May 2016

http://medford-nj.aauw.net/

AAUW's Mission Advancing equity for women and girls through

advocacy, education, philanthropy and research

The Monthly Newsletter of the AAUW - Medford Area Branch

PINELINES

Mark Your Calendar

Tuesday, May 10, 6:30 pm

Scholarship Dinner

- La Campagnola Restaurant, 439 Oak Shade Road, Shamong, NJ

Tuesday, May 17, 7:30 pm - Lit Group

Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

- Home of Helen O’Neill

Co’s Column

Women Politicians - Then & Now It’s been 100 years since the first woman was elected to Congress. When Jeannette Rankin decided in 1916 to run for a House seat from Montana, she had two key advantages; her reputation as a suffragist and her politically well-connected brother, who financed her campaign. She was a pacifist and a progressive Republican!

Her speaking and organizing efforts had helped Montana women gain the vote in 1914. She served in the 65th Congress from 1917 to 1919 and again, remarkably, in the 77th from 1941 to 1943.

This year will be another historic one for women in politics. Maybe a woman will be elected president and single women will be one of the most pivotal voting groups in the general election and will be courted by both Democrats and Republicans.

Never before have women been represented in such great numbers on the Supreme Court, in both chambers of Congress and in the West Wing.

When women reach between 20% to 30% of any organization, they begin to change how things are done.

For her new book, Broad Influence, Jay Newton-Small interviewed many, many key women politicians and political professionals, including Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Mikulski, Kirsten Gillibrand, Valerie Jarrett and Sarah Palin.

The Washington Post writes that Newton-Small “offers a powerful demonstration of how the presence of a critical mass of women changes, and improves, a workplace. Get it for your daughter – and your CEO.”

Helen O’Neill and Elsie Behmer, Co-Presidents

Member Greetings

Happy Birthday to our members celebrating

in May:

Ellen Gagnon 21st

June Ramondetta 23rd

Lynne Poag 30th

Stephanie Berridge 31st

LOIS CLAIR

Many of our long-time members will remember Lois Clair, a diminutive, gracious lady who enjoyed her membership with our branch for many years before moving to Bloomington, IN.

She passed away peacefully on April 18, 2016, while visiting a daughter in California. She was an active 93 year old until she succumbed to pneumonia.

PINELINES Medford, NJ May 2016

Programs

Annual Scholarship Dinner In lieu of the usual general meeting, our annual Scholarship & Officer Installation Dinner will be held on Tuesday, May 10, 2016 at 6:30 p.m. at La Campagnola Restaurant, 439 Oak Shade Road, Shamong, New Jersey. At this time, we will have the pleasure of awarding scholarships to two of our very deserving applicants. The total cost of the dinner, including choice of entree (chicken piccata, broiled tilapia or pasta campagnola), soft drinks, coffee and/or tea, tax and gratuity will be $30.00 per person. Wine and mixed drinks will be available for purchase.

Please advise Cid if you intend to join us so that reservations can be made. RSVP deadline is May 3 so we can get headcount to the restaurant.

Cid, Dian & Lynne

Literature Group Our final selection for the 2015-2016 year is Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee. Written in the mid-1950's, but not published until 2015, this book has generated some controversy. Set two decades after To Kill A Mockingbird, it follows Jean Louise Finch's return to Maycomb County from New York as she visits her aging father, Atticus. Set against the backdrop of the racial tensions and political upheavals that were transforming the South in the 1950's, the book also explores the complex relationship that exits between father and daughter. The title refers to a passage from Isaiah: "For thus the Lord said to me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth." Jean Louise (AKA Scout) had previously viewed her father as the watchman, the moral compass, of Maycomb. Her homecoming, however, brings conflict and disillusionment. Please join us on Tuesday, May 17th, at 7:30 at the home of Helen O'Neill for what promises to be another engaging discussion. We would also welcome any and all recommendations for book selections for the coming year. Please r.s.v.p to Helen or Tricia.

Helen O’Neill & Tricia Reace

Book Review

It is Rocket Science!

When the U.S. Jet Propulsion Laboratory needed quick-thinking mathematicians in 1940s and 1950s, it looked to an elite group of women known as “human computers.” The Rise of the Rocket Girls by Nathalia Holt tells yet another untold story of remarkable and forgotten women. She gives voice to the seldom-recognized female mathematicians and scientists who shaped NASA in its earliest years. Rocket Girls is Amazon’s best book of April 2016. The review heaps praise writing: “Women history buffs rejoice! Wonderfully told and intrinsically captivating, this is the story about a group of women who transformed rocket design and laid the ground work for U.S. space travel…and quite possibly invented the pants suit.”

Elsie

Running & Winning

This year’s Running & Winning workshop, held April 6, was another successful event. AAUW Medford Area member Cid Richards (pictured above center with one of the teams), says, “Brianna, Aaliyah, Peanellopy, and Akira were an outstanding team and produced a very effective campaign.” Cid also thanked Burlington City HS Principal James Flynn and Marie Lollar, who provided guidance to the team based on her successful political career as Burlington City Councilwoman.

PINELINES Medford, NJ May 2016

Member BIO June Ramondetta

Since this is the last Pinelines issue for the year, I thought I’d take to take a turn and tell my story.

Although I’ve lived in South Jersey for nearly 50 years, I am a New Yorker at heart. I was born in Brooklyn, grew up in Queens, lived in the same house in Bayside for about 20 years, took

the subway every day to and from college in Manhattan (Hunter College), got married in Flushing, lived in Rego Park Queens, started teaching on the “Lower East Side” of Manhattan, and finally moved to NJ when my husband, Paul, got a job with RCA in Camden back in 1966. In 2007, I retired from my job as a full time educator after 34+ years of classroom teaching/supervising. We’ve raised two successful daughters who live in Texas and Arizona and this year my marriage reached the 50 year milestone!

Our daughters, Lois and Karen, were born in NJ. We moved from Lindenwold to Glassboro when they were youngsters, and when they started Kindergarten, I began substitute teaching in Washington Township. Within a year, I was offered and accepted a full time job teaching third grade. I loved teaching and for over 10 years I taught a number of grades including 3rd, 4th, and 6th while attending graduate school at Glassboro State College (Rowan) at night. I obtained a Master’s Degree in Teaching and a Principal’s Certification with a focus on Computers in Education. My Master’s thesis topic was “The Effect of Learning Computer Programming Using Logo on the Higher Cognitive Processes of 6th Grade Students.”

In 1985, the Apple Computer was just beginning to enter the education world. I had been learning to use the Atari computer at home and Paul (an engineer) was very excited about the potential for the use of computers by the general public. My post graduate work in Computer Education put me in a good position to take on the role of K-8 Computer Teacher for the Washington Township

School District. Early keyboarding lessons consisted of paper keyboards and demonstrations with one computer hooked to a TV, which I wheeled from classroom to classroom in 6 buildings. I attended many computer education conferences and, later, as Computer Department Chair, I was able to grow the W.T. curriculum to include an introduction to word processing and spreadsheets, simple programming in BASIC, robotics using LOGO programming (a computer language for children developed at MIT,) and the use of educational software. My department grew from one computer on a cart to teachers and labs in every Elementary and Middle School in the district. With the help of enthusiastic “pioneering” teachers who knew a bit about word processing, databases, spreadsheets, programming, educational software, photo sharing, the Internet, or computer illustration, I developed an extensive staff development program. Classes were held after school and during the summer. It was a very exciting time for everyone involved with educational computers as conferences were going on all over the country and there was a growing awareness by superintendents, teachers, parents and students of the need for this subject to be incorporated into the curriculum.

I retired after having reached my goals as a teacher/supervisor, and began to address the time I had to pursue other interests. I’d always wanted to learn to play Bridge and a few years ago I bought a computer software program as a start and later joined the Medford Seniors Group where, after taking the beginner class two times, I felt ready to play with “humans.” I now play 2 times a week and enjoy it immensely. Paul and I have become big fans of Rick Steve’s tours. We’ve taken 3 trips: Croatia (and former Yugoslavia), Eastern Europe (Prague, Berlin, Vienna and Budapest,) Turkey (Istanbul and the coast) and plan to go to Sicily this fall. We love traveling and have also arranged for a few special family trips to Greece (Santorini, Naxos, Athens, and Crete), Alaska, Paris, and Spain (Madrid, Seville, and Morocco.)

Two book clubs keep me up to date on current (and classic) literature, membership in AAUW has introduced me to interesting and involved women, Zumba classes two times a week help to keep me physically active, and time spent with local and distant friends along with many visits out west to see our families (and 5 grandchildren) provide us with a full and rewarding life which I hope to enjoy for many years to come.

PINELINES Medford, NJ May 2016

AAUW-NJ honored Assemblywoman Valerie Huttle with the Woman as Agent of Change award. Assemblywoman Huttle shared some of her personal and political history. She was the lead sponsor of a bill on Sexual Assault on college campuses. She was on the Bergen County Board, was deputy speaker of General Assembly, and was a funeral director, among her many careers. She saw issues relating to AIDS, domestic violence, a client’s daughter who was set on fire, and pointed out that stuff happens in our own back yard. She said that we need to read about the issues, understand them, and be informed.

Assemblywoman Huttle points out that there are 31 female electees and only 32 females in the 565 NJ municipalities. In NJ, there are 27% females in the Senate and 31% in the Assembly. The Women’s equality and equal pay bills sailed through the Assembly and Senate and she is currently “waiting” for the Governor to sign the bill on the wage discrimination act. She says that without the improvement of women in the economy you cannot realize the country’s full potential.

Virginia Lyttle (former AAUWNJ President) was honored for her new role on the New Jersey Task Force on Campus Sexual Assault.

Sally Goodson (former AAUWNJ President) is involved in AAUW national’s Title IX project to gather the Title IX coordinator names in NJ Schools; she said that the list is about 50% now and will be completed through the summer and then forwarded to national.

The Annual Meeting ended with many lucky winners taking home one of the beautifully decorated baskets that were donated by many branches for the event. (Ours is pictured here).

If you were not at the conference, you missed a wonderful event. Cid and I urge you to consider attending next year’s Annual Meeting as so many other branch members have entire tables of their members attending. The networking and sharing of ideas is invaluable.

Mary Switzer

Dr. Anthony J. Hill (AAUW National liaison to Task Force on

Diversity and Inclusion), Mary Switzer (co-Southern District

Coordinator and Medford branch), Cidnie Richards

(Medford branch), and Sally Goodson (Nutley branch).

AAUWNJ Annual Meeting

The theme was Empower Yourself and Others: AAUW NJ with Moxie (We Can Do It!) for the AAUWNJ Annual Meeting on April 9 at the Forsgate Country Club in Jamesburg, NJ. Nearly 100 women and men branch/national members attended. Dr. Anthony Hill, AAUW National Liaison to Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion, was the keynote presenter, focusing on One AAUW: Changing the Climate for Women and Girls. He presented AAUW national’s new initiative--Charting the Course, a campaign to raise $1 million for AAUW’s many programs. Dr. Hill stated that we are only as strong as our members. He cited AAUW’s latest report, “Barriers and Bias,” which relates to issues of vital importance to women with practical solutions. He highlighted the many AAUW restricted funds’ initiatives relating to LAF, F&G, NCCWSL, and STEM, including the strong research AAUW continues to produce and programs, such as: Elect Her, Start Smart and Work Smart.

Edwina Sessions, Marjorie Jones and other Willingboro branch members presented a skit on inclusion, highlighting ways to include and encourage current and new branch members. They have mentors and buddies for new members. As a group, they value their diversity and multicultural backgrounds, mindset and varied approaches they have. They always follow up after the first meeting with new members to get their impressions of the group and new members are highlighted in their newsletter. Their branch goals are to make sure that everyone is encouraged to easily share ideas; provide an environment to make sure everyone’s voice is heard and respected; and always encourage bonding in the group.

PINELINES Medford, NJ May 2016

Invented by Women The Car Heater—invented by Margaret A Wilcox in 1893. (Margaret also invented a combined clothes and dishwasher.)

Monopoly—This popular board game was designed by Elizabeth Magie in 1904, originally called the Landlord’s Game. The purpose of the game was to expose the injustices of unchecked capitalism. Her game was ripped off by Charles Darrow who sold it to Parker Brothers 30 years later. However Parker Brothers later paid Elizabeth $500 for her game.

The Fire Escape—invented by Anna Connelly in 1887. The Life Raft—invented by Maria Beasely in 1882. (Maria also invented a machine that makes barrels.)

Residential Solar Heating—invented by Dr Maria Telkes in 1947. Dr. Telkes was a Psychiatrist in addition to being a Solar-Power Pioneer.

The Medical Syringe—The syringe that could be operated with only one hand was invented by Letitia Geer in 1899.

The Modern Electric Refrigerator—invented by Florence Parpart in 1914. (She also invented an improved street cleaning machine in addition to the refrigerator.)

The Ice Cream Maker—invented by Nancy Johnson in 1843. Her patented design is still used today.

The Computer Algorithm—Ada Lovelace is essentially the first computer programmer due to her work with Charles Babbage at the University of London in 1842. Her notes were key to Alan Turing’s work on the first modern computers in the 1940s.

Telecommunications Technology—Some of the Telecommunication Technology developed by Dr Shirley Jackson include portable fax, touch tone telephone, solar cells, fibre optic cables, and the technology behind caller ID and call waiting.

The Dishwasher—invented by Josephine Cochrane in 1887. Before her time, she marketed her machine to hotel owners and even opened her own factory without the help of a man.

Wireless Transmission Technology—Hedy Lamarr, a world famous film star, invented a secret communications system during World War II for radio-controlling torpedoes. This Technology also paved the way for everything from Wi-Fi to GPS.

Closed-Circuit Television Security (CCTV) - Marie Van Brittan Brown invented CCTV in 1969 due to the slow response of police officers. This invention influenced modern CCTV systems used for home security and police work today.

The Modern Paper Bag—Margaret Knight invented a machine that makes square bottomed paper bags in 1871. She almost didn’t get credit when Charles Anan tried to steal her work, claiming that it wasn’t possible for a woman to create this brilliant invention. (Margaret also invented a safety device for cotton mills when she was 12, which is still being used today).

Central Heating—Although Alice Parker’s invention in 1919 of a gas powered central heater was never manufactured, her idea

was the first that allowed for using natural gas to heat a home, inspiring the central heating systems used today.

Kevlar—5 times stronger than steel and used to make bulletproof vests, it was invented in 1965 by Stephanie Kwolek..

Computer Software—Dr Grace Murray Hopper was a computer scientist who invented COBOL, which is the first user-friendly business computer software system, in the 1940’s. She was also a rear admiral in the U.S. navy and the first person to use the term “bug” in reference to a glitch in a computer system when she literally found a bug (moth) causing problems with her computer.

Silent in Cinema When Geena Davis won the best-supporting-actress Oscar for her role in the iconic Thelma & Louise in 1991, she believed it to be a positive turning point for women in film. Twenty-five years later, her advocacy organization, The Geena Davis Insti-tute on Gender in Media, found that the percentage of fe-male speaking characters in the top-grossing movies hasn’t changed in roughly 50 years.

She believes that the absence of women in film has become so standard that most of us don’t even notice it.

Of the top-grossing 100 films in 2014, only 12 percent fea-tured a female lead character.

Women have a disproportionate share of nude scenes—three times as many as men.

An analysis of more than 2,000 films found that male charac-ters speak more than women even in women-centric movies. Frozen might celebrate sisterhood, but 57 percent of the dia-logue comes from male characters.

Even Katniss Everdeen, the fierce hero in The Hunger Games and her female co-stars don’t speak as many words as the male supporting characters combined in the book trilogy’s film adaptations.

‘Nuf said!

Renewal Time is Here

AAUW membership renewal invoices have been issued and your treasurer would be grateful not to have to keep sending more of these over the summer!

So please don’t wait. You can easily renew online at www.aauw.org, bring your check to our upcoming meeting or mail to Mary Ann Brookes, 38 Red Oak Trail, Medford, NJ 08055.

The new dues rate approved by the members is $70, which is $49 for national, $10 for NJ and $11 for our branch. Checks can be made payable to AAUW Medford Area.

PINELINES Medford, NJ May 2016

Public Policy Sitting in the back of the bus once again . . . Lynne

U.S. Secretary of Treasury Announces New Changes to the $5, $10, and $20 Bills

U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew announced plans to keep Alexander Hamilton on the front of the $10 bill, while putting leaders of the women’s suffrage movement—Lucretia Mott, Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Alice Paul—on the back of the bill. It was also announced that abolitionist Harriet Tubman will replace Andrew Jackson on the face of the $20 bill in recognition of her notable contributions to American history. Treasury’s plans to move forward with Tubman on the $20 bill may not happen until 2030, and will only happen if subsequent administrations agree to the change.

After AAUW’s participation in # TheNew10movement and promises of a woman being the face of the redesigned $10 bill, once again, women are being told to wait their turn. This process has shown that women still have a long way to go before being fully recognized for their contributions in American history. Learn more on the proposed changes to currency here.

Fundraising

Photo Gifts!

FundPhotos®, now exclusively offering all Shutterfly® products (including Tiny Prints and Wedding Paper Divas). Click on the FundPhotos link on the AAUW Medford area branch web site home page or go to www.FundPhotos.com and begin shopping! You can use photos in galleries from your existing account on Shutterfly or open a free Shutterfly account if you don’t have one yet. This is a terrific way to support our scholarship fund as we get 5% of the purchase price!

Remember, you MUST go to Shutterfly through the Fundphotos website and select AAUW Medford NJ branch (you can click on either our name or our logo) as your donation recipient in order for Shutterfly to make the 5% donation to us. Any questions, call Cynthia Sosnowski – 609-602-2762.

Cynthia

Who Am I?

My mother had 18 pregnancies, gave birth to 11 children in 22 years and died at 49.

My mother was so busy having babies that she had no time to care for her children.

I am a trained nurse and “I do not approve of abortion, nor can I give the address of anyone who will perform this operation.”

I am the woman who coined the phrase “birth control.” I am Margaret Sanger.

Terrible Virtue by Ellen Feldman is a novel that tells the story of a complicated woman better, reviewers believe, than a straightforward biography could. It also recounts the fights and struggles we thought were long passed.

Elsie

A free race cannot be born of slave mothers - Margaret Sanger

PINELINES Medford, NJ May 2016

AAUW-Medford Area Branch

Membership Roster

By joining AAUW, you belong to a community that breaks through educational and economic barriers so that all women have a fair chance. In principle and practice, AAUW values and seeks a diverse membership. There shall be no barriers to full participation in this organization on the basis of gender, race, creed, age, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, or class.

PINELINES

Advancing equity for women and girls through ad-vocacy, education, philanthropy and research