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JANUARY - Illana Rosenfeld (Mui Ho Publisher)

Meeting location map January 21, 1974 - Ruth Kleinman

December Meeting record - CJC (CJ Crump?)

More about the Steering Committee - Lucia Bogatay

Employment - Illana Rosenfeld/Bobbie Sue Hood

West Coast Women's Design Conference - University of Oregon April 18-21

FEBRUARY - Rosie Muller (Cathy Simon Publisher)

Agenda: OWA meeting Monday, February 25, 1974 - Bobbie Sue Hood to chair this meeting

January minutes - Marian Haviland

Structural Seminars - AIA of East Bay

OWA Library - Wendy Bertrand

Dues are Due - Pat Noda

Where Do We Go From Here????????? - Lucia Bogatay

Jobs - Lucia Bogatay

1950 Franklin, Street, near corner of Washington in San Franscisco

(pending approval of precise wording only)

Russian, Ukrainian and Latvian churches

(with overlapping terms),

rather than by student group(s),

"The Steering Committee" is familiar to most of our members, but since there is an election this month, we felt this was a good time to expain how it came about, and the reasons for its peculiar design.
Last Spring, before elections were held, there was a meeting of people interested in the development of OWA's government. Like me, they were mostly people with a distrust of "Executive Committees" as they are conventionally formed, and we felt that in order to keep our interest in the OWA we might try to design a system that we would be able to enjoy.

We knew, first of all that we needed some kind of organization because of the experiences of Boston's Womens group as related to us by Dolores Hayden. Her warnings to us last winter made some of the members argue for a leadership as broadly based as possible to make sure it represented a consensus of the membership. Others felt that the officers should be of a specific rather than a ceremonial character, i.e., not "President" or "Sargent-at-Arms."

So the Steering Committee was created with five equal members and five alternates. The five original tasks were Treasurer, Education Coordinator, Publicity Coordinator, Employment Coordinator, and Publisher. Members were duly elected and meetings began. We soon discovered the advantages of having the alternates function as regular members. Finally we added two student members and wrote up the BY-Laws in the form approved in December.

The Committee functions very well and so far the original goals have become fact as explained below:
1. Administrative duties are shared in rotation among the Steering Committee members, who occasionally deligate things to others from the general membership_ Each Committee member acts as chairman and organizer of one general meeting, arranges for food. Each member generally offers her house for one of the meetings. Each member is editor of the Newsletter for one month. Each member volunteers (hopefully) to take notes at a meeting.
2. There are always plenty of ideas and all sides of any question are aired, much as at general OWA meetings. Decisions are made after discussion by concensus.
3. Each Committee member has a special ongoing project in addition to shared administration. Some of these Jobs will probably expand into task forces as OWA gets older. New projects will arise, such as our Calendar and the Board Membership in ESCMT.
4. No one is really overworked, though many work very hard and each project is potentially time consuming and we all feel that more could be accomplished. A great deal of help has come from OWA members and our group depends members contributions to the Newletter. As more members become ex-members of the Steering Committee, they will surly continue to be helpful.

This design can accommodate a large membership. As of this moment the Committee constitutes about one third of the membership. Thus a high proportion of OWA members are involved which should continue to keep OWA alive and growing.

This is the second rough draft of the Bylaws of the OWA :

Informal gathering with buffet supper featuring authentic Israeli specialties $1.00 for food .$ .50 for wine

Deadline for votes for now steering committee. If you did not vote at the last meeting, use the ballot In this newsletter. Mail your ballot to Rosle Muller, 2831 Garber Street, Berkeley 94705, or bring It to this meeting before 7 pm.

Announcoment of now steering committee members and passing of the baton, so to speak

Panel discussion by three Say Area attorneys who have speclafized in ending discrimination: "Equality Under the Law: What Woman Can Do Now to Achieve Equal Pay and Equal Opportunity for Both Employment and Advancement"

Board of Architectural Examiners
1021 "0' Street
Sacramento. California 95814
Telephone; (916) 445-3393

The OWA has just finished Its first year, and many of us have found the meetings and contacts valuable experfences. Simply getting to know other women In architecture has been a sufficient raison d'etre.

Now the question of more concrete objectives has arisen. Following Ilana Rosenfeld's suggestion that we contact representative architectural offices to let them know of our existence, the steering committee prepared the following letter.

Everyone thus far is enthusiastic about contacting the firms. However, the letter has raised a few issues which are controversial and which should be voted on by the organization as a whole.

If the OWA goes to the expense of writing, printing, addressing, and mailing letters to architectural offices, then It needs to make sure that the effort is worthwile both financially and productively. The OWA also needs to determine precisely what image it wishes to project in the letter.

If the letter is mailed to the top 200 to 300 firms In the Bay Area, then we estimate that it will cost perhaps $200 to S300. Potentially, the letter can be a tool for Affirmative Action and possibly even for suits to end discrimination In offices which have no women. This would come about through keeping a record of the number of women available for work in architecture In this area (statistics). and acting as an agency which firms can contact who are seeking.women employees.

The letter following assumes that these two goals are desirable. Your ccmments wlll be encouraged during the February 25 meeting.

Note the responsibilities that would occur as a result of sending the letter. The OWA would have to start keepIng an accurate account of women and their qualifications. This would require at least two dedicated volunteers to make and maintain good files.

The letter would also imply that the OWA was taking a more active and potentially even somewhat militant role-- than it has In the past to seek a better position for women In the field.

Are we willing to accept these responsibilities?

The panel of attorneys scheduled for the February 25 meetIng may help us to answer this question. In the interim, read over the letter and think about the resources which you are willing to commit, and what you want from the OWA.