Co-Coordinator's Report

by Julie S

Well, get out your calenders and your walking shoes! Save these dates
 for important marches for women's rights. The first is a local march and 
event organized by Women's International League for Peace and 
Freedom to celebrate International Women's Day.  The actual day of 
observance is March 8th, but the event will be held on Saturday, March 
9th.  The route will be from San Lorenzo Park to Calvary Church, 
downtown.  The purpose of the event is to take action to implement the 
resolutions passed at the U. N Beijing Conference on Women. See 
calendar for details.

  The other march and rally to mark on your calender is the National
NOW action in San Francisco on April 14. Normally the annual action 
has taken place in Washington DC. If you always wanted to go to one 
of those mass mobilizations, but could not travel to DC, now is your 
chance. The focus for the march is "Fight the Right" with an emphasis 
on retaining Affirmative Action in this state. We are organizing busses to 
go to the event with an estimated cost between $10 and $20. 
Incidentally, our April meeting will be in preparation for this event. 
California has exported a lot of reactionary legislation to the rest of the 
country the past few years -- 3 Strikes and Prop. 187 to name a few. It's 
time to stand up and shout NO MORE!

    On a lighter note, let me invite one and all to our March General
Meeting which will have a different format and location. We're having
another "Salon." A salon is essentially a party at which talk and ideas 
are as much a part of the entertainment as the food or drink (which is 
also typically quite good.) The tradition of "salons" goes back to the age 
of  enlightenment in France. Women, although denied much access to 
formal education, would organize evenings of discussion with the 
foremost thinkers, artists and political figures of the day attending. Often 
there would be a loose topic or theme. Diversity of thought and 
background were nurtured and exercised in these gatherings. Progress 
in the sciences and arts was undeniably enhanced by these gatherings. 
It seemed fitting to us that we should honor March as Women's History 
Month with another salon. If this one goes as well as the last, we will 
continue having this format for a meeting regularly throughout the year. 
It is a great time to invite a friend who is not a member to come to a 
meeting. It will be held in the home of Dianne Lamotte in Aptos.  For 
directions or to arrange a carpool, call Mary at 423-6683 or Julie at 
728-3988.
     I'll end with thanks to our board members, Christian (membership)
and Jennifer (newsletter) who are working on getting the chapter on the
Internet.  Christian is creating a web page to get the chapter on to the
world wide web.  Both of them are trying to figure out how to give 
members the choice of getting their newsletter online, saving cost, 
paper and time. It seems so synchronous that here we are in the 1990's 
re-creating in electronics what those women who hosted salons were 
doing in their day. Who knows what will happen when women access a 
world of information this time!

WHAT'S GOING ON!

The Santa Cruz County Women's Commission will host their Ninth 
Annual Awards Celebration Friday, March 1, 1996, at the Holiday Inn, 
611 Ocean St, Santa Cruz. They will be honoring the following Santa 
Cruz County Residents who made extraordinary contributions to improve 
the status of women:

Bettina Aptheker, Guillermina Porraz, Jane Podesta, Vida Nogueda, 
Lorette Wood, Defensa de Mujeres, Darrie Ganzhorn, Lynn Cooper, 
Jane Freedman, Marie Schwartz, Beth Thomas, Nora Hochman, La 
Asociacion de Proveedores de Cuidado de Ninos, The Santa Cruz 
Toddler Center, Jessica Young, and Women on the Move.

 Monterey Bay Women's Caucus for Art is hosting its 1996 Fireside
Lecture Series & General Membership Meetings, Wednesday evenings 
at the Aptos Public Library, 7695 Soquel Dr, Aptos. For more info, call 
Marilyn Hurn-Mohr at 408-476-6271 or Kate Hitt at 408-728-4302.       

Job oportunities (This is what Affirmatinve Action is really about! -Ed.)

Carpenters 46 is holding an open registration
procedure from which active qualified applicant lists are maintained. For
information regarding Carpenters, Millwrights, Shinglers, Scaffold
Erectors, Pile Drivers, Acoustical Installers, Insulation Applicators,
Hardwood Floorlayers and Cabinetmakers, call 408-778-1552.

HOW DOES AFFIRMATIVE ACTION WORK?

Affirmative action is a name given to a wide variety of tools that expand
job and educational opportunities for women and people of color as a 
remedy for current discrimination and the present day effects of past
discrimination.
        These tools include outreach, recruitment, training and promotion,
and holding employers and educational institutions accountable. The 
purpose of affirmative action is to open opportunities to qualified people 
who have been traditionally left out, and therefore, under-represented in 
the American workplace and economy.
        Before an affirmative action program is instituted, a finding must
be made that certain groups have been under-represented. At the 
federal and state levels, there are several hundred programs to fulfil 
these goals.
        Contrary to popular misconception, affirmative action does not 
require quotas. In fact, ever since the 1978 Bakke decision, the use of
quotas has been illegal. Numerical objectives can only be mandated by 
a court after proof that persistent, illegal discrimination has resulted in
total-or near total-exclusion of minorities or women and only then after 
all other available methods of achieving equality have failed.

Goals and Timetables:
One of the most commonly used tools for affirmative action is setting 
goals and timetables by which to improve integration - not the imposition 
of inflexible quotas.
    Even such goals and timetables are considered a remedy of last
resort to correct illegal hiring practices that are so entrenched that 
lesser measure have been ineffective.  In fact, goals and timetables
are rarely met. Yet, the courts have long given substantial leeway to 
agencies unable to reach these objectives as long as they can 
demonstrate that a "good faith effort" has been made.  Affirmative 
action is not a panacea, nor a substitute for employment opportunities 
or an end to discrimination. It is, however, a fair and vigorous attempt 
to challenge the legacy of racism and sexism endemic to our society.

THIS BASEMENT IS HISTORY!!!

Your help is sorely needed! Please print these cards, sign them, include
your name and address, and mail them to your senators. Feel free to 
make copies and invite your friends to join in. How long will we allow 
these women to be kept in the basement?!

Senator Dianne Feinstein
Hart Senate Office Building, Rm 331
Washington DC 20510

Dear Senator Feinstein,
I'm sending this note in honor of women's history month to the great
historical figures of Susan B. Anthony, Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady
Stanton, as presented to Congress in statue form immediately 
after passage of the Suffrage Amendment 75 years ago.  Unfortunately, 
as you know, this statue still has no place in the Capitol building proper, 
but is kept in the basement like a shameful secret.  Therefore I am 
sending this care of you and request that you carry it to the basement. I 
also ask that you do your utmost to have the statue moved to an 
appropriate place of honor for these courageous Americans who 
opened the door of democracy to U.S. women.

Senator Barbara Boxer
112 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510-0501

Dear Senator Boxer,
I'm sending this note in honor of women's history month to the great
historical figures of Susan B. Anthony, Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady
Stanton, as presented to Congress in statue form immediately after 
passage of the Suffrage Amendment 75 years ago.  Unfortunately, as 
you know, this statue still has no place in the Capitol building proper, but 
is kept in the basement like a shameful secret.  Therefore I am sending 
this care of you and request that you carry it to the basement. I also ask 
that you do your utmost to have the statue moved to an appropriate 
place of honor for these courageous Americans who opened the door of 
democracy to U.S. women.

GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETINGS

General membership meetings are held the first Thursday of each month 
from 7:00 to 9:00 pm. The first half hour often includes some social time 
and announcements/business with presentations and action components beginning at 7:30. You do not have to be a member of the 
Chapter or of NOW to be welcome.
        Meetings are held at Kid's Klub, Harvey West Blvd, Santa Cruz. 
The chapter provides free coffee and tea. The meeting place is bus and
wheelchair accessible. SCCNOW provides vouchers for childcare at 
Kid's Klub. Call chapter phone for information: 335-7704 or leave email.

• Santa Cruz Co NOW board members

CHAPTER CALENDAR

MARCH

Women's History Month

07      7 - 9pm. Thurs. SCCNOW General Meeting and Salon. 
Diane Lamotte, 604 Middlefield Dr, Aptos. For directions, call Diane at
662-9562. For ridesharing, Julie at 728-3988 or Mary at 423-6683.

08      International Women's Day

09      12 noon. Sat. International Women's Day March & Rally. San
Lorenzo Park to Calvary Church for Rally from 1:30 - 3:30 pm. For           info, call Erin Ramsden at 423-1074 or Pat Arnold at 425-7618.

APRIL

14      Sun. March and Rally to Fight the Right. San Francisco. For info, 
call Julie at 728-3988 or Jeanette at 454-0894. 

COMMUNITY CALENDAR
(not sponsored or endorsed by NOW)

MARCH

01      7:00pm. Fri. Santa Cruz County Women's Commission Ninth
Annual Awards Celebration. Holiday Inn, 611 Ocean St, Santa Cruz.
For info, call 408-454-2772.

05      Purim

06      11:30am - 1:30pm. Wed. Campaign Kickoff Luncheon. Sponsored by the Countywide Prevention Coalition. Cocoanut Grove, 
Santa Cruz. For info, call Andrew Davis at 408-479-5324.

06      5:30pm - 8:00pm. Wed. A Celebration of Women's History. 
Presented by The Women's Building. San Francisco. For info, call 
415-431-1180.

17      St Patrick's Day

20      Spring Equinox

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