PCCW focuses on issues of women's health at its spring meeting on campus

Susan Murphy, vice president for student and academic services, left, greets PCCW development chair Sharon Weinberg '68, '70, Ph.D. '71, right, at a PCCW sponsored reception for faculty March 30 in the Dougherty Lounge in Ives Hall. Looking on are Provost Biddy Martin, second from right, and Martha Coultrap '71, who will become PCCW president July 1. Nicola Kountoupes/University Photography

PCCW member Ronni Chernoff '67, director of education at the Donald W. Reynolds Center on Aging in Little Rock, Ark., moderates a panel on "Women's Health: The Cutting Edge" in Ives Hall at the PCCW spring conference on campus March 30. Barry DeLibero/University Photography

By Linda Grace-Kobas

Women's health was the focus of the President's Council of Cornell Women's (PCCW) annual spring meeting on campus March 30-April 1, which provided a broad overview of issues ranging from personal well-being to national and international perspectives and programs for female students here.

"Learning more about women's health issues on campus has been a major PCCW initiative this past year," said Toby Kleban Levine '64, who will be completing a two-year term as PCCW president on June 30. "This conference helped educate our members to current trends and heightened awareness of health problems facing many of our women students. Our next step will be to work closely with the university to see that the widest array of assistance is available to women with health-related needs."

More than 70 members attended the conference, which included a session, March 31, chaired by Bonnie Howell, PCCW member who is president and CEO of Cayuga Medical Center, on "Health and Wellness for Cornell Women on Campus." Nina Cummings, health educator at Gannett: University Health Services, discussed women's sexual health education; Lynn Gerstein, counselor at Gannett, described alcohol and drug abuse outreach education; and Carolyn Hodges of the Elmira Nutritional Clinic, who works with Cornell students with eating disorders, described the problem here. Recent graduate Jocelyn Getgen '00, a health promotion assistant at Gannett, discussed student perspectives, agreeing with Hodges that eating disorders are a troublesome problem, one that affects male as well as female students. Getgen said the sports media extol a body image that appears healthy and athletic, but whose maintenance requires risk-ridden diets and exercise levels.

The PCCW meeting opened March 30 with a professional panel moderated by Ronni Chernoff '67, director of education at the Donald W. Reynolds Center on Aging in Little Rock, Ark. Ellen Mayer Sabik '84, a cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic, said that cardiovascular disease is the single leading cause of death among women and described risk factors. Both she and Chernoff urged women not to smoke, since it is a completely preventable risk factor for cardiovascular disease that triples women's risk for heart attacks. Purnima Menon, a Ph.D. candidate in international nutrition, described women's health issues in developing countries, where the biggest risks are from inadequate diet and maternal mortality, as well as AIDS. "In most societies, women take care of everyone but themselves," she said.

PCCW member Dana Friedman '73, of Bright Horizons Family Solutions, discussed how research can aid development of family policies on a panel that included Karen Davis, president of the Commonwealth Fund, and Aletha C. Huston, professor at the University of Texas at Austin. This event was part of the College of Human Ecology centennial celebration.

A reception honoring Biddy Martin, first woman provost of Cornell, and Susan Henry, first woman dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and recipients of 2000 PCCW-sponsored Affinito-Stewart faculty grants was held March 30.

President Hunter Rawlings described the "state of the university" to PCCW members at a dinner March 30, saying "Cornell is a better place" because of the group's support of initiatives for women on campus.

Levine announced that PCCW had completed raising funds for a $75,000 pledge for women's softball a year ahead of schedule, and that total giving to the university by PCCW members is now about $36 million. The group also has awarded more than $245,000 to 120 women on campus through the Affinito-Stewart Grant Program.

"The members of this organization -- and their dedication to using their talent to serve Cornell and particularly its women students, faculty and administrators -- is unparalleled," Levine later said in an interview. "Collectively, they are the most goal-oriented group with which I have ever worked and thus their accomplishments are phenomenal."

Taking over as PCCW chair for the next two years will be Martha Coultrap '71, a lawyer who practices in New York City. Her goal is "to tap the extraordinary talents of the women who are members of PCCW and to further the goals of PCCW, improving the professional opportunities for Cornell women faculty, staff and students," she said.