ALR designletter # 1.4

Welcome the ALR designletter, A semi-regular update on the activities at Another Limited Rebellion design, the world of socially conscious design, and beyond. You are on this list because you have worked with, contacted, or have a personal connection to ALR design. The names on this mailing list will never be sold or given away. If you no longer wish to be on this list, just respond with "REMOVE" in the subject section and there will be no hard feelings. Back issues can be found on our web site in the ISSUES section.

ALR news
We've spent the last few months preparing and we are now happy to announce the unveiling of the updated ALR design ISSUES page. As well as back issues of this newsletter, you will now find short articles, a list of resources and a large annotated list of links to sites about the issues that concern us. Please check it out and let us know what you think. Go to our site at http://www.ALRdesign.com and click on the ISSUES tab on any page.

We will periodically be adding short articles on socially conscious design to the Sidebar section of the ISSUES page. Inspired by our experience in creating the links section of the ISSUES page, the first article is a call to web designers encouraging an awareness about reaching a desired audience via the internet. The full article can be read at: http://www.ALRdesign.com/Pages/access.html

activism
April 22nd-28th is TV Turnoff Week. A creation of Adbusters Media Foundation (http://www.adbusters.org) this event encourages people to appreciate all that life has to offer outside of the corporate sponsored world of passive entertainment. Give it a try and see how much more full your life feels.

The fight for strict controls over campaign financing is not over yet. There is still time to make your voice heard on this serious issue. If you haven't yet, please contact your congressional representative and let them know that you think politics should be by and for the people and not corporate interests. Find and contact your representative at http://www.house.gov/writerep/

paper and printing
Rethink Paper, a think tank for the reduction of wood use, has a web site that is an excellent source of information on recycling and ecologically sound printing and paper. They require you to sign up to access the bulk of the information, but there is no fee. One of the many useful features they provide is a list of "smart" printing presses which use recycled products and work in a socially conscious manner. The site is http://www.rethinkpaper.org/

client spotlight
ALR has been providing pro-bono graphic design and photography services to the non-profit STAY FREE! Magazine for the past year. Focusing on issues of commercialization and American culture, STAY FREE! manages to be both entertaining and informative. Well researched articles and a healthy sense of humor keep it from merely becoming just another lefty rant sheet. The next issue will be hitting newsstands soon. Go to http://www.stayfreemagazine.org for sample articles and subscriptions.

human rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations in 1948 provides a framework for the treatment of human beings that has yet to be surpassed. The first of 30 articles, which condemn everything from arbitrary search and seizure to slavery, states "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood." A moving document that many governments, our own included, seem to have forgotten about. Read the full text at: http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html

informed debate
One of the main arguments the proponents of genetically modified (GM) food use to quell dissenting voices is that it is a technology that will feed the starving peoples of the world and to oppose it would be callous. One specific claim is that genetically modified rice, dubbed "Golden Rice", would provide much needed vitamin A for millions of undernourished peoples. This is a gross misstatement on the part of corporations looking to make a profit regardless of consequences. A person would have to eat 16 to 20 pounds of the "golden rice" a day to achieved the desired level of improvement, whereas a properly balanced diet would provide enough vitamin A as well as many other needed nutrients (Source: Friends of The Earth). The money spent towards dubious genetic advances would be much better spent in other proven areas of aid. Learn more about GM foods and what you can do at http://www.keepnatural.org/

books
Since our last mention of book shopping we've been informed of an even more socially responsible way to buy books online: Powells, the independent online bookstore, has a unionized staff and when books are bought by entering the Powells site via the union's link, 10% of the profits go directly to the workers. When online book shopping is your only option go to http://www.powellsunion.com/

transportation
If you think that there is no escape from our dependence on fossil fuels don't tell Harold Benich who's custom modified Harley-Davidson motorcycle, as reported in The Christian Science Monitor (http://www.csmonitor.com), runs entirely on bio-diesel and now has a pleasant French fry smelling exhaust. Bio-diesel which is often made from soy bean oil is already in use by trucking companies and public transportation systems around the country. The Biodiesel Board has an informative web site that can help interested persons get started on the road to cleaner driving: http://www.biodiesel.org/. Also people interested in a more hands on experience should check out the Veggie Van which went cross country entirely on used cooking oil which the drivers refined themselves: http://www.veggievan.org/

nosh
Three stories of alternative social activism:

1. Well that's one way to be a socially conscious designer...The Christian Science Monitor reports "An employee at a media company that produced ads for George W. Bush was indicted by a federal grand jury for secretly sending a videotape of the Texas governor's debate preparations to Vice President Gore's campaign. Juanita Yvette Lozano of Austin, Texas, was charged with mail fraud, making false statements to the FBI and perjury. She faces 15 years in prison and a $750,000 fine"

2. The April 2001 issue of UK's The Face magazine introduces the GraffitiWriter, a robot designed by the Institute for Applied Autonomy (http://www.appliedautonomy.com), a collective of anarchistic engineering experts. "Essentially a dot matrix printer on wheels" it spray paints messages of your choice directly on sidewalks. Designed to be faster than a running policeman the robot vandal has yet to get it's creators arrested, "It's very weird, but people assume that if you have a robot, you must at least have permission".

3. Tired of having her message of forest conservation ignored by loggers, California performance artist Dona Nieto A.K.A. "La Tigresa" has taken extreme measures. As reported in UK's FHM magazine, she now performs a "Striptease to Save the Trees" that managed to stop the workers in their tracks at least temporarily. More information as well as a documentary film are available at http://www.earthfilms.org/pages/La%20tigresa/strip.html

in closing
Thanks for your time and feel free to contact us with suggestions for future issues, web sites to check out, or just to say "Howdy".

Noah Scalin, founder
ALR design


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