ACLU of Santa Cruz County, CA

Beginning a blog is an interesting premise. As a way of letting you know who will be using this space over the next three months, I'd like to introduce myself, tell you what I've been up to and how I hope to use this space...

My name is Erica Gillingham and I am a fourth year student at UC Santa Cruz , double majoring in Literature and Feminist Studies . I was introduced to the ACLU by my father in high school (if not younger) and have been interested in civil liberties issues and the organization ever since. Through a few fond friends at the university and board I found out about the new Field and Organizing internship available through the local Santa Cruz chapter and applied in the fall. In January 2007 I began working with the local board in various capacities, specifically signing up to be a part of our Legal Committee and Communications Committee.

My interest and work with the Legal Committee stems from my interest in (possibly) pursuing Constitutional law in the future. While my work with the committee has not entailed any legal work so far, I have been assigned the task of monitoring the agendas and activity of our county's councils. (See Santa Cruz Local.)

I was drawn to the Communications Committee as I have experience and interest in (campus) journalism and publication and felt I could contribute in multiple ways. So far, I have covered our latest Interrupted Lives event, done a bit of web authoring on this site and, well, started this blog.

Which leads me to what I'd like this space to be. As a way of investigating current civil liberties issues locally, state wide, nationally, and globally, I will be posting once a week on a different current issue, providing the best information I can find and probably my opinion--either explicitly or implicitly. I invite you to comment on my postings, ask questions and challenge my findings as you see fit. Engaging and meaningful conversations are some of the best ways to figure out what it is exactly that you believe.

-eg