Boulder AAUW Branch News

Welcome to the Boulder Branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) and the the first edition of the 2006-07 EBulletin. The EBulletin will be published 4 times a year; September - October, November - December, January - February, and March - June. Please direct questions or comments concerning the EBulletin to Melissa Teel at 303-466-8190 or mteel62586@aol.com.

PRESIDENTS' LETTER

From Astrid Maute
The past few months have been very exciting for me. My daughter, Berit, was born in April and I spent the summer at home, experiencing the fun and challenge of seeing her grow, and combining work and baby care. It makes me even more aware of the issues for which women are still fighting. I dream that Berit will never experience boundaries in choosing a profession. I hope that she will only be driven by her interests and talents and that she is never confronted with sexual harassment and assault. I dream that she will be treated equally and never has to think about male coworkers getting more money and better benefits. One AAUW focus topic matches my concern, which you may share with me - Equity is still an issue! This is valid for all generations. You can visit the AAUW website, http://www.aauw.org/, to get more information and ideas about equity for all.

From Astrid Maute and Melissa Teel
There are lots of ways to make a difference. By joining AAUW, we all made a first contribution. We would like to encourage you to take another step. On November 18th, Young Professionals will present "Fitting Work Into Life: Balancing Finances, Career and Family", which emphasizes an AAUW topic of interest - Equity is still an issue! Young Professionals is inviting a life coach to discuss the challenges of managing a busy professional and family life. Make sure that AAUW represents all women by joining us at this event and inviting your friends. Another highlight is in October when the Brown/Ricketts/Udick scholarship recipients explain their research projects. It's always inspiring to hear them talk with so much enthusiasm about their work. Show that you support them by attending, asking questions and "expanding your horizons". Don't forget to vote in November. There are many ballot issues, and the governor's and legislative races. AAUW will offer information about the issues on the website, through state mailings, and at the Fall Leadership Conference in Breckenridge (September 15-16, 2006). It's very exciting to meet other energetic AAUW members, learn about the mission-based programs of AAUW and spend 2 nice days in the mountains. Take time to explore the AAUW websites, http://www.aauw.org/, http://www.coaauw.org/, and http://www.coaauw.org/boulder. We will try to inform you of some important topics, but much more is available on the websites. Check it out!

We hope for an interesting and exciting year for us all. Please bring your ideas to the Boulder Branch to make it a lively and changing branch. Let's celebrate 125 years of AAUW this year!!!!

UPCOMING EVENTS (Sept/Oct 2006)

FALL LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE
There is still time to register for the Fall Leadership Conference to be held in Breckenridge on September 15-16. Please check the state website at http://www.coaauw.org/ or your copy of the State Bulletin for registration forms. Sadie Collins, a CSU student, will be the speaker at the luncheon on September 16th. Sadie will present a slide show on her experiences at the June AAUW Conference of Women Student Leaders.

PROGRAM AGENDA - FALL, 2006 - please be sure to put on your calendar!

September 24, 2006 - Membership Tea - Koenig Alumni Hall, 1202 University Avenue, Boulder, CO from 3-5PM. Our speaker will be Lys Anvia, a delegate to the 50th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations. Her topic will be "Embarrassed to be an American". Please join us to usher in the new AAUW year, catch up with old friends, meet new friends and stimulate your mind!

October 14, 2006 - Brown/Ricketts/Udick Scholarship Awards, 2006. The Brown/Ricketts/Udick Scholarships Award Winners will tell us about their fields of expertise. This is a popular meeting every year, due to the wonderful work accomplished by these young women. Please join us from 9:30 - 11:30AM at Frasier Manor, 350 Ponca Place, Boulder, CO, 80302 (303-554-0154) and feel free to bring a friend.

The Scholarship Recipients this year are:
Sarah Taylor - M.A., Anthopology
Maribeth Oscamou - Ph.D, Applied Mathematics

November 18, 2006 - The Young Professionals are presenting a program conducted by a life coach on the topic of "Fitting Work into Life" Balancing Finances, Career & Family". More details will follow in the November - December EBulletin.

December 3, 2006 - This is the date of our annual Holiday Brunch and Fashion Show. This is the only fundraiser for the Educational Fund so please mark this date down and plan to attend. Details to follow in the next EBulletin.

PUBLIC POLICY

New Boulder Branch Member Marilyn Leist has agreed to chair the Public Policy Committee. Marilyn has an extensive background in AAUW, having been both a Maryland State AAUW President and a Mid-Atlantic Regional AAUW Director. She will be updating us about an AAUW Public Policy issue in every EBulletin. Thanks, Marilyn!

ISSUE BEING CONSIDERED AT THE NATIONAL AND STATE LEVELS

Marilyn Thomas Leist, Public Policy Chair - 720-771-2292, leistm@aol.com

One of the national issues on which AAUW has taken a position is the Federal Marriage Amendment. Support for AAUW's position can be found in the Public Policy Principles for Action and the Biennial Action Priorities for 2005-1007 at the following website: http://www.aauw.org/issue_advocacy/principles_priorities.cfm

AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL

The Federal Marriage Amendment
The Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA) is a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution which would define marriage in the United States as a union of one man and one woman. The FMA also would prevent judicial extension of marriage-like rights to same-sex couples or other unmarried persons. The most recent vote on the proposed amendment took place in the Senate on June 7, 2006. The amendment failed to pass; of the 60 votes required to invoke the cloture motion, 49 senators voted for putting the amendment to vote and 48 voted against.

AAUW has a long, proud tradition of exercising and defending the civil rights protected by the United States Constitution. AAUW strongly opposes the notion that discrimination has any place in our country, and such discrimination should never be codified in that most sacred of democratic documents - the United States Constitution. It is in honor of this tradition - and the belief that Constitution is a document that protects Americans, not one that discriminates against them - that AAUW opposes the Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA, H.J. Res. 56, S.J. Res. 26).

The FMA states very simply, "Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution or the constitution of any State, nor state or federal law, shall be construed to require that marital status or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon unmarried couples or groups." In order to amend the Constitution, the amendment must pass both houses of Congress with a two-thirds majority, and must be ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures. In March, President Bush officially endorsed the Federal Marriage Amendment.

While AAUW members have differing perspectives on the issue of gay marriage and civil unions among same-sex couples, we stand united against the idea of writing discrimination into the Constitution. If the FMA were passed and ratified, it would be the first time the Constitution was amended to restrict - rather than to expand - rights (excepting Prohibition, which was subsequently repealed). This would be an alarming precedent that AAUW fears would be repeated in ways detrimental to key AAUW public policy priorities. While AAUW does not take any position on the issue of same-sex marriage itself, we do believe there are right and wrong ways to address the issue as a matter of public policy. Constitutional amendments are extremely rare, and are only done to address great public policy needs. http://www.aauw.org/issue_advocacy/actionpages/positionpapers/fma.cfm

AT THE STATE LEVEL

Coloradans will have an opportunity in November to address this issue on a state level. The website at http://newsfittopost.wordpress.com/tag/amendments/ provides an explanation of the three initiatives related to this topic that may be on the ballot in November. 1. Constitutional Amendment to Ban Marriage Equality: This now classic ballot proposal will attempt to write discrimination into the constitution by banning same-sex marriage through an amendment.
2. Referendum 1 - Domestic Partnerships: Proposed by Colorado lawmakers, this initiative aims to give same-sex couples many of the rights and responsibilities of married couples through domestic partnerships.
3. Domestic Partnership Amendment: This initiative proposed by Coloradans for Fairness & Equality would write domestic partnerships law into the state constitution. The amendment would ensure that anti-gay forces could not constantly threaten to take away same-sex couples' rights through ballot initiatives or legislation. The Domestic Partnership Amendment would clarify that domestic partnerships are not the same as marriage.
The website http://www.fairnessandequality.org/ provides further information on these ballot issues.

HOW WILL YOU VOTE?

"EXPANDING YOUR HORIZONS" (EYH)

Expanding Your Horizons (EYH), our career conference for middle school girls interested in careers in science, math and technology, will be presented on Saturday, February 24th, 2007. EYH continues to be a great success, and this year will be chaired by Rita Johnson, Lora Lehman, and Karen Alfino. The EYH committee is looking for a Boulder Branch member who speaks Spanish to facilitate advocacy for Spanish-speaking middle school girls who might be interested in attending our conference. If you speak Spanish and would be interested in contributing to another successful EYH, please contact Karen Alfino at 303-666-1056 or kaalfino@msn.com.

MISC

From the EdEq. August bulletin.

Womens Equality Day: On August 26, AAUW commemorated the 86th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, when women achieved the hard-won right to vote, by issuing a press release (www.aauw.org/newsroom/pressreleases) and encouraging members to write letters-to-the-editor capwiz.com/aauw/home). This is an excellent time for states and branches to continue honoring this precious right by planning a Women-to-Woman Voter Turnout campaign using AAUW's new user-friendly manual (www.aauw/issue_advocacy/voter_ed/Wome-to-WomenVoterTurnout.cfm) of the same name.

SEE YOU ALL AT THE SEPTEMBER 24TH MEMBERSHIP TEA!!!!!!

Sept/Oct 2006 E-Bulletin

PRESIDENTS' LETTER

UPCOMING EVENTS (Sept/Oct 2006)

UPDATES & CORRECTIONS

INTEREST GROUP NEWS

NEW MEMBER BIOS

GENERAL BOULDER BRANCH NEWS