Daily Archives: March 4, 2018

Authors Luncheon on March 24 by Nancy McCabe

Come to listen and share Hoang Chi Truong’s story of her family’s escape during the fall of South Vietnam and their arrival to the US and adjustment to life in the Sacramento Valley. Their immigrant experience is one of hard work and family sacrifice to enable the younger children to thrive in the new country. Her mother was the family caretaker and her father worked several jobs to support their children and provide the necessities as they acclimated to a very different culture. The author feels that their story is much like that of today’s immigrants.

She started writing her book, Tigerfish, to explain to her young daughter how her life had been so different.  By the time she had finished the memoir, she also had a son with whom to share her story.

Catch up on where her life has led since she finished the book and share lunch with other AAUW readers. This is an important annual meeting as it is election of officers for next year. Either click the orange “Register Now” button on the website to pay by credit card or click here to download and  mail the attached registration form to Dawn Boyd. Reservations are due March 13. See you there!

Eventbrite - AAUW Sacramento 2018 Authors Luncheon

 

Presidents’ Message by Marty McKnew and Donna Holmes

As I write this article, the Olympics are underway. This is a good time to reflect on the progress of women in the Winter Games. Among the 258 athletes lining up at the start of the first Winter Olympics held in 1924 in Chamonix, only 11 were female, all of them figure skaters. By 1960, 20 percent of the athletes were women. Over the years, more sports opened up to women, but always with a fight. The first woman served on the IOC Executive Board in 1990. In 1991, a historic decision was made by the IOC: Any new sport seeking to be included on the Olympic program had to include women’s events

Women athletes made up 43 percent of all athletes at the 2018 Winter Games, up from 40 percent in 2014. They can compete in all events. However, even in disciplines where female athletes have achieved equal participation, many of their events have different durations and distances, stereotyping women as weaker and less skilled than men. They jump off shorter hills, ski and speed skate shorter distances, and compete on shorter bobsleds.

One has to wonder how much the passage of Title IX in 1972 had to do with the emergence of. American women in the Winter Games. Bravo to all the women athletes! While Title IX was a great step forward, we still have our work cut out for us. Just last month the Equal Rights Amendment was defeated in the Virginia legislature despite the efforts of woman’s rights activist across the state. Why is the ERA important? The answers are in the video “Equal Means Equal,” which our branch showed last year. Liz Jordan will be glad to arrange a showing if there is enough interest.

 

Marty McKnew

Funds Update by Kathleen Asay, Funds Co-Director

As our Anniversary Fund nears completion, it’s natural — and fun — to think about the potential recipients of our namesake grants. So I asked branch member Sue Bordner what it’s been like for her. Sue was California AAUW president from 1994 to 1996, and, as has been the tradition with California presidents, a fund was created in her name when her term in office ended. In Sue’s case, it’s an American Fellowship, which is awarded annually to women engaged in full-time study to complete dissertations, conduct postdoctoral research or prepare research for publication. Begun in 1888, American Fellowships is the oldest and largest of AAUW’s fellowships and grants programs.

It is possible to look at www.aauw.org to find Sue’s fellowship and the names and projects of the winning recipients. Sue even had the opportunity to meet three of them — Jan Goggans, Kimberly M. Parke and Kristina Smith — and has information on two. Goggans, 2001-2002, was at UC Davis for a Ph.D. in modern American literature/American nature writing, focusing on Dorothea Lange. Parke, 2002-2003, attended UC Berkeley, exploring the intersection of science and music. Other grantees have worked in business administration, law and social policy, robotics, women’s health policy, racial identity in Costa Rica, gender and the sense of belonging, personality consequences in wild vervet monkeys, and engineering for better water quality. What an education we might get if we could put these women in a room and listen to their conversation! How proud Sue must be to know that her name grant is forever linked to their accomplishments.

AAUW attempts to place grant recipients with a fund donor in the same geographical area, making it easier for the two to meet. We have much to anticipate!

Late Breaking News

Our 100th Anniversary R & P Grant is funded! Details next month.

AAUW: Where Did It All Begin? by Gloria Yost

The idea that led to today’s American Association of University Women was born in 1881. Oddly enough, it came from someone who was not a college graduate.

Mrs. I. Tisdale Talbot, wife of the Dean of Boston University’s Medical School, was a leader in educational and philanthropic work in Boston in the 1880s. Her concern for educational opportunities for young women had been sharpened by the difficulties experienced by her own daughters in seeking higher education. Her older daughter, Marion, could find no school in Boston that offered adequate work to prepare girls for college. With the aid of private tutors, she managed to meet the entrance requirements of Boston University. However, when she had earned her degree, Marion Talbot found only the most limited opportunities to use the training she had acquired.

Inspired by Mrs. Talbot’s vision, Marion Talbot and her friend and teacher, Ellen H. Richards, issued a call to all the college women they knew to meet in Boston on Nov. 28, 1881. Seventeen responded, most of them less than five years out of college, and enthusiastically prepared to formally organize the Association of Collegiate Alumnae (ACA) with a membership of 65. Jane (Jennie) Field Bashford became the first of 18 women who served as president during the period of the ACA. Their first research report was issued in 1886 in conjunction with the Massachusetts Bureau of Statistics of Labor. The report, Health Statistics of Women College Graduates, established that contrary to popular belief, women’s health is not adversely affected by attending college.

Within two years, there were 356 members in nine different states. Soon members came together in local groups (branches) all across the country. In 1912, the Association divided the country in to 10 sections, later known as regions, with a national officer in each. The need for more local collaboration led to the formation of state divisions. Finally, in 1921, when the Southern Association of College Women voted to join, the name was changed to American Association of University Women.

**With excerpts from “The History of the American Association of University Women, 1881-1931” by Marion Talbot and Lois K. M. Rosenberry

Membership Matters by Linda Patterson and Sharon Norris

Remembrances

Longtime former AAUW member Dorothy Dublirer passed away in December 2017 at the age of 99. Dorothy was born in Anchorage, Alaska, and attended the University of Alaska, Washington State University, and Sacramento State University, earning teaching and school psychologist credentials. She worked as a nurse’s aid during World War II in San Francisco and moved to Sacramento after the war ended with her first husband. After earning her Master’s Degree, she taught Early Childhood Education at UCLA before again returning to Sacramento, where she worked for the California Department of Education for many years. In her long career, she established preschool education programs for migrant children and volunteered with the Developmental Disabilities Service Organization. One of Dorothy’s many community contributions was the design of the Crooked Mile and the Swiss Cheese Wedge at Fairytale Town in Land Park.

Membership News

Please welcome new members Cecilia Delury, Maria Barajas, Vivian Khen and returning member Kathy Schrumpf, who have joined in the last two months.

At the May Branch meeting, members will be encouraged to meet and sit with other members living in the same zip code to facilitate getting to know one another. Look for these new members and others you don’t know at that meeting and be sure to say hello and welcome them to the Branch. Building and retaining our membership is everyone’s responsibility.

 Look for your membership renewal forms in the mail in early May. AAUW National has raised member dues to $59 from $49, effective March 16. Annual membership for National, State and .Branch dues will now be $99.

Speech Trek 2018 Recap by Shari Beck

The 11th Speech Trek Contest took place on Saturday, Feb. 17 at Cosumnes River College. Eight speakers delivered well developed thoughts about the topic, “How can we stand up to sexism.” Many families, friends and our members came to support and listen to the interesting ideas of the speakers.

Winners are pictured, left to right:

  • Grace Tan, first place, $500, Sophomore, Laguna Creek High School
  • Kathy Le, second place, $250, Junior, Pleasant Grove High School
  • Simran Thandi, third place, $100, Junior,  Sheldon High School
  • Harleen Kaur, honorable mention, $50, Junior, Sheldon High School

AAUW Sacramento Branch Nominating Committee Report for March 2018

The nominees for the 2018-2019 Officers of the AAUW Sacramento Branch are as follows:

  • Presidents: Donna Holmes and Elizabeth Jordan
  • President Elect: Vacant – available opportunity
  • Program Director: Deborah Dunn
  • Program Co-Director: Vacant – available opportunity
  • Membership Co-Directors:    Linda Patterson and Sharon Norris
  • AAUW Fund Co-Directors:    Kathy Asay and Alicia Hetman
  • Finance Director: May Ruth Lynch
  • Secretary: Tiffany Ardisana-James

 The nominees for the 2018-2019 Nominating Committee are:

  •   Nancy McCabe
  •  Marty McKnew
  •  Della Knowles

Article V, Section 1-c of the Sacramento Branch by-laws state, “The names of the nominees for elected officers shall be published and sent to every member at least ten days prior to the annual branch meeting.” The next branch meeting is March 24, 2018.  A motion will be made and a vote taken. Election shall be by a majority vote of those voting.

Nominating Committee Report submitted by the Sacramento Branch Nominating Committee;

Current Members:  Shari Beck, Della Knowles, Barbara Smith, Pamella Vaughn and Ruth Werner (Chairperson).

 

Looking for Member Input on Interest Groups by Cherril Peabody

I learned recently that the evening Board Games group is no longer meeting, although the daytime group continues to meet. There are also a couple of other groups that have lost membership: Scrabble and Reader’s Theater. Our most popular groups continue to thrive: Art and Architecture, Film Fans, Great Decisions, Travel, both of our Dining Out groups, and all of our book groups, although we lost one of those last year. It seems that once a group has lost members, usually for a variety of personal reasons, it loses momentum. There is no hard and fast rule about how many members a group must have in order to continue, and I have left it up to the members to decide if and when they want to disband their group.

Since I have been Interest Groups Director, I have tried – unsuccessfully – to start several new groups. I don’t know if it is because people are too busy to add anything new to their activity schedules or because we haven’t come up with a sufficiently interesting topic for a group or because our members are more focused on our mission these days. So I’d like to put the question to our membership: What do you think about the state of our interest groups? Are you satisfied with the ones we have? Do we need some new ones? Are all of the groups in which you participate still meeting your needs and desires? Please give me some input so I can do a better job for the branch. Thanks!