Southern Highlights
Austin Minnesota Branch
Volume 9 Number 1 September 2010
Shaping the World One Woman at a Time
Co-President’s Column
Welcome back to all returning AAUW members, and a hearty welcome to you who have recently joined. We are looking forward to a year of working together to advance our goal of breaking through educational and economic barriers so that women have a fair chance. That said, we also look forward to a year of good fellowship and fun. The program committee has many good programs lined up which we feel you will profit from and enjoy.
Marijo Alexander was our president-elect throughout last year, and we admire her courage to tackle the lead job even though she is a relatively new member. Marijo is executive assistant to the president of Riverland Community College and could well have said “I don’t have time” when asked, but with an endless supply of energy and enthusiasm, agreed to tackle the job. I look forward to working with Marijo. I have been a member since 1984 and have served as program V.P., educational foundations chair, secretary, visibility chair, and newsletter editor so I guess my turn has come to be co-president.
One resolution was presented and approved at the state convention in St. Cloud in April, and that stated: “The AAUW Minnesota Board will assist branches through its programming, equality connections, and public policy work to educate members about the ERA issue and actively work to encourage the Minnesota Legislature to put an ERA amendment on the ballot in November 2012.” Needless to say, it passed unanimously.
Why do we need an equal rights amendment? Because:
- Neither the MN Constitution nor the U.S. Constitution explicitly guarantees that all of the rights they protect are held by all of its citizens without regard to sex.
- We need to protect ourselves from a rollback of the significant advances in women’s rights over the past 40 years.
- The U.S. needs to practice what it preaches with respect to equal justice under the law.
Thanks for joining AAUW. Let’s make this one of our best years yet!
Liz Richardson, Co-President
September Program
Our annual pot-luck dinner will be held on September 14th at 6:00 p.m. at Christ Episcopal Church, 301 3rd Ave NW, Austin. Renew friendships and commitment to equity for women and girls at our annual potluck “meet and greet.” Bring a friend and/or prospective new members to enjoy the food and fun. Prospective members come as guests of AAUW and do not need to bring anything for the potluck.
Dani Heiny, Sue Howard & Nel Zellar
Program Committee Co-chairs
Small Groups
These groups are open to any member wishing to attend.
Morning Book Group
The Morning Book Group will meet on Thurs., Sept. 16 at 9:00 at Jerry’s Other Place. We will be discussing the book Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. New members are always welcome. Call Gerry Rustad (433-3718) for more information.
Evening Book Group
Evening book group will be discussing Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Please join us on Tuesday, September 21thth at 7 PM at the home of Kathy Kester. Please RSVP to kkester@isd500.k12.mn.us.
Just Come
Just Come lunch will dine at Steve’s Pizza at 421 North Main Street on Friday, Sept. 3. We’ll meet at 11:30 a.m. The menu includes pasta dishes if you don’t care for pizza. This is a great time for conversation. Contact Eunys at 437-1126 if you plan to attend. A count will be needed by 10 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 2.
Great Decisions
Great Decisions will tentatively meet September 27 at 1:00 p.m. in a room TBD at Riverland.
Dues Are Due!
Please remember to pay your dues for next year at the September meeting if you haven’t done so already. If you are unable to attend, please send your check to Joyce Goetz at 900 17th Ave. SW. Dues will remain at $65. Checks may be made payable to AAUW.
THANK YOU! Joyce
New Member Social
Sue Grove and Marijo Alexander will be hosting a wine & cheese social to recruit new members on Wednesday, September 1st at 4:30 PM at Sue’s home, 2301 15th Ave SW. Members are encouraged to invite potential new members.
HIGH PROFIT FUNDRAISER
Saturday, November 13, 2010
AAUW has participated previously in the Younkers Community Day event with good results. Our board voted to participate again this year giving us a chance to earn some money in a painless way so we don’t have to raise dues.
The cost to AAUW is $0, the booklets sell for $5 each, and we keep the entire $5! The booklet is filled with better bonus offers than previous years: early bird hours with 30% off are from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., there is a $10 bonus coupon good on most merchandise not often included like Levi’s and Columbia, and there are 30% off on-line offers. Coupons are also good at Herberger’s and Carson Pirie Scott stores.
We will be handing out booklets at our September meeting which you can sell (or buy) for $5 each. Additional money can by earned by volunteers working one time at the store. In 2008 we earned $1,171.52.
PUBLIC POLICY
Updates from AAUW. There is so much information coming to me from the national and state public policy chairs that it is challenging to decide what to share in the newsletter.
As I began my reading and writing on August 18, it struck me that the day isd the 90th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, guaranteeing women the right to vote. On August 26th Women’s Equality Day, the amendment formally became part of the Constitution. Still, still, ninety years after gaining the right to vote, women still haven’t achieved gender equality. According to The Harris Poll released on Monday, three in five Americans say the U.S. has a long way to go before reaching complete gender equality. There is still workplace discrimination and harassment in many places, and to avoid it many women choose to enter female-dominated careers that consequently pay less, such as early education. One has to wonder why salaries for people in such vital roles are not much higher! They are not babysitting! Pay equity is far from achieved as women, on average, continue to earn 77 cents for every dollar men earn.
Our Senate in Washing still needs to pass the pay equity act. Call your senators.
Another place this seems to manifest itself is in medical school leadership according to a recent UCLA study. Despite the fact that women make up nearly half of U.S. medical school students, women are less likely to distinguish themselves as leaders in the classroom. Within the medical school curriculum, students have more opportunities and are expected to assume leadership roles in the classroom. However, according to the study, women in small classroom settings are more reluctant than men to take on these roles. The distress female students feel with leadership so early in their medical career may link to the disproportionately lower number of women working in senior roles of medicine. It would be interesting to read more about this study.
Title IX continues to need monitoring. At Quinnipiac University, for example, the administers wanted to replace volleyball with cheerleading (The NCAA does not recognize competitive cheerleading as a sport).
Demands for compliance kept volley ball in place and rugby and golf for women have been added. In another case, AAUW Legal Advocacy Fund announced the award of $11,500 in support of the plaintiffs in Foltz et al. v. Delaware State University. They are challenging the university’s decision to eliminate the women’s equestrian team and replace it with competitive cheerleading. The circumstances of that suit closely resemble those of a recently-decided suit against Quinnipiac University. AAUW’s Public Policy program for 2009-2011 supports vigorous enforcement of Title IX and all other civil rights laws pertaining to education.”
EQUITY IS STILL AN ISSUE
Mark Your Calendar!
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AUSTIN BRANCH
AAUW BOARD MEETING
August 24, 2010
AAUW Board met at Joyce Goetz’s home. Present were Liz Richardson, Marijo Alexander, Mary Kay Wilson, Sandy Folk, Gerry Rustad, Ev Guentzel, Sue Grove, Joyce Goetz, Ellen Stark, and Janet Gilbertson.
Secretary’s report was read and approved. Treasurer reported no activity in the past month. Balance is still $6,754.72. We now have 41 paid members. Twelve people are being contacted to see if they plan to join. Mary Kay read the auditor’s report. Auditors found all the financial records to be in order. Motion was made and seconded to approve the treasurer’s report and the auditors report. Motion carried.
Liz explained new rules for the Younker’s fundraiser. Motion was made and seconded to participate in the Younker’s fundraiser on November 13th again this year. Motion carried. Liz will sign us up and pick up the tickets. Information will be available at the September potluck.
Program schedule has been set. Marie wants some new “Why I am a member” testimonials for the website. Invitations have been sent for a wine and cheese gathering for potential members. Board members are encouraged to attend also.
Small group chairs should bring sign-up sheets to the September 14th potluck. Newsletter items should be submitted to Rae Dawn by August 27th. Potential candidate forums for the November election were discussed. A possible date would be October 25th.
The September meeting will be a potluck at Christ Episcopal Church on September 14th. The next board meeting will be September 28th at Sue Grove’s home.
Scholarship winners have been selected and will be introduced at the September meeting. The State Convention will be held April 29th – May 1st in Winona.
Respectfully submitted,
| Ellen Stark, SecretaryAAUW AUSTIN BRANCH | |||
| PROPOSED BUDGET | |||
| 2010-2011 | |||
| EXPENSES | |||
| National Dues | 2,352.00 | ||
| State Dues | 432.00 | ||
| Advertising | 100.00 | ||
| Candidate Forum | 50.00 | ||
| Directory | 25.00 | ||
| Ed Foundation (AAUWFunds) | 600.00 | ||
| Fund Raiser | 100.00 | ||
| Gifts | 100.00 | ||
| Hospitality | 50.00 | ||
| Insurance | 125.00 | ||
| Training | – | ||
| LAF (AAUW Funds) | 250.00 | ||
| National Convention | 1,000.00 | ||
| Newsletter | 15.00 | ||
| Postage | 50.00 | ||
| Scholarships | 2,000.00 | ||
| Space Rental | 150.00 | ||
| Speakers/Programs | 300.00 | ||
| State Convention | 500.00 | ||
| Women’s History Initiative | |||
| Awards | 225.00 | ||
| Program | 1,000.00 | ||
| Miscellaneous | 50.00 | ||
| Total Expenses | $9474.00 | ||
Mission Statement: AAUW advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education and research.
Vision Statement: 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.
Southern Highlights Editor: Rae Dawn Rao
rao_raedawn@yahoo.com
Minnesota State Website:
http://www.aauwmn.org
The Pine Editor: LouAnne Hoppe
Association Website:
Association e-mail: info@aauw.org
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AAUW Southern Highlights
301 4th Ave. SW
Austin, MN 55912