Wednesday, October 22 – the Student Senate voted today to approve funding to send ten UMB students to attend the 16th Annual Conference on Hunger and Homelessness at Trinity College in Hartford Connecticut. At the conference, UMB students, including MassPIRG student coordinators, student senators and others, will take part in workshops, discussions and trainings along with 400 other students and experts working to address the problems of Hunger and Homelessness. The conference is titled “Building a Strong Community. Building a Stronger Country.” The conference is organized by the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness (www.studentsagainsthunger.org).

Tuesday October 28 – the MassPIRG Hunger and Homelessness campaign held a table to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to be donated to the Revision House, a women’s family shelter in Dorchester. Materials were donated by Star Market. Volunteers made over 100 sandwiches to be delivered to the shelter that afternoon. The shelter houses single mothers with young children in the area. Statewide, over 62,000 children under the age of 12 are unsure of where their next meal will come from.Upcoming events –

MassPIRG will be holding a panel on Global Warming including faculty, administration and students in the second week of November. The panel will address the issue of global warming from the science, business, and political perspectives, debating what is the most effective action to be taken. In Massachusetts, global warming will endanger coastal areas, increase heat-related deaths and threaten natural ecosystems. The MassPIRG Stopping Global Warming Campaign seeks to make Massachusetts a leader in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, by convincing Governor Romney to release a climate action plan for the state by January 1, 2004.

The week of November 10 Water Watch will be holding Mercury awareness week to educate the campus about the dangers of Mercury pollution. The week will feature “mercury-free events” and educational panels.

November 17-21 will be Hunger and Homelessness Awareness week including a campus-wide clothing drive competition, a panel on homelessness, and action around fair-trade coffee. Keep a look out for details.