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Tuesday, February 27, 2001 OnCampus/News    ON CAMPUS    Amnesty: Students can make a difference   Amnesty International The group meets at 8 p.m. Thursdays in Room 228 in the Student Center. For more information about the group or upcoming events, call Amy Shelton at 381-9596 or e-mail her at aeshel0@pop.uky.edu   Scott Sloan STAFF WRITER   A lot of people talk about human rights, but not many people do anything about them.   For one group on campus, it is all about action.   The UK chapter of Amnesty International believes in protecting the human rights of all people around the world through a variety of actions. The grassroots movement seeks to make people aware of violations of human rights around the globe. The organization hopes to use the awareness to prevent future violations.   "You can make a real difference," said Amy Shelton, Amnesty president and a Spanish and linguistics senior.   The UK chapter of Amnesty takes part in letter writing to prisoners of conscience and holds public demonstrations and forums, information booths and petitions for governmental reforms. The group also participates in the Amnesty Urgent Action Network that helps provide immediate assistance for a variety of causes.   For instance, Amnesty's urgent action during the week of Valentine's Day was to send letters to the president and CEO of Tiffany Jewelers urging him to lobby Congress to ban diamonds exported from rebel-controlled areas in Sierra Leone and Angola. The diamonds are funding the rebels who have slaughtered thousands of civilians in the area.   The group's goals include securing the release of prisoners of conscience including men, women and children who are imprisoned solely because of their beliefs or a discriminating factor such as race, gender or sexual orientation. Amnesty also seeks to ensure fair and prompt trials for all political prisoners and end the use of torture, cruel and inhumane treatment, political killing and the death penalty.   Upcoming events for Amnesty include a film series and the Southeast Globalization Roadshow. The event will be at UK's campus March 2-3. The event, which is open to the public, was organized by the Mexican Solidarity Network and will include a number of workshops for participants to attend.   UK's chapter is a member of the international organization that includes more than 1.1 million members and is spread over 192 countries and territories.   Since the organization's formation in 1961, Amnesty has aided more than 40,000 prisoners in a variety of ways.   "Amnesty helps you feel like you're a part of the world," said Amy Olive, a foreign language and international economics junior and Amnesty member. "You get to learn a lot about issues all over the world."   Current Headlines OnCampus/News

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