The NORTH COUNTRY CONNECTION
Local Branch:
|
AAUW - State and National: |
The St. Lawrence County Branch will hold our annual membership meeting on Saturday, June 14 from 10:30 am to 1 pm in the 8th Floor Raymond Hall (the "Power Tower") at SUNY Potsdam. The brunch is $12 per person and you must RSVP no later than June 7 to Treasurer Celena Haase. (You can include your $12 with your dues check!) This would be an excellent time to bring a guest to introduce her to the wonderful world of AAUW here in St. Lawrence County!
At our annual business meeting we will elect and install new officers for the coming AAUW year. The slate is here. In addition, we will be voting on our Branch By-Laws which have been reviewed and updated to bring them into compliance with Association changes. We will also have displays of AAUW programs, projects and awards.
Our 2008 AAUW Named Scholarship winner will be announced. This year's award is in memory of branch leader Anne Malone, who passed away last fall. There will be short video presentation of some of the speakers and events that took place at the First Anne Malone Colloquium at SUNY Potsdam in April.
We are also planning to have a couple of special mystery guests - you'll just have to attend to find out who they are!
It is time to remit your annual dues! Regular dues are $68 for the coming year. Your membership and support is deeply appreciated, as is your timely payment! Be sure to update our records if any of your contact information has changed (phone, address, e-mail, etc.).
It was certainly a very busy and successful spring and I'm looking forward to a few days of putting my feet up and doing nothing this summer. Before that happens, though, we've still got Open Windows fundraising and our Annual Meeting in June to look forward to - and I hope to see all of you in Potsdam on the 14th!
April events included the fun and informative 80th anniversary celebration luncheon as well as the very successful one-day colloquium at SUNY Potsdam honoring Anne Malone; in May, we held another lovely "Garden of Tributes" event to raise funds for AAUW's Legal Advocacy Fund.
The Anne Malone colloquium brought together more than a hundred student, faculty, and community presenters, including two AAUW panels on why "Equity is Still an Issue" and on "The Power of One Vote." We are already talking about ways to carry on Anne's legacy through next year's colloquium.
My April ended on a high note with the events at the New York State AAUW convention in Cooperstown. My mother and sister were able to attend with me this year and we had a great time-Karin even helped me sell some of my special AAUW "book strings" and we raised an additional $40.00 for the Educational Foundation!
Convention speakers were outstanding and included an address by Lilly Ledbetter, former Goodyear Tire employee and plaintiff in a landmark pay discrimination case, as well as a sneak peek at AAUW's new report, "Where the Girls Are: The Facts About Gender Equity in Education," which debunks the myth that girls' educational progress comes at the expense of boys'.
Our branch was recognized at convention for our outstanding newsletter and our LAF fundraising; we also received special recognition for our very effective Public Policy/Voter Education programming and for our "Garden of Tributes" fundraiser.
I look forward to seeing you at the June meeting, which will feature highlights from the Malone colloquium, as well as a few words from Addie Jenne Russell. I also look forward to hearing your ideas for the coming year!
All the best,
Branch President Lisa Wilson, Norwood, represented the St. Lawrence County AAUW at the 2008 New York State Convention of AAUW in Cooperstown at the end of April.
The branch received recognition for its Garden of Tributes to Women program and for its Voter Education efforts during the year. This included a monetary award for last fall's televised candidate forums, the continuing series of Op-Eds in local newspapers about policy issues, and for bringing Lisa Maatz, the Public Policy Director for the national organization of AAUW, to the North Country last fall. Lisa gave a presentation about local efforts to the convention delegates.
Members Innam Dajany and Maureen Sayles of the branch's High Peaks Satellite in Saranac Lake were recognized as emerging leaders by AAUW-NYS for their efforts to establish AAUW in their area. Members Sue Bellor and Donna Seymour were recognized for their efforts to recruit new members in the Association's Hall of Fame program.
Nominating Committee members Lily Trevizan and Viki Levitt submit the following slate for election at the annual meeting:
We will review and vote on updated By-Laws at the annual meeting on June 14. The By-Laws review committee, chaired by Susan Godreau with member Celena Haase and Donna Seymour, updated our branch by-laws in October 2007 to bring them into line with the changes authorized at the last Association meeting in June 2007.
The major Association revision was Section 4 of Article XII. Board of Directors:
Section 4. A written, conference call or electronic vote may be taken at the request of the president on any question submitted to all voting members of the board provided that every voting member shall have an opportunity to vote on the question submitted. Voting will close by a specified time. The votes shall be returned to the secretary. If a majority shall vote on a question so submitted, the votes shall be counted and shall have the same effect as if cast at a board meeting. The result of the vote shall be recorded in the minutes of the next board meeting. If a majority shall vote to table the motion, it shall be taken up at the next physical meeting.
The last line (bolded wording) is a local addition to the wording voted by the Association. We added it to protect the Board from moving too quickly on an item if a majority of member were uncomfortable with an electronic vote.
An identical Section 4 was added to Article XIII. Executive Committee.
In all other respects, the By-Laws currently in force for the branch are the same as they were voted on at the annual meeting in June 2006.
You're asking, "What is this one all about?"
Well, let's think back over the past few fleeting months. The Fall Membership meeting and pot luck dinner held in the Universalist Church Center in Canton brought out quite a crowd. We enjoyed quite a variety of culinary treats, good conversation, and an inspiring talk by Dr. Caroline Breashears; as she shared her research on 18th century women's memoirs which caught our interest and humor too. The Agent of Change, Alison Koch was also honored.
October was a busy time with the "political" season upon us and due to the non-stop efforts of Donna Seymour, she and Sue Bellor got together so that both St. Lawrence County Branches of AAUW and BPW were represented in sponsoring the political forums held at Clarkson University.
November brought members and officers from St. Lawrence County and Jefferson County to gather together in Saranac Lake to support the efforts of High Peaks area AAUW. Both Lisa Maatz, AAUW's chief lobbyist from Washington D.C. and Eileen Hartmann, New York State's Membership Vice President from Rochester, traveled to our conference and shared a plethora of information on the political candidates and a vision for AAUW respectively.
We invited Eileen Hartmann back for our spring luncheon and 80th anniversary celebration at the Lobster House in April. She enlightened us with a new mission-based plan for AAUW in the 21st century after member Mary Bucher presented a power point on our branch history.
(And) Did you know about the talents of President Lisa Wilson? Not only did she lead our branch this year, and planned the First Anne Righton Malone Colloquium at SUNY Potsdam, but Lisa has a natural touch with crafts; yes, she made the jeweled book marks for each participant and provided us with some real tasty delights at the May Tribute Tea.
The Garden of Tributes, organized by Legal Advocacy Fund chair Becky Gerber, brought us together again in May to celebrate a tribute to our Moms. We sat together, enjoyed some punch or tea, some home baked treats and heard some warm stories about some of our Moms and the kind works of Dr. Anne Malone.
You made the programming happen this year for AAUW-St. Lawrence County.
The St. Lawrence County Branch will be awarding our biennial AAUW Agent of Change Award in 2009. It is never to soon to be thinking about someone to nominate. An Agent of Change is a St. Lawrence County woman whose work as employer, employee or volunteer is noteworthy in one or all of these three areas:
The award will be presented at the branch's fall membership meeting.
At our June 14th meeting we will be announcing the winner of our 2008 AAUW Names Scholarship. Because we are honoring the memory of branch member Anne Malone this year, the board changed the criteria for this year to include Anne's beloved Women and Gender Studies students. Applicants had to be SUNY Potsdam students with Women's and Gender Studies majors or Women's Studies minors who will be matriculated in fall 2008. The scholarship criteria included a student who has demonstrated leadership and community involvement, both of which Anne exemplified in her life.
Twenty-six St. Lawrence County girls benefited from our 2007 Open Windows for Girls program. Eleven individual girls participated in summer learning experiences: 2 Clarkson Horizons, 2 SUNY Potsdam Basketball Camp, 1 Clarkson University Soccer Camp, 4 4-H Camp Overlook, 1 Missoula Children's Theatre Day Camp at SUNY Potsdam, and 1 girl for violin lessons. In March, we contributed to the transportation cost for the 15-member North County Ice Storm Girls' Hockey 16 & Under team to play in the New York State Hockey Association State Championship games.
To date, we have received many contributions to OWFG 2008. Thank you. We have several applications from girls to attend 4-H Camp Overlook, Clarkson Horizons, the People-to- People Ambassador Program (Youth Friendship Games in Holland and Passage to China), sport camps, violin lessons, and Missoula Children's Theatre. If you haven't made a contribution yet, please consider doing so. Feedback from guidance counselors and parents indicates that we are helping make a positive difference in the lives of these girls.
If you would like to make a contribution, please send it to: Open Window for Girls, AAUW Treasurer, 50 Bay Street, Potsdam, NY 13676.
On May 20, AAUW released the most comprehensive analysis to date on trends in educational achievement by gender, race, ethnicity, and income. This report shows that girls and boys from the fourth grade through the end of college are making steady educational gains. An analysis of data from all 50 states indicates that girls' successes do not come at the expense of boys. This report is also the first to analyze gender differences within economic and ethnic categories. The data show that family income is more closely associated with academic success than with gender.
The report, Where the Where the Girls Are: The Facts About Gender Equity in Education, presents a comprehensive look at girls' educational achievement during the past 35 years, paying special attention to the relationship between girls' and boys' progress. Analyses of results from national standardized tests such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and the SAT and ACT college entrance examinations, as well as other measures of educational achievement, provide an overall picture of trends in gender equity from elementary school to college and beyond.
Across the board, on all measures, when girls perform better academically, so do boys. "A rising tide lifts all boats. When girls perform better in school, we see improvements across gender, race, and income lines," stated AAUW Executive Director Linda D. Hallman, CAE.
In states where girls do well on standardized tests, so do boys. On the other hand, in states where girls do not do well on standardized tests, neither do boys. Standardized test performance in elementary and secondary school has improved or remained stable for both sexes across the board.
In addition, both women and men are now more likely to take college entrance examinations such as the ACT and the SAT, and more men and women graduate from college today than ever before. The proportion of young men graduating from high school and earning college degrees is at an all-time high.
While older/nontraditional female college students outnumber their male counterparts in earning college degrees, the gender gap is almost absent among those entering college directly after high school. Among traditional-age undergraduates (under age 24) from high-income families, men and women are about equally likely to attend college.
Differences in educational achievement vary by race/ethnicity and family income level. For example, girls often outperform boys within each racial/ethnic group on the NAEP reading test. When broken down within ethnic groups, this gender gap is found to be most consistent among white students, less so among African American students, and least among Hispanic students.
AAUW researchers and many others agree that part of the achievement gap results from differences in family income, but the true extent of the overlap between race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status is masked by limitations of available federal data sources.
This examination of gender trends in educational achievement since the 1970s, using leading educational indicators from fourth grade to college, shows that girls' gains have not come at boys' expense. Overall, educational achievement has improved or stayed the same, and more men and women are graduating from college than ever before. Girls have made rapid gains in many areas, but boys are also gaining ground on most indicators of academic achievement.
"One of the ways AAUW is seeking to help girls who are facing educational barriers is by encouraging them to move into the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) educational areas and to see the importance of STEM fields and the opportunities available for them there," says AAUW Executive Director Hallman.
Congratulations to the new President of AAUW-Jefferson County, Sharon Wuerschmidt, a twelve-year AAUW member. Sharon has edited the Jefferson Journal for several years. We look forward to working with her and her branch as we prepare for the busy fall election season. All of the state official who serve our two counties are holding contested elections this year!
Speaking of the elections this fall, Addie Jenne Russell, Jefferson County Branch's immediate past president and a county legislator, has thrown her hat into the ring for the 118th Assembly seat vacated when Darrel Aubertine won the special Senate seat election this spring.
SLC members Innam Dajany and Maureen Sayles of the branch's High Peaks Satellite in Saranac Lake were recognized as Emerging Leaders by AAUW-NYS for their efforts to establish AAUW in their area.
The Institute for Women’s Policy Research and the Center for WorkLife Law at the University of California Hastings College of the Law recently released their new report, Statutory Routes to Workplace Flexibility in Cross-National Perspective. The report examined 21 high-income countries—including the United States—and their statutory employment rights, and found that the U.S. lags far behind the other countries in promoting and providing high-quality flexible work arrangements. While participation of U.S. college-educated women between the ages of 24 and 54 in the labor market has stalled for the past 10 years, it has grown in almost all other countries surveyed. The study found that this is most likely due to workplace flexibility in these countries. Examples of such flexibility include changed working hours and scheduling for any employee, gradual return to work after childbirth, alternative arrangements for parents of young children, and reduced hours for those going back to school. The ultimate conclusion of the report was that work flexibility can enhance the quality of both work and life, help economic growth, and promote gender equality.
A year ago, the Supreme Court's decision in the Ledbetter v. Goodyear case last May severely limited the ability of victims of pay discrimination to vindicate their rights. AAUW believes the outcome in Ledbetter is fundamentally unfair to victims of pay discrimination, which is responsible for a significant portion of the wage gap experienced by women and people of color.
The Senate and House passed (unanimous consent in the Senate, voice vote in the House) another extension (S. 3035) of the Higher Education Act - the sixth extension this year. The bill would extend the HEA for another two weeks after the current extension expires on May 31. Negotiations continue to reconcile the differences between the House version of the HEA reauthorization bill (H.R. 4137), which passed in February, and the Senate version (S. 1642), which passed in July 2007.
The number of uninsured young adults in the United States rose to 13.7 million in 2006--an increase from 13.3 million in 2005--making the 19-to-29 age group one of the largest and fastest-growing segments of the population without health insurance. According to a newly updated report from The Commonwealth Fund, 38 percent of high school graduates who do not attend college and 34 percent of college graduates will spend some time uninsured in the year after graduation.
The American Association of University Women advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education and research. AAUW will be a powerful advocate and visible leader in equity and education through research, philanthropy, and measurable change in critical areas impacting the lives of women and girls.
In principle and practice AAUW values and seeks a diverse membership. There shall be no barriers to full participation in this organization on the basis of gender, race, creed, age, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, or class.
The AAUW Educational Foundation provides funds to advance education, research, and self-development for women and to foster equity and positive societal change.
The AAUW Legal Advocacy Fund provides funding and a support system for women seeking judicial redress for sex discrimination.