As you know, our branch is concerned about health care costs, quality, and accessibility. We've planned a public forum on healthcare for October 4th. So I was delighted to read about Jane Chen in the AAUW Dialog Friday series on AAUW fellows. (Picture credit: EmbraceGlobal.org)
....Her multidisciplinary team of public policy, business, and engineering students was charged with creating an incubator that would cost less than 1 percent of what incubators currently cost—as much as $20,000 in the United States. Jane and her team were able to do better than that. They created an incubator for $25.
Embrace, the company created to distribute the incubators, became incorporated this spring and began planning its product launch in India. The AAUW fellowship allowed Jane to focus on the project and take on a new role: Embrace CEO.
Branch Meetings - 7 pm, the 4th Tuesday of the month, September - June, note exceptions on the calendar. Board of Directors Meetings - 2nd Tuesday, Noon lunch, location varies Literary Group - 3rd Tuesday at 1:00, Kingston Library Film and Potluck Supper - 2nd Sunday, 5 pm
Patrice Courtney Strong will bring her expertise on energy savings -- free energy audits, opportunities for those of us on low and fixed income,Low Carbon Diet groups based on the book by David Gershon, and much more.
Many of us know Pat from her work with NYSERDA and the Kingston Mid Town Business Association.
Details: September 23, Tuesday, 7 p.m. Kingston Area Library
Other 'green' opportunities offered this fall:
Heating Season Summit at the Mall co-sponsored by the Council of Churches and Central Hudson, Cornell Cooperative Extension
Cool Communities / Living Economies: Ten Years to a Green Economy, September 19 – 20, 2008, at the Seven21 Media Center, 721 Broadway, Kingston, NY . Please let AAUW know if you are going to attend our branch meeting as the speaker will be bringing materials and would like to know how much to bring.
We're launching a new tradition -- an every member potluck picnic to kick off the fall programming.
Given the current escalation in prices and the fact that we are all tightening our belts, we thought we'd share family stories about the depression. Vice President for Program Bette Nitzke will be moderator of "Coping With the Great Depression" -- how our enterprising elders survived and thrived in that period from the 1929 crash to WWII.
Details: September 14th, 1 pm, Vivi Hlavsa's home - bring a dish to share. Stay for the monthly film discussion at 5pm. Directions
Chinatown, the Chinatown Museum, and the Pearl River Mart
Leaving at 9:00 AM and returning around 5:30 PM Cost (for bus and driver tip) $40
********
All trips leave from the rear of the former Ames in the Kingston Plaza
For reservations, call Pat Whelan between noon and 9 PM at 845-657-6807
or write PWHL8@aol.com then send your check, made out to AAUW–Kingston Branch,
to Pat Whelan, 1321 County Rt. 2, Olivebridge NY 12461.
(Ask about our member discounts and cancellation policies.)
Open to all, AAUW trips are part of our mission to offer community enrichment and to raise funds for scholarships and grants to local, national and international programs, especially in support of women.
Membership in Kingston Branch of American Association of University Women is open to all people.
All trips leave from the rear of the former Ames in the Kingston Plaza
For reservations, call Pat Whelan between noon and 9 PM at 845-657-6807
or write PWHL8@aol.com then send your check, made out to AAUW–Kingston Branch,
to Pat Whelan, 1321 County Rt. 2, Olivebridge NY 12461.
(Ask about our member discounts and cancellation policies.)
Open to all, AAUW trips are part of our mission to offer community enrichment and to raise funds for scholarships and grants to local, national and international programs, especially in support of women. Membership in Kingston Branch of American Association of University Women is open to all people.
The Montebello Years: Three Decades of Acquisitions
New York, N. Why?: Photographs by Rudy Burckhardt
Art and Love in Renaissance Italy
Calder Jewelry
Christmas Tree and Neapolitan Baroque Crèche
Leaving at 8 AM and returning around 6 PM Cost (includes bus, driver tip and museum) Seniors $55; Adults $59 (Add $4 to reserve an audio guide). NYC alone $40
All trips leave from the rear of the former Ames in the Kingston Plaza
For reservations, call Pat Whelan between noon and 9 PM at 845-657-6807
or write PWHL8@aol.com then send your check, made out to AAUW–Kingston Branch,
to Pat Whelan, 1321 County Rt. 2, Olivebridge NY 12461.
(Ask about our member discounts and cancellation policies.)
Open to all, AAUW trips are part of our mission to offer community enrichment and to raise funds for scholarships and grants to local, national and international programs, especially in support of women.
Membership in Kingston Branch of American Association of University Women is open to all people.
Hudson, NY for the Metropolitan Opera on the Big Screen Puccini’s “La Rondine”
Leaving at 9:30 AM and returning around 5 PM Cost (includes bus, driver tip and show) $58
********
All trips leave from the rear of the former Ames in the Kingston Plaza
For reservations, call Pat Whelan between noon and 9 PM at 845-657-6807
or write PWHL8@aol.com then send your check, made out to AAUW–Kingston Branch,
to Pat Whelan, 1321 County Rt. 2, Olivebridge NY 12461.
(Ask about our member discounts and cancellation policies.)
Open to all, AAUW trips are part of our mission to offer community enrichment and to raise funds for scholarships and grants to local, national and international programs, especially in support of women.
Membership in Kingston Branch of American Association of University Women is open to all people.
Section 1. Purpose. The purpose of AAUW is to advance equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy, and research....
Are you one of those people who likes by-laws? Or, finds the patience to read through them, even when you'd rather be gardening? Well, National has promulgated new by-laws and wants feedback.
You have to use your member number to sign in, but you can access the number through a link on the log-in page. The by-laws pdf has notes embedded that explain the changes. Here's the link to get started.
We know Arlene Bruck as our capable Diversity chairperson. However, Arlene’s first contact with AAUW was in 1963 when she received an AAUW scholarship upon graduation from KingstonHigh School. After college, she joined the Kingston branch.
She has contributed time, talent, and expertise over the years since.
She coordinated fundraisers for the Educational Foundation by organizing puppet shows, an evening at the Nutcracker Ballet, cocktail parties, a Renaissance Fair and international programs. Arlene chaired a committee that wrote and produced More Than Books, a film widely shown in the community advocating for the Library.
In the 70’s, AAUW recognized a lack of reporting on child abuse in local hospitals and schools. Arlene chaired a project that increased awareness and led improved reporting.
As president, 1995-96, Arlene promoted the AAUW Women In Math And Science Study through a Saturday conference and the branch held a well attended public panel on the ERA amendment.
Arlene was behind many of the recognition awards the branch received at the AAUW State Conventions -- raising child abuse awareness, the film, More than Book, the 1991 high school course Arlene and Mary Leonard wrote covering topics like Gender Equity, Women’s History, and the Holocaust. She receive a grant to study with the NYS Gender Equity Project.
Arlene has seen AAUW change from an organization of “white glove” sophisticates to one more liberal and feminist. Locally, we’ve aged.
Today, under Arlene’s leadership, the Diversity Committee works closely with the KHS Guidance and ESL Departments. Our focus includes:
Making refurbished computers available to needy students
Providing holiday gift certificates to families
Awarding an annual scholarship to a KHS graduate to recognize their work promoting understanding and camaraderie among diverse community groups
Arlene and notes that AAUW’s contributions have contributed to an improvement in both the graduation rate and the number of students going to college.
Does anyone know where there’s a copy of the library film More Than Books?
[We haven't taken a picture of Pat yet.] Pat recently joined AAUW and jumped right into the fray as trip coordinator. She knew our wonderful trips would be a great addition to retirement.
Pat retired this spring from Family of Woodstock. She graduated from the College of New Rochelle and got her Masters from Pace University. Before moving back to the Hudson Valley she worked as as a computer analyst dealing with the Year 2000 changeover.
Pat supports Amnesty International, Family of Woodstock, and the Nature Conservency. She enjoys bridge and attends our book discussion group.
Irene Miller has been fighting the good fight for Clean Money, Clean Elections. She is a founding member of NY Citizens for Clean Elections and on the board of directors of NY Democracy Project, also dedicated to passing Clean Money, Clean Elections.
She gained state-wide AAUW support when she presented a resolution at the 2008 NYS AAUW Convention. The resolution was resoundingly approved. We all recognize that when private interests fund campaigns, women lose.
And now Irene chairs the Kingston AAUW Branch public policy committee.
Irene is a retired medical writer, a graduate of Temple University, and a new student of the piano. She attends piano camp each summer and participates in the Ulster County Music Society.
Ruth helps nonprofits tell their stories -- to funders, clients, donors, and the public. She writes grant applications, web content, and newsletters and often facilitates the strategic planning that lays out the steps an organization will take to accomplish their goals.
So, she spends long hours at the computer. That means she's always looking for the easiest, least expensive, and most fun ways to work on-line. Web 2.0.
She has introduced the branch to blogging, an enewsletter service, meeting wizard, and other new internet applications.
Ruth is passionate about women's issues (-- yes, you can call me a feminist any day!). Equity. Choice. Comparable worth. End abstinence-only funding. Human rights.
Leadership Corps, Grass Roots Liaison, 2009-11
Newletter Editor and Communications Co-Chair, 2007-2011
ViVi believes that you should make things happen. And she does. She is a past president of the branch, but that's just the tip of the iceberg!
She organizes the trips, One Book, One Community, hosts the picnics, plans and runs Potluck and a Film, and participates in many of the committees. And that's just AAUW. You can find her at many other events and organizations, as well.
Between meetings, she travels. Most recently to Australia and New Zealand where she met this snake.
It takes a lot of people, in addition to our officers, to make this branch hum. Here are some of those people and what they do (2008-09). Our Officers and their pictures can be found on their own page.
Image via WikipediaFrom Mildred DeWitt, AAUW NYS LAF VP
AAUW Legal Advocacy Fund Plaintiff Settles Suit with Columbia
In Chichilnisky v. Columbia University, Graciela Chichilnisky, one of Columbia’s most distinguished international economists and mathematicians, sued the university for pay discrimination under the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Columbia did not admit to any wrongdoing.
“I was awarded a substantive monetary settlement,” Chichilnisky said. “I am pleased and ready to move forward.”
Chichilnisky has been a tenured, full professor at Columbia since 1979. She studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and at the University of California, Berkeley and has two doctoral degrees, one in mathematics and one in economics. “Despite being internationally recognized for her research and publications, Professor Chichilnisky was still confronted by pay discrimination,” said AAUW Executive Director Linda D. Hallman, CAE.
AAUW contributed significant funds to offset Chichilnisky’s latest round of legal expenses. Members of New York City area AAUW branches attended her recent trial to show their support.
The case is Chichilnisky’s second suit against the university for pay discrimination. In 1991, she alleged that the university had violated the Equal Pay Act and Title VII, after she found out that her salary was roughly 30 percent lower than the median salary of her male colleagues in her department. She won a $500,000 settlement in 1995.
In 2000, Chichilnisky went back to court, contending that the university retaliated against her and reneged on the settlement terms. She also claimed that her pay once again lagged dramatically behind that of her male counterparts. Columbia later filed counterclaims against Chichilnisky, charging that she had violated the university’s rules by not reporting that she had a second job and that she had breached settlement terms.
Mark Morano , Civil Engineer with the New York State Department of Transportation has reported that a traffic signal study was completed in July of the intersection of Route 28 and Hurley Mountain Road.
Both the history of accidents and the volume of traffic at this site caused the State to conclude that the placement of a traffic signal is not currently warranted. While this is not what we were hoping for, wecan feel some satisfaction that our petitions caused New York State to take a look at the situation in a timely manner.
One of our members, Louise Flood, has a historic home on Route 28, not far from the intersection in question. The safety of her turning into her driveway when she is in the westbound lane of Route 28, having to cross the eastbound lane to get to her driveway is a continuing cause of concern and anxiety. As traffic increases, the problems of safety on Route 28 will continue to need our attention.
Did you read about this research. Girls now equal the performance of boys on standard math assessments.
07.24.2008 - Girls' and boys' math performance now equal: "Funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation, the researchers reached their conclusions after sifting through mountains of data, including math scores from 7 million students who were tested in accordance with the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The team compared not only the average performance of all students on these tests, but also the scores of just the most gifted children, as well as the ability of children to solve complex math problems. In all cases, girls measured up to boys."
Now, we need to deal with the stereotype.
Study leader Janet Hyde, a psychology professor at UW-Madison, noted that, despite the fact that girls now take just as many advanced high school math courses as boys, and women earn 48 percent of all mathematics bachelor's degrees, the stereotype persists that girls struggle with math. Not only do many parents and teachers believe this, but scholars also use it to explain the dearth of female mathematicians, engineers and physicists at the highest levels, Hyde said.
Let's spread the word, folks. The research is in. When it comes to math, girls measure up to boys.
Image via WikipediaThere's a lot of talk around the blogosphere about the new report issued by the Joint Economic Committee of Congress. The report argues that the poor economy affects women and men in the same way: women, like men, are suffering from layoffs, pay cuts, outsourcing, and downturns.
Amanda Petersen, on the AAUW blog, DIALOG, argues that women suffer more in a poor economy. But, columnist Ellen Goodman takes a different view. She celebrates the end of the bogus claim that women "opt out" of the job market to stay home and raise their kids.
The new equality - in unemployment - The Boston Globe: 'If it's true that women don't want to work,' says one economist, 'think of all the problems that disappear overnight. We don't have to think about family leave or after-school or the day-to-day grind or the tough challenges of work and family.'
Now along comes the congressional report on the equality we didn't want. 'When we saw women starting to drop out in the early part of this decade, we thought it was the motherhood movement, women staying home to raise their kids,' said congressional economist Heather Boushey. 'We did not think it was the economy, but when we looked into it, we realized that it was.' "
These are two interesting views of the same report. What's your opinion?
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