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Getting Started with Divestment and Reinvestment

By Randy Viscio

Two reasons to divest:

1) All Universities are heavily invested in corporations which receive top Pentagon contracts to do research and development of military-related priorities.

2) Most Universities are invested in corporations known to be destroying our environment (the rain forest, national reserves etc.) and polluting our air. These companies tend to be the same as those doing heavy contracting with the Department of Defense.

What we are asking you to do is check-out your school's investments. Once you've pin-pointed which corporations your school is invested in then you can begin to find-out where those corporations do business and how they do business. What you will find is documented cases of these corporations destroying the environment and building weapons.

Our Universities overseers have not been responsible with investing our student money. Our tuition is paying for a lot more than just education but we don't get to see the results of our investment-nor do we have any idea what the University is doing with our money. We seriously urge you to take a look and find out where your money is being invested- Be in a position to change your schools investment priorities. Make a statement- divest from eco-destroyers, human rights violators and military machines

How To Get Started

First you should try and attain a copy of your schools

1)investment policy

2) investment portfolio.

These can be obtained from the school Treasurer or through the Contracts and Grants Office (or the equivalent of these at your school).

Some schools may not want to give you the investment portfolio but, in most cases, you have a legal right as a student to have a copy (it is your money which is being invested). If someone at the school refuses to give you the portfolio, then try to talk with some faculty members who will support what you're doing. Ask these faculty members for help in securing the portfolio. Perhaps they might write a letter in your behalf. If faculty input fails then you may want to get some legal advice. Most lawyers will be more than happy to consult you on this subject free-of-charge. In some cases they may advise you to threaten the University with a Law Suit unless the University allows you to view the portfolio. In any case, make an Issue out of It. Get you school and community newspaper Involved and let them know that the school Is refusing to allow a student to view the portfolio: "maybe they have something to hide."

Committee's on Investment Practice

All schools have some type of Trustee and/or faculty committee that Is responsible for Investment practices and guidelines. Make sure and make a written request for your school's Investment Policy Guidelines. Make a written request to a member or members of the committee help you gain access to the portfolio or guidelines.

Checking-Out the Portfolio

Once you have obtained your school's Investment guidelines and portfolio read through them. Much of what you see in the portfolio will look very hard to understand at first. But you should go over it a few times. You will begin to realize that it is not as hard to understand as you thought.

Mainly, what you want to look for are stocks and bonds and corporations attached to those stocks and bonds. At first, you don't have to worry about the numbers, just the names of the corporations. Some of the corporation names will be abbreviated- don't worry, it will be easy for you to get their full names.

You might want to talk to an economics professor and have them explain the terminology and the numbers to you. In any case, make a list of all corporation listed In the portfolio.

Checking Out The Corporations

On the last page of this guide, you will find some listings of organizations that will help you get lists of "dirty" corporations. You should write a letter to any or all of these organizations and ask them to help you get information pertaining to corporations that 1) are known to destroy the environment, 2) do military research and development, 3) are invested internationally in countries known to abuse human rights. You may want to send them a copy of the portfolio and ask them to do a check on the various companies- they will probably charge you a fee.

Investigating Corporations On Your Own

After you have pin-pointed the corporations which your school invests in that are involved with military research and development, you might want to do your own preliminary investigation to find out what types of military projects they do. Although we suggest that you contact the groups on the contact list we have supplied (they can give you in- depth and specific information), you can do your own checking to get a general sense of what these corp's. are doing. It's easy. Here's how:

Annual, 10k, and Statistics Summary Reports

Most libraries carry the past and present Annual, 10k, and Statistics Summary reports of United States corporations. These reports will give you a surface explanation of the corporation you are interested in- ie.(what their goals are, where their priorities lie, some of the types of research and development they do, some of the projects they are currently involved with, who their subsidiaries are, other corporations that contract to them, statistics on the types of research and development they do and the revenues they have raised, etc.).

The easiest way to find out how to get these reports at your library is to ask a librarian, "Does this library carry the Annual and 10k reports of different corporations?" If so, then, "Where are they located," and, "Could you show me how to get them?" If someone asks you why you want the annual reports and you don't feel comfortable telling them about the IDP you're doing, then tell them you're doing a research paper for a class at school. You have a right to see any Annual and 10k report for any corporation- especially if it's in the public library.

Once you have a copy of the reports you want, read them carefully. They are not usually too long (about 10-25 pages). They will help you get a sense of the corporation. Some of the reports for certain corporations will be very helpful in explaining the type of military projects the company is doing- others will be no help at all. But, just because the reports don't state that military related projects are being done doesn't mean they aren't being done. In fact, many corporations do not refer to military project in their public reports because they may be highly sensitive or controversial. Here is where the contacts at the end of this guide will be of more help.

Developing A Plan Of Action

Once you have found out which investments at your school are the worst, you want to try and develop a strategy for getting your school to divest.

1. You should have a clear understanding of your schools investment policy and see if they are in any violations of their own policy.

2. You should also find out if any committees on investments already exist.

3. Take the information you have and begin to feed it to your school paper or local newspapers (do not give up all your info. at once- the idea is to try and build-up your case). Letting your school paper know at the beginning of your investment project is also a good idea- let them know that you and a collective of other students plan to do an investment research project.

4. You should begin to develop an outline ideology for Economic Conversion (see enclosed paper on this subject). You don't want to simply say "these investments are bad for these reasons but I don't have a better idea." Give them a better idea- Economic Conversion!

5. Write a formal letter to your Student Government Association, Faculty Senate, and Top Administrator ie.(the President or Chancellor). Although these letters will probably get little or no response it will be a helpful tool in later work. Always keep copies of everything you do!

Here are some other organizing and mobilizing ideas for forcing students and other faculty and Administrators to confront the issues:

1) Develop 1-page leaflets that explain the issues you're dealing with and pass them out to as many students as possible.

2) Publicize meetings of your investment group and encourage students who want to be involved or take-action to come.

3) Hold rallies and marches and/or stage guerrilla theaters to educate and inform the student body about the issues.

4). Write to your school "leaders" asking to meet with them to discuss the dimensions of these investments. If they refuse to meet or if they refuse to deal in a meaningful way with the issue, then you should take stronger action.

Stronger Actions

1) Conduct a sit-in at the Treasurer's Office or some other relevant space, remember, you don't need a whole lot of people. Just one or two who are willing to stand their ground. Follow and precede the sit-in with a press conference to explain why you're doing what you're doing to the local media.

2) After a sit-in, numbers of people interested usually increases. You may want to hold another rally and then conduct another sit-in or actual take-over of a building. Always issue a list of demands and be careful to explain that they are "requests" that have had to be posed as "demands" because the school officials refuse to hear the issue. The sit-in or Take-over is your political power and we suggest you use it carefully.

3) Always let the media in on what you're going to do and don't be afraid to go for national attention. Call the National Networks- Sell them on what you're doing.

4) Have continuous well publicized meetings and be ready to deal with increasing numbers of interested students. As your group gets larger you must find ways of keeping everyone involved and satisfied-No easy task!

Be especially aware and concerned with class Issues, racism and sexism within your group and find creative ways to deal with such issues. Outreach to as many communities as possible.

Forging Economic Conversion At Your University.

By Randy Viscio

Compiling The Dirt on Your School's Investments.

Perhaps the best way of forcing a school to divest is by offering the school, and the Trustees in particular- a better alternative. But before you can begin to offer a better alternative you need to be able to show the school exactly what its money is doing. This means that you have to compile the research your doing into a tidy little report.

Your report should include

1) an explanation of why you initiated the research project,

2) how you conducted the project (listing your sources of information regarding the investments),

3) a listing of all the corporations that your school invests in,

4) a listing of those corporations which you have investigated and the negative projects that they are working on - these might include projects that deal with the military, destroying the environment, Central America, etc.

5) a total of your school's overall investment worth (maybe $10,000,000), and the total of money your school invests in the corporations doing negative things.

Let's say that you have investigated your school's investment portfolio and you have discovered that it invests in 6 corporations which are doing research and development (R & D) for the military. And let's say that you have already gone to the library and checked out the Annual Reports of these six corporations. In the reports you have found upwards of 20 specific military projects that these 6 corporations are working on. All you have to do now is put this information together- List the six corporations, their subsidiaries (if they have any doing negative things), and list the projects that each corporation is responsible for conducting. It is also a good idea to figure out 1)how much money your school invests in general, and 2)how much money your school is investing in these six corporations. In other words, what percentage of your school's overall investments are being used in these six corporations.

Arguments for Alternative Investing

Whether the percentage of the military investments is large or small you can make a case for divestment. Let's say only 3% of your school's overall investments are related to the military. You can reasonably argue that because the percentage is so small, it should not be difficult to re-invest that money elsewhere. On the other hand, let's say that 25% of your school's overall investments are related to the military. You can argue that the moral, political and economic implications of such a large percentage are not worth the profit that might be made. You can also argue that investing in the Defense Industry is economically dangerous given the changing perceptions of the cold war- the defense industry is on its way out. Playing on the idea that the Cold War is over, you can make a strong case for alternative and responsible investing.

In your report you should tell people what you want to happen or how you want your school's investing practices to change. To get information on alternative socially responsible investing check the resources in this guide. There are numerous ways that a school can invest its money in businesses or alternatives that are progressive: low-income housing, credit unions, businesses that have strong labor rights programs and a good history of being environmentally conscious. Make it known to those in power that you want the school to invest in these alternative businesses.

Goals To Aim For

There are many things that you should aim for which will help secure corporate accountability and investing responsibility at your school.

1) Divestment from corporations acting irresponsibly (destroying the environment, exploiting workers in Central and S.America, developing, producing and/or distributing weapons systems, corporations that are against civil rights or that exploit their own workers in the U.S., etc.).

2) Re-investment in small, community businesses that do the opposite of what the above mentioned do.

3) The University (or College), should do its investing through a "socially responsible" investing firm- one that has a good history of making socially responsible investing decisions.

4) A permanent and equal committee of students, community members, alumnus, staff, faculty, and administration, should oversee or review the investing practises of the school.

Sample Report (based on actual divestment campaign: Hampshire College 1989-1990)

Introduction

Hampshire College People For A Socially Responsible University (P.S.R.U.) have concluded a preliminary investigation into Hampshire's investments in corporations involved in weapons research and development (R&D).

Seven of these corporations (TRW, Harris, Digital, IBM, Chrysler, Ford, and Amoco), are listed by the Department of Defense (DoD), as being among the top 100 recipients of Pentagon-funded contracts. The investigation reveals that these corporations are involved in R&D for sensitive military projects such as SDI (Strategical Defense Initiative), ICBM's (Inter-Continental Ballistic missiles), SLAM's (Standoff Land Attack missiles), and a host of C3 I's (Command, Control, and Communication Intelligence) used in the production of weapons systems.

It is clear that these investments are in direct violation of Section III. C (Guidelines for Investment Responsibility), of Hampshire's Investment Policy. This policy states that the college "does not wish to profit from, nor appear to support or endorse by holding equity securities in, corporations which cause social injury." Such high-technology weapons systems obviously cause "social injury:" 1) Historically, these weapons have been used to cause the destruction of human life; 2) They have been used to cause destruction of the environment; 3) Consenting to R&D for high-tech. weapons systems acts as a justification for our society's presently skewed economic priorities, and; 4) The R&D of high-tech. weapons systems places a burden and a strain on our brothers and sisters throughout the world who are forced to compete with the United States because of our historical reputation for aggression and expansion.

The Guidelines For Investment Responsibility state that the college should avoid investment in companies involved in production or sale of nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons, research, and production. But, the policy does not specifically mention other types of weapons systems. Therefore, we demand that the guideline be broadened to specifically include all weapons systems, research, production, sales, and distribution. We invite the Trustees of Hampshire College to conduct a timely investigation to verify our findings, and call for immediate divestment from these seven corporations.

Preliminary Investigation Report Summary

Note(From this point on, all corporations which Hampshire is invested in will be called "Hampshire Corporations.")

Department of Defense Projects Which Hampshire College Presently Invests In: (There are more but this is a preliminary finding).

* Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI).

* Inter-Continental Ballistic missiles (ICBM's).

* Standoff Land Attack Missiles (SLAM's).

* Peacekeeper (MX) Missiles.

* Command, Control, and Communication Intelligence (C3 I's).

* Surveillance and Tracking Satellite Systems. ie. (spying).

* Digital Video Transmission Systems (DVTS). ie. (spying).

* Battlefield Electronic Reconnaissance Systems.

* Smart Weapons Subsystems.

* Anti-Submarine Warfare Systems.

* Ballistic Missile Launch Assessment Systems.

* High Energy Laser Systems

* Advanced Tactical Fighter Plane (ATF), F-14 Fighter Plane, A-12 Fighter Plane, Agusta A-129 Fighter Plane, LHX Helicopter Fighter.

* Modern Anti-Jam Systems.

* Switching and Intelligence Systems.

* Electronic Optics Systems.

* Semi-conductors For entire Military Systems.

Overall Hampshire College

Investment Value............................... $5,830,856.00

Total Value of Hampshire Investment in

Corp's. Conducting DoD R&D..............................................$269,450.00

Hampshire Corporations and Subsidiaries Conducting the Above-Cited Projects:

1) Harris Corporation.

2) GE- Semi-Conductor (Subsidiary of Harris).

3) Chrysler Automotive.

4) Aerospace (Chrysler Subsidiary).

5) Electrospace (Chrysler Subsidiary).

6) IBM

7) Ford Automotive

8) Amoco

9) Digital Corporation

10) TRW

Other Corporations Which Contract Hampshire Corporations to do Military Research:

Raytheon, GTE, General Dynamics, Quinton, General Electric, and the Australian Army.

Methods and Sources

The investigation of Hampshire College's corporate investments was initiated conducted by six individuals (Mayassa Al-Mazi, Lisa Charkey, Damon Bean, Chris Jennings, Susan Conrad, and Randy Viscio), of the Hampshire Chapter P.S.R.U. collective. The latest Hampshire College investment portfolio supplement (December 29, 1989) was used to pin-point Hampshire Corporations and value of Hampshire investments in those corporations.

A listing of the top 100 DoD contractors was attained from the Department of Defense and was used to pin-point Hampshire Corporations doing heavy R&D for the Pentagon. Each member of the collective was responsible for investigating 1 to 2 of the Hampshire Corporations known to be receiving top DoD contracts.

The latest annual and 10k reports of each these corporations was attained from the U-MASS library. These reports contained all of the cited material in this report which pertains to each corporations weapons systems production.

Preliminary Investment Responsibility Report- P.S.R.U. April, 1990

Note: All corporations that Hampshire College Invests in that are engaged in military research and development will be called Hampshire Corporations.

KEY:

R&D = Research and Development.

DoD = Department of Defense

_______________________________________

As of December 29, 1989.

Hampshire Corporation Investment Value(Book) Shares

TRW $40,352.92 800

Chrysler $99,820.00 (Bond) 100,000

Amoco $22,732.50 600

Ford Motor Co $21,060.00 400

Harris Co $38,434.60 1,000

IBM $24,755.00 200

Total $247,153.02

Overall Hamp.Inv't.Value $5,830,856.00

" " In Stocks $876,737.00

" " In Bonds $3,542,023.00

________________________________________

Hampshire Corporation Rank In Top 100 DoD Contractors

Hampshire Corporation Rank

TRW 18

Chrysler 70

Amoco 75

Ford Motor Co 23

Harris Co 45

IBM 20

________________________________________

List of Subsidiaries of Hampshire Corporations and Contractors to Hampshire Corporations which are Involved In DoD R&D.

Hampshire Corporation Subsidiary Contractor

Chrysler Aerospace &- – Electrospace

Harris GE-Semiconductor NASA, Australian-

Army, Raytheon,

General Dynamics,

GTE.

TRW NASA

________________________________________

List of Hampshire Corporations Involved With SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative) R&D.

Hampshire Corporation Amount Of Funding For SDI Between 1983 and 1988

TRW $778,929,937.00-

IBM $84,284,023.00-

Ford Motor $69,661,519.00-

Harris Corp $31,089,563.00-

Harris Semiconductor $1,083,000.00-

________________________________________

Hampshire Corporations and Our Military Projects.

TRW..................MX (Peacekeeper) Missile System(Nuclear), Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM-Nuclear), Space Surveillance and Tracking System(SDI-related), Star Laser Programs(SDI-related), Anti-submarine Warfare Systems, Army Battle Management Command, Control and Communication, High-energy Laser systems(SDI), Tracking and Data Relay Satelite System, Systems Engineering For "strategic offensive systems", Intergrated Avionics and Electronic Warfare Systems.

Chrysler.............Design, Manufacture, and Instalation of Command, Control, and Communications Intelligence Systems(C3 I's), Aircraft Modification, Switching and Intelligence Systems.

Harris Corp.......Development of LHX Fighter Helicopter(Army), A-12 Fighter(Navy), Advanced Tactical Fighter(ATF-Airforce), Standoff Land Attack Missile (SLAM[Nuclear]-Army), Agusta A-129 fighter (Airforce), F-14 Fighter (Airforce), Modern Anti-Jam Program (Army), Electro-Optics Development (Australian Army), Digital Video Image Transmission Systems (DVTS) for Reconnaisance intelligence ie.(spying), Semi-conductors (SDI).

IBM.....................SDI, (That's all we know so far).

Ford....................SDI, " ".

Amoco...............Development of B-2 Bomber.

______________________________

Other Interesting Tid-Bits:

IBM still sells all of its products in South Africa despit a formal policy of divestment. Hampshire College has a policy of not investing in corporations with "operations" in South Africa. Is selling your products in a country an "operation" of your company?

Amoco is active in the production, research and development of many different chemicals. Unfortunately, they are one of the producers of major pollutants called "petrochemicals." Amoco also owns and operates the largest open pit uranium mine in the country. this mine is located on Indian Lands.

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