PCCW meeting focuses on the roles women play in politics

By Linda Grace-Kobas

The President's Council of Cornell Women (PCCW) will focus on issues surrounding women in politics during its spring conference on campus this weekend, April 12-14.

"As women are increasingly successful in gaining elective office and participating at national and international levels in the United States and around the world, we want to focus attention on the roles women play in the political sphere domestically and internationally, and explore the barriers that remain to full participation," said Martha Coultrap, PCCW chair.

Three panel sessions will be open to the Cornell community:

• Friday, April 12: "Global Perspectives on Women in Politics" in B-10 Biotechnology Building, 3:30 to 4:45 p.m. Edith M. Lederer, chief correspondent at the United Nations for the Associated Press, will moderate a panel that includes Valerie Bunce, professor and chair of the Department of Government at Cornell; Deborah A. Starr, Cornell assistant professor of Near Eastern studies; and Lois Wasserspring, professor of political science and co-director of Latin American studies at Wellesley College.

• Saturday, April 13: "Personal Experiences in Politics" in the Statler Hotel Amphitheater, 10:15 a.m. to noon. Kathleen A. Frankovic, director of surveys and a producer at CBS News, will moderate, with panelists Barbara Everitt Bryant, former director of the U.S. Census Bureau and now adjunct research scientist at the University of Michigan; Almeda Church Riley, former mayor of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Helen Kanovsy, former chief of staff to U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, now chief operating officer of the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust; and Judith M. Loeb-Goldfein, director of northeast development for Emily's List.

• A panel on "Women's Political Role in Different Cultures" will be presented in Kennedy Hall from 3:15 to 4:30 p.m. Moderator will be Kathryn S. March, associate professor of anthropology, women's studies and Asian studies at Cornell. Panelists will include Leslie Barkemeyer, student-elected member of the Cornell Board of Trustees.

PCCW members also will host a box lunch with women students in order to provide mentoring for careers.

Established in 1990 with the mission of advancing the involvement and leadership of women students, faculty, staff and alumnae within Cornell and throughout its many constituent communities, PCCW serves as an advisory council to Cornell's president. Its activities include the Affinito-Stewart Grant Program, which has presented more than $262,000 to 121 women at Cornell to help advance their academic careers through support of their research.