(Un)equal Pay Day for Native Women

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: There’s a pay gap between women and men, and that gap is even wider for women of color. But here are a few facts you might not have heard before: African American Women are paid 68 cents for every dollar white men are paid and Latino women are paid 64 cents. For Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, that number is 62 cents. American Indian and Alaska Native women are paid just 59 cents.

September 8 marked Native American women’s equal pay day, the day that the wages of American Indian and Alaska Native women catch up to the money white men earned last year. (It took about nine months, if you’re counting.) We used this occasion to honor all Native Americans, including Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders, who would have reached “equal pay” back in July, right before black women did.

2015 Riverside AAUW Tech Trek Notes

The picture is of the 13 AAUW Riverside Branch Tech Trek girls for 2015. Below are thank you notes from 4 of the 7 Riverside girls who attended the University of San Diego Tech Trek camp this summer. The notes tell you how much the girls got out of their experiences and the notes are a real testament to the value of the Tech Trek program.

Dear Riverside AAUW,

Thank you for sponsoring me to attend Tech Trek 2015. This experience has helped me mature as a person and given me a clear path to the future. Before this opportunity, I was considering a career in environmental law. Now I am interested in pursuing Computer Science and Software Engineering. I never would have considered this path without exposure to the field in the coding class, and ViaSat field trip, and the prototype engineer — all of these things were introduced to me through Tech Trek. I also gained valuable knowledge about college planning and finance at Tech Trek. Touring a STEM work place at ViaSat and listening to professional women talk about their careers inspired me to pursue a STEM career myself. Tech Trek also showed me that Chemistry can be exciting when Professor Bridges demonstrated elemental reactions. I learned valuable skills and lessons at this camp, and made friends and memories I will never forget. Thank you again for providing me with this life changing experience.

Sincerely,

Isabela Galoustian
STEM Academy

Dear Riverside Branch of AAUW,

Thank you for allowing me to have this wonderous opportunity. It is so awesome to get to meet new people who have a love of Science and Math like me. I am also lucky to get to learn so many things in such a fun ways. Tech Trek has improved my social skills, taught me how to get to college, and will help me get into activities (?) more easily.

My core class was Robotics. It was really cool because we went off campus to Qualcomm to take it. We ate there and got to make hats that move. We got to decorate them, too. One of our field trips was to Sea Camp. I enjoyed a lot of the mini classes like the one about polymers and Math. It was very interesting to be living in the dorms because you are responsible for yourself, not your parents. You also have to develop social skills because you are starting the week living with 10 complete strangers. You have to become friends before Tech Trek can get truly fun. I really like my new friends and will be sure to keep in contact with them.

One of my favorite things we did were the mini classes, they were so fun ! I am a huge fan of hands on learning. I loved that I came out of Chemistry all wet, Physics with a balloon powered car, polymer with hand-made silly putty stuff, Math with a geometric graphed version of my name, and more.

Thank you again for choosing me to go the Tech Trek. I was so excited! I hope I can be a part of AAUW when I get older. This was an amazing week.

Sincerely Yours,

Avery Morse
Central Middle School

Dear Riverside Branch of AAUW,

Thank you so much for selecting me to come to this camp and providing me with an experience of a life time. I really enjoyed coming to Tech Trek and getting a taste of college.

I had the core class of Chemistry which was really fun and amazing. We had an experiment every day which really helped me stay engaged in the classes considering they were 3 hours long. I really enjoyed going to sea camp. It was amazing! We got to dissect a squid, make tattoos out of the squid ink and go on a boat. Furthermore we caught fish and lobster. We also went whale watching but unfortunately we only saw sea lions which were cool and cute.

I also liked going to ViaSat. At ViaSat we were learning about how satellite internet works and how to code using bits. We also got to control small robots called spheros with phones and I pads. Our mini classes back at UCSD were amazing. We made all kinds of cool stuff like silly putty, rockets, even cars. I just loved the energetic vibe and feel of Tech Trek. Everyone including the staff, teachers, and younger counselors were so nice and welcoming. I just wanted to say Thank You so much again.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Kennedey D. Boyette
Central Middle School

Dear Riverside Branch Members,

Thank you so much for supporting me and allowing me to attend Tech Trek. I had such a great time and met so many new awesome people. I’m sure many of them will turn out to be life- long friends. Thank you so much for also supporting my new friend, Katelyn El Fattal from the Riverside Branch. We shared a room along with our new friend, Daphnie. Katelyn and I became best friends so thank you for also sponsoring her for Tech Trek.

My core class was anatomy and I enjoyed it so much. You wouldn’t know by my telling you. First, we learned about the skeletal system. I learned that your knee cap is your patella and that it is a floating bone so you can move it around. We also learned about the cardiovascular system. I learned about the blood flow through your heart. Later, we learned about the muscular system. I learned where my gastrocnemius and pectoralis major is. I had a lot fun in Anatomy at Tech Trek.

At Tech Trek, we also do small workshop classes in the afternoon and evening. We studied Newton’s Third Law and made balloon cars in one workshop. In another workshop, we did Zumba, which is a workout dance. One time we even went on a tour of the UCSD campus!

While at Tech Trek, we also go on field trips. We went to sea camp on Tuesday and dissected a squid. After dissecting a squid, we went on a boat to see a kelp forest and catch fish to look at. On Thursday, we went to visit Viasat,, which is a company that launches satellites into space.

Thank you so much for sponsoring me so I could get the opportunity to live and learn at a university for a week.

Sincerely,
Sydney Magno
Miller Middle School

Hollywood Doesn’t Get it

Recent studies found that women only received 30.2 percent of speaking roles or named characters in top grossing films from 2007 to 2014. In the top 100 films of 2014, only 4.9 percent of the women were Hispanic/Latino, 12.5 percent were Black, 5.3 percent were Asian, 2.9 percent were Middle Eastern, and less than 1 percent were Indian or Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander. Also, females of all ages were likely to be sexualized or shown in sexy attire. A co-author of the study stated, “It sends a message about who’s valued and who’s not.”

Book Discussion

What are you doing next Thursday night, August 13th at 7:00 P.M.? I hope you’ll be at Lisa’s for a wonderful discussion of a riveting book, The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund De Waal.

The Ephrussis were a grand banking family, as rich and respected as the Rothschilds, who “burned like a comet? in nineteenth-century Paris and Vienna society. Yet by the end of World War II, almost the only thing remaining of their vast empire was a collection of 264 wood and ivory carvings, none of them larger than a matchbox.

The renowned ceramist Edmund de Waal became the fifth generation to inherit this small and exquisite collection netsuke. Entranced by their beauty and mystery, he determined to trace the story of his family through the story of the collection.

A marvelously absorbing synthesis of art history, detective story and memoir. A nimble history of one of the richest European families at the turn of the century. Remarkable.

Do get the book and come to the discussion at Lisa’s. If you need directions, e-mail Jo at 911jot@gmail.com.

From the Social Security Trustees’ Report

The Social Security Disability Insurance (DI) trust fund is on the brink of depletion, and is projected to be exhausted in late 2016 – just over a year from today. Absent legislation, beneficiaries in that program would face an immediate 19 percent across-the-board benefit cut.

On a combined basis, or assuming reallocation or interfund borrowing, the Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) trust funds are projected to be exhausted in 2034. At that point, all beneficiaries would face an immediate 21 percent across-the-board benefit cut, which would grow to more than 27 percent by 2090.

Policymakers must act quickly to put Social Security on a path toward solvency. As time goes on, it will be more difficult to secure the Social Security programs for current and future generations with thoughtful changes instead of abrupt benefit cuts or tax increases.