of that for each person PIRGIM registers! so make sure you turn in all your forms specifically for PIRGIM

item number two: city clerk trainings
    - the city clerk (yvonne) will train - for free! - anyone interested in becoming an official voter registration person (the official title assistant to the something something was too long, sorry)
    - if you become official, people you register in person will not be required to show ID at polls, which makes it more likely they will be able to successfully vote and also speeds up the voting process
    - there will be some student sessions on campus next week, those times should be coming soon :)

item number three: MPowered recap
    - MPowered was our welcome week event, which turned out really well, despite a lower turnout than expected (abut 40 kids came)
    - Carolyn and Deepti ran a workshop on environmental action

item number four: Recruitment!
    - Festifall is today, 11-4. even if you didn't sign up to table, feel free to stop by, i know we'd all love to see your smiling faces
    - we have a mass meeting coming up... more details coming soon

item number five: more money
    - we might be getting a $2000 grant from YouthVote as a parting gift from Duncan (awww.... thanks dunc (you better still be reading these minutes!! we miss you))
    - what kind of event could we/do we want to put on? --> something to encourage people to vote on election day
    - we thought perhaps handing out free pizza to people who can show their "i voted" sticker... logistics are being investigated

item number six: another good voting idea -- education
    - we are going to make posters with "voting myths and truths" (i.e. i can't vote without a voter reg. card even though i sent in the form, etc) and plaster campus with them the week before the election

item number seven: trainings
    - its time to hone those critical activist skills
    - will be held this sunday (sept 12th), 7-9 pm at the PIRGIM office at 103 E. Liberty

item number eight: fun event/PIRGIM retreat!!
    - at gallup park
    - on the 19th (that's next sunday), starting around 12ish
    - so come hang out, relax, maybe even have some meaningful conversations

item number nine: parting inspiration (aka 3 things brian imus is super excited about)
    - there is a new field organizer (Jacob) in the PIRGIM office --> that means Megan Owens is now free to do more lobbying
    - the summer canvas raised $180,000 --> best summer in 10 years!
    - Gov. Granhollm pledged to reduce mercury emissions 90% and mentioned PIRGIM on NPR!!

item number ten: regular meetings will be on sundays at 4:00 in the conference room on the 4th floor of the union