VP Branch Communications: Connie Gamble Ochse (cgo@ec.rr.com)

President’s Message

Greetings Members! I hope that this finds each of you enjoying good health and the warmer (?) weather.

I am looking forward to seeing you on Sunday at our annual luncheon meeting. Remember that you can pay your 2013-2014 membership dues at this meeting. We will also be electing our 2013-2014 branch officers. Nominations from the floor will be welcome.

Also, there is still time for you to vote online for National officers. (Go to www.aauw.org and follow the directions.) I have made my reservations for my flight to New Orleans for the National Convention in June. We lived on the West bank many years ago, and I am looking forward to seeing the growth and changes that have occurred since we lived in Louisiana.

Thank you to Marena, Joanne, Katharyn, Chris and Connie for showing up to pick up litter at Richard Ray All-American Park for our Earth Day project. We stayed until it started to rain and picked up ten bags of litter!

- JoAnn

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OUR NEXT MEETING: May 19 (Sunday), 2:00 p.m. – Our annual meeting will be at the Saltwater Grille in Swansboro. We will elect our 2013-2014 branch officers, pay dues ($71), and enjoy a delightful meal in each other’s company.

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2013 MEETING DATES AND PROGRAMS*

May 19, 2:30 p.m. (Sunday) – Jacksonville Regional Branch Annual Meeting, Saltwater Grille, Swansboro waterfront.

June 9-13 – AAUW Biennial Convention, Sheraton New Orleans Hotel, New Orleans, LA. Former Senator Olympia Snowe will receive the 2013 AAUW Achievement Award in New Orleans and you can be there! The third longest-serving woman in the history of Congress, Snowe earned nationwide recognition as a leading policy maker in the U. S. Senate. In addition to receiving the award, Snowe will sign copies of her memoir, Fighting for Common Ground: How We Can Fix the Stalemate in Congress (Weinstein Books).

June, July, August – Summer hiatus

*Locations will be announced closer to the meeting date.

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REMINDER: Our branch website is available 24 hours a day with our branch newsletters, current and past, and the latest information on what we are doing. So if you accidentally erase this e-mail, don’t worry. We are still here! Go to www.jacksonville.aauwnc.org .

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AAUW NC Annual Meeting Highlights

A. 15 branches in attendance, 3 fellows, 2 Jacksonville attendees – JoAnn and Connie

B. Amendments to by-laws: 1) President and Branch Advocate elected in odd years, Vice-president and Treasurer elected in even years; 2) nominating committee will be eliminated and those duties will be handled by the presidents’ council

C. Passed a Resolution of Commitment to Ratify ERA-NC and to commit $500 to their efforts

D. The White City by John Claude Bemis was awarded the NC Juvenile Literature Award 2012. AAUW NC purchased copies to be given to each branch’s public library. The White City is the third book in a trilogy that is geared to 5th grade through middle school readers. Mr. Bemis’ first book in the trilogy, Nine Pound Hammer won this award in 2010.

E. AAUW National updates from Julia Brown, Director-at-Large: 1) LAF supported 11 cases/committed $100,000 in legal support in 2012; 2) $4.3 million was awarded to 278 recipients in fellowships and grants (3 spoke at our meeting); 3) 125th anniversary of Education Foundation; 4) new AAUW logo now appearing on all materials (see above); 5) “It’s My Vote” now moves to keep electees accountable.

F. Fall regional meetings being planned for late September/early October. (Wilmington closest to Jacksonville. Details TBA.)

G. Branch projects: Letters to the editor re AAUW, who we are, what we do, issues that matter to us

H. National Convention in New Orleans: June 9-13. Want to go? www.aauw.org

I. Wine and Wisdom: Branches had bragging rights detailing their neat projects, big fundraisers & clever ideas.

What a great meeting! The central location was convenient for all members. Meals were delicious, topics were helpful. Updates from National reps Julia Brown and Deborah Swerdlow were timely. Most appreciated was the opportunity to reconnect with members from across the state. If you have questions about any of the issues mentioned, I will gladly answer them at our next gathering.

- JoAnn

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OUR NEXT MEETING: April 22, 3:30 p.m. – EARTH DAY! We will be cleaning up Richard Ray All-American Park in the Commons. WEAR: Comfortable clothes, shoes, hat. BRING: Gardening gloves, “grabber” if you have one, plastic grocery bags (easier to carry), snacks/water for yourself. DIRECTIONS: Take Western Blvd. to the Marine Chevrolet/Toys-R-Us intersection. Turn onto Gateway South. Take the next left on Commons Drive. Parking for the park is immediately on your left. There is a restroom and shaded area for your comfort.

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YOU ARE INVITED: The Onslow Literacy Council cordially invites you to attend their ribbon cutting on Saturday, April 20, 12 noon to 2:30 p.m. Their new location is 200 Valencia Drive, Jacksonville. We regularly contribute books to their library and auction items to their fundraisers. Contact Connie for more information: 910-346-8223 or cgo@ec.rr.com .

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2013 MEETING DATES AND PROGRAMS*

April 22, 3:30 p.m. – Earth Day – Clean-up at Richard Ray All-American Park, the Commons, Jacksonville. Details above.

May – Jacksonville Regional Branch Annual Meeting. Details TBA.

June 9-13 – AAUW Biennial Convention, Sheraton New Orleans Hotel, New Orleans, LA. Former Senator Olympia Snowe will receive the 2013 AAUW Achievement Award in New Orleans and you can be there! The third longest-serving woman in the history of Congress, Snowe earned nationwide recognition as a leading policy maker in the U. S. Senate. In addition to receiving the award, Snowe will sign copies of her memoir, Fighting for Common Ground: How We Can Fix the Stalemate in Congress (Weinstein Books).

*Locations will be announced closer to the meeting date.

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REMINDER: Our branch website is available 24 hours a day with our branch newsletters, current and past, and the latest information on what we are doing. So if you accidentally erase this e-mail, don’t worry. We are still here! Go to www.jacksonville.aauwnc.org .

Bladen Community College
Brevard College
Craven Community College
Duke University
Elon University
Guilford College
Haywood Community College
Johnson & Wales University
Livingstone College
Martin Community College
Mitchell Community College
North Carolina State University
Salem College
The University of North Carolina at Asheville
University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina – Charlotte
University of North Carolina – Greensboro
University of North Carolina – Wilmington
Wake Forest University
Western Carolina University
Wingate University

• Minutes from April 13, 2013 (all minutes)
• Finance report through March 2013 (all finance reports)
• Bylaws as approved (all documents)

ERA resolution

This paper will be one of the resources used at next Tuesday’s Women’s Advocacy Day.

• AAUW NC Summary of Education Issues

For updates on other bills introduced since that paper was prepared in late March, see

• AAUW NC Key Issues Spreadsheet
  That google document has several worksheets — look (at the bottom) for the “Bills we are watching” for the one that is most useful. The others document other bills that have some connection to AAUW priorities, but with more than 200 bills on that list it is not practical for us to track more than the ones on the “short” list (which is growing longer each week)

This bill would marginalize local boards of education. It blurs the lines of authority for decisions that directly affect the delivery of quality education to our children and the responsibility for the maintenance and use of the school facilities. It moves from the school board focus on maximizing resource use for the regular public schools to a county focus on county needs and potentially on charter schools.

This bill, along with the removal of caps for charter schools which is already law, and with S 337 to create an independent charter school board ( S 337 The Charter Board shall be located administratively within the Department of Public Instruction but shall exercise its powers and duties independently of the State Board of Education and Department of Public Instruction…) will remove more resources from the regular public school system, in effect creating two parallel systems.

While the bill, introduced by Wake County Senator Hunt, stems from a long conflict between the Wake County commissioners and school board, it would apply to all of the 115 school districts across the state.

Charles Coe, professor in public administration at NC State, believes the proposed action is “indeed uncommon and unprecedented.” Charlotte/Mecklenburg, Burke, Robeson, Forsyth and Davie County Boards of Education are among 40 school districts opposing S 236 as of March 24.

Grady Hunt, attorney for the Robeson county public school board, noted that the “powers of school system control and supervision are statutorily vested in local boards of education. Property ownership is a fundamental element of control and supervisory powers. … Transferring basic powers of school property to county commissions would obscure the lines of authority between local boards of education and county commissions. Where lines of authority are dulled, accountability to the public decreases.”

Contact your representative and senator to ask about the impacts of this proposed legislation. The bill has been in committee for two weeks. We can still have an effect.

• Current status of S236
• More on contacting your legislator

• General updates: Women’s Advocacy Day, AAUW NC meeting, AAUW Convention
• More about the new public policy program implementation
  • Additional background information and links to subscribe to stay in the loop
  • Link to updated info as we move through this fast-paced legislative session.

* The presidents’ list includes current and former presidents of AAUW NC branches, along with others who are concerned with AAUW NC projects and plans. If you are a president-elect or other branch officer who wants to get in the loop on these communications, you may request a subscription by writing list-admin@aauwnc.org. Please include your branch and a bit about why you would like to be connected.

Other topics on the agenda will be a fundraiser idea that was forwarded by Chris Almeida. Also, I would like to discuss a long range project. Possibly we can start planning now for next year’s Women’s History Month. The Twin Rivers Branch in New Bern sets up a display at their public library each year. This year some of the women featured in their display will be speaking at their March meeting.

Connie and I will be travelling to Burlington in April for the AAUW NC Annual Meeting. There is still time to register if you would like to attend (see below).

Looking forward to seeing you soon. – JoAnn

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OUR NEXT MEETING: March 25 (Monday), 3:30 p.m. at Fuddrucker’s, 253 Western Blvd., Jacksonville. Program: Crafting.

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INFORMATION YOU CAN USE NOW: Information about the upcoming AAUW NC Annual Meeting April 12-13 – http://www.aauwnc.org/events/2013-annual-meeting-for-aauw-nc/

To register and/or payment the the Annual Meeting – www.aauw.org/events/2013-annual-meeting-registration/2013-payment/

To see who is already registered for the Annual Meeting – http://aauwnc.org/member-center/registered-for-the-2013-meeting/

You will need to login to the website to use this list. Use: User name: member, Password: 4mission

Tracking what is happening in the NC General Assembly/see the bills that match AAUW keywords – http://www.aauwnc.org/whats-happening-in-the-ncga/

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2013 MEETING DATES AND PROGRAMS*

March 25, 3:30 p.m. – Program: Crafting. Location: Fuddrucker’s, 253 Western Blvd., Jacksonville.

April 12-13 – AAUW NC Annual Meeting, Burlington, NC (See above links for details).

April 22, 3:30 p.m. – Earth Day – Clean-up at Richard Ray All-American Park, the Commons, Jacksonville. Wear comfortable weather-appropriate clothes and shoes; bring a “grabber” if you have one; bring plastic bags that are easy to carry; bring water/snacks for yourself.

May – TBA

June 9-13 – AAUW Biennial Convention, Sheraton New Orleans Hotel, New Orleans, LA. Former Senator Olympia Snowe will receive the 2013 AAUW Achievement Award in New Orleans and you can be there! The third longest-serving woman in the history of Congress, Snowe earned nationwide recognition as a leading policy maker in the U. S. Senate. In addition to receiving the award, Snowe will sign copies of her memoir, Fighting for Common Ground: How We Can Fix the Stalemate in Congress (Weinstein Books).

*Locations will be announced closer to the meeting date.

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REMINDER: Our branch website is available 24 hours a day with our branch newsletters, current and past, and the latest information on what we are doing. So if you accidentally erase this e-mail, don’t worry. We are still here! Go to www.jacksonville.aauwnc.org .

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April 9 is also Equal Pay Day (the average woman works from 1/1/2012 to 4/9/2013 to earn as much as the average man makes during 2012) so expect some Equal Pay information as well.

The keynote speaker will be Kim Gandy, currently president of the National Network to End Domestic Violence and a lifelong leader in the fight for women’s equality. If you can make it to Raleigh on April 8, join us for a reception in her on honor on Monday, April 8, 6-8 pm in downtown Raleigh.

Full details: www.ncwu.org

Hope to see you there!