NetWorks
Moving our Mission Forward
by Arlene Newman
Annual Branch Fundraiser
A 1940s Raconteur Radio Play:
“Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein”
featuring Jane Hardy as Gertrude Stein;
also with Laurence Mintz and Alex Dawson
How is AAUW making sense out of what was
widely regarded as one of the biggest presidential
election upsets in history?
The answer to that question will continue to
unfold, but leaders on the state and national levels are
urging practical actions that further our mission of
gender equity.
Carol Cohen, president of AAUW of New Jersey,
circulated a letter urging us to channel our concern about
the election into stepping up volunteer efforts.
“Today we go forward with our mission of helping girls and women achieve their dreams of breaking
through gender, social, and cultural barriers. We need to
address pay equity, getting more girls and women into
leadership roles and higher-paying fields through STEM,
sexual abuse, human trafficking, and bullying.
“America is the greatest place to live. We can
make it better. Not by looking back, but by looking
forward. If you want to channel your emotions, consider
VOLUNTEERING in one of our mission-based programs
so that YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE in the lives of
girls and women,” she wrote.
Lisa Maatz, the national AAUW’s vice president
of government relations and advocacy, cited many of the
issues that need focus now that the election is over.
“Election 2016 touched on many issues that
affect women and families at every level: local, state, and
federal. We still face congressional gridlock over the
Paycheck Fairness Act, resulting in more states taking
matters into their own hands to work toward equal pay.
Students are still waiting for real action on college affordability and high student debt, and they expect a continued commitment to combating campus sexual assault.
Working families are still looking for good jobs with paid
family and medical leave and other workplace equity
policies. And Americans still don’t have the basic necessity of a full Supreme Court,” she wrote. “AAUW will find
common ground with the Trump administration and the
Step back in time to the 1940s to experience the
Golden Age of radio shows with Raconteur Radio, a radio
play performance group. Yes, that’s right — come see a
radio play! Raconteur Radio offers a unique blend of live
acting in period costumes and radio drama, all with the
ambience of the Golden Age of radio.
On December 5, you are
cordially invited to Paris, 27 rue
de Fleurus, to attend the famed
Left Bank salon hosted by none
other than Gertrude Stein —
author, poet, and playwright —
whom you may know best for her
memoir The Autobiography of
Alice B. Toklas. There you will
spend an evening with Ernest
Hemingway, Pablo Picasso,
Isadora Duncan, Henri Matisse,
Alice B. Toklas, and Gertrude Stein herself.
Raconteur Radio stages theatrical presentations
of vintage radio plays, classic works of literature, and
pop culture parodies for live audiences throughout the
tri-state area. Media reviews of Raconteur Radio include
“family friendly, guerilla theater” (New York Times);
“one of the 7 best things to do in New Jersey” (Star
Ledger); and “Bring your own imagination to this wellcrafted show with talented actors, realistic sound effects,
costumes, props, period music, and theatrical lighting.”
(continued on page 5)
(continued on page 7)
Monday, December 5
Eatontown Community Center, 58 Broad Street
7 p.m.: Greetings and Refreshments
7:30 p.m.: Brief meeting
7:45 p.m.: The show begins
Donation: $20 per person
2
BRANCH BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2016-2017
Co-Presidents
Mary Lea Burden
Karen Topham
Program Directors
Heather Balczarek
Carol Walther
Study Group Director
Kathy Olsen
Membership Directors
Barbara Withers
Alice McCord
Development Directors
Susan Gelber
Ruth Hodum
Public Policy Directors
Arlene Newman
Joan Spring
Communications
Directors
Nancy Butler
Marian Wattenbarger
Education Outreach
Director
Mimi Pedro-Medlin
Member at Large
Alice MacPhee
Treasurer
Pat Miller
Recording Secretaries
Marie Gambuzza
Barbara Iwanski
NetWorks is
except January, July, August,
and September by the Northern Monmouth County Branch
of AAUW. Items for the February issue are due on
January 10 to:
Nancy Butler, Editor
Send address changes, names of prospective members,
membership applications and checks, and questions about
non-receipt of the newsletter to:
Barbara Withers, Membership Co-Director
P.O. Box 398, Red Bank, NJ 07701
732-933-4855 or [email protected]
Our electronic mailing list enables us to inform you about
opportunities for AAUW members that arise too late for
publication in NetWork s. You can be sure that we carefully
evaluate each notice before we send it out.
Please note that use of the branch email list is for branch
activities only. Members wishing to share other information with
branch members are invited to submit a notice to the
“NetWorking” column in NetWork s.
Happy Holidays!
The Book Sale has a variety of holiday-themed books from
crafts to cooking to decorating, as well as fiction, at low
prices. Gift certificates are available as stocking stuffers.
Stop by to get started on your shopping! (See page 7.)
Presidents’ Message
This year, in lieu of a Fall Focus Meeting, Barbara
Williamson, Susan Gelber, Annette Benanti, and Karen
Topham and 52 other members of AAUW-NJ took a trip
to the United Nations. There we were met by Veronica
McKinny from Lehigh University, one of our two national
student representatives to the UN, who spoke of the work
being done by AAUW to help see that UN policies include
women and girls. AAUW Vice-President Gloria Blackwell
trained up from Washington, DC, to give us insight into
how AAUW fits into the structure of the United Nations.
Along with Gloria was Souad Kadi, a State Department
exchange student, who is
about AAUW while she
is in the U.S. We also enjoyed a nice lunch in the delegates’
dining room, tours of the different chambers in the building, and a look at the many pieces of art donated by member nations.
Save the Date! Sunday, April 30, to Monday, May
1, 2017, will be the AAUW-NJ Annual Meeting, this year
to be held at Resorts Casino Hotel on the Boardwalk in
Atlantic City.
The U.S. elections are over, but AAUW’s election
season is just getting underway. Members have until
December 5, 2016, to
on proposed bylaw changes or to propose changes of your
own.
Registration is now open for the AAUW National
Convention! Join other members June 14–17 in Washington, D.C., to lobby Congress, hone your leadership skills,
and network with AAUW leaders. Register now to take
advantage of the Best Value rate and save more than $25.
After being guided by LB Kass through the art of
dance movement, stretching, and relaxing at our November branch meeting, we are energized and ready to begin
our travels through this festive season.
With Thanksgiving almost upon us, we are grateful for so many things, and we must thank you for your
generosity over the year for bringing in the donations that
Betty Randall distributes to local food pantries. Thanks,
too, for your cash donations to the AAUW Legal Advocacy
Fund (LAF): it means a great deal to be able to address the
challenges of sexual discrimination in all its forms in higher
education and the workplace. One case successfully settled
this fall was Kurz et al. v. Trustees of Indiana University et al.
In this case the university hired a volleyball coach that students stated sexually harassed them. You can read more
about the case here on the AAUW website.
Our December Branch Fundraiser, which follows
soon after Thanksgiving, sounds like great fun! Raconteur
AAUW NetWorks — December 2016/January 2017
3
Board Meeting
Monday, November 28, 7 p.m. at Arbor Terrace, 864
Shrewsbury Avenue, Tinton Falls. All members are
welcome to attend.
We thank Arbor Terrace for the use of their space for
our board meetings. Contact Nicole Dwyer for information about their services.
Radio has captured the spirit of poet and writer Gertrude
Stein. Filling out this staged presentation will be a French
chanteuse. Read more about this evening beginning on
page 1 of this issue.
We’ll continue our dance steps through December
and January, through holidays long and short, from Winter
Solstice (the shortest day of the year) to Chanukah’s eight
days, from Christmas to Kwanzaa’s seven days, to New
Year ‘s Day 2017 and Chinese New Year 4715! We wish
you many blessings as 2016 closes and 2017 begins.
Mary Lea Burden
Karen Topham
Co-Presidents
Art History
Meets: 3rd Tuesday, 7:30 p.m.
Co-chairs: Susan Buccellato
Barbara Iwanski
Margo Lichtenthal
We meet to study and discuss global art of all periods and
genres through member presentations and visits to museums, galleries, and outdoor art exhibitions. New members
are welcome!
Drama
Meets: Wednesdays, 11:30 a.m. Contact chair.
Chair: Marjorie Levy
Muriel Thompson
Our groups offer an array of new interests and new
friends. They are a great way to meet other members and
become more active in the branch. All branch members
are encouraged to join the groups or visit as guests. Nonmembers also are invited to attend group meetings but
must join the branch after the third visit to the group.
Kathy Olsen
Study Group Director
Advanced Spanish Conversation
Meets: 1st Friday, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Chair: Alicia Portuondo
Some of us are native-born, and others are Spanish majors
from American universities. We serve brunch, followed by
different programs about Spanish culture. Call for meeting
details.
We study plays, classical and modern, and attend performances when feasible. This year we plan on subscribing to
Two River Theater in Red Bank. Prospective members are
welcome to attend a meeting and/or join the group for a
matinee. We have pre-performance lunch at Danish Café.
French Conversation
Meets: 2nd and 4th Thursdays, 12:30 to 2:30 p.m.
Chair: Jacqueline Ollagnon
Our group enables women with a good knowledge of the
French language to maintain their fluency through conversation with other members, many of whom are native-born
speakers. Others were educated in France or were French
majors at American universities. We welcomed some new
members this year! We also like to write short essays that
are read aloud and discussed. L'hô tesse sert un d éjeuner à
la française, pour mieux apprécier la vie culturelle du pays.
German Conversation
Meets: Twice a month on Mondays, 1-3 p.m.
Chair: Aline Ashkin
We read auf d eutsch and translate. Our goal is to improve
AAUW NetWorks — December 2016/January 2017
4
our German language skills in reading and conversation.
Our group is a mixture of English-speaking members with
a background of college-level German, and several members who are native German speakers. This year we will
start reading a series of sketches written by Nobel Prizewinner Elias Canetti about his travels in Morocco. Interspersed will be historical accounts of fateful moments for
mankind written by Stefan Zweig. Fictional short stories
will be added from time to time. New members are always
welcome.
Insights
Meets:
Topic:
Meets:
Topic:
Chair:
Tuesday, December 13, 7:30 p.m.
The Natural World of Winnie-the-Pooh by Kathryn
Aalto
Tuesday, January 10, 7:30 p.m.
Little Pink House: The Story of Defiance and Courage
by Jeff Benedict
Ruth Hodum
This no nfictio n bo o k gro up focuses on current issues, with
special attention to topics affecting women and books
written by women. New members are very welcome!
Contact Ruth for location.
with great support are urged to come, enjoy a good lunch,
and listen to our work in progress. Call Caroline if you’re
interested.
Membership
It was good to see so many members at the November
meeting, where all enjoyed the dance exercise program.
We hope you will come back on December 5, because our
program team has a special program planned for this
fundraiser event. Dress festively!
If you are reading this and do not come to meetings because you don’t drive at night, or you don’t know anyone,
or you just need a little encouragement, give us a call or
send an email, and we’ll find a “meeting buddy” for you.
If you are an active member, please invite someone to come
along with you next time.
We know that the four main reasons why people belong to
AAUW are:
 a belief in its mission;
Literature
 a desire to give back to their community and the organMeets:
Thursday, January 19, 1 p.m. at Caroline O’Neil’s
ization;
Topic
by Lee Smith
 to enhance their personal or professional development,
Chair:
Regina Sieben
and
 for the social interaction.
Our group selects literary fiction or an occasional memoir
Let’s help to make sure that all of our members find their
to read during the year. A different member acts as
niche and are being engaged and served by our branch.
leader each month and presents background and critical
appraisal of the month’s selection. New members are most
Please add the following to your Yearbook:
welcome!
New Members
Tina Behr
Writing
Meets:
Meets:
Chair:
Thursday, December 22, 12:30 to 3:30 p.m.
Thursday, January 26, 12:30 to 3:30 p.m.
Caroline O’Neil
Members of this group are interested in all kinds of
writing, such as memoir, poetry, fiction, or essay, and
vary from those who write all the time to those who are
just beginning, some working on longer pieces, some
experimenting with a variety. The meeting begins with a
journal exercise, followed by lunch. Then we listen to and
discuss pieces or parts of pieces brought in by various
members, or more finished pieces circulated and read in
advance. New members of the branch (as well as old)
who think they might like to write without pressure and
Paula Freed
Renewals:
Vivian Breen
Barbara Lerro
Stephanie Rose
Best wishes for a joyous holiday season!
Barbara Withers
Alice McCord
[email protected]
Membership Co-Directors
AAUW NetWorks — December 2016/January 2017
5
Among Ourselves
Membership Notice
Alice McCord is recuperating at home after recent
surgery. She thanks her AAUW friends for the cards and
get-well wishes!
On November 30, members who have not renewed
will be dropped from the AAUW membership list.
If you have not yet renewed,
please do so before that date!
Former branch member Carol Stokes died on November 11
at the age of 81. She had moved from Atlantic Highlands to
Gig Harbor, Washington, where she served as co-president
of the Gig Harbor Branch of AAUW. Carol graduated from
Jacksonville University and received her Ph.D. in 1994 from
the University of South Carolina. We extend our sympathy fun and interesting was to spend a Saturday morning, as
well as to support this branch scholarships fundraiser,
to her friends and family.
please contact me. Your help is always appreciated!
Irene Gibson
Book Sale Staffing Chair
Scholarships Update
We now have a list of all our scholarship recipients:
Brookdale Audrey LaTowsky Scholar:
Barbara Cardoniga
Monmouth Esther Hymer Scholar:
Kim Alexis Kallok
Monmouth Quilt Scholar:
Gabrielle Imbriano
Moving our Mission Forward (cont. from page 1)
Douglass Ruth Kennedy Scholar:
Antoinette Gingarelli
new Congress on issues that are important to women and
working families. Women want progress on issues that
affect them, and AAUW intends to be a fair critic and a
valued ally. Most importantly, in true AAUW fashion, we
will not hesitate to ‘speak truth to power’.”
Meanwhile, the role of the Department of Education in combating campus sexual assault, as well as the
scope of how Title IX is funded and enforced, could be
changing under the new administration, according to the
website Insid e Higher Ed . Besides the threat of repealing
Roe v. Wade,
a huge setback for gender equity.
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972
prohibits discrimination based on gender in education
programs and activities that receive federal assistance.
All federal agencies that provide grants of assistance are
required to enforce Title IX. The U.S. Department of Education grants funding to schools and colleges and to other
educational programs.
Examples of the types of discrimination that are
The Scholarship Committee will now begin to establish the
guidelines for the new scholarship, which will be funded
by former member Louise Marsen’s bequest and awarded
to a Brookdale student.
Mimi Medlin
Education Outreach Director
Call for Volunteers
Thanks to all those who have
volunteered to work at NMCB’s Used
Book Sale once a month or as needed.
We still have open slots, particularly at the 11:30 - 2:00
times. If you haven’t already volunteered and would like a
AAUW NetWorks — December 2016/January 2017
6
covered under Title IX include sexual harassment;
failure to provide equal opportunity in athletics;
discrimination in a school’s science, technology,
engineering, and math (STEM) courses and programs; and discrimination based on pregnancy.
The most widely recognized result of Title IX has
been in women’s athletic programs. The stellar performances in the 2016 Summer Olympics by U.S. women
athletes have been credited primarily to the funding
women’s programs have received.
What can we do right now? We can do anything
but smolder and remain silent. Silence in these troubling
times is acquiescence. As Cohen has said, step up volunteer
efforts. Get involved! Channel your fears and anger in
productive ways. Also, speak out for our mission. Call
and write letters to your legislators sharing your concerns.
Write letters to newspaper editors. Speak to your neighbors… Speak to your colleagues… Speak to the person
next to you on the grocery line… .
Arlene Newman
Public Policy Co-Director
Running & Winning needs you to make
a difference in a teen’s life.
Running & Winning celebrated its 10th anniversary last winter with the 2016 workshop. The 2017 workshop is scheduled for March 17, and steering committee
members have been preparing for it since September. This
is an invitation for any NMCB member who might be interested in supporting Running & Winning to contact me to
find out more about what is involved.
Running & Winning encourages high school junior
girls to think about the skills it takes to be a leader and to
consider running for office, now in their schools and in the
future in their communities. Participating schools pick
their student attendees; we ask them to choose students
who show promise of leadership but who may not yet be
identified as leaders. Our long-term goal is to empower
and encourage women to run for and to win elective office.
At the workshop, students have an opportunity
to meet with women who have run for public office,
women who have won and lost, and some who have run
campaigns for other candidates. The women in government come from both major political parties, while some
have run in non-partisan school board elections. For many
students, the opportunity to interact with these women is
the high point of the day, and all of the women in government put aside their partisan differences to work together
to encourage the students to think
about some day running for public
office themselves.
Another high point of the
day is the chance for students to meet
girls from other area high schools.
They work together in small teams,
with team members coming from
different schools. These groups are
guided by trained facilitators from
the sponsoring organizations, and at
AAUW NetWorks — December 2016/January 2017
7
the end of the day, each team gives a presentation to all
participants in the auditorium.
In the past ten years, AAUW and our partner
organizations have had the opportunity to encourage 600
young women to learn more about how public policy is
made and to think about themselves as potential candidates and leaders. I hope some of you will think about
being part of the group that makes Running & Women
happen for these students. Contact me if you are interested.
Marian Wattenbarger
Co-Chair Running & Winning 2017
She studied psychology at Radcliffe and nearly
completed a degree at Johns Hopkins Medical School;
during her fourth year, she failed an important class and
dropped out. She encountered problems with the maledominated culture of the school and was criticized for not
conforming to a conventional female role. The paternalistic
culture and an unhappy love triangle with two other women contributed to her leaving without a degree.
“America is my country and Paris is my home.”
In 1903, she moved to Paris with her secretary and
young partner, Alice B. Toklas. The two lived in France as a
couple until Stein’s death from cancer in 1946. Her famous
salon was frequented by well-known writers and artists,
including Picasso, Matisse, Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald,
Sinclair Lewis, and Ezra Pound. She coined the phrase “the
(from page 1)
lost generation” to describe the ex-pat artists abroad after
the First World War.
The production company began as a group of
So plan to join us on December 5 — guests are very
friends in a bookshop called The Raconteur on Main Street
welcome!
— when we step back to the 1940s and journey
in Metuchen, NJ. Alex Dawson, artistic director and writer
for Raconteur Radio, tells us about gatherings, late into the to Paris, where the lights dim and the show begins! To add
to the Parisian mood, our refreshment tables will be laden
night, with a group of actors and writers reading favorite
stories and acting the parts of Sherlock Holmes, Gatsby, the with French pastries and perhaps a pan of brownies…
Heather Balczarek
voice of James Joyce, and others. Closing the bookstore in
Carole Walther
2012 was a tour de force; Dawson now lives with floor-toProgram Co-Directors
ceiling crates of books in his house and performs those stories on the stage!
Gertrude Stein is portrayed by Jane Hardy, a forNote: No outreach donations will be collected at the
mer Off-Broadway actress and founding member of Racon- December meeting. Please check the February issue of
teur Radio. She has portrayed Mrs. Danvers in Re becca,
NetWorks
.
Bilbo Baggins in The Ho bbit, Jane Marple in Agatha Christie’s Miss Marp le , Norma Desmond in Sunset Bo ulevard ,
and the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard o f Oz
(and many more). But her favorite character is the avantgarde poet, playwright, writer, and art collector, Gertrude
Stein.
“A house in the country is not the same
as a country house.”
In addition to recent releases and
Born into a wealthy Pittsburgh family in 1874, Stein
books in every genre at low prices,
traveled at the age of three with her parents and four older
the Book Sale also has DVDs and CDs
siblings to Vienna, enjoying a year-long European tour
as well as games and complete jigsaw puzzles.
with nannies and staff. The family then moved to Oakland,
We also have a collection of activity books for
CA. After her parents died when she was a teenager, she
children of all ages. AND we have Christmas and
lived in Baltimore with her mother’s family and became
holiday cards at 25 for $1.00. It's a one-stop shopping
friends with Claribel and Etta Cone, who held Saturday
destination!
evening salons, which Stein would later emulate in Paris.
The Book Sale will be open on Saturdays, December 3,
“When I go around and speak on campuses,
10, and 17. We will be closed on November 26 and
I still don’t get young men standing up and saying,
December 24 and 31. Happy Holidays!
how can I combine a career and a family?”
Annual Branch Fundraiser
The Book Sale has holiday
gifts for all!
AAUW NetWorks — December 2016/January 2017
American Association of University Women
Northern Monmouth County Branch
P. O. Box 398
Red Bank, NJ 07701
Monday, December 5, Annual Branch Fundraiser:
A 1940s Raconteur Radio Play: “Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein”
Eatontown Community Center, 58 Broad Street
AAUW advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy, and research.
In principle and in 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.
Membership is open to any graduate holding an associate or equivalent, baccalaureate, or higher degree from a
regionally accredited college or university.
AAUW Used Book Sale
The store is located at :
Old First Church
69 Kings Highway
Middletown
Open:
9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays
except holidays
Donations:
10 a.m. to noon on Thursdays
To volunteer: Irene Gibson
Information: Viki Mischenko, Chair
732-933-4855
Stay Connected!
AAUW
www.aauw.org
AAUW-NJ
aauw-nj.aauw.net
AAUW-NMCB www.aauw-nj-nmcb.org
Branch phone
732-933-4855
AAUW Action Network
www.aauw.org/what-we-do/public-policy/twominute-activist/
AAUW, AAUW-NJ, and NMCB are on
Facebook. Check them out!
Meeting cancellation information:
Listen to 94.3 FM.