1. Welcome Back!
2. Radical Rush Tabling All Week
3. BARC's First Meeting Announced!
4. Gary Yourofsky Talks About Veganism
5. Animal Rights Conference at UCF!

1. Welcome Back Fall '06!

Hope everyone had a GREAT break! If you have any good animal-related stories that happened over the summer you would like to share with us, please email them to barcucf@gmail.com. Maybe you rescued an animal from a shelter, attended an animal rights conference, encouraged someone to go vegetarian, or went vegan/vegetarian yourself, we would love to hear from you! In fact, anytime you have a story to share throughout this Fall, let us know. This semester is going to revolve more around our members, because without you, there would be no BARC! :)

As an added bonus, some of the stories we receive throughout the year will be featured in the emails we send out. We would like your input on a lot of issues this year, and it helps to stay motivated when you hear about the great things others are continually doing for the animals. So e-mail us those stories!

2. Rush, Progressive-Style!

Since BARC is a member of the Progressive Council--a coalition of student organizations at UCF who are all concerned with social and political change--we take part in Radical Rush at the beginning of every semester. This is a perfect opportunity to expose our club to incoming freshman and talk to others about vegetarianism and other animal rights/welfare issues. BARC will have a table outside the Student Union from 10am-2pm Monday through Friday this week. Come on out, say hello and get some information. There will be events throughout the week, and you can pick up a schedule at any of the tables.

***HELP NEEDED: We need some extra hands on Wednesday morning (Aug 30th) to help set up our famous "BARC barn." If you can meet us at the Student Union no later than 9am Wednesday morning, we could really use your help!! We will definitely repay you the favor with some yummy vegan breakfast goodies. :) Email barcucf@gmail.com if you want to be part of the fun. Did we mention free food?

3. BARC's First Fall Meeting '06 is Finally Here!

Miss us? Well good news is we're back and better than ever. We want to share our ideas for this upcoming year with everyone, so what better time than at the beginning of a brand new semester? Join us for some brainstorming sessions and overall fun times on Tuesday, September 5th. From now on, meetings will be held every-other week on Tuesday's at 5pm (we are working on getting the same room for the whole year so you'll always know where to go). We'll be sure to send out emails before every meeting as a reminder and just in case anything changes. So mark your calendars, and we'll see you there at the first meeting!

Note: if you still want to stay active but can't make the meetings because of class, work or whatever, be sure to keep up with our website and emails for updates so you'll always know when events are.

4. Animal Rights Speaker Returns to Campus!

Every semester, Gary Yourofsky travels the country giving talks about veganism and animal rights to different universities. He always makes a stop at UCF on his tour, and this semester is no exception. His speech is highly informative and persuasive, and many people go vegetarian right on the spot after hearing his lecture. The week of September 19-22 he will be at UCF giving talks in 11 different college classrooms. Chances are, if you have a philosophy, environmental, or religion class he might already be speaking in it. If not, you're still in luck, because he's giving an open talk (meaning, everyone is invited!) the night of the 19th at 6:00pm... and guess what? That's right after our Tuesday BARC meeting, so we're all going to head over and hear him speak immediately after we're done. ;)

We strongly encourage you to bring friends and family members to this free open lecture, because the information is totally worth hearing. Also come armed with questions, because there will be a Q&A session when his presentation is over so you can ask him anything about animal rights or veganism that's been nagging you--he has answers to everything.

5. Animal Rights Conference Coming to UCF September 23rd!

On Saturday, September 23, student activists will descend on the University of Central Florida for peta2’s first-ever Take Action conference—a jam-packed day of workshops led by peta2 staffers covering a variety of topics, from starting a student group and making your campus more animal-friendly to dealing with friends and family who aren’t exactly supportive of your decision to be an animal rights activist. Vegan food will be provided, and everyone who attends will leave with a goodie bag full of leaflets, stickers, and posters to help spread the word back at home. The best part: The whole thing is free to you!

To visit the official website for the conference and to register, go to this link: Take Action Conference. As this event gets closer, we will be sure to give you more information about room locations and speakers. What we do know, is that the conference will be an all-day event from 10:00am - 7:00 pm.

* Please note, for anyone who is questioning, BARC has no ties to PETA.

We are looking forward to an amazing semester! Hope to see you at all the events this month, and stay tuned for more to come! :) As always, you can check out our website: www.barcdontbite.org for a ton of animal rights resources and updates about our club. Here's to a great year!

If you have a question about anything, email copresidents@barcdontbite.org, and you will get a prompt response.