Southern Highlights

Volume 11 Number 5 February 201

Shaping the World One Woman at a Time

 

 

Marijo Alexander and Sue Grove, Co-Presidents

Co-President’s Thoughts

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Our January 8 program at the Seibel Family Visitation & Exchange Center was excellent! The information presented is a perfect fit with the Strategic Plan we submitted last March. It supports Vision #1 (continue to support efforts to combat violence, bullying, and harassment against women, girls and other minorities at home, in school, and in our communities); Goal #1 (create a higher level of awareness to reduce violence, bullying, and harassment against women, girls and other minorities;” and Action #1 (educate others through informative programs, speaker presentations, book selections and films). We may want to submit this as our “Best of Branches Report” for 2012-13 (last year we submitted the Scholarship Tour of Homes Fundraiser). For those of you who attended, please consider writing a summary (500 words or less), and submit it to your co-presidents. Thank you!

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A sincere thank you to everyone who expressed their friendship, words of comfort and sympathy to Sue Grove with the passing of her beloved mother, Lorraine Oestreich.

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REMINDER: The AAUW State Convention in Rochester will be here before we know it. Our silent auction theme is “Our favorite things.” Please bring your “favorite things” to our February, March and April meetings. Thank you for your generosity – we appreciate it!

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Marijo Alexander

Co-President

February Program

We often allow ourselves to be swept along with the business and hectic routines of our daily life. Our bodies are often in one place and our minds somewhere else, scheming, dreaming and often ignoring what is necessary for our optimal function- self awareness. Together, we will explore the importance of self care in its most fundamental form by exploring simple strategies of mindfulness, breathing, gratitude and possibly just a little bit of gentle movement! Join us for our February program presented by Kay Middlebrook, Registered Occupational Therapist/ Wellness Practitioner. The program begins at 7:00 in Room C107 at Riverland Community College. Social time with goodies begins at 6:30. Looking forward to seeing all of you then!

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Kari Bain & Yesenia Mendoza

Program Committee Co-chairs

 

Small Groups

These groups are open to any member wishing to attend.

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Morning Book Group

 

Please feel welcome to join the Morning Book Club. Our book discussion group meets the third Thursday of each month at 9:00 A.M. On Thursday, February 21, we will meet at Olivia’a (formerly Jerry’s) to discuss “Wuthering Heights,” by Emily Bronte. The book selected for March 21st is “The Shoemaker’s Wife,” by Adriani Trigiani and the location is TBA. The April 18 selection is “The Plague of Doves,” by Louise Erdrich. Location TBA. On May 16th, we will be discussing “Safe From the Sea,” by Peter Geye. Location is TBA. If you are interested in joining our group, please call Lois McConnell at 433-8101.

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Evening Book Group

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We will be discussing David Copperfield by Charles Dickens on February 4th at the home of Dorothy Krob. Please RSVP to Dorothy at sdkrob@charter.net. On March 4th we will be discussing the Page Turners’ selection Safe from the Sea by Peter Geye at the home of Barb Hunter.

 

First Friday

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We will meet at the Brick House on Friday, February 1st at 11:30 for First Friday Lunch. We enjoyed our time there in January and have decided to do it again! If people are interested who haven’t attended before they can email Dorothy at sdkrob@charter.net. Please RSVP to Dorothy.

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Travel Group

The AAUW Travel Club will NOT be meeting in February because too many of our members are gone/ traveling! Please plan to join us in March when we hope to get back together again! If you need more information regarding travel group please contact DedaRae at drgraber@charter.net or call 433-7897.

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AAUW Monthly Financial Report
December, 2012 – January, 2013
Period: 12/1/12-1/31/13
Opening Balance:		$7,719.60
Income:
Dues Received	65.00
Total Income:	$65.00	$7,784.60
Disbursements:
National Dues	49.00
State Dues	9.00
AAUW Funds	850.00
Austin Page Turners	100.00
Postage	9.00	&
Total Disbursements:	$1,017.00
Closing Balance 1/31/13		$6,767.60

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PUBLIC POLICY NOTES

Evelyn Guentzel

• WASHINGTON — The American Association of University Women (AAUW) and the WAGE Project will provide $tart $mart salary negotiation workshops throughout the 2012–13 academic year to prepare college women to negotiate their salaries and benefits as they enter the job market. The latest U.S. census data show that no progress has been made to close the gender wage gap, which now stands at 23 cents.
AAUW has been at the forefront of research and advocacy on pay equity for many decades and in October 2012 released a report on the pay gap that women face just one year after college graduation. $tart $mart and other AAUW leadership programs are funded in part by the generous contributions of AAUW members. “Today’s female college graduate potentially will earn more than half a million dollars less than her male counterpart over the course of her career because of the pay gap,” said AAUW Executive Director Linda D. Hallman. “$tart $mart helps ensure that graduating women know how to negotiate for equitable pay and appropriate benefits for their short- and long-term economic security. Negotiation skills alone won’t close the systemic gender wage gap, but they are critical to earning a fair, appropriate, and comparable wage.”
• Enough is enough! AAUW is particularly concerned about cuts to funding for elementary, secondary, and postsecondary education; federal civil rights agencies; workforce training programs that promote job creation and economic security; programs that promote
gender diversity in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM); and programs that provide family planning and reproductive health services. These programs have already contributed to deficit reduction
through prior spending cuts. We acknowledge that difficult decisions must be made to reduce the
deficit, but NDD programs have already suffered their share of spending cuts. TAKE ACTION: Tell your members of Congress that we need a balanced deficit reduction approach that does not include
further cuts to these critical NDD programs.

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• AAUW is committed to improving the way the military deals with sexual assault by ensuring victims receive adequate support for their case.
• Fair pay champions in the House and Senate will reintroduce the Paycheck Fairness Act, one of AAUW’s top priorities for the 113^th Congress. You can be a part of the behind-the-scenes work to get this
bill passed by urging your members of Congress to become original cosponsors.
• Keep up the drumbeat for women’s issues: Pay equity, insurance coverage of contraception, child care, women in the workforce, Violence against women, Roe vs. Wade, protection from sexual assault
for women in the military. The beat goes on.

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President Obama Promotes Equal Pay in Inaugural Address
After he was sworn into office on Monday for his second term, President Obama gave a speech in which he acknowledged the need to confront and eliminate inequality throughout our society. Obama, who signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act as his first law in 2009, specifically cited the work we must do to achieve pay equity, saying: “Our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers, and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts.”

AAUW is pleased that the president elevated the issue of pay equity in his inaugural address. One of AAUW’s top priorities in the president’s second term is passing the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would deter wage discrimination by closing loopholes in the Equal Pay Act and barring retaliation against workers who disclose their own wages to coworkers. Take action now: Urge your members of Congress to cosponsor the Paycheck Fairness Act!

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Mission Statement: AAUW advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education and research.

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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:

http://www.aauw.org

Association e-mail: info@aauw.org