Finish the rest of your book shopping and go to the checkout to take advantage of this great discount.

Note: If you have a Barnes and Noble membership card ($25/year for 10% discount online and at the stores), you can use that as well when you check out. Please don’t, however, confuse the Barnes and Noble mention of “membership” with your AAUW membership - that’s a completely separate system.

Minutes of AAUW NC Board, Oct. 31, 2008

If you miss the window for listening over the phone or you’d rather listen to the Nov. 6 post election teleconference from your computer on your MP3 player, here’s a link to a recording of the call:

• http://www.aauwnc.org/uploads/2008/11/aauwpostelection2008.mp3

Do be sure to tell the AAUW staff what you think of the call:

• http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=gt4AEwQK_2fbSiAtKVzEh_2b7A_3d_3d 

JoAnn and Judy, Co-Presidents

Editors note: For detailed summaries of each Fall Meeting workshop, please go to www.aauwnc.org.
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OUR NEXT MEETING: Sunday, November 23; 1:30 p.m., Tony’s Seafood on Western Blvd. in front of Target (Jacksonville). Share a holiday meal with members and guests. Please bring donations for the Onslow Women’s Center. Contact JoAnn or Judy if you have questions about what to bring.
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YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO ATTEND: AAUW Twin Rivers Holiday Brunch on Saturday, December 6; 11:30 a.m. at the Catered Affair on Trent Rd., New Bern. Contact Connie for more information/carpooling/reservations - cgo@ec.rr.com .
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CALENDAR

November 23, 1:30 p.m. - Holiday meal with members and guests; bring items to be donated to the Onslow Women’s Center. Location: Tony’s Seafood on Western Blvd. in front of Target (Jacksonville). Please RSVP to JoAnn - coachjo@embarqmail.com or 910-577-1890.
November 27 - Happy Thanksgiving!
December - NO BRANCH MEETING - HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
January 26, 2009; 6:30 p.m. - Branch meeting, TBA.
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SAVE THE DATE: Celebrate 100 years of AAUW in North Carolina! AAUW Wilmington hosts a celebration at the beach on March 27, 2009 at the Blockade Runner, Wrightsville Beach, NC. You won’t want to miss it. Details in the Winter 2008 Tar Heel News and the January 2009 branch newsletter.
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PLAN NOW: To attend the 2009 AAUW Convention in St. Louis, MO, June 26-28, 2009. We will vote on major changes to the structure of AAUW.
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PAST AAUW Jacksonville Regional Branch newsletters and articles about our branch can be viewed on our web site: www.jacksonville.aauwnc.org.
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Heather F. Ochse, Editor, hksalc@yahoo.com
*AAUW advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education and research.*

Membership Matters E-Newsletter (Nov. 2008)
This issue of the e-newsletter for AAUW state and branch membership officers (MVP) unveils the AAUW Member Showcase and the updated branch locator, introduces the e-student affiliate program, and announces the new Barnes&Noble.com member benefit.

AAUW Current Topics Briefing #12
This issue of the member briefing introduces members to AAUW’s blog, AAUW Dialog, and outlines ways members and branches can participate.

AAUW Congratulates President-Elect Barack Obama
Statement from AAUW regarding the President-Elect, New Congress, and 2008 Elections

Candidates for the 2009-2011 AAUW Board
Review the list of candidates for AAUW board president, vice-president, and directors-at-large to be elected during the 2009 National Convention in St. Louis.

Read the latest issue of AAUW Outlook (Fall/Winter 2008)
This issue of the AAUW membership magazine focuses on the use of the Internet and technology by women and seniors, discusses gender politics, and provides tips to ensure a more secure financial future. [All members should have received their copy in US Mail.]

Eleanor Roosevelt Fund Award deadline Quickly approaching
Nominations for the Eleanor Roosevelt Fund Award must be postmarked by November 1, 2008.
The award is given for a broad range of activities including classroom teaching, educational and research contributions, and legal and legislative work in equity for women and girls.

2009 Convention Schedule now Available
The schedule for the 2009 AAUW National Convention is now available. Best Value Registration will open December 1, 2008.

Dates for 2009 NCCWSL Announced
AAUW has announced that the National Conference for College Women Student Leaders will be held June 4-6, 2009 at University of Maryland, College Park.

Download AAUW Voting Guides before the Election
AAUW voter guides provide nonpartisan information about candidate positions on AAUW priority issues. Because issues important to women and families are at stake in elections, it is vital that women go to the polls knowing where the candidates stand on issues such as education, retirement security, a fair and balanced judiciary, and pay equity.

AAUW, CARE Select Winner of Short-Story Contest
AAUW extends its congratulations to Arlene Mandell of Santa Rosa, California, for winning the AAUW-CARE “Education Is Powerful” short-story contest.

Financially For for Life and Focus on the Fellows
AAUW has created two new Programs in a Box to assist AAUW branches and states in (1) developing workshops to help women understand and improve their financial well-being and (2) connecting with current and past AAUW fellows and grantees.

AAUW Celebrates 30th Anniversary of the Passage of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act
AAUW urges the nation to celebrate the gains that women have made under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which was enacted 30 years ago on October 31. The critical civil rights law requires employers to treat pregnant women the same as other employees with similar abilities or physical limitations.

AAUW Dialog

• Yes She Can
• Meet Ilana Blumberg: Mother, Scholar, Author
• D.C. Loves Lines
• Election Day 2008
• What Does Obama’s Win Mean for Women?

Equity issues in the news

• Equity Issues (Oct. 31 - Nov 7) - Articles in this edition:
  • - Seminar Urges Women to Prepare for their Financial Futures
  • - Obama to Visit White House
  • - Equal Work, Equal Pay: Congress Seeks to Make Gender Pay
  • - High School Girls Build Bridges to Future Careers
  • - After Colorado Loss, Ward Connerly May Pull the Plug on
  • - N.H. First State with Female Majority in Senate
  • - AAUW Celebrates 30th Anniversary of the Passage of the Pregnancy Discrimination Act
  • - Vets Group Gives McCain Bad Scores for Votes He Missed
  • - Insurance Companies Charge Women More
  • - Would Amendment 46 Cancel Summer Science Camp for Girls?
  • - All-Male Senate in S.C.?
• Equity Issues (October 22-27) - Articles in this edition:
  • - GET TO KNOW ME - Catherine Forslund
  • - Medical Textbook Gender Bias
  • - Shriver: Palin, Clinton Candidacies Normalize Idea of Women in Power
  • - Women are More Likely to Outlive their Savings
• Equity Issues (October 11-21) - Articles in this edition:
  • - AAUW News
  • - Closing the Gap for Equal Pay
  • - In Debate, McCain Had Joe the Plumber, Obama Had Lilly Ledbetter
  • - Poverty Affects Education
  • - National Conference for College Women Student Leaders: Leadership for Today and Tomorrow

AAUW Legislative Alerts and Updates

• Listen and Give Feedback to Replay of Post Election Analysis Conference Call

AAUW NC Fall Meeting - workshops and information

• Panel discussion on NCCWSL (11/01/08) - presentation by speakers and a student at the 2008 student leadership conference
• Notes from the fall finance workshop (11/01/08) - branches should have submitted their Form 990N
• Notes from the fall membership workshop (11/02/08) - new resources for membership vps and others
• Getting access to member only resources (11/01/08) - card to help remember “all those passwords”

AAUW NC Fall Meeting - business items

• Picture of the AAUW NC 2008-2009 Executive Committee (11/04/08)
• Key messages from the board meeting (11/01/08)
• Communications Team Report for Fall Meeting 2008 (10/28/08)
• Treasurer’s report 10/31/08 (10/31/08)
• Financial report from 2008 Convention (10/31/08)
• Nominating Committee Report (10/31/08)
• Branch without borders to request formal approval (10/27/08)

All info the meeting (including reports posted earlier): www.aauwnc.org/category/general/2008-nc-fall-mtg/

Other AAUW NC News

• Cathryn Sill wins AAUW Award for Juvenile Literature (11/09/08)
• Tina Ewing appointed to career development panel (11/04/08)
• Plan now to attend the St. Louis convention (11/11/08)
• Information for hosts for summer/fall meetings (11/11/08)
• Subscribing to this news (10/29/08)

Public Policy

• Impact 2009 legislative briefings (11/12/08) - workshops across the state coordinated by the NC Justice Center

Branch News 

• AAUW NC’s newest branch applies for its charter (11/05/08)

Do you want to get these messages in “real time” but don’t want to keep checking the web? You can use an “rss reader” to watch the announcements, but if you don’t want to make that leap, you can get messages in e-mail as they are posted. See the subscribe information.

http://www.ncjustice.org/content/index.php?pid=347

for details and to RSVP.

Every member is encouraged to put those dates on her/his calendar and consider attending.

This will be an historic convention, with votes on significant changes that will affect the future of AAUW for us all. But the convention is also an excellent opportunity to get fresh ideas and new perspectives, and to meet more of the members of our powerful network! Come to learn, come to teach, come to celebrate our power to break through barriers so that all women have a fair chance. President Millie Hoffler-Foushee’s comments on why she’ll be there are hightlighted at www.aauw.org.

There are three steps to attending:

• Register! (Registration will open December 1 and best value fees will apply until  January 15.)
• Make your hotel reservations! (Available now at cwp.marriott.com/stldt/aauwconference/.)
• Plan your travel! (AAUW NC is still investigating a charter bus, but it’s not too early to start looking for low cost airfares or carpooling arrangements.)

All together, convention costs on the order of $1000/attendee. That may seem like a lot, but do be creative. Branch members can apply for AAUW NC minigrants, and many branches across the country do special fundraisers to ensure that they can send at least one delegate to the convention to represent their interests. Many attendees at convention will attest that getting the “big picture” at convention adds enormously to their understanding of this complex organization and so adds value to their membership — and to the membership for others in their branch.

Check with contacts in nearby branches if you’re looking for a roommate or would like to carpool to an airport (or to St. Louis!). [Rember you can find branch/state officer rosters in the AAUW NC Member Center (password required).]

Don’t be left out! Be sure that someone in your branch is able to attend!

For more information, see www.aauw.org/convention/conv2009/ and join the Convention 2009 Facebook group.

• Spring (March or April) - Convention. This is the annual meeting of the state organization, includes a board meeting, a luncheon and/or banquet, and workshops and/or plenary sessions.  Attendance is 80-100 members, and all members are encouraged to attend.
• Summer (July) and Fall (October/November). These meetings include a board meeting and have a variety of formats to accommodate the programming that is appropriate at that time. Programming may include strategic planning sessions, workshops, or other information sessions. The audience is usually the state and branch board members, but, of course, all members are welcome.

If your branch is considering hosting one of these meetings, these documents may be helpful:

• Convention planning guide (last updated 2004)
• State meeting guide (newly posted)

If your branch has recently hosted a meeting and you have comments or corrections for those documents, please post them here or forward them to the appropriate member of the state board. You can also find those documents on the Documents page of this web site. The schedule of future meetings is posted on the Events page of this web site — host branches are needed for meetings starting in spring 2010.

Mrs. Sill received the award for her latest book called About Habitats: Wetlands. This is a basic text aimed at grades PreK-3. Each page details a characteristic of a type of wetland in simple and succinct language. Sentences are short and simple for young readers to understand. As children look at the colorful illustrations, they will gain additional knowledge of the habitats by learning words that depict different environments.

An appreciation of our environment through Sill’s book at such a young age, is very important as we seek to protect our world from the ravishes of pollution and other environmental hazards. Besides the succinct text and the beautifully detailed illustrations, there is an afterword which contains a description of the various habitats.

Sill is a former elementary school teacher and the author of the About… series. With her husband John and brother-in-law Ben Sill, she coauthored the popular bird-guide parodies, A Field Guide to Little-Known and Seldom-Seen Birds of North America and Beyond Birdwatching. Husband John is a noted wildlife illustrator for all the About books. Other Sill books for young children include About Marsupials, About Birds, About Mammals, and About Insects.

• List of the winners since 1953
• List of the 2008 nominees