2020-2021 Theme:
Economic and Physical Well-Being for All
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Message from the President
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Happy New Year as we welcome opportunities to support our country’s vision for a new start, and look forward to the road to recovery from the effects of the pandemic. We learned from our December guest speaker, Siri Bletzer, how we can cope with the financial, physical, and personal stress we’ve had in this pandemic universe in which we find ourselves. Her words and tips for coping were very helpful, and as we say: “On to a better year in 2021!”
We have much to look forward to, with the inauguration of a new President and Kamala Harris as the first woman, first black woman and South Asian American elected to be Vice-President -- the perfect time for advancing the rights of women and girls! With the pandemic raging and so many unable to be part of the workforce, it is imperative we make it known to our legislators that our communities are in need and they must take action ASAP on all government funding and support for economic and pandemic relief! In addition, with the Texas legislative session starting in January, we must ensure our voices and those of all citizens are heard in the political dialogue. We need to partner with our other Texas AAUW sisters and join the chorus for the betterment of all those in need of support.
We will continue to stand up for equity and we can do this with our donations and advocacy. A year-end gift to the AAUW Greatest Needs Fund is encouraged, and, thanks to a generous match from AAUW’s board, volunteers, and staff, your gift will be doubled up to $42,500 through December 31. Our voice with policymakers will be strengthened with a gift to AAUW in its efforts to advocate for our common causes in civil rights, economic security, education and Title IX, and gender equity. In these challenging times, we are redoubling our efforts to fight for the economic security of American women and their families.
We are nonpartisan, while we value the fight to remove the barriers and biases that are in the way of gender equity. We must continue to advocate for federal, state, and local laws and policies to ensure equity and eradicate discrimination.
Congratulations to our winner of the $300 gift card in the Raffle fundraiser, Juanita Felder. Special thanks to Ruth Lyle for leading the charge in raising $1,765 for textbook scholarships.
There will be no regular monthly meeting in January, but Wine, Women, and Wisdom will meet on January 13 and 27. As a new venture, we will be initiating a Bingo fundraising effort, hosted by Malinda Gaul over Zoom, on January 27. Please join in on these dates, whether WWW or Bingo or both.
Good wishes for the coming new year to each of you!
Moving forward in 2021 –
Cheryl Fuller
AAUW San Antonio, President
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Changing Thought Processes
Siri Bletzer, M.A., LPC, LMFT
Speaker December 5, 2020
During the last year all of us have experienced an extraordinary amount of stress in our lives. The election, the holidays in isolation and the Covid-19 pandemic with all of the life adjustments required for life under restrictions are stressful. We can’t change these stressors so when there is a loss of normalcy we need to steer our minds and find a new path for our reactions.
Negative emotions are more intense than positive emotions and therefore they feel more important and have a stronger grip on how we feel. Negative emotions decrease our power and energy. For a healthy mindset we need to have three times more positive emotions than negative emotions. Building emotional stability increases our psychological flexibility and reduces our psychological inflexibility. Bad feelings are not wrong but if they are frequent they do indicate something needs to change. Emotions don’t happen to us but are made by us. For emotional stability we need to learn to respond not to react. We do this by being aware of our emotions and the cues to those emotions. Being aware of our physical and psychological reaction to cues and being mindful of how we have reacted in the past is essential. That mindfulness allows us to take actions to decrease negativity and increase positivity. We all have limiting beliefs and selectively perceive our environment. Our perceptions of the world can be helpful or get in the way but we are more adaptable than we think.
Anxiety and fear require lots of energy but there are some simple techniques that you can use to break the cycle of negative thoughts and allow you to refocus. Here are a few that Siri suggested:
- Rub your arms or hands when you can’t be around others because the human touch is powerful.
- Put your hands over your heart in a comforting gesture.
- Change the channel by counting to 200 by 3’s; use the alphabet to name cities, states, animals, food.
- Hold a smooth stone and rub it in your hands; put an ice cube in your armpit, on your wrist or neck; punch your fist in the air; do a “fake” yawn; listen to music or blow a whistle.
- Remember you are in control and even if you can’t control the stressors in your life, you can control your reaction to them.
Siri Bletzer’s presentation may be viewed on our website.
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BINGO
Fundraiser
for
AAUW Greatest Needs
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Our annual fundraiser for the AAUW Greatest Needs Fund will be virtual BINGO during Wine Women and Wisdom on Wednesday, January 27, March 24, and May 26.
To receive a virtual BINGO card, make a donation to the Greatest Needs Fund during the month of the BINGO game.
Then join Wine Women and Wisdom on the fourth Wednesday of that month at 5:00 p.m. for three virtual BINGO games with prizes.
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Historic Event Taking Place in Just a Few Days
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Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris
As an organization that works to advance equity for women and girls, AAUW takes great pride in the election of Kamala Harris to the second highest office in the land. Our soon-to-be Vice President has broken through many barriers, becoming the first woman and the first Black, Indian and South Asian American to serve in that post. Here are some insights into this enormous milestone.
“As the first Black and South Asian-American and the first female vice president, Harris will carry the weight of her ancestors into the second-highest public office in the land. This is a position of enormous privilege and power. It offers an unprecedented opportunity to push our country closer to justice and equality for marginalized communities, and for all Americans … She is poised to be a pivotal player in international and domestic affairs, thanks to her service on the Homeland Security, Intelligence, and Judiciary committees. She can help direct big issues like criminal justice reform, voting rights protections, health care and wage growth for teachers and other workers … Her most critical role, however, may be speaking with President-elect Joe Biden as his most trusted adviser. She will be a perpetual reminder not to neglect the forgotten base, the people of color, especially the Black women and men, who helped elect him, when the white majority turned the other way." Tera W. Hunter, Princeton University professor of history and African-American studies and 1989-90 AAUW American Fellow
In her Words:
“I am thinking about . . . the generations of women, Black women, Asian, white, Latina, Native American women, who throughout our nation’s history have paved the way for this moment tonight. Women who fought and sacrificed so much for equality and liberty and justice for all—including the Black women who are often, too often, overlooked, but so often prove they are the backbone of our democracy.” Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris
“The singular strengths that have enabled her to succeed over the course of her career (despite facing elevated standards as a Black woman) will make Kamala Harris exactly the kind of vice president we need right now: one with courage, energy and most of all, empathy … With her formidable smarts, frank communication style, and innate ability to connect deeply with everyday Americans, Vice President-elect Harris will show the world what a strong woman leader looks like. And she’ll inspire women and girls here in the United States to run for office, in a brand new and powerful way. At a moment when our country is faced with the most serious crises in generations, and women and people of color have been disproportionately affected by Covid-19, Harris will bring her unique style of leadership to the White House: strong, decisive and compassionate." Barbara Lee, Barbara Lee Family Foundation
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Strategic Plan
The AAUW SA board approved our Strategic Plan for 2020-2021 on November 12th. The plan is modeled after the Texas and National plans and covers our goals and objectives on education/training, economic security, and governance/sustainability. The plan focuses on achieving our goals to advance gender equity and realize our vision of Equity for All. The strategic plan is posted on our website and may be accessed from the home page. The strategic plan is a living document that will evolve over time.
Another initiative in progress right now is our application for the AAUW 5-Star National Recognition Program, which rewards branches for aligning their work with the AAUW strategic plan and support for advancing gender equity for women and girls. The effort includes reporting on our programs, including what we are doing for the advancement of women and girls, communications, public policy, governance, our strategic plan, and our succession plan for leadership. The program runs through June 2021 and “stars” may be earned as each portion of the program is completed. So far, we are confident that we have already earned 2 of the 5 stars and we are in the process of submitting those for recognition. We’re shooting for 5 stars, and we’ll keep you posted as we progress.
Cheryl Fuller
AAUW San Antonio, President
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Nominations for AAUW-SA 2021-2022 Officers
The Nominating Committee is tasked with developing a slate of nominees for our 2021-2022 officers. The Committee will present a slate of nominees to the membership at the March General Meeting. The names of the nominees will be sent to every member in the March Newsletter. The membership will vote for the officers at the Annual Meeting in April.
The open officer positions are:
President Elect 1-year term
Vice President for Programs 1-year term
Vice President for Membership 1-year term
Secretary 1-year term
Treasurer 2-year term
Members interested in any of the positions should contact any member of the Nominating Committee. Officer duties are described in the AAUW-San Antonio 2020-2021 Directory and Bylaws mailed to each member in September.
Nominating Committee Members:
Diane Claiborne-Carr, Chairman
Ruth Lyle
Ann Marie Rehner
Pat Sanford
Fran Vetters
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The Two-Minute Activist
The Two-Minute Activist is a source of information on topics relating to women’s issues. It also enhances our ability to send emails and texts to legislators to fight for equal pay, family leave, stopping sexual harassment, equality in education and more. Sign up on the AAUW webpage to get regular alerts to be able to take timely action.
You can also text “AAUW” to 21333 to get AAUW action alerts via text.
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AAUW Texas Newsletter
University Woman Texas
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Checkout All The AAUW Websites
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2020-2021 Officers
President Cheryl Fuller
VP Membership Kathy Dicke
VP Programs Diane Claiborne-Carr
Secretary Mynda Holman McGuire
Treasurer Ann Marie Rehner
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BRIDGE
Cancelled until further notice.
Luby's
4541 Fredericksburg Rd. 78201
Meet at 12:00 noon for lunch.
Start playing at 12:30 pm.
Contact Pearl Eng
210.240.8118
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HISTORIC SOUTHWEST
Cancelled until further notice.
DoubleTree Hotel
37 NE Loop 410 at McCullough 78216
RSVP to Lola Hill
210.334.5897
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BOOK DISCUSSION
VIA ZOOM!
Saturday, Jan 16, 10:00 am
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek
By Kim Michele Richardson
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CULINARY ADVENTURES
Cancelled until further notice.
RSVP to Fran Vetters
210.481.7765
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WINE, WOMEN & WISDOM
VIA ZOOM!
Wednesday, Jan 13, 5:00 pm
Wednesday, Jan 27, 5:00 pm Bingo
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MOVIEGOERS
Cancelled until further notice.
Movie, time, and place selected by the group and announced the day before.
RSVP to Fran Vetters
210.481.7765
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