NYRA Freedom

ISSN 1933-5229

Volume 2, Issue 6

July 8, 2002

Contents:

Editor’s Note
Drinking Age Debates
California Smoking Age
Age Discrimination Campaign
Fundraising Committee Begins
Board Elections
NYRA Open Positions

Editor’s Note

Welcome to the new issue of NYRA Freedom. This is Brad White and this is my first issue acting as editor, and I have a lot in store for the future of this publication. We just purchased nyrafreedom.org and the publication will soon be available there as well. Soon enough we will also have special NYRA Freedom issues which will be mailed to members of NYRA. We are in need of a lot of help to get this publication running in good places, so please check out the positions we have open below. Also, sorry for the issue coming out a bit late. In the future, the issue will come out the first Friday of every month – but things fell a little behind.

Drinking Age Debates

NYRA President Alex Koroknay-Palicz made two recent appearances at the National Young Leaders Conference, where he spoke to 350 students each time. Koroknay-Palicz debated Kim Miller, a very established worker in the field against underage drinking, and completely blew her out of the water. On the second date, the debate was against a MADD spokesperson from the division “Youth in Action.” This debate was a little closer, but “I still beat him, but it wasn’t decisive like last time,” Koroknay-Palicz said. NYRA was also happy to pickup quite a few new members as well.

California Smoking Age

Dennis Hiller of Mountain View, Calif., spoke on behalf of NYRA to local congressman in California about the heated debate on if the state should raise the age to buy tobacco products to 21. Hiller was very pleased with the outcome of his discussions with the lawmakers, even though he was the only opposing speaker present. “They took me very seriously and I am pleased to say NYRA got a lot of publicity,” Hiller said. Hiller plans on making another trek to speak more on this issue soon.

Age Discrimination Campaign

NYRA is currently gathering information and doing prep work for their age discrimination campaigns, with expectations for the campaign to go public this month. Currently NYRA is soliciting reports from stores and encouraging them to provide contact information for the offending businesses. Current pursuits include businesses in Texas, Florida, Michigan, New York, Maryland, Tennessee and Virginia. More information will be available soon.

Fundraising Committee Begins

The fundraising committee has official been formed. Chris Manley and Danya Steele, both members of the Board of Directors (BOD), will co-chair this committee. Currently the committee is beginning to write grant proposals and solicit funds from members. NYRA is currently trying to expand and funds are extremely necessary to do this. The BOD has also recently approved a membership system which will begin implementation shortly. One level of membership will be in place, which will give the ability to vote in the organization, be on the BOD and to be a Corporate Officer. Membership fees will be announced shortly. A NYRA Supporter option will still be available for those who chose not to donate, which will still allow them to receive updates and other information on NYRA. The ability to vote for the upcoming elections will still be available to all current members.

Board Elections

The NYRA annual Board of Directors election is coming up soon. The ballot will be sent out July 27 and members will have until September 7 to cast their vote. An in-person meeting will be held on Saturday, September 7th, open to all members, location to be determined. A new Board of Directors will be elected and bylaw changes will be approved. If you are interested in running for the NYRA Board, you can contact NYRAUSA@…

NYRA Open Positions

NYRA is currently looking for help in many areas. Midwestern Regional Coordinator, NYRA Freedom Editor, writers and an Artistic Director are some of the many positions NYRA is looking to fill. Please visit www.youthrights.org if you are interested in working with NYRA. Please contact NYRA@… if you are interested in working for NYRA Freedom and CFRNYRA@… if you are interested in the regional coordinator position.