Sign petition to educate Biden about low pay for adjunct faculty

The letter reprinted below is from Maria Maisto, president of New Faculty Majority, the national coalision for adjunct and contingent equity.

Friday the 13th was truly an unlucky day for college faculty. Vice President Joe Biden characterized them as supposedly overpaid and a major reason for the high cost of college! Mr. Biden claimed that “Error on salaries for college professors have escalated significantly? to “$100,000.”

In fact, what has escalated is the number of these so-called “part-time? faculty, who together with graduate students constitute over 60.5% of the teaching faculty (often 80% at community colleges). When you factor in the number of non-tenure-track full-time faculty, whose pay is closer to the $39,000 figure Biden quoted for the early 90s, the adjunct population reaches a whopping 75%!

With the average pay of part-timers $25,000 or less per year for having the same teaching loads and teaching responsibilities as their full-time colleagues, and the average pay for full-timers, tenure track or not, nowhere near the $100K range, it’s clear that Vice President Biden needs to be educated about the real working conditions of college faculty in the United States.

SO: educate him and his colleagues by signing this petition and recruiting as many additional signatures as you possibly can!

Because faculty working conditions are student learning conditions,

Maria Maisto
President, New Faculty Majority

Take action against the heartbeat bill

Speak out against H.B. 125, the heartbeat bill now under consideration in the Ohio State Legislature. Please call each state senator’s office and politely tell them:

• House Bill 125 is unconstitutional.
• Passing an unconstitutional bill will put the state in a costly court battle that would last years.
• If they want to reduce the number of abortions that happen in Ohio, they should support the Ohio Prevention First Act, Senate Bill 190.

Then use this link to fill out the Web form to email their offices.

You can also read this Toledo Blade editorial, which effectively sums up the issue.

 

National Coming Out Day open-mic night Oct. 11

 Calling all allies and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender supporters — join us in celebrating National Coming Out Day with the LGBT community and allies on Tuesday, Oct. 11. This event is free and will be held in the Student Union Starbucks lounge from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

This event aims at educating and raising awareness of the LGBT community issues and the LGBT rights movement.

This is an open mic event. Express your support by speaking or performing at the event.

Also show your support by inviting students to attend and sign up to read a fact about National Coming Out Day. Information will be handed out and crafts to create as well. Join the fun and support diversity!

For a time slot reservation, contact Aamina Jenkins, ZPN diversity chair, at zpndiversity@uakron.edu or call ext. 7014. Participation is open to all faculty, staff and students.

This event is sponsored by the LGBT Equality Committee, the Office of Inclusion and Equity, Women’s Resource Center, Women’s Studies Academic Program, ZPN Diversity and LGBTU.

Download the flyer.

It’s Women’s Equality Day: Let your voice be heard

Today is Women’s Equality Day, the anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment on Aug. 26, 1920, that gave women the right to vote.

Make sure your voice is heard: Vote!

New on campus? Protect yourself from rape and sign the petition

I am not a big fan of Cosmopolitan magazine, but I am a fan of their latest campaign. Starting last month Cosmo declared it is “Fighting Campus Rape”!

Included in this fight is support of the SaVE Act. You can sign the petition, started by Security on Campus and hosted by change.org, to encourage the Senate to pass the act here.

Now find out how to protect yourself on campus.

• The majority of college rapes happen during the first few weeks of freshman or sophomore year, and the first few days of freshman year are the riskiest, according to the Department of Justice. Read more: How to Protect Yourself From Rape – How to Avoid Rape on College Campus – Cosmopolitan
• College women are four times more likely to be sexually assaulted than the rest of the population, yet 95.2% of rapes on campus will never be reported, according to the Department of Justice. Read more: Why Most Victims Don’t Report Rape – Cosmopolitan
• These days, it’s not uncommon to hear about a young female who goes out to party or bar one night and doesn’t come back. Read more: Buddy System – Women and Safety in Numbers – Cosmopolitan

Hear Gloria Steinem in her own words

Thanks to UA art student Susie Lilly for this news:

• Gloria Steinem was interviewed by Christiane Amanpour on ABC’s This Week on Saturday. Watch it.
• On Aug. 15, HBO will air a new documentary on Gloria Steinem titled Gloria: In Her Own Words. Read more.

Summer news about UA women

• Paula Maggio, a visiting lecturer with UA’s Women’s Studies Program, has been awarded a short-term fellowship with the New York Public Library (NYPL).  The NYPL announced the recipients in the July 14 issue of the New York Review of Books (PDF). This opportunity supports scholars from outside New York who need to use the Library’s unique research and special collections. Maggio, one of 25 recipients, will use this fellowship to work on her book, “Bloomsbury at War: Pacifism and the Bloomsbury Group 1914-1945.”
• Mary Myers, associate professor of criminal justice, was interviewed for a WKSU-FM story on Anthony Sowell, a convicted serial killer. Text and audio are available at http://www.wksu.org/news/story/28966 .
• Daughter of Providence, a book by Julie Drew, UA professor of English, was published by Overlook Press and received a glowing review in the Akron Beacon Journal. The review described the book as a “terrific debut novel.” Drew teaches writing, film and cultural studies at UA.
• Dr. Susan Olson, chair of the Department of Educational Foundations and Leadership (EFL), has been named associate dean for external programs, grants, budgets and personnel in the College of Education. Olson comes to this position after having served seven years as chair of EFL, one year as interim chair of the Department of Sport Science and Wellness Education, and a four-year term as chair of the Department of Curricular and Instructional Studies. She has been a member of the UA faculty for 22 years.
• Beginning August 1, Dr. Evonn Welton will assume the role of Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Student Services in the College of Education. Welton has been with the College of Education since 1996, when she was promoted to the rank of full professor. Her faculty responsibilities have included teaching and research in the area of special education.
• UA alumnae Jo Ellen Frost and Suzi Hrubik have joined Radcom Inc., a Hudson-based consulting firm. Read the Hudson Hub-Times story.

Sexual Assault Symposium at UA Aug. 25

The Summit County Sexual Assault Coalition, in conjunction with Greenleaf Family Center, announces its Third Annual Sexual Assault Symposium.

Join advocates, teachers, law enforcement, legal professionals, health care workers, clergy, legislators, social service providers and concerned citizens to learn the latest information in the field of sexual assault services.

The symposium will be held Aug. 5 at the University of Akron Student Union.

Your fee of $25 includes a boxed lunch, parking, and up to 5.75 CEUs for counselors (RCX088906) and social workers (RSX088731).

Please click on the links below for more information:

• 2011 Sexual Assault Symposium Registration Form
• 2011 Sexual Assault Symposium Flyer
• 2011 Sexual Assault Symposium Schedule of Events 

News briefs from the Women’s Media Center

Schwarzenegger, Strauss-Kahn and The Media’s Groping Problem
5/18/11
RH Reality Check: A friendly reminder that groping is, in fact, a real crime defined by a lack of consent, which makes it substantially more similar to rape than it is to ill-advised yet consensual flirting, petting, or sex.

Political Wives’ ‘Tipper Point’ Is Way Too Late
5/19/11
Women’s eNews: Maria Shriver asked for privacy this week in the matter of her breakup with Schwarzenegger over his “love child.” Sandra Kobrin says sorry, but when a woman stays married to a powerful womanizer, the personal turns deeply public and political.

The IMF: Violating Women since 1945
5/19/11
Foreign Policy in Focus: It appears that the personal disregard and disrespect for women demonstrated by the man at the highest levels of leadership within the IMF is quite consistent with the gender bias inherent in the IMF’s institutional policies and practice.

NATIONAL

When Bad News is Good News—Notes of a Feminist News Junkie
5/23/11
WMC: WMC Cofounder Robin Morgan on surrealism and sexual predators.

Why Is Media Justice Such a Hard Fight? See: Meredith Atwell Baker
5/19/11
Colorlines: Organizers have had to climb a steep hill in trying to protect equal access to media platforms for communities of color in recent years.

Hotel Maids Say Sexual Harassment is Part of the Job
5/23/11
IPS: A spotlight has been turned on the treatment of female cleaning staff, many of whom are immigrants who keep silent for fear of losing their jobs or being deported.

Georgia Law Turns Focus to Sex-Trafficked Girls
5/23/11
Women’s eNews: The problem of child sex-trafficking is widely associated with foreign countries such as Thailand and India. Advocates hope new sex-trafficking laws like the one passed in Georgia will focus concern on U.S. girls.

Katie Couric’s Last ‘CBS Evening News’
5/19/11
Huffington Post: Katie Couric ended her nearly five-year tenure as the anchor of the “CBS Evening News” on Thursday.

Does the World Still Need a Sassy Girl?
5/16/11
Salon: Jane Pratt revolutionized women’s mags in the ’90s. Can xoJane win back her one-time fans — and their daughters?

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg: Why Women Should Be in Charge
5/19/11
Care2: The Facebook COO gave the 2011 Commencement speech at Barnard.

Yes, Mothers of Disabled Children Can Work Full-Time Says EEOC Suit
5/20/11
Care2: The Timken Company of Canton, Ohio, must pay $120,000 and “provide other relief” to settle a gender and discrimination suit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Twelve Social Change Visionaries Are Honored by the Ford Foundation
5/3/11
Ford Foundation: $100,000 awards were made to 12 social innovators who, through their extraordinary vision and courageous work, are improving the lives of millions of people.

Women at IMF Find Themselves Vulnerable
5/19/11
New York Times: A 2008 internal review concluded that ““the absence of public ethics scandals seems to be more a consequence of luck than good planning and action.”

Global Connect! Google New York Supported Gender Justice Program for Women of the Diaspora
5/11
Women’s eNews: Women’s eNews and Global Press Institute are launching a one day gender justice and technology training event on Thursday, June 16 with the support of GoogleServe, the volunteer arm of Google, to empower women from the global diaspora living in New York.

The Big O
5/16/11
Adweek:In pursuit of women, media and marketers try to sell the path to orgasm as being as easy and foolproof as a man and his hand.

INTERNATIONAL

Sexual Diversity in a Sexist City
5/19/11
IPS: Known as the cradle of the revolution and of the conga, but also as one of the most machista places in Cuba, the city of Santiago was the scene of two days of activities demanding respect and freedom for different sexual orientations and gender identities.

Spring Not New to Arab Women
5/18/11
IPS: Women have been taking leading roles in the Arab uprisings of Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, Libya,Morocco and Bahrain - shattering many decades old Western myths that Arab women are powerless and enslaved.

Calls for British Justice Secretary’s resignation over “serious rape” comments
5/19/11
Feministing: British Justice Secretary Ken Clarke proposed that would make it possible for convicted rapists to cut their sentences by up to 50% if they entered an early guilty plea – currently, the figure is 33%

German Company Rewards Staffers with Prostitutes
5/20/11
BBC: One of the biggest insurance companies in the world held a party for salesmen where they were rewarded with the services of prostitutes.

HEALTH

Unplanned Pregnancies Cost Taxpayers $11 Billion
5/20/11
Ms.: Studies released by the Guttmacher Institute and the Brookings Institution show that unintended pregnancies in the U.S. cost taxpayers roughly $11 billion per year.

The Breast Milk Black Market
5/17/11
Wired: In an era when the benefits of breast milk are better understood and more scientifically certain than ever, demand for it has created a niche industry.

ENTERTAINMENT

Is Beyonce the Face of Contemporary Feminism?
5/20/11
Clutch Magazine: 20-something-year-old women are ready to showcase the multidimensionality of womanhood: we can be intelligent, independent, powerful, family-oriented, and sexy without having an identity crisis.

Hollywood’s Diversity Problem Predictably Blamed On The Recession
5/19/11
Jezebel: The latest Writers’ Guild report indicates that in many instances, women and minority TV and film writers lost ground in comparison to white males.

The Rules for Depicting Abortion in Hollywood
5/19/11
Feministing: In pop culture, most representations adhere to a set of ten rules – commandments, if you will.  For example, “If your character has an abortion, make sure she is impregnated by a really bad guy.”

SPORTS

Sports Hijab Lets Islamic Women Throw Some Punches
5/12/11
AFP: Iranian-born Canadian designer Elham Seyed Javad came up with an solution to allow young girls and women to take part in physical activities while also adhering to strict Islamic rules.

Cheerleading May Finally Be Recognized as a Sport
5/23/11
Jezebel: For years the debate has raged over whether cheerleading is a sexist activity that exists so girls can shake more than pom poms while wearing skimpy uniforms, or a rigorous sport consisting of difficult gymnastic maneuvers and stunts.

Summer support group for sexual assault, abuse survivors

The Rape Crisis Center of Medina and Summit Counties is running a summer session of its support group “Moving Forward.”

This nonclinical, psycho-educational group is open to adult women who have suffered sexual assault and/or childhood sexual abuse.  If you know someone who would like to participate or have any questions, please contact Denice at 330-374-0740, Ext. 124 before May 31.

Please feel free to distribute the information below to colleagues, clients, friends or family in the greater Akron area.

• 2011 Summer Support Group Poster
• 2011 Summer Support Group Handout