------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
----------------------------------------------------------

The BurmaNet News: Mary 13, 1996
Issue #406   SPECIAL ISSUE - FREE BURMA CAMPAIGN UPDATE

BurmaNet Editor's Note: This issue was put together by Aaron Stark,
a high school senior from Wisconsin who has been very active in the
Free Burma movement.  BurmaNet is grateful for his assistance.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HEADLINES:
========
REFLECTIONS ON THE U.S. FREE BURMA MOVEMENT
THE PEPSI CAMPAIGN
SHAREHOLDER RESOLUTIONS
SELECTIVE PURCHASING BILLS
APC ACTIVITIES AND BURMA SANCTIONS
AUNG SAN SUU KYI'S 51 BIRTHDAY AND MEDIA
OSHKOSH B'GOSH IN BURMA
POSTCARDS AND T-SHIRTS FROM BURMA RELIEF-JAPAN
UPDATE ON FBC FOCUS GROUPS
FREE BURMA COALITION UPDATE
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

BurmaNet Editor's Note: This issue of BurmaNet provides an update
on some of the Free Burma Coalition activities which have taken place
over the past few weeks.  The most significant event was PepsiCo's decision
to sell off its 40% share in a bottling plant in Burma.  However, activists
are still not satisfied because Pepsi will continue to profit from franchise
agreements in Burma.  Although a shareholders' amendment to force
Pepsi to end all activities in Burma was soundly defeated, the Free Burma
Coalition has stated that it will continue the campaign until Pepsi is out.
Moreover, Pepsi's partial pullout generated tremendous publicity for the
Free Burma movement, including stories in major newspapers, on radio
stations, and on CNN TV.  Reports from Burma also indicate that students
 in Rangoon and Mandalay have joined the Pepsi boycott and plan to
expand it.

During the past month, 2 more cities, San Francisco and Oakland, CA
passed selective purchasing bills which bar those cities from buying
goods from countries which do business in Burma.  In the United States,
the movement is growing rapidly and numerous high school groups have
formed.  Aung San Suu Kyi is clearly aware of the movement and has
even made references to it in her weekend speeches.  It will be interesting
to see to what extent the international campaigners will be able to work
in harmony with pro-democracy activists within Burma in the future.

********************************************************

REFLECTION ON THE U.S. FREE BURMA MOVEMENT
from Zarni, Free Burma Coalition organizer
zni@students.wisc.edu

I wish to draw attention to something which is profoundly significant for
us as a grassroots movement. My main concern is the seduction of the
institutionalization and professionalization of the movement in formulating
strategies. Profesionalization and institutionalization have been the
downfall of the past oppositional movements around the world and throughout
history. As we strategize now, we need to be very clear about our thinking
on these issues.

The strength of the Free Burma movement depends on our ability to move
tactically and strategically. This calls for constantly reassessing what we
as a movement are doing at any given moment. In addition, this requires
honing strategies and clarifying who plays what roles.

So far we have been pursuing different stretegies with different degrees of
success. At this juncture, selective purchasing is a strategy we have and
we must continue to maintain, for its clear success not only in the South
Africa's divestment movement but also in our Free Burma movement.

The question then is what is more immediately strategic? I would argue that
along with selective purchasing and consumer boycott we need to pursue a
strategy of divestment because: 1) it is what made the South Africa
campaign a resounding success; 2) it is a common term that carries a lot of
cultural attraction and hence evokes past memories of freedom struggle; 3)
there is only a handful of US multinationals from which our universities
and colleges would dis-invest thus requiring little shaking-up of their
investment portfolios; and4) subsequently, the issue of declining return
which university trust officers typically claim can be invalidated by #3.

In light of the Pepsico's May 1 shareholder meeting in which the resolution
calling for the adoption of code of conducts, (that is, to include human
rights considerations in Pepsico's global operations) WAS DEFEATED (which
means the said resolution will NOT return to the table this coming year),
while we MAY continue to pursue shareholder resolutions we MUST be sure
that we have diversified strategies. Divestment is one such strategy.

We have won serious victories, and we have done this only through the
efforts at the grassroots levels. While shareholder activities have not
contributed greatly to our successes thus far, we have great hopes for the
future movements that will take place in the area of shareholder
resolutions. However, until we develop a stronger power base in the
shareholder arena, we must be very careful not to become complacent and
should thus continue the direct clearly effective consumer boycott and
selective purchasing strategy. And we should seriously consider now pushing
for divestment given the growing strengths as a grassroots movement.

In the South Africa movement direct consumer boycott and pressure for
institutional divestiture brought the apartheid system down. We need to
continue this type of momentum through grassroots consensus and collective
decision-making in action. We are very fortunate to have people who are
capable, dedicated to the cause, and who bring in tremendous amount of
expertise in the area of business.

Already we can see that they have been indespensible in corporate
boardrooms and at negotiating tables. At this juncture we can only hope
that they continue their good efforts in dealing with this aspect of our
grassroots movement.

While they pursue this important task, we need to be sure that we also
continue our tactical collective movement at the street level where real
actions are taking place and real gains are clearly being made. In fact, we
should congratulate ourselves for maintaining such a truly grassroots,
*non-institutionlized,* movement, for as we have seen in past social and
political movements, institutionalization, inflexibilty, and
professionalization has resulted in the cooption, splitting, and defusion
of collective grassroots power.

***************************************************

 THE PEPSI CAMPAIGN

OPIRG-CARLETON FREE BURMA LETTER DRIVE
from Terry Cottam, Burma-Tibet Group, OPIRG-Carleton, Canada

We are encouraging David Kilgour and other MPs, as well as Foreign Affairs
Minister Lloyd Axworthy, to write PepsiCo directly to ask if it exports
farm products from Burma made by forced labour.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


MADISON HIGH SCHOOL LETTER TO SHAQUILLE O'NEAL
from Nate C-K <nculwell@facstaff.wisc.edu>

[Aaron's Note: Below is an excerpt from a letter to be sent to Shaquille
O'Neal, an NBA basketball player who has a huge contract with Pepsi.
Also under consideration is a writing campaign to members of the U.S.A.
Olympic Basketball team, like David Robinson, who has done advertisements
for Doritos.]

Dear Shaq,

Before you put this letter down, stop and take a good look at it, because
it is not your usual fan-mail. We are writing to you today because we have
seen your face on TV so many times, and we fear that the level of influence
you hold on goings-on around the world goes much deeper than you realize.
We refer specifically to your many advertisements for PepsiCo. The nation's
children idolize you, they look up to you and clamber to look and act like
you. Black people in particular love you and imitate you. When they see you
on the screen, they think that Pepsi is cool, Pepsi is hip, Pepsi is the
"Choice of a New Generation." We are not writing today to attack the nature
of advertising, however. What worries us is that you do not realize what
the success of Pepsi means for people across the world. In Burma, Pepsi's
franchised bottling plant produces revenue which directly supports the
nation's military regime, called the State Law and Order Restoration
Council (SLORC), one of the most oppressive in the world....
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NYU FBC GROUP: SUMMER PEPSICO DEMOS IN NYC
from Greg Heller

This is a message that goes out to anyone who will be in the NYC area this
summer. Earth Matters at NYU will continue demonstrating through the summer
until PepsiCo is off our campus or out of Burma. If we are victorious, we
will gear up for additional Free Burma campaigning including selective
purchasing. We have a core of 5 members who will be in the city. If you are
interested in joining us, please let me know through direct e-mail to:
gph6574@is.nyu.edu PLease include your name, e-mail, phone (now and summer)
and where you will be living this summer (city, state borough if in NYC)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

MONTGOMERY COLLEGE ACTION
from <Watherly@aol.com>

Burmese students and members from Student Senate of Montgomery College
finished a successful "Boycott Pepsi, Boycott Heineken, and Support
Sanction Against Burma" campaign on April 24, 1996. Further campaigns will
take place at Maryland University in Maryland and George Washington
University in Washington D.C during the first week of May.

The students have collected 400 signatures for petitions that they will
send to the U.S Senate and Congress.  Moreover, the students will attend
"First Anniversary of Human Rights Day" in Montgomery College's May
First celebration. The students will appeal to the city council not to buy
Pepsi and other products whose makers invest in Burma. The students will
also send a petition to the city council.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

TUFTS BURMA ACTION GROUP
From: Kathy Polias <kpolias@emerald.tufts.edu>

We've been around since October and I wanted to share with you some tactics
that have really helped our campaigns.

(1) We have been trying to convince Tufts Treasury Operations to vote its
$1 million worth of shares in ARCO in favor of a shareholder resolution
asking ARCO to draw up guidelines about investing in countries where there
are human rights violations. To bring attention to the Burma situation we
made a HUMAN SCULPTURE to accompany our tabling in front of the campus
center. The sculpture consisted of three people, one person wearing a
necktie and a sign that said "Companies in Burma" and another person
wearing a sign that said "The Burmese government". These two characters
were holding a huge dollar bill between them. They each were holding chains
that were wrapped around the body of a third person who portrayed the
people of Burma and who was kneeling on the ground. Many people stopped and
came over to find out more info.

(2) We successfully lobbied Massachussetts State Senator Charles Shannon to
support the selective purchasing bill in Massachusetts. Petitions signed by
Tufts students were all it took.

(3) We have focused a great deal on education this semester about Burma and
the multiple ways students can help Burma. We sponsored: a slide show
presentation on human rights abuses in Burma which was given by Katie
Redford, an American lawyer working with the Karen; a presentation by
Burmese human rights activists Ohmar Khin; a panel and a debate/forum about
how to bring peaceful change in Burma.

(4)We also had a phone available at one of our tabling sessions for people
to call Pepsi on the spot, and we gave out wallet-sized cards listing all
the products and the 1-800 numbers.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

MADISON WISCONSIN HIGH SCHOOL PEPSI PROTESTS
From: Aaron Stark <stark@students.wisc.edu>
Joe Kerman <jkerman@idcnet.com>

By threatening to walk out, we forced our school administration to cancel
an anti-drug presentation that was to be given by Pepsi at our school,
Madison (WI) East High School on April 23.
We held demonstrations in our cafeteria every day the following week to
protest Pizza Hut's week-long presence, with a table full of anti-PepsiCo
signs, Burma literature, and copies of two petitions, one to be sent to
C.E.O. Sinclair asking for a complete pull-out from Burma, and another to
be given to the Madison School Board, asking them to adopt a Selective
Purchasing Ordinance regarding Burma. On May 2nd we had Zar Ni speak before
a class of about 30, most seemed interested as well as impressed, and we
got a few more signatures at our lunch demonstration. Along with the Free
Burma groups at Madison West and Madison Shabazz High Schools, we hope to
bring our petitions and our case before the School Board later this month.

--East Students for a Free Burma

This is Joe Kerman from Fort Atkinson (WI) High. Something big happened
today at an assembly. There were three big screens and a bunch of
multimedia/computer equipment, then the lights went out and a very
disturbing message flashed on the screen..."Your school is sponsored by
PEPSI" I was too far up in the gym bleachers to leave, but I told about 20
people around me about Burma and Pepsi and they agreed that they should do
something, so we just sat around and made fun of the images they were
putting up on the screen. The thing that got me the most was when the big
PEPSI and a 1-800-collect logo appeared for about 30 seconds and we were
just sitting there in the dark staring at the logos. That is forced
advertising and I will be writing the student council to complain. I got a
couple of people to boycott the Pizza Hut pizza we are having for lunch
tomorrow... Joe Kerman
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PENN STATE EARTH DAY CELEBRATION
From: brian <BGL103@PSUVM.PSU.EDU>

Students for a Democratic Burma, in conjunction with Amnesty International
at Penn State joined the Earth Day celebration at Penn State on Sunday,
collecting signatures on petitions and letters to the University President,
Graham Spanier asking him to vote the university's stock in Pepsico, and
Unocal in favor of a human rights code of conduct resolution brought by
shareholders before Pepsi's annual meeting on May 1, 1996. In addition to
this, SDB/PSU and AI/PSU jointly completed and displayed a giant sized (7
foot tall x 3 1/2 foot diamater) Mock PepsiCan. The giant mock can is
emblazoned with the 2 familiar wide red bars and 2 red/blue half circles
with the white wave through the middle. Between and bracketing the red bars
are three words which are lettered similarly to the PEPSI logo, but instead
of "PEPSI" read "MURDER" "TORTURE" and "SLAVERY. Anyone
interested in the design specs can email me, or alternatively, perhaps this
"can" could be dissembled and go on tour.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FBC
from Zarni
zni@students.wisc.edu

1) On April 10, Free Burma Coalition (UW-chapter) had a two hour meeting
with the senior vice-president and vice president of the UW System with
regards to UW's investment and contract with PepsiCo and Texaco. A state
legislator, a faculty member, and a Wisconsin state assembly member spoke
for the cause of democracy in Burma and ugred the Regents to take action on
the Burma issue.

2) On April10, UW-Madison's Coalition for Socially Responsible Investment
did a Pepsi Dump on the Library Mall on campus here and a major local TV
(Channel 15) and both campus papers provided us with great coverage.

3) On April 21, Channel 3 (a CBS affiliate) did a Free Burma story during
an 8 AM news program.

4) May 3 issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education will carry a follow-up
story on FBC's campaign here in Wisconsin.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME BURMA PETITIONS
From: Elizabeth Trantowski
<Elizabeth.A.Trantowski.3@nd.edu>

We collected a bunch of signatures on Thursday the 18th at our Amnesty
International concert. The petition is already on its way to President
Clinton.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FBC ACTION AT HUMBOLDT STATE UNIVERSITY, CA
From: Sean Armstrong <sga1@axe.humboldt.edu>

I'm writing on behalf of the FBC on the Humboldt State U campus in Northern
California. We're really close to getting PepsiCo products completely out
of our cafeterias After a couple of meetings with the head of the
cafeteria, and giving him the book "Burma: The Next Killing Fields" he's
agreed to completly remove PepsiCo products from the cafeterias and vending
machines if there is student support. So we're collecting signatures and
setting up table tents with scenes of a dead woman on the ground and a man
with a long gun standing over her, and the gun has the logos of PepsiCo
products hanging from it. If all goes well, PepsiCo will lose access to
7,000 customers and hundreds of thousands of dollars!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

GEORGETOWN BACKS BURMA SHAREHOLDER ACTION

Georgetown University's Committee on Investment and Social Responsibility
met on April 30 to vote on several subjects, including whether to vote the
University's shares in Pepsi in favor of the shareholders resolutions on
Burma. The Committee voted unanimously both to support the reporting
resolution and the resolution on disinvestment. In addition, the Committee
voted to draft a letter to Pepsi asking for more information on two
subjects: whether Pepsi can distribute its products in Burma without using
infrastructure built with forced labor and second, to explain how its
counter-trade in Burma works. The letter to Pepsi is being drafted now and
will be finalized at the next meeting of the Committee in May.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

OHIO UNIVERSITY FBC
From: Lisa Booth Brooten <lb252689@oak.cats.ohiou.edu>

We have officially started an Ohio University Free Burma Coalition group.
Earlier this year we had Edith Mirante come to campus as a speaker, and I
gave a slide show/lecture about my time living with Karen refugees along
the Thai-Burmese border. I repeated the lecture earlier this evening (April
25), and it went well. We got more people interested, and got lots of names
on our petitions.

We have been continuing with our letter-writing campaign for the Burma
Freedom and Democracy Act. Now we have several other student groups
interested in joining us. We are also meeting with the university
administration next week. We are trying to figure out the university's
connection with companies dealing with Burma, but it's not that easy
because OU has no direct investments. We're also looking into the company
that leases the vending machines for our campus to see if we can get Pepsi
off.
We've also gotten an article in our student paper raising awareness about
Pepsi in
Burma. And finally, we held a panel discussion on US foreign investment in
Asia, using the case study of Levi-Strauss.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

COLGATE UNIVERSITY BOOTS PEPSI
from Hannah Newhall <HNEWHALL@CENTER.COLGATE.EDU>

Due to student pressure from boycotts and petitions, the Marriott food
services at Colgate University has agreed to switch from Pepsi to Coke this
summer. In the beginning of April we held a Boycott Pepsi day and got over
600 signatures for a petition asking Marriott to stop serving Pepsico
products at Colgate. We feel that the boycott was a huge success not only
because Marriott has agreed to switch to Coke, but also because there was a
noticable decline in Pepsi consumption following the boycott. The student
senate at Colgate also agreed to back our efforts to set up an investment
committee which would determine Colgate's social responsibilities. Colgate
currently has investments in both Texaco and Unocal.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PEPSI SMASH AT WARREN WILSON COLLEGE
from George E. Hobart <ghobart@warren-wilson.edu>

We had a excellent weekend of raising awareness about PepsiCo's involvement
in Burma. We entered a Free Burma float into the annual Spring Jubilee
parade and won an award for human rights awareness. The float was covered
with about 700+ Pepsi brand cans, tied up to spell out NO PEPSI. We had
boycott signs everywhere, Free Burma signs on the front and back. Also we
did a similiar action as another FBC group did-- we had a human sculpture.

The next day on April 27th, we had a big display on Free Burma with videos,
maps of Burma, Pepsi boycott petitions, tons of information, and our own
constructed "Pole of Shame" -- depicting all the products not to buy. As
people waited to buy the "alternative soda" that we bought (Blue Sky, RJ
Corr, and China Cola), we explained the Burma situation to them.

By May 6, we had finally brought the Free Burma issue to Student
Caucus, announcing that investing in PepsiCo was not acceptable in the eyes
of the student body and that the college should either prepare to divest or
receive a whole lot of criticism from the student body this summer and the
following academic year. We are gearing up for more activism this summer.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PEPSI BOYCOTT DEMANDS
from Zarni

[Aaron's note: this was contained in an FBC letter to Pepsi CEO Sinclair]

We will call off the on-going Pepsi Boycott worldwide immediately, if, and
only if, PepsiCo complies with the following two demands:

1). PepsiCo terminates immediately all of its business transactions in
Burma. To be specific, PepsiCo: a). Divests itself of its 40% equity in
Pepsi Cola Products Myanmar (PPM) to an entity in which PepsiCo does not
have an equity interest; b). Ends its licensing and all other
understandings, agreements, or contracts with Pepsi Cola Myanmar;  c).
Ensures that PepsiCo has no future distribution agreements with entities in
Burma; and  d). Cancels all contracts under which PepsiCo's copyrighted &
trademarked names would be used in Burma (including "Pepsi Cola" and any
names of and generated by PepsiCo subsidiaries).

2). Upon withdrawal, PepsiCo issues a public statement that in effect says
"under current conditions, it is NOT possible to do business in the country
without directly supporting the SLORC and its pervasive violations of human
rights including slave labor on economic projects."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

RESPONSE TO PEPSI'S "PULLOUT"
from Larry Dohrs and Jaime Viola <jvio@conncoll.edu>

Pepsi has clearly pulled a fast one, pretending to the world that they are
pulling out when they are staying in, with the situation in Burma
unchanged. A couple of suggestions:

1) Sign up for the October hunger strike, and let FBC and Pepsi know. Pepsi
can be reached by 1-800-433-COLA or fax at 914-253-2203. Also call PEPSI
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS in NY at 914-253-2000. The PR department
hardly knows anything about Burma.

2) Hold some sort of action at your campus or your town, and alert the
media and Pepsi, as well as FBC. You can download the FBC news release of
Pepsi's sham pullout, then attach your local plans to make an easy local
news release.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


WHAT'S AFTER PEPSI
from Zarni  zni@students.wisc.edu

In spite of PepsiCo's cosmetic but significant move, we should congratulate
ourselves for all of our concerted efforts to end corporate support and
complicity in Slorc's heinous crimes toward 45 million people in Burma.

There have been questions on our listserv about "what's after Pepsi." FBC's
mission statement clearly spells out what our movement is all about--
creating an international Free Burma grassroots movement in support of
Burma's own democracy movement.

Our spiders fight along with, not just for, the people of Burma and our
movement will NOT be over until and unless freedom and democracy is
restored in Burma. We should all take pride in the fact that we are part of
a larger international movement for a Free Burma that is gaining respect
from other freedom fighters both internationally and domestically.

In light of the growing momentum, growth, and effectiveness of our campaign
and the gloomy situations in Burma, it is critical that we continue to work
together to maintain some degree of Free Burma activism on our campuses and
communities during the coming summer months. For oppression and
exploitation by the consolidated power of Slorc and multinationals
continues during these summer months as well.

Several suggestions:
a) Staying in touch during the summer
For those spiders who can afford some time and efforts during the summer
months, please get in touch with one of the following spiders: Brad Simpson
<simpsonb@nwu.edu> Greg Wright <gwright@pangea.stanford.edu>. They will
coordinate the summer grassroots lobby week for Burma Freedom and Democracy
Act, federal economic sanctions bill.

b) Ad hoc Hunger Strike Committee
For those of you who are interested in making our October Free Burma Hunger
Strike a resounding success, please get in touch with the following
spiders: Ko Tun Myint <tmyint@indiana.edu> Nick Thompson
<nickt@pangea.stanford.edu> Larry Dohrs<dohrs@u.washington.edu>
Yuki Kidokoro <yuki@ASUCLA.UCLA.EDU>
Dave Wolfberg <freebrma@ix.netcom.com>

*******************************************************

SHAREHOLDER RESOLUTIONS

REPORT ON PEPSICO STOCKHOLDERS MEETING
from Simon Billenness <simon_billenness@cybercom.net>

Because we did not reach the threshold of 6% of the vote, PepsiCo
shareholders will not be able to refile the resolution on adding human
rights criteria to PepsiCo's code of conduct. However, there are several
different shareholder resolutions that we could file that would refer to
Burma. For instance:

1.      A resolution asking PepsiCo to report on the impact of the consumer
and municipal Burma boycotts.

2.      A resolution focusing specifically on PepsiCo's connection to
forced labor in Burma.

3.      A resolution on executive pay that includes language on Burma. We
could also put pressure on the Securities & Exchange Commission to change
its stance on allowing companies to exclude resolutions specifically on
Burma. We could take PepsiCo to federal district court to obtain an
injunction requiring the company to include the Burma-specific resolution.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


TEXACO SHAREHOLDER PROPOSAL
from Howard H. Sargent <hsargent@csn.net>  (slightly abridged)

The following was contained in a Texaco NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING dated
March 28, 1996. The meeting will be held in Houston on May 14th.

WHEREAS the illegitimate government of Burma (Myanmar), which calls itself
the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), brutally suppresses
the Burmese people's movement toward democracy and has massacred or
imprisoned thousands of human rights demonstrators.

WHEREAS SLORC gains political legitimacy and maintains financial solvency,
in part, through partnerships with foreign oil companies. When Texaco
explorations are successful, SLORC will be paid significant amounts of
money and may exercise its option to own 15 percent of the production.
SLORC will be a corporate partner in this operation with Texaco.

WHEREAS Texaco will not state publicly that internationally recognized
standards of human rights are being violated in Burma and publicly urge
that political prisoners be released and political power transferred to the
democratically elected government of Burma.

RESOLVED the shareholders request the Board of Directors to adopt as
policy: Texaco shall terminate operations in Burma until political
prisoners are released and political power transferred to the
democratically elected government of Burma (Myanmar).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


STANFORD COMMITTEE ON INVESTOR'S RESPONSIBILITY
from Nick Thompson   at nickt@pangea.stanford.edu

The final word from the Stanford Committee on Investor's Responsibility
(SCRI) is: 1) They will support the tepid resolutions presented to Texaco
and Unocal - this is an important victory. 2)They did not vote at the Pepsi
meeting on either of the Burma resolutions (the tepid and the strong)
because they did not get their act together in time. Officially, Stanford
abstained.
3)There has been no movement on the strong resolution presented to Texaco
because the Advisory Panel on Investor's Responsibility (APIR) has not made
a recommendation yet.

They didn't close all the doors on the students, but they made them as hard
as possible to open and have left us very little room or time for
maneuvering with regard to the real resolutions.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


COLORADO COLLEGE SHAREHOLDER ACTION
from Jon Shay < j_shay@cc.colorado.edu>

In the past week, I convinced CC President Kathryn Mohrman to vote in favor
of the National Council of Churches resolution for PepsiCo. Together with
the All-College Committee on Socially Responsible Investing. Her vote means
that all of CC's 93,200 shares in PepsiCo will support this resolution.

************************************************

SELECTIVE PURCHASING BILLS

On April 23rd, Oakland, Calif. joined other US cities (Berkeley, Ann Arbor,
Madison, Santa Monica, and San Francisco) in adopting a Burma Boycott Bill.
The Bill was sponsored by City Council Member Ignacio de la Fuente and the
vote was unanimous. The hardest-hit corporations will be Unocal and United
Parcel Service (UPS).

********************************************************

SANCTIONS AGAINST BURMA

ASIA PACIFIC CENTER FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE (APC) ACTIVITIES

About two months ago, we sent an action alert to about 500 of our
supporters. The action alert called for a letter-writing campaign to urge
House and Senate support of their respective Burma sanctions bills. APC
also sent its own letter to members of the House Subcommittee on East Asia
and the Pacific, where the bill is still sitting. The House version is
scheduled for discussion in mid- May.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UPCOMING SENATE HEARING ON BURMA BILL (S.1511)
from Campaign for Burma Freedom Bill

On May 17, 1996, a Senate Hearing will be held by Sen. D'Amato (R-NY),
Chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. It is
expected that those issues detailed in the "Burma Freedom and Democracy Act
of 1995 (S.1511)" will be discussed at the Hearing. S.1511 was introduced
by Senators McConnell, Moynihan, Leahy and D'Amato, and was referred to
Chairman D'Amato's Banking Committee. Hopefully, Senators McConnell will
testify at the Hearing and will be joined by Dr. Sein Win, Prime Minister
of the National Coalition Government of Union of Burma and other supporters
of the bill.

************************************************************

AUNG SAN SUU KYI'S 51ST BIRTHDAY AND MEDIA
from U Kyaw Win

18 June 1996 (Tuesday) is Aung San Suu Kyi's 51st birthday. In keeping with
the Free Burma Campaign begun on 27 October 1995 by Zar Ni et al. of
Madison, Wisconsin, I urge every person concerned about Burma to contact
print and electronic media wherever they may be urging them to write or do
editorials, feature stories, etc. on that date. Persons are also urged to
write letters to the editors of news media before that date. Providing
background information to the media in the form of press releases etc.is
most helpful. Media in USA would be more inclined to do feature stories
using a local angle. Therefore, tell or write your media persons who you
are and why Burma is important to you and why the American (or others, if
outside USA) should be concerned about Burma.

On 9 April 1996 at the University of Colorado's 48th annual Conference on
World Affairs, I met Jonathan Broder, Senior Editor of National Public
Radio's "All Things Considered." I asked him to do a piece on Burma on 18
June. He said, "O.K." Please follow that contact up by e-mailing him:
ATC@npr.org. Also, please ask Bob Edwards of NPR's "Morning Edition" to
begin his day by mentioning ASSK's 51st birthday. He has done this twice in
the past. Bob Edwards" e-mail is: Morning@npr.org.

*********************************************************

OSHKOSH B'GOSH IN BURMA
from John E. Peck <jepeck@students.wisc.edu>

        Friday May 3, is a shareholder meeting for Oshkosh B'Gosh - and
word has it from reliable sources that Oshkosh is sourcing clothing from
Burma. In fact, they are supposedly collaborating with a familiar SLORC
front, namely Myanmar Segye International - a joint venture between South
Korean-owned Segye and the Union of Mynamar Economic Holdings (UMEH).
UMEH is mostly managed by ex-SLORC officers and is 40% owned by SLORC's
own Defense Ministry Department of Procurement. Columbia Sportswear was
also buying clothing from Segye/UMEH - until recent student protests and
consumer boycotts forced them out. Other clothing companies which have
bowed to popular protest and left Burma include Liz Claiborne and Levi
Strauss.
        Concerned people should contact Oshkosh B'Gosh and demand to know
whether or not they are sourcing clothing from Burma's SLORC regime.
Conscientious consumers should also make inquiries about whether or not
Oshkosh B'Gosh clothing comes from the Burmese dictatorship at their usual
clothing outlets.
Operators are standing by: Douglas W. Hyde - Pres. and CEO,Oshkosh B'Gosh Inc.
                                                112 Otter Ave., Oshkosh, WI
54901
                                                tel. (414) 231-8800,  fax.
(414) 231-8621

***************************************************

POSTCARDS AND T-SHIRTS FROM BURMA RELIEF CENTER-JAPAN
Ken and Visakha Kawasaki
from brelief@gol.com

        BRC-J has created postcards and T-shirts with striking graphics
regarding the "Stop the Gas Pipeline" (Unocal and Total) and "Boycott Visit
Myanmar Year 1996".  The postcards can be used as picture postcards and
sent to friends, or they can be sent as protest messages to the companies
involved. The T-shirt can be worn as a protest of its own, as a uniform for
a group organizing a rally, or simply as a great shirt in its own right.
        If you are interested in purchasing any of these products, we have
them for sale and would be happy to mail them to you or your group. Please
e-mail your order to us. We will immediately ship the goods and send
information for the remittance of the cost. (All proceeds from the sale of
these goods go to support the students and refugees on the Thai/Burma
border.)
        Prices include AirMail postage:
Postcard: (Set of 10, 5 of each design, US$8.00 )
Stop the Pipeline (Red lettering on Black and White drawing)
Boycott Visit Myanmar Year 1996 (Black and White drawing)
T-shirt: ($25 each, special discount on orders of ten or more)
Don't Visit Myanmar Year 1996 (Full-color cartoon on front, plain back)

***********************************************************

UPDATE ON FBC FOCUS GROUPS
from Zarni  zni@students.wisc.edu

Here is an updated list of FBC focus groups. It might be helpful to print
this out for easy reference. The intent of creating and updating the focus
groups is to ensure the efficiency of different Free Burma campaigns.

1) US Coordination and outreach
A). Each coordinator of a US Free Burma action group is automatically in
the coordinating body for actions in the US. They will do outreach work in
their regions. With the exception of one or two states, we have our
contacts and/or chapters in all states in the US.

B). International Outreach and Coordination:

Canadian Friends of Burma (Canada I) at cfob@web.apc.org
        Reid Cooper (Canada II) at ai268@freenet.carleton.ca
        Yvett of Burma Action Group (England I) at bagp@gn.apc.org
        Sue Wheat of Tourism Concern (England II) at tourconcern@gn.apc.org
        Dr. Khin Ni Ni Thein (Netherlands I) at nin@ihe.nl
        Kees Kodde (Netherlands II) at keko@antenna.nl
        Christopher Dietrich (France) at cd@utopia.EUnet.fr
        Ko Aung Myo Min (Thailand) at caroline@ksc.net.th
        Ko Win Min (Thailand) at lurie@mozart.inet.co.th
        Tapani.Ojasti (Finland) at ojasti@katto.kaapeli.fi
        Yazar (India I) at fdhr!chan@unv.ernet.in
        Ko Aung San Myint (India II) at aungsan@giasdl01.vsnl.net.in
        Ko Aye Chan Naing (Norway) at  dvb@mail.sn.no
        Ken and Visakha Kawasaki (Japan, Nara) at brelief@gol.com
        Ko Aung Thu and Carol (Japan, Tokyo) at carol@gol.com
        Kyle Matthews (New Zealand) at kyle.matthews@stonebow.otago.ac.nz
        Ko Maung Maung Than (Australia I) at hazell@coombs.anu.edu.au
        Dr Paul Webb (Australia II) at P_WEBB@BANKS.NTU.EDU.AU>
        U Nwe Aung (Germany) at 101564.2652@compuserve.com
        Zarni (Slovenia) at zni@students.wisc.edu
        Mathias Boegner (Switzerland) at boegner@cybergate.ibm.ch

        Larry Dohrs (USA) at dohrs@u.washington.edu
        Brian Schmidt (USA) at brischmidt@aol.com
        Dave Wolfberg (USA) at freebrma@ix.netcom.com
        Nick Thompson (USA) at nickt@pangea.stanford.edu
        Ma Ohnmar Khin & Ko Zaw Zaw (USA) at Ohmarkhin@aol.com
        Simon Billenness (USA) at simon_billenness@mail.cybercom.net
        Ko Tun Myint (USA) at tmyint@indiana.edu
        Aaron Erlinger (USA) at ellrinad@uwec.edu
        Brad Simpson (USA) at simpsonb@nwu.edu
        Linda Kwon (USA) at lkwon@students.uiuc.edu
        Nathan Culwell-Kanarek (USA) at nculwell@facstaff.wisc.edu
        Zarni (USA) at zni@students.wisc.edu
        Kristina M. Wamstad (USA) at wamstad@ucsu.Colorado.EDU

2. Media and Information Group
a) Website and Listserver Crew
1) Glen Norris at freeburma@pobox.com (Free Burma Homepage)
2) Alex Turner at alturner@execpc.com (FBC Site)
3) Rick Voithofer at rjvoitho@students.wisc.edu (FBC Site)
4) Mike Ewall at MXE115@PSUVM.PSU.EDU(Penn State Burma Website)
5) Ko Zaw Zaw at freeburma@aol.com (Culture & Congressional Documents
and Issues)
6) Ko Tun Myint at tmyint@indiana.edu (Educational Listserv)
7) Adam Berrey at aberrey@igc.apc.org
8) Zarni at zni@students.wisc.edu (FBC Listserv)

b) News Media (TV, Print, and Radio Networks)
1) Larry Dohrs at dohrs@u.washington.edu
2) Ko Aye Chan at dvb@oslonett.no
3) Dr. Christina Fink at christin@ksc.net.th
4) Todd Price at taprice@students.wisc.edu
5) Betty Morse at 74750.1267@compuserve.com
6) David Horne at dhorne@indiana.edu
7) David Wolfberg at freebrma@ix.netcom.com
8) Christine Harmston at cfob@web.apc.org
 9) strider at strider@igc.apc.org
10) Aaron Stark at stark@students.wisc.edu
11) Leslie Kean at geremi@ix.netcom.com

c) Free Burma Video-production and Dissemination
1) Larry Dohrs at dohrs@u.washington.edu
2) Todd Price at taprice@students.wisc.edu

d) Information and/or Brochure Project
1) Brad Simpson at simpsonb@nwu.edu
2) Linda Kwan at lkwon@students.uiuc.edu
3) Ko Aung Myo Min (Thailand) at caroline@ksc.net.th
4) Ko Win Min (Thailand) at lurie@mozart.inet.co.th
5) Ma Ohnmar Khin at Ohmarkhin@aol.com
6) Ko Aung San Myint (India II) at aungsan@giasdl01.vsnl.net.in
7) Ko Aung Thu and Carol (Japan, Tokyo) at carol@gol.com

3) Oil Group
a) David Wolfberg at freebrma@ix.netcom.com
b) Dr. Carol Richards at 73030.64@compuserve.com
c) Martial Cosette & Yvette Pierpaoli (France) c/o Carol Richards
d) Dorothy Hill (Canada)
e) Christopher Dietrich (France) at cd@utopia.EUnet.fr
f) Jane Jerome at jjerome@bellmicro.com
g) Gregory Lennox Wright at mauddib@leland.Stanford.EDU
h) Pam Wellner at pwellner@igc.apc.org
i) John Peck at jepeck@students.wisc.edu
j) Jon Shay at erc@cc.colorado.edu
k) Don Erickson at fax 312-421-5762
l) Kathy Polias at kpolias@emerald.tufts.edu
m) Edith Mirante c/o Carol Richards
n) Lousia Benson
o) Dan Ngo at ngo@ucla.edu

4) Tourism Group
a) Nicholas Greenwood
b) Sue Wheat (Tourism Concern, UK) at tourconcern@gn.apc.org
b) Yvett (Burma Action Group, UK) at bagp@gn.apc.org
d) Rachel Kleinfeld at rachel.kleinfeld@yale.edu
e) Yuki Kidokoro at yuki@ASUCLA.UCLA.EDU
f) Ko Tun Myint at tmyint@indiana.edu
g) Paul Michels at pauglm@vt.eduh)
h) Linda Kwon at lkwon@students.uiuc.edu
I) Andrew Miller at AEM125@PSUVM.PSU.EDU
j) Susan Moeller and Koala Vandruff at ATSM@acad2.alaska.edu
k) Canadian Friends of Burma at cfob@web.apc.org

5) Pepsi Group
a) Brian Schmidt at brischmidt@aol.com
b) Terry Cottam at cfob@web.apc.org
c) Reid Cooper at ai268@freenet.carleton.ca
d) Todd Price at taprice@students.wisc.edu
e) Mike/Andrew/Brian at AEM125@PSUVM.PSU.EDU
f) Lynda Kellam at lmkellam@hamlet.uncg.edu
g) Darcy Hermann at dhermann@envirolink.org
h) George E. Hobart at ghobart@warren-wilson.edu
I) Dale Sharkey at DS232624@wcupa.edu
j) Peter Apple at prapple@cacd.rockwell.com k
) Jaime Viola at jvio@conncoll.edu
l) Sean Armstrong at sga1@axe.humboldt.edu
m) Greg Heller at gph6574@is.nyu.edu
n) Liz Abercrombie at abercrew@jmu.edu

6) Divestment/shareholder resolution/selective purchasing Group
a) Simon Billenness at simon_billenness@mail.cybercom.net (Franklin R&D)
b) Conrad MacKerron at pam@igc.apc.org (Progressive Asset Management)
c) Greg Wright at gwright@pangea.stanford.edu
d) Chritopher Yu at YucFCAA@aol.com
e) Larry Dohrs at dohrs@u.washington.edu
f) Douglas Steele at douglas.steele@law.georgetown.edu
g) Emily White at ewhite@emerald.tufts.edu
h) Ryan Dobson Friedrichs at ryandf@umich.edu
I) Dawn J. Gremer at djgremer@mailbox.syr.edu
j) Naomi Mudge at naomi@indirect.com (U. of Arizona) and Chris Ford
k) Brad Simpson at simpsonb@nwu.edu
l) Betsy Mendelson at etb2@midway.uchicago.edu
m) Lisa Booth Brooten at lb252689@oak.cats.ohiou.edu
n) Kristina M. Wamstad at wamstad@ucsu.Colorado.EDU

7) Pre-college FBC Network
a) Leah Whitesel at lwhitesel@madison.k12.wi.us
b) Nathan Culwell-Kanarek at nculwell@facstaff.wisc.edu
c) Aaron Stark at stark@students.wisc.edu

8) Speakers Bureau List
Available upon request from zni@students.wisc.edu; (John Tan at
johnny@icarus.weber.edu wants to work on this.)

9) Fundraiser Group
a) Ann Stewart at 75361.1143@CompuServe.COM

10) Grassroots Lobbying Focus Group (for Burma Freedom and Democracy Act)
a) Brad Simpson at simpsonb@nwu.edu
b) Greg Wright at gwright@pangea.stanford.edu
c) Ko Zaw Zaw at freeburma@aol.com

11) Heineken Campaign Coordination
a) Kees Kodde at keko@antenna.nl, kees@aseed.antenna.nl

12) Groups and/Individuals Working in Coalition with FBC
a) Free Tibet Group
                1) Jon Voss at jmcrc@cnt.org
        2) Diana Takata at Diana.Takata@newcanaan.com
b) East Timor Action Network
                1) Charles Scheiner at cscheiner@igc.apc.org
        2) Brad Simpson at simpsonb@nwu.edu
c) Nigeria Group
                1) Dapo Olorunyomi (c/o zni@students.wisc.edu)
d) Amnesty International (USA)
                1) Michael Heflin at mheflin@aiusa.usa.com
        2) Meghan Faux at mfaux@aiusa.usa.com
        3) Roberto Guerra at rguerra@aiusa.usa.com

13) Ad Hoc Hunger Strike Committee
Ko Tun Myint tmyint@indiana.edu
Nick Thompson nickt@pangea.stanford.edu
Larry Dohrs     dohrs@u.washington.edu
Yuki Kidokoro yuki@ASUCLA.UCLA.EDU
Dave Wolfberg freebrma@ix.netcom.com

*******************************************************

FREE BURMA COALITION UPDATE
from Zarni
zni@students.wisc.edu

1) There will be new international Free Burma chapters in Spain and Belgium
very soon.
2) The Switzerland Friends of Burma will join the tourism boycott working
with our colleagues in England.
3) Dartmouth College, St. Louis University, University of Florida, and
University of Nebraska will kick off Free Burma campaigns.
4) University of Houston FBC co-ordinator Anita, has just signed on to the
campaign yesterday and she will be coordinating the protest demo at Texaco
Shareholder Meeting on May 14.
5) Pre-college networking is moving along really well. The two high schools
in Palo Alto just got on board.
6) Our high school spider, Chris from Omaha, Nebraska will be graduating
and going to St. Louis university in St. Louis,MO next year. He will start
a Free Burma chapter there.

New York Times ad:
1) Professor U Kyaw Win of Orange Coast College has promised to kick in
$500 as a start-up fund for a New York Times ad. It's a small amount
compared to the actual cost, but it still is a significant amount
considering the shoestring budget on which FBC functions. We will be doing
serious fundraising for this project. The two dates (of course, only one
will be picked) that have been suggested so far are: September 18, 1996
(Slorc took over the power in September 18, 1988)  and January 4, 1997
(Burma's Independence Day from Britain). Anyone intersted in working on
this New York Times ad, please write to mayiyi@aol.com

2) FBC will be distributing Free Burma T-shirts as a way to generate
funding and popularize the movement through a local business. The Free
Burma T-shirts will be available at over 360 retail stores throughout the
US, most of which are located near college campuses. The proceeds will go
to the FBC projects, specifically, the brochure project and New York Times
ad project. We are also looking into creating Free Burma mugs, as well as
other items.

