OSU Prof Charlotte Wright Named 2009 Outstanding Accounting Educator

The Oklahoma Society of Certified Public Accountants named Dr. Charlotte Wright at Oklahoma State University the 2009 Outstanding Accounting Educator. She has taught at OSU in Stillwater since 1982. Read more at the Oklahoma Society of CPAs website HERE.

Remembering Oklahoma's Marianne Vannatta

Pause a moment to remember Marianne Vannatta. After a tough fight, she succumbed to cancer recently and our hearts and prayers go out to her husband, Jerry, and her family. She was a professional working woman (CPA) plus a civic leader (served on many working boards). And she was nice and kind; I know that first hand. She will be greatly missed. You can read her obituary here.

For Breast Cancer Awareness, Meet Judi Grove

April 21 was "Breast Cancer Awareness Day" at the Oklahoma State Capitol. The Oklahoma Gazette had a nice article by Charles Martin April 15 on the event and breast cancer awareness. Featured prominently was Tulsa activist Judi Grove, founder of Breast Impressions which raises awareness through art and other projects. The mission of Breast Impressions is

to increase breast cancer awareness and fund raising to support breast cancer education, prevention and treatment. We donate breast casting kits to women who have recently been diagnosed with breast cancer, to make a memory prior to surgery.

Grove is doing remarkable things to raise public awareness; read about her here. You can also see an interview with her here. Did you know that health care insurance plans in Oklahoma do not cover the cost of a mammography until a woman is 40 years old; so how do we catch breast cancer in young women?

Additional Oklahoma Women Confirmed to Serve Oklahoma

Other nomination confirmations in the State Senate yester for Oklahoma women:

Marjan Seirafi-Pour to the State Textbook Committee.
Shari Williams to the Murray State College Regents.
Vicki Vaughan to the State Textbook Committee.
Barbara Sessions to the Murray State College Regents.
Sandra Rose to the Environmental Quality Board.
Amy Regan to the Okla. Tourism and Recreation Commission.
Nancy Pfeifer to the Examiners of Long-Term Care Admins Board.
Vicki Petete to the Oklahoma Accountancy Board.
Sharon Myers to the Air Quality Advisory Council.
Teresa Kay Jackson to the Eastern Okla. State College Regents.
Jenny Hendrick to the Quartz Mtn. Center Board of Trustees.
Deanna Hartley-Kelso to the Board of Juvenile Affairs.
Jane Godlove to the Quartz Mtn. Center Board of Trustees.
Maxine Finley-McFalls to the ABLE Commission.
Jeannie Gault to the Examiners of Long-Term Care Admins Board.
LeAnn Chastain to the State Textbook Committee.
Julie Cohen to the Quartz Mtn. Center Board of Trustees.
Betty Boyd to the OSU-Tulsa Board of Trustees.

Any Oklahoma women I left out? (If so,my apologies.) If you know any of these women, please congratulate and thank them for serving. These aren't honorary appointments; they will work hard, give up a lot of their time and spend some out-of-pocket money serving in these capacities.

Thanks to The Journal Record's Legislative Reporter (http://twitter.com/JRLROK) for tweeting this information!

Terri White Now Officially OK Secty of Health

Congratulations to Terri White who was officially confirmed as Cabinet Secretary of Health yesterday. The motion to confirm was introduced by Sen. Rice. It was approved by the Oklahoma State Senate 47-0. White has served as Commissioner of the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services for two years and, before that, she was deputy commissioner of the agency. Here is a story about her appointment last January.

Women in Communications Honor Oklahoma Women

I'm tardy in mentioning the extraordinary women honored last February by the Association for Women in Communications Oklahoma City Chapter. They were Mike Farris, Martha Ferretti, Molly Fritch, Cathy O'Connor, Dr. Marion Paden, and Billie Thrash; you can read about them HERE. The AWC Tulsa Chapter also recognizes women; click HERE to read about their 2008 Newsmakers.

Check out Oklahoma Magazine's May 2009 Issue on Oklahoma Women

The May 2009 issue of Oklahoma Magazine is out and it is entitled "The Women's Issues." Go HERE and register so you can view the issue online. As usual it is a beautiful product. But, more importantly, it is dedicated to issues important to WOMEN.

See especially "Women Helping Women" about programs in Oklahoma tackling some of the worst statistics on the status of women in our state. But also check out "Girls Will Be Girls," "No Boys Allowed," and good articles on women's health including "The Parent Trap" on fertility, "The Unavoidable" on menopause, "It's Different for Women" on heart disease, "Predicting a Heart Attack," "Best Practices" on lifestyle changes, "Close Call" on warning signs of a heart attack, "A Beautiful You," "Adventures in Mommyland," plus 9 pages featuring Oklahoma business women and a special article on "Wine, Women & Shoes" -- three YWCA of Tulsa events June 11, 12, and 13.

There is also a profile on Jane Jenkins (the new President of Downtown OKC Inc.) and another on Arcadia, OK Mayor Marilyn Murrell entitled "A Warrior for Women." It begins, "A quick glance at statistics regarding women in politics shows that Oklahoma lags far behind the national average in the percentage of women involved in local and state government. Marilyn Murrell would like to see this disparity reconciled." Me too! Thank you, Mayor Murrell, for the hat tip to the NEW Leadership program at OU's Carl Albert Center.

I'm a little sad there was no mention of the work of the Oklahoma Women's Coalition but you can't have everything, right? This is an issue worth buying and saving. Kudos, Oklahoma Magazine, for a job well done.

Oklahoma Women Traveling to Rwanda

Oklahoman Terry Neese runs the Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women which helps women abroad learn business skills. Her focus these days is Afghanistan and Rwanda. She has several Oklahoma city women (see below) involved as well:

Our upcoming 2009 Peace through Business® graduation in Rwanda will have mentors from the U.S. in attendance! Mary Melon (Publisher, The Journal Record), Martha Parker (IEEW Board Member), Darcie Harris (Founder, EWF International), Desma Reid-Coleman (IEEW Board Member), and Lin Weigel (Chief of Staff for IEEW) will travel to Rwanda on May 1st and will be a part of the graduation ceremonies. They will conduct a mentor lecture series for our students enrolled in the program. The 15 women selected to travel to the U.S. will be announced at the reception where dignitaries will include the Minister of Gender, Minister of Education, Minister of Justice, and U.S. Ambassador Symington. It will be a very festive graduation and a busy week. We want to offer our complete and heart-felt thanks to Eron Nsenga and Holly Hixson for their dedicated efforts to making the Rwandan In-Country magnificent!

Last I heard, Mary Melon, Darcie Harris and Lyn Weigel are all Oklahoma City residents.

Celebrate Earth Day by honoring Kenyan Dr. Wangari Maathai

In honor of Earth Day, watch a videoblog on Dr. Wangari Maathai, who in 2004 became both the first African woman and the first environmentalist to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Dr. Maathai is from Kenya and knows my dear friend Florence Mubichi.

Kristy Stewart with Norman's Women's Resource Center Receives National Honor

The National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) has announced the 2009 recipients of the Visionary Voice Award. This award recognizes the creativity, hard work, and dedication of individuals around the country working to address and prevent sexual violence. Winners are selected by their respective state, tribal, or territory anti-sexual violence coalitions and represent a wide range of individuals doing this critical work at the local level. Twelve individuals were honored this year including Kristy Stewart of Oklahoma. According to the NSVRC website,

"Kristy Stewart has been Coordinator of Crisis Services at Women’s Resource Center in Norman, OK, since 2002, having served as a women’s advocate since 1984. She quickly advanced from Intake Worker to Women’s Advocate to Supervisor to her current position. Kristy is actively involved in the Oklahoma Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, especially in the area of legislative initiative and technology development. Kristy led her agency’s efforts in developing a model rape crisis center on the campus of Women’s Resource Center that has set the standard for sexual assault services in Oklahoma."

Congratulations, Kristy! The NSVRC provides resources and information on sexual violence to rape crisis centers, state, territory and tribal coalitions, allied organizations, agencies, educators, media and the general public.

Oklahoma Supporting Single Mothers Pursuing College Degrees via "SMART"

Today there are more than 25,000 single parent students attending Oklahoma colleges and universities. Overwhelmingly, these are women balancing parenting, college and jobs.

SMART is an acronym for Single Mothers Academic Resource Team; SMART is committed to identifying pathways for all single parents who wish to complete a higher education in Oklahoma.

Why should this matter? There are a multitude of reasons:

~ Assisting single parents improves graduation rates for Oklahoma's colleges. This generates a multiplier effect: new college graduates with families are more likely to stay in Oklahoma and become a part of our professional workforce. Those campuses that make a multi-sector effort to be “adult-friendly” see increased enrollment because they appeal to the 31% of Oklahoma college student who are 25 or older.

~ Households led by single mothers collectively face daunting economic challenges: affordable housing, appropriate child care, health care benefits to name just a few. Many women are forced to rely on federal and state assistance programs and yet still live below the poverty threshold. In Oklahoma, nearly one in four children lives in poverty[1] and one third of all Oklahoma children are raised in homes where no adult has an education beyond high school.[2] Yet, we know that parental income level is the best predictor of a child’s educational attainment. A college education provides a family with the earning power to move out of impoverishment and off of assistance programs that costs Oklahoma taxpayers millions annually. Federal and state governments pay up to $2,000 less per year on social services for persons who have a college education.[3] Considering the nearly 30,000 single parent students in Oklahoma, we are on our way to saving $60 million dollars annually in social services.

~ Supporting single mothers as they complete their higher education goals diminishes the dismal statistics about Oklahoma women including the fact that not even 1 in 7 completes four or more years of higher education.[4] At the national level, less than 5% of single mothers graduate from college. [5]

~ A college education for single parents is not only about better jobs and increased incomes. Historically, college graduates are more active in our political processes and contribute more of their time and resources to their communities because they exhibit a greater awareness of current political and social issues, community needs and government policies that impact their lives. Overall, college graduates pay more taxes, are less likely to be imprisoned and enjoy better health and health care coverage.[6]

~ Most importantly, a parent with a college education models a legacy for their children where goal setting and academic achievement are valued. It sets a new tradition: In this family, we go to college.

SMART is the result of collaborative funding on the part of the Women’s Foundation of Oklahoma, the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education (OSRHE) and GEAR UP. It is seeking to identify and advocate for pathways that enable single mother students (SMS) to complete their higher education goals.

There are programs already in place at many of Oklahoma's public college campuses that assist single mother students. One of these is Project Second Chance (PSC) at Oklahoma State University – OKC Campus (See Appendix B).

PSC, housed at The Learning Center and under the direction of Karen Kruse, is the state’s longest established program to assist single parent students. This program offers a myriad of services to approximately 1,000 single parent students annually including completing financial aid forms, supporting an emergency food pantry, family-friendly campus events and a Single Parent’s Student Association. Karen secured seed money through grants and then, by demonstrating how effective her programming had been, was able to receive additional support from the campus itself.

There are many excellent ways to make a difference on our college and university campuses and many of these interventions are cost effective. Consider, for example:

· Advertising the pediatric services available at your campus health center

· Providing a basket of children’s books at academic advising offices

· Designating a portion of married/graduate student housing for single parent students

· Starting an organization for single mother students

· Providing faculty mentors for single mother students

· Adding high chairs to common eating areas

· Reviewing the hours of operation, costs and waiting lists at community child care centers

· Advertising the children’s literature available for check-out at your campus library

· Offering textbook scholarships to eligible single parents

· Providing budgeting workshops and financial education (including financial aid advisement)

· Offering a new student orientation session that is family-friendly

· Encouraging student organizations to take on service projects that meet the expressed needs of single mother students

· Hosting holiday events on campus specifically geared toward families

· Developing a graduation plan for single parents where they can visualize the milestones
they must achieve to complete their degree

Most importantly, research indicates that all Oklahoma campuses offer services for single parent students but they are not doing a good enough job marketing these resources to their student population. Each campus should consider:

~ What can we include in admissions packages?

~ Where do we need to advertise to reach single mother students?

~ What minor modifications can we make right now?

The SMART Team invites colleges across Oklahoma to join them in this statewide effort. 25,000 families are depending on you to help them achieve their college dreams.

[1] Women’s Foundation of Oklahoma, wfok.org.
[2] Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, “Unrealized Health Potential: A Snapshot of Oklahoma, “ commissionhealth.org
[3] Cunningham, Alisa, “The Broader Societal Benefits of Higher Education,” Solutions for our Future. Solutionsforourfuture.org.
[4] Women’s Foundation of Oklahoma, wfok.org.
[5] National Center for Health Statistics, 2002.
[6] Cunningham.

Source. "Dr. Erin Taylor, Academic Affairs, Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education?" (Paper entitled "The SMART Pathway")

Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor's 5th Communications Director in 3 Years Leaving

How come Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor has so much trouble hanging on to a Communications Director? See http://tinyurl.com/cot9pb/.

You Have to Watch Sony's Video "What Does It Mean?"

Sony played this mind-blowing video at their executive conference this year. It is a MUST watch!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL9Wu2kWwSY

(Thank you, brother Pete, for passing this on to me!)

Caroly Whitener Inducted Into Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame

Thirty-seven years ago, three individuals in Stillwater, Oklahoma, challenged a state law that allowed females aged 18–20 to purchase beer of 3.2 % alcohol while males could not purchase beer until age 21. The law was challenged by two underage men, Mark Walker and Curtis Craig, who were joined by a female beer vendor, Carolyn Whitener. By the time the case was argued before the US Supreme Court, both men had turned 21 so only Carolyn Whitener was ruled to have standing.

Whitener and the two male students sued the Oklahoma Attorney General, the Oklahoma Legislature and the Oklahoma Governor for enforcing a law that, they argued, discriminated based on gender. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed with Whitener by ruling unconstitutional all laws advantaging one sex. A new equal protection standard had been established - gender. Craig v. Boren has been cited routinely in constitutional sex discrimination cases ever since. To read more, click HERE and HERE. Also see http://static.newsok.biz/sites/nie/educational_programs/women_lesson4.pdf/.

Susan Savage Inducted Into the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame

M. Susan Savage was appointed Oklahoma Secretary of State by Governor Brad Henry on January 13, 2003. In that capacity, she serves as a member of the Governor’s cabinet with broad policy duties and as a Constitutional officer with responsibility for international relations, maintenance of the state’s registry of official records and policy oversight for several state agencies. Prior to that she served as mayor of Tulsa from 1992 to 2002. She was inducted into the Oklahoma Municipal League Hall of fame for City and town Officials in 2005. was the 2002 national Conference of community and justice honoree for leadership. She received an honorary degree of laws in 2000 from Aradia University and is a past recipient of the Oklahoma Human Rights Award.

Read more HERE and HERE.

Lamar Looney Inducted Into the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame

Marabeau Lamar Looney was born in 1871 in Talladega, Alabama. She and her husband D.T. "Doc" Looney moved to Oklahoma Territory (now Greer County). In 1900, her husband of 12 years died suddenly leaving her with five children under the age of ten. She moved to Hollis and worked as a music teacher, a postmistress and was elected in 1912 registrar of deeds for Harmon County. She went on to be elected county treasurer, county clerk and, in 1920, the first woman elected to the Oklahoma Senate. At age 52, she was admitted to the Oklahoma bar. After serving 3 terms in the State Senate, in 1926 Mrs. Looney considered running for Lieutenant Governor but abandoned the idea because the Oklahoma constitution barred women from holding the office. Instead, she ran for the U.S. Senate, lost that race but won her fourth and final term in the Oklahoma Senate in 1927. As a Senator, Looney pushed for legislation that would allow women to serve in all state offices but didn't live to see that come about. She was worked actively for women's right to vote. She died September 3, 1935. To read more click HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE. Looney dies in 1935 and was inducted posthumously into the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame on March 26, 2009.

First Lady Kim Henry Inducted Into the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame

Oklahoma’s current First Lady Kim Blaine Henry was born in Norman Oklahoma. Her family moved to Shawnee when she was 5 years old. She was a classroom teacher for 10 years at her alma mater, Shawnee High School, where she taught Oklahoma History, Economics, Government, and Advanced Placement American History. In 1999-2000 she was awarded the Close-Up Foundation's Linda Myers Chozen Award for Teaching Excellence in Civic Education. Only five other educators across the nation received the honor that year. As first lady, she has championed children, early childhood education, literacy and many other worthy causes.

For more on Kim Henry, click HERE and HERE.

Businesswoman Edna Hennessee Inducted into Oklahoma Women's Hall of fame

Edna Hennessee was born in Ryan, Oklahoma and raised on an Oklahoma cattle ranch during the Depression. She graduated from Union Valley High School in 1936 as valedictorian. After receiving a scholarship from Central State University in Edmond and finding a place to work for room and board, she still decided to go directly into the work force in Oklahoma City as the family would have to sell the cattle to buy her textbooks. While living in Oklahoma City, she received a gift that changed her life - Merle norman Cosmetics. Hennessee washed clothes at night and worked as a department store clerk during the day to pay the gift back. What began as a dream from a small gift of cosmetics grew into Cosmetic Specialty Labs, a family-owned and operated company serving more than 10,000 customers in all 50 states and 23 foreign countries. Read more HERE.

Suzanne Edmondson Inducted into Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame

Suzanne Edmondson began a new career in 1996 as a corrections volunteer focusing ion issues affecting incarcerated women. She became a literacy tutor and began working weekly at Eddie Warrior Correctional Center, a minimum security facility housing about 650 women in Taft, OK. She founded the Friends of Eddie Warrior Foundation and through the foundation created a program called "Tales for the Rising Moon" in which inmates tape bedtime stories for their children at home. She also started a foundation to provide college scholarships to the women inmates at Eddie Warrior Correctional Center.

Rita Aragon Inducted into Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame

LaRita A. Aragon was born in Dale, Oklahoma and became the first woman to hold the rank of brigadier general in the Oklahoma Air National Guard and the first female commander of the Air National Guard. After a distinguished career, Gen. Aragon retired and returned to her first career, in education where she serves as Director of Advanced Programs at the University of Oklahoma College of Continuing Education. Of Choctaw descent, er spirit exemplifies her service to her family and her country. Aragon serves on a number of boards and has been recognized many times for her contributions to her community, state and nation. She was named The Journal Record Oklahoma Woman of the Year in 2008.

Wanda Jackson Day Is March 24 IN OKC

On Twitter: cityofokc@mickcornett to proclaim March 24 Wanda Jackson Day. (FYI, I'm jeanwarner on Twitter)

OSU First Lady Ann Hargis on Payne County Youth Services' Advisory Board

The Stillwater NewsPress reports that OSU First Lady Ann Hargis has been "appointed the first member of the Payne County Youth Services’ Advisory Board for Sustainability and Public Awareness." Good move. Read the story here.

Oklahoman Donna Tapley Named 2008 Catoosa Sertoman of the Year

The Catoosa, Oklahoma Sertoma Club honored member Donna Tapley recently by naming her 2008 Sertoman of the Year. Read more here.

Oklahoman Janet Fender is Chief Scientist of Air Combat Command, US Air Force

Janet Fender graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1974 with a degree in physics and astronomy. She credits an OU program at the time entitled "New Avenues for Women" that was funded by the National Science Foundation. Professor Betty Pollock led that program and taught a small group of women who were majors in the natural sciences. The teamwork skills she learned there Fender says helped her greatly in her career. (Would that be considered one of those "liberal affirmative action programs" Republicans want to abolish?)

Fender went on to earned a masters and doctorate degrees and today works as Chief Scientist with the Air Combat Command at Langley Air Force Base in northern Virginia. She is also a member of the United Nations Space Surveillance Expert Group.

The University of Oklahoma's College of Arts & Sciences honored her recently as a Distinguished Alumni award winner. While she was in Oklahoma for the award ceremonies, The Oklahoman interviewed here. You can read the article and hear her speak by clicking here.

Sally Bell now chair of Tulsa County Republicans

Conservative Republican Sally Bell has been elected Chair of the Tulsa County Republican Party. See Tulsa World story.

Tulsa World Editorial on Oklahoma Women's Coalition

New Voice: Will group raise status of women?
Editorial from Tulsa World's Editorial Writers
Friday, February 20, 2009
2/20/2009 3:27:25 AM

It's too early to know whether a new advocacy organization, the Oklahoma Women's Coalition, will make a difference on the status of women in this state. One thing's for sure — such a group can't hurt.

A recent study by the Institute of Women's Policy Research found that Oklahoma is the second-worst state for women to reside.

A number of factors, none of them good, go into that discouraging, disturbing and embarrassing ranking. Oklahoma puts more women in jail, per capita, than any other state in the nation. The state ranks No. 4 nationally per capita in the number of women killed by their partners.

Various dedicated groups and leaders are tackling both problems as well as others, but the situation cannot be turned around overnight and needs the full attention of the policymakers and, of course, the public.

Jean Warner, director of Oklahoma Women's Coalition, said she and others interested in the subject had been meeting for years informally. "I was not aware of the dire situation Oklahoma women are in until I saw a study a few years ago that brought all the factors together. It was quite disturbing.

"There's really no organization like this in Oklahoma," Warner said. "We want to fill that void for people who want to know how policies at state agencies and the Legislature impact women and girls."

The group, funded by a $10,000 grant from the Women's Foundation of Oklahoma, came to the Capitol this week to educate new members on the legislative process and to meet state leaders.

Effective advocacy presupposes someone is listening. Members of this group probably heard supportive statements in the corridors of power. The trick will be turning that sympathy into action.

Source: http://www.tulsaworld.com/opinion/article.aspx?subjectid=61&articleid=20090220_61_A12_Itstoo592288

Check out OKPolicy.org's 2009 Legislative Primer

Need a basic primer on the Oklahoma legislative and budget process?

Check out OKPolicy.org's "2009 Legislative Overview" at http://okpolicy.org/2009-legislative-primer/.

You can view it as a slideshow presentation or print it as a 41-page PDF document.

More TV coverage of OWC launch

The Oklahoma Women's Coalition official launch also got nice coverage from Tulsa's KTUL HERE, Fox23 HERE, News9 in Oklahoma City HERE, NewsOn6 HERE. Thank you, all. (I promise to stop this soon!)

Thank you KFOR-TV for reporting on the OWC event

Thank you, KFOR television in Oklahoma City for reporting on the Oklahoma Women's Coalition event at the State Capitol yesterday!

The Oklahoman article on Oklahoma Women's Coalition event

Julie Bisbee, Capital Bureau reporter for The Oklahoman, wrote a nice article today on the Oklahoma Women's Coalition event at the State Capitol. But who took that awful picture of me? To read it, click HERE.