View from a Broad

As promised, here's the announcement about a seminar on Saturday April 21 to commemorate Equal Pay Day, April 24. Seminar topics will include “Networking- Building Relationships”, “Interviewing Do’s and Don’ts”, “How to Craft a Resume – Resumes That Sell”, and “Job Advancement Tips – How to Ask for a Raise”. This seminar is designed for students entering the workforce, women reentering the workforce, or women already in the workforce. Everyone is welcome. Since 1919,BPW has been the leading advocate for workingwomen and their mission is to achieve equity for all women in the workplace through advocacy, education and information. Admission for this workshop is BPW members – free of charge. Non-BPW members paid by 4/14/07 - $20.00. Non-BPW members paid after 4/14/07 - $25.00. Students (with valid student ID) paid by 4/14/07 - $10.00. Students (with valid student ID) paid after 4/14/07 - $15.00. For reservations, call Peggy Wells at 651-5516 or 651-8934. Make checks to Monroe/West Mon...

April Program Meeting: Topic: Dealing with Difficult Bosses. Our presenter is Dr. Bill McCown. Election of 2007-2008 Officers We will meet at the Atrium, 2001 Louisville Avenue, Monroe (Madison Room) on April 17 at 6:00 p.m. Attendees will be able to order from the menu at their own expense. Please RSVP by April 13 so that we can get a headcount for seating. And, if you need 3-5 minutes on the meeting agenda, please RSVP no later than April 13th, 2007. RSVP your meeting intention to: Peggy Wells Monroe/West Monroe BPW Vice-President mmwells@dow.com (t) 318-665-5516 (work) (t) 318-651-8934 (home)

Note from Beth: The following fact based article is the first of a continuing series of contributions from wise and valued members of our Local Organization, Business and Professional Women of Monroe/West Monroe. Thank You Angie!! Angie Jackson-Wilson is the CEO of AJW Event Planning. She is the 2007 National Membership Chair for Business and Professional Women/USA and the Immediate Past State President of the Louisiana Federation of Business and Professional Women. April 24th is Equal Pay Day. That is the day in April every year—this year the 24th—when women’s earnings finally catch up with what men made by December 31 of the previous year. Business and Professional Women/USA will be among the women’s groups, led by the National Committee on Pay Equity, rallying on Capitol Hill to call attention to the issue. The pay gap is still a stubborn problem, with women who work full time, year-round making 76 cents to a man’s dollar. It consistently polls number one with female voters in elec...

Can you tell I've had an incredibly busy busy month? Well, I have. I miss posting, though. If this blog had been linked through the Newsstar, it'd been junked by now. Keep reading good people. More super BPW information forthcoming this week!

This press release was prepared just after the Saturday event--lots of great people who care about the place they live, work and worship. Arkansas Road Great American Cleanup 3/24 It’s amazing what a concerned group of citizens can do when they join together! • Over 350 bags, • 2720 pounds (1.36 tons) of trash, • Police Juror Paul Hargrove organized with KWMB coordinator Beth Betz • Mayor Dave Norris, and got soaked with pollen while assisting • Well over 100 participants from churches and civic organizations • WMHS Physics Club and National Honor Society students with • Teachers and parents of Drew and Claiborne Schools • State Representative Mike Walsworth with friends and neighbors • Support services from OPPJ Public works who retrieved the bags from the roadside and • code enforcement agent Randy Duke from the city of West Monroe providing support services to participants. Events like this last cleanup show what a determined group can accomplish in a short period of time. People wh...

This press release was sent out Friday 3/23 in the evening, after I'd had a chance to gather all the information. It was a wonderful effort supported by good people. HWY 80 Great American Cleanup 3/23 Probably the best cleanup we’ve ever done. • Over 500 bags, • 3560 pounds (1.78 tons) of trash, • Picked up from just over 8 miles of Highway 80, from Calhoun to Well Road • 120 football players, 6 coaches from West Monroe High School; • 3 community volunteers recruited by the West Monroe West Ouachita Chamber of Commerce, Altheia Owens, Kathy Middlebrooks and Jerry Sepulvado; • 3 Ouachita Parish School Board School Board representatives- Superintendent Bob Webber, Assistant Superintendent Frank Hoffmann, School Board member Scott Robinson; • Keep West Monroe Beautiful board members Rebecca Hall and Mary Ann Newton; • two affiliate coordinators OPSO Corporal Wayne Heckford and Beth Betz, • one OPSO Deputy Gary Senn • one code enforcement agent Randy Duke from the city of West Monroe ...

A simple, focused message that promotes change is fundamental to an effective public awareness campaign. Use public awareness to unite the community against litter, to increase recycling, or promote community cleanup. Don’t think litter is a problem? Get the facts Savannah, GA, spent $300,000 on a multimedia ad campaign to lessen litter. The Texas Department of Transportation’s 2002 campaign to fight litter totaled $1 million for television, radio and outdoor billboard advertising. Outlays for public awareness are dwarfed by the cost of litter cleanup. In Louisiana, state and local governments spent an estimated $15 million a year to clean up beer cans, cigarette butts and other litter. In 2001, Illinois spent more than $12 million picking up litter. More and more cities are finding public awareness campaigns a valuable tool to change behavior and cut the high cost of litter. COMMUNITY BENEFITS A public awareness campaign: - Draws attention to an issue - Improves enforcement of solid ...

Measurement tools are essential to identify and understand the extent of community problems. They are also effective for evaluating programs that have been implemented in response to specific community concerns. Solid facts and data are the best way to show results and quantify success. Take a look at Keep America Beautiful’s unique set of measurement tools for communities: COMMUNITY BENEFITS Measurement tools: - Identify and quantify community problems - Help prioritize and target resources - Assess current laws and ordinances - Measure progress over time THE LITTER INDEX Especially designed for Keep America Beautiful affiliates, this is the most statistically reliable tool for litter assessment in a community. The Litter Index evaluates through visual and written scoring the amount of litter in selected community areas. Conducting the Litter Index helps build consensus on priority problem areas. As a quantitative measure of progress over time, it is a useful tool for tracking improve...

Laws and ordinances that improve a community’s quality of life are ineffective unless they’re enforced. Enforcement is not only the role of the police department. It is most effective when police work in partnership with the community and its citizens, local public agencies, and the courts. Learn more about partnerships to improve enforcement: CITIZEN POLICING Empower citizens to help enforce local laws and ordinances. Communities across the U.S. are educating citizens and providing a system for them to report violations—and getting results. MULTI-AGENCY TASK FORCE Focus local resources on enforcing ordinance violations, including illegal dumping, abandoned vehicles, graffiti, vacant lots and other problem properties. Multi-agency task forces in large and small communities have resulted in cleaner neighborhoods, reduced crime, and improved quality of life. ENVIRONMENTAL COURTS Use a dedicated environmental court, operational in several states, to improve compliance with ordinances that...

The cornerstone for creating sustainable change is public education which positively affects the attitudes and behaviors that negatively impact our quality of life. One very important way to address this is enforcement of laws and ordinances. In some cities, ordinances are in place, but not vigorously enforced. In others, new ordinances are required to address pressing community concerns. COMMUNITY BENEFITS Local ordinances (a public injunction, regulation, or law) combat litter, illegal dumping, vacant lots, graffiti, and other conditions in a city that have the potential to create blight. Use ordinances to: - Raise public awareness - Ensure local laws support community objectives - Empower police, inspections department, and other enforcement agencies CITY FOCUS Trends and Results in U.S. Cities Ordinances that target quality of life issues, or even specific neighborhood issues, are growing in communities across the U.S.—and getting results: Anaheim,CA Cincinnati, OH Albany, GA Nashv...

1. Get the Facts Research the littering problem (or other community improvement issue) in your community, and gather information from the Litter Index and the Litter/Solid Waste Survey. Interview field professionals and leadership. Assemble all pertinent data in writing. 2. Involve the People Identify the people who have the most influence over this particular issue. Let them know what you would like to do. Find how it can match their own interests, and capitalize on their interest in developing the program. Let them involve people they know or with whom they work. The volunteer network will spread. Delegation is the key. 3. Plan Systematically Once the leadership and other key individuals are in agreement, develop a plan of action. Utilizing effective management techniques, the group commits to this plan of action with the aid of Keep America Beautiful programs and resource guides. 4. Focus on Results Your goal will be to achieve measurable results in litter reduction. All act...

Attitudinal and behavior change can be brought about most effectively and efficiently at these pressure points. Using the Pressure Points for Change, develop program objectives to meet the defined needs in accordance with your organizational goals. Use the five-step Attitude Change Process to develop your goals and objectives. THE FOUR PRESSURE POINTS FOR CHANGE: - Education - Technology - Ordinance - Enforcement EDUCATION Public attitudes and behavior about trash handling and perceptions about solid waste management are affected directly by education. Public education includes not only schools programs, but also training seminars, workshops, public relations programs, media campaigns and specific programs for containerizing litter at its sources. Civic clubs, Chambers of Commerce, businesses, government agencies all have programs or policies that impact on waste management and need continuous education. TECHNOLOGY The equipment available to manage waste and the opportunities to recy...

Dearhearts: This press release was emailed to local media on March 22, 2007. Cleanups and beautification projects are two of the three prong efforts. This was a combined press release to make sure every media outlet had the same information about the two active KAB affiliates in Ouachita parish. Keep America Beautiful’s Great American Cleanup Launched in Through Out Ouachita Parish WHAT: In partnership with Keep America Beautiful’s Great American Cleanup city and parish residents are joining over 2.3 million volunteers in over 15,000 communities across the country to make their neighborhoods cleaner and more beautiful places to live in. While national trends reflect a declining commitment to volunteerism, West Monroe, Sterlington, Richwood, and parish residents are shattering these statistics by making the commitment to beautify their neighborhoods. WHO: Good people doing great things from businesses and school groups, newly recruited members, city and paris...

Oh what a week. I had a training opportunity, and missed our February BPW meeting, held Tuesday Feb 20, and the Keep West Monroe Beautiful board meeting also held Februray 20. I had a great training trip to Atlanta this week. I was fortunate to have been sent to the NeighborWorks Training Institute. This institute provides intensive education in Affordable Housing Asset Management Community Building and Organizing Community Economic Development Commmunity and Neighborhood Revitalization Construction and Production Management Homeownership and Community Lending Management and Leadership Rural Development I took a two day training on Community Building Principles and Applications, and a one day training on How to Raise Money. I had the extraordinary luck to have had three super instructors who imparted their wisdom with wit and compassion. People who work in neighborhood development and community building benefit from broadening their vision and finding new solutions to old problems. I b...

This is the week that was. Incredible. I met deadlines for two grant applications today. That is yooge for me, as I have never completely written a grant myself. Rewritten, yes. I had help and support from some great proof readers, three pairs of critical eyes who made the challenge more doable. Both applications have something to do with work, and supporting the mission of Keep West Monroe Beautiful. I am hoping to hear something good in two weeks or so. Keep your fingers crossed. The Great American Cleanup is March 3. Sign up your team soon so we can be prepared for your group. There has been a lot of talk about how trashy our region looks. It's because people litter. Yes I'm looking at you, guy with a truck bed full of Styrofoam cups, fast food wrappers, and crap. You ever wonder why it isn't there by the time you drive all the way home? It's because when you drive down the road that stuff blows out and litters our roadways! How dare you! It makes us all look bad ...

This is bordering, no wait a minute, today has become the most surreal day. First I saw the report of the auntie who objected to the title of a play "The Vagina Monologues", and the marquee now reads "The Hoohaa Monologues". She complained that she didn't like having to explain to her niece what a vagina is. An eleven year old girl does not know what a vagina is. I weep. They are clearly missing the point. Do we need to discuss this further? The following just showed up on the online edition of "Pine Bluff Commercial," www.pbcommercial.com ERA ratification resolution stalls in House committee By ANDREW DeMILLO LITTLE ROCK - A resolution to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment stalled in a House committee Wednesday, despite a plea from former Arkansas Gov. David Pryor who urged legislators to approve the measure. Pryor, also a former U.S. senator, spoke in favor of the measure before the Arkansas House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affa...

February Program Meeting Topic: Healthy Heart and Healthy Finances- Our presenters are LaTonya Williams, Jerold Munson and Edna Haden. We will meet at the Atrium, 2001 Louisville Avenue, Monroe (Madison Room) on February 20 at 6:00 p.m. Attendees will be able to order from the menu at their own expense. Please RSVP by February 13 so that we can get a headcount for seating. And, if you need 3-5 minutes on the meeting agenda, please RSVP no later than February 14. RSVP your meeting intention to: Peggy Wells Monroe/West Monroe BPW Vice-President mmwells@dow.com peggywells@jam.rr.com (t) 318-665-5516 (work) (t) 318-651-8934 (home) Happy Anniversary Armenda Sims Thank you for saying “Yes” to BPW Take some time today to share with another woman what BPW can do for them – Each One Recruit One. Membership is up to 22. Upcoming event: SW Central District Meeting March 24 in Alexandria Watch for more details via email Community Outreach: Send One Suit Week Mark your calendars! March 1...

Born August 30, 1944 Monterey, California Died January 31, 2007 Austin, Texas Writer, syndicated columnist, and political commentator. Molly Ivins died. I just heard on the 10 o'clock news. I always looked forward to her column, and thank goodness for the internet, I could find her somewhere almost everytime I looked. Just one quote from her last column, January 11, 2007: "We are the people who run this country. We are the deciders. And every single day, every single one of us needs to step outside and take some action to help stop this war. Raise hell. Think of something to make the ridiculous look ridiculous. Make our troops know we're for them and trying to get them out of there."

What do the citizens of northeast Louisiana deserve? A clean community which will attract businesses that thrive and grow. A clean community where people want to buy homes and raise their families. A clean community that is safe and nurtures families in neighborhoods where everyone belongs. Can we have all these qualities in Ouachita Parish? Most of our heartiest boosters would say Ouachita Parish is all that and more. However, as many recent letters to the editor have pointed out, we fall short in a few ways. I’m talking about the clean community part. Come walk with me down one of our city streets and look around. Quality of Life Means Clean On a recent Saturday walk down a high traffic street I found broken beer bottles, fast food restaurant wrappers, foam packing peanuts, remnants of foam cups, and a bazillion cigarette butts. Yuk. And I was picking stuff up as I went. Two hours later I drove down this street and it was full of litter again. Can you imagine my disappointment and ...

Oh my. Looks like a fight is a brewing. Well, maybe a couple. But today let's talk about our esteemed Congressional activity. Go ahead and grab a cup of tea, I'll wait. In the Senate today , the minimum wage increase has been waylayed by Rebublicans who want to attach business tax breaks. Democrats from the House want this $2.10 raise to the back-breaking un-livable wage to go through with no attachments from the Senate. But it looks like a minumum wage increase just won't make it through the Senate without a tax break for business attached. The 54-43 vote fell short of the 60 it needed to advance without changes. Democratic leaders in the Senate are moving to pin those tax breaks on, for the sake of passing the wage hike. ...raise the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour over 26 months and provide $8.3 billion in tax benefits to businesses over 10 years. CNN I am thinking that we in this country are struggling, and just really need this. It's been 10 years since the minimum w...

AND LEGISLATION DAY Legislation Day (Friday) planned by Cory K., hosted by Jefferson Parish, will be something you will not want to miss! It will start at 1:00 pm in the Wisteria Room. Following the Leg Day session, President Judy invites you to visit her suite to "meet and greet." Then it is "Return to Broadway", hosted by West St. Tammany, kicking off the conference with the banquet to be held in the Camillia Room. Door prizes, trivia questions and lots of fun are on the agenda for a great night. Saturday morning breakfast, hosted by St. Bernard, will be served buffet style along with information on membership and the upcoming year agenda. At 9am the Mid Year Board confererence will begin in the Magnolia Room, as President Judy resides over the BPW/LA business agenda. The Lunch, hosted by Oakdale and Lake Charles, will be served in the Camillia Room. Then the Conference resumes and President Judy almost promises to have us done and out by 3pm. As you can see the t...

I found something wonderful. http://www.womensenews.org/index.cfm If I can get permission I will post bits and pieces for you.

News Release Date: January 11, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE REP. JOE BACA INTRODUCES BILL TO HONOR ALICE PAUL, WOMEN'S SUFFRAGIST AND EQUAL RIGHTS CHAMPION Washington, DC -- Rep. Joe Baca (D-CA) introduced legislation to honor Alice Paul today, the 122nd anniversary of the late suffragist's birth. The legislation calls for awarding a Congressional Gold Medal to Alice Paul in recognition of her role in securing suffrage and civil rights for American women. "Alice Paul was a remarkable person who made America more democratic by fighting for equal rights and creating opportunities for women to participate in politics. Her influence on our society and culture continues to be significant," said Rep. Baca. Alice Paul spearheaded the effort to pass the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, granting all American women the right to vote. Her courage inspired thousands of women to join the women's suffrage movement. She was among the first group to ever picket the White H...

Business and Professional Women/USA has been a strong advocate in the legislative battle to increase the federal minimum wage. At the current level, established in 1996, workingwomen bringing home a minimum wage salary do not have the resources to provide for their families, and 60.9% of workers earning between $5.15 and $7.00 per hour are women. MINIMUM WAGE AND WORKING FAMILIES • In 2002, approximately 2.6 million full-time, year-round workers lived in poverty. • A full-time worker on minimum wage earns approximately $10,712 a year, $1,778 below the 2004 poverty line for a family of two, $4,958 below the poverty line for a family of three, and $8,138 below the poverty line for a family of four. • Nearly 75% of all minimum wage earners are adults (20 years and older). • 40% of minimum wage earners are the sole breadwinners in their families. • Nearly 50% of minimum wage earners work full time. • The real value of today’s minimum wage is 44% below its peak in 1968 due to inflation. • R...

What a day this has been! Up at 4:30, drive to Baton Rouge, an exasperating search in the state library for detailed survey that eluded me, even with help. Then I attended a Keep Louisiana Beautiful affiliate meeting that was so informative and instructive on fundraising, presented by Donna Curtis from Shreveport Green . Such a worthwhile program, I hope to use some of the nuggets of wisdom she shared with us this year. And over above it all, I was asked to serve as the chair of our affiliate organization. For a one year term. What a thrill to be thought of so well, well enough to be trusted to act for them all and represent them all (25 affiliates statewide) in the Keep Louisiana Beautiful board , communicate with the affiliates issues that must be shared for completeness of effort and supportive action for us from that board. I am humbled. Report Litterbugs The Department of Environmental Quality maintains a toll free number to report litter and illegal dumping. 1-888-LIT-R-BUG (1...

January Business Meeting Our January Meeting will be January 16th at 6:00 p.m. at the Atrium in Monroe @ 2001 Louisville Avenue. Rhonda Counselman has arranged for us to have the monthly use of a meeting room; members can order off the menu at their own expense (with no minimum expectation) with the meeting room use at no charge. This will be a business meeting, as we have a number of agenda topics to discuss. It is very important that you attend in order to set direction for our group for 2007. We are a small chapter, so member absences are really noticed. We really need and want your involvement and input. AGENDA TOPICS- NEW BUSINESS: 1. Vote on chapter meeting night - Beth Betz 2. Presentation of proposed 2007 program slate –B.Betz 3. Membership chair opening - Beth Betz 4. Mid Year Boards - Judy Wilson 5. Legislation Day - Judy Wilson Also, if there are any meeting topics or interesting speakers that you would like to recommend, we would like your input. We want to pro...