Originally Posted by DynamicDidactic

I too am not a member of APA and I also think that fund raising would be a good idea. Imagine if each person who signed the petition donated 5 bucks, that is a pretty damn good start.

However, if one were to do this I would like to see an open and organized group of people. For example, I feel that one person has been the engine with this petition. I have even seen it mentioned in a listserv that people are not sure who started this petition but they like it. If you want real change you need to get organized.

Get a website, make a committee, put your names on there so everyone knows who we are dealing with it. I bet some big names will join your association. Have meetings and agendas (even online). If that were to happen I think you would get the backing of a lot of other associations. Then start fund raising (http://www.kickstarter.com/).

Once you have the manpower and some capital start a campaign. For example, have members forgo paying their dues to the APA for a year (hit them where it hurts). Or organize a large protest outside the convention where you have the cash to pay for the permits, shirts, and other incidentals.

The APA does not want to reduce the amount of students attempting to be clinical psychologists. They want as many people in their guild as possible, even if they are unemployed or underemployed. If you want to change them you are going to have to do more than have a petition online.

Originally Posted by psychgeek

Also, I am not a member of APA, and I refuse to join because of ethical problems I have with the organization, but I will help in any other way I can. If you want to start fundraising for a war chest, I'll kick in the first $50.

Originally Posted by psychgeek

This is getting exciting. I am reminded of my black bandanna wearing misspent youth.

Running for office is a great idea, but don't lose the advantage of diversity of tactics by concentrating too much on working within the system to promote change. Students have asked nicely for the APA to serve their interests for too long. Asking nicely once more is not going to have an effect unless it is paired with the threat of disrupting the organization as a whole.

Although the facts are not completely analogous, I am reminded of an article I read about the NY rent strikes of 1963-64 written by Piven and Cloward (it is published in the New Republic in 1967 if you are interested in reading it yourself). They analyze why the 63 strikes had so little effect while the 1890s strikes were so successful. Their basic (highly over-simplified) conclusion is that the organizers in 63 were too concerned about playing by the rules, and an antisystemic movement must threaten to break the rules in order to work.

Obviously I am not advocating breaking the ethical rules of the profession or even the rules of the convention itself. When I say "break the rules" I mean that it should be clear that students are no longer willing to respect the norms that have held them powerless within the APA if the APA will not use its power to further the interests of its student members.

In that vein, here are a few other ideas you might consider in addition to the ones already in the works

1) Rent an "Occupy" booth at the APA convention - the cheapest booths are about $1000.00, and they probably will reject your booth anyway as a violation of their content guidelines. This doesn't matter. The $1000 can be used in other ways once the booth is rejected, and the rejection of the booth itself is a concrete example of how the valid concerns of intern applicants are secondary to APA's mission to protect the interests of other stakeholders. If it is rejected, there will be a glaring contrast between this censorship and Argosy's sponsorship of the last convention.
2) Organize a picket line outside of the APA convention site - The Hilton Orlando Hotel is located off of a public street. Thus, your right to protest on the sidewalk in front of it is constitutionally protected. Orlando theoretically requires a permit, insurance, and a fee for a protest, but this requirement has been held unconstitutional twice before by controlling authorities in the jurisdiction. See Central Florida Nuclear Freeze Campaign v. Walsh; also see Forsyth Co. v. Nationalist Movement. The ACLU of Florida should be able to help you out if you have any difficulties. That said, you need to at least submit the permit. Here is where it can be found. http://www.cityoforlando.net/police/...c_assembly.htm
3) Make plans to circulate a petition to sever APAGS from the APA. I think there is an argument that this should happen regardless of the APA's response to the internship crisis. The APA voting members are practicing psychologists and psych grad schools. Thus, their interests may not align with those of students.
4) Find out which states' licensing acts are coming up for renewal, and contact legislators in those states to express your concerns about the internship imbalance. At the very least, I think it would make sense to change the statutory language from one that recognizes only APA accreditation as prima facie proof of the adequacy of an internship to language that recognizes "APA accreditation or accreditation by a similar professional organization." This opens up the door to competition from organizations like APS. If APA won't fix the problem, maybe someone else will.

5) Make shirts, wear them, and sit together during the keynote speech. Numbers alone can be threatening if they are large enough.