Roberta Schiff

Roberta Schiff has eaten a vegan diet since the mid-nineties when someone said to her, "A value is not a value if you don't practice it!"

On January 15th, Schiff will share some of the reasons she chose to give up first meat, then dairy and fish. She will bring a variety of healthful and delicious vegan food for attendees to try. She will answer questions about how to shop and prepare these foods and discuss the impact of reducing our consumption of meat and dairy, including the impact on diabetes and heart disease. The presentation will be interactive.

Armed with an M.S. degree in Community Health Education, Schiff has studied whole foods cooking and food preparation for 15 years. She has presented at many conferences and community events and is a past president o the Mid-Hudson Vegetarian Society.

By the way, Roberta is also a stand-up comic. Should be interesting!

Following up on our discussion of Half the Sky,  all of you who wish to join the committee's discussion  will  meet this coming Saturday at 11am. 

Our goal is to determine who should be the object of our bounty (smile). Several of us have volunteered to research international nonprofits and microlending organizations

Please join us at Vivi Hlavsa's this Saturday, January 8, 2011 at 11am.  Bring your research results, so we have the information necessary to come to a consensus.

  RSVP to me. Directions to Vivi's here.

Rokki Knee Carr, International Chairperson

rkcarr1@earthlink.net

Joe and his mentor Marty

Here are four films and a CTAUN conference of interest to folks concerned about public policy issues. You can read more about these films on our blog.

Please note, our meeting this month will be held at the Rosendale Theater on Tues., January 25th at 7pm. We'll watch the award winning documentary "Journeyman" (one hour) about male culture in America and adjourn to a nearby spot to talk about it. Details below.

Fri., 1/7 to Thurs., 1/13, 7:30 PM, (also 5 PM on Sun., 1/9), Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer

Upstate Films, 132 Tinker Street, Woodstock

Fri., 1/14, 9:30 AM to 4 PM, $65

CTAUN Conference at the United Nations HQ in NYC

Nicholas Kristof will be the keynote speaker. In 2000, all 192 member states of the UN agreed on a time-bound set of goals - the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) -- to work toward eradicating extreme poverty, primary education for all, promote gender equity, improve maternal and child health, combat HIV/AIDS and other diseases, ensure environmental sustainability - all by 2015! (http://www.teachun.org

Sat., 1/22, Sun., 1/23, Mon., 1/24, & Wed., 1/26, 7:15 PM, Inside Job, $6

Rosendale Theater, 408 Main Street, Rosendale

 Tues., 1/25, 7 PM,

Journeyman, $6 - Our Public Policy Film/Discussion this month

Rosendale Theater, 408 Main Street, Rosendale

Journeyman is a one-hour award winning documentary about rites of passage, mentoring, and male culture in America.

The film follows Joe and Mike, two teenage boys dying for healthy adult mentors. After their struggles with depression and violence, they join a mentoring program. As they work with male mentors they face challenging rites of passage, discover their inner strength, and learn to engage with a community of supportive men.

The film discovers experiments to reinvent male communities by giving boys what they need to grow into mature manhood. Finally, Journeyman follows its' characters into an authentic "Rites of Passage" where mentoring from a community of men and boys create a transformation experience for young boys entering adolescence. For more information, see: http://www.mirrormanfilms.org

Sat., 1/29, 5 PM 

War Made Easy, 4th of 4 films in the Youth and War series:

Rosendale Theater, 408 Main Street, Rosendale, Admission: $7 (free for ages 18 and under)

Spotlights Shine on AAUW Fellows

Jane Chen, CEO and co-founder of Embrace , was interviewed on 20/20 (Friday, December 17) for her role in creating inexpensive incubators that help underweight babies keep warm in developing countries. Chen, who received a Selected Professions Fellowship from AAUW, is continuing her work to decrease infant mortality rates. Learn more. 

Rosalind Wiseman, another AAUW fellowship and grant recipient and author of Queen Bees and Wannabes, appeared on the December 17 episode of What Would You Do? This show included a segment about bullying, an area in which Wiseman provided expertise.

Black History Month

From Marjorie Regan: The AAUW Kingston Board has agreed to sponsor an Essay Contest at the Hodges Center in Kingston, to mark Black History month in February. The film Freedom Writers would be shown and any participants would write an essay about the DVD. Further details will be available when arrangements are made with Sandy Thompson Hopgood,  Director of the Hodges Center.

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Facebook Updates:

AAUW NYS on Facebook

New!AAUW NYS: If you want to know what other branches are doing, or if you want to discuss something on your mind related to AAUW in NYS, or see what others have on their mind, "like" this new page and start posting and commenting. The most successful groups are those where everyone contributes, so please help get this page cooking.

AAUW Kingston NY Branch: We have lots of ways to communicate with each other, so we hope this page is a way to let other women in the Hudson Valley know about us. It's also a good way to read some of the blog posts from the branch and from National.

Never joined Facebook? Can't see the use? Think of it as a way to learn more about your grandchildren, your children, nieces and nephews without asking lots of questions, as well as a way to join cross-branch discussions. Give it a try. And don't hesitate to ask one of us for help.