3/15/11: Book discussion on Frances Perkins

For our March book discussion, in honor of Women's History Month, we'll meet at 1 PM today (Tuesday, 3/15) in the Story Hour Room on the 2nd floor of the Kingston Library, 55 Franklin Street, to talk about The Woman Behind the New Deal: The Life of Frances Perkins, FDR's Secretary of Labor and his Moral Conscience by Kirstin Downey.

Check out Marjorie Regan's Womens' History Month 2010 blog post about Perkins here.

In addition, March 25 is the 100^th Anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. If you haven't seen it yet, check out the 1-hour PBS documentary about it here.

There's a lot of good material on this site, including an interview with Kirstin Downey.

Congress to consider removing deadline to ratify ERA

Baldwin Aims to Ratify ERA

On Tuesday, Rep. Tammy Baldwin (R-WI) introduced a bill to speed ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. The legislation (H.J. Res. 47) would remove the deadline for ratification and render the Constitution amended once three additional states ratify. The last congressional deadline for state ratification ran out in 1982 with ratification from only 35 of the needed 38 state legislatures. 

Image via Wikipedia

Highlighting the continued importance of ratifying ERA, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia recently noted his belief  that the Constitution does not currently prevent discrimination on the basis of sex.

AAUW is one of over 25 organizations to have endorsed Baldwin’s bill, consistent with our 2009-2011 Public Policy Program. We oppose all forms of discrimination and support constitutional protection for the civil rights of all individuals. 

This is an excerpt from this week's issue of Washington Update, an internal communication for public policy leaders and members of the American Association of University Women. 

Related articles

• Justice Scalia: The Constitution Doesn't Protect Women (blog-aauw.org)

Slideshow Celebrating Int'l Women's Day in the Hudson Valley

Here's a slideshow of yesterday's celebration at the Eleanor Roosevelt Walkway Over the Hudson. A glorious day shared with hundreds of Hudson Valley Women.

Spring Trip: MOMA and NYC, April 4, 2011

Please join us for this spring trip to The Museum of Modern Art, where you will find the following special exhibits:

         Pictures by Women: A History of Modern Photography

Over 200 works by outstanding women artists covering photography's 170-year history

Standard Deviations: Types and Families in Contemporary Design

Objects and designs of unique identity created for industrial scale

Picasso's Guitars 1912-1914

Fresh insights into Picasso's cross-disciplinary process during these breakthrough years

Counter Space: Design and the Modern Kitchen

Two complete kitchens feature women's contributions to design objects, architectural plans, posters, photographs, and artworks

Paula Hayes, Nocturne of the Limax maximus

Organically shaped vessels made from blown glass, silicone, or acrylic and filled with a rich variety of plant life

Abstract Expressionist, New York

Presents the achievements of the 1950's generation that catapulted NYC to the center of the international art world

   

For more detailed descriptions, go to:

www.moma.org/explore/exhibitions?gclid=CPuxh7nesKcCFUbf4AodiEVHSQ

 

The bus leaves at 9:30 AM from the rear of the former Ames in the Kingston Plaza, picks-up at the Thruway Park-n-ride in New Paltz at 10 AM, and starts back from MOMA at 4:30 PM with a stop at Trader Joe's on Route 17.

Cost:  $59 includes bus, driver tip and museum entrance           $56 for members of AAUW and SIP                                Bus alone:  $39

For reservations, call ViVi at 845-331-0155 (cell:  845-417-5229) or write vvhlavsa@aol.com, then send your check, made out to AAUW-Kingston Branch, to ViVi Hlavsa, 191 Lapla Road, Kingston NY 12401

Judy Dench and Daniel Craig on International Women's Day

We're equals, aren't we, 007?



We must never stop asking until the answer is YES!

Women in America: Indicators of Social and Economic Well-Being | The White House

Image via Wikipedia

 Today, kicking off Women's History Month, the White House announced the new report "Women in America." We're looking forward to studying the report and the media coverage it receives, especially given the Republican agenda as it relates to women.

Women in America: Indicators of Social and Economic Well-Being | The White House: "Women in America: Indicators of Social and Economic Well-Being

In support of the Council on Women and Girls, the Office of Management and Budget and the Economics and Statistics Administration within the Department of Commerce worked together to create the Women in America (pdf) report which, for the first time in recent history, pulls together information from across the Federal statistical agencies to compile baseline information on how women are faring in the United States today and how these trends have changed over time. The report provides a statistical portrait showing how women’s lives are changing in five critical areas:"

3/1/11: Gerrymandering in Rosendale

Our Public Policy Film/Discussion this month

Gerrymandering

Tuesday, March 1
7 PM

Rosendale Theater
408 Main Street
Rosendale

Did you know that there are fewer competitive elections in the U.S. than there are in the USSR? Almost all election districts in the U.S. are “incumbent protected”, forever-safe seats, carved out so that the results are assured to one party or another. This is the year of re-districting across the U.S. based on the 2010 census.

"Quietly, without much comment or notice, the practice of gerrymandering has transformed from a dismal-but-bearable tradition of occasional opportunism into a cancer eating at the heart of democracy itself, rendering our votes nearly meaningless in countless constituencies across the land....nearly all U.S. Congressional districts -- along with state assembly and senate seats -- have been gerrymandered in one direction or another." -- David Brin. Ph.D.

Cost: by donation

Sponsored by: Mid-Hudson League of Women Voters

Before the film: from 5 PM on, all are invited to join LWV members for dinner at the Rosendale Cafe, 434 Main Street. Call 845-658-9048 to reserve.

This Sat., 2/12/11: The Story Behind "Music in Desperate Times" Ars Choralis

February AAUW Branch Meeting
Saturday Morning, February 12, 2011, 10:30 a.m.
Kingston Library

Tom and Cecelia Keehn will present the story and slides of the renowned singing group, Ars Choralis, when they performed the unique "Music In Desperate Times" locally, in Germany and at St. John the Devine in Manhattan. Cecelia was the soprano soloist and Tom was a member of the chorus. Both are music educators and outstanding musicians.

If you're unfamiliar with "Music in Desperate Times, a friend of [Barbara] Pickhardt urged her to read a book about women who saved their lives by playing in an orchestra while prisoners in Auschwitz/Birkenau Concentration Camp in Poland during World War II. Barbara was deeply moved by the story of these women.
 

She eventually researched the music the women played. Ars Choralis' member, Gregory Dinger, and accompanist, Kristen Tuttman, arranged the music. The spoken word was derived from texts written by survivors.

Survivors of the Ravensbrueck concentration camp in Furstenberg, Germany invited Ars Choralis to perform at their annual Liberation Day ceremonies in 2009 at the former Birkenau concentration camp, The Ars Choralis performance was   intensely emotional not only for the audience, but also for the performers.

Please note, this is not a presentation of the concert although there will be music in the background at times. This is the story of the performers' journey back through history and across the ocean in memory of those musicians saving their lives through music.

I hope that we will have a very good audience for this program.

Pat Stedge

Class Action Suit Leads to Award for AAUW to Continue Pay Equity Work

AAUW to Receive Cy Pres Award for Work to Fight Gender Discrimination

Award Follows Groundbreaking Gender Discrimination Case Settlement

WASHINGTON – The American Association of University Women (AAUW) has been awarded $23,500 as part of a cy pres award from the judgment in the largest gender discrimination case to ever go to trial.

The class action lawsuit against Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation included approximately 5,600 women sales force employees who claimed gender discrimination based on pay, promotion, and pregnancy. A jury found Novartis liable for gender discrimination in May 2010, and the subsequent settlement was filed in federal court in New York in July 2010. Judge Colleen McMahon of the U.S. District Court for Eastern New York approved the final settlement agreement in November, and AAUW learned of its selection to receive a cy pres award in December.

Cy pres awards are the result of class action lawsuit funds and are typically distributed to charitable organizations. AAUW will receive this award to support its mission to advance equity for women and girls.

“We commend the brave plaintiffs and their extraordinary legal team in the Novartis case,” said AAUW Executive Director Linda D. Hallman, CAE. “They have broken through barriers for women employees of Novartis and for women employees around the world. We hope this case will inspire more women to stand up for their rights as workers and teach a lesson to those who would discriminate on gender or any other basis. AAUW is proud to be associated with this case and honored to be the recipient of an award that affirms our work against all forms of gender discrimination.”

The award from the Novartis settlement will help fund AAUW’s continuing advancement of women and girls through our programs, research, and advocacy, especially on the issue of fair pay. As this case demonstrates, wage discrimination remains a critical problem, and women's pay still lags behind that of men. On average, women make 77 cents for every dollar earned by their male counterparts, and they represent only a small percentage of those who hold top positions in business and academia. By some estimates, women may lose between $500,000 and $1 million because of wage discrimination over a 40-year career.

“We were so pleased to be able to recommend AAUW for a cy pres award,” said Katherine Kimpel, a partner at the firm Sanford, Wittels, and Heisler, LLP, who successfully represented the class of more than 6,000 current and former women sales employees at Novartis. “Having an ally like AAUW in the fight for gender equity is so important, and we trust that the cy pres award will help AAUW continue to make a difference in the lives of girls and women across the United States.  The victory in Novartis, although gratifying, is just one step in the right direction, as far too many employers continue to deny women workers their fair share of the American dream.”

AAUW ED responds to NYT article

Linda Hallman, AAUW E.D.

To the [NYT] Editor:
According to “Man or Male?” (Education Life, Jan. 9), which compares men’s studies and male studies, both fields agree on something that is, fortunately, not true — that “academically at least, young men are in trouble.”
As our report “Where the Girls Are: The Facts About Gender Equity in Education” explains, there is no “boys’ crisis.” Boys continue to outscore girls, on average, on many standardized tests, including the SAT math and critical reading tests. And according to the United States Department of Education, 41 percent of both girls and boys who graduated from high school in 2007-08 were attending a four-year college in the fall of 2008.
Certainly, some young men are in trouble, as are some young women. But whether we measure by test scores in elementary school, high school graduation rates or college enrollment, the differences in educational achievement are much greater between students from different income levels and different racial/ethnic backgrounds than between girls and boys.
Linda D. Hallman
Executive Director
American Association of University Women
Washington, Jan. 12, 2011