SPRINGFIELD-ANNANDALE BRANCH AAUW of VIRGINIA APRIL

SPRINGFIELD-ANNANDALE BRANCH
AAUW of VIRGINIA
APRIL 2015 UPDATES
Presidents’ Notes . . .
The Country Club of Fairfax was a swirl of activity on the morning of March 14, 2015.
The 14th annual Spring Fling fundraiser was underway! From the Silent Auction to the
delicious luncheon to the eagerly awaited speaker, columnist Petula Dvorak, the nearly
185 guests were enjoying themselves. This was indeed the most financially successful
Spring Fling yet.
It was a pleasure to welcome everyone while celebrating the 60 th anniversary of our
Springfield-Annandale branch, Women’s History Month, the recent International
Women’s Day, and Pi Day.
Some specifics: New to the Silent Auction area were the Cash and Carry items. The
luncheon tables were gaily decorated with beautiful flowers and pastel colored napkins.
Delightful Petula Dvorak* of the Washington Post gave us a window into her life as a
female columnist in this digital age. And we raised a significant amount for the AAUW
Funds and AAUW Legal Funds. (*Less than two weeks later, Petula was named a
finalist for the Mike Royko Award for Commentary/Column Writing.)
Kudos to the many volunteers who made Spring Fling possible, especially Coordinator
Ann Sauberman, Auction Chair Nancy O’Day, Auction Administration Chair Mary K
Johnson, and Tickets Chair Rose Clark.
The other major AAUW activity in March was STEMtastics, the career day event
designed to inspire middle school girls to pursue careers in STEM fields (with
concurrent informational workshops for their parents.) Several members of our branch,
along with representatives from three other Northern Virginia branches, had spent long
hours planning for this most successful morning at the NOVA Annandale campus. We
who were volunteers on March 21 were amazed at some of the opportunities open to
young women today.
On the social front during March some of us enjoyed a trip to the National Cathedral for
a tour and tea, Dine Around at Afghan Kabob, Movies at Midweek (we saw “Ballet 422”)
and the two long-standing Book Groups. There will be similar opportunities in April.
We’re excited that our next general meeting, on April 23, showcases the Student
Diversity Awards winners from our local high schools at a ceremony at Greenspring
Retirement Community. Hope all can attend this 7:00 p.m. annual event.
Don’t forget to note Equal Pay Day on April 14, the day women’s earnings finally catch
up to men’s from the previous year.
If you haven’t taken advantage of our various branch activities in a while, we encourage
you to do so.
Ginny Wells
Co-President
Deborah Dodd
Co-President
[email protected]
[email protected]
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NORTHERN DISTRICT NEWS
Northern District State Conference
The AAUW-VA Conference on 18-19 April is getting
close. The conference speakers focus on our state
priorities and issues that are relevant to women and
girls.
There is also some play involved like the Ash-Lawn-Highland tour of James Monroe’s
home. Actually, there isn’t enough space to list all the fun events so you just have to
come and see for yourself.
Don’t miss this opportunity to celebrate AAUW of VA’ 90th anniversary. Get all the
information you need at http://aauw-va.aauw.net/ .
Equal Pay Day Resolution
Northern District Co-Representatives Caroline Pickens and Jeanne Elmore are sending
the following letter to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors asking them to support a
resolution for Equal Pay Day on April 14. The resolution is attached to these Updates.
Dear Fairfax County Board of Supervisors,
Attached is a resolution submitted by the eight branches of AAUW (American
Association of University Women) that are in Fairfax County: Alexandria, Fairfax
City, Falls Church Area, McLean Area, Mt. Vernon, Reston-Herndon, SpringfieldAnnandale, and Vienna Area branches. Together more than 500 women belong
to these branches and are your constituents.
We are asking the Board of Supervisors to adopt this resolution for Equal Pay
Day, which is April 14. As you will see from the resolution, there are numerous
reasons for supporting this resolution. We greatly appreciate your consideration
and support.
Caroline Pickens and Jeanne Elmore
Northern District Co-Representatives
AAUW of Virginia
Voting for AAUW
Please be sure to vote for AAUW using the ballot information in your current AAUW
Outlook. The instructions are in this Spring/Summer 2015 Outlook. Current Issue:
Spring/Summer 2015. If you look at the back cover of your Outlook Magazine, you will find
your member number and your voter pin. You need each of those to vote. There is an
insert in the Outlook numbered E1 – 20. On E2 the instructions for voting are listed. The
following pages list the Public Policy Updates to vote on, then 12 Proposed Bylaw changes,
and lastly you need to vote for the President, Vice-President, and select 10 of the 15
candidates for AAUW Director. This is your chance to be heard. Please take the time to
do this. Mark your calendar.
April 15 Online Voting Begins.
Vote early!!!!
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State Elections and Voting
Yes, we have state elections to complete. Voting will begin on April 27 and end on May
27, 2015. You will receive emails to alert you about voting. Do not miss them. They will
come from AAUW National and will have AAUW of Virginia Voting in the Subject Line.
We have to vote for three candidates, Cyndi Shanahan, VP for Membership and Branch
Development, Angela L. Conroy, VP for Finance, and Sherry Warren, Recording Secretary.
The email will have your member number and pin. You will need them to vote. Any
questions please call me, Mary K Johnson, 703 913-9490. I will walk you through this
process if you are struggling. We need at least 7% of the state to vote under our bylaws. I
want ALL of Springfield-Annandale members to vote.
Mary K Johnson
PROGRAM NEWS
April 23 Meeting – Annual Diversity Awards
April is the month that provides us the opportunity to meet the inspiring high school
winners of the Diversity Awards It is definitely one meeting that you will not want to
miss. It will be held on Thursday, April 23 at 7:00 PM at the Greenspring Retirement
Community. A map of the Greenspring campus is attached to direct you to parking and
the meeting room. Here are all the details.
The Student Diversity Award Committee has selected our winners for the 2015 award.
They are: Kasana Nguyen from Annandale HS, Anastasia Slepukhova from Lake
Braddock, Myles Turkson from Lee HS, and since West Springfield HS did not put
forward any applications this year, the committee chose another student from among
the applications submitted by the other three schools. Aparna Chera from Lake
Braddock will also be honored at the ceremony. Myles Turkson is the first male to ever
win this honor in the 15 years that the award has been given. Kasana was chosen for
the work she has done at the Leewood Health Center and her leadership with
Annandale’s Softball team. Anastasia is being honored for her work writing and
directing a video to be used in Fairfax County Schools educating students about the
many holidays and cultural events that fellow students observe in the hopes of helping
each other to understand and appreciate their differences and similarities. Myles won
the award for his work in creating a nonprofit organization, “Cleats for Africa”, that
supplies athletic equipment to young children in Ghana. Aparna will receive her award
for her work with an orphanage in Chennai India. The committee will be meeting these
students on April 6th for a dessert evening to prepare them for the awards ceremony
which will be held Thursday, April 23 at 7pm at the Accotink Room in the Village Square
section of the Greenspring facility. Once again the Apple Federal Credit Union has
donated a monetary award for this event and will send Dawn Davis, an officer with the
Credit Union to say a few words at the ceremony. We hope to see all our members at
this event.
Debbie Bullock
Diversity Committee Chair
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May 21 Program – Manzanar and one Family’s Experiences
The Thursday, May 21 meeting will take place at 7:00 PM at the Braddock District
Supervisor’s Office in Kings Park. We are pleased to have as our speaker,
Elaine McCarthy.
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, all those of Japanese descent living along the west
coast of the Americas were uprooted and evacuated to relocation camps. Manzanar, in
California, was one of those camps, the one where Elaine McCarthy was born. She will
speak to the significant historical backdrop of the internment experience. Then, fill it
with personal accounts about what the historical documents and books don't tell you -about the human stories during that time. Some are humorous, some tragic, and all
interesting.
Movies At Midweek
Save the 4th Wednesday of April, April 22, for another
morning movie in our ongoing MOVIES AT MIDWEEK at
Cinema Arts. We'll again lunch and discuss the movie at
First Watch, also in the Fair City Mall shopping center.
Check your e-mail the Friday before to catch which movie
was chosen and the time. We'll meet near the ticket booth
shortly before the scheduled showing. See you at the
movies!
Dine Around
The April Dine Around will be held on Monday, April 27 at 5:30PM at the
popular Spartans Family Restaurant located in the Burke Village Center
9542 Burke Road Burke, VA. Please call Linda Kamen at 703 451-5109 by
Saturday, April 25 if you plan to attend.
STEMtastics
On Saturday, March 21, our branch partnered with McLean, Fairfax City, and Vienna
branches to sponsor STEMtastics, a career day event designed to inspire middle school
girls to pursue careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields.
STEMtastics 2015 was held at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale.
Female presenters led hands-on STEM-related workshops for students, and parents
attended informational workshops on topics such as high school resources and college
financing.
Approximately 30 presenters, 300 middle school students and 50 volunteers came
together to make it a successful and enjoyable event. We want to especially thank our
many member volunteers who made the day possible.
Ann Sauberman, Susan Burk and Ginger Caress
STEMtastics Committee
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PUBLIC POLICY
Equal Pay Day
Equal Pay Day is April 14! Equal Pay Day is the symbolic day when women’s earnings
will “catch up” to men’s earnings from the year before.
There is good news and there is bad news. AAUW’s report "Graduating to a Pay Gap”
found an unexplainable 7 percent difference in the earnings of male and female college
graduates one year after graduation, even after accounting for many factors including
college major, occupation, industry, sector, hours worked, workplace flexibility,
experience, educational attainment, enrollment status, GPA, college selectivity, age,
race/ethnicity, region, marital stats, and motherhood. Clearly the wage gap exists. On
March, cloture on a Senate motion to proceed on the Paycheck Fairness Act was
rejected by a margin of 7 votes (the vote was largely on party lines). The good news is
that both Senators Kaine and Warner voted in support of the bill. The Paycheck
Fairness Act was introduced one year ago on April 1, 2014 and sponsored by outgoing
Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski. The other good news is that we distributed a large
number of copies of AAUW’s report “The Simple Truth About the Gender Pay Gap”
during the STEMtastics event at NOVA recently. So, hopefully, many more people with
daughters now have information they may not have had before. If you have family or
friends in other states, please let them know about this and encourage them to find out
how their senators voted and encourage them to support this important legislation.
Equal Pay Day Event at George Mason University
The Sojourner Truth Lecture will take place on Tuesday, April 14 (Equal Pay Day) from
1:30 – 2:30 PM at George Mason University in the Johnson Center Room E #334.
Dorothy Roberts, Professor of Law and Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania will
present the lecture entitled “The Biopolitics of Policing Black Women’s Bodies”. A
book signing and reception will follow. For more information, call 703 993-2896.
Federal Lobby Day
Please note that the date for this year’s Federal Lobby Day, which is held under the
auspices of the AAUW Lobby Corps, has been changed to Thursday, May 14, 2015.
AAUW of Virginia members will be matched up with experienced Lobby Corps members
and assigned Congressional offices to visit that day to lobby about legislation. Although
it is too early for the schedule to be finalized, please anticipate that we will be getting an
early start that day. This is a fun and eye-opening way to promote AAUW’s priorities.
Please let Susan Burk know by April 23 if you plan to participate this year, and provide
the name of your congressperson.
Susan Burk
Public Policy Chair
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IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER
 Tuesday
April 14
Equal Pay Day
 Tuesday
April 14
Sojourner Truth Lecture at GMU 1:30 PM
 Wednesday
April 15
AAUW National Voting Begins
 Wednesday
April 22
Movies At Midweek Cinema Arts Fairfax AM
 Thursday
April 23
Diversity Awards Greenspring 7:00 PM
 Monday
April 27
Dine Around Spartans Family Restaurant 5:30 PM
 Monday
April 27
AAUW of VA Voting Begins
 Thursday
May 21
General Meeting Braddock District Supervisor’s
Office 7:00 PM
The AAUW Mission Statement:
AAUW advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, and research.
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