Masthead
         Midsummer,  2009  2008 - Vol 1, Issue 1
In This Issue
KAAUW Calendar
Potluck & a Film
Summer Trips
New Officers!
Membership Brunch
Educating Girls in Afghanistan
New Reading List!
News




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Kingston AAUW Calendar
Kingston AAUW Calendar

Tues. July 28, Cooperstown, Glimmerglass trip - see below.

Sun. Aug. 9, Potluck & a Film - see below.

Tues. Aug 11, 1 pm, Board Meeting, Kingston Library

Wed. Aug. 12, Boscobel trip - see below.

Saturday, August 29, 11 am - Membership Brunch at Vivi Hlavsa's house to introduce new and potential members to the Branch. RSVP required - see article.

Tues. Sept. 8, 1 pm, Board Meeting, Kingston Library

Tues. Sept. 15, Daytime Book Discussion,   1 pm, Kingston Library.

Note special date and time: Tues. September 22,  3pm,  Branch meeting,  Tour Vassar's Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center. Car pool leaving from Kingston 1:45 pm.

Last Chance!
  Summer trips - see below
 
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Potluck & a Film
August 9th, Bella Martha
Bella Martha poster
On Sunday, August 9th, 5 PM at ViVi's house (directions on request), we will watch the following film:
 
The August film will be the 2001 German film Bella Martha

Here's a summary:
Martha is the head chef of a restaurant.  When her sister is killed, she assumes responsibility for her daughter, Lina, at least until Lina's father can be found.  Coping with Lina's behaviour, Martha's work starts to suffer, so another chef, Mario, is hired, setting up a rivalry.

The film develops from this point, focusing on the effort to locate Lina's father and the effect that Mario has on those around him.

As usual, bring a dish to share.
  Warmly--ViVi

Note: Vivi has a new email address: [email protected]
Summer Trips
Brooklyn Botanical Gardens

Last Chance!
Tuesday, July 28th
 Cooperstown
Glimmerglass production of
La Traviata by Verdi
Cost: Balcony $86; Orchestra 106; Cooperstown alone $37
Leaving at 8 AM and returning around 8 PM
* * * * * * * * * *
Wednesday, August 12th Boscobel
for the Hudson Valley Shakespeare's production of
Much Ado About Nothing
Cost: $59
(Bring a picnic supper for eating on the lawn)
Leaving at 4 PM and returning around 11:30

For reservations, call Pat Whelan between noon and 9 PM at 845-657-6807 or write [email protected]
Quick Web Links
2009-2010 Kingston Branch Officers
Leadership

President - Bette Nitzky
VP, Programming - ViVi Hlavsa
Asst. VP, Programming - Beverly Sloane
VP Membership - Suki Kerr & Jean Semilof
Treasurer - Doris Licht
Recording Secretary - Susan Holland
Corresponding Secretary - Joan Reis

Committees
Bus Trips - Vivi Hlavsa and Pat Whalan
Communications - Ruth Wahtera
Directory - Sheila Beall
Diversity - Arlene Bruck
Educational Foundation - Doris Goldberg & Irwin Rosenthal
Historian - Bernie Carpino
Hospitality - Pat Stedge and Ginger Yaples
Legal Advocacy Fund - Dolores LaChance
Publicity - Carole Leib
Public Policy - Irene Miller
Telephone Tree - Virginia Kohli

See your directory for phone numbers and email addresses.

Click here for links to leadership profiles.
Kingston AAUW Branch Communication Committee
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.

Deadline for September newsletter submissions:
August 20th.
Greetings!
Summer is a time for planning. The new board is setting goals for the coming year and we want to hear from you, so watch for our membership survey this month.

Meanwhile, enjoy the last few days of summer by spending the day in Cooperstown on Tuesday (yes, tomorrow, only $37 for the bus). Or, how about Shakespeare and a picnic at Boscobel in August -- a perfect way to end a summer day.
The editor
P.S. We're cleaning our files in preparation for the new directory. To avoid being purged from our list, if you haven't already, send your dues ($67) to Doris Licht, Treasurer.
From the Branch President, Bette Nitzky
Bette Nitzky Let me start by saying I appreciate the honor of being your president. I realize the many challenges that lay ahead to make this organization a meaningful part of our lives.

How can we make you feel that AAUW is a vital and thriving extension of how you view the world and our environment? What can we do to meet your needs and goals? Than is what is on my mind today. I want to make this organization represent you, to be there for you, so that you can know that AAUW is representative of all that we are.

I want to reach out to all of you to let you know that any idea is a start for conversation and communication. If you think this organization should go in a new direction, let me hear you. I need to tap into all our many thinking heads so that we can represent you in the fullest way.

Some ideas that we have brainstormed recently are creating a transportation chair so all members can attend meetings. Reaching out to young people is in discussion. Communicating with other organizations in Kingston to see whether we can benefit from their input and vice versa is another idea.

I ask for your help because I feel that we are all in the same lifeboat and each of us has an oar. If we all use our energy together we  can navigate through any stormy sea. There is so much creativity and ingenuity in this group and I propose that we can, working together, create an AAUW that mirrors us in every way.

Let me hear from you. Let's roll up our sleeves and get to work to make AAUW be us.
Sincerely,
Bette Nitzky
Membership Brunch
How did you happen to join AAUW?
AAUW Dialog Detail
Image detail from AAUW Dialog

Introduce Others to AAUW

Three years ago, Ruth Wahtera received a phone call from Bette Nitzky  inviting her to come to a membership "tea." Ruth didn't know Bette and Bette recalls that Ruth asked lots of questions before agreeing to attend.
 
"I went to the tea and didn't know a soul," Ruth said. "But, everyone was friendly and as the women (and couple of men) introduced themselves, I was impressed with their wealth of experience and range of interests. I thought, these are women I'd like to know who are committed to working on issues I care about."
 
Do you know people who might share that feeling? Let's introduce them to AAUW!

Suki Kerr and Jean Semiloff, membership VP's, are up to their elbows planning a membership brunch for Saturday, August 29th at Vivi's and they need your help. The membership committee's goals are to
  • Introduce AAUW to potential members,
  • Get to know recent members better, and
  • Encourage former members to rejoin.
Here's what we'd like you to do. Think about why you're a member of AAUW. Now think about who you know, male or female, young or old, working or retired, who would share your interest.

Now, call or send the names and contact information for those people (you must know at least one person!) to Jean or Suki. Include phone and email so they can follow-up on the invitation. Do it today. Their goal is to get invitations out by August 1st.
 
They also want you to know about two membership campaigns that can benefit prospective members.
  • Give a Grad a Gift - AAUW members can now give a recent grad - a friend, daughter, granddaughter, or niece - a free AAUW membership. At no cost to you or her!
  • The Shape the Future Membership Campaign is a program offers reduced membership rates for new or lapsed members to join on the spot during AAUW-sponsored activities like the brunch.
New branch president (and former membership chair) Betty Nitzky says that personal contact makes a big difference (Ruth says she never would have attended if Betty didn't call her.) so offer to bring your friends and prospective members to the brunch. Or, if you won't be there, share why you belong to AAUW with them ahead of time.
 
And, as usual, help with food, set up, and clean up that day is always welcome and needed.
 
Today: Call or email contact info for invitees to Suki at 338-2637 or Jean at 331-4559.

Membership Brunch
Vivi Hlavsa's House
Saturday, August 29th, 11 am - 1 pm

RSVP to Jean or Suki for attendance 
Thought Provoking
Book Cover From Marjorie Regan:
I am sending a link to this column (excerpt below) by Thomas Friedman from the NY Times since its about the book, Three Cups of Tea, which we will be reading for October.

Teacher, Can We Leave Now? No. - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com: "I watched Greg Mortenson, the famed author of "Three Cups of Tea," open one of his schools for girls in this remote Afghan village in the Hindu Kush mountains. I must say, after witnessing the delight in the faces of those little Afghan girls crowded three to a desk waiting to learn, I found it very hard to write, "Let's just get out of here.""
...
"It is no accident, Mortenson noted, that since 2007, the Taliban and its allies have bombed, burned or shut down more than 640 schools in Afghanistan and 350 schools in Pakistan, of which about 80 percent are schools for girls. This valley, controlled by Tajik fighters, is secure, but down south in Helmand Province, where the worst fighting is today, the deputy minister of education said that Taliban extremists have shut 75 of the 228 schools in the last year. This is the real war of ideas. The Taliban want public mosques, not public schools. The Muslim militants recruit among the illiterate and impoverished in society, so the more of them the better, said Mortenson."

Read the whole column to learn Friedman's rationale for why our work isn't finished in Afghanistan.

What do you think? Add your comments to our blog post.
2009-10 Daytime Book Group
Plenty of Reading and Lots of Talk

 The daytime book group meets at 1 pm, usually on the third Tuesday of the month, at the Kingston Library. Contact Marjorie Regan with any questions.

Book and Glasses

September 15, 2009 The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
A young Jewish youth escapes Nazi ruled Czechoslovakia to become a cartoon artist in New York City.

October 20, 2009 Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson. Mortenson tells the story of his time in Afghanistan winning over tribesmen and building schools for girls despite the dangers.This is a book in a bag selection. Don't buy the book. You will get it Sept. 15th.

November 17, 2009 As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner. Commentary fromthe Web: The Bundren family makes a perilous journey to Jefferson to bury their matriarch, Addie, among her people. This novel explores grieving, community and family.

December 15th, 2009 Japanese Inn by Oliver Statler .Five hundred years of Japanese history, from 1500 to 2000 is told by a series of Innkeepers. James Michener called it a minor classic.

January 19th, 2010 The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse by Vicente Blasco Ibanez. This story follows the members of one French family and their different experiences in World War 1.

February 16, 2010 The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman by Ernest J. Gaines. The main character is a child at the time of the Civil War and lives to be over 100. She reflects on the events she has lived through and makes intelligent and hopeful interpretations.
Cover via Amazon

March 16,2010 First Mothers: The Women Who Shaped the Presidents by Bonnie Angelo. Interesting stories of our Presidents' mothers and how they raised their sons.

April 20, 2010. Vivi Hlvasa will select a book to be read by the whole community

May 18, 2010 The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. This fictional story is told through letters. It begins in January 1946 when English writer Julie Ashton receives a letter from a member of the GLPPPS. She learns of the World War 2 German occupation of the island of Guersey and how the book club helped the British on Guersey to psychologically survive the War.

June 15, 2010  Peony In Love by Lisa See. This is a Chinese Romeo and Juliet story with a wealthy Chinese cultural background. It explains how religion affected daily life. This is the 2nd book by the author of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.

News and Celebrations

Paycheck Fairness posterBreaking Through Barriers
AAUW has been a key member of the coalition working hard on the Hill to get the Paycheck Fairness Act passed.

The NY Times published an editorial on June 23rd supporting the Paycheck Fairness Act. "Women still make, on average, 78 cents for every dollar earned by men performing substantially the same work.

"To foster greater fairness, stronger civil rights protections are required.The bill would provide those protections by ensuring that courts require employers to show that wage disparities are job-related, not sex-based, and consistent with business needs. It would protect employees who discuss salary information with co-workers from retaliation. It would also allow plaintiffs who prevail in court to recover compensatory and punitive damages."

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Did you know? AAUW Educational Foundation provides more than $4 million annually in fellowships, grants, and awards for outstanding women around the globe. Apply for one yourself or encourage family members, friends, or local scholars to do so. In addition, our branch provides scholarships for local students.

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We regret to report that former members, Carol Schwabacher and Stan Rosenberg died this past May.

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September 22nd Branch Meeting: Beverly Sloane has arranged for a special tour of the Loeb Art Center at Vassar College exhibit Drawn by New York: Six Centuries of Watercolors and Drawings at the New-York Historical Society. This will be an afternoon meeting and we will carpool to Poughkeepsie. Watch for details in the next newsletter.

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Reminder: AAUW members get a 5% discount when ordering books from Barnes & Noble on-line. Often there's a discount coupon for an additional amount -- for example, from July 23-28, there's a discount coupon code for 20%. Just use this link.