NEWSBYJANESSA GOLDBECK

Name: Nick Gaw
Age: 22
School: Swarthmore College '09

What is STAND? What does it do?
STAND is the student-led division of the Genocide Intervention Network.  We're a network of students at over 850 middle schools, high schools and colleges across the country who share the common goal of ending genocide and mass atrocities. Since we were founded in 2005, we've divested over 60 colleges and 27 states from companies with problematic relationships with Sudan. We've also worked hard to get hundreds of millions of dollars to the African Union and UN for peacekeeping. And most importantly, we've kept the people of Darfur, Burma, and Congo on the radar of our elected leaders and made it clear that we won't stand for inaction.

If you thought the situation in Darfur couldn't get any worse, think again.

Last week, the International Criminal Court made history by issuing an arrest warrant for Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir. In response, President Bashir yanked the licenses of more than a dozen international aid agencies who have been in Darfur for years, leaving upwards of a million people without access to food, clean water, and medical care.

Today is the 50th day Obama has been in office. That means he's halfway through his first 100 days - a time presidents have historically used to map out their top priorities for the nation and the world. So how big of a priority has Obama made keeping his promise to the people of Darfur?

Based on this progress report issued by Genocide Intervention Network's student division, STAND, Obama has only completed one recommended action out of ten since taking office. 50 days in and there is still not even a point person at the White House for Sudan. Is this really "change we can believe in?"

Check out Obama's progress report on Darfur and make sure he knows you're holding him accountable for his inaction by e-faxing his progress report to the White House.

Guest blogger Janessa Goldbeck writes below that 12,500 people have been discharged from the U.S. military under the archaic "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, including 60 Arabic linguists.  The DADT policy has been in effect since 1994.  With the U.S. fighting two wars, are 12,500 qualified U.S. soldiers being turned away from service enough of a reason to overturn DADT?  Janessa's answer is a crystal clear yes.  Anything less is an affront to our national security.

"I was an Arabic translator. After joining the Navy in 2003, I attended the Defense Language Institute, graduated in the top 10 percent of my class and then spent two years giving our troops the critical translation services they desperately needed. I was ready to serve in Iraq.

But I never got to. In March, I was ousted from the Navy under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which mandates dismissal if a service member is found to be gay."

So begins Stephen Benjamin's story, a former petty officer second class in the Navy who lost his job in October 2006 because  he is gay.

On the campaign trail, Barack Obama promised, if elected, to repeal the policy, which prohibits any homosexual or bisexual person from disclosing his or her sexual orientation or from speaking about any homosexual relationships while serving in the United States armed forces.

It's about time. More than 12,500 service members have been discharged under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" since the policy became law in 1994.

Recently Colin Powell, the original author of the policy, made headlines by saying that the US should "definitely" re-evaluate the policy in a CNN interview. A 2007 CNN survey showed that 79 percent of Americans believe that LGBTs should be allowed to serve openly, up from 57 percent in 1992.
When will Obama follow through - or will he?