President's Notes

May, 2024

The League of Women Voters Berrien & Cass Counties closed out April with a wonderful presentation on election security featuring the Michigan Attorney General, Dana Nessel. We partnered with our board member, Dr. Amy Scrima, and her colleague and our good friend Dr. Tiffany Bohm to host the Attorney General at LMC’s Mendel Center Hanson Theater. Students from the college's LMC Votes organization were responsible for getting arrangements in place. The article in The Herald Palladium quoted Attorney General Nessel: “We have all of these systems in place to make sure we have a safe, secure, and accurate count of our votes.” Thank you all for coming out to hear the AG. Shown above at the meeting are (left to right) AG Nessel, Dr. Tiffany Bohm, Dr. Amy Scrima, and League President Faith Schoon.

May is Asian American Native/Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Jewish American Heritage Month and Mental Health Awareness Month. Also, May 20-31 is the anniversary of the National Voter Registration Act. 

The League continues to honor all of our citizens and works to make sure that they can all vote. Donna Mullins, League President from Lansing, wrote,” We hold forums that present all candidates as equals. We register voters who may not vote the same way we vote. We encourage civic participation for all.” 

I did miss that April was National Volunteer Month. Thank you to all of you who have volunteered to help LWVBCC continue to carry out the mission of the League. 

Voter Services

LWVBCC finished up the spring high school voter registration with Eau Claire and Coloma high schools. Overall, the spring registration was a success with many schools asking for a presentation on voting for various classes. If you would like to help out with doing a presentation, please contact Faith Schoon -- fschoon@mac.com -- to volunteer.  

Book Club

On Monday, April 15, Jane Raymond graciously hosted 16 League members for the LWVBCC’s Book Club. The Book discussed was Liz Cheney's "Oath & Honor: A Memoir And A Warning." For a crowd as large as 16, members respected each other's opinions and appreciated Ms. Cheney’s emphasis on the rule of law and the Constitution. All in attendance noted her courage in speaking up on the former President’s disregard for the Constitution.  

In her book, the former Congresswoman recounts events leading to the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol, as well as the many facets of the committee hearings of the attacks. Her attention to detail is precise and deliberate as she warns of the continuing dangers that former President Trump poses to the country. While Congresswoman Cheney’s book will discomfort many as she reveals the insincerity and political antics of Kevin McCarthy and Jim Jordan, it is a well-researched and important book for League members to read and ponder. 

The LWVBCC’s next Book Club meeting is on Monday, May 20, at 10:00 am at the home of Faith Schoon. The book to be discussed is "The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year" by Margaret Renkl. Please RSVP by email to fschoon@mac.com or text 708-439-4433 at least 48 hrs. before the Book Club date whether you can attend or not so that the host can plan accordingly. ----Judy Scully

May Virtual Town Hall

Dr. Larry Feldman, formerly of Lakeside, MI, adjunct professor at LMC, member of the Race Relations Council, and author, will speak about his work with his wife, Sandy, on race relations in Berrien County. A flyer will be sent soon.

Membership Update

We have four new members who have joined in April. Welcome Deborah Reith from Three Oaks, Beverly Gray from Bridgman and Woodward Bennet and William Gerstein from New Buffalo. We will get a chance to meet them in person at the annual dinner meeting in June. The hard copy member directory is being printed now and will be mailed soon. 

When your copy arrives, please check your own listing and advise John Ripley at john m ripley@gmail.com if a correction is needed. Thank you.

Annual Dinner Meeting News

The annual dinner meeting is scheduled for Thursday, June 20 at the Tabor Hill Winery restaurant. A special invitation will come out toward the end of May. Please put the date on your calendar now. Our speaker will be Dr. David Campbell the Packey J. Dee Professor of American Democracy at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend. His research focuses on civic and political engagement with particular attention to religion and young people. You won’t want to miss this one!

From League Links

The May League Links from LWVMI has a list of the legislative bills we are in favor of - Brite Act bills, Recount Legislation, Freedom of Information Act, Michigan Voting Rights Act, and Financial Disclosure bills. You can also find the report at lwvmi.org. Also don’t forget to keep up with the Action Alert notices. They only take a minute.

2024 LWV National Convention

June 17 - 30



The 2024 National Convention will take place June 27-June 30 at the Washington Hilton in Washington, DC, and online. League members are invited to register as delegates or observers. 

While our League is allowed two delegates who can submit motions, debate, and vote, any League member can register as an observer, with full access to all convention events and the ability to observe plenary. The deadline to register for Convention is June 10, and here is the link:

https://web.cvent.com/event/07627034-5f27-44a8-8363-5805fab4b0ef/summary

LWVMI wishes to compile a list of attendees throughout the state, so if you register to attend the convention, please let me know so that I can pass along the information. fschoon@mac.com

---- In League, Faith Schoon

Help the Environment

As recently as 2020, New Orleans had no curbside glass recycling. Two seniors at Tulane University, concerned about the number of glass bottles ending up in landfills, “discovered” that glass can be crushed into sand. They bought a small glass pulverizer, found a good location for their operation and very quickly had “contributions” of more glass bottles than they were able to handle. In addition to citizens who began donating glass bottles, a local bar started paying them to monthly take away all the glass bottles generated by the drinking habits of its clientele.  

Today, a mere four years later, their company, Glass Half Full, is the primary focus of and full-time work of these two young adults, has 15 employees, and has expanded well beyond their initial hopes and expectations. Their reclaimed sand has been determined to be ecologically safe to use in many degraded environments.

I’ve also read recently that Coca Cola, Pepsi Cola, and other national brands are the main users of glass bottles … millions of them! … but have no plans in place to reuse or recycle them. Ideally, all types of glass and plastic containers produced and used by ANY company anywhere in the world would be returned to said company for reuse or recycling.  

Until that happens, please do your part in recycling everything possible. ----Chris Zilke

Going Plastic Free

A reminder: Don’t forget to take your own bags -- cloth if possible -- to the grocery store. If you forget, ask for paper bags and make sure the bagger uses your bag or paper. There have been several occasions when a bagger pulled out a plastic bag to separate various items.

I was at a Martin’s store yesterday and purchased a six pack of soda and a can of beans. I placed my cloth bag with the two items, and after I paid the cashier, I noticed that the bagger had placed the six pack in the cloth bag and the can of beans in a plastic bag. I politely said, “No plastic,” and placed the can of beans in the cloth bag along with the six pack. For some reason, it seems that grocers, except for Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s, push plastic bags.

Since I’m referring to my experience with plastic bags at the grocery store, I’d like to focus on what goes into the bag. A study published in Environmental Science found that apples and carrots were the most contaminated fruit and vegetable with more than 100,000 microplastics per gram. 

A University of Queensland study found that rice contains plastic. Three to four milligrams of plastic were found in a one-half cup serving of rice. Instant rice is much worse with 13 milligrams per one-half cup serving. Rinsing rice before cooking eliminates up to 40% of plastic. Microplastics and nanoplastics were also found in animal and plant proteins. 

More information can be found in the resources below. Plastics may not be able to be completely eliminated from our diet, but we can try to reduce the amount of plastics consumed.

The following are some suggestions on how to reduce the consumption of plastics in food:

• Purchase food that hasn’t been stored in plastic.
• Limit the purchase of processed and ultraprocessed foods wrapped in plastic
• Don’t microwave food in plastic
• Eat as much fresh food as possible
• Don’t drink water or juices from plastic bottles. Look for cans or cartons.

Resources:

https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/22/health/plastics-food-wellness-scn/index.html

https://www.mynbc5.com/article/foods-with-the-most-plastics/60568048

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/nutrition/which-foods-have-the-most-plastics-the-answer-may-surprise-you/ar-AA1ntsaU

https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/which-foods-have-the-most-plastics-you-may-be-surprised-1.6856741

----Carla Ripley