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December 10, 2007
Meeting Minutes
Present: Nancy Hendrix,
Phyllis Stanley, Frank Gubasta,
Cindy Highsmith, Tom Guelcher, Nancy Feraldi
Minutes: Cindy Highsmith
made a motion to accept the Minutes
as amended by Nancy Hendrix. Nancy Feraldi seconded the motion and members
approved the minutes.
Treasurer's Report
November 18, 2007 $747
balance
This does not include
amounts collected so far for the
Bobbie Heinreich Memorial Fund.
Tom read letters and
notes received from as far as Poland
after the Peace Fair. Members agreed to send yearly membership dues to UFPJ.
January 14 EPEC meeting
Board discussed possible
guest speakers. Tom suggested we
invite Jon Braddy, UU Director of Religious Education and FGCU Assistant
Professor of Communications to our next board meeting to help us learn better
communication strategies. Members enthusiastically approved this invitation.
Conflict Resolution
Meeting was held at
Phyllis Stanley's on December 7. Jean
Seldon and Nancy Feraldi brainstormed strategies for the continuing NAMI
workshop.
Community Gardens
Nancy Feraldi reported
on the Home Depot grant application
for the Page Park Garden Project.
Nancy Hendrix reported
on the Lehigh Community Garden
Project. Frank Gubasta is meeting with Glenna this Thursday at the church to do
some work.
Frank Gubasta offered
the "peace sign" space he
cleared at his home for community gardening that would be visible from the sky.
Frank also expressed concern regarding the wooded area next to where he lives.
Tom suggested if we visit to see his "peace sign" cleared space,
Frank could also show us the parcel next door and Frank agreed to research what
has happened with the property. Members passed a motion that EPEC will support
Frank's "peace sign" garden where he lives as part of the community
gardening project. Willie
suggested his "No Shame" theater project at Cypress High School might
like to perform there in the future. The location could become a future EPEC
outdoor gathering place.
MLK Day, January 21--Members
voted to contact NAACP for
information about registering for a booth in Centennial Park. Tom agreed to
pursue information.
Kilowatt Ours showing
in Cape Coral--Jean Seldon volunteered
Holley to contact Cape Coral and other libraries regarding a schedule for
scheduling a round of showings.
Iraq War & Occupation
5th Anniversary (March 19)--After
some discussion, Nancy agreed to research what UFPJ and ANSWER are doing. Frank
will research the "air show" in Port Charlotte and local air shows
where we might show up. Tom will
contact local contacts added from the Peace Fair.
Earth Day (April)--Frank
suggested we do some
"theater" involving "the prince sent to protect the earth."
Nancy suggested we also include a "princess sent to protect the
earth." Members agreed to brainstorm ideas.
Peace Pole--
Willie proposed a
"Fifth Anniversary" committee meeting.
Nancy seconded the motion and members agreed. We will talk about it through
email over the next few days. Nancy pledged Code Pink support for efforts to
coordinate an action.
2008 Peace Fair--Tom
suggested Koreshan as a possible site
for the next Peace Fair as being possibly more cost effective. Members
discussed other possible sites including FGCU, Edison College, and the Calusa Nature
Center. Frank proposed Denis Halliday as a speaker. Jean suggested we contact
"Peace Jam" out of Colorado for a Nobel Laureate speaker. Nancy
lobbied for a date to accommodate music performers, Emma's
Revolution. Jean made
a motion to form a Peace Fair committee
to invite 2007 group participants to send representatives as part of this
committee. Motion seconded by
Cindy Highsmith and members agreed. Tom will contact the groups and chair a
preliminary meeting in late January.
FGCU Monthly Potlucks--Angela
Cisneros, chair of Progressive
Alliance may organize monthly potlucks for community groups. We could show
Kilowatt Hours at one of these potlucks.
Anti-Nuclear Weapons/Energy
Benefit Concert--Rhonda Roff from
SING and Oannes Pritzker may be organizing this.
Meeting adjourned.
EPEC Minutes, Nov 12, 2007
v Present:
Tom Guelcher, Nancy Hendrix,
Phyllis Stanley, Nancy Howell, Holley Rauen, Cindy Highsmith, Archie and Arlyne
Goodwin, Willie Filkowski, Lynn Morrell and Kitty Shinn. Our Secretary, Nancy Feraldi
was not
present so Holley Rauen took minutes.
v Minutes Approval: October minutes were posted on the website three weeks
ago. No corrections or changes
reported. Some did not access the
minutes when sent out, so Holley requested that any changes be sent to her.
v Treasurers
Report given by president Tom G with the
Treasurer, Nancy Howells approval.
Tom gave accounting of the incoming donations and the expenses of the
Peace Fair. (Tom could you please
submit these numbers again?)
Phyllis reminded the group that a tax exemption is available to us on
sales tax from purchase of large items.
IE The four pop-up tents we purchased for the Peace Fair.
v Conflict
Resolution Task Force has been meeting regularly and will make
its first presentation at 6:30 Pm on Nov 14th. The pilot presentation
is for the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI) staff at the downtown
public library. A series of
workshops for NAMI will most likely follow. The intention of the task force is to tailor workshops to
the needs of individual groups.
v Community
Garden Projects:
Holley reported that gardening has begun a little at three different
sites:
The First
Church of Lehigh has given the go-ahead to begin planting herbs and some
veggies. Two rain barrels were
donated and Holley and Liz installed them and donated the patio stones and
cinderblocks. They are
successfully collecting rainwater.
Some weeding of the existing beds was done and herbs planted. Glenna, the pastor
has a plan for an
additional bed at the side of the congregation hall.
The
Butterfly garden Project at Page Park has also begun to be planted with 200.00
worth of butterfly native plants donated by All Native Nurseries. The extension Service
delivered a
truckload of mulch and Holley and another volunteer mulched the new plants. More are
being donated by the Master
Gardeners of Lee County and will be planted this weekend. Holley has been working
in this garden
once a week and will participate in a workday this weekend with Bishop Verot
High School Students.
The UU
Church has requested volunteers to help with Holton Preserve. There is a site for
a vegetable garden
there. Holley has been doing some
volunteer work in the CUUPS Herb Garden there. The CUUPS Group will have a workday over the next two
Sundays. Tom and Cindy asked that
when workdays were being scheduled that we all are informed, in case anyone can
help.
v ECHO
Center: Holley made a motion that EPEC Members
as a group take the tour at ECHO in North Fort Myers. The motion was seconded by Phyllis Stanley and voted on.
Holley will try to find a date we can all go. It may not be till after the holidays.
v Rain
Barrels: Kitty offered to donate four rain barrels to EPEC for their
garden projects. She would like a
receipt for a tax write off for her donation. Phyllis suggested that News Press might be interested
in our future garden projects.
v Calusa
Chapter Sierra Club Picnic is this Saturday at Koreshin. Tom encouraged all EPEC members to
attend. Pot Luck starts at 11:00
AM and Sierra Club discussion of sustainability at 1:00 PM Request to RSVP to
Bobbie Lee at the Calusa Group
v Florida
PEACE FAIR was a resounding success.
A lively discussion of all we learned at the Peace Fair was
held. Overall all agreed it was a
success. Tom read feed back from
Nancy Feraldi about some things she thought we could learn from. We all agreed
that we needed more time, coordination and delegation of roles next time. Archie stated
that he felt that it was
not appropriate to have the Arlington South display there. All agreed that wished
there were more
attendees of color/culture. The
lineup of speakers however was an excellent representation of many cultures.
All agreed “Pond Water Experiment” did a great job as our main music/entertainment. Holley commented that another peace
music band “Emma’s Revolution” was interested in playing next year. Others
who know their music agreed. All
agreed that it could have been less spread out geographically and that if in
the future we do it again we create more of a feeling of a Global Village. All
agreed that the EPEC Booth did not get placed in the best position as the
entrance was cluttered and not everyone stopped to see who EPEC is. The Emcee, Glenna
was wonderful and we
agreed to send her (and the other speakers) Thank You notes. Phyllis suggested
that we send a feedback form to all participants along with thank you notes.
v Peace
Fair Next Year:
Many had enthusiasm for having a Peace Fair again next year. Nancy Howell
made a motion that
we hold another Peace Fair next year after the National Elections. Nancy Hendrix seconded
the motion and
after a long discussion of a theme, location, pros and cons we voted to have a
Peace Fair at Koreshin next Fall.
v Peace
Pole project.
Holley reported about the Peace Pole Ceremony she helped organize in
California. She explained the
Peace Pole Project which began in 1955 has spread to include almost 200,000
Peace Poles abound the world all with the Prayer “May Peace Prevail on earth”
in many languages. We discussed
possible locations to erect
one, including Rutenberg park, (where John Kiseda requested we partner with the
Parks to erect one) The UU Church and Centennial Park. Arlene expressed
objection to taking on such a project because Peace Poles she had helped erect
in Broward County had been stolen.
It was explained that they could be deeply planted in Cement and would
be difficulty to steal. Rick
Gutierrez approached Holley about erecting a Peace Pole in Ft Myers as a part
of promotion of the Department of Peace.
Holley made a motion that EPEC erect a Peace Pole at the best location
we can find in Lee County and Cindy Highsmith Seconded the motion. Members all voted
to do this
project. A committee will be
formed in the future.
v A
Memorial Service for Bobbie Heinrich
will be held on December
8, 2007 at the UUCFM. Her family has asked
that in lieu of
flowers donations be made to EPEC in her name.
v Get
Well cards will be sent
to our friends Ellen Peterson and Oaness
Pritzker who both are ill and in the hospital. Nancy Hendrix will send them.
v FGCU
Potlucks were discussed as a future project, but
no motion was made to do anything at this point.
v Presidential
Candidates Forum was suggested by Tom as a project but
there was little support at the time to do this.
v Kilowatt
Ours Film to be shown in Cape Coral.
This was tabled for discussion at the
next meeting.
EPEC Monthly Meetings are open to the public. Your participation is welcome and appreciated.
EPEC Minutes, October 8, 2007
¨ Present:
Tom Guelcher, Nancy Hendrix, Phyllis Stanley, Nancy Howell, Jessica Mendes, Holley Rauen, Martha Avila, Cindy Highsmith, Nancy
Feraldi
¨ Minutes:
September minutes not available, but will be posted on the website this week.
¨ Alaska Call for Peace Phone Marathon
to End the War: Tom Guelcher received phone call from Alaska asking us to put pressure on congressmen
(again), supporting efforts of Florida for Peace, Move-On, and FCNL.
¨ Appalachia
Mountaintop Mining Program: Holley Rauen will call Rhonda of Save It Now Glades. Members agreed EPEC should cosponsor presentation
with FGCU and show Kilowatt Ours in early 2008.
¨ Nancy
Hendrix announced Kilowatt Ours showing at Lehigh First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Sunday evening, October 21.
¨ Members
discussed showing film at Cape Coral Public Library in early 2008.
¨ October
27 Orlando UFPJ No War/No Warming Rally: Date coincides with Fort Myers Jazz on
the Green. Nancy Howell agreed to help with 11 am setup. Cindy Highsmith and Jessica Mendes volunteered.
¨ Community
Garden Project: Holley Rauen reported EPEC and Lehigh church members attended Lee
Co. Rain Barrel class. Nancy Hendrix and Holley Rauen will set up two rain barrels at Lehigh church. Holley, Nancy F. and
Nancy H. met with Lehigh garden committee to help compose a mission statement and garden plan.
¨ Holley
Rauen met with other community garden coordinators in Fort Myers. She suggests
we research empty lots and meet with the Quality Life
Center.
¨ Conflict
Resolution: Phyllis Stanley reported 6 people came to Conflict Resolution meeting. Cynthia Highsmith agreed to research mental
health clients through NAMI. Core group will meet again in the Edwards Building,
October 17 at 5:40 pm after the 4:30 peace demonstration.
¨ PEACE
FAIR: (Date coincides with Sierra Club Annual Picnic.)
¨ Special
Events Permit: County permit is $75.00 and involves several departments including police, fire, and parks. They may or may
not have individual fees. Tom Guelcher will coordinate permit process and call on volunteers to help get required individual
signatures. Tom is researching required liability insurance.
¨ Volunteer
Coordinator: We need to recruit EPEC member and other volunteers to help prepare and set-up. Tom agreed to ask Mary Ellen
or someone else to coordinate volunteers for Peace Fair day to help with setup, 8-10 am and take-down, 4-6 pm, on-site parking
and Cypress Lake Middle School,
Arlington South, and the Peace Ribbons.
¨ Signs:
We need help making posters, signs and banners. Tom suggested wonderful peacemaker quotes for entrance, exit and other strategic
locations. We can gather to do this closer to November 10.
¨ Organizations: Tom announced he has commitments from approximately 30 organizations. He will type
a list to send around and post on EPEC website.
¨ Emcee:
Members suggested Willie, John Riccio, and Guy James. Tom agreed to contact Guy James. Cindy Highsmith and Nancy Feraldi agreed
to serve as backup.
¨ Speakers:
Faith Fippinger, early 2003 Human Shield in Iraq and SOA activist
who was imprisoned for her actions has agreed to come. Members suggested new FGCU president, environmental activist Cindy Baer and Quality Life Center Leader Abdul Mohammad. Tom
invited Dennis and/or Elizabeth Kucinich.
¨ Music:
Local band, Pond Water Experiment, agreed to play.
¨ Invited
Guest, Martha Avila, Sustainability Specialist, Lee County
Extension Service: Martha and members discussed extension service activities, including native plant garden tour and class
information. Martha suggested some kind of big blue balls that her artist friend could draw country outlines on for kids to
paint. Nancy F. and Nancy H. agreed to research balloons, etc.
¨ Venders:
Tom is inviting vendors. Members suggested different artists and crafts persons, massage therapists, solar companies, B&B
fertilizers (worm castings), Mother Earth, and others.
¨ Water
sales: Nancy Feraldi suggested we invite water companies to promote water delivery services, assuming they will provide free
cups of water, a better environmental statement than selling bottled water.
¨ Grand
Opening/Dedication: Tom is suggested each organization commit to 20 people each for noon Mattie Stepanek dedication. Others
suggested a booth dedicated to him with his books, etc.
¨ Food:
Park concession will open and provide vegetarian alternatives. Members discussed other options.
¨ Peace
Fair Publicity: New FGCU intern/volunteer, Jessica Mendes agreed to coordinate peace fair publicity efforts. Tom suggested
meeting some of the media with visuals of the peace ribbons.
¨ Fundraiser/Outreach:
Members stayed after meeting to assemble fundraiser mailing to 250- member list.
To return to the EPEC main site Click here.
Minutes of the
EPEC Board, September 10, 2007
Taken by Nancy
Howell in the absence of the secretary.
Present:
Tom Guelcher, Holly Rauen, Phyllis Stanley, Nancy Howell and Jean Seldon.
Minutes of the meeting in August were approved as presented (available on the website) (Phyllis Stanley moved; H. Rauen seconded).
The Treasurer’s report was made by Nancy
Howell, who tells us that we spent $139.98 in the last month to pay for the expenses of Kilowatt Ours, and a printer cartridge. We have $1,120 in our checking account, and that there are no financial problems at
the present time. The report was accepted as read.
The Peace March on September 15th
was discussed. There will be a group of drummers there at Colonial and 41. If it rains, the group will meet at the Manna
Reading Center instead of on the street. Some participants may want to walk from Colonial to Collier Avenue,
along 41, while others take their cars.
The film Kilowatt Ours will be shown on Wednesday, Septembere 19, at 7 pm
at the Fort Myers (downtown) library. A
program of advertising and calendar notices is under way to publicize this interesting film.
The film goes for one hour and there will be time for questions and answers afterward.
President T. Guelcher expressed a concern that
the expenses of the Peace Fair will be exhausting our resources, and that we will have to send out a fund-raising letter soon. Nancy Howell suggested that we might want to make this a pre-Christmas mailing and
offered to organize something to be considered later.
At the Peace Fair, Tom Guelcher reported that
no outside speakers have been lined up yet. Oannes
will speak at some point, and invitations to many others are going out. Tom suggested
that the “peace flags” that EPEC has had for some time might be used at the Peace Fair. Nancy Howell has been storing them and will be glad to get them into circulation.
The Community Gardens project is moving ahead,
and there have been several meetings with community groups about their gardens. The
expenses to date have been about $100 or so, and the bills will be submitted when they are paid.
The EPEC email addresses have been arranged. The official site for EPEC business is e-pec@comcast.net and Tom’s account is epectom@comcast.net.
Our new EPEC brochure has been designed and looks
good. Tom Guelcher will have a supply of them printed up to be available at the
Peace Fair.
Our web site is continuing under the editorship
of Holly Rauen. There have been many new hits on it, and Holly is keeping track
of the sources of these hits to know who is interested in our work.
Holly Rauen reported that ‘Florida for
Peace’ is a coalition related to Code Pink, and it involves Veterans for Peace among other groups. Currently they are focused upon influencing Senator Nelson. It
was moved by Nancy Howell and seconded by Phyllis Stanley that EPEC should be officially affiliated with Florida for Peace,
and the motion was passed.
Upcoming events were discussed:
Sept. 27, 2007 – Phyllis Stanley is having
a meeting of the Conflict Resolution Steering Committee at 7 pm at Edward Building.
October 27th, 4-11 pm and October
28th, 12-4 pm, the Jazz on the Green event will be held, at the Estero Community Park. EPEC will have a booth there to distribute literature on environmental protection, and will use it to publicize
the Peace Fair.
Environmental and Peace Education Center Meeting Minutes August 13,
2007
Attending:
Tom Guelcher, president;
Nancy Hendrix, vice president; Nancy Howell, treasurer; Laurel Moran, secretary; board member Holley Rauen; also attending
were Cindy Highsmith, Willie Filkowski, Fouad Jaber
(Regrets: Robert Bennett, Ann Marina, Jean Selden, Phyllis
Stanley, Archie Goodwin, Arlyne Goodwin)
Meeting called to order at 7:36pm
Holley Rauen motioned minutes be
approved. Fouad Jaber seconded.
Approved.
Treasurer's Report:
We currently have $1082.20 in our checking account.
The Fort Myers UU
Church donated $67.50 from their Community Sharing Sunday to thank EPEC
for their work over the years.
Money spent this month payed for print
cartridges, a license to show Kilowatt Ours in public, and renewal of
our
website domain.
1.) Hiroshima-Nagasaki Remembrance
The August 6th Hiroshima-Nagasaki Remembrance in
Centennial Park was
noted to be a success, with 30 in attendance, including some unfamiliar
faces.
2.)
Iraq Names Project Southeast
Since the last EPEC meeting, the Iraq Names Project Southeast became the
focus of local
and some national media attention. Fort Myers police and
city council warned Willie Filkowski, Nancy Hendrix, and another
friend
that Willie could be charged with defacing public or private property by
chalking area sidewalks with the names
of coalition forces members
killed in Iraq. The ACLU was quoted in the media as saying the city was
treading on shaky
ground.
As a result of this attention and the support of some city council
members, Willie was given an official
letter stating he is allowed to
continue his project as well as a map that delineated privately owned
sidewalks where
his free speech rights are not guaranteed.
There was some discussion of EPEC endorsing the Iraq Names Project
Southeast,
but this will be considered at a later date.
3.) Communications:
Bruce Gagnon of the Global Network Against
Weapons and Nuclear Power in
Space sent EPEC a request that they organize an event for October's
"Keep Space for Peace"
Week.
Florida Alliance for a Clean Environment requested that EPEC members and
others sign their petition for
a sound energy policy. (Meeting
participants signed it.)
Oannes Pritzker contacted Tom to inform him that the
Coalition for
Immokalee Workers was having its annual Encuentro (meeting for
Student/Farmworker Alliance activists from
around the country). An ad in
the event booklet cost $50. All meeting members agreed that the ad was a
good idea.
4.) EPEC Email Address
Most members at the meeting agreed EPEC's email address should not be at
the domain webtv.net
(current address e-pec@webtv.net). After discussing
various options, it was agreed that Tom would seek internet access
via
dialup or high speed cable modem, and EPEC would pay for this access.
The possibility of using epec.org as an email
domain name was also
considered. Holley Rauen offered to be in charge of looking into this.
5.) EPEC Brochure
Revision
New rough drafts of the EPEC brochure were passed around. Meeting
attendees are to review them and to email
one another on suggested
changes.
6.) EPEC Website Revision
In past meetings and emails, EPEC members have
suggested some changes to
the website. Holley Rauen has expressed willingness and interest in
working with Dan Stanley
to enact these changes.
7.) EPEC Banner
EPEC is badly in need of a new, durable banner for general use. Another
banner
is needed to help advertise the upcoming Peace Fair. Willie
Filkowski will look into working with a printing company supplier
with
which he has personal contact.
8.) Kilowatt Ours
EPEC has purchased a license to show Kilowatt Ours officially
and
publicly. Holley has arranged to show the film in the Fort Myers
downtown public library. The date will likely be
September 17th, at
7:00pm. [Note: due to library scheduling conflicts, the date was changed
to September 19th, at 7:00pm.]
The
FGCU showing of Kilowatt Ours has been cancelled or put off for now.
New FGCU contacts are needed for this event to move
forward.
9.) Wage Peace Project
Since the last EPEC meeting, the Lee County School Board initiated a
change
in policy towards military recruiters. Instead of each school
having its own policy, a new, blanket policy will require
that students
interested in speaking with military recruiters make an appointment to
see the recruiters in the career
counseling office. Prior to this
change, some schools allowed recruiters to set up tables in lunch halls
and school
courtyards to attract recruits. Overall, this change is a
major victory for Wage Peace, and those at the meeting congratulated
and
thanked Nancy Howell for her work.
Wage Peace still plans to continue its Opt-Out campaign, which informs
parents
that they can "Opt-Out" of having their children contacted by
recruiters. Additionally, Nancy Howell will have guest editorials
on
this subject in the News-Press, the Cape Coral Breeze, and the Lehigh
Citizen.
10.) Community Gardens
Committee
The First Christian Church in Lehigh Acres enthusiastically approved an
EPEC-affiliated community garden.
Their theme for the garden is "Feed
the Poor." Church members have already begun donating garden equipment
for the project.
There is the possibility that the county will donate
water for the garden.
Holley Rauen and Nancy Hendrix met
with Roy Beckford of the IFAS
Extension Service to look at established community gardens. The
Montessori Middle School
has a garden site ready for school-based and
other volunteers to start weeding and planting. There was no time to
survey
other gardens at the meeting, though others do exist. The City of
Fort Myers donated water for the project. Beckford is
willing to meet
with EPEC to teach them more about gardening. He also recommended that
EPEC get in touch with John Kiseda,
another extension agent who
specializes in growing food.
EPEC volunteers are needed for both projects.
11.) Peace Fair
The site for the Peace Fair will be Rutenberg park. A refreshment stand
is available there, as well
as plenty of space. The cost for the space
will be $400 plus liability insurance.
Seven organizations have expressed
an interest in participating thus
far.
Tom Guelcher proposed that, in order to encourage networking as well
as
to raise money, EPEC should hold a fundraising supper. Peace Fair
participating organizations would be invited to
attend the fundraiser.
Cindy Highsmith offered to look into having Ada's cater the fundraiser,
and to participate in
the Peace Fair as a food vendor.
Tom Guelcher proposed that the Fair be held in honor of Mattie Stepanek,
a
young peace-oriented author and prodigy who gained national reknown
for his message of peace before he died of Dysautonomic
Mitochondrial
Myopathy at age 14.
There was also discussion of whether or not to give those who attend the
fair
free bags in which to put pamphlets and literature and/or seed
packets, and if so, where to obtain these items.
12.) Florida for Peace
Peace activists from around Florida, including Holley Rauen and Tom
Guelcher, met with Senator
Nelson during the past month to express their
concerns about his positions on the Iraq war, torture, and civil
liberties.
Currently,
Nelson supports keeping troops in Iraq on US bases. Now, CODE
PINK and Florida for Peace are asking that Nelson hold local
town hall
meetings on the issue of Iraq.
13.) September Anti-War Actions
A national week of protest against
the Iraq war will take place
mid-September. Locally, the Manna Reading Center is holding a Peace
Rally (an indoor event)
September 15.
Because most EPEC activists are busy on their respective projects, one
possibility is for us to
support other people's local events. Another
possibility is for us to hold a small curbside demonstration. To be
decided
via email discussion.
14.) Jena 6
The Louisiana Jena 6 case was mentioned, but no plans were made for EPEC
to
organize around this issue right now.
15.) Jazz on the Green
Currently, it is not clear whether or not the
Jazz on the Green will
still feature local environmental groups. Tom Guelcher will contact the
main organizer to inquire
about this.
--Minutes submitted by Laurel Moran, secretary.
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