Clearwater and Shad Festival News

THE GREAT HUDSON RIVER REVIVAL:
America's Largest Annual 'Green' Festival

On the Weekend of the Summer Solstice, June 21 and 22, on the Shores Of The Hudson River,
in Westchester County's Croton Point Park.
For more information, click here: http://www.clearwaterfestival.org/

Early Bird Savings on Tickets!
Tickets purchased in advance qualify for a special early bird discounts. Purchase your tickets before April 21 and save up $15 off gate price of $45. Children under 12 are free. Membership discounts are availably instantly to those who become members. To order tickets call 1-800-67-SLOOP or visit website above.

This year the Festival has significantly stepped up its efforts to reach its "Zero Waste" goal by arranging to collect all food waste for composing. Clearwater was the first major festival to develop the concept more than 42 years ago with the Litter Picking Committee, and today it is an integral part of our efforts to make our event a model for all other Festivals to follow.

Clearwater is also using recyclable products and encouraging visitors to bring their own water, minimizing the environmental impact on the site. The five performance stages are all powered with 100% sustainable energy that includes solar and bio-diesel. The festival will also feature hands-on environmental education workshops and exhibits, including the GREEN LIVING EXPO, where companies, firms and organizations showcase green products or services, an the ACTIVIST AREA, where visitors can get information on many of the community's important environmental groups.

Also on Sunday May 18: THE RIVERLOVERS' SHADFEST from 11am to 5pm. At 2pm - Free shad samples from the Hudson River Foundation. At 2:30pm - Arm of the Sea Theater performs Music all day on the Shadfest Stage. Shad dinners and vegetarian chili for sale (also hotdogs and hamburgers) plus craft vendors and activist groups, all day long! Rain or shine!
http://www.riverlovers.org/shadfest.htm

Night Music from the New Paltz College-Community Chorale

Denise Springer sent this concert announcement. She sings with the New Paltz College-Community Chorale. So mark your calendar.

SUNY New Paltz : Music Overview

Spring Choral Concert: Night Music

Tuesday, April 15, 2008, 8 pm
Julien J. Studley Theatre

Choral music celebrating the beauty and mystery of the night, sung by the Concert Choir, Chamber Singers and College-Community Chorale under the direction of Edward Lundergan.

$6 general admission, $4 seniors/staff, $3 students

Photo by michibanban

Gandhi's Satygraha: social and climate change

On the AAUW trip April 5 to Tosca at Lincoln Center, we noted what appeared to be a home-made banner across the Metropolitan Opera House with fish, river, bare feet, an eco-system of Mahatma Gandhi's life-changing philosophy of Satyagraha. Now comes member Caroline Paulson's email with information about the city-wide event. I thought you would be interested in this:
April offers New Yorkers extraordinary opportunities to explore Gandhi's satyagraha or "truth force," and how Gandhi's ideas and example can transform today's environmental and social change movements. See below for the Garrison Institute's free public forum on Satyagraha and Climate Change April 13 at St. John the Divine, previewed in Sunday's New York Times
. Also below is information on a satyagraha march to Union Square today April 6, the anniversary of the Salt March or Salt Satyagraha, perhaps Gandhi's famous act of civil disobedience. It kicks off a month of satyagraha-themed events in New York. Tune into WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show Friday, April 4, 11 am for a discussion of satygraha, social change and climate change.As Philip Glass’s opera “Satyagraha” opens at the Metropolitan Opera, the Garrison Institute in cooperation with the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine presents a free, public forum exploring Gandhi’s concept of satyagraha or “truth force,” its links with Thoreau’s civil disobedience, Emerson’s self-reliance, and Martin Luther King, Jr.’s agape, and the relevance of this thought lineage to our time. Satyagraha: Gandhi’s “truth force” in the Age of Climate ChangeA free public forum April 13, 2008 7:00pmat New York’s Cathedral Church of Saint John the DivineAmsterdam Avenue and 112th StreetPlease join us for a historic evening with:
Dr. A. T. Ariyaratne, founder of Sri Lanka’s Sarvodaya movement
John Francis, United Nations Environment Program Ambassador, founder of Planet Walk
Rajmohan Gandhi, Gandhi’s biographer and grandson

Philip Glass, performing excerpts of his opera, “Satyagraha”
Paul Hawken, author of Blessed Unrest
Odetta, singer/songwriter often called “the voice of the civil rights movement”
Billy Parish, founder of the Climate Campaign, co-founder/coordinator of the Energy Action Coalition
Sulak Sivaraksa, founder of the Thailand Spirit in Education Movement
Mary Evelyn Tucker, co-founder/co-director of the Forum on Religion and EcologyFor more information on the April 13 Satyagraha public forum, see http://www.garrisoninstitute.org/. No reservations necessary. Arrive early for best seats. Directions: www.stjohndivine.org/visit_directions.htmlFor tickets to Philip Glass’s opera “Satyagraha,” visit http://www.metopera.org/. For other April satyagraha events in the NYC area, visit http://www.satya-graha.org/.
The Garrison Institute
· Route 9D at Glenclyffe, Garrison, New York, 10524 · Tel. 845.424.4800
http://www.garrisoninstitute.org/ · garrison@garrisoninstitute.org

Lip Service From Albany

It's time for us to take action because Albany apparently won't.

It's the same thing every year -- the pay equity bill passes the House but never gets out of the Labor Committee in the Senate. For six years our elected representatives have been giving us nothing but lip service.

Bruno won't comment. Robach, Committee Chair, talks out of both sides of his mouth.

Steinem adds voice to pay-gap bill -- Page 1 -- Times Union - Albany NY

A National Academy of Sciences report on pay inequity found that up to half of wage disparity between men and women was not explained by differences in factors such as education or experience.

"This is outrageous," said Craig Johnson, D-Port Washington, the bill's Senate sponsor. "It is tragic that we claim to be in a progressive state, yet we have not remedied this tremendous wrong."

The bill has passed the Assembly every year since 2002, but died in the Senate Labor Committee. This year, it passed the Assembly again and is in the committee.

Sen. Joseph Robach, R-Rochester, who heads the Labor Committee, also spoke at the event, expressing his commitment to providing good, equitable wages to all residents.

Robach's office did not respond when asked whether the bill will move out of committee this year.

Scott Reif, a spokesman for Senate Majority Joseph L. Bruno, wouldn't comment on why the bill hasn't reached the Senate floor for a vote previously. He said the bill would be reviewed "but right now we're focused on passing the state budget."

Johnson said he isn't interested in waiting any longer. "Time's up, put the bill onto the Senate floor," he said. "If not, let a new majority do it."

*****

CALL Senator Joseph Robach, Chair,Senate Labor Committee
518.455.2909 (preferable) and ask for his Chief of Staff

or write him at 902 LOB, Albany, NY 12247

or e-mail robach@senate.state.ny.us.

Tell him you want the NYS Fair Pay Bill (S3936) out of committee and on the floor of the Senate for debate. When will that happen?

Photo by Anyaka

For more information on the bill read this summary on the NYS AAUW blog.