Student affiliate project

Our plans for recruiting student affiliates hopefully will materialize in the near future.

Here below a proposal plan (part of the entire paper) that was submitted to the Meridian Society:

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Educational Support Opportunities for Female Students:

How Can the SIUE Branch of AAUW Assist?

Zsuzsanna Szabo, Ph. D.

School of Education
President of AAUW, SIUE Branch

&

Cathy Santanello, Ph. D.

School of Pharmacy

AAUW Member, SIUE Branch

Goals/Objectives achievable during project period

In the spring semester of 2007, the opportunity for the two scholarships will be presented to the student body at SIUE through the existing forms of communication (Student Affairs, the Alestle, WSIE-FM). A decision committee will be formed among members of the AAUW SIUE branch to develop the criteria for the scholarship and to decide on the two female junior students who will be the recipients of the scholarships in the value of $500 each. The two students will then go through a period of acquaintance and training in the objectives and opportunities of AAUW. The two students, under the guidance of faculty members in the AAUW SIUE branch, will develop a workshop plan of action and use available consultation from the coordinator of the Freshman Seminar courses on campus. Throughout the fall 2007 semester, the two scholarship beneficiaries will facilitate at least four workshops each to female college students in their freshman year through the Freshman Seminar courses. At the end of the fall 2007 semester, the two students would have the opportunity to participate at the National Conference for College Women Student Leaders as well as other opportunities for female college students through the AAUW SIUE branch.

From those freshman female students who participate in the workshops, we hope to find the next generation of leaders who will help newcomers in the following academic year. We hope to sustain this scholarship program through future fundraising initiatives so that in the 2008 academic year, the branch will be able to provide two scholarships for the next two female students.

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Mission Statement:
AAUW advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education and research.

Vision Statement:
AAUW will be a powerful advocate and visible leader in equity and education through research, philanthropy, and measurable change in critical areas impacting the lives of women and girls.

The DEVIL is in the Details

Why PRADA is one of the Best Films of 2006

with Jan Lisa Huttner

Jan Lisa Huttner, has a BA from St. John’s College and Masters degrees in Psychology from both Harvard and the University of Chicago. She is the managing editor of FILMS FOR TWO: The Online Guide for Busy Couples, a website (in collaboration with her husband) devoted to promoting films of interest to both male and female audience members, and she is AAUW-Illinois’ Director of International Relations. In 2004 she became the coordinator of a new AAUW-Illinois initiative called WITASWAN (Women in the Audience Supporting Women Artists Now) to mobilize consumer support for women filmmakers.

Jan writes film reviews both online and in print, interviews filmmakers (with an emphasis on female filmmakers), writes regular columns for Chicago’s JUF News and The Digital Filmmaker, and is a popular speaker addressing groups on the subject of women in the film industry, including the “celluloid ceiling” which she will define for us in her presentation. She is a member of the Association for Women Journalists, the Chicago Area Women’s History Council, the Chicago Film Critics Association, the Illinois Woman’s Press Association, and Hadassah's AGAM chapter. She has received awards from several of these groups for her work.

Jan is passionate about films, she likes good films, by all sorts of filmmakers, not just by women. But she also has the ability to show us that the female vision is way beyond “chick flicks” bringing us expanded views of the human condition, the human voice, and the human vision. Why not see more rather than less of what it is to be human?

Using "The Devil Wears Prada" as a case study, Jan gave us some background on women in the film industry, showed a short film of how Prada made it to the big screen, and after discussing this and her interview with the wife/husband director duo of "Little Miss Sunshine," allowed us time to ask our own questions.


See below images of this great presentation.

Second Book sale

Thank you to all our volunteers at the used book sale!

Our second book sale brought our branch members again together for a couple of hours.



We even have finally students being interested in our AAUW SIUE Branch!
YES!!!!! If nothing else, the book sale made us visible on SIUE Campus!



The left over books were donated to the Edwardsville Public Library.
They were very happy to receive over 400 books from us.
And we are happy that the books will not be trashed in the recycle, but they will be checked out by readers.

Upcoming News

April 24th, 2007- Tuesday- 11AM -2PM

AAUW SIUE branch walk-a-ton on Campus bike path

WAGE Clubs and Equal Pay Day

With Equal Pay Day approaching on April 24, AAUW has joined forces with The WAGE Project (http://www.wageproject.org/) and other coalition partners to promote WAGE Clubs, a grassroots effort designed to help close the wage gap and get women treated and paid fairly at work. They are groups of 5-10 women who come together in a safe place where they can obtain support from other women as they share personal stories about sex discrimination at work, gather information, build allies, then go to the top to create change in their workplaces and communities. AAUW branches are encouraged to join this effort by committing to launch WAGE Clubs in their communities and their workplaces. Information about how to start a WAGE Club can be found in the AAUW Pay Equity Resource Kit along with other resources to fight for pay equity.

April 27-28, 2007

You're Invited to the AAUW-Illinois State Convention! in Bloomington, IL

HONORING OUR LEGACY- EMBRACING OUR FUTURE

See www.aauw-il.org for registrations forms and other information

Test Your Knowledge of Herstory

Did you know that every week in March, in honor of Women’s History Month, you can test your knowledge of women’s history in the AAUW website’s Member Center? Last week’s question was: When was the 19th Amendment granting women’s suffrage ratified? Go to the member center for the answer and then take this week’s quiz. Use it as a tool to encourage other members to visit the member center regularly to keep up to date on AAUW activities, programs, and services. AAUW Member Center

Strategic Process – Moving Toward Convention

See what member leaders are saying about the process and send us your thoughts. Visit the updated Strategic Process section on the AAUW website.

The 2007 Convention, Phoenix, AZ, June 29 - July 2

At this historic convention meeting, members will vote on a series of bylaws amendments and proposals that will determine the course of AAUW's future. Don’t miss attending!

GEMS in Alton, IL

Four of our members participated in the annual event GEMS (Girls Education in Math and Science) organized by AAUW branches in collaboration with other sponsors from Metro East area.
This action was hosted at Lewis and Clark Community College, in Alton, Saturday March 17th, 2007 from 8AM to 2PM.

This is an annual great event in what girls from grades 6th, 7th, and 8th participate in a half day long "Real World" experience. They learn how to write and balance checkbooks as imagined to be "24 years old graduates." They choose a job, and decide what and how they manage their life as 24 years old young adults. They can choose from a large variety of workshops hosted by guest speakers. The girls have the chance to meet many guest speakers from domains of work usually labeled as man jobs such as: pilot, engineer, scientist, physician, constructor, chemist. Also they can take a quick peak into jobs such as: chef, beautician, nurse, accountant, teacher, lawyer, doctor, mechanic, etc.

This great event was a total success and we can thank also to our branch members who volunteered their Saturday morning for making an exciting experience for the young girls.
Thank you:

Terri Poirier
Mariana Solares
Sharon Jenkins
Zsuzsanna Szabo

Celebrate Women’s History Month!

In many ways, the history of AAUW is the history of the women’s movement. The founding of AAUW in 1881 began with a meeting of 17 like-minded women who had defied society’s standards by earning college degrees. Today, with more than 100,000 members, 1,300 branches, and 500 college and university partners, AAUW contributes to a more promising future and provides a powerful voice for women and girls—a voice that cannot and will not be ignored.

Throughout its history, AAUW has shaped the social, political, and economic scene for women, including fighting to win women the right to vote; pushing to close the wage gap; and advocating for landmark legislation that has changed women's lives, such as Title IX and the Family and Medical Leave Act. Despite the improvements that have been made, inequities still exist and AAUW continues to work towards diminishing all of them.

Prior to 1972, women were routinely discriminated against in educational opportunities. AAUW strongly supports Title IX and opposes any efforts that would weaken its effectiveness. Through vigorous enforcement of the law and heightened public attention to these issues, even more progress can be made to address areas where more improvement must be made.

There are more working women in the U.S. today than ever before and that number is expected to grow. Yet women face inequity when they enter the workforce, as they find themselves paid less than men for the same or comparable jobs. Women continue to earn only 77 cents on the dollar to their male counterparts. To match men's earnings for 2006, women have to work from January 2006 to April 2007—an extra four months.

AAUW advocated from 1983 to 1992 to pass the Family and Medical Leave Act, which was finally signed into law in 1993. Since then, the FMLA has allowed roughly 80 million Americans to take job-protected leave to care for themselves or a loved one when they need it most. The FMLA has been a tremendous success: it has made America’s workplaces more family-friendly and helped individuals be productive workers and responsible family members.