March 20, 2008 issue
Ninth Annual SURGE Conference March 28 to 30
Story by Kathleen McFadden
The SURGE, Students United for a Responsible Global Environment, conference is an annual event that brings together young progressive activists in North Carolina and other southeastern states to build a stronger progressive youth movement through education and collective action.
The ninth annual SURGE conference is happening at Appalachian State University from Friday, March 28, to Sunday, March 30. Activities take place at the Plemmons Student Union.
Conference fees during preregistration are on a sliding scale: $5 to $20 for students and $15 to $35 for the general public. A minimum $15 fee will be charged at the door.
Onsite registration and a job fair begin at 5:00 p.m. on Friday. At 6:00 p.m., the conference’s opening speaker, Brent Summerville, will address the group. Summerville is a renewable energy engineer with the ASU Energy Center, project manager of the NC Small Wind Initiative and Western NC Renewable Energy Initiative and director of the Appalachian Regional Initiative for Sustainable Energy.
On Saturday, registration begins at 9:00 a.m., and workshops follow at 9:30 and 11:00 a.m.
The conference keynote speaker is Darryl Hunt, a Winston-Salem native and founder of The Darryl Hunt Project for Freedom and Justice. Hunt speaks at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday. When he was 19 years old, Hunt was wrongfully convicted of murder and incarcerated for nearly 20 years. He has dedicated his life to fighting for criminal justice system reform and has played a pivotal role in the fight for a death penalty moratorium in North Carolina.
Workshop sessions continue throughout Saturday afternoon.
Concurrent workshops on Saturday include Urban Cooperative Gardening, State Employee Collective Bargaining, Independent Media Training, Direct Action Organizing, Solar Power, Biodiesel, Green Building, Electric Vehicles, Community Justice, Community Bike Share Projects, Campaign Organizing and Strategy, and Palestine and Middle East Struggles.
On Sunday, participants will have the opportunity to tour Appalachian State’s Small Wind and Biodiesel Facilities after a strategy and organizing workshop session with the North Carolina Student Climate Coalition.
To register for the conference and to see the workshop schedule, click to www.surgenetwork.org/conference.
Want To Go?
Dates: Friday to Sunday, March 28 to 30
Time: 5:00 p.m. Friday/9:00 a.m. Saturday and Sunday
Location: Plemmons Student Union
Cost: $15 minimum at the door/$5 to $35 in advance
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