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         March,  2009   

February, 2008 - Vol 1, Issue 1
In This Issue
KAAUW Calendar
Book Club this week
Potluck & a Film
Peking Dancers
Roosevelt Leadership
Human Rights at the UN
Black History Month
AAUW Proposed By-Laws
News




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Kingston AAUW Calendar
Kingston AAUW Calendar

Thurs. March 5, A Mighty Noise, CARE/AAUW benefit, Albany.

Sun. March 8, Potluck & a Film - see below.

Reserve Now! Sun. March 15, Peking Dancers and Tang Museum - see below.

Tues. March 17, Book Discussion, The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton,  1 pm, Kingston Library.

Sat., March 28, Branch Meeting at ValKil, 10:30 am.

Wed., March 25, AAUW Conversations: Get Fresh,  Woodstock TV and Ustream.com, 8:30 pm
 
Make the KAAUW google calendar a favorite and you'll always know what's happening. Integrate it with your own google calendar. Print it.
March Book Clubs
Book Cover Daytime Book Club: 3rd Tuesday at 1pm, Kingston Library:

March 17, 2009, The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton.
First published in 1905, The House of Mirth shocked the New York society it so deftly chronicles, portraying the moral, social, and economic restraints on a woman who dared to claim the privileges of marriage without assuming the responsibilities.

Change: April 21st, 2009 Vivi Hlvasa's Community Wide Selection : Stories by Andrea Lee

Book CoverEvening Book Club: 2nd Tuesday, 5:15 -7pm, Olympic Diner (location may be changed).
 
March 10, 2009, In anticipation of the March meeting at ValKil we will discuss Leadership the Eleanor Roosevelt Way by Robin Gerber.  Using biographical details from different periods of the first lady's colorful history, from childhood to the last few months of her life, Gerber shows how Roosevelt's actions are still relevant and can provide inspiration for women today. To confirm the location call Garnette Arledge.
Potluck & a Film
March 8th: The Mother
The Mother
On Sunday, March 8th, we will be watching a 2003 film called The Mother

Here's a synopsis:
 
Recently widowed May (Anne Reid) cannot bear to return to the home that she shared with her husband, so she moves to London with her daughter, Paula (Cathryn Bradshaw), who is having an affair with a married man, Darren (Daniel Craig).  A carpenter, Darren is working on the house of his friend and May's son, Bobbie (Steven Mackintosh). When Paula asks her mother to check Darren out, the two strike up a friendship and then become lovers, and the involvement makes May experience an emotion she had lost for years. As for Darren,what does he experience? And what happens when May's children learn of the affair?
 
Covered dish supper at 5 at my house, followed by the film and a brief discussion.  Hope you can make it.  ViVi

March Trip
Metropolitan Museum Christmas Tree

Sunday, March 15th


Peking Dancers

at the Egg
and a visit to the
Tang Museum
at Skidmore

9:30 AM - 6:30 PM
$55 includes all tickets, driver tip, and bus.

Follow the links or call Pat Whalen between noon and 10 pm at 845-657-6807 for details.

Quick Web Links
Kingston AAUW Branch Communication 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.
Greetings!
Like most of you, I'm tired of snow and cold. I hope that by our March meeting at Val Kil we may be able to delight in the green tips of tulips and daffodils peeping up through the grass.

Meanwhile, stay warm and stay well.
The editor
March 28th Branch Meeting at ValKil
Eleanor Roosevelt

Join us Saturday, March 28th at 10:30 am for a presentation by Kathleen Durham, Executive Director of Val Kil. She will discuss Leadership the Eleanor Roosevelt Way - Timeless Strategies from the First Lady of Courage by Author Robin Gerber, historian and leadership educator, Senior Fellow, Academy for Leadership, University of Maryland.

Bring a box lunch; we'll provide drinks & desert. Enjoy the grounds. The tour of Val Kil at 1pm is limited to the first 20 who sign up.

We're testing a new, free reservation system. When you RSVP choose the meeting only, meeting and lunch, or meeting, lunch & tour. (Paper subscribers -- call Garnette at  845-201-0001)

Human Rights & Greg Mortenson at the UN
Susan Holland
On January 30, I was fortunate to be able to attend Protecting Human Rights: The United Nations - Our Schools, at the UN Headquarters in New York City. This event, the 11th in a series of annual conferences for educators and concerned citizens, was organized by the Committee on Teaching About the United Nations (CTAUN) and the UN Department of Public Information (UN/DPI).

A record 800 people attended (32 were AAUW members). The full-day program focused on what each of us can do to promote an understanding of human rights. In the morning, Craig Mokhiber, Deputy Director of the NY Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, gave an impassioned talk on The 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Challenges and Opportunities. The afternoon session included a panel on Teaching about Human Rights with the dynamic Shulamith Koenig, President of the People's Movement for Human Rights Learning and a live, interactive videoconference with students and teachers in British Columbia, Cameroon, and Pakistan.

This year's keynote speaker was Greg Mortenson, co-author of the bestseller Three Cups of Tea (which just came out in a young readers' edition and a children's picture book edition) and co-founder of the non-profit organizations Central Asia Institute and Pennies for Peace. We learned in his introduction that he had just come from Washington, D.C., where he was meeting with members of the U.S. Senate and Congress, as he is being nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for his work.

During his talk, Greg noted that the publishers of Three Cups of Tea insisted on using the subtitle "One Man's Mission to Fight Terrorism ... One School at a Time" on the book cover. He was not happy about this and met with them to tell them so. They informed him that he didn't know anything about the publishing business. He made a deal with them - if the hardcover didn't do well, he wanted to use his subtitle on the paperback. Hardcover sales were not as brisk as expected, so when the paperback came out, Greg got his wish. The paperback's subtitle is: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace ... One School at a Time. Book sales skyrocketed!

At the end of the day, I took the opportunity to browse through the UN Bookstore. By the time I closed it down and returned to the conference room, the book-signing line was down to a dull roar. I queued up, and was thrilled to meet Greg, shake his hand, express my heartfelt thanks for all he has accomplished, and get his autograph on my book. What a great day!
Black History Month with the Everett Hodge Center   Marjorie Regan
DVD cover
About 30 people watched the short film, The Psychological Residuals of Slavery when our branch sponsored a film and essay contest with the Hodge Community Center last month. Most were young people at Junior Hign and High School level with a few adult friends of the Hodge Center and three AAUW members.

Hodge's Community Outreach Coordinator, Sandy Thompson-Hopgood, conducted an interesting discussion. One adult said he had not realized where his anger was coming from and the film helped him. Another mentioned Capt. William Lynch, a vigilance committee member, who in Virginia in 1780,  introduced the lawless practise of killing by lynching.This was done to control slaves.
Another man talked about times when he was not credited with inventions he had developed.

The younger film watchers identified their feelings of anger, rage and sorrow about the discrimination black people have suffered. All agreed  that discrimination has not ended.

Mrs. Thompson-Hopgood emphasized developing cooperation and support within the Black community.

The Center was very welcoming to our AAUW members. They invited us to come back Feb. 27th to award AAUW prizes to the children for the three best essays written about the film. We also plan some recognition for each essay participant.
AAUW By-Laws and Survey
from Eileen Hartman, AAUW NYS President
Greetings to all of you!

Your opinion about the proposed by-law changes to be voted on in June 2009 is important to me as your state president and sharing it will assist all of us in valuable discussion within the next few months.

The Pennsylvania AAUW prepared a chart of the more controversial changes  bylaws changes and a survey tool to collect your opinions. It is now read for our use in New York State AAUW.
 
Go to this link to review the chart and complete the survey
 
To help you in providing responses, once you are in the survey you may click on the link at the top of it ( where the wording is predominately red)  to access the chart. You may switch back and forth as you progress through the survey to refer to the items in the chart.  The chart can be enlarged on your screen or printed out if you prefer.
 
You may also access the entire Association proposed bylaws information including a wonderful Question and Answer section on the www.aauw.org site within the Member Center. The deadline to respond to the NYS survey is March 30, 2009 at midnight. Thanks for honoring that.

Thanks for your AAUW work.
 Eileen S. Hartmann
 News and Celebrations
*****
From Marjorie Regan: I recently met Lillian Meagher in Kingston.  She is a long time AAUW member. She is unable to get to meetings but would like to hear from older members who remember her. Her phone no. is 331-7688.

*****
Celebrate International Women's Day

Movie poster

A Powerful Noise- The impact of one voice; the power of many - This live event in theaters across the country will bring together women and girls to celebrate and gain strength from the stories of three women in very different worlds who empowered themselves to fight poverty and change the world. Showing in Albany on Thursday evening, March 5th.
Sponsored by CARE and AAUW

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Lever update: Three counties and the NY Association of Towns have passed a resolution to urge the state to retain the lever system. Greene County's hearing is March 16th.
Stay up-to-date with Lever news at our new
Save NY's Levers Blog.

If you haven't signed the petition yet, you can do so electronically here.