*League of Women Voters of the Columbia Area*

February 8, 2002 February League Luncheon		C ANAL SIDE hh hh hh hh hh hh


		Please make the following additions and corrections to your membership directory
*New Members*
Beth Burn 906 Shadetree Court Columbia, SC 29212 bethburn@bellsouth.net 781-1978 (H) 777-1180 (W)		Sherry Jacenko 107 Frasier Bay Road Columbia, SC 29229 mammo54@yahoo.com 699-0422 (H)
Alexandria Skinner 6720 Sandy Shore Rd. Columbia, SC 29206-2261 a.skinner@scbar.org 738-2669 (H&W)
*Renewing Members*
Harrietta Allen 163 Pinewood Road Chapin, SC 29036 345-3573 (H)	Susan Siegel 1325 Old Two Notch Rd. Elgin, SC 29045 susankfs@aol.com 788-5564 (H)434-1260 (W)
*Corrections:*
JoAnne Day's street should be 236 Loch Drive Katherine Frankstone's street should be 2330 Terrace Way	Susan Hyman's home phone should be 738-8649 Laura Sattler Parnell's e-mail should be LBParnell@mindspring.com
*Change of address:*
Sarah L. Harman 109 Sarah Ann Road Leesville, SC 29070 657-6605 (H)

Please call Carol Medich at 783-9786 with any changes to the directory.

Program Planning
Meeting Summary

Twenty League members attended the annual program planning meeting on Monday, January 28th. A big thank you to Suzanne Rhodes for putting the meeting together!LillaHoefer, Bernie Hilbert, SarahLeverette, LilMood, Robin White, and Cynthia Flynn helped to prepare and/or lead the discussions. Thank you everyone!

National:

In addition to discussing the national program, we also talked about the two national studies that are currently being conducted. The first is on world trade issues. Check out your National Voter for this month, read the position, and vote on whether you accept it. It is a great opportunity to participate in the League at the national level. You can vote online, by regular mail, or by fax. No excuses for not participating!

The second national study discussed was the study on the United Nations . The national League is trying to make it easy to keep up with the progress of the study by putting articles in the National Voter. The consensus questions will appear at the end of the study. So, look in the current and future issues of the National Voter to keep up with this study.

State:

The state is conducting several studies this year. The first is on transportation. You will hear more about this study in the near future. Once the state study is completed, we may want to include a position on transportation in our local program. Several recommendations were made that could be implemented after the state study is done.

The Regional Transportation Authority will begin running the Columbia Transit System in August of 2002. ? The bus fleet will be completely replaced, but no route changes will be made at that time. ? We would like the route system to be studied to see if there are changes that would better serve the public. ? We think that commuter rail is not needed at this time, but should be considered in long-range transit planning. ? Ridesharing can benefit air quality, but isn't as attractive when gas prices are low. ? Even so, we would like major employers to encourage ridesharing by assisting in the creation of carpools, and offering incentives such as reduced parking costs for those who share the ride.

The second study is on our child welfare position. The state League asked the local Leagues to come to consensus on six questions. The group was unanimous in saying yes to each question. The questions are listed below.

·Should the SC Legislature require that all child care homes in the state that are regulated by the SC Department of Social Services (SCDSS) meet, at a minimum, licensing regulations?

·Should South Carolina adopt a system that rates levels of quality in a manner more reflective of quality and more easily understood by policy makers and the public?

·Should SCDSS child care center licensing regulations be changed to include limitations on group size (the number of children in a room) and higher child-to-staff ratios?

·Should the South Carolina government initiate a campaign to inform employers about the benefits of employer-supported child care, and the tax credits available to them?

·Should the state follow Head Start’s lead and target a date by which all, or a portion of, child care staff will have an Associate Degree in Early Childhood?

·What steps should be taken by the South Carolina government to improve child care in the state?

(Circle as many answers as you want.)

a.Require state inspections and oversight of registered family child care homes.

b.Introduce a rating system to more clearly identify levels of quality.

c.Set higher educational standards for child care providers.

d.Campaign to involve more employers in providing child care for employees’ children.

e.Investigate offering a state-sponsored health benefits plan to all child care workers.

f.Encourage state agencies to provide child care facilities for their employees’ children.

g.Other ideas.

We circled all of them!

Criminal Justice Position

Are you interested in juveniles in the correctional system? Here’s a chance for you to get involved…This is a great opportunity without an unreasonable amount of work involved!

At the state convention in May 2001, the members voted to review the Criminal Justice position statements to determine which could pertain to or be applied to juveniles under SC law.Diane Daane, a state Board member is putting together a review team with a two-group structure, a Steering Committee and a Review Network. This will help to keep the workload manageable for everyone. The Steering Committee will be the core group and the Review Network will collect local data and provide input to the Steering Committee. For more information, contact Diane or me ( 345-9614) and I will get some more information to you .

Cynthia Flynn


N N N N N N N N N N	Diversity Committee

The Columbia Area League’s Diversity Committee [Gita Larson, Marilyn Jersild, Deborah Hotchkiss, Eleanor Lewis and others] is planning a workshop later in the spring to assist the League in becoming more inclusive. The workshop will be led by Tod Ewing, a locally-based consultant who specializes in facilitating organizational workshops on diversity and related issues. Date, time, and place are being determined.

There will be 35 participants from both the Columbia League and the state board. We anticipate a schedule of 9-4, with a box lunch available for about $15. The workshop is being sponsored by the Columbia Area League Diversity Committee as part of a year-long series of events and efforts to develop relationships with other individuals and groups who share League goals for increased voter participation and education.

If you’d like more information, contact Gita Larson at gitalarson@aol.com or 765-0135.

The Governor’s Education Conference previously scheduled to be held in Columbia in January has been rescheduled.We will publish new dates when we receive them from the School Boards Association

Mark Your Calendar for April 16

2002Carrie Allen McCray
to Speak at Annual Meeting

The League of Women Voters of the Columbia area enthusiastically invites you to the Annual Meeting to be held Tuesday April 16, 2002, at the Eau Claire Print Shop at the corner of North Main and Monticello Road. More information will be in the next issue of League Lines and on email. We are very excited to have Carrie Allen McCray as our keynote speaker.

Ms. McCray is the author of Freedom's Child: The Life of a Confederate General's Black Daughter As one reviewer said: "Ms. McCray's ability to put us back in time is timeless, a true depiction of how life was and is for so many African Americans...Her ability to convey the innocence of childhood and reality through the eyes of her mother and through her own experience is something extraordinary." She has been featured at the Spoleto Festival and on "All Things Considered."

For more information, contact Deborah Hotchkiss at dhotchkis@hotmail.comor 252-8911 after 6:00 pm .

Public Policy Luncheon—NEW POLICIES!

As you all know, we regularly have our Public Policy Luncheons at the Capital Senior Center. Until this year, they catered the lunch for us. They have discontinued their lunch service. Since we really like the location and like to support the Senior Center, we are trying other arrangements for lunch. This means having an outside caterer. Suzanne has found a new person who seems to do a very good job. Two issues have arisen !

The first is that we don’t have much flexibility about the number of meals. If you want to eat, you must make a reservation! If you make a reservation, the caterer will bring a lunch for you and we must pay for it. Thus, the Board adopted A NEW POLICY. If you make a reservation for the luncheon and do not cancel before the reservation deadline, you must pay for the lunch whether you come or not! The treasurer will send you a bill!

The second issue concerns people coming to the luncheon who don’t eat lunch. This is fine and we welcome, you, but we still have to pay room rental. We thought that $1.50 would cover the costs but realize this isn’t enough. The Board decided to make a second NEW POLICY. If you attend the luncheon but do not eat, you will be charged $2.00 at the door to cover the cost of the room rental.

Thank you for your participation in the luncheons.They are fun and informative.With these new policies, we can keep the expenses reasonable.Thanks for your cooperation! Cynthia

Update on the Columbia League

Our program-planning meeting at the Lizard’s Thicket on Beltline was once again a very interesting evening. Read the article in this issue for a synopsis of the meeting. About 20 League members attended including a new member, Sherry Jacenko. Welcome Sherry !

The Public Policy Lunch for this month will be held on February 8th . We’ll be talking about the new Canalside Development (where the prison used to be). It should be very interesting and informative. See you there.

On February 25 and 26, we’ll be having some neighborhood meetings to discuss The Road to Clean Elections . A 20-minute video will be shown followed by a group discussion. You have two nights to choose and three locations [see below] .Hopefully, one will be near your home. For more details and directions see the article in this newsletter. Laurel Suggs says that it is a great video. You will also leave the meeting with some talking points so that you can call your legislator. Be sure to attend!

The By the People For the People ETV show is now scheduled to air on April 21, 2002. It will focus on the impacts of growth on sprawl. We’ll be looking for audience members soon! If you would like to attend, call Jane McGregor (936-9933) to get on the list.

    Don’t forget that February 13 is Legislative Day. Try to attend if you can. It is always informative and a good chance to catch up with your legislators! Details and registration info can be found on the insert. All are welcome!

    We still have some copies of the Directory of Elected Officials for Richland and Lexington Counties. If you know of someone or some group who could use them, please let me know!

    Shan Rose, our tireless Make Democracy Work Chairperson, is having back surgery on Valentine’s Day. Good luck Shan.Get well soon!
    There are lots of events in February. Hope to see you at one. Happy Valentine’s Day! Cynthia


Needed - Volunteers for DNET to Cover 2002 Elections WE NEED YOUR HELP.Call Deborah Hotchkiss at 803-252-8911 if you would like to volunteer or if you would like more information about the project.

February

$ Related articles in this issue. * Call to confirm

April

Update on the Columbia League