July 2018 – June 2019

News Release – AAUW Monthly Meeting, May 13, 2019

AAUW Branch Meeting May 13, 2019, 6:00 pm at Meadowlark Hills Community Room

Welcoming Remarks: Mary Stamey welcomed all members and one guest to our AAUW Annual Wrap-Up Celebration for the year 2018 – 2019. 23 people were present.
Introduction of Guest: An introduction was made by Pat Hudgins. She introduced Donna Phillips who has been a friend of Pat’s for many years. Welcome Donna!!!
Silent Auction: People were encouraged to make bids on items at various times throughout the evening.
Business Meeting:
April Board Meeting Minutes was handed out to all members present.   Karen McCulloh made a motion the minutes be accepted as printed. Pat Hudgins seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Old Business:
AAUW State Convention: Tresa Landis and Nancy Bolsen attended the State Meeting in Lindsborg on April 27, 2019. Tresa reported that the various speakers gave talks about many topics. These included AAUW working with the STEM program, helping young women find scholarships, the interruption of women’s rights by the Civil War and World War I, the Work Smart program, the winners of the STAR Branch Awards and the winner of the NCCWSL (National Conference for College Women Student Leaders) scholarship.
New Business: Tresa Landis reported on the celebration of the 19th amendment committee. Their goal is to reach many communities to make them aware of the celebration. They are working with Linda Cook from K State who may have two Landon Lectures scheduled. They are having the celebration from May 2019 to November of 2020. The Her-Flag is being built for the 36 states that ratified the amendment. The Her-Flag exhibit will be in the 36 state capitols that ratified the amendment. Kansas was the 4th state to ratify the 19th Amendment. On the Her-Flag exhibit route Topeka is stop #4 on June 17, 2019. We want to see Banners celebrating the 19th Amendment across the K State campus and perhaps have it as a theme for the Homecoming floats at K State.
For the Work Smart program Mary asked that someone take the Work Smart Negotiating Course on line.
This will show the person how to negotiate for a better salary. Please take the online course and pass it on. May 15th a class will be given in Kansas City. See Mary if you are interested in going. Connie Noble, Annelise Nguyen and Dea Brokesh will be taking the on line course. It will take approximately 90 minutes for each member to complete the course. The National AAUW goal is to train 100,000 young women in the Work Smart program by August 1, 2019.
Announcements:
Usha Reddi announced that there are 3 seats on the City Commission open this year and 4 positions on the Board of Education to be filled. June 3rd is the filing deadline. We would love to see more women running for these positions.
Mary also reminded us that our dues of $80 are due by June 30th.   They can be paid directly to us or on line. To renew on line go to http://www.aauw.org/membership/ and click on “Already a Member? Renew Here” at the top of the page. You will need to know your membership number OR your basic information (name, address, email, etc.) It is much better for our bookkeeping if you do pay on line.
Celebration of this year’s activities: Our branch program members developed very interesting programs. They are as follows. NBAF (National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility) Update, Drug Discovery for Breast Cancer, Review of our Election process, Millennials in the Workforce, Women in Leadership, Being A Military Spouse and the Annual International Women’s Day Celebration!!!!! Our Facebook and Website are updated after each meeting!!! We also celebrate the many awards received from the State AAUW for our continued work with our programs!!!
STAR Branch Award: Tresa Landis reported that at the State AAUW Convention our Manhattan (KS) Branch did receive the Star Branch Award!!!! Many thanks go to Mary Stamey for turning in the report that got us that achievement. Our Branch also received an award for Growth in Membership!!!
AAUW Fund Recognition: Tresa also reported that at the State AAUW Convention our Branch was #1 in AAUW funds contributions and # 5 in Per Capita giving. Great Job members!!!
Branch Scholarships Winners: Claudia Jones, Scholarship Committee chair, reported that the branch has four scholarships to award this year. Those who applied are working on getting either a Math Degree, an Art Degree or a degree in Microbiology. Thank you to those who donate to the Grow Green Program. It helps us give three scholarships of $1000 and one scholarship of $1500. Claudia will release the names of the winners when the Grow Green Program confirms each of the winners.
Saluting Our Continuing Officers: Mary Stamey recognized Continuing officers for 2019-2020!!!! Assisting the President: Mary Stamey, Vice-presidents for Programs: Julee Thomas, Mary Ng’ang’a and Usha Reddi, Secretary: Maurine Pruitt, Director-At-Large: 2018-2020, Leena Chakrabarti, Director-At-Large: 2019-2021 Karen McCulloh.
Celebrating Our Newly Elected Officers: The new officers Marlene verBugge, president and Amanda Gaulke treasurer were thanked for all of their continuing support of AAUW in taking over these offices.
Honoring Our Legacy:
Outstanding Member Award was given to Mary Ng’ang’a who became a member quietly one year ago. Since then she has given, given and given this year. She has served on the program committee and has done some of the Membership committee duties. Great work throughout the year, Mary!!!!!! She received a large vase of beautiful potted plants for her work done for AAUW!!!
President’s Award was given to the Vice-Presidents for Programs for the past year: Usha Reddi, Mary Ng’ang’a,and Julee Thomas who have given us so many good speakers. They know people. Miss Julee got many of the speakers and worked on finding locations, Usha knew many people to ask for speakers, and Mary while setting up items for each program kept them all together. Great work for the 2018-2019 AAUW year!!! For all of their work for AAUW, each of the program directors received a large vase of beautiful potted plants!!!

The silent auction winners bought nice items for their homes. Thanks to everyone who worked on that and everyone who contributed items. The money will go to our Branch operating funds.
Mark your calendars for the following dates:
2019 Board Retreat: July 13 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the KSU Research Foundation Complex
2019-2020 Board meetings: 4:30 p.m. at the Vista Drive-In on the 1st Monday of the month
2019-2020 Branch meetings: September 9, October 14, November 11, December 9, January 13, February 10,
March 9, April 13 and May 11
Later we will meet for an AAUW Board Meeting on September 2, 2019 at Vista Drive-In at 4:30 pm.
Our next AAUW Branch meeting will be September 9, 2019 and will start at 6:00 pm at the Little Apple Brewery. The speaker will be announced later. Cost will be $13.00.
Meeting adjourned, Maurine Pruitt AAUW Manhattan (KS) Branch Secretary

Persons interested in learning more about AAUW in Manhattan may go to manhattan-ks.aauw.net or email manhattanksaawu@gmailcom.

News Release – AAUW Monthly Meeting, April 8, 2019

AAUW Manhattan (KS) Branch Meeting, April 8, 2019, 6:00 p.m., LaFiesta Mexican Restaurant, 2301 Tuttle Creek Blvd., Manhattan, KS

MEETING CALLED TO ORDER: Mary Stamey – 27 people attended.  Nominations for officers was handed to each member to vote for next year’s officers. A slate of officers was accepted by members as presented.  Results were the following: President: Marlene verBrugge and Mary Stamey, Vice-presidents for Programs: (continuing) Julee Thomas, Mary Ng’ang’a and Usha Reddi, Secretary: (continuing) Maurine Pruitt, Treasurer: Amanda Gaulke, Director-At-Large: 2018-2020 (continuing) Leena Chakrabarti, Director-At-Large: 2019-2021 Karen McCulloh.  Welcome new officers for 2019-2020!!!!

Mary Stamey also announced that the Grow Green Celebration with The Greater Manhattan Community Foundation is April 22, 2019 from 7 am – 7 pm at 555 Poyntz Avenue in Manhattan, Kansas.  Gifts between $25 and $1000 will be matched at 50% by the Greater Grow Green Manhattan organization.  Online gifts are accepted from 12:01 am – 11:59 pm on April 22 at GrowGreenManhattan.com.

Mary Stamey also gave notice that The 19th Amendment committee is meeting with League of Women Voters to find a Landon Lecturer. The Flag exhibit will be in the 36 state capitols that ratified the amendment, Kansas being one of the states. On the Flag exhibit route Topeka is stop #4 on June 17, 2019. The Kansas artist is Jennifer Hudson, artist and K-State Masters of Fine Arts student. On the K-State Campus we hope to incorporate the 19th Amendment theme during Homecoming.  We also want to see Banners celebrating the 19th Amendment all across campus.

Mary also reminded us that our dues of $80 are due by June 30th.

Usha Reddi introduced the Program speaker Alissa Turner, a Brigadier General’s Spouse talking about “The War at Home: Being a Military Spouse”. Alissa started college at Frostburg State University in Maryland and finished at the University of Kentucky with a bachelors in German language and literature.  Between her freshmen and sophomore years she attended ROTC Basic Camp and was awarded a 2 year scholarship.  In 1985 she entered active duty as a Second Lieutenant in the Ordnance Corps.  She enjoyed leading soldiers and she retired after 20 years in 2005.

Some negative items Alissa pointed out were the following: It is a unique lifestyle as you are on call 24 hours a day, and as a woman you have to reprove yourself every time you go to a new post.  Enlisted soldiers come back home and are gone quickly and although many resources are available to soldiers and their families, many who need them do not use the resources. You have to be ready to say yes to most moves. There are few mentorships for women in the army and spouses are unlikely to be employed or have their own careers. There were few male spouses when she entered the military.  On 911 she and her husband were both at the Pentagon – had she been at her desk she would not have survived. Some moves are unaccompanied such as when her husband went to Korea unaccompanied and she had a family – this was a big stressor. Having a military career when she was married was not a positive. When she became a mother in the military she could not make the family her priority-she had to make the military a priority.

As a negative or a positive a soldier in the military makes many, many moves.  She and her husband have been many places including, Korea, Hawaii, North Carolina, Washington DC, Oklahoma, Kansas, etc.

While Alissa pointed out many negatives to the military life, her positives were great such as the following: Great military traditions exist as the Welcome Home and the Farewell celebrations. Officers are often sent on assignment with their wives. Officers come home and stay longer than enlisted military. Many resources are available to spouses such as sponsors when a unit deploys and many family support structures are available. Now some spouses have jobs of their own or careers established. Many military join officers‘ clubs. There is no pay disparity – rank and years of service determines pay among men and women in the military. There are Housing allowances-nontaxable and specialty pay within the medical field. There are more male spouses now. You may retire after 20 years and after retirement you can still use the military conveniences. Now Alissa is happy in Manhattan, Kansas and says it is very welcoming. She joined the military first to pay for her schooling as do many of the soldiers. Military doctors do not have to pay for mal-practice insurance. You must be physically fit to join the military.

As Alissa said there are bad parts and good parts in any field you build your life around. As a mother of 4 children, 2 in college and 2 children at Manhattan High School, she is happy that she had a military career before getting married. Now after retirement she and her husband are enjoying Manhattan, Kansas. She is a stay at home mom working on another degree in Academic Advising and she loves welcoming people into the military service.

Our next AAUW Board meeting will be Monday May 6, 2019 at 4:30 pm at the Vista Drive In.

Our next AAUW Branch meeting will be Monday May 13, 2019. It will start at 6:00 pm at the Meadowlark Hills Community Room. It will be our Annual Wrap-up and Celebration. Cost will be announced later.

Persons interested in learning more about AAUW in Manhattan may go to manhattan-ks.aauw.net or email manhattanksaawu@gmailcom.

News Release – AAUW Monthly Meeting, March 7, 2019

AAUW Manhattan (KS) Branch Meeting, March 7, 2019, International Women’s Day, 6:00 p.m., Holiday Inn at the Campus, 1641 Anderson Avenue, Manhattan, KS 

MEETING CALLED TO ORDER: President – Mary Stamey. The theme for the International Women’s Day celebration is Balance for Better. Those working the program from our Branch were Mary N’gang’a, Usha Reddi, and Marlene verBrugge. From the City Commission, Usha Reddi, the moderator, introduced our International Women panelists. Martha Caldas associate teaching professor of biology from Brazil, Lilit Khachatryan a graphic artist II at Champion Teamwear from Armenia, Saidi Kisangani of the Democratic Republic of Congo currently a Para educator with USD 383, and Negar Orangi-Fard a doctoral student in applied mathematics and a teaching assistant in mathematics from Iran.

Questions asked and responses are as follows.

Share your story about coming to the US: when, from where, why, etc. Include who was the family member deciding to come, how many came, did all come at once? How long have you been in the US? Include where you are currently employed.

Saidi of Dem. Rep. of Congo – 37 years ago her husband came to US with the Rockefeller foundation paying for his education. He came here alone and she was 5 months pregnant. There is much bureaucracy to get Visa but a gentleman arranged to get her here quickly. Her husband studied in the Department of Education. The US is considered the number one country to live in.

Martha from Brazil – She was born in Brazil where it is very tropical. She has a diverse home. Her mother and father are from different backgrounds. She has 4 siblings. She and her husband came to get their PhD’s. They were professors at a university in Brazil prior to coming to the US. They could go back but they agreed to stay here. They miss their families. They love their work here. Here their children know both the Brazilian and the US cultures.

Lilit from Armenia– She moved here 6 years ago with her husband. Their parents didn’t agree with them. She spoke no English when she came here. She enrolled in the ESL (English as a Second Language) program. She changed her major to Marketing in the US after a Fashion Design degree was obtained in Armenia. She is working here and he will work here after his graduation.

Negar from Iran – She arrived in the US in 2014. She is from the Northwest part of Iran and speaks Turkish. Her Bachelors and Masters degrees were obtained in Iran. She tried to get a job in Iran but had a hard time. She taught then found a job in a bank. She felt she needed something different and then decided to get her PhD. She has an uncle in Kansas City. She got a single-entry Visa to come to the US. She will not see her family for about 6 years. She does really like the US.

Compare/contrast your home country and the US for your: education and career, opportunities, marriage traditions, holidays, women’s rights such as health, voting, and civil rights.

Saidi of Dem. Rep. of Congo – Kindergarten doesn’t exist. In the Congo high school is very hard. You study for a very difficult exam at the end of high school. It is a 3 day exam to get your diploma. Only the really bright people pass this exam. For admission to a university you have to score above a 62% on the exam. Some people attend a 2 year college. You must choose to get married or to go to the university. She chose marriage. After she came to the US she received her degree from K State. She had to take the ESL program to learn English. Prior voting issues included women could not run for office. Now they can. Everybody can vote.

Martha from Brazil – There is super hard exam to get into a university. Now 65% of the university people are women. Everything depends on the difficult exam in Brazil. Marriage is very liberal. You may divorce any time. There are many, many holidays. Many are built around special Church days such as Good Friday, Maundy Thursday, etc. All can vote. Brazil had a woman president before the US. Now many women have been voted into office.

Lilit from Armenia – Post high school education here is completely different. In Armenia post high school education is decided for you according to exam scores. In the US she has to decide.   Here it is very well organized.  You have a Career Opportunities office on campus. The economy in Armenia is not well established. In Armenia you have to dress up take the out trash. Here they wear shorts even to classes. Women’s rights are basically the same in Armenia and US but in Armenia maternity leave is 1 year paid leave and you can get a second year if you get pregnant again.

Negar from Iran – There is a big entrance exam to get into the university in Iran. It is hard to get into the colleges. You   can’t change your major. In the US you can change majors. The economy is not good in Iran. There are better jobs here in the US. Women rights are not good in Iran. The culture is different. Jobs are more available to men in Iran. Restrictions in Iran – At the age of nine you have a job.   There are moral police and regular police. Women started a movement and removed their Hijabs and put them on sticks. The moral police arrested some of them. For marriage your dad must give his permission. Women cannot start a divorce. The man must start the divorce.

Usha from India remarked that everybody comes to weddings in India. You do not have to be invited.

Do you consider there to be gender balance in your culture/country?

Answered above and with the questions from the audience below.

Questions from the audience.

Equal pay? How does it compare among women and men in your country?

Saidi of Dem. Rep. of Congo– for the same job women are paid less.

Martha from Brazil – there is a huge gap in pay for women and men in the Private sector. In the Public sector everyone is paid the same. For women the higher their education, for the same job as a man, Usha from India remarked that everybody comes to weddings in India. You do not have to be invited.  The pay gap is less.

Lilit from Armenia – Pay for the same job is the same but when people are older they do get fired.

Negar from Iran – Men have better chance to get jobs. When women and men are hired for the same job they do get equal pay.

Is there social security in your country? What retirement systems are there?

Saidi of Dem. Rep. of Congo – With the Social Security some people do not see the Social Security payments. Some people get paid Social Security for 1 year after working 30 years.

Martha from Brazil – Yes there is Social Security or Retirement but not for the women in the street selling goods. There is no Social Security or Retirement for them.

Lilit from Armenia – Retirement is very low. Children must support older parents or they move into rental houses.

Negar form Iran– Iran dos have jobs with Retirement. Iran also has great insurance plans.

What do people do for fun?

Saidi of Dem. Rep. of Congo– In the Congo they party any time. Congo is known for their music. They love to dance. She misses the music and dance a lot. At weddings sometimes there is no dances in the US. In the Congo there is always dancing at weddings.

Martha from Brazil – In Brazil people go to the beach. They have many family gatherings. They always listen to music.

Lilit from Armenia – In Armenia they party a lot. They have dance parties for no reason. They cook a lot. They are happy people.

Negar from Iran – In Iran we are happy for no reason. They have many family celebrations. They dance and have big parties. They often have picnics in summer.

Closing remarks: What is your future in the US?

Saidi of Dem. Rep. of Congo – She will stay here until she dies. She and her husband put 10% of their money into a fund for children in the Congo.

Martha from Brazil– The welcome to the US should be back to what is was.

Lilit from Armenia – She has been here for 5 years. She wishes she could bring her family here from Armenia. She cannot bring them here.

Nagar form Iran – Because she is a student here in the future she must find a job for her work permit. The Travel Ban does not let her family come here.

Our next AAUW Board meeting will be Monday, April 1, 2019 at 4:30 pm at the Vista Drive In.  Our next AAUW Branch meeting will be Monday April 8, 2019 at Little Apple Brewery. Dinner is at 6:00pm and the program will be at 6:45pm. The speaker will be Allisa Turner, Brigadier General’s Spouse. She will speak about “The War At Home: Being A Military Spouse”.

Persons interested in learning more about AAUW in Manhattan may go to manhattan-ks.aauw.net or email manhattanksaawu@gmailcom.

News Release – AAUW Monthly Meeting, February 11, 2019

AAUW Manhattan (KS) Branch Meeting, February 11, 2019, 6:00 p.m.,  Little Apple Brewing Company, 1110 Westloop Place, Manhattan, KS.

MEETING CALLED TO ORDER: President – Mary Stamey. Number present were 22 members, 4 guests and 1 speaker. Guests were Christine Herald, Theresa Merrick-Gaulke, Pamela Nealey-Green and Barbara Watt. Mary Stamey paid tribute to Nancy Roman age 93 who was a member of AAUW and who was the first Chief Astronomer at NASA.

Mary also shared information about our scholarships for non-traditional students. It is on Facebook and our Website. If you “share” rather than just “like” the items from Facebook they go to many more people.

Barbara Gatewood – Pete Souza, photographer for two presidents Barack Obama and Ronald Reagan, will give a talk on Tuesday March 5, 2019 at 7:30 pm at the McCain Auditorium. Tickets are free and can be received starting on February 19, 2019. You may get them at the McCain box office Tuesday – Friday from 12 to 4:00 pm or you may call 785-532-6428. His talk will be “One Photographer, Two Presidents”.

Usha Reddi introduced our speaker Linda Cook, Chief of Staff and Director of Community Relationships at Kansas State University who spoke on “Time Management for Women in Leadership”. Following are a few of the many recommendations for time management that Linda presented.

Simple Time Management Plan
Get started. Get into a routine.
Don’t say yes to everything. Don’t be afraid to say no. Share work with someone else.
Don’t commit to unimportant activities.

Think long range.
Divide large tasks.   Make a schedule for tasks and set start and stop times for the tasks.
Empower and delegate.
Don’t put unneeded effort into it. Deal with it once and for all. Set start and stop times.
Establish plans and have others establish plans.  Again Linda stressed to keep the big picture in sight. The big picture needs to be established at first.

Tips to Improve planning skills
Make plans that are realistic.
Delegate.
Common excuses not to delegate:
Insufficient time to explain, desire for perfection, personal satisfaction in doing task, lack of confidence in employee ability and fear of failure
Make a plan to revisit the task if you fail.

Identify tasks to delegate and set time limits. Make a grid.

Task     Delegate     Dynamics of task     Expectations
1.
2.
3.
4.

Five P’s for time management
Pick your battles.
Prioritize.
Plan.
Prepare.
Put plan into action.

Our next AAUW Board meeting will be Monday, March 4, 2019 at 4:30 pm at the Vista Drive In.
Our next AAUW Branch meeting will be Thursday March 7, 2019 at Holiday Inn at the Campus, 1641 Anderson Avenue.  Dinner is at 6:00pm and the program will be at 6:45pm. We will have a panel of 4 Local International Women speakers. Cost is $22.00

Persons interested in learning more about AAUW in Manhattan may go to manhattan-ks.aauw.net or email manhattanksaawu@gmailcom.

News Release – AAUW Monthly Meeting, January 14, 2019

AAUW Manhattan (KS) Branch Meeting, January 14, 2019, 6:00 p.m., Little Apple Brewing Company, 1110 Westloop Place, Manhattan, KS.

MEETING CALLED TO ORDER: President – Mary Stamey. Number present – 17 members, 5 guests and 1 speaker. Chris Herald, Negar Orangi-Fard, Lindsey Glasscok, Alayna Colburn and Christie Launius were our guests. Mary Stamey notified us that our subgroup of Great Decisions has a new Book with 8 worldly topics that will be read and discussed.

Mary Stamey introduced our speaker Kristin Brighton, Principal/Owner of New Boston Creative who would speak on The Reluctant Generation:   Inspiring Generation X to Lead. Kristin was the first person from Generation X to be on the Board of the Chamber of Commerce in Manhattan, Kansas. She was asked how to get Generation X women more involved in the community. She formed a survey that went out to Chambers of Commerce across the United States. Facebook was the place that responded best to get the replies up to 2153. From the survey she has found the following:

5 generations to be aware of

  1. Silent Generation – experienced the Great Depression and are the most conservative.
  2. Boomers – experienced the Civil Rights, Vietnam, JFK / MLK Jr. A large percent of women were in the workforce.

Many have a second career after retirement.

  1. Generation X – They are an independent group – many mothers were not at home after school with them. They have a higher crime rate. They were Cable television viewers. They totally know social media. They come from dual income families. It is the smallest generation group.
  2. Millennials – Women spend much more time with children. They do not remember life before personal computers and smart phones. They are optimistic. They like to job hop. They will take over jobs from Generation X.
  3. Generation Z – Parents are from post 9/11. They are pragmatic, racially diverse and many saw parents laid off from work. They are more stressed out and many experience mental health problems. They often do not know what to do with free time. The average age is 22. More go to Trade Schools.

From the answers of 2153 people Kristin found that racially 88% were white and 9% were people of color. The survey showed more men in all age ranges do lead groups but there is less difference between genders for Millennials. Only 22 percent want to be Chamber Leaders. Many mothers are divorced and many of this generation works 69 hour work weeks. They are more involved with their children as they want to be stars at home and at work. Their average age is from 38 to 53. They are independent and non-joiners and frustrated with their careers. They want to have it all.

To understand Generation X better we should look at Focus, Fortune, and Family of the Generation X individuals.

Focus – They experienced 9/11, 20 percent are on antidepressants, they are over committed and often feel trapped. They say “no” to Community and “no” to Civic Responsibility. They are interested in Health and Wellness. For Household responsibility they hire this done.

Fortune – Generation X is the most indebted Generation. They have not been able to reach the success of their parents. They cannot save enough for colleges and often are paying their own student loans. Many have turned to Direct Sales and work form the home.

Family – Generation X is the Sandwich Generation. The average age is 49. They need to help their parents and their children. They spend more time with their kids. 10 percent of their income is spend on kids activities. The increase in the cost of caring for Autism means a greater income burden. They have more Martial Stability. More marriages occur when they are over the age of 30. Generation X is now in Mid-Life Crisis with Economic challenges and they are drowning in Expectations and Commitments.

How can we get Generation X to be more involved?

  1. They need a space to be involved with the community, not with the family and not with their normal work.
  2. To Inspire the women of Generation X– look at women who have been leaders and focus on the next wave of advancements. Ask and elevate more people. Celebrate with awards/set up mentoring programs.
  3. Nominations for advancement within the group has to show diversity.
  4. Stay in touch with members and potential members.
  5. Adapt time of the meeting to their needs. Some may want only quarterly meetings.
  6. Build Virtual Events/Build Young Professional Groups/Build Focus groups.
  7. Think about the audience and shape your meetings to their needs.
  8. Build Social meetings outside the professional work of the group.
  9. Become more involved with Social Media.

Changes will make our groups continue. For individual success you have to decide the community is a priority. For guidance on her research she used information from What Shaped a Generation by Paul Taylor Pew Research Center.

Our next AAUW Board meeting will be Monday, February 4, 2019 at 4:30 pm at the Vista Drive In.  Our next AAUW Branch meeting will be February 11, 2019 at Little Apple Brewery, 1110 Westloop Place at 6:00pm.  Dinner is at 6:00pm and the program will be at 6:45pm. The speaker will be Linda Cook, Chief of Staff at Kansas State University speaking on Women in Leadership.

Persons interested in learning more about AAUW in Manhattan may go to manhattan-ks.aauw.net or email manhattanksaawu@gmailcom.

News Release – AAUW Monthly Meeting, December 10, 2018

AAUW Manhattan (KS) Branch Meeting, December 10, 2018, 6:00 p.m., First Presbyterian Church, 801 Leavenworth Street, Manhattan, KS

MEETING CALLED TO ORDER by President Mary Stamey. Members brought items to donate to the USD 383 FIT Closet/Clothing Exchange and the Cats’ Cupboard/Food Pantry. Speakers for the evening were from each organization. Guest Susan Rensing was introduced and she told that she is new at K State teaching in the Women’s Study Department.

Usha Reddi introduced first Tracy Emery coordinator of the USD 383 FIT Closet/Clothing Exchange which serves Families In Transition in our school district. Tracy shared that she has a degree from K State in Psychology. The FIT Closet is 100% a community supported project. To qualify the students (1) must be enrolled in the USD 383 district schools and (2) must qualify for the free and reduced lunch program. These students are helped in integrating successfully in their education journey by being clothed properly, having correct toiletries and having correct school supplies. We show that our school district now has over 360 students who qualify for this program.

The program began in 2013. It is now housed in a home at 1609 College Avenue. Tracy took over this last May when she found it to be very organized and found they network with many churches and organizations in the community. Tracy works with 82 volunteers. Donations of school supplies has many people donating to Stuff the Bus each year. Donations can be new or gently used clothing. If you would wear it they keep it, otherwise items are sent out to thrift stores or if the items are awful they are sent to a recycling unit in Newton. If items are on trend – worn in the last decade they are kept. Items such as underwear, socks and toiletries must be purchased new. The clothing sizes range from infants to 4XL.

In the future they want to strive to work with “unaccompanied youth”. These are mostly high school youth who have left home because of abuse, etc. FIT Closet is happy to have the program where social workers notify parents by email that they qualify and the people can come on their own to the FIT Closet. This improves the participation. The Clothing Exchange has been added where the people can exchange clothing and get more clothing. As an experiment, they are going to add, in January, that families will come only once a month. The FIT Closet wants also to form a Committee to help them see what is happening in our community. Some families are now in the THRIVE program. In this program team leaders are gifted in certain areas. They help with decision making and families moving out of need for FIT Closet. For contact access   fitcloset383@gmail.com

Erin Bishop from Cats’ Cupboard/Food Pantry was our next speaker. She has from K State, a Bachelors in Family Studies and a Masters in Women Studies. The Cats’ Cupboard opened recently in September of 2017. Some funding for this organization comes from a student fee at enrollment time. A Grant was recently awarded for staffing. The goal for the organization is to support student persistence through initiatives that promote health, success and well-being.

This fall the Cats’ Cupboard saw 500 unique students with many visits from each. There is a stigma associated with this but they have found a real need for this assistance. The student must be enrolled in one hour at K State and they are asked to fill out a form once each semester. The items available are limited to non-perishables. Used and clean kitchen equipment is needed. Many students donate back many cooking items in the summer when they move. The donation drop box has a red bag on it and it is by their home which is in the Basement of Financial Studies building. They are open 6 days a week, Sunday – Friday. The amazon,com link can be used and items will be delivered if you have paid for the items. Many students travel by bike or foot to get to the Cats’ Cupboard. Students often have accidents that take what money was reserved for food, etc. This semester they used 20 student volunteers. Some are from the dietitian programs on campus. Between September 2017 and October 2018, 800 student volunteer hours were logged.

In the future they will work on erasing the stigma associated with using the Cat’s Cupboard/Food Pantry. They will work with education on the nutrition of food. Most funding for this organization comes from the SGA (Student Government Association). They are in year two of a four year funding program. $97,000 was used for a salary, space and supplies except food. With this program approximately 55% of the students served are kept in college. For more information access       k-state.edu/cats-cupboard

Our next AAUW Board meeting will be Monday, January 7, 2019 at 4:30 pm at the Vista Drive In. Our next AAUW Branch meeting will be January 14, 2019 at Little Apple Brewery, 1110 Westloop Place at 6:00pm. The speaker will be Kristin Brighton, Principal/Owner of New Boston Creative. She will speak on Millennials in the Workforce.

Persons interested in learning more about AAUW in Manhattan may go to manhattan-ks.aauw.net or email manhattanksaawu@gmailcom.

News Release – AAUW Monthly Meeting, November 12, 2018

AAUW Manhattan (KS) Branch Meeting, November 12, 2018, 6:00 p.m. Little Apple Brewing Company, 1110 Westloop Place, Manhattan, KS.

MEETING CALLED TO ORDER: President – Mary Stamey absent, Usha Reddi moderated for Mary. 33 people present.

Tresa Landis welcomed everyone and recognized 6 guests. Joan Strickler gathered money to be sent to the National AAUW organization.

Usha Reddi, moderator first asked those who were in the armed forces to stand and be recognized.

Program: Usha Reddi Introduced Dr. Mary Vanier, Director of Operations, Kansas State University National Agricultural Biosecurity Center who would be giving us an update on the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF). She is a Licensed Veterinarian from K State. While In Washington DC, Dr. Vanier was involved with Food Safety for humans and Food Safety for Animals. K State rented Dr. Vanier out to NBAF. Home Land Security pays out money for Dr. Vanier. In April her contract is up and she will go back to K State and go to the National Bio Center and work with disease threats.

The new NBAF will be at Level 3 and 4 (explained below) in developing how to deal with Biological and Agricultural threats. The Homeland Security Presidential Directive 9 directs food and agriculture safety. The Security Department and NBAF will work together on diseases in both animals and humans. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) works with humans and NBAF works with animals. Now the Plum Island set up is over 60 years old. Research discoveries can be moved out from the building and we can do vaccine production for this at the Manhattan, Kansas NBAF Research Facility. We care about this research because the Agricultural and the Food Industry Assets are great in the U.S. We are in trouble if the effects of our Agriculture and Food Industry collapses. Diagnostics of the diseases are done at Plum Island now. At the present Plum Island does research with 3 diseases and with NBAF in Manhattan, Kansas 6 diseases and 4 or more viruses will be studied. Vaccine development will be at other places as well as at NBAF.

With NBAF the Research and Development Mission will be carried out. The following areas will be studied:
1. Agro- terrorism is small but has a huge impact on us.
2. Unintentional foreign Animal Diseases carried in from other countries on clothing, feet, etc.
3. Emerging Animal diseases and Zoonosis. These are Viruses from animals that can be spread among other animals and among humans.

Animals are brought into NBAF healthy then injected with the diseases so they can diagnosis the disease and work with its effect on the animals and later on humans. The animals are then killed. The scientists will be redundant with killings. They will use high temperature and high pressure and also burn the diseases or viruses.

The NABF building – has many levels explained below. It will have BSL 1 thru BSL 4 laboratories. BSL refers to A classification system to indicate the safety precautions required when investigating microorganisms, esp. viruses known to be dangerous or lethal to those exposed to them.
BSL 1 Work with microorganisms that do not cause harm in healthy humans, no containment
BSL 2 Areas like the university labs have containment preventing the escape of airborne biological hazards.
BSL 3 Area with lower air pressure important for killing diseases and viruses. High containment.
BSL 4 Area with lowest air pressure is in the middle of the building. Maximum containment.

Pylons are put down in many, many, many places because we are on an earthquake fault. Any leak will be inspected. Before, a whole building had to be shut down to find leaks.   Now only a section will be shut down to find a leak. The air going out will be better than what comes into the building.

Timeline – In 2020 the building will be finished. They have yet to get the Commissioning (inspection) on the construction. Permission to work on Select Agent Virus that can be used in bio weapons will be approved first. They have to identify the people and the process for the approval. 60 % of agriculture sales are within this two state corridor of Kansas and Missouri, thus part of the reason for the choosing of Manhattan, Kansas for NABF. In 2023 everything is planned to be here and Plum Island will be decontaminated. USDA scientists will he hired. As of now 350 people from Plum Island will plan to come here to work in the laboratory. With the 350 people from Plum Island a complete staff will be grown here. Manhattan Technical College will train some of the work force. K State will train the scientific workers. For everything to be totally sealed the building was studied using 3D on the computer. Crocs are worn for shoes and a scrub suit is worn. They are laundered but gloves are disposed of using high temperature or high pressure or burning.  There will be no open house because of safety and security.   A video tour will probably be made.

Our next AAUW Board meeting will be Monday, December 3, 2018 at 4:30 pm at the Vista Drive In.  Our next AAUW Branch meeting will be December 10, 2018 at First Presbyterian Church, 801 Leavenworth, at 6:00 pm. A dessert will be brought by all members for the December Branch meeting. A list will be given out and sent to everyone so they can donate items to the Cat’s Cupboard Food Pantry and/or to the Fit Closet & Clothing Exchange. The program will be Erin Bishop, Food Pantry Coordinator, Cat’s Cupboard/Kansas State Food Pantry and Tracy Emery, Coordinator, The USD 383 FIT Closet & Clothing Exchange.

Persons interested in learning more about AAUW in Manhattan may go to manhattan-ks.aauw.net or email manhattanksaawu@gmailcom.

News Release – AAUW Monthly Meeting, October 8, 2018

AAUW Manhattan (KS) Branch Meeting, October 8, 2018, 6:00 p.m. Little Apple Brewing Company, 1110 Westloop Place, Manhattan, KS.

MEETING CALLED TO ORDER: President – Mary Stamey 20 people present.

Mary Stamey introduced our guest Judy Burgess who is new to Manhattan. Judy did decide to become a new member.

Mary Stamey continued with several discussions.

  1. The total income for the 2018- 2019 budget is $3058.02 and total expenses are budgeted at $2620. Connie Noble moved that we adopt the 2018-2019 Budget and Nancy Bolson seconded it. Motion carried.
  2. The Candidate Forum we are co-sponsoring with the League of Women Voters is on October 14, 2018 from 2-5 pm at the Manhattan City Library in the auditorium. We will have an information table at the door. We will need two people to collect the questions form the audience and take them to the moderator. We will also need one person to time.
  3. The AAUW pilot Work Smart initiative does involve Kansas City as a foundation area. This is a five-year program. AAUW has asked that we get 10 facilitators to go to meetings and train to be educators on the Work Smart program. This program teaches women to negotiate for better salaries and benefits in order to close the gap that continues between female and male workers. They hope to train women who work for various companies in various cities and in the rural areas.
  4. For the 19th Amendment initiative/celebration we are coordinating with our state AAUW organization and the State League of Women Voters. To help with the celebration we are asked to get a Landon Lecturer. We will work with someone from K State to organize this.

Joan gathered money to be sent to the National AAUW organization. 250 women receive scholarships from this National fund each year.

Our speaker Rich Vargo who is the County Clerk at the Riley County Election Office first stated that he graduated from K State in accounting and has served as the Riley County Clerk for 22 years. Above all else he wants us to direct people to the Riley County Website that shows not only current Election information but also shows past statistics. We do need to access, on the computer, the sample ballot for this election before we go to vote. He wants everyone to know that the Website shows the School District 383 bond issue and it should be pulled up on the computer and read ahead of voting in the election. Rich handed out sheets showing the Advanced Voting hours, a Boundary sheet for USD 383 district, and a list of Important Dates for our Election year. He wishes we could use the all mail-in ballot election such as Oregon is using. Colorado also has started using it. We did get the Application in the mail to have a ballot sent to us. This application would have to be turned in each year. The two states have proved a much larger percentage of eligible voters do actually vote each year with the all mail-in ballot election. He shared that because of the Safe Act that was passed those 65 or over can use an expired license for a photo ID when they vote. Those who are exempt from showing a photo ID are those who mail in a ballot for voting, those overseas, those who state they have a religious objection and those who show an ID that is issued by the government such as those in public college institutions, not those in private colleges.

Rich also stated that Federal Legislation does require use of Machines for voting. They are not computers connected to any network. The Paper Ballots are also scanned to be counted. The system they use for counting ballots must be tested before use by the public and they test their system 20 or 30 times. We must remember that if new machines are purchased there is no Federal Funding for this action. The internet will not be used for voting in our life time as it is not secure. He reminded us that there is not a law set for when results of an election is reported. Votes cannot be tallied until 7:00 pm on election night. Of the provisional ballots, 60 to 70 % do get counted. Our Federal Service people have already voted. The general public must wait until November 6, 2018. Poll workers are greatly needed !!!!!!!! You will get paid for training and for working the election polls.

Our next AAUW Board meeting will be Monday, November 5 2018 at 4:30 pm at the Vista Drive In.  Our next AAUW Branch meeting will be November 12, 2018 at Little Apple Brewery. Dinner will be at 6:00 pm with a cost of $13.00 including the tip. The program will be Dr. Marty Vanier, Director of Operations, Kansas State University National Agricultural Biosecurity Center giving us an update on the National Bio and Agro-Defense Faculty. Persons interested in learning more about AAUW in Manhattan may go to manhattan-ks.aauw.net or email manhattanksaawu@gmailcom.

News Release – AAUW Monthly Meeting, September 10, 2018

AAUW Manhattan (KS) Branch Meeting, Monday, September 10, 2018, 6:00 p.m., Little Apple Brewing Company, 1110 Westloop Place, Manhattan, KS.

MEETING CALLED TO ORDER: President – Mary Stamey 26 people present.
We first want to thank so much the Co-Program Vice Presidents Usha Reddi, Mary Ng’ang’a and Julee Thomas for putting together a great program schedule for the year. We also want to thank Connie Noble and assistant Mary Stamey for putting together the Yearbook for 2018-2019. We also appreciate our Primary Sponsor Little Apple Brewery for being our main location for meetings this year. 5 guests were here, one joined this evening, another one renewed her membership.

Sheri Storer spoke about the Alzheimer’s disease Heart of America Chapter Walk being at the City Park in Manhattan, Kansas Saturday, September 22, 2018. Their goal is to increase awareness of Alzheimer’s, and provide additional funding for continued research for the cure for Alzheimer’s disease. Their goal is to raise $50,000. They already have $37,000 for research. You can donate, walk, or volunteer to help with the walk.

Our speaker Annelise Nguyen presented GJIC of Heterogenous 3D Tumor – Drug Discovery for Breast Cancer from her research and study in Washington DC. while on sabbatical from K State from October 2017 to April 2018. She would be testing to see how effective a drug would work on the patient’s tumor outside of the body prior to giving the drug directly to the patient. The impact of this study would reduce the off-target treatments given and reduce the side effects of the drug or drugs given. Her research was considered personalized medicine and she was able to use some of the $50 million that Joe Biden donated for research on personalized medicine. Much was involved in getting the sabbatical but once there she found on Day 1 that she had an office with a desk a research lab and a number to charge to for whatever she needed. The equipment she had was exactly like the equipment in her lab here at K State. She advised other to always team up with companies as they want you to test their new equipment. She did include that she took all of her pictures with her Iphone. She studied separately, breast cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer and renal cancer tumors.

Annelise explained that cell communication is lost in cancer cells as opposed to the normal cells that can have communication with each other. In a cancer cell there is no cell-to-cell communication, a door is there. She wanted to work on keeping the door open. She did find small molecules that would build a link that would keep the door open in the cancer cells. There she could continue to study the effects of a drug or combination of drugs on the tumor. Remember she did all of her work on tumors that were taken out of the patients’ bodies.

She did develop the PepGel rather than using the petri dish so the cells from the tumors could be shaken rather than temperature and Ph being changed. In motion the cells acted as a liquid and stationary they were a jell-type solution. The links she created could hold the door open and she could test the results of a drug or a combination of drugs on the cells. She would stain the cells with various colors so the drug or combination of drugs effect could be studied. If too small of a dose is used the cells do not die but become more aggressive. After a 4th generation of testing she found that 384 drugs could be tested for results on the cells. She found with using 3 dimensional pictures and equipment to print 3 dimensional pictures that 160 samples could be shown on one slide.

KS University enters the US Trademark Invention every year in Washington DC at a Museum at the Smithsonian Institute. She entered her research as one of 13 entries. She was ranked ONE at the festival !!!!!. The strength of the spider’s web was used to show how the cells would work together easier in the PepGel than when they prior studied them in a petri dish. The PepGel is now used over the world for research. Great job Annelise on award winning research and your contribution to cancer cell research in the United States and cancer cell research at K-State!!!

Our next AAUW Board meeting will be Monday, October 1, 2018 at 4:30 pm at the Vista Drive In.
Our next AAUW Branch meeting will be October 8, 2018 at Little Apple Brewery. Dinner will be at 6:00 pm with a cost of $13.00 including the tip and the program will be Rich Vargo, County Clerk, Riley County, Kansas speaking about new items in the Election Process. Persons interested in learning more about AAUW in Manhattan may go to manhattan-ks.aauw.net or email manhattanksaawu@gmailcom.