Some issues from last year’s 2009 Women’s Agenda (presented  by NC Women United at its 2009 Advocacy Day) are still pending. Use NCWU’s virtual advocacy system to write to your legislator — particularly on one of the issues that AAUW NC endorsed (see www.aauwnc.org/advocacy for the status of those issues and links to talking points).

• Write your NC legislators via NCWU virtual advocacy system

1. AAUW NC participated in the first NC Women United (NCWU) Showcase event held March 11, 2010 at the Radisson Hotel RTP.  AAUW NC is a member of NCWU.  The event gave the NCWU member organizations an opportunity to network and to learn more about each other’s missions and priorities and to raise awareness of NCWU and its programs such as the Women’s Agenda Assembly and Women’s Advocacy Day. AAUW NC was one of the event sponsors with a $250 contribution and had a display table with AAUW literature for distribution.  AAUW attendees included Nancy Shoemaker, Sheila Bassoppo-Moyo,  Elaine Ostrowski, Mary Fran Schickedantz, Doris Bernlohr, Denny McGuire, Sue Mengert, Sue Metz, M. Cookie Newsom, Michelle Evans and Sonya Stafford.
2. The Executive Committee approved AAUW NC signing on to a letter sent by Planned Parenthood Central NC to county commissioners across the state opposing a recent movement to remove coverage for elective abortions from county health care plans.  Support for this matter is in conformance with the AAUW Public Policy Program which advocates for “Choice in the determination of one’s reproductive life.”
3. Equal Pay day is scheduled for April 20 which is the symbolic day when women’s wages catch up to men’s wages from the year before.   AAUW has several resources available to branches to download to help mark the day including Pay Equity Resource Kit, Equal Pay Day Program in a Box, and  AAUW “Women at a Discount” posters and stickers for use at AAUW events and meetings.  All branches were contacted by e-mail to remind them of the day and how to access these resources.
4. I participated in a conference call on March 16 with the AAUW staff and state public policy committee members from across the country to review AAUW resources available to promote public policy priorities at the grassroots level.
5. As approved in a prior Board meeting, an insert was developed for the 2009-2011 AAUW Public Policy brochure which provides information on North Carolina legislation supported by AAUW NC.  Thanks to Nancy Shoemaker for developing the insert.  The brochure with insert is available to attendees of the AAUW NC Convention in Charlotte.
6. AAUW NC will participate in NCWU’s Women’s Advocacy Day Program in connection with the short session of the NC Legislature which will begin meeting in May.  NCWU is considering alternatives to meeting in Raleigh on a specific day this year, such as having a virtual advocacy day or partnering with other organizations that are planning their own Advocacy Days.
7. In my role as Public Policy Chair, I attended AAUW Raleigh Branch meeting in January at their invitation to discuss the AAUW Public Policy Program and how the membership can participate in advocating for it.

Essentially, when an issue is proposed the steps are -

• The public policy/advocacy chair confirms that the issue is in line with other published AAUW principles and priorities
• The executive committee, by majority vote, may decide to endorse the legislation

Policy on Endorsing Proposed NC Legislation

• Winter 2009 Tar Heel News (PDF, 2.5 Meg)

See, in particular,

• information on the 2010 AAUW NC convention (page 1)
• federal public policy updates on the Healthy Families Act and the High School Athletics Accountability Act (page 4)
• a special thank you from Democracy NC on our support of the pre-registration for 16 and 17 year olds (page 3)
• President’s letter and pictures from the Fall meeting (page 2)
• Information on 2009-2010 AAUW Fellows in North Carolina (page 3; follow the link for more pictures and details)
• Information on Wilmington project to screen students for vision problems. (More on the Wilmington branch.)
• Ad highlighting membership in the Tar Heel Branch which serves the entire state
  • join now
  • give a gift membership

Correction:

• On page 2 there’s a discussion of the WAGE project’s $tart $mart workshops giving the names of a few members in NC who are trained facilitators. There are nearly 20 people in NC who have been through the facilitator training, including additional AAUW NC members Ada Gregory, Jean D’Addario, and Kathy Pearre. Two workshops have been held this fall at UNC Charlotte and at Duke. More info.

They have recently sent out this message which provides more information on this legislative effort:

“Over 30,000 of our children are currently involved with the adult criminal justice system. Over 85% of these children have committed minor crimes, yet a bad decision made when they were 16 or 17 years old will determine the trajectory of their lives.

Individuals and organizations are invited to sign on to the Statement of Principles behind the legislative effort to raise the age at which children are prosecuted as adults in North Carolina.

Click here to learn more and read the Raise the Age Statement of Principles.

Please email Brandy Bynum or call 919-834-6623 x234 to sign on as an individual or an organization. Legislators will act on this issue only if they hear from constituents. Help us tell them that these children can no longer be ignored.”

If you are interested in supporting the proposed legislation, or wish to know more about it, please follow the links provided above.

Both events will take place Dec. 10^th at the Busy Bee Café in downtown Raleigh.  The annual meeting will be from 3:30-4:30.  The reception will be from 4:30 to 6.  They  are encouraging coalition partners to stay for all or part of both.

If you’d like to attend representing AAUW NC, please coordinate with Elaine Ostrowski (contact info).

• Pages 1-5,7-8 (all but the directory)
• Page 6, the directory of board members (in the member center, contact info@aauwnc.org for the login information)
• For public contact information for the AAUW NC board, see
  • Branch presidents
  • Elected and appointed officers

Highlights from the 2009 AAUW Summer Meeting:

• Introduction (page 1)
• Highlights of discussions (page 4, board meeting minutes)
• Pictures (pages 1, 4, 5)
• More web articles

Public Policy Information

• Is anyone listening (page 5, web article, summary)
• AAUW support for Judge Sotomayor (page 7, web update)

AAUW News

• New bylaws for AAUW approved in St. Louis (page 4, specifics on the new bylaws, more details on convention including handouts and videos)
• Hoffler-Foushee appointed to AAUW board (page 3, AAUW board directory)
• Leadership Corps recruits its first class (page 2, background, FAQ)
• 2009-2010 national dues remain at $49, but $46 is tax deductible (page 2, more details)
• New pilot dues collection process has launched (page 5, AAUW briefing, AAUW FAQ, AAUW NC notes)
• Applications for 2010-2011 fellowships and grants are now available (page 8, press release, more details)

AAUW NC News

• Directory (page 6)
• Fall Meeting registration (page 7, more)
• President’s Message (page 2)
• WAGE and $tart $mart workshops (page 3, more details)
• Vacancies in positions of secretary and newsletter designer (page 2)
• AAUW NC Financial Report for FY08 (page 7, web article)
• How AAUW NC is using Facebook and twitter (page 8, web article)

Branch News

• Carolina Authors’ Luncheon, Wilmington, Nov. 7 (page 2, Wilmington newsletters)
• Chapel Hill branch honors Rachel Carson (page 3)
• Tar Heel Branch reminds MALs that they are welcome to join the branch and connect to AAUW NC (page 4, info at branch site)

Dates

• AAUW NC Fall Leadership Meeting: October 9-10, Boone
• AAUW NC 2010 Convention: April 16-17, Charlotte
• Tar Heel News copy deadline: Nov. 9; target mail date Dec. 7

• page 3: Hoffler-Foushee was appointed to the position of AAUW Finance Vice President. She was not among the candidates elected to the board.
• page 4: In the picture, the person second from right is Betsy Miner, not Denny McGuire
• page 7: Our Membership VP’s name is spelled Sheila Bassoppo-Moyo
• page 7: The “Healthy Branch Culture” workshop will be led by Ann Wilkins and Barie Baker.

Please send additional corrections to editor@aauwnc.org

This was one of the bills on the 2009-2010 list of AAUW North Carolina public policy priorities.

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