{ Volume XXIII, Number 2 } March & April 2008 A Publication of the Women’s Community Center of San Luis Obispo

po County

3 Talk! About It 7 Voices Around

the Table
10 Is It Real? 12
6 Patently Female
8 Nancy Koren 11 About Eating
Linnaea Phillips
13 Women’s
Cover art by Karen Koren

Community
Center
2 Women’sPress Wometn’s Press | March & April 2008 | womenspress.slo@gmail.com

Letters Reprint of Angie King’s letter from

Dear Readers,
Ah, those green hills that surround us
at this time of year on the Central Coast.
Their soft contours have the flowing lines
of a naked human form and at times, as I
glance at the hills while driving down the
highway or walking on the beach, I expect
to hear the land give out a sigh of content-
ment and see those mounds reposition
themselves as if there were a human form
of immense proportions under that velvet
green blanket. At this moment, sitting in
front of a window listening to bird songs
and feeling the warmth of the sun coming
through my window, I can momentarily
forget the crises around our country and
the planet that prevent other persons from
being able to sit in safety and comfort and
enjoy such a moment of beauty and calm.
But the thoughts of the victims of the
human capacity for violence, greed, and
power quickly return. My heart wants all
the pain and devastation to go away. I seek
to make some kind of spiritual, intellec-
tual, or emotional sense out of it all. If our
embodied souls are here to become purified
in the fires of our emotional and physical
pain, is it all right to be concerned just with
the challenges within our own sphere of
experience? Or, because human life is a web
Women Drummers!
of interconnectedness, do we need to take
responsibility even for things that happen
to people thousands of miles away? And
shouldn’t those of us sitting in relative com-
fort and safety – not living at the survival
level – have an additional responsibility to
speak up and act?
As a woman, I recall the first time I
read Lysistrata, the Greek play in which the
women decide to withdraw sex until the
men cease warring. Wow, what a creative
and nonviolent solution that was! And I
wonder what power we women might have
now if we found a way to be witnesses to
the devastation humans have wrought to
one another and the planet, and, as half
the population of the planet, in outrage,
could be heard and seen saying “Stop! Stop
the killing. Stop laying waste to the land
and the oceans. Transform your hatred
into compassion. Speak together of ways
to share Earth’s bounty instead of trying to
control it.”
As always, this issue offers readers the
voice of the feminine spirit. I welcome your
responses and ideas for how the “feminine”
might become a planetary force for chang-
ing the destructive course humankind is
currently on.
Anne Schroeder
I appreciated Bill Deneen’s letter in the Jan.
Feb issue. Those of us who live as Catholics
understand the apparent hypocrisy of the
Church’s “hardline” position alongside the
realities of life. But the Catholic Church has
no choice but to hold to its advocacy for
the sanctity of life. If the Church remains
silent, who will defend the defenseless?
He’s right. The moral line is blurry for
those of us not living celibate. Many of us
find ways of integrating our Church’s teach-
ings with the realities of our personal situa-
tions. Are we right? I guess we’ll find out! A
lot of Catholics are on the fence with issues
like Planned Parenthood. We’re the ones
with the 2.5 children we’ve allowed our-
selves in order to give them – and ourselves
– a fighting chance in life.
We’re weary of discord suffered in the
name of religion. As true Christians, our
lives --like the Hippocratic Oath--should
come down to First Do No Harm. The
Church opposes abortion and contracep-
tion as though circumstances are ideal –
a loving couple living together in a life of
holy reflection and obedience. This is an
ideal we could all get behind! At the same
time, the Church recognizes the fallibil-
ity of man. Circumstances are often terri-
bly wrong: rape (even by a violent spouse,)
mental or physical inability of a woman
to raise a child. In these cases, the Church
offers a surprising degree of understand-
ing and compassion. These situations are
dealt with on a one-on-one basis within the
Church – in the Rite of Reconciliation, in
counseling, in reflecting on one’s actions
and living a life of atonement. Sometimes,
in simply convincing a young woman to
forgive herself. Sometimes the official policy
of the Church tolls louder than the whis-
pers of reason that abound within Her.
the Feb. 6 Tribune
I must take exception to Kathleen Parker’s
view (Feb. 4) that women are voting for Hil-
lary Clinton only because she is a woman and
it’s “our turn.”
But I am more outraged by her comment
that women have nothing left to protest. Has
she forgotten the fact that women’s pay hov-
ers around 70 cents to a man’s dollar? Has
she forgotten the restrictions on access for
women to reproductive health care? Has she
forgotten the violence and harassment per-
petrated against women in school, the work-
place, and on the street, just because they are
women? Has she forgotten the double stan-
dard, the glass ceiling, and the many other
inequities still facing American women? We
have lots to protest! And, maybe it is our
turn to have a president who mirrors our
concerns, our issues, our vulnerabilities, and
our strengths. We might get something done
about the problems facing American women
if we do. It might be better than what we’ve
had up to now.
EDITOR’S NOTE
Angie King’s letter was propitiously placed
next to Leonard Pitts Jr.’s column titled “In
defense of the ‘F’ word: feminist.” I reprint
here a few key comments in his article that
along with Angie’s (the most devoted feminist
I know) give us important facts to ponder.
After reading Jessica Valenti’s book “Full
Frontal Feminism: A Young Woman’s Guide
to Why Feminism Matters,” he asked his
17-year-old daughter if she was a feminist and
she “responded with a mildly horrified no.”
This a daughter with a 3.75 GPA pondering
college majors such as political science, psy-
chology, and women’s studies. He quotes
Valenti on the word feminist: “The word
has been so effectively misused and so effec-
tively mischaracterized by conservatives for so
long that women are afraid to identify with
it... because they’ve been taught feminists are
anti-men, feminists are ugly.”
He goes on to say, “We have, I think, lost

We will be attending a drum circle event at

the Holistic Movement Center in Morro
Bay on Sunday, March 23 at 5 PM in cel-
ebration of the beginning of Spring. Bring
drums if you have any. Finger food and soft
drinks are provided by HMC. If you’d like
to bring some food and share – please do
so. Bring friends. Please RSVP to HMC
ahead of time, 909-1401. Suggested dona-
tion is $10.
Nancy Koren, on page 8.
After the event, we will take the oppor-
tunity to meet one another and discuss with
drumming teacher Francesca Bolognini
planning an event of our own. Let me know
if you are coming – womenspress.slo@
gmail.com – so we can find one another!
Cover Artist collective memory of how things were before
the F-word. Of the casual beatings. Of casual
Nancy Koren rape. Of words like “old maid and “spin-
ster.” Of abortion by coat hanger. Of going
to school to find a man. Of getting an allow-
ance and needing a husband’s permission. Of
Read all about this Women’s Community Center Board taking all your spirit, all your dreams, all your
ambition, aspiration, creativity, and pound-
months’ cover artist, Angie King, President ing them down until they fit a space no larger
Sonia Paz
Robin Rinzler
than a casserole dish.
“’I’m not a feminist, but …? That’s a
fraud. It’s intellectually dishonest. And it’s a
slap to the feminists who prepared the table
at which today’s young women sup.
“So for the record, I am a feminist. My
daughter is, too. She doesn’t know it yet.”

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Why Women Are Falling Short:
Issues We Should Be Talking About
T
he statistics below address the issues that relate
to women being able to retire in comfort and
security – or not. Here are some of the most basic
and troublesome facts:
Earnings
ɶɶTwo-thirds of working women earn less than
$30,000 a year.
ɶɶNearly half of all women work in low-paying jobs
without retirement plans or 401(k)s.
ɶɶWomen earn on average 77 cents for every dollar
earned by men.
Work Status
ɶɶWomen are more likely than men to work part-
time. Part-time employment is associated with
lower wages, fewer opportunities for promotion, a
lower likelihood of pension coverage and eventu-
ally smaller benefits.
ɶɶOver a lifetime, women will spend 27 years in the
workforce, compared to almost 40 years for men.
Women Must Speak Out
Excerpts from an article by Naomi Butler, a marriage and family therapist, San Francisco Chronicle, January 31, 2008
F
or some time now, I have been deeply concerned
that progress for women has come to a standstill.
I see a reform movement that has stalled in its
tracks. While there are women today working tirelessly
to further the cause of female equality, there are too
few of us talking publicly about this issue. In the United
States, some women are thriving. Maybe that accounts
for our complacency. The spirit of supporting each
other emotionally, and helping each other advance pro-
fessionally that took root in the 1970s, seems greatly
diminished, while the consequences of sexism remain.
Is it really OK that women today earn, on average, 77
cents on the $1 compared to men, and that after work-
ing at a job for 10 years, the gap widens? Is it really OK
that 1 in 4 women will experience domestic violence in
her lifetime and that 1 in 10 women age 65 or older live
at or below the poverty level - nearly twice the rate of
men of the same age?
When Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton announced her
candidacy for president, I thought we might begin a
public discussion of the status of women. Instead, the
media has paid little attention to these gender issues….
For years, women learned that they should not dis-
agree with men, or they would risk punishment. They
Life Expectancy
ɶɶToday, an average woman’s life expectancy at birth
is 80.1 years, compared to 74.8 years for men.
If a woman lives to age 65, she can expect to live
until the age of 84 or 85 – about four more years
than a man.
Marital Status
ɶɶBetween the ages of 75 and 84, only 34 percent
of women are married with a spouse present. For
women age 85 and older, only 13 percent are mar-
ried with a spouse present.
ɶɶWith the death of a spouse, a woman often experi-
ences a steep drop in income—from her spouse’s
pension and even from Social Security.
Retirement Income
ɶɶThe median income in 2004 for retired women was
$12,080 compared to men’s income of $21,102.
ɶɶThe poverty rate in 2004 for single white women
age 65 and older was over 20 percent; that rate
was double for single African American and His-
panic women.
Photo courtesy Alin Nan, titled “Chairs”
risked being abandoned, screamed at and beaten. They
risked being fired, ridiculed, vilified and shamed. Many
of the women I work with have spent years struggling
with these messages, trying to overcome their past
experiences. Sometimes the messages were subtle;
sometimes they were delivered with blows. Sometimes
we were enticed into thinking we would be rewarded if
we would just shut up. For many women, the belief that
we have a right to our own voice has been a long time
coming. And now in 2008, if we pay attention, we hear
a familiar rage expressed toward women, this time for
publicly supporting a female candidate.
I am asking all women, regardless of whom you
support, to speak out against demeaning speech and
not contribute to it yourself. The public and the media
have the right to strongly criticize Sen. Clinton if they
want to, but there are ways to do it without degrad-
ing women in the process. I am concerned that if these
negative messages about women go unnoticed and
unchallenged, they will seep into our collective uncon-
scious and contribute to continued years of prejudice
and violence. We need men to speak out too - but
women must be the ones to start the conversation.
3
ɶɶSocial Security continues to be the only source of
income for one in four unmarried women.
Without significant changes, women’s work patterns
and caregiving responsibilities will continue to place us
at a disadvantage in our nation’s retirement system. As
long as we earn less, live longer, and experience more
interruptions from paid work and work in the types of
jobs that do not provide benefits, the bleak retirement
picture will remain largely the same, and retirement
security for millions of women retirees will remain elu-
sive.
Source: What Women Need to Know About Retire-
ment, a joint project of the Heinz Family Philanthropies
and the Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement
In future issues, we will discuss public policy
issues that might be adopted to prevent poverty
during the last years of our lives.
Respecting Nature’s Diversity
By Hilda Heifetz
P
erhaps the word “capricious” is too mild to
describe the work of the fates in determining the
quality of each life. It’s particularly distressing
when the new-born are targeted for problems. Such a
situation presented itself to my friend, Selma, who was
a school psychologist…
At one of the elementary schools using her ser-
vices, the kindergarten teacher brought to Selma one of
her young students, Erika. Erika was being referred to
Selma because she seemed very distressed in class. Eri-
ka’s only explanation was that she missed a boy, though
she wasn’t able to tell anything specific about him….
She was vague but obviously very sad.
Through several visits, Selma tried to explore all
kinds of possibilities, attempting also to involve Erika’s
parents. The parents seemed to appreciate the school’s
interest in their child, but said they were not available.
Selma pursued her work with Erika, resorting to basic
questions like “could the boy have been a friend who
moved, or a dream, or even an imaginary friend (like so
many children create), etc.” To all of these suggestions,
Erika’s answer was “no.” Finally, Selma had to admit she
was stumped, and there were no further visits.
About a year later, Selma bumped into Erika’s
mother in a supermarket, recognizing her from Erika’s
teacher having pointed her out one day, way back. After
a friendly greeting, Selma asked how Erika was doing.
The mother’s answer was a real eye-opener…
“She’s quite fine. Things are quite normal. You know
(Selma didn’t) that Erika was one of those babies who
is born with still undetermined gender. We had to
make the decision – boy or girl. It seemed to us that a
boy would be the right choice, the doctor proceeded
accordingly, and we called him Erik, but as the child
continued to develop, we noticed the tendencies were
more feminine, so much so that we consulted the doc-
tor, who was willing to do a changeover. Our child was
about four, a little before you met her, now Erika, and
doing well.”
A few days after this “casual” disclosure, Selma
chose to tell me about this “case” to help her deal
with this whole circumstance. With much analyzing, it
seemed too obvious and inevitable that we had to con-
clude that Erika’s missing boy was the phantom of her
earlier self – her very own self!
Can we say that our lives are sometimes shaped
“capriciously”? If we learn more about the whims of
nature, will we re-think some of our presumptions and
prejudices?
4 WomenatWork
Successful Marketing Partnerships
By Andrea Zeller
Marketing partnerships are an outstand-
ing way to expand your reach and increase
your sales. In today’s global economy, those
businesses that leverage resources position
themselves well to compete in the highly
competitive economic environment. A
successful marketing partnership can help
partners achieve more with less! This article
provides tips to ensure marketing partner-
ships are successful.
1. Consider & Select Partners Carefully
Marketing partnerships directly impact
your business’ reputation, sphere of influ-
ence and marketing potential. Choose part-
nerships with organizations that are well
respected, can add to your client base and
hold a compatible mission and vision in
their organization. Be selective and choose
wisely.
2. Understand Your Target Market and
the Target Market of Your Potential Partner
Be sure your target markets are well-
matched. Target market is the market seg-
ment to which a particular product or
service is marketed and is often defined by
age, gender, geography, and/or socio-eco-
nomic grouping. Successful marketing part-
nerships have similar target markets in order
to expand products or services offerings yet
don’t compete for the same customer dollar.
3. Partnerships Should Add Value to
Each Organization as well as Customers
Be creative with your thinking. Struc-
ture partnerships to add value and satisfy
needs of all affected parties. Each partner
organization should receive real value from
the partnership and your customers should
receive improved products and service offer-
ings as well. Think in terms of matching
resources with needs – this will help you
envision innovative value-added opportuni-
ties.
4. Be Sure a Clear Contractual Agree-
ment Exists
Contracts facilitate clarity of expecta-
tions and remedies when things don’t go
as planned. Contracts serve as tools to help
avoid conflicts and misunderstandings. As
initiator of a marketing partnership, you’ll
want to present a proposed agreement with
mutually beneficial terms to both partner-
ing organizations.
5. Your Commitment Is Key
You must take responsibility for the suc-
cess of the partnership. When first propos-
ing a partnership, you must do the majority
of work to get a strong partnership off the
ground. Partners may be skeptical and will
likely need convincing. Nothing convinces
like increasing sales. Have immediate busi-
ness expansion opportunities ready to go
once you’ve negotiated the partnership
agreement. Help increase your partner’s
profits and you’ll win their ongoing com-
mitment as well. Be committed to build-
ing a long-term partnership that can vastly
increase the marketing outreach, improve
sales pipelines and sales potential for both
partners.
MCSC & Collaboration, LLC teach
by example. Mission Community Services
Corp. (MCSC) and Collaboration LLC
recently announced a partnership agree-
ment to broaden, market, and support busi-
ness and technical assistance services to San
Luis Obispo County’s entrepreneurial com-
munity. The partnership leverages the pri-
vate sector resources of Collaboration LLC
with MCSC’s 5-year Women’s Business
Center grant from the U.S. Small Business
Administration. As part of the agreement,
they outreach to both aspiring and exist-
ing business owners and jointly improve
the supportive network to the existing busi-
ness community with the shared goal of
improving economic outcomes. Clients
realize unprecedented choice and flexibility
through improved access to entrepreneurial
training venues that better fit the specialized
needs of both the nascent or experienced
business owner. The collaborative efforts are
intended to improve local economic diver-
sity, increase the local tax base, and bolster
economic vitality as well as providing addi-
tional jobs in San Luis Obispo County.
Andrea Zeller, Executive Director of Mission
Community Services, coordinates Women’s
Business Partners (WBP) to ensure all com-
munity resources are leveraged and optimized
to support entrepreneurial women. WBP serves
everyone interested in establishing self-suffi-
ciency through small business ownership while
primarily focusing assistance towards socially
and economically disadvantaged women.
WBP can take you step by step towards suc-
cess and can help those who speak only Span-
ish. Visit www.MCSCorp.org or call 595-1357
to find out more.
Wometn’s Press | March & April 2008 | womenspress.slo@gmail.com
Build Your Expert Status to “Tip”
Your Audiences in Your Direction
by Adele Sommers
Why is developing one’s “expert status” so
important in business positioning these
days? Because, as consumers, our ability
to focus our attention has reached an all-
time low due to the overwhelming deluge
of information and advertising that we’re
contending with today. We frequently find
ourselves scurrying for authoritative advice
on what to think, do, or buy. We have little
time to do this for ourselves, so we lean on messages. A few of the many “maven perso-
know-it-all experts, or “mavens,” to direct nas” you could adopt are:
our scarce attention. • Researcher - who filters, assembles,
Malcolm Gladwell helped popularize and delivers cutting-edge information
“mavens” in his blockbuster study of social • Contrarian - whose unusual or contro-
trend setting, “The Tipping Point: How Lit- versial convictions intrigue audiences
tle Things Can Make a Big Difference.” • Intellectual - whose education, knowl-
Gladwell posits that a Maven is some- edge, and experience create authority
one who gathers extensive information on • Futurist - who predicts emerging trends
a subject, and knows exactly to whom to that can shape people’s decisions
deliver it. Because mavens are continually • Synthesizer - who collects and inte-
seeking knowledge and love passing it along grates information from many sources
to others, they contribute much of the fuel • Cross-pollinator - who sees intercon-
behind the tipping point formula, in which nections among ideas in diverse fields
ideas, products, messages, and behaviors • Common person - who’s “just like us”
ultimately explode into “word-of-mouth and has solved our burning problem
epidemics.” • Advocate - who fights for an audience’s
Gladwell also explains the roles of Con- interests and keeps them informed
nectors (who enjoy bringing other peo- In conclusion, whether you seek cus-
ple together) and Salesmen (who are good tomers, clients, subscribers, partners, affili-
at influencing and persuading others) in ates, or investors, strategically building your
jumpstarting new trends. When you add expert status will help tip your audiences
to the mix the “stickiness factors” that are in your direction and set you apart as the
capable of producing the most memora- undisputed champion of your cause.
ble and enduring slogans, campaigns, and
ideas, you’ll have the ingredients for ignit- Adele Sommers, Ph.D. is a business per-
ing a firestorm of audience interest! formance consultant who helps entrepreneurs
With these concepts in mind, also con- align their life passions with their business
sider the specific role you can carve out for purpose. She also guides organizations through
yourself as a maven in your field. What “tactical tune-ups” and “strategic makeovers”
kind of positioning would you like to have? in individual or group sessions. Contact her
Think about how the “experts” you hear, today for a free initial consultation at Adele@
watch, or read about today package their LearnShareProsper.com, or 805-462-2199.
Where to find Women’s Press
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Curves, Old Mission Coffee House, DK Donuts, Panolivo French Cafe, NCI Vil-
lage Thrift Shop, Paso Robles Health Foods; Templeton –  Magic Windows Coffee Café,
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Restaurant, The Rock, Southern Port Traders, Sunshine Health Foods, Two Dogs Coffee, La
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• SAN LUIS OBISPO: Broad St. Laundry, Cool Cats Café, La Crepes, Edna Market, Art
Café, Booboo Records, Creekside Center, GALA, Marigold Nails, Palm Theatre, Susan
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College Library, EOC Health Services Clinic, HealthWorks, Healing Alternatives, Laguna
Laundry, Linnaea’s, Monterey Express, Natural Foods Coop, New Frontiers, Nautical Bean,
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San Luis Obispo Housing Authority Office, SARP, The Secret Garden, SLO Perk Coffee,
Spirit Winds Therapy, The Studio Fitness for Women, Uptown Cafe, Yoga Centre, Ahshe
Hair Salon, Apropos Clothing, Soho Hair Salon, Tom-Mel Beauty Center, Hempshack,
YMCA, KCBX, Fairchild Salon, Jaffa Café, Med Stop (Madonna Plaza), World Rhythm and
Motion, Steynburg Gallery, Correa Chiropractic.
• SOUTH COUNTY: Arroyo Grande – Natural Balance, Mongo’s, Act II Boutique, Cen-
tral Coast Yoga, CJ’s Restaurant, Curves-AG, Cutting Edge, EOC Health Services Clinic,
Girls Restaurant, Grande Whole Foods, Kennedy Club Fitness, JJ’s Market, Chameleon,
Brave New Wares; Avila Beach– Custom House, Sycamore Hot Springs, Inn at Avila, Joe
Mamma’s; Grover Beach – World Gym, Back Door Deli, Cindi’s Wash House, Nan’s Pre-
owned Books, Therapeutic Body Center, 30-minute Fitness; Halcyon – Halcyon Store;
Nipomo – Anna’s Creekside Coffee House, Healing Touch Spa, Curves, La Placita Market,
Healthy Inspirations, World Gym, Trendy Sister Salon, Senior Centers; Pismo Beach – Hon-
eymoon Café, Pismo Athletic Club, Zadok’s; Shell Beach – De Palo & Sons Deli, Seaside
Cafe, Steaming Bean.
• SANTA MARIA: Café Monet, Hunter’s Landing, Library, Curves on Main and on Broad-
way, Lassen’s.
• ORCUTT: Loading Dock.
 March & April 2008 | www.womenspress-slo.org | Women’s Press LocalPerspectives 5

Nurturing Happiness Surprise Me!

By Jeanie Greensfelder
After I closed my psychology practice and
took up writing, I felt awkward when asked,
“What do you do?” In addition to needing a
reply, I wanted to feel productive at the end
of each day. I chose the job of being happy.
A recent study stated that each of us
have an inborn hap­piness set point, which
only effort can raise. My new profession
challenged my sometimes pessimistic atti-
tude.
One day I was irritated in a supermarket
line because there weren’t enough checkers,
and people with many items had crowded
into the less-than-ten line ahead of me. I
realized that while a justified criticism to
the hapless clerk may have brought momen-
tary satisfaction, I suspected it would leave
both of us unhappy. When I smiled instead
and acknowledged his tough day, his face
lit up and he said, “Thanks for noticing.” I
left feeling like a caring person instead of
Rambo.
While on the highway I monitored my
mood on the half hour, and when I caught
myself fading into aggravations rather than
engaging in a happy moment with the
blue sky or a passing tree, I played Louis
Cynic’sCorner
Armstrong’s “It’s a Wonderful World,” a
reminder of life’s daily joys.
One day a strong desire for a clean base-
ment collided with my wish to take a walk
and write. When I chose to walk, I berated
myself for not doing the basement. Then I
remembered my “job.” Viewing happiness
as my business made it acceptable to save
the cleaning for another day, when I could
plan ahead to play music and make that
chore a pleasant event.
When I noticed that my smile affected
others, I remembered the poem by Robert
Brown­ing called “Pippa Passes” about a lit-
tle girl on a walk unaware of how her songs
influenced the lives of people she passed,
and I appreciated the subtle ways we can
impact one another.
When I am sad, depressed, or not in
the mood for this work, I take a leave of
absence, accepting that I have other emo-
tional work to do.
But when I want to stretch my self-
imposed limits on pleasure, I enjoy the
work of being happy.
How would the job of
being happy work for you?
By Hilda Heifetz
For forty years now, I have had a best friend
who has lived here all this time, which
makes her close in both meanings. We
met in 1962, when I came up to San Luis
Obispo as a family move for my husband’s
new position in the music department at
Cal Poly. To augment our income, I took a
part-time position with the public school’s
adult education program. I was filling a
clerical need in their LVN (licensed voca-
tional nurse) course.
One woman in the group stood out as
an “original.” Liz was bright, eager, keep-
ing her fellow students awake and amused.
On this particular morning, the class was to
learn how to bathe a patient. But alas, the
dummy on which they were supposed to
practice failed to arrive. This woman (who cle (including my friend, herself, for having
became my long-time friend) offered her- planned the scenario!).
self as a substitute (believe me, she is no All these years, she continues to brighten
dummy!). As she stood behind the screen my life. She’s now a full-fledged R.N. who
to undress, she kept tossing her clothes, could be, as far as I am concerned, a spe-
one piece at a time, over the screen while cialist in cardiology, she’s so good for the
singing some improvised “bump-and-grind” heart.
tune. Then she emerged wrapped in a sheet, Liz’s innovations inspired by interrupted
ready for the scheduled bath procedure. Of plans is a reminder of the importance of
course, while it was all entertaining, she the “unexpected” in the development of
made a wonderful volunteer to help the the self and a life. Without unpredictable
class move on. happenings, I might have relied too much
I can’t resist telling about another one of on my set routines (RUTines?) to carry
her original, inspired solutions to life’s chal- me through my days. I might even have
lenges. It happened when she noticed a spe- become automatic and half-asleep!

The “Betrayal” of the Baby Boomers
By Jackie Turner
On January 1, 1946, the first ‘Baby Boomers’
were borne. This was one year before I was
born, and at that time, the rules of the (life)
game were very clearly defined. There was a
place for everything – and everything was
in its place:
• Fathers usually worked nine-to-five at
jobs they would have until they retired
at sixty-two with overtime pay, great
pensions, plus Social Security. They
were “the providers” and in exchange
for “providing,” fathers were ‘provided’
with pretty wives, clean homes, obedi-
ent children, and of course … meals.
• Moms usually stayed home to take
care of their husbands, their brood,
cial deal on a motorcycle that her husband
had been wanting. It was in the summer of
1970 that she ordered it for Christmas deliv-
ery as a wonderful surprise for him. Well,
the dealer got things a little mixed up and
it arrived at her home in August. A very
big package, impossible to hide, and she
meant it to be a Christmas gift! Creative
as she always is, she took out of storage her
entire, huge manger scene…the barn, fig-
ures of Joseph and Mary, the three Wise
Men, Baby Jesus, the crib, animals, straw, et
al. Everything was arranged in Christmas
fashion in front of her house, the motorcy-
cle in the midst. The whole lawn covered! It
was December in August. A stunning mira-
It is now 2008 and we know all too well
I find there is an awakening with the
arrival of the unexpected. It seems to con-
tain touches of chaos and shock. The ordi-
nary mechanical mode of behavior gives
way. The dormant potentials and capabili-
ties are activated and rise to the occasion. I
need to find ways to re-arrange my scenario
and setting to accommodate a new real-
ity and my imagination has a special part
to play. Life becomes immediate – touches
the senses, even has a flavor (bitter and/or
sweet)! Perhaps the greatest surprise to me
about surprises is how they expand my
development.
So I say, with some reservation and a
plea for kindness, “surprise me!”

their homes, and their social activities.
Moms were super busy making daily
breakfasts, bagged lunches, and of
course, sit-down-as-a-family dinners.
NURSING
that the rules of the (life) game are com-
pletely changed.
• Fathers and Mothers, whether mar-
ried or single, usually work outside

They were called ‘housewives’ and they
usually did their jobs with a great deal
of pride, and they stayed married for-
ever – for their kids, for their parents,
for their neighbors.
• Children’s jobs were to ‘be seen and not
heard’ and most kids were happy about
that. After all, their parents (and teach-
ers) were totalitarian monoliths that
deserved to be ridiculed and respected
at all times. Kids would be kids, and
that usually meant that they were run-
ning safely and freely with other Boom-
ers, bearing very few restrictions or
responsibilities … other than … go to
school, do homework, go out and play,
be home in time for dinner. And that
is all that was required of most early
Boomers!
• Teenagers graduated from high school
with a variety of respectable diplomas
that matched their skills; college usu-
ally meant going to a local university
where you lived at home, and provided
women with skills to become teach-
ers, nurses, or other women-type pro-
fessions; men could become whatever
they wanted, except joining women-
type professions.
HOME?
the home; breakfast is often a snack, a
‘power’ bar or skipped entirely; lunches
and dinners are on-the-go meals eaten
standing up or on a snack table in
front of the TV; kids sometimes parent
themselves – or they parent their sib- If you have loved ones in a nursing home or about
lings to help out their parents who are to enter a nursing home – do not “spend down”
single and working.
• Pensions: hah! Remember Enron?
their assets. Nearly ALL the assets of nursing
• Social Security: Who knows? Early home residents can be SAVED. Their care will
Boomers – yes, but later ones – who remain the same. Nursing home residents have
knows!
• Retire at sixty-two: After their last legal rights. Learn federal and state health
divorce, many people’s finances got insurance laws that work for the resident. Mention
weird and they now expect to work
indefinitely.
this ad for a FREE consultation.
• Feeling safe: 9/11; war in Iraq; a Bush
presidency; once mythical/now real
–tsunamis.
Law Offices of
Geraldine E. Champion
• Global warming; those who do not
believe in global warming; 2012 – the
end of the Mayan calendar (the end
of the world?); McCain as president? 805-473-4747
“No Child Left Behind”? Take off your
shoes before you enter a plane! Patriot
Call to hear about upcoming seminars!
Act! www.ca-elderlaw.com
Baby Boomers – Betrayed or Betraying?
How did this happen?
6 LocalPerspectives Wometn’s Press | March & April 2008 | womenspress.slo@gmail.com

What Is Success?

Photo by Iván Melenchón Serrano

by Melanie Reyes
Success is... living in a state of ultimate
balance; experiencing optimum wellness
and abundance in all areas of life; a quiet
confidence; a sense of inner peace, well
up! It is having a family who supports you
in good times and in bad, who treats you
with respect and kindness, who believes
in you, shares fun times with you, laughs
with you, and loves you. It is to have built
an extensive network of business and per-

being, and joy inside your heart that you
can access to calm and comfort yourself
when things are not going so well. It is a
feeling of contentment knowing that at this
moment you are doing exactly what you
were meant to do. It is experiencing “flow”
in your day-to-day life…where things move
along smoothly, timing is seemingly perfect,
and synchronicities are a daily occurrence.
Success is... waking up each morn-
ing excited about the day because you get
to spend it doing inspiring work that you
are passionate about work that makes your
heart sing, work that brings joy to your life
and makes a significant difference in the
lives of others. It is creating win/win situ-
ations whenever possible and treating peo-
ple with respect and honesty. It is having
the privilege of working with trustworthy,
creative, fun, smart, awesome people, who
share your vision and bring positive energy,
great ideas, honest feedback, and a sup-
portive attitude to the table. If they make
you look and feel like a genius, that is good,
too.
Success is... having a diverse group of
true friends who think you’re fabulous just
because you’re you...even when you screw
Education and Political Promises
By Rachel Newman
I am a student at Cal Poly. I came from a
public high school where class sizes were
controlled and there were enough teachers
to facilitate a large student base. I chose Cal
Poly on the basis that they had small class
sizes and were renowned for good teacher-
student relationships.
Recently, Governor Arnold Schwarzeneg-
ger announced that he anticipates cutting
2.3 billion dollars from the state’s education
budget, amending Proposition 98, which
guarantees primary and secondary schools
40-percent share of the growing state reve-
nue. This cutback could mean fewer books
and other materials, a fewer types of classes
offered, or, most probably, fewer teachers,
creating an increase in class sizes. Realisti-
cally, however, all of the above will occur.
As a student, I am fearful of how my
education will change. I don’t want to have
my classes dictated by a teacher’s assistant
in a 500-person lecture hall as they are at
UCs. Furthermore, as a voting citizen in
sonal contacts – a team of mentors, coaches,
teachers, friends, and colleagues that you
can call on to assist you in whatever ven-
tures you decide to pursue. It is a sense of
being connected – to your loved ones, to
your community, to the world around you.
Success is... being thankful for all
that you have, even if it is not much, for
all abundance begins with gratitude. It is
being grateful for the opportunity to create
a meaningful life. It is being a kind, com-
passionate, genuine person.
It is giving back to those who mentored,
guided, and encouraged you along your
path to achieving your goals. It is when a
young person asks you to be her mentor
and you take the time to help her achieve
her own version of success. It is being con-
fidently able to pay forward some of the les-
sons, advice, guidance, and wisdom that
were at one time given to you.
And finally, success is... finding happi-
ness within; realizing that the only constant
in life is change, and if you learn to roll
with it instead of resisting, you will find joy
in the journey no matter where your path
may lead you.
California, I am appalled that an elected
official whose platform stated he was com-
mitted to our youth’s future is endangering
their education.
Not only will great teachers without ten-
ure lose their jobs, but our children will be
losing an opportunity to learn from teach-
ers with enthusiasm in a class that is con-
ducive to learning instead of one that is
overfilled and underfunded.
The Stanford Daily reported that
Schwarzenegger denied a proposal that
would increase the amount of money it
costs to register your car. This would be
just a small amount of money to each indi-
vidual citizen. However, since it was struck
down two years ago, it has cost the state 8
billion dollars.
I can’t help but feel that paying a little
more to register my car is worth a few mil-
lion students getting a better education,
and allowing a few thousand more teachers
to do what we, in this state and country, so
terribly need them to do: educate.
Patently Female
By Marleen Walmsley
Throughout history, Ameri-
can women have invented
some pretty amazing things
you don’t read about. Their
accomplishments were often
without the advantage of a
university education and with-
out much pay. History books
credit most of these inventions
to men. This article explores
the genius and accomplish-
ments primarily of American
women.
Give Her Credit
The Patent Act of 1790 changed every-
thing for women who had been making
astounding inventions in weaponry, home,
and farm management while men were
given credit. In finance, engineering, sci-
ence, architecture and music, men ruled.
No females could join engineer societies
for the longest time. In the world of classi-
cal music and opera, there is hard evidence
that men took credit for a lot of music writ-
ten by women. That is true with fine art
as well. It was not considered feminine to
stand out.
Necessity as the Mother of Invention.
Starting with the Civil War period,
while their men were fighting, women
invented a great many things to ease their
jobs as homemakers. Over 140 food pro-
cessing and preparation devices, for exam-
ple, have been patented by women: the
mechanical mixer, apple peeler, the hand
crank ice cream freezer, stoves, tempera-
ture controlled mass-production ovens with
glass windows, kilns, steam cookers, and the
production of cotton sewing thread. Both
the bra and the jockstrap were invented
by the same woman (!) The powered dish-
washer, rotary clothes washer, the dispos-
able cell phone, the cordless phone, mobile
voting machine , the first computer pro-
gramming language (COBOL), the pulsar,
Mars Rover, space suit, immunosuppres-
sants to make life-saving transplants pos-
sible, major AIDS-fighting drugs like AZT
and protease inhibitors, and lest we forget!
sic science, stem cell research,
cloning, the mind-body connec-
tion, and cytology – the discov-
ery in the late 1950s of the double
helix structure of DNA, which set
science on its ear. It wasn’t really
Messrs. Crick, Watson, and Wilkins
that made the discovery (in Eng-
land), although they were given
credit and got the Nobel Prize in
1958 for it, but their female colleague
in the back of the lab, Rosalind
Franklin. She worked quietly without
saying much to call attention to herself.
Rosalind died months later, still in her 30s
of ovarian cancer, unrecognized. In their
Nobel lectures, Crick cited 98 references,
not one of them Franklin’s. Lab notes and
evidence revealed that it was her discov-
ery but the Nobel Prize cannot be awarded
posthumously. She died unrecognized.
For the longest time, women couldn’t
belong to the American Medical Associa-
tion or attend a medical school. Nor could
they be nurses until after 1900. Yet a variety
of medical devices were invented by women
in the 19th century: sterilization techniques
and devices, medical beds and chairs, field
ambulances, stretchers, splints, and an
improved speculum. The modern IV drip
came from the same woman that helped
develop resuscitation techniques for victims
of electric shock and cryogenic therapy to
destroy cancer cells.
Women during WWII. Our moms were
really tough.
To support their families during WWII,
better than 300,000 American women
worked for the Army and in the Navy ship-
yards and in factories. Did you know? In
1941, movie star Hedy Lamarr patented a
device to intercept and scramble radio fre-
quencies to develop an unbreakable code
for top-secret messages. It helped shape
the course of WWII. Women had to work.
Their men were away at war. At that time
there was no welfare or food stamps nor
subsidy of any kind. Their pay (no paid
overtime) covered rent, clothes, food, med-
icine, insurance, and transportation, and
they were caring full time for their children

Ambition the TV dinner, Jell-O, tract housing, the

(A Rhyme Royale)
– and Barbie (the Barbie Doll inventor also
by Jean Gerard
If you would know the end from the beginning
Look to the shadowed motives at the source.
What worthy gain was murdered in the winning?
What wealth was lost as avarice ran its course
And moved inexorably from bad to worse?
As good intentions pave the road to hell,
So does the silent feline sound a bell,
And ill-gained honors show on smiling faces
The grin of conquest and the smirk of fear
As one gets caught in unaccustomed places
With stolen goods or undeserved career.
What matter if approached from front or rear?
(the Brooklyn Bridge), and a machine for
The signs of perfidy are all the same
Repeated clearly in a tiresome game
Of cops and robbers. Who best knows the thief
But one whose stealthy wiles have crowned him chief?
vacuum canning process, the windshield
wiper, ScotchGuard, Liquid Paper, LactAid
invented the step-lever trash can). Then
there’s the McCormick reaper, Eli Whit-
ney’s cotton gin (it wasn’t Eli’s invention),
the Davenport electric motor, the Jacquard
loom, the Burden horse shoe machine, and
Elias Howe’s sewing machine.
Women also came up with: the sub-
marine telescope, screw propeller, flare
guns and safety flares for ships, an appara-
tus for raising sunken vessels, a dredging
pump, an improved siphon pump design,
and pistons in steam engines. In 1903, Sci-
entific American lauded one “professional
woman inventor” for her work on warships
and locomotive wheels, but she was also
joint holder of a patent for a bridge design
punching corrugated metal sheets.
Getting Down to the DNA
Now this category is my personal favor-
ite, probably because it was pivotal to so
many history altering uses such as in foren-
and elders. Women weren’t allowed to join
a union so they had no right of grievance. If
they complained, they were fired. Women
typically got $23 a week at Navy shipyards
while men often got $22 a day.
March is Women’s History Month
It’s a good time to look at our past with
reflection and pride. This has been a litany
of accomplishments by women against all
odds, and in spite of! They did what they
had to do, took the back seat because that’s
the way it was, and took care of their own.
They also changed history. It calls to mind
the movie It’s A Wonderful Life in which a
small-town average person got to see what
life would have been like had he not been
born. Women contribute anywhere they
are needed and have throughout all of his-
tory in their quiet way. Let’s salute these
women inventors and take our inspiration
from them.
Marleen Walmsley is a naturopathic edu-
cator, lecturer, host-producer and author of a
global naturopathic e-newsletter. www.clar-
ityandhealth.com
March & April 2008 | www.womenspress-slo.org | Women’s Press Voices 7

Voices Around the Table: Which female figure in your family do you admire and why?
Barbara Atkinson for you.” “But you’re vincible, too, Valerie,” how I love my children, and that’s how they She went on to Cuesta College with her
I watch my daughter listen. She holds I said. “No, not yet,” she said. love theirs.  That’s the gift my children, my child in day care and worked part time!.
me in high esteem, but she has something And she’s right. Her spirit is not vin- grandchildren, and I are so grateful for from She was one of seven, out of 300-plus stu-
I admire: a natural gift for the art of listen- cible. Valerie lives in the moment, feels my mother. dents, to graduate with a 4.0 G.P.A. She has
ing – a gift I am growing into by observing what she feels, yet seeks solutions to regain worked forty hours a week for over a decade
her. I notice this skill not only with myself, her usual enthusiasm. She’s preparing for a Tammie J. Burnsed and is raising her son as a single mother and
but with others as she allows herself to be 4-hour surgery with a good prognosis. My late maternal grandmother, AnnaLee a great parent. She is my hero. I am amazed
their witness. Her spiritual perspective on I love the lessons I learn from her and Roberson, or Gigi as we grandkids called with her tenacity, strength, and personal
life began in her mid 20’s– well before the delight in conversations filled with her her, married at sixteen and never finished accountability. She is my daughter.
mid-life phase when many begin that jour- lively, fresh, honest points of view. high school. Maybe that’s why she had so
ney. I observe her listening heart, open much hope that her daughters would pur- Kathleen Deragon
and love-filled, as it works to maintain her Sonia Paz Baron-Vine sue their education. When they didn’t, her I never met her, but the spirit of my
boundaries and find balance between the A woman I admire is my mom, Sonia hopes turned to me, the eldest granddaugh- mother’s mother Helen, fondly called Nel-
hustle-bustle of work and her need for fun Laurencia Orellana Espejo. ter. I started college at twenty-five, attend- lie, lives on in my mother and the other
and reflective time. I admire her commit- She was an only child, timid and shy. ing classes part-time was the best I could do women in our family. She drowned when
ment to conscious growth, even when it’s She married young at 18 and by 22 had two as a single mother. Three years into my aca- my mother was only nine, in a cold lake
difficult and outside the mainstream, even babies. my brother and myself. She was a demic journey, I complained to her, “Gigi, swimming with friends on a day off. She
as she struggles to find like-minded peo- good mom, and did not work outside the at this rate I’ll be forty by the time I have was strong and found joy in the midst
ple here in her age home. She  told us my degree!” She answered, “Well, someday of hardship and hard work. During the
range. I admire awesome short sto- you’re going to be forty anyway—don’t ya Depression, she worked two jobs to sup-
her frivolity ries that she created. think you might as well get that bachelor’s port her family, at a blanket factory during
and won- In 1973 there was degree while you’re at it?” the day and cleaning state office buildings
der, her job a military coup in my At forty-seven, I very recently earned an at night. Her wages supported a daughter
as a natu- country (Chile.) and MFA degree. I have Gigi to thank for instill- and a son, her mother and a brother. Her
ralist, her Mom turned into a ing in me the idea that it’s never to late to husband was an alcoholic and neither lived
caring and fierce human rights reach a goal. Her hope has kept mine alive. with them nor contributed any money.
loyalty to all defender. She joined Most of the photos we have of her are in
whom she loves and the Red Cross and went Roberta Youtan Kay her swimming suit and smiling in the midst
befriends, and most to the National Stadium I have an incredible sister-in-law. of friends.
importantly, I am inspired where the political prison- She is the second wife of my husband’s
by that gift of listening she ers were held. She sat in a lit- brother. Both she and I married the broth- Kathy Bond
innately bestows on you when tle chair with a tiny desk and ers 20 years ago Widowed in her
you have something to say. We all need the interviewed the WOMEN political prison- and, since that late 20’s, with three
gift of being heard, to have our lives wit- ers. She made sure their rights were being time, we have young children,
nessed – without that the Suffragette and given, took note of rape complaints, took grown as close as my Aunt Nell
Feminist movements would not have hap- phone numbers, and called the families to real sisters. worked hard
pened. comfort them. Jill has been to support and
She took letters and care packages to there for me like raise them,
Jeanie Greensfelder the political prisoners and worked to free no other relative. before unem-
I admire my daughter! Valerie enjoys life many. I saw my mom go from home- How wonderful ployment insur-
while she solves problems. She runs a the- maker to activist in three days. I admire to inherit a family ance, or the “dole.”
ater at SIU University and tells her staff, her for her feminism, for her hard work on member like that! She owned a small busi-
“We don’t make much money so we need behalf of many women who later “disap- Our closeness solidi- ness, selling cigarettes and
to have fun.” Last summer she coordinated peared”  under the  Pinochet Fascist dicta- fied several years ago with newspapers. She sold it at age
and emceed a 20-year reunion of theater torship. I admire the work she did: I know the long illness and eventual 69 and began to travel around
staff and students creating fun for all. she saved many lives. death of my mother. Jill had the world.
A month ago she met with the Secret   gone through a similar experience with her She rode a runaway camel in Egypt and
Service late at night when they chose her Lynne Levine mom and she was always available to me for fell off a gondola in Venice. She wowed a
theater for a Bill Clinton campaign speech. The woman in my family who I most counsel and comfort during that time. cocktail party we took her to in Pennsyl-
The next day while she gathered Social admire is my mother.  She lived a very short She is wise and brilliant. She always has vania because she’d gone to Russia the year
Security numbers to clear workers, she life, dying when she was 48 years old.  But in the kind of response to what life brings us before and described her impressions. We
learned she had skin cancer on her hand. those years I learned honesty, compassion, that is perceptive and thoughtful. I cherish met her at the docks once in New York as
I worried while she met with fire depart- and to love all from her.  She had a dimple her friendship and as she prepares to move she disembarked from the Queen Mary.
ments and police to prepare for the event. in each cheek and when she laughed, which to a community far away from here in a few I found her courage inspiring, her
Two months earlier she had come to she did a lot and we did together, her face months, I anticipate missing her terribly. At down-to-earth approach to life helpful, and
visit and said to me and my husband, “You lit up and we had fun.  The most wonderful least we will have the phone! her joy contagious. My cousin and I once
used to be invincible, but now you’re vin- thing I learned from her was how to love compared notes on our mutual relative. She
cible and I want to know how to be there — she loved me unconditionally and that’s Jane Elsdon preferred her own more traditional grand-
A scrappy woman, “little” only because mother; I liked and admired my globe-trot-
of her 5’3” frame, my mother was a for- ting, feisty aunt.
midable woman I’ve only had the wis-
dom to truly appreciate in my later years.  Jackie Turner
Orphaned as a baby, nudged from her fos- The women in my family are very inspi-
ter nest to fend for herself at 16, and left a rational. No, they do not advocate much
1101 Laurel Lane - San Luis Obispo
widow at 40 to raise two daughters by her- for causes like world peace or curing the
541-1464 self because of her husband’s  suicide,  she common cold, but they inspire me to sleep
“We hold the keys to your car’s health”
didn’t trust the world, the weather, or life, late in the mornings, stay up late at night
and she didn’t suffer fools gladly. to watch after-hours TV, shop-till-I-drop in
Top 8 reasons to bring your car to What she did do was work her way discount and bargain stores, and hondel (or
Continental Motor Works through business college at 16, and later negotiate) each and every purchase I ever
labored for the same company for twenty- make. Never again pay retail … that’s the
1) We service and repair American & Import vehicles
five years in order to care for us.   No mat- family mantra! Other things that my fam-
2) We can service your new car; you don’t have to ter how she felt, she put one foot in front of ily has inspired me to do are to be on top of
go to the dealer the other and did whatever it took to per- what ‘they’ (the big THEY) are wearing, or
3) Ethical & excellent auto service and repairs severe.  In her fifties, she learned to drive, doing, or driving or being. So, the women
a gutsy thing to do for her time.  From in my family are usually aware of which
4) We will give you rides to & from the perspective of maturity, I marvel at my celebrity is wearing which designer’s cloth-
5) Check engine lights, smog checks, air conditioning, mother’s dedication, determination, and ing to an award show or Hollywood party.
No Problem! love. These inspirational ladies are usually very
6) AAA Approved & Satisfaction Guaranteed!!! MaryAine Cherry well dressed … they match their shoes with
I have the greatest respect for a young their purses with their belts every time they
7) 27 years in business, caring & friendly woman that became pregnant when she was leave the house. As for work! Most of the
neighborhood service only 15. I admire her for how she proceeded women have not been inspired to do that --
8) We even wash your car!!! with her life. She kept her child. She stayed men work and bring home the paycheck!
in high school and graduated with a 4.0 I guess I need to express my gratitude
E-mail your car questions to G.P.A.. She made the extra time to speak to all the women in my family who have
continentalmotorworks@gmail.com. at local high schools about being a teenage inspired me to pack up, eight years ago, and
Tune in to the Motormouths every Saturday morning mother, and the real responsibilities that move to California to get away from it all!
became her every day reality in the hope And for that ... I say thank you!
from 8-9 am on KVEC 920 AM.
that young girls would listen.
8 Women’sStories
UnsungHeroine
Linnaea Phillips: Spinning a
Stronger Community Web
By Berta Parrish
A Native American legend tells of Grand-
mother Spider stealing a wondrous prize
after the belligerent Opossum, the proud
Buzzard, and the clever Crow fail. She spins
a web all the way to the tribe in the East
and carries off a piece of fire on her back
in a tiny lidded clay container. Since the
animals and birds are afraid of the burn-
ing ember, the Humans ask for it. Grand-
mother Spider not only gives them the fire,
but teaches them how to keep it safe by cir-
cling stones, how to make pottery, and how
to weave. The fire keeps the people warm
and it also inflames their imagination with
new possibilities. Diminutive, resourceful,
creative, humble, adventurous, and above
all, caring, Grandmother Spider is honored
for her feat and for her sharing.
For almost four decades, beginning with
planning events at Mission Plaza, to recom-
mending reference books at Cuesta College,
to owning a successful café, Linnaea Phillips
has been subtly, but surely, connecting peo-
ple and firing imaginations with new ideas.
What began in 1983 as an experiment with
an evening coffee house in the Norwood
Bookstore evolved into Linnaea’s Café, a
vibrant downtown meeting place for an
eclectic clientele offering concerts, poetry
readings, film screenings, art shows along
with coffee, pastries, and food. “It had to be
more than a café,” she recalls. “I wanted to
bring people together, to cross social, eco-
nomic, political, and religious boundaries.”
This she definitely did, sometimes causing
controversy, but always introducing people
to different ways of perceiving and relating.
Linnaea sold the café a year ago to retire
“to a new place” as she calls it. “At 75, I’m
more interested in who I am. I’m going to
yoga. I’m trying to stretch and reach the
sky that way!” She’s also stretching her tal-
ents by writing, drawing, painting, and, of
course, gardening, one of her first loves.
Although currently not so interested in
joining groups, the web building instinct is
strong enough to spin three new threads. As
a Hospice Volunteer, she reflects, “I wanted
to know about my own death. And, I’m
beginning to see it.” (The picture is of her
with the beautifully designed urn she com-
missioned for her own ashes.) The second
thread reaches around the world support-
ing the Ten Thousand Villages movement,
which provides vital and fair income to
people in thirty developing countries by
selling their fair-traded handicrafts as well
as telling their poignant stories.
If you want to join Linnaea’s third
thread, “Tea and Talk on Tuesdays at
Twelve,” come to the Steynberg Gallery
on Monterey Street. Here newcomers and
old-timers share intriguing inventions,
exotic endeavors, heartfelt causes, interest-
ing books, and exciting innovations. And,
of course, you’ll see San Luis Obispo’s
Grandmother Spider still spinning a more
inclusive, compassionate, and stronger
community web.
Wometn’s Press | March & April 2008 | womenspress.slo@gmail.com
Nancy Koren
Creating Keeps Her Breathing
By Kathleen Deragon
Nancy Koren has tapped into her personal
creativity ever since she can remember. She
has come to realize that she can only tap
into it a little, because of the realities of life.
Nancy is a musician, composer, teacher,
photographer, painter, fiber artist, all in one
person. Her older sister, Alma, began piano
lessons at seven, with four-year-old Nancy
imitating everything and insisting upon
having lessons, too. Fortunately her family
lived next door to a retired teacher from the
Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. Thanks
to one of her most influential teachers, she
attended many symphony concerts as well
as seeing live performances of the Metro-
politan Opera Company. She believes that
a nurturing environment is more important
than so called “talent”. This she was fortu-
nate to have.
Immediately after high school, Nancy
was awarded a full tuition scholarship as
a painting major to attend the Cincinnati
Art Academy, with her scholarship standing
continuing for the next four years, includ-
ing summers. Art classes ran seven hours
every day. Imagine that! After graduation,
she attended the Cincinnati Conservatory
of Music. By that time, she was also teach-
ing traditional-style piano and accordion
lessons. She began teaching art at age eigh-
teen at the Cincinnati Museum of Art’s
Saturday “Museum Classes. In her mid-
twenties, she became very involved with
civil rights and marched with Dr. Martin
Luther King. She moved to the Deep South
to attend the all black “Texas College,” inte-
grating the school as the first white student.
After two years living in Texas doing
civil rights work, she began teaching draw-
ing and painting at the college level in
Northern Ohio. Near that college is the
famous Oberlin Conservatory of Music,
where she heard Dr. Suzuki present his
very young Japanese violin students. She
could not believe the quality and advanced
playing at such young ages. This experi-
ence eventually led her to become a Suzuki
trained piano teacher. Her two grown sons
began Suzuki violin lessons in the Bay Area
as young three-year-olds. When she moved
to Atascadero twenty-one years ago, she
founded a very successful Suzuki Piano and
Recorder School. Besides teaching music,
she composed a CD “Call of the Morros,”
inspired by and honoring our local Mor-
ros, and the “Down Home Blues Ranch”,
which was inspired by a ranch destroyed
when the State Water Project came through
our county. A taste of these thirty compo-
sitions can be listened to on her website
www.nancykoren.com. Just last summer
Nancy and one of her former students,
Dori Stone, composed and also released a
CD called “Turning of the Tide.”
Photography came into Nancy’s life dur-
ing her college teaching days and intensified
when she met and married photographer/
physicist/teacher Norman Koren www.
normankoren.com. Norman taught her
traditional darkroom skills and years later
inspired her to become a digital photogra-
pher. After living on the East Coast for five
years, they moved to Silicon Valley (Cali-
fornia) where they had two sons, Nathan
and Henry, who are both living inspiring
lives today. Nathan is currently a student at
Oxford University, UK, and Henry is a stu-
dent at UCSD.
Although developing her various artis-
tic skills are solitary by nature, she really
shifts to her social side during recitals of her
music, or at exhibitions/receptions of her
paintings, photographs, and wild crocheting
(see photo of one of her recent garments)
as well as her student recitals/concerts. You
guessed it: she didn’t put herself up on a
shelf while raising her sons. While they
were young, she’d paint in the middle of
the night and worked on fiber arts during
the day, etc. This award-winning artist, who
has been developing for so many years, just
shows up and does it.
For the last ten years, Nancy has been
married to Atascadero psychiatrist, Jack
Barsman.
For those interested in developing their
own creative voice, Nancy recommends
getting rid of time wasters, like TV, and
trying classes/workshops/group and/or pri-
vate lessons. It is harder to begin later in
life, but one is never too old to learn and
it is ever so important that we bring beauty
into a world that needs beauty. Do creative
activities in whatever form it takes, how-
ever and whenever you can. Besides viewing
her website www.nancykoren,com, you can
reach Nancy at nancykoren@charter.net.
March & April 2008 | www.womenspress-slo.org | Women’s Press Women’sStories 9

I’m Breathing, I’m Breathing

By Jill Turnbow

I have learned a few things about myself

over the years. As an example, just because
I know the facts, doesn’t mean I’m going to
change my opinion. I know corn is not a
healthy vegetable, and yet I still want chips
and salsa on the table at every meal. (just
a tip, don’t order them in an Italian restau-
rant, they tend to get uppity.) So when it
comes to spiritual enlightenment, I believe
that most of it is based on fact and yet
some of it is just not for me. And I’m really
speaking of only one aspect of enlighten-
ment….meditation. Now, I understand
the benefits of meditation. It’s good for
the heart, good for the head, good for your
well-being…but not good for me it turns
out. I tried. I failed.
First of all, I’m a “doer.” I like to keep
moving. I have things to do, places to go. I
don’t want to stop and breathe. I’m pretty
sure I’m already breathing. If I wasn’t, I
wouldn’t be able to type this little story. I
would be unconscious. And it’s not that I
don’t have to time to stop and breathe, I
do. I just don’t want to. Listen, I live alone.
I get more than enough “ME” time. And
frankly I don’t find myself nearly as enter-
taining as other people do, so I prefer to
spend time with them. I like people. I like
TALKING to people.
Someone highly adept at meditation
told me, “but you must listen to your inner
voice.” As of now I have about SIX inner
voices talking to me all day. Believe me, I
hear them. They are very chatty. And I don’t
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always care for what they have to say. So by
insisting that I meditate, you are forcing
me to spend time with the people that like
me the least. I don’t find that relaxing.
I tried a group meditation once. A half
hour of deep, reflective silence. My head
almost imploded. By the time the half hour
was up, two of my voices had gotten into
a fight, one was crying, one was having an
anxiety attack, and the other two had quit
talking to me altogether.
In brief reflection, I have come to under-
stand that my life is just not all that stress-
ful. I’m not looking to “get away” from
anything. I’m trying to get “IN” to some-
thing. So I’ll continue on with my spiritual
journey, and hopefully there will be people
around me as I go, talking with me as we
breathe.
Today’s Grandparents Preserve Yesterday’s
Ties… a New Book Tells Us How
by Susan Stewart
The American nuclear family, as defined by
the iconic Leave It To Beaver and other tele-
vision sitcoms during the 1950s and ‘60s
is—more than half a century later—the
exception rather than the rule. High rates
of divorce, the emergence of “blended”
families, single and same gender parenting,
and a much more mobile society have all
contributed to a dramatic redefinition of
family. And the “extended” family as we
once knew it—those eccentric aunts, feisty
uncles, quirky cousins, and beloved grand-
parents who used to live nearby—has all
but disappeared. Today’s grandparents are
traversing entirely new territory, both liter-
ally and figuratively. And the distances can
be daunting.
Long-Distance Grandparenting, Con- Wilma Gore, Author of “Long-Distance Grandparenting”
necting with Your Grandchildren from Afar
offers a sturdy bridge for the many mod-
ern grandparents left wondering how they The author also addresses the less tan-
will adjust to this ever-shifting landscape. gible aspects of long-distance grandparent-
Award-winning author and grandmother ing, such as understanding that perfection
for some twenty-five years, Willma Willis is an impractical goal, that change is the
Gore has written a book that is entertain- only constant, and that knowing when to
ing, informative, practical, and poignant. say “no” is crucial to preserving honest, lov-
“All grandparenting experiences are not ing relationships
created equal,” writes Gore in the intro- Clashing grandparents, truculent teens,
duction. “Grandparents sometimes become confusing messages, and sibling rivalry are
rivals. Money can be scarce; time and all discussed, with practical, inventive, and
transportation can be problems. Schedules thorough advice for each. Never preachy
conflict.” So Gore interviewed dozens of and far from sappy, Long-Distance Grand-
grandparents, their children and grandchil- parenting is written with brevity, humor,
dren and infused every chapter with their and heart. Its inclusive approach does not
stories, often quoting them directly. How judge or even opine; rather it illustrates
does one, for example, deal with the con- the many faces of grandparents today and
cept of “rules” when parents and grandpar- addresses the change with stoic optimism.
ents differ? What about the murky waters of Long-Distance Grandparenting gives
giving advice? What happens when grand- readers the feeling that anyone can find
children move overseas? creative ways to establish and sustain a lov-
The practical importance of thank-yous, ing connection with their grandchildren—
the reinvention of letter-writing, and the preserving and protecting one precious and
magic of the Internet are explored. And a irreplaceable relationship in the ever-chang-
special chapter just for men offers often- ing face of the American family.
neglected grandfathers unique methods To order your copy, visit
for cultivating special ties beyond the usual www.amazon.com or contact Quill Driver
Books / Word Dancer Press, Inc. at
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10 Body&Soul
Being in the Now
By Laura Hyde
Thich Nhat Hanh once wrote, “Life can be
found only in the present moment. The past
is gone, the future is not yet here, and if we
do not go back to ourselves in the present
moment, we cannot be in touch with life.”
How often we discover that we are not in
the moment! Our minds, which the Bud-
dhists refer to as our “monkey minds,” are
so busy swinging from thought to thought,
it’s no wonder we forget to breathe, relax
and be fully present. As women, we tend to
focus much of our attention on taking care
of others, forgetting that we can only truly
be of help to others to the extent we take
care of ourselves first.
Being at peace happens in the now.
Healing takes place in the now. Connect-
ing with our deepest self occurs in the now.
Awakening happens in the now.
Take a moment to notice where your
attention is at this moment. You may be
reading these words yet also aware of your
environment. You might also be aware of
some mental chattering taking place. See if
you can be in touch with your inner self at
the same time. Maintain a portion of your
focus within. Don’t let it all flow out. Like
a mighty tree, stay as deeply rooted within
as much as possible. You can practice this
wherever you are: standing in line, in a traf-
fic delay, or waiting for an appointment. In
fact, waiting can become quite enjoyable
when practicing this technique.
I have also found this practice to be
helpful when listening to my family and
friends. It allows me to be fully present and
listen, yet not “give away” all of my energy.
It’s a wonderful way to maintain a healthy
energetic boundary. Investing our attention
into the past or onto the future drains our
energy, and eventually, we become energet-
ically “bankrupt.” Our subtle energy body
loses life force, or prana, and our emotional
and physical bodies suffer as a result.
Understand with the Heart Not Mind
By Barbara Atkinson
Recently someone tried to get me to
explain why I was feeling a certain way. He
did this by continuing to ask me questions,
one after another, in order “to understand.”
It went on for far too long and got him
nowhere in the end. After reflecting, I sent
the following e-mail:
Your quest “to understand” reminds me
of my own desires to do so. In those situa-
tions I have to remind myself of something
I have learned: that we are meant to relate
to one another with an understanding that
comes through the heart rather than trying
to understand with the ego/intellect.  that is where real understanding is.
The intellect thinks that if it just keeps
questioning and prodding, the ultimate
truth of any situation or thing will be
revealed. But it isn’t. Rather it leads to
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As we move closer to spring, take time
to reinvest your energy in a direction that
helps you heal and awaken. This might
include releasing past resentments, setting
healthy boundaries, engaging in some form
of physical body work: yoga, tai chi, clear-
ing out your closets, taking a class, and tak-
ing time to have some good, clean, fun.
Henry Miller reminds us: “The moment
one gives close attention to any thing, even
a blade of grass it becomes a mysterious,
awesome, indescribably magnificent world
in itself.” Let us remember that the most
heartfelt gift we can give ourselves and oth-
ers is to be fully present. When we are fully
present, we can more easily grow into hap-
pier, more balanced and peaceful women
and awaken to our own inner light..
Laura V. Hyde is the Spiritual Leader
of the Circle of Spiritual Enlight-
enment in San Luis Obispo, CA:
www.spiritualcircle.org. Laura is also
the author of the books Gifts of the Soul
and The Intimate Soul. Visit Laura at:
www.laurahyde.com or call: (805) 748-7506
more questions, sometimes with frustration,
anger, and disappointment. 
When we understand with the heart,
compassion arises: we bring love into the
equation. I’m not suggesting we not hold
others responsible for their actions (or
ourselves); we are all responsible for our
actions and must be held accountable. Yet,
because actions can often be distorted by
unresolved emotions and habits projected
outward, nothing is taken personally when
we understand with the heart.  Rather than
reacting to those distortions, we act with
compassion – we separate the actor from
the actions.  That is where the Truth lies;
Barbara Atkinson will be presenting a work-
shop entitled “The Highly Sensitive, Empathic
Nature and Spiritual Awakening at our May
workshop.
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Wometn’s Press | March & April 2008 | womenspress.slo@gmail.com
Symptoms of Ovarian Cancer
By Nancy Mellen
Ovarian cancer is often called “the silent
killer.” Many of the symptoms of ovarian
cancer are similar to those of other diseases.
Women often spend months, if not years,
going from doctor to doctor trying to get
the correct diagnosis. By the time it is cor-
rectly identified as ovarian cancer, it may
have already advanced to Stage III or IV.
I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in
July 2007. I am hoping to help others iden-
tify possible ovarian cancer symptoms by
sharing my own experience.
To give you an idea of how fast grow-
ing this cancer is, I had my annual pelvic
exam in August 2006 and everything was
fine. Eleven months later, it was discovered
that I had a 7 cm cancerous mass attached
to one of my ovaries.
In January 2007, I began having severe
constipation that went on for months. This
is a symptom that can be embarrassing to
talk about, let alone see a doctor about. I
was tested for food allergies, but all tests
were negative.
I was also getting up several times a
night to urinate. I thought this was simply
a function of getting older or being pre-
menopausal.
Fatigue was another symptom, and
looking back , I believe this actually started
several years ago.
In June 2007, I noticed that my lower
abdomen and pelvic area felt hard to the
touch. I had a “pulling” sensation along the
right side of my abdomen. I thought I had
SpiritualityMatters
Is It Real?
By Heather Mendel
My five year-old grandson has a con-
stant question as he views his world: “Is it
real?” How often do we ask ourselves the
same question? Should we be asking it more
often? I understand what he means. Today
our children are exposed to the world of
digital fantasy. Everything is visible in mov-
ing form and his constant question is a
search for reassurance that these dancing
animals, cute as can be and moving to the
music in a very “human” way are created by
human beings. His search for reassurance
becomes more serious when watching the
tornado in Wizard of Oz or when encoun-
tering the villains in any story he watches.
“Is it real?” An easy question to answer—
or so it seems. Obviously all animated mov-
ies are not “real.” Neither are the stories of
the fairy tales we hear— or are they? From
her book, The Dreamer Awakes, Alice Kane
suggests:
The dreamer awakes,
The shadow goes by
When I tell you a tale,
The tale is a lie.
But ponder it well,
Fair maiden, good youth:
The tale is a lie,
What it tells is the truth.
For adults too, reality is not simple to
define. Quantum physics describes a world
in which apparently solid objects are in fact
composed of molecules in constant motion.
Our presence as observers can be shown to
alter the outcome of events. Tiny fragments
of holographic film contain the entire
image of everything visible in the original
whole. Fractal designs confound us as they
repeat themselves into infinity in objects
as common to us as snowflakes or leaves.
We are probably familiar with those intri-
cate and colorful designs— apparently two
pulled an abdominal muscle at the gym.
Later I found out that this was a symptom
of ascites, which is a fluid buildup in the
abdominal cavity.
In the beginning of July, my abdomen
began to bloat. I was unable to eat much
because I had a full feeling all the time. I
would eat one bite of food and feel like I
had eaten a ten course meal.
In mid-July, I became very ill and
wound up in the hospital. An ultrasound
and CAT scan confirmed that there was a
large pelvic mass and that my ovaries were
roughly the size of a softball. Further tests
confirmed the diagnosis of ovarian cancer.
The symptoms I had, as well as many
other symptoms of ovarian cancer, can be
attributed to so many other things. A few
of them are IBS (irritable bowel syndrome),
Crohn’s disease, food allergies, and meno-
pause, just to name a few.
Many women who have these symp-
toms do not realize that they should be
going immediately to their gynecologist for
a pelvic exam and other tests. Too much
time is wasted by going to gastro-intestinal
and other types of doctors first.
To summarize, if you have any of the
symptoms I mentioned, (bear in mind
there are many other symptoms that I did
not experience), please be sure to go to your
gynecologist first to rule out gynecologi-
cal cancers. If those tests are negative, then
move on to other specialists.
Ovarian cancer does not have to be a
silent killer anymore if we know aboutthe
symptoms.
dimensional— until we hold them close to
our eyes and start to move our heads slowly
backwards and suddenly discover a three
dimensional object hidden in plain sight.
Fiction writers tell us that there are only
some two dozen plots on which all stories
are adaptations, most of them based on the
mythic hero’s journey. Mythologists show
how archetypal themes and characters are
alive within us and on whose stage we cre-
ate our individual life dramas. Jean Hous-
ton’s definition of myth as something that
never was and always is seems to me pro-
found.
As children lead the way, it may serve
us well to constantly ask ourselves the same
question my grandson does: “Is it real?”
The world we have created and believe to be
true— a world of Bible as literal, the inevi-
table separations of individuals and nations
as “better than” or “less than” based on race,
religion, nationality or creed— is it real?
Ponder and decide.
Heather Mendel has focalized wom-
en’s spirituality groups for the past 15 years.
She can be contacted through her website at
www.wordartist.com, and also e-mailed
at heathermendel@charter.net or called at
544-4933.
March & April 2008 | www.womenspress-slo.org | Women’s Press
What Is Normal Eating?
From the book How to Get Your Kid to Eat... But Not Too Much
By Ellyn Satter, R.D., A.C.S.W.
Normal eating is being able to eat when
you are hungry and continue eating until
you are satisfied. It is being able to choose
food you like and eat it and truly get
enough of it-not just stop eating because
you think you should. Normal eating is
being able to use some moderate constraint
in your food selection to get the right food,
but not being so restrictive that you miss
out on pleasurable foods. Normal eating is
giving yourself permission to eat sometimes
because you are happy, sad or bored, or just
because it feels good. Normal eating is three
meals a day, most of the time, but it can
also be choosing to munch along. It is leav-
Some Other Thoughts About Eating
By Kathleen Deragon
Recently I picked up Michael Pollan’s latest
book In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Mani-
festo. In skimming it, I found incredible
wisdom and simplicity about how we can
look at how and what we eat.
• Eat food. Not too much. Mostly
plants.
• Don’t eat anything your great grand-
mother would not recognize as food
(like processed and packaged foods).
• Don’t eat anything incapable of rotting.
(It has too many preservatives.)
• Try to shake the hand that feeds you.
(Buy local.)
• Avoid food with ingredients you can’t
pronounce, food with more than five
ingredients or ingredients with which
you are unfamiliar, or foods that
include high fructose corn syrup.
Some Wisdom from the Workshop
“When Chocolate Is Not Enough”
Susan Swadener and Bonita Zisla offered
some simple wisdom about eating and our
relationship to food and our bodies in our
January workshop. I got their permission to
share some of it with you.
Ten Top Reasons to Give Up Dieting
#1 Diets don’t work.
#2 Diets are expensive
#3 Diets are boring.
#4 Diets don’t necessarily improve
your health.
#5 Diets don’t make you beautiful
#6 Diets are not sexy.
#7 Diets can turn into eating disorders.
#8 Diets can make you afraid of food
#9 Diets can rob you of energy
#10 Learning to love and accept your-
self just as you are will give you
self-confidence, better health, and
a sense of will-being that will last a
lifetime.
Body&Soul 11
ing some cookies on the plate because you
know you can have some again tomorrow,
or it is eating more now because they taste
so wonderful when they are fresh. Normal
eating is overeating at times: feeling stuffed
and uncomfortable. It is also undereating at
times and wishing you had more. Normal
eating is trusting your body to make up
for your mistakes in eating. Normal eating
takes up some of your time and attention,
but keeps its place as only one important
area of your life.
In short, normal eating is flexible. It
varies in response to your emotions, your
schedule, your hunger, and your proximity
to food.
Pollan has a simple food pyramid: food Looking for...
and processed food. He cuts out all pro-
cessed foods. If you stress quality in your
food, he says, you don’t need as much
quantity to be satisfied. Good flavor goes a
A BETTER
long way to satisfy.
Another topic he addresses is what has CARE
PROVIDER
been called “nutritionism,” the assumption
that nutrients matter more than foods. It’s
reducing a muffin to how many grams of
fiber, how much cholesterol, etc. Not only
does this approach lead us to think about Connecting you to SLO County’s
food as medicine rather than as pleasure most gifted caregivers.
and culture, it also requires us to consult
with “experts” on how to eat. “Nutrition- CALL US FOR A FREE ASSESSMENT
805-528-7778
ism mystifies food; it makes it scary and
intimidating and confusing…Well, you
can eat very well without understanding
how nutrients work, just like you can have Caregiver Registry
a baby without needing to know everything
about the process.”
I think this book is worth a read.





Some suggestions on how to adopt life- 
giving eating habits: 
Eat only until you are full. Which
means you may have to not read a book 
or be watching TV while you are eating so
you can recognize when you are satisfied.
In a culture that serves such enormous serv-
ings at restaurants, notice when you are full
and stop. At home, don’t put so much on
our plate.
Be mindful when you eat. If it wanders
off your plate, notice it is gone and gently
bring it back. Thich Nhat Hanh says we
often “eat our sorrow, fear, anger, past, and
future.” We need to be eating just the food
on our plate.
Eat when moderately hungry, not
starving. Set the table, prepare a health
meal, sit down and take a few calming
breaths, then nourish yourself.
Sit with it. If you find yourself emo-
tionally eating, just sit with the emotion for
a while before you sit down to eat.
12 NOWNews
NOW Chapter # CA 565
PO Box 1306, SLO, CA 93406
SLONOW @ kcbx.net
http://groups.myspace.com/~slonow
NOW Calendar
March is Women’s History Month
Mar 5
• Birthday of Jerrie Cobb, 1931, first
female astronaut
Mar 8
• International Women’s Day
Mar 12
• Juliette Low establishes Girl Scouts,
1912
Mar 15
• Birthday of Justice Ruth Bader
Ginsberg, 1933
Mar 15
• Anti-war march, Mitchell Park,
SLO 1 PM
Mar 18
• NOW regular meeting, 6 PM
Mar 24
• League of Women Voters established,
1919
April is Pay Equity Month and Sexual Assault
Awareness Month
Apr 4
• Birthday of Maya Angelou, 1928
Apr 10
• Birthday of Dolores Huerta, co-
founder United Farm Workers, 1930
Apr 15
• NOW regular meeting, 6 PM
Apr 24
• Pay Equity Day
Apr 25
• Birthday of Ella Fitzgerald, 1918
Apr 26
• Take Your Daughter to Work Day
Apr 28
• Birthday of Coretta Scott King, 1927
Apr 26
• Walk a Mile in Her Shoes,
Mitchell Park
Pay Equity Day, April 22, 2008
The National Committee on Pay Equity
has selected Tuesday, April 22, as Equal
Pay Day for 2008. To match men’s earn-
ings for 2007, women will have to work
from January 2007 to April 2008—an extra
four months. Equal Pay Day takes place
each April and symbolizes the point in the
next year to which a woman must work to
achieve pay equity for the previous year.
Her male counterpart must work five days
a week for twelve months, whereas she will
work seven days a week for sixteen months
to earn equivalent wages. Said another way,
women earn only 77 cents for a man’s dol-
lar.
This wage gap follows women into old
age with lower pension benefits and less
savings than men.Women live longer than
men, which means stretching those fewer
dollars farther. The result is more women in
poverty as they age.If women earned at par-
ity with men, the poverty rate would drop
by half.
AAUW has developed a Pay Equity
Resource Kit to develop programs that will
have a positive impact on the wage gap and
help women become equal earners. http://
www.aauw.org/issue_advocacy/actionpages/
payequity.cfm
For more information, go to
http://www.pay-equity.org/
This Page Presented by the National Organization for Women
The purpose of NOW is to bring women into full participation in the mainstream of American society NOW !
Women’s History Month
The kernel for a month when we celebrate
the achievement of women in our society is
actually derived from the labor movement’s
struggle for safe working conditions for
immigrant factory workers.
As an anonymous person on the Web
said: “This designation of a month obscures
the importance of that particular day, how
it came about, and the class interests orga-
nized to sponsor its designation.”
That particular day was March 8, 1908,
when the women workers at a sweatshop
all died when it caught fire. That galva-
nized workers’ groups to press their cam-
paign for safer labor conditions in general.
In 1910, the International Socialist’s con-
NOW History
Every March, we review the history (or
herstory) of the founding of NOW and
the current structure and purposes. In
1963, President John F. Kennedy convened
a national Commission on the Status of
Women to advise him of the unmet needs
of American women. However, when the
Commission presented its findings, they
were informed it could not pass any reso-
lutions or take any action to further the
agenda they had spent three years develop-
ing.
Stung by government’s failure to make
concrete changes, twenty-eight of these
women decided to form their own action
organization, with the purpose “To take
action to bring women into full participa-
tion in the mainstream of American soci-
ety, NOW, assuming all the privileges and
responsibilities thereof in fully equal part-
nership with men.” They held a conven-
tion drawing 300 people the first year and
over 1,000 the next. NOW has members
in every state of the country and in many
places overseas. It is the largest interna-
tional membership organization working
for women’s rights in the world. NOW is
non-profit, supported entirely by member
dues and donations; it is non-partisan and
not affiliated with any political party; it is
multi-issue and open to all men and women
who aspire to the statement of purpose.
The San Luis Obispo chapter was begun
in the early 1980’s and has been active since.
Get Involved — Join NOW!
San Luis Obispo Chapter
National Organization for Women
Every woman doesn’t have to join NOW, just the 142 million who are
discriminated against!
Name: _______________________________________________
Address: _____________________________________________
City/St/ZIP: ___________________________________________
Phone: _______________________________________________
Regular Dues ….$40
Sliding Scale…..$15-39 Amount enclosed: ________________________
Send your check and this form to
PO Box 1306
SLO, CA 93406
Chapter # CA 565
slonow@kcbx.net
Wometn’s Press | March & April 2008 | womenspress.slo@gmail.com
vention declared March 8, the day of the
fire, as International Women’s Day, a time
to acknowledge women workers around the
world.
Over the years the celebration has
become more focused on reviving our “her-
story,” diminishing its labor struggle begin-
nings, perhaps in keeping with the change
in our society from manufacturing to more
white-collar jobs. But remember during
March, and particularly March 8, that we
have journeyed to this point because of the
courageous women labor organizers who
took action that changed not only their
lives, but ours as well.
We produce a public event each year to
commemorate Roe v Wade, which legal-
ized access to reproductive health care for
all women, including termination of preg-
nancy. The local chapter of NOW also pres-
ents a program commemorating Women’s
Equality Day, in August, the day women
became entitled to vote. And, in between,
we collaborate with other groups, such as
Code Pink, SARP, Women’s Community
Center, and others, taking whatever action
is called for.
Besides the national grass roots member-
ship organization, there is a state level orga-
nization, California NOW. We are affiliated
with CA NOW and attend annual state
conventions and take part in their lobby-
ing and other activities. Locally, we benefit
from that stateside coverage of issues.
NOW PAC is the political arm of the
organization, endorsing candidates for
political office and working to achieve our
goals through the legislative process.
NOW Foundation is a separate 501c(3)
organization providing legal defense and
education support for specific issues. It filed
the successful lawsuit to prevent Operation
Rescue from harassing health clinics (NOW
v. Schindler) and is currently fighting Wal-
Mart on behalf of women employees claim-
ing sex discrimination in employment.
Join the fight for women’s rights. Join
NOW! See the form on this page. Our next
meeting is March 18. See you there.
General Meetings
11573 Los Osos Valley Rd, #B, SLO
3rd Tuesday of every month
at 6:00 pm
Coordinator’s Corner
By Angie King
I was reading through some old files to get
inspiration for this month’s coordinator’s
article and came across a calendar of events
planned by and with NOW organizations
in California for 2001. We were so optimis-
tic back then - coming off the glow of the
Democratic years and not yet infected with
Bush’s fear-mongering disinformation-1984
scenarios.
I won’t reprint the entire list; suffice it
to say that all those issues people were orga-
nizing around and holding public events to
publicize then are still issues we are working
on today: violence against women; discrim-
ination against women and girls in schools
and the job market; access to reproductive
health care; more visibility for women in
the arts; conferences on the future of fem-
inism, and on and on. It made me think
how far we have (not) come on the road to
equality, how much of our energy has been
spent stopping or trying to stem the back-
lash, the resentment by some men of our
gains, the other issues we have had to deal
with – the war, a failing economy, repres-
sion of dissent in general.
But on the other hand, the major media
now acknowledge our history and hero-
ines, even Congress has weighed in since
1987 declaring March as Women’s History
Month. We have a woman running for
president, and women have made serious
inroads in combating discrimination in the
workplace.
So celebrate our successes—all year
long, not just in March—and remember to
remain vigilant to assert your rights, speak-
ing out when you observe injustice towards
women.
Here’s some items coming up: an anti-
war march in Mitchell Park, sponsored by
Code Pink; “Walk a Mile in Their Shoes” to
protest violence against women, presented
by SARP; and Take Your Daughter to Work
Day in April.
Take Your Daughter to Work
April 24, 2008
Take Your Daughter to Work Day was ini-
tiated to increase young girls’ awareness of
their potential. Now it’s called Take Our
Daughters and Sons to Work, encouraging
girls and boys across the country to dream
without gender limitations and to think
imaginatively about their family, work,
and community lives. This national, public
education program connects what children
learn at school with the actual working
world. Children learn that a family-friendly
work environment is an employer and fam-
ily issue and not just a woman’s issue.
A poll taken last year revealed that the
10-year-old program has increased girls’
interest in education, influenced their deci-
sion to go to college or professional school,
and broadened girls’ thinking about their
goals and aspirations with reference to work
opportunities.
When we say “Our Daughters and Sons”
we mean more than our own children.
Through this program, adults can show
girls and boys opportunities they would
have otherwise never known existed.
Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work
Day is organized during the school year so
girls and boys can take what they learn in
workplaces on Thursday and apply it to the
classroom on Friday. By involving whole
communities—schools, girls and boys, par-
ents, workplaces, and mentors—the pro-
gram helps young people make connections
between what they learn in school and their
future goals.
For more information, visit
http://www.daughtersandsonstowork.org
March & April 2008 | www.womenspress-slo.org | Women’s Press Women’sCommunityCenter 13

Sonia Paz Baron-Vine, WCC Board

Our mission is:
• TO maintain an accessible center to
collect and exchange information of
interest and concern to women
• TO organize and facilttate workshops,
clinics, seminars, classes and support
groups on subjects of interest and need
• TO engage in and facilitate interaction
among local, state and national agen-
cies and organizations working to ben-
efit women
Call for Volunteers
Hear ye, hear ye! The Women’s Commu-
nity Center is looking for a few volunteers
to help with several projects. We could use
some help with general office duties and to
monitor family court proceedings (Court
Watch) We are also starting to form com-
mittees for our annual August fundraising
festival: Day with Creative Women in Mis-
sion Plaza. Call the office at 805- 544-9313
or call Robin at 805-801-3235. Thanks!
Family Law
Action Committee
Dealing With Divorce
3rd Wednesday of each month – 7 PM
Upcoming:
March 19, April 16 and May 21
Talk with other women who have
been there, done that in a supportive,
non-judgmental environment.
$10 donation
Self-Represented Litigants’ Clinic
4th Tuesday of each month – 5:30 PM
Upcoming:
March 25, April 22 and May 27
Get family law advice from local
attorneys and/or paralegals.
Reservations required. $40 donation
Call 544-9313 for information
Member, tells us about GuideStar
GuideStar gathers and publicizes informa- The remaining
tion about nonprofit organizations. Their 36 percent came
reach is far and wide. Their database is from generous
broad and deep. foundations and
They encourage nonprofits to share infor- donors. They’re
mation about their organizations openly a public charity,
and completely. Any nonprofit in their too. They have
database can update its report with infor- an ambitious
mation about its mission, programs, leaders, plan for long-
goals, accomplishments, and needs—for term sustainabil-
free. They combine the information that ity, but they are
nonprofits supply with data from several also committed
other sources. You’ll find GuideStar data: to providing nonprofit information to a
• on their website broad audience at no cost to those users.
• on their many partners’ websites It’s part of their public service, one that
• in computer applications used by fund- they pledge to continue.
ing entities and private companies who
work with nonprofits Quick Facts
• Organizations in the database: 1.7
They believe the best possible decisions million
are made when donors, funders, research- • Nonprofits voluntarily providing
ers, educators, professional service provid- information beyond their IRS list-
ers, governing agencies, and the media use ings: 120,213
the quality information that they provide. • Total Form 990 images in the data-
Those decisions affect our world today and base: 3.1 million
will continue to affect it for generations to • Visits to www.GuideStar.org annu-
come. ally: 8 million
They start with great data, but they

History of Women’s Community Center
By Angie King, Board President
The Women’s Community Center began
in 1974 (as the Women’s Resource Cen-
ter) when a small group of women saw an
unmet need for a place that would collect
and exchange information of interest to
and about women and provide a safe place
for women to “hang out.” Everything was
informal and grassroots. That drop-in cen-
ter has today become the Women’s Com-
munity Center, a formal, stable presence in
San Luis Obispo County.
Those wonderful women who got
together in 1974 were part of the sec-
ond wave of feminism, women who grew
up, as they say, in the 60’s, and saw what
people could do if we acted together: stop
an unpopular war (something we are still
learning anew how to do); change the polit-
ical climate so every group in America had
a voice, not just old white men (again, we
are still learning); spread justice by acting
locally to change our corner of the world.
The Women’s Resource Center (WRC)
was the only place in SLO where informa-
tion was available about local services and
resources for women. This was pre-Hotline.
This was pre-Internet. It was before the
instant communication and information
dissemination devices we now have were
available, and it was sorely needed.
Over the years, WRC began publishing
the Women’s Press; started an annual Day
with Creative Women to showcase local
craftswomen; and began providing classes
for women trying to file their own dissolu-
tion papers (No-fault divorce became law
only in 1972).
I am proud to say that with all the
changes in leadership and focus, the cur-
rent Women’s Community Center (WCC)
still provides all these services, and more.
The Women’s Press continues to expand and
improve from the stewardship of those tal-
ented, creative and dedicated women who
have been the volunteer editors over the
years. Today’s editor Kathleen Deragon has
a production staff, a distribution staff, a
marketing volunteer, and lots of contribut-
ing writers and artists.
We still produce a Day with Creative
Women, usually the second Saturday in
August, this year August 9. Mission Plaza
don’t stop there. They also provide solu-
tions that make the nonprofit sector work
If you are a nonprofit, check
www.GuideStar.com. Register and add
better. Their tools and services help people their free logo to your site and when
and surround- with a wide range of tasks, including char- donors read your web page and see the
ing streets will ity verification, compensation benchmark- GuideStar logo, they can donate to your
be filled with ing, research, qualification, market analysis, nonprofit through their site. Your non-
vendors’ booths, outreach, development, and oversight. profit will be exposed to many donors
and local musi- Subscriptions and licensing fees for that, when looking to donate, search the
cians and danc- these services provide important finan- GuideStar database.
ers will perform cial support for their work—in 2006, they
in the amphi- made up 64 percent of their total revenue.
theater. Many
people look for-
ward year after
year to this exceptional event.
We still assist in family law cases. Over
the years, studies by the courts and by
Conflict Can Be Resolved
other women’s groups have uniformly By Robin Werderits
shown that legal help for women with-
out attorneys in the family law system is a Resolving conflict is my passion. A strange
huge unmet need in our county. Activities passion, I will concede, although it has
have expanded to include a monthly fam- its advantages because, as a former school
ily law clinic with volunteer attorneys pro- teacher, I’ve observed that, for many stu-
viding one-on-one advice to participants; dents, the best way to resolve a conflict is to
a monthly class on the practical aspects of yell the loudest or hit the hardest. Things
divorce, including mediation; a manual don’t change much as we grow up. Adults
with step-by-step instructions on filing usually resolve conflict by “getting into
and preparing for your hearing, and prac- someone’s face,” using obscenities, using
tical advice helpful for a successful reso- violence, slamming doors, using the silent
lution of the court case; and courtwatch treatment, or screaming their point. We
volunteers who monitor the cases in court. are not taught any conflict resolution tech-
In 2000, the WRC formally transi- niques, so we resort to our old standards
tioned to the WCC. It was incorporated as of arguing and fighting until one person
a nonprofit agency with a formal structure. finally gives up or, in the case of married Untangling the emotion from the issue
As such, we have been able to apply for folks, over time, someone seeks a divorce. is the key to good communication skills.
grants for projects, such as the Family Law If only we’d been given instructions. If Just like in mediation, it is about listen-
Clinic; we may accept tax-exempt charita- we only knew how to get what we want ing to both sides, and separating out all
ble donations, which fund our services and without arguing with the ones we love. So, that does not apply. Rather than trying
help with the overhead. We have been at how is this done? Is it even possible? Yes, it to be the winner (in order to have a win-
times the fiscal agent for a group that has certainly is. ner, there must be a loser), try to get some
not incorporated. One such group, Real Communication is crucial. One way understanding of both sides of the issue,
FACTS (Forum on Abused Children and to communicate is to use “I” statements: and see if a negotiation can be reached.
“The System”), has been carefully analyzing “When you do “a” I feel “b” because “c.” But Ask for what you need. If you need help
actions by Child Welfare Services in cases be careful: I feel that you are a total jerk - is finding a solution, ask for help. Suggest
where they are asked for assistance. The an example of an “I” statement gone hor- that if you both try to brainstorm, maybe
low-key but consistently accurate informa- ribly wrong. a solution will emerge that will work for
tion Real FACTS provides in these cases Care must also be used to avoid using both of you.
has helped families overcome some of the any form of judgment. Be careful when In the case of marriage, as in any rela-
worst practices by county employees and using the words never or always. “You never tionship, it actually does take work, but
helped change county policies. do what I want to do” or “You are always the effort can make the difference between
I expect in another 34 years there will rude to my mother when she comes over.” living in a happy marriage and a trip to
still be a Women’s Community Center. It When we use judgment words, we find that divorce court.
may be called something else; it may exist the person we are speaking to either gets
only on-line; but local women who want defensive, or goes on the offensive and so Robin Werderits
to make their corner of the world better begins the escalation of the argument. The Core Mediation Services
will continue to find an unmet need and result is that the problem goes unresolved. “The Divorce Specialists”
fill it.
14 Events&Workshops
Share Her Story: A Celebration Of
Women’s History Month
The public is invited to celebrate Wom-
en’s History Month at a free event called
“Share Her Story,” taking place on Saturday,
March 15, 2008, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00
p.m. in the San Luis Obispo City Library
Community Room at 995 Palm St.
Individuals may sign up in advance to
share a story of a woman or girl who has
greatly affected or influenced them. Inspir-
ing women can be family members, friends,
historical figures, musicians, or even char-
acters from literature. In addition to shar-
ing stories, photos and diaries, participants
may also share excerpts from their favorite
woman writer or writings about her. Even
though time only allows 15 five-minute
sharing stories during the event, everyone is
invited to participate in reflections and dis-
cussions before, during and after. Everyone
is invited as well to bring in a photocopy of
a photo of their favorite lady for a Women’s
History Month montage in the library.
The program will be moderated by Mary
A. Armstrong, Director of the Women’s
Studies Program at Cal Poly. Refreshments
will be served.
Those who wish to share a story but can-
not attend the event may bring copies of
a photo of their favorite woman to add to
the Women’s History montage in the lobby
of the SLO City Library, 995 Palm St.
To sign up as a story sharer, to add to
the Women’s History montage, or if you
have questions, please contact Kristine Tar-
diff, SLO City Library, at (805)781-5783.
Central Coast Women’s Network,
Directory of Women in Business,
Announces Inaugural Business
Networking Event
Networking To Win: How to turn your
networking from ordinary to extraordinary
Friday, March 14th from 5:15 - 7:30
RSVP by March 7th
Spyglass Inn, $30 (includes dinner)
Internationally recognized media con-
sultant Starr Hall will speak on strategic
business tools and guidance that can assist
women on how to turn their networks into
a ladder to business success.
• Generate endless referrals in under 2
hours
• Master networking
• Be seen, get known, move ahead
• Keep your networking edge in a com-
petitive marketplace.
All proceeds will be donated to the
Women’s Shelter.
Reservations: 805-275-4354
ccwn@ccwnetwork.com
Future Network events will be on the sec-
ond Friday of every month. Mark your calen-
dars!
Women’s Empowerment
& Self-Defense Workshop
Community workshops
are held on the first or sec-
ond Monday of each month
from 6 – 10 PM. Loca-
tions alternate each month
between Centennial Park in Paso Robles
and the Vets Hall in Shell Beach. Work-
shops are free but we suggest a $10 dona-
tion to cover the cost of materials. Call
545-8888 or go to www.sarpcenter.org/ser-
vices/defense.html.
Wometn’s Press | March & April 2008 | womenspress.slo@gmail.com
Broad Coalition of San Luis Obispo Citizen Groups
MARCH FOR PEACE “She Got Up Off The Chair!”
5th Year Anniversary of Iraq War A Creative Workshop Led By Marylou Falstreau
Come explore your relationship to the chair! Do you spend most of your
Date: Saturday, March 15, 2008
time under it, sitting on it or using the very top rung to step off and fly?
March Begins: 1:00 pm at Santa Rosa Park
Or do you move gracefully from position to position, trusting in yourself
Rally: 2:30 pm at County Government Building
and your ability to do so? Simple collage and journaling techniques will be
March Route: www.slocodepink.org
taught as part of our exploration.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “A nation that continues, Please call 805-771-0183 or e-mail marylou@mfalstreau.com for more info.
year after year, to spend more money on military defense than
April 12th 10:00 - 3:00 | Morro Bay Art Center | $75.00
on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”
We heed his warning and seek to redirect these monies to life-
affirming activities: education, healthcare, and the environment.
Our great nation need not be the greatest purveyor of violence
in the world today, it is within our power and our generational
duty to seek nonviolent coexistence with all inhabitants of this
small, blue planet.
Contact: Rev. Mark Richardson 528-1649 or Vivian Longa-
cre cpinkviv@sbcglobal.net
MOM’S Club of South San Luis Obispo County
Garage Sale
April 26th from 7 am to noon
170 Martha Lane, Nipomo
To benefit Aspira’s “Camp Connect.” All proceeds go toward Amazon
reuniting siblings in foster care at a summer camp.
For more info or to donate items: 929-6570 Sonia Paz Baron-Vine, WCC Board Member © 2007
Going south to the green land of the Amazon,
Fundraiser for R.A.H.M.A. Center a canoe takes me deep into the jungle...
Renewed Awakening to a Healthy Mental Awareness: A non-
Green leaves reach down to the water,
profit organization located in Los Osos, CA
the afternoon sun, filters through the canopy
and the sound of the colorful birds reaches
Saturday, March 15th
me in their singing glory...
10 am-4 pm
Giovanni’s parking lot in Morro Bay
Shining wet turtles along the shore, sleeping reptiles
and dark insects, their eyes follow my canoe as
• Live Music
I glide silently under the trees...
• Live Auction & Raffle (begins 2:30)
• ZongO Cali Cubano, Starts at 10 am sharp
Wild orchids sway in the breeze, moist with the spray
• Andre Copher Quartet, Jazz quartet starts at 11:30
of a waterfall, that like a veil gently falls against the
• Shival Experience, Reggae starts at 1:00
shinning rocks, making them glow under the sun like gems...
• D.J. Codestar, Playing between bands & Auctioneer
I walk barefoot and the moss feels cool
From the more severe case of chronic pain, to the mother
and moist between my toes...
who can’t shake that weekly headache, to the sore or injured
A blue and yellow butterfly lands on my
athlete, R.A.H.M.A offers the opportunity to shift from tak-
shoulder as I kneel in this moist and sacred land...
ing a prescription drug, which often simply masks symptoms,
to seeking a treatment plan that will give lasting results with a
variety of positive effects.
To make a donation or for more information, call (805)
395-1336.
Feminist Comedy Parallel Lives Hits Stage at
Performing Arts Center
Cal Poly Arts presents the compelling comedy, Parallel Lives
in honor of National Women’s History Month, on Saturday,
March 15, 2008, at 8 pm in the Spanos Theatre.
Parallel Lives is the two-person comedy tour-de-force that
launched the careers of Kathy Najimy (Sister Act, Numbers, King
of the Hill) and Mo Gaffney (Absolutely Fabulous, That 70’s Show).
Parallel Lives is a funny, thought-provoking look at creation,
feminism, gender roles, and the things that make us all human.
Two actors take on 28 delightful characters in this award-
winning production that has been called “pure comic catharsis.”
It “…exists somewhere between The Vagina Monologues and an
episode of Saturday Night Live.” (Memphis Flyer)
All seats are $28. Student tickets are $22.
For ticket availability and orders, contact the Box Office at
(805) 756-2787 or www.pacslo.org
March & April 2008 | www.womenspress-slo.org | Women’s Press Resources 15
ABUSE Senior Peer Counseling Caregivers of Stroke Survivors
Adults Molested as Children Support Group (AMAC) free, trained in-home counseling for 60+ 544.2266 (SLO)
545.8888 547.7025, ext. 15 Women’s Support/Therapy v (general)
Center for Alternatives to Domestic Violence Talk/Listen - Emotional support 534.1101
781.6406 489.5481 Women’s Healthcare Specialists
North County Women’s Shelter & Resource Center, Transformations Counseling Center 544.4883
Free monthly workshops 541.7908
(inc. domestic violence support groups) POLITICAL
461.1338 FINANCE/BUSINESS Code Pink
Rape Survivors Support Group, SLO Consumer Credit Counseling Services ososousaville@aol.com
545.8888 800.540.2227 Commission on Status of Women
SARP (Sexual Assault Recovery & Prevention) Mission Community Services Corporation 545.8412; Dawn Williams
545.8888 Women’s Business Partners Democratic Women United
Support Group for Sexual Assault Survivors 595.1356 www.mcscorp.org 541.4252
545.8888 League of Women Voters
Women’s Shelter Program of SLO GAY & LESBIAN 543.2220
781.6400 www.womensshelterslo.org Gay and Lesbian Alliance of the Central Coast NOW (National Organization for Women)
541.4252 slonow@kcbx.net
ADDICTIONS PFLAG.Parents & Friends of Lesbians & Gays SLO Green Party
AA Meeting 438.3889 http://www.slo.greens.org 544.1580
541.3211 SOL (Single Older Lesbians) Younger Women’s Task Force
Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACA) Mostly socializing! Call 474.9405 www.ywtf.org
498.2176
Al-Anon HOSPICE READERS/WRITERS
534.9204 AIDS Bereavement Group (Hospice) Adult Literacy
Cambria Connection (12 step support) 544.2266 541-4219
927.1654 Hospice of SLO County Creative Writing Group
Casa Solana 544.2266 and 434.1164 748-2676; contact Gloria
Women’s Recovery Home 481.8555 Hospice Partners of the Central Coast Nightwriters
Compulsive eaters Anonymous, H.O.W.Concept 782.8608 549.9656; contact Shirley Powell
546.1178 Sisters in Crime
Drug & Alcohol Services JOBS/CAREERS http://SinC-CCC.blogspot.com
781.4275 AARP 788.2643
800.549.7730 Cal Poly Foundation SENIORS
Overeaters Anonymous Jobline 756.7107 Adult Day Care
541.3164 Cal Poly University 544.1414 (SLO); 748.9070 (Arroyo Grande);
SCA, SLAA & SAA (Sex, Love & Romance Addictions) http://calpolyjobs.org 756.1533 434.2081 (Templeton); 927.4290 (Cambria)
461.6084 Cuesta College Adult Protective Services
TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) http://www.cuesta.edu Jobline 546.3127 781.1790
929.1789 The Creekside Career Center Computerooters:
Women for Sobriety www.slocareers.org 788.2631 or 788.2690 Computer help: 489.6230
http://www.womenforsobriety.org Department of Rehabilitation Department of Social Services:
215.536.8026 549.3361 In-Home Support to the Elderly/Homemakers
Mission Community Services Corporation help with ADLs 781.1790
CHILDREN & FAMILIES Women’s Business Partners nursing help for the terminally ill 781.5540
Birth and Baby Resource Center 595.1356 www.mcscorp.org Elder and Dependent Adult Advocacy and
546.3755 www.bbrn.org Private Industry Council (PIC) Outreach – Victim Witness Assistance Center
Childcare Resource Connection www.jobhunt.org 788.2601 781-5821
541.2272 or 800.727.2272 Foster Grandparents.Senior Companions
Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) LEGAL
Core Mediation Services 782.9200
“A child’s voice in Court in SLO County” Senior Ballroom Dance club
541.6542 544.6334 medeee8@aol.com 489.5481 dg17@juno.com
Children’s Services Network District Attorney’s Office – Victim Witness Center Senior Peer Counseling
781.1847 781.5821 free, trained in.home counseling for 60+
First 5: Children & Families Commission Family Law Facilitator
546.3769 547.7025 ext. 15
781.4058; ask for Susan Hughs
Homeschooling in SLO County (HSC) Lawyers Referral Services/Legal Aid Alternative SPIRITUAL (OR NOT)
462.0726; ask for Barbara 788.2099 Circle of Spiritual Enlightenment
La Clinica De Tolosa 238.5334 Pro Per Divorce Workshop 995.1390; www.spiritualcircle.org
La Leche League 544.9313 Awakening Interfaith Spiritual Community
489.9128 Senior Legal Services Sunday service, 10–11 AM; 772.0306
Migrant Childcare Program 543.5140 Central Coast Jewish Historical Society
544.4355 and 466.3444 MEDICAL SUPPORT/SERVICES 543.9452
MOMS Club of South SLO county Hungry Hearts Spiritual Community
473. 2548 ALS Support Group (Lou Gehrig’s Disease)
227.4785 RC liturgy with womanpriest 546.8672
Partnership for Children Meditation Group
541.8666; ask for Beth Alzheimer’s Support
534.9234 (LO); 547.3830 (SLO); Mondays, 7:30–8:30 PM; 772.0306
Real F.A.C.T.S. (Forum on Abused Children) New Beginnings Church
460.9016 226.8669 (Templeton) Every Sunday, Coalesce Bookstore, MB
Social Services Caregivers of Early-Stage Alzheimer’s Self-Realization Fellowship
781.1600 547.3830, 534.9234 (SLO/Los Osos) Sunday Services 995-1599
Support for Kids Coping with Domestic Violence American Cancer Society
473.6507 Paso Robles 238.9657 WOMEN’S CENTERS/SHELTERS
Anorexia Nervosa & Bulimia Support Group Homeless Shelter
EMERGENCY/CRISIS 541.9113 781-3993
Hotline Arthritis Foundation Housing Authority
www.slohotline.org 800.549.8989 892.5556 543.4478
Sexual & Rape Prevention (SARP) Cancer/ Breast Cancer Support Groups North County Women’s Resource Center, Shelter
545.8888 or 800.656.HOPE (4673) 543.1481 ext. 3 for information 461.1338
Temporary Restraining Order & Victim Witness Caregivers of Aging Parents Prado Day Center (for the homeless)
Program 781.5821 547.3830 (AG); 927.4290 (Cambria); 786.0617
226.8669 (PR); 547.3830 (SLO) Women’s Community Center, SLO
EMOTIONAL SUPPORT Celiac Disease Support Group 544.9313
A.D.A.P.T. (Aid in Divorce Adjustment Problems Today) 226-9893 Women’s Shelter Program of SLO
543.0388 Endometriosis Association 549.8989 (crises), 781.6401 (business)
Alzheimer/Dementia Resource Center www.endometriosisassn.org www.womensshelterslo.org
434.2081 or 534.9234 or 800.443.1236 Enhancement, Inc.
CALL–Concerned Agoraphobics Learning to Live (for breast cancer survivors) OTHER WOMEN’S ORGANIZATIONS
543.3764 771.8640 www.enhancementinc.com Altrusa International, Inc.
Co-Dependents Anonymous (CoDA) EOC Health Services Clinics 481.1039; Cici Wynn, President
542.0577 (SLO) 481.5093 (Grover Beach) no or low cost reproductive health services American Association of University Women
927.1654 (Cambria) 466.8600 (North County) 544.2478 (SLO); 489.4026 (Arroyo Grande) 781-0922; Karen
Community Counseling Center Healthworks of the Central Coast Camping Women
543.7969 no or low cost reproductive health services 440.2723 www.campingwomen.org
Dealing With Divorce 787.0100 (SLO); 773.4500 (Pismo); Hadassah.SLO
544.9313 610.8865 (Atascadero) 543.9452
Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance Group Long-term Care Ombudsman Services of SLO County Women’s Network, SLO
927.3703 785.0132 546.3727 www.womenslo.org
Divorce Discussion Group Lymphedema Education & Support Group
489.2990, saintbarnabas@sbcglobal.net 2nd Monday, 4:00-5:00 pm
OTHER GROUPS & GATHERINGS
Eating Disorders Support Group Central Coast Peace and Environmental Council
782-9300 for info
546-3774; free, meets weekly in SLO Parkinson’s Support Groups 544.3399 or 783.2383
Grief Awareness Group Compassion & Choices (or Final Exit)
466.7226 (Atascadero/Templeton)
489.2990, saintbarnabas@sbcglobal.net 481.7424, 473.1714 (Arroyo Grande) 800.247.7421 or 489-5481
Hospice of SLO County (inc. miscarriage/stillbirth 544.1342 (SLO)
support) 544.2266 or 434.1164 Please send additions, corrections or deletions to:
Planned Parenthood
Safe and Sober Support Group SLO 549.9446 womenspress.slo@gmail.com or leave a message at
473.6507 Stroke Support Group the WCC: 805.544.9313. Last update 03/05/08.
471.8102 (SLO)

March Workshop
Mid-Life Wisdom:
Cultivating Soulful Self-Care
Thursday, March 20
Taking care of one’s self is at the core of a
meaningful and balanced life. Research has
shown that when people don’t know how to
take care of their needs they tend to experi-
ence higher rates of depression, illness, iso-
lation and self-destructive behaviors. Julia
Cameron summed it up when she once
penned, “There is a connection between
self-nurturing and self respect. If I allow
myself to be bullied and cowed by other
people’s urges for me to be more normal or
more nice, I sell myself out. They may like
me better, feel more comfortable with my
more conventional appearance or behavior,
but I will hate myself. Hating myself, I may
lash out at myself and others.”
Laura V. Hyde is the Spiritual Leader
of the Circle of Spiritual Enlightenment in
San Luis Obispo, www.spiritualcircle.org.
She is also the author of Gifts of the Soul
and The Intimate Soul.
Small Business Suppliers Opportunities!
Suppliers Seminar
Getting a “foot” in the door as
a supplier is not always easy and
especially challenging for small
businesses. Attend this workshop
and learn how to access supplier
opportunities. NOW!
RSVP Required! Please call to register: (805) 595-1357 (877) 831-9377
Presented by Mission Community Services
Sabiduria de la Mediana Edad:
Cultivando el Cuidado del uno Misma
Jueves, 20 de Marzo
Cuidarse a si misma esta en la base de una
vida significativa y equilibrada. La investi-
gacion ha demostrado que cuando la gente
no sabe tomar el cuidado de sus necesidades,
ellos tienden a experimentar indices mas
altos de la depresion, de las enfermedades,
del aislamiento y de los comportamientos
auto-destructivos. Julia Cameron acerto,
cuando dijo “Hayuna conexion entre quer-
erse a uno misma y el respeto de uno misma.
Si permito que me abusen, y me acobardo
ante las opiniones de otras, de como debo
ser, mas normal o mas agradable, me vendo.
Quiza les guste mas, se sientan mas a gusto
a mi lado, con mi apariencia mas conven-
cional o forma de ser de su agrado, pero
yo me odiare por dentro. Al odiarme a mi
misma,me atacare a mi misma o atacare a
otras.
Laura Hyde es la lider espiritual en San
Luis Obispo www.spiritualcircle.org. Ella es
tambien la autora de los libros “Regalos del
Alma” y “El Alma Intima.”
When: Friday, March 28,
8:30 am to Noon
Where: PG&E Community Center
6588 Ontario Road, San Luis Obispo.
Fee: $30 if registered before March 24
$40 March 25 or after
presents
A Monthly Series of Spiritual Workshops
Temple Beth David, 10180 Los Osos Valley Road, San Luis Obispo
Third Thursday of Each Month • 7-9 pm • $20
Contact womenspress.slo@gmail.com or (805) 541-6874 for more information.
April Workshop
Sarah and Hagar: Reaching Out
Across the Great Divide
Thursday, April 17
Removed as we are from the events
described in religious texts of Islam and
Judaism about how the Muslim and Jew-
ish communities became separated, the two
presenters share stories as a contemporary
Muslim and Jewish woman in dialog about
themselves, their families and their lives.
Using the vehicle of faith and family as
pathways to celebrate diversity, the present-
ers consider the influences of their respec-
tive traditional practices on their spiritual
pathways. Discussing what they have in
common and what is uniquely their own,
they will encourage participants to share
their own stories as way to nourish and heal
the spiritual yearnings that may have been
bruised by religious practice.
Nisha Abdul Cader has resided on the
Central Coast with her husband and chil-
dren for over eight years. She is a member of
the San Luis Obispo Interfaith Ministerial
Association and has participated on numer-
ous interfaith panels at Cal Poly, as well as
throughout the greater San Luis Obispo
community. She is also a pediatrician who
specializes in services to children-at-risk,
including abused children, incarcerated
youth, and prenatally substance exposed
children.
Heather Mendel, spiritual director, art-
ist and author of “Towards Freedom: a fem-
inist haggada for men and women,” has
facilitated women’s spirituality groups for
the past 15 years. Keynote speaker of the
First Annual Women’s Press Retreat, she lec-
tures, conducts workshops, seminars and
retreats, focused on kabbalah, spirituality
and egalitarianism.
Save the World
Sarah and Hagar: El alcanzar a
traves de la gran Divisoria
Jueves, 17 de Abril
Quitadas como somos de los acontecimientos
descritos en textos religiosos del Islam y del
Judaísmo sobre cómo los musulmanes y las
comunidades judías se separaron, las dos his-
torias de la parte de los presentadoras como
musulmana contemporánea y mujer judía
en diálogo sobre sí mismas, sus familias y sus
vidas. Usando el vehículo de la fe y la familia
como caminos para celebrar diversidad, las
presentadoras consideraran las influencias
de sus prácticas tradicionales respectivas en
sus caminos espirituales. Discutiendo lo que
tienen en campo común y cuál es únicamente
suyo propio, animarán a las participantes a
compartir sus propias historias como manera
de alimentar y de curar los deseos vivos espir-
ituales que se pudieron haber contusionado
por práctica religiosa.
Nisha Abdul Cader ha residido en la
costa central con su marido y niños por más
de ocho años. Ella es un miembro de la aso-
ciación ministerial interconfesional de San
Luis Obispo y ha participado en numerosos
paneles interconfesionales en la Universidad
de Cal Poly, así como a través de la comu-
nidad de San Luis Obispo. Ella es también
una pediatra que se especializa en servicios al
niño-en-riesgo , incluyendo niños abusados,
la juventud encarcelada, y los niños expuestos
a drogas durante el embarazo.
Heather Mendel, directora espitirual,
artista, y autora de Hacia la libertad: un hag-
gada feminista para los hombres y las mujeres,
ha facilitado a grupos femeninos espirituales
por los ultimos 15 anos. Dio conferencia en
el primer retiro anual de la prensa de mujeres,
ella da conferencias, conduce los talleres, sem-
inarios, y los retiros centrados en kabbalah,
espiritualidad e igualitarismo.