STANISLAUS CONNECTIONS
Working For Peace, Justice, and A Sustainable Environment
March, 2001
A Modesto Peace/Life Center Publication
Women's History Month
For the past twenty years, the Stanislaus County Commission for Women has annually chosen a group of outstanding women to honor. This year there are eleven women on the list, one woman of history, and five young women. There will be a dinner on Saturday, March 24, at the SOS club, to which honored women and their families and friends are invited. At the dinner you will see many of the past honorees, who continue to enrich our community with their words and deeds. It’s a time of sharing the myriad ways in which women enliven this community, making it a good place to live with their ideas, their hard work, and their vision of the future. Reservations for the dinner are required. Phone 524-3987. Here are brief biographies of all of the current honorees.
Linda Avedon has been the Executive Director of the United Way of Stanislaus County for over ten years. Social services which serve primarily women now get more recognition and funding. She created a job fair to highlight job opportunities and to help people in crisis and keep families strong. Awards include one from the National Society of Fund Raising Executives, and from the United Way of America,.
Bernice Bick has been a founder and integral worker for the Riverbank Christian Food Sharing program since its beginning, providing food and clothes, information and referral services. She has been a member of the United Methodist Church for 40 years, and sings in the choir. Other work includes Salvation Army Service, the governing board of Healthy Start, and she founded the Stanislaus County Food Coalition, a network for food banks all over the County, as well as food stamps, WIC, and Commodities programs.
Cheryl Green-Jenkins teaches at Grace Davis High School; besides teaching there she has organized community services events at the Children’s Crisis Center for her students. As founding president of Concerned Citizens she advocates for youth experiencing disciplinary problems in schools and networks with other organizations to respect students’ rights. She has been on the King-Kennedy Center Board and the Juneteenth celebration, and is on the Affirmative Action Committee and School Safety Committee for City Schools.
Kathy Hughes is actively involved in Oakdale, as Riverbank School Board member, training people in Guide Dogs for the Blind, Parent chairperson and volunteer for Central Catholic High School, and a Hospice volunteer. Since 1982 she has organized volunteers, and coordinated homeowners and designers for the Designer Showhouse, benefiting Hospice.
Karen O’Bannon of Oakdale began her community involvement with the Children’s Play Park. All her work is dedicated to making life better for children. She is the Project Director with the Family Support Network, and on the Stanislaus County Local Child Care Planning Council and the Children’s Benefit Fund. For the schools, she has worked with Cloverland school and Oakdale Junior High School Parent Club. She does fundraising for the Gladys Lemmons Senior Center, and received the Women of Distinction Award in Health from Soroptimist International of Oakdale. .
Barbara Ewing Powell from Newman is a fifth generation West side resident devoted to preserving the community’s heritage. She formed the Newman Historical Society and was the chairperson for the restoration of the Newman Museum, and she wrote Newman’s centennial book in 1998, She has been president of the Newman Soroptimist Club several times and was honored with their award "Woman of Distinction". The Newman Rotary Club named her "Citizen of the Year."
Laura Turlo Parker worked for the Stanislaus County Public Health Department/ Health Services Agency for twenty years in the areas of sexuality education and teen pregnancy prevention. She was the founder of the R.E.A.L. project in Stanislaus County, a teen pregnancy prevention project which she directs. Laura has a passion and commitment for women’s and children’s issues here, serving as a mentor and leading a girls group here.. She has worked on a conference on all the issues mentioned above.
Patti Taylor of Oakdale is an advocate for senior citizens. As activity director for Oak Valley Care Center, she is committed to ensuring the best quality of life for individuals and families who live at Valley Care Center. She works to preserve the dignity and quality of life at the Center and out in the community.
Patty Stone has been the Executive Director of Doctors Medical Center Foundation since 1988.. She was a pioneer in seven new health related projects such as Miller’s Place, Alzheimer’s Day Care Center, Smoke Free Family, Telecare, Infant Referral Project, MOM project, and health education seminars with the Chamber of Commerce. She has been Director of Volunteers and Bereavement Coordinator for Hospice. She coordinated the Docent Council of McHenry Mansion.
Dottie Stevens was one of the six volunteers who formed the Stanislaus Medical Center’s first auxiliary in 1965; a Center which serves a less advantaged population. She is currently serving her sixth term as president. She was selected as county employee of the year in 1972 and received the Agnes Dix award from the California Nurses Association She is actively involved with Townsend Opera Players, the Sierra Club, the Audubon Society, and Friends Outside.
Gladys Williams has been an advocate for justice all her life. Her most recent project for NAACP was the "Not in Our Town" poster contest campaign against hate crimes (ongoing). She’s Girl Scout leader, works with Read Across America and the Sonoma Festival of the Arts. She is a teacher at John Muir School and advocates for children and parents with special needs.
The Outstanding Woman of History this year is Thais McGrath. (deceased). She was appointed to help form the Oak Valley Hospital District and on its Board of Directors in 1973. She was a City Councilmember, Planning Commissioner and Mayor for the City of Waterford. Writing for the Waterford News she promoted the public’s right to open meetings.
Five Outstanding Young Women have been named. They are:
Amy Sara Beth Haskett. Amy has worked to better the lives of women and children through her projects in Girl Scouts. Her project at Haven House to provide books, clothing and household items, (with other Girl Scouts) earned the Girl Scout Silver Award. She volunteered at the Mildred Perkins School, and helped with the Toys for Tots program for three years. Her work with Hispanic troops has been outstanding while going to Modesto Jr. College.
Nou Lee has been extremely active in High School as Student Senator, school newspaper copy editor and cartoonist, Club Asia Vice President, Key Club President, Future Homemakers. Downey High’s Dance Production, and varsity tennis. She works on a community garden project which she designed as an action plan for 4-H club. Some of her awards are from 4-H, Stanislaus Medical Center, Lao Evangelical Church, Varsity Girls Tennis, Miss Teen California delegate-elect., and the 2000 Diamond Stars Award of Excellence in Community Service.
Miriam Solis as a student at Modesto High School has applied her leadership skills to represent the City of Modesto in Minneapolis (Healthy Communities/Healthy Youth Conference.) She is an outstanding student in the International Baccalaureate program.. She is a guitarist at her church, volunteers at the County library, and for special events with Big Brothers/Big Sisters. Her activities at school include: MECHA president, National Chess Tournament, Modesto High Speech Team and Future business Leaders of America. And she was the school’s representative to Youth-in-Government Day and student representative to the City Council Youth Commission.
Alexa L.R. Strong is a musician and a community volunteer. She plays in the Modesto Band of Stanislaus County (MoBand). She is a member of Modesto Symphony Guild. She was elected to be a delegate to California Girls State. She serves as a member of Doctors Medical Center Junior Volunteer League She is at the top of her class in Modesto High’s International Baccalaureate program and is a varsity tennis player.
Patricia G. (Patti) Torres
who lives in Oakdale, is in the nursing program at Modesto Junior
College. She is fully bi-lingual in English and Spanish, Just five years ago she
spoke no English. She is attending
college full time as well as being a full time mother to her two year old son,
Carlos. She has become active in the Family Support Network.
Patti then took the lead in coordinating the first outreach program for
Hispanic parents, "Familia Unidas". Patti translated the Oak Valley
Hospital Patient Handbook and provides outreach for the hospital in the Hispanic
community.
Women
not hidden in Crouching Tiger
By
SATYA ONORATO
When Ang Lee accepted his
Best Director Golden Globe Award for Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the first person he thanked was his wife. “I really
want to thank my wife for being a role model of the tough women I portray in the
movie,” he said. Lee offers his wife high praise indeed because the women in
his film are quite extraordinary.
The theatrical run of Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon coincides with Women’s History Month. The film has
received ten Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best
Foreign Film. Although many question whether Hollywood has ever had a real
“Year of the Woman,” one thing is for certain. With the characters of Shu
Lien, Jen, and Jade Fox taking center stage, Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon is clearly a “Movie of the Women.”
Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh) is
a well-respected fighter and has succeeded in a man’s profession, diligently
managing the security agency she inherited from her father. One of her clients
calls her “a credit to [her] father’s memory” and comments that “Sun
Security has been the best since [her] father started it.”
Jen (Zhang Ziyi), a
governor’s daughter, idolizes Shu Lien and idealizes the fighter’s lifestyle
of “roaming wild and beating people up.” However, as Shu Lien is quick to
note, “Fighters have rules, too,” chief among them “friendship, trust, and
integrity.”
Jen flouts societal
expectations, declaring, “I do as I please.” She does not look forward to
her impending wedding. “I have not lived,” she laments. Jen recognizes that
women are pawns in alliances among important families. Her marriage will improve
her father’s fortune, she notes, but will not bring her joy. For Jen, “To be
free, to choose who I love, is true happiness.”
Shu Lien identifies with
Jen’s desire for freedom but recognizes the social and class boundaries she
faces. “I hunger for freedom,” Shu Lien confides, “but I must still
respect a woman’s duty. I am not an aristocrat. I have not tasted
happiness.”
Jade Fox (Cheng Pei-pei),
the third major female character, must break the rules to learn the ways of the
warriors. The Wudan master, Jade Fox reveals, “underestimated women. Sure
he’d sleep with me, but he would never teach me.” She steals the Wudan
training manual but can only decipher its diagrams. She must use Jen, a
well-educated aristocrat, to help her learn the manual’s meaning. Like Jen and
Shu Lien, Jade Fox dreams of freedom. “At last,” she tells Jen, “we’ll
be our own masters.”
The film traces how the
three women pursue their dreams. Jade Fox lives by the rule “kill or be
killed” and seeks to “get rid of everyone” so she and Jen can rule. Shu
Lien epitomizes loyalty and personal responsibility. Jen falls somewhere in the
middle, torn between aiding her “master,” Jade Fox, and demonstrating her
allegiance to her “sister,” Shu Lien.
In addition to propelling
the dramatic storyline, the film’s action sequences foreground the women.
Among their many daring feats, women swing from chandeliers, climb walls, leap
from rooftops, swordfight while balancing on tree limbs, and walk on water.
Shu Lien’s encounter with
the masked thief following the first theft of the Green Destiny is noteworthy.
At a time when weapons dominate many movie action sequences, the scene depends
on the women’s physical skills and reflects the true artistry of martial arts.
The women’s quick, acrobatic movements are underscored by the percussion on
Tan Dun’s score, turning their dazzling display of gravity-defying agility
into a near ballet.
Later, in a restaurant,
Jen, disguised as a boy, vanquishes more than twenty men in a feat of stellar
swordswomanship and dexterity. As she steps back to survey the damage she has
wrought, part of the second story of the restaurant crumbles, symbolically
punctuating how Jen has collapsed stereotypes of women.
Ultimately, Shu Lien and
Jen square off in a confrontation characterized by fierce emotions. As they
fight, Jen and Shu Lien break the floor beneath them, a visual representation of
how women in the movie crumble the beliefs about women that are part of the
foundation of their society.
Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon celebrates the
courage, integrity, loyalty, intelligence, cleverness, determination, and
physical prowess of women. The film provides a showcase for three very talented
actresses. Yeoh, Ziyi, and Pei-pei are equally strong in the dramatic and action
sequences, and all bring passion and conviction to their roles.
Near the film’s
conclusion, a conversation between Shu Lien and one of her employees captures
the spirit of hopefulness for the women of the future. When the employee tells
Shu Lien his wife has just given birth to a daughter, she offers
congratulations. The man’s eyes sparkle. “I’ll be happy if she’s half as
strong as you,” he replies.
Recommended films on video
from director Ang Lee: The Wedding Banquet,
Eat Drink, Man
Woman, Sense and Sensibility, and The
Ice Storm.
The Academy Awards will air later this month. In celebration of Women's History Month, here's a list of Best Actress winners from the past ten years:
1990-Kathy Bates, Misery
1991-Jodie Foster, Silence of the Lambs
1992-Emma Thompson, Howard's End
1993-Holly Hunter, The Piano
1994-Jessica Lange, Blue Sky
1995-Susan Sarandon, Dead Man Walking
1996-Frances McDormand, Fargo
1997-Helen Hunt, As Good As It Gets
1998-Gwyneth Paltrow, Shakespeare in Love
1999-Hilary Swank, Boys Don't Cry
