"NYRA Freedom" December 4, 2003

[alexwcovington]

NYRA has no affiliation with any partisan political group. I am posting this message up because I feel as a member I should try to spread the word, especially at this critical time for my organization.

---------"NYRA Freedom"--------

Volume 3 Issue 11

December 4, 2003

-----Contents-------
Introduction
NYRA’s Need for Funding
NYRA Plugged on NPR
DeWarren Langley Resigns, Davidson Appointed
Alex Koroknay-Palicz Speaks at Prestigious Conference
News From The Web
Additions to Website
Conclusion

-----Introduction-----

NYRA has, for a number of years, been the foremost organization in the vital
yet drastically under-funded and under-developed Youth Rights movement. NYRA
is being represented all over the media, and our website is widely acclaimed
as one of the best in the Youth Rights community. As wonderful as things have
been in the recent past, NYRA wants to bring things to the next level. With
your support we can have a paid staff and significant budget. With your
continued support, we can liberate America’s Youth from the chains of ageism.


-----NYRA’s Need For Funding-----

In the past NYRA has operated on a budget of a couple thousand dollars a
year. In order to gain more influence, we simply need more. For an organization
to accomplish such drastic goals as NYRA deems essential to protecting the
civil and human liberties of young people, tens of thousands of dollars need to
be readily available. A full time paid staff needs to replace our current
system of a few dedicated volunteers who simply can not run a successful movement
with day jobs and lack of experience running non profits.

NYRA had originally hoped to gain 501c3 tax status, which would open the door
for huge tax deductible grants from various foundations. Unfortunately, the
Internal Revenue Service cited that we had done too much lobbying in the past
(notably the Maine voting age letter writing campaign) to gain this status.
The executive committee, with board approval, opted to try for the next best
thing, 501c4. NYRA is confident that our 501c4 status will be approved, as the
IRS themselves suggested we apply for this.

Since we will probably not be receiving the large grants we had hoped for, we
must raise our own funds. NYRA thinks that a benefit concert will generate
enough revenue to propel NYRA from a start-up, volunteer organization to a well
know, well funded group of professionals working full time to achieve Youth
Rights.

But we need to start somewhere. In a recent letter to the membership, NYRA
Vice President and board member Johnathan McClure stated that NYRA will need a
whopping $50,000 dollars to pay for the fundraiser, which we hope will
generate $150,000 dollars in funds. This "$50,000 dollar question" as it is being
called, is the difference between Youth Rights in our lifetime, or another five
years of obscurity, difficulty, and oppression of Youth.

This money needs to come from none other than us, the members. In an
inspirational email, NYRA member Ellen Scott Grable was pledged to ask for donations
as Christmas presents and donate much of her savings to NYRA, and she
challenges the rest of us to do the same. If you have a few bucks you want to donate,
great, every bit helps, if you have several thousand dollars, that's great too.
NYRA is also accepting loans. I know that it is a little tacky hitting you
all up for money, especially around the holidays, but this is absolutely vital
to our success, I can not over state the importance of this $50,000.

-----NYRA Plugged on NPR-----

On November 9th, NYRA-DC chapter President and NYRA Director Laura Finstad
appeared on National Public Radio's "That Democracy Show" in Washington. The
show featured young people discussing the benefits of working outside of the
system versus working within the system. NYRA believes that a balance should be
struck between the two. Laura managed to get in an insightful and well
articulated comment pertaining to NYRA-DC and the voting age. Later on someone called
in and mentioned NYRA, shortly after that a second caller, unaffiliated with
NYRA, called and spoke about the voting age. A lot of people, most of whom are
probably young and political conscious, were listening to the program. A new
member joined shortly after Laura's comments aired and NYRA assumes that this is
a direct result of Laura's appearance on the show. This can be seen as a
great success.

------ DeWarren Langley Resigns, Davidson Appointed -----

On November 13th, DeWarren Kiajuan Langley resigned from both the NYRA Board
of Directors, and from his position as the director of the Office of Chapter
Formation and Advisory. DeWarren resigned due to differences of opinion,
stemming from his very literal view of NYRA’s mission statement and his strong
opinions with regard to the best possible structuring of the OCFA.

DeWarren’s abrupt resignation left NYRA without one of its most active
members, and we will miss his many positive qualities that were so often reflected
in his work. A board member since the beginning of this term, and an active
member for some years, DeWarren was very active, and someone who brought some
impressive credentials to NYRA. We wish him the best of luck with the
organization he is currently President of, the Society for the Advancement of
Management.

At a November 23rd meeting, the NYRA Board of Directors voted to appoint
yours truly, Scott Davidson, to the Board of Directors. As a Director, I hope to
continue to serve this organization to the best of my abilities as I have been
striving to do as both Secretary and "NYRA Freedom" Editor.

----- Alex Koroknay-Palicz Speaks at Prestigious Conference ------

On November 22nd-23rd, the Center for Voting and Democracy held a conference
entitled "Claiming Democracy" at a brand new convention center in Washington,
DC. The event was focused on exercising the right to vote, and among the
issues discussed was the voting age.

The speakers included Ralph Nader, Jessie Jackson, Jr., and perhaps most
importantly, NYRA President and Executive Director Alex Koroknay-Palicz, who sat
on a panel regarding the voting age. Alex did a good job at the event, and
received a very positive response from those who heard what he had to say.

One young professional approached Alex afterwards and said he would like to
become more involved in Youth Rights. This is exactly the kind of networking
that NYRA needs to be doing in such crucial times.

-----News From The Web-----

Student’s Expulsion Rescinded
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/northfulton/1003/24diary.html

W. Windsor Council adopts drinking age law
http://youthrights.org/articles/www.nj.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-1/10685
45111171463.xml?times?nxt

Boy in skirt tests limits of school dress code
http://www.iht.com/articles/117662.html2

South Carolina: High School Drug Raid Sparks Incredulity, Outrage
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/311/stratford.shtml

Muslim Student Sues School District Over Headscarf Ban
http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=2827

Careful---your neighborhood liquor store clerk might be a police officer
http://www.gazette.net/200341/burtonsville/news/181488-1.html

The New Forbidden Dance
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/cwalk020614.html

Government mandates on toddlers
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=35392

Updating law to support an Amish custom
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/6990579.htm

Gun Wielding Police, Drug Dogs Storm Hallways
http://www.youthrights.org/articles/stratfordraid.html

-----Website Additions-----
Links Page Added
http://www.youthrights.org/links.shtml

New section to view and download NYRA flyers added
http://www.youthrights.org/flyers

Youth Rights poetry page added
http://www.youthrights.org/poetry.html

"Understanding Adultism" by John Bell added to the research section
http://www.youthrights.org/articles/understandingadultism.html

-----Conclusion-----

I feel, that if thing go the way they should, these coming months will go
down in history as some of the most glorious months the Youth Rights movement
will ever see. If every single person who reads this does whatever they can to
make this fundraiser a success, NYRA will become a household acronym,
comparable to the ACLU or the AARP. Hit up your relatives and friends for money, ask
for donations as Christmas presents, do whatever needs to be done to make this
thing happen. If every single one of you donates a few dollars, we will see
Youth Rights at last become as much of a widely accepted concept as Women’s
Rights and Civil Rights.

-Scott Davidson
-NYRA

NYRA needs your support, please visit www.youthrights.org/donate.shtml and help out the movement with a few dollars.