10/29/11: Ulster County Candidate Forum

Saturday, October 29

10 AM - 11:15 AM

Mayor

Kingston

11:30 AM - 12:30 PM

District Attorney

Ulster County

City Hall

420 Broadway

Kingston

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sponsored by

The League of Women Voters of the Mid-Hudson Region

co-sponsored by AAUW Kingston

RSVP on Facebook

10/18/11: Two films tonight on Women & War

1. 7:15 PM, Service: When Women Come Marching Home, Rosendale Theater, 408 Main Street, Rosendale, $6 (more info below).

2. 10 PM, Pray the Devil Back to Hell, Episode 2 of 5 of the Women, War, and Peace series on PBS, featuring Nobel Peace laureate Leymah Gbowee. Plans are afoot to watch this series together on DVD, on some evenings in the near future - watch this space.
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More on Service:

Please join us tonight at 7:15 in honoring our women veterans when the Rosendale Theatre premieres the powerful documentary Service: When Women Come Marching Home by filmmakers Marcia Rock and Patricia Lee Stotter. There will be a Q&A with the filmmakers and women veterans after the film.

Service portrays the courage of the women in service and after leaving the military. The film shows the traumas they face and the inadequate care they often receive on return. Women compose 14% of today's military forces. That number is expected to double in the next 10 years. [ed. Let's reverse this trend!] This important film poignantly portrays the first wave of mothers, daughters and sisters returning home.

These women wrestle with prosthetics, homelessness, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and what is termed military sexual trauma. The documentary establishes intimacy with the veterans by speaking with them in their kitchens and bathrooms, back yards, classrooms, therapy sessions and supermarkets.

Some of the women portrayed include:

Sue Downes enlisted in the army as an MP. In 2005, her humvee hit 3 landmines. She was the only one of three soldiers to survive, but barely. She is the first female double amputee from Afghanistan. It took her two years to learn how to walk with prostheses and has taken much longer to manage the psychological problems incurred by the loss of two fellow soldiers. When she received her service dog Lyla, her life changed. She regained her independence. The dog provides not only help with her physical disability but provides emotional calm for her PTSD.

Lashonna Perry, a vet who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Lashonna expected a warm welcome from her family, but found a family unable to deal with her erratic behavior and she ended up homeless. It was only when she went to the VA because of a panic attack, that she learned she had PTSD. They also gave her a referral to a non-profit, The Jericho Project, that finds housing for homeless women veterans. The film follows Lashonna as she moves into her new apartment.

Mariette Kalinowski was a marine gunner in Iraq. When she returned home she was plagued with symptoms such as hyper-vigilance, fear of crowds, depression and flashbacks. Mariette saw college as a way to transition back to civilian life. She also received counseling through a special program offered by Hunter College in NYC. She is an aspiring writer and the film captures her working on a story about PTSD.

About The Filmmakers

Marcia Rock is an independent filmmaker who has produced many documentaries on women's issues. Rock is director of News and Documentary at the NYU Arthur Carter Journalism Institute and co-author with Marlene Sanders of, Waiting for Prime Time: The Women of Television News.

Patricia Lee Stotter is an Emmy Awarding winning composer and writer for television, film, theater and interactive media. She has worked on everything from Sesame Street to HBO/PBS documentaries, independent features to plays and musicals, Patricia was honored to work with the P.R.O.V.E (Project for Return and Opportunity in Veteran Education) program, CUNY, Hunter Campus. Patricia is a member of The Dramatist's Guild and ASCAP.

Anita Hill 20 Years Later | C-SPAN

Anita Hill testifying 20 years ago - Clarence Thomas Senate hearing 

Anita Hill put her personal and professional life on the line when she testified about Clarence Thomas's sexual harassment. It was a turning point for women. No longer do we consider sexual harassment of anyone business as usual.

This weekend hundreds of people gathered at Hunter College to reflect on what has happened, what we've learned, and the work that remains. The conversation was fast moving and the questions from the audience provoked differences in opinion as well as insight into the intersections of race, gender, power, and politics.

You can watch the video of the panels at Sex, Power and Speaking Truth: Anita Hill 20 Years Later conference here: Anita Hill Speaks 20 Years Later | C-SPAN

Speakers included Anita Hill, people involved in the hearing, like Catharine MacKinnon and Judith Resnik, scholars like Kimberlé Crenshaw, and current day activists like AAUW fellow Ai-Jen Poo, Jamia Wilson, and Emily May from Hollaback to name just a few.  This was a terrific conference, well worth carving out some time to watch.

Some of our members were fortunate to be there. Whether you were there in person, watched the live stream, of watch the video, please add your impressions of the day or thoughts on sexual harassment in the comments.

Hear the Candidates for Kingston Mayor and Ulster Cty DA, 10/29

Kingston City and Ulster County Candidate Forum
Sponsored by the AAUW Kingston Branch and the League of Women Voters
Saturday, October 29

Kingston City Hall
420 Broadway

10 AM    to 11:15 AM    Candidates for mayor of Kingston
11:15 AM to 11:30 AM    Break
11:30 AM to 12:30 PM    Candidates for Ulster County District Attorney

Each candidate is allowed two-minute opening and closing statements.
Index cards will be distributed to the audience to write questions on.
The cards will be collected and read to the candidates by the moderator
for one-minute responses.

Read with the AAUW Kingston Book Club, 2011/12

Kingston AAUW BOOK CLUB: Reading List for Sept 2011 to June 2012

Photo by OxMatheus, CC, some rights reserved

Sept. 20 Homer and Langley by E. L. Doctorow

...a small but sweeping masterpiece about the infamous New York hermits, the Collyer brother’s. Doctorow's achievement is in not undermining the dignity of two brothers who share a lush landscape built on imagination and incapacities.

Oct. 18 Muriel's War: An American Heiress in the Nazi Resistance by Sheila Isenberg

An American heiress turned resistance hero, Muriel Gardiner saved countless Jews and anti-fascists, providing shelter and documents ensuring their escape.

Nov. 15 The Covenant by Naomi Ragen

When Elise and Jon moved into their home in Maaleh Sara, Judea, they didn't realize that they would soon be considered 'illegal occupiers". One day the unthinkable happens: Jon and the couple's young daughter, Ilana, are taken hostage.

Dec. (same day as holiday party) Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson

Simonson tells the tale of Maj. Ernest Pettigrew, an honor-bound Englishman and widower, and the very embodiment of duty and pride. This is a vastly enjoyable traipse through the English countryside and the long-held traditions of the British aristocracy.

Jan. 17 Crossing to Safetv by Wallace Stegner

Two couples meet during the Depression years in Madison, Wis., and become devoted friends despite vast differences in upbringing and social status...Charity is one of the most vivid characters in fiction...arrogant, kindhearted, enthusiastic, stalwart and brave.

Feb.21 Someone Knows My Name by Lawrence Hill

This novel spans the life of Aminata Diallo, born in Bayo, West Africa, in 1745. Kidnapped at the age of 11 by British slavers, Aminata does what she can to free herself and others from slavery, including learning to read and teaching others to.

March 20 The Diaries of Sofia Tolstoy edited by Cathy Porter

Sofia was 19 and innocent when her new husband, Leo Tolstoy, 34, handed her his sexually candid diary. Smart and determined, she took refuge in her own diary, chronicling her daunting life as the wife of the self-absorbed genius.

April 17 When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka

...tells one Japanese American family's story of internment in a Utah enemy alien camp during World War II. This novel is written in deceptively tranquil prose, a distillation of injustice, anger, and poetry.

May 15 Olive Kittredge by Elizabeth Strout

Thirteen li{ked tales present a heart-wrenching, penetrating portrait of ordinary coastal Mainers living lives of quiet grief intermingled with flashes of human connection.

June 19 Shannon by Frank Delaney

Delaney's novel follows an American priest as he travels along Ireland’s Shannon River in search of his family roofs, and while it's peace he seeks, trouble finds him.

To print or download this list, go here

AAUW Kingston Branch 2011 -12 Calendar

2011 -2012 AAUW Kingston Branch Board

Membership & National Contact– Ruth Bean

Meeting Facilitator – Vivi Hlavsa

Program Coordinator– Diana Chesmel

Treasurer – Jane Riley

Recording Secretary and PR – Adele Calcavecchio

Corresponding Secretary - Joan Reis

Trips - Vivi Hlavsa and Linda Gold

Communications - Ruth Wahtera

Directory - Sheila Beall

Diversity - Arlene Bruck

Educational Foundation - Doris Goldberg & Gloria Sender

Historian – Virginia Kohli

Hospitality Coordinator – Vacant

International - Vacant

Legal Advocacy Fund - Dolores LaChance

Public Policy – Susan Holland

Telephone Tree – Dot Henry

Board meetings happen on the second Tuesday of the month. All members are welcome to attend and participate.

Fracking in Saugerties, Hot Coffee in Kingston

October Public Policy Events

Please note these schedule and meeting changes for this month:

1. Hydrofracking Educational Event

This event will take place in Saugerties on 10/4, rather than at the 10/22 branch meeting:

Tuesday, October 4, 7 PM
Atonement Lutheran Church
100 Market Street
Saugerties


Agenda:
- Showing of GASLAND, the 2010 Academy-Award-nominated documentary about Pennsylvania resident Josh Fox's cross-country quest to find out the truth about living with gas wells
- Question and answer session with Kate Hudson, Attorney, Riverkeeper Watershed Program
- "Who Can We Trust?" with Joan Walker of Frack Free Catskills

All are welcome!
Why attend? Can you drink gas? Next question!...
For more information, call 845-246-8322

2. October Branch Meeting

Saturday, October 22, 10:30 AM
Kingston Library
Community Room, 2nd Floor
55 Franklin Street
Kingston

This month, while we (safely!) sip our hot coffee and munch on the delicious breakfast goodies provided by our (always!) "absolutely fabulous" hospitality team, we will watch the 2011 documentary called Hot Coffee. As ViVi, who showed it at her 8/14 film discussion, noted: "It's about that incident we all heard of: a woman sues McDonald's because her coffee was too hot. Well, it turns out that there is more to the story than we thought. Behind the publicity were corporations in favor of 'tort reform,' trying to make it difficult for citizens to have their grievances aired in court and to disempower juries." We'll have a discussion about the film afterward.

Join us for both of these informative October meetings!

-- Susan Holland, Public Policy Chairperson