Monthly Archives: August 2016

What’s New with the Interest and Book Groups This Year? by Cherril Peabody

Existing Groups: Several interest groups and book groups have some openings for new
members, so now’s your chance to sign up!

Great Decisions III meets on the third Monday at 1 p.m. They learn about what’s going on in various parts of the world and have great discussions, not to mention a great time!

Have you ever had a secret desire to be an actress? Here’s your opportunity to try it out. Readers’ Theater meets on the second Wednesday in the evening. They read plays (with lots of attitude!) provided by a branch in Southern California.

If you enjoy word games, you’ll enjoy the Scrabble group that meets on the last Monday afternoon of each month. Several twosomes play at once, and then they switch for a second round.

The two Board Games groups also can accept a few new members. One meets the last Thursday of each month at 1 p.m., and the other on the last Friday evening at 7 p.m. They play all kinds of non-computer games.

Walk to Lunch members choose an area to walk in and then go to a restaurant in the area for lunch. They would welcome a few more members.

Book Group 12 members come from all over the county to meet on the first Thursday evening, mostly reading fiction, but sometimes nonfiction.

Book Group 33 members mostly hail from Carmichael and Arden-Arcade, but carpoolers from other areas are most welcome at their meetings bright and early on the first Thursday at 9:30 a.m.

New Groups: A couple of our existing groups are full, and their leaders feel that a new section could be started, so we need to find out if there is sufficient interest and leadership available in order to proceed.

Both Great Decisions evening groups are full, so Great Decisions IV would be another evening group. Obviously, working women can’t fill the openings in Great Decisions III, which meets during the day, so let’s see if there is enough interest to start a new evening one.

Couples Dining Out is pretty full, too. There’s a sense that there would be interest among younger married or committed members for their own dining out group. Is this true? We don’t know unless we ask.

WOW (Women of the World) is not a new program, but it is returning to its roots as an interest group. Since meetings will be held in private homes where space is limited, members will need to enroll moving forward. We do have leadership for WOW, so all you have to do is sign up with Cherril Peabody. You can pre-enroll now or sign up at the Showcase meeting if space is still available.

Contact Interest Group Director Cherril Peabody to pre-enroll for the fall at capeabody@comcast.net or 916-973-0821.

2017 Speech Trek – Planning Begins by Liz Jordan

The 2017 Speech Trek Contest year has begun for the Sacramento Branch. Committee members Shari Beck, Ann Arneill, Liz Jordan and new member Ellynrose Sheehan recently met to begin planning the next round of informational workshops that the committee provides to interested students at all nine of the Elk Grove Unified School District regular secondary schools.

This year’s topic for students to ponder, analyze, research and speak on is: Is it time to pass the Equal Rights Amendment? If so, how can this be accomplished? How can organizations such as AAUW help in getting this amendment ratified once and for all?

Alice Paul first introduced the proposed Amendment to the U. S. Constitution to Congress in 1923. In 1972, Congress finally passed the ERA. At the time she introduced the Equal Rights Amendment to Congress, Paul said, “…We shall not be safe until the principle of equal rights is written into the framework of our government.”

The next step was ratification by at least 38 State legislatures. By 1977 35 of the necessary 38 states had ratified the amendment when advocates appealed to Congress for an indefinite extension of the time limit for ratification, but they only got an extension until June 30, 1982. When the political tide of the time changed, the ratification process stalled and time ran out. Since then, the ERA has been reintroduced at every Congressional session.

Last year at the Academy Awards, actress Patricia Arquette, brought new attention to the gender pay gap, and has since started a campaign to assure passage of the Equal Rights Amendment. Filmmaker Kamala Lopez has created a new documentary entitled, “Equal Means Equal,” in which she examines the effects of gender inequality in the United States.

The speech contest is scheduled for the third Saturday in February. The contest runs from 9 a.m. to noon, with refreshments and an opportunity to hear what nine young people have to say about critical issues of equity. This will be the February Branch meeting, and the public is invited as well.

If you are interested in joining the committee as we begin to contact school personnel, please contact Liz Jordan, lizjord@msn.com, 916-354-9608; or Shari Beck, gsbeck@surewest.net, 916-451-5143.

The annual speech contest requires a budget of about $1,300. Students are offered a workshop with helpful handouts, coaching assistance, and content and delivery tips. Because our branch membership was so generous with their donations this past year, the committee increased the prize money for 2017 winners to $500 for first place and $250 for second place. Third place still wins $100, and honorable mention gets $50.

Because our donors are so important to this project, we want to thank them for their donations made along with their membership dues:

Becky Anton
Ann Arneill
Kathleen Asay
Alice G. Bauer
Shari Beck
Jean Bonar
Ruth Burgess
Vivian Counts
Gladys Deloney
Lori Franz
Cheryl Fuller
Joan Hammond
Lisa Howard

Catherine Locke
Charlotte Luallin
Vicki L. Nicholson
Kathleen Papst
Anne Rhodes
Marianne Rorden
Hedda Smithson
Pamella Vaughn
Shirley Wheeler
Linda Whitney
Patricia Winkle
Sandra Winter
Gloria Yost

Fall Showcase – Mark Your Calendars! by Nancy McCabe

What: Fall Showcase Branch Meeting

When: Saturday, September 17, 9 – 11 am

Where: Arden-Dimick Library, 891 Watt Avenue, Sacramento

It’s almost time for our 2016-17 AAUW year to officially start. As usual, we will kick off with our Showcase meeting, but we are planning some new features this time around. We will have presentations from Tech Trek, Scholarships, Funds, Public Policy and Speech Trek, and we hope to have an outside speaker who will talk about one of our important AAUW public policy issues. Check out the September Capital Ideas for more details.

Instead of having tables for all the interest groups, we will have one or two tables where you can sign up if you are interested in joining one of the groups. If you have an idea for a new interest group, please contact Interest Group Director Cherril Peabody right away (capeabody@comcast.net, (916) 973-0821) and tell her about it, so she can publicize it before the Showcase. Ideas don’t get implemented without leadership, though, so be prepared to chair the new group!

Sacramento Branch Members Visit Tech Trek Summer Camp at UC Davis by Linda Patterson

Tech Trek Campers

This year, the Sacramento AAUW Branch sent five students — Frankie XU, Kendra Sagara. Margaux Bautista, Alondra Chavez, and Emily Carmona — to the Tech Trek summer camp at UC Davis. Tech Trek is an experiential summer camp designed to pique the interest of eighth-grade girls in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). A group of Branch members were able to see the girls in action in several of the classes offered. The classes we visited included genetics, math and engineering, anatomy and physiology, and computer science. The girls were building bridges in engineering, dissecting lungs and learning about respiration in anatomy, creating apps for devices in computer science. All the girls we spoke with said they were having fun, learning new things, and were so happy to be there.

Tech Trekkers Deep in Discussion

Since 1998, AAUW has helped change girls’ lives through Tech Trek. A 2013 survey of Tech Trek alumnae who attended the camp in California between 2006 and 2009 demonstrates the program’s lasting effects on many levels, including interest and confidence in STEM fields, decision to pursue STEM curricula and future career plans. For example, 82% of the girls chose to take more science classes in high school, 87% completed algebra and 77% pre-calculus, 73% enrolled in four-year college or university programs and 91% reported that Tech Trek boosted their self-confidence in their ability to be successful in science classes and 78% said the same for math classes.

Linda P. observes a Tech Trekker in action

Later this year we hope to have some of the girls come to a Branch meeting to share their Tech Trek experiences.

Thank you to all members who supported Tech Trek this year and in years past. You can be assured that you made a wise investment in the futures of young girls.

Exploring Our Interest Groups – Cultural History Group by Cherril Peabody

The Cultural History group, formerly known as History of the World, looks at the early DNA of modern life, discussing innovations that have brought about social, economic and personal change. Members trace events and ideas as they have evolved over time to see how they are affecting our current lives and their prospects for the future. Members like to continue getting to know each other, so each one comes to meetings with a new question for anyone who would like to answer about her own life as related to the topic, which often brings a lot of laughter. Some of the past and future topics from books we’ve read are lasers, women, noise, working solo or in networks, digital communication, chocolate, wine/beer, tea/coffee. The group chooses books with topics members are curious about but know little about initially. Rosa Lee Black is Chair of this group. Contact her at rosaleeblack99@yahoo.com.

Attention, Branch members: If you have an idea for a new interest group to start this fall, and especially if you are willing to chair the group if it gets going, please contact Interest Group Director Cherril Peabody, capeabody@comcast.net. We are planning to publicize ideas for new groups in advance of the Showcase Meeting and solicit members for them so we can hit the ground running in the fall. Thanks for your help!

WOW (Women of the World) will be returning this year to its original status as an interest group. As we are envisioning it, the group will have a set membership of 12 to 15 members and will plan three or four presentations for its membership only in members’ homes. Anne Rhodes has agreed to chair the group. She is starting to take names now for membership, so if you would like to join this group, contact her at rhodesmicasa@yahoo.com.