Dear Friends,

We have established the Committee to Save Avis as a way for all Avis supporters to stay in touch. Ideally, the functions available to Yahoo! Groups will help streamline and organize our efforts.

Those who know, love and support Avis will have much to communicate about in the coming months: legal proceedings, media coverage, fundraising, the first school-year issue of the U News... Please help us organize efforts NOW in preparation for all that is to come.

Please accept our invitation, and please invite other Avis supporters to join the group.

Thank you,
Jen Rolf and Amy George Rush (group moderator)

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WHO WE ARE:
The Committee to Save Avis was created as a way to share and propagate ideas about supporting Dr. Avis E. Meyer, Ph.D.--a long-time, tenured, honored, popular and inspiring Saint Louis University professor and academic adviser; adviser to the University News, SLU's student (!) newspaper; and SLU alumnus.

THE ISSUE:
SLU, led by the Rev. Lawrence Biondi, S.J., is suing Avis for trademark infringement. Fr. Biondi hired outside lawyers and has already spent nearly $68,000 (!!!) of the University’s money on the lawsuit. Avis's lawyers counter that the University has failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. In the words of one Avis supporter, "If you run this case by any IP (intellectual property) lawyer, they'll tell you it's crap." In addition, Biondi is trying to revoke Avis's tenure status, and he is BARRING AVIS FROM ENTERING THE U NEWS NEWSROOM, where Avis has come to and gone from freely for 30+ years.

This group is about syupporting Avis, of course, but this issue is also about maintaining and protecting the student press as a vehicle for free speech. And it’s about the individual’s right to free speech, too. Bottom line: it's a First Amendment issue. So even if you don’t know and love Avis like we do, maybe you can sink your teeth into that.