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February 2008 Vol. 1, Issue 1
February, 2008 - Vol 1, Issue 1
In This Issue
Branch Meeting: Pay Equity
On Our Minds
KAAUW Calendar
News When & How You Want It
Quick Links
Kingston AAUW Branch Communications Committee
Garnette Arledge
Doris Goldberg
ViVi Hlavsa
Susan Holland
Doris Licht
Irwin Rosenthal
Ruth Wahtera, Editor

If you have something you would like posted on either the Kingston AAUW or the Unofficial Passions site, e-mail the information to a committee member.




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Greetings!
We hope you'll enjoy this first on-line issue of FOCUS. We e-mailed the trip brochure over the weekend and have had very positive response -- both compliments and reservations.

A word about the format. We first publish all our original material on our blog/website. We post articles there as we get them -- any time during the month. This newsletter recaps what's been posted and provides links to the complete articles.

At the bottom of this issue you can read how to get these articles just the way you want them, when you want them. I hope it will clarify your alternatives. It can get confusing!

Enjoy. I can't wait to hear what you think!
February Branch Meeting: Pay Equity Status Report
Pay Equity CartoonAAUW current research shows that women  earn 77 cents to a man's dollar.

Legislators in both  Albany and Washington are debating pay equity legislation this year, and so are we.

Join us at the Branch meeting, Kingston Library,  Saturday, Feb. 23, noon-2 p.m. for a Pay Equity Status Report, a presentation by
Lois Haignere, Ph.D.
She is a respected researcher and consultant in pay equity issues.

The Kingston Branch of the AAUW and the League of Women Voters are co-sponsoring this program as a forerunner to the advocacy events planned for this spring.[Read More]

AAUW's advocacy for Pay Equity
got some publicity on the evening news recently, too. If you missed it, you can see the video (two clips, both less than two minutes) here.

National has been actively promoting the Fair Pay Restoration Act in Washington and needs your help. This legislation is designed to correct the Supreme Court's Ledbetter decision last spring that ruled that the timetable for suing for pay discrimination starts with the first paycheck received, not the point that the plaintiff discovers the discrimination. Read more and take action here.

As we all know -- most of us firsthand -- Equity is Still an Issue.
On Our Minds - The Things We've Been Posting About

Read each of these brief articles by clicking on the article links below, or browse through them all by going HERE.

Women Protesting Violence

VIOLENCE: In November seven of our members attended the UN briefing on the impact of war on women. Here are two additional posts addressing violence. The first is part of that UN campaign and includes some devastating statistics; the second, an update on the Kodi family - our September program.

VOTING: The presidential election is on everyone's mind. AAUW doesn't support particular candidates, but we do have projects designed to encourage citizen participation in the democratic process. Janine Fallon-Mower has agreed to chair our get-out-the-vote efforts and Garnette posted an informative article on the debates from Bill Moyer's Guest Journal.

READING TOGETHER: The Book Club is reading The Bluest Eye in February and ViVi Hlavsa completed plans for One Book, One Community just before leaving for New Zealand. This year we're collaborating with Bard and UCCC on events around the fiftieth anniversary of Chinua Achebe's book Things Fall Apart.

EXPLORING: In case you didn't read the trip announcements --

NATIONAL AAUW: National really wants your feedback on the role AAUW plays in your life and your thoughts about the organization's future. They've extended the deadline to February 1st. Here's how to respond on-line

American Association of University WomenAnd, National wants our support for holding high schools responsible for reporting their sports budgets by gender (Title IX). Required college reporting has increased the budget for women's sports. There's currently no way to know whether high schools are complying.



YOU: Finally, visit our other site -- Unofficial Passions. We have a second blog where members can share their individual, non-AAUW passions. What's there? Whatever you send us. There are an assortment of items from a growing number of members. Right now, there are two time sensitive posts you might want to read.

  • New Arts and Wellness Program - art classes at Benedictine for people who have had a diagnosis of breast cancer from Janine Fallon-Mower
  • Support Hope's Fund and the Domestic Violence Shelter  ViVi Hlavsa and Ruth Wahtera both wanted to post an article on the new Ulster County organization, Hope's Fund, to support women going through transitions. Read about the organization and the Vagina Monologues fundraiser. Join us at the performance, too.

Send events, movie and restaurant reviews, articles and websites you'd like to share, copies of your letters to the editor, your legislator, or the president, an advertisement for your book or business, whatever moves you. This is your chance to speak up about your 'Unofficial Passions.'

Kingston AAUW Calendar
Kingston AAUW CalendarCheck out the calendar. Once there, you can easily print it by clicking the 'printable view' link in the green bar at the top. (Not here. On the calendar.) Each event links to a blog posting that has all the details.
This month we've added information on the bus trips, the One Book,One Community events, AAUW sponsored stroke screening, Branch and Book Club events, and a special pre-MoMA trip lecture on Julian Freud and Alexander Calder. This program is worth attending, even if you don't go on the trip. Lastly, Friday, Feb 1st, is the date for the Bard reception, "Focus the Nation" that includes Doris Goldberg's piece.

Make the KAAUW calendar a favorite and you'll always know what's happening.
Get the News When and How You Want It
American Association of University Women

How do you like to get your information? What kind of computer user are you?

If you read your email almost every day and like your AAUW information in small, frequent bits, you might want to subscribe to Feedblitz or an RSS feed. Feedblitz will send you an email with all the new posts on all the sites you subscribe to the following day. They send the whole article and a link to the site so you can easily comment on the post. The Feedblitz sign-up box for each site is in the right-hand column of both the official and unofficial sites.

RSS is a bit more complicated so we'll save it for another day. If you do use RSS feeds already, you'll find a link in the right column on each site.

If you like to browse or surf the web, just add the two sites to your favorites and visit them when the mood strikes. You can rest assured that FOCUS, published monthly, will fill in the gaps.

If you are content to invest some time reading once a month, just wait until you receive FOCUS - this e-newsletter - in your in-box. Then, pick and choose what you want to read.

It's your choice. Find the method that best suits you. And do take advantage of the best feature of a blog - easy dialogue. The comments can be as interesting as the post. Read them. Make them. You just click the comment link at the bottom of any post to tell the author what you think, ask questions, or just agree or disagree.

Photo by Auntie K

The only pay the Communications Committee gets for this work is feedback from you. We get our thrills when we know you're reading what we write. So, make us happy, please. Tell us what works, what you like, and what you don't.

I'm off to get a paper version together for our snail-mail members. If you have an AAUW friend without a computer, you might want to invite her to browse through our websites with you.

Sincerely,
Ruth Wahtera, Editor
Kingston AAUW Focus