Amherst League of Women Voters

Bulletin April 2014 Vol. LXV– No 8

CALENDAR March 31 through April 30. Pricing and sorting for the LWVA LWVA 253-0633 Book Sale @ East Street School building, South East Street. See p. 6. Co-Presidents Thursday, April 3, 7 p.m., refreshments 6:30. Go, Granny D.! Cynthia Brubaker Performance by Off-Broadway actress Barbara Bates Smith and 253-6679 musician Jeff Sebens @ The Red Barn, Hampshire College. Katherine Vorwerk 256-8737 Tuesday, April 8, 7 p.m. Northampton Area League consensus meeting on LWVUS Ag Study @ Florence Civic Center, 90 Park 2nd Vice President Street. See p. 3. Peggy Roberts Tuesday, April 8, 7 p.m. LWVA/TMCC Warrant Review, Town 549-1575 Room, Amherst Town Hall. See p. 2.

Secretary Thursday, April 10, 6:45 p.m. LWVA Board meeting @ Rachel Mustin 2 Hills Road, Amherst. Contact Cynthia Brubaker, 253-6679. 253-5779 Tuesday, April 15, 7 p.m. GMOs: How Genetically Modified Plants are Made @ Town Room, Amherst Town Hall. See below. Co-Treasurers Saturday, April 26, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Amherst Sustainability Joan Rabin Festival @ Amherst Common. LWVA will have a table. 253-3587 Janice Ratner Monday, April 28. Start of Amherst Town Meeting. 253-7214 Friday, May 2 through Sunday, May 4. LWVA Book Sale @ Amherst Common. See p. 6. Membership Saturday, May 10. LWVMA Council. Richard Kofler 256-3517 Thursday, May 29. LWVA Annual Meeting.

Voter Service The Science of Genetically Modified Plants Mary Jane Laus UMass Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular 549-1918 Biology Elizabeth Vierling will help us gain a basic understanding

of genetic modification of plants. Her presentation is cosponsored Bulletin Editor Katherine Campbell by LWVA, Grow Food Amherst, Sustaining Amherst, and the 256-6042 National Science Foundation. Her work is funded by NSF and the National Institutes of Health.

FROM THE CO-PRESIDENTS Recently, I was at a meeting during which Becky Shannon, one of our members and also a LWVMA State Board member, said something off the cuff that was so spot on that I asked her to write up what she said so it could be this month’s President’s Message. From Becky: “Often, we tend to start caring about the community we live in when we begin our families. We grow up, settle down and become invested. All of a sudden our neighborhoods matter to us. We want good schools. We notice our parks and playgrounds. We expect roads to be plowed and services to be effectively carried out by the DPW, the Water Department, the Fire Department, the Police Department and all the other town departments that make up town government. We want our property taxes to be stable and not be misspent. We want our mayors and council members, select board members, school committees and other governmental bodies to be respectful, diligent and thoughtful. Most often we also don’t want to think much about all this. We just want our public services to work. But someone has to mind the store. “Since 1920, the LWV has been a guardian of the The Warrant Review, to acquaint public interest in local communities. Active Leagues Town Meeting members with the help inform their communities and allow democracy articles that will come before Town to work in the public sphere. Meeting, will be held April 8 at “Our communities need the LWV. When citizens are 7 p.m. in the Town Room. As a informed and engaged, towns tend to do well. When separate activity, we also review the no one cares, or has no time to care, it shows. League warrant articles for possible League members always care.” support. Please contact Martha Hanner ([email protected]) if It is important work that we do on the local level and you are interested in helping to nobody does it quite like the LWV. Thank you, review the articles. Becky, for putting this in words so that we can all reflect on it.

Cynthia Brubaker

Membership Report This month, we welcome 3 new members to the Amherst LWV: Helen Berg (508) 310-3185 [email protected] Judy H. Brooks (413) 253-3979 [email protected] Betsey Johnson In addition, the following members have provided some updated information: Barbara Francis has a new phone: (413) 773-3522 Martha Hanner has a new email: [email protected] Janet Chevan has a new email: [email protected] Dick Kofler

2 One for the League As part of our continuing celebration of our 75th anniversary, we are launching an initiative called One for the League. It involves every member of our Amherst League! This is the idea: Sometime during this anniversary year, we would like each of you to do something for the League that you had not planned to do. It doesn’t have to be anything major—just something that is related to the League. An “extra” something. For example, you might make up your mind that this is the year that you will help register voters, or encourage your neighbor to join the League. You don’t have to tell anyone about what you intend to do unless you want to. No one will “check up” on you. It’s all up to you. Below is a list of suggestions from the Board for things you might do. You can choose one of them or something entirely different. The point is that through One for the League, each of us will be doing something extra for the League, perhaps even something quite special, in honor of our 75th anniversary! One for the League Suggestions • Talk to a friend, relative, or young person about the League • Encourage a friend, relative, or young person to join the League • Come to a League meeting, activity or other event • Bring a friend to a League meeting, activity or other event • Volunteer to work on the Book Sale • Read the LWVA web site, or Face Book Page • Respond to an Action Alert • Read the League’s Bulletin • Write to the Bulletin editor about an article • Send comments and suggestions about what is and isn’t going on to the co-Presidents or other LWVA leaders—we will respond! • Join a Committee or Interest Group • Volunteer for the Board • Register voters at naturalization ceremonies on July 4th • Make an anniversary donation to the League (see p. 9) • Remember the League in your will Kathy Vorwerk Interested in participating in the LWVUS Agriculture Consensus? If you would like to participate, please consider going to the consensus meeting at the Florence Civic Center at 90 Park Street in downtown Florence on Tuesday, April 8 at 7 PM. The Northampton Area LWV will be conducting the meeting. There is plenty of parking and the building is handicapped accessible. Materials to read beforehand are on the LWVUS web site. For further information, please contact Lou Bouley at [email protected].

3 Who Was Granny D? “Granny D”, Doris Haddock, who at 89 walked across the United States for campaign finance reform, died at 100 in her home state of in 2010. But she will be visiting the stage of the Red Barn of Hampshire College on April 3, 2014, in the form of Barbara Bates Smith, an actress who was mesmerized by Granny D and her story and brings her version of it to audiences across the country. Many in these audiences are League of Women Voters members, since Granny’s main cause continues to be important to the League---and Doris Haddock was herself a 50-year member of the League. Doris Haddock had several connections with Amherst during her lifetime: her husband was an Amherst college student when they met, fell in love and married in 1929; in 2005, Doris Haddock gave the Commencement address at Hampshire College, when, I have heard, her granddaughter graduated. For those of you intending to attend Barbara Bates Smith’s presentation, or for those of you who’d like to know more about who Granny Smith was, I’ve summarized what I’ve learned about her on line. Edna Doris Rollins was born on Jan. 24, 1910, in Laconia, N.H. She was a student at Emerson College in from 1927 until 1929, when the college expelled her because of her marriage. (Emerson gave her an honorary degree in 2000.) Doris and her new husband, James Haddock, moved to Manchester, N.H. There James was an electrical engineer, while Doris raised two children. In 1952, Doris went to work at BeeBee Shoe Co, where she ultimately became the assistant to the general manager. Doris’ political activism apparently began in 1960, when the Haddocks drove to to help the (ultimately successful) campaign against planned nuclear bomb testing near an Inuit village. In Dublin, to which the Haddocks retired in 1972, Doris was active in local affairs and served on the Planning Board. In 1985, Doris helped the successful fight against plans to build a highway through Dublin. In 1983, however, her husband was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and in the ten years before his death in 1993, Doris focused on caring for Jim. In 1995, Doris Haddock became interested in campaign finance reform. After a petition movement she had led got nowhere, Doris decided to try a more dramatic way to stimulate interest and gain support for this reform. On January 1, 1999, I believe on her 70th wedding anniversary, and only a few weeks before her 89th birthday, Doris left Pasadena on her walk across the U.S. She walked about ten miles each day, eating when she was offered food and sleeping where she was offered a room. Granny D, as which she now became well known, was pilgrim as well as political activist. She walked 3,200 miles across the southern U.S., gaining a dozen keys to cities and attracting media interest. Her walk ended at the Capitol on February 9, 2000, where over 2000 people waited to greet her. Later that spring, Granny D was arrested and charged with the offense of demonstrating in the Capitol for reading the Declaration of Independence in the Rotunda. The judge sentenced her to time served and a $10 fine. In her comments in court she said “I was reading from the

4 Declaration of Independence to make the point that we must declare our independence from the corrupting bonds of big money in our election campaigns.” When the Senate passed the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Bill in April 2001, the Senate recognized Doris Haddock’s work. (Ultimately, a companion bill started in the House of Representatives was enacted as the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act in March 2002.) In 2003, Granny D drove over 23,000 miles to help register women and minorities. At 94, she left that work to campaign for the New Hampshire Senate against incumbent , when the leading Democratic candidate left the race shortly before the primary because of a campaign finance scandal. She changed her middle name legally to Granny D so that she could campaign as Granny D Haddock. She refused to accept anything but the small donations of private citizens, but won 34% of the vote. Granny D continued to be politically active, lobbying for campaign finance reform in the NH State House to celebrate her 98th, 99th and 100th birthdays. Shortly before her 100th birthday, when the Supreme Court produced the Citizens United decision, she wrote: “The Supreme Court…has made things considerably worse by undoing the modest reforms I walked for and went to jail for and that tens of thousands of other Americans fought very hard to see enacted. The Supreme Court now opens the floodgates to usher in a new tsunami of corporate money into politics.” Granny D died March 9, 2010, leaving her son, eight grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren, and an inspiring model for women and men of all ages. Note: Granny D’s daily diary during her walk was the source for Granny D: Walking Across America in My 90th Year (2001); her life experiences are also the subject of You’re Never too Old to Raise a Little Hell (2003) and Granny D’s American Century (2012), all co-written with Dennis Michael Burke. “Run Granny Run” is a documentary film on her walk, and her run for the Senate. Susan Millinger

2013 Finance Drive The following local businesses have contributed generously to this year’s Finance Drive: Greenfield Savings Bank Henion Bakery R & P Liquors & Fine Wines Singer/Potito Associates We appreciate their support! Janice Ratner

5 Book Sale 2014 By the time you are reading this, we will have started our spring ritual of working on the book sale. This year we are sorting and pricing at the East Street School*, which the town of Amherst has kindly let us use. The East Street School presents several challenges, but I was unable to find a commercial property of suitable size. The main challenge is that we will be working on 3 different levels, but before you throw up your arms in shock, please note that there is a large dumbwaiter in which we can send books up and down. And for those who don’t do stairs at all, there will be tasks on the floor where one enters. As always, we need the participation of many of our members to process the thousands of books we get. And you don’t have to be a member of the League to help out, so enlist your relatives, friends and neighbors to lend a hand as well. The work schedule is Monday through Friday 9:30 AM to 4 PM, and Saturdays 9:30 AM to 1 PM.** We must be done by April 30, since the books are being moved to the tent on May 1st. Working on the book sale can be a lot of fun, and workers get first crack at the books. If you see something interesting, you can ask another worker to price it for you and you can buy it, unless it might be a treasure in which case it can be put aside until one of our appraisers gets to look at it. Sorting and pricing books also lets you see old friends and make new ones. And you don’t have to be scheduled to come in to sort and price, nor do you have to stay for the whole session. If you have an hour or two to spare, drop by the East Street School and you will be welcomed. So come and take part in a fun and interesting activity! Eva Cashdan

Meryl Kessler Visits Amherst A self-described “outsider” who did not join the League until she became LWVMA’s new Executive Director a few months ago, Meryl Kessler sees LWV as a terrific “brand”, instantly recognized by almost everyone and associated with trustworthiness and integrity. But on the other hand she found that, digging a little deeper, those same people could seldom say what the League of Women Voters actually DOES, not even active, well-educated people, not even people in government, elected or appointed. And it is no secret that the League faces a major demographic challenge At an LWVA reception on March 15, Meryl told us about some of her initiatives. She began sending out an e-newsletter to legislators, media, officials and other public figures. She launched a video contest for high school students, “Dear Future Governor”, with prizes of $1000, $500 and $250 for a two-minute video about a problem and possible solution that they want the next Governor to address. Also mentioned were Youth Advisory Councils at the state or local level, and local college “units” that would allow students to become involved at whatever level interests them. Send more suggestions, including local movers and shakers who should be receiving LWVMA’s e-newsletter, to [email protected].

6 Campaign Finance Committee Update The LWVMA Campaign Finance Study Committee (CFSC), with support from the LWVMA Board, has not let cold temperatures and snow drifts throw us off track as we tick off our checklist in preparation for the 2014 National LWVUS Convention in Dallas, June 6-10. In early January, LWVMA sent a request to Leagues across the nation asking for support at LWVUS Program Planning meetings. We believe Leagues are looking to clarify the meaning of the League’s position on Campaign Finance. The position has not been reviewed since 1973 despite monumental changes handed down by the Supreme Court. We should know LWVUS’s response to this appeal for clarification soon. Working with the LWVUS Task Force on Campaign Finance, the CFSC pulled together material for a Primer on Campaign Finance this winter. LWVA member Kathy Campbell was the lead author. The Primer is a 40-page League document that provides a history and overview of money in politics, pros and cons of the various remedies and discussion questions to initiate conversations, plus a number of appendices. The third edition of our PowerPoint Presentation (the first was prepared for Convention 2012) was also produced by the CFSC this winter and is being presented to various local Leagues and other civic groups in Massachusetts and also in other states, with refinements based on audience feedback. LWVUS Campaign Finance Task Force Chair, Toni Larsen, presented the program to the LWVUS National Board in early March. Our objective is that the Primer and Presentation will become the prototype for a LWV National Program that can be distributed to Leagues throughout the nation as a resource for public education in their communities on this important topic. At the 2010 Convention, the Concord-Carlisle LWV recommended to the LWVUS Board that it consider the need for an Amendment to correct the Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United. In 2012, a coalition of Massachusetts Leagues submitted a resolution to the Convention (LWVA was the lead author) calling on LWVUS to advocate for “all appropriate, duly- considered measures, which may include, but are not limited to, a Constitutional Amendment” to allow States and Congress to regulate money in elections. The resolution passed with an overwhelming majority, but LWVUS does not yet support any proposed Constitutional Amendment. LWVMA will submit a new resolution at 2014 Convention with more specific language calling on LWVUS to support amendment language that would allow the regulation of money in elections by the people’s representatives, such as that contained in SJR 19 (Senator Tom Udall, NM) or HJR 20 (Senator Jim McGovern, MA). The CFSC is developing its program for a Friday night caucus at Convention to advocate for our resolution. LWVUS will include a workshop on campaign finance reform in its Priority Issues’ workshops on Monday of Convention, where we anticipate working with the LWVUS Task Force to roll out the CF Tool Kit, including the Primer and Presentation. Becky Shannon, CFSC Chair

7 LWVA 75th Anniversary The League celebrated its 75th Anniversary on March 1, 2014 with a luncheon in the Marriott Room, University of Massachusetts Campus Center. Almost 70 League members and guests had a served luncheon of grilled salmon, chicken marsala, or butternut squash ravioli followed by birthday cake for dessert. The program began with the recognition of 50-year members and past presidents. Special recognition was given to Lucy Wilson Benson, a local League president who went on to serve as president of the state and national Leagues. The state League co-Presidents, Ann Borg and Marilyn Peterson, congratulated the Amherst League on its

anniversary and Rep. Ellen Story and Alisa Brewer, member of the Amherst Select Board, presented citations to the League. An award of $100 was presented to Amherst-Pelham Regional High School senior, Grace Findlen-Golden, in honor of the League's anniversary. Rhoda Honigberg, Nancy Eddy, and Rebecca Fricke spoke about the League from their perspectives as past presidents and about the role the League played in their lives. The program was recorded by Amherst Media for later viewing. Historical photos and articles were displayed on boards and on computers. The League published and distributed a booklet and summary page of its 75-year history at the luncheon. If you did 8 not get a copy of either publication and would like one, please contact Kathy Vorwerk.

Thank you to the members of the committee who planned this event and worked hard to make it happen: Cynthia Brubaker, Katherine Vorwerk Feldman, Phyllis Lehrer, Maija Lillya, Kathleen Woods Masalski, Deanna Pearlstein, and Adrienne Terrizzi. Thanks also to Jerry Brubaker, Eva Cashdan, Kathy Campbell and the speakers for their help and participation. And thank you to all of you who came to the luncheon and made this celebration such a special occasion. Janice Ratner Chair, 75th Anniversary Committee

IN HONOR OF OUR 75TH ANNIVERSARY Make a donation to our Amherst League to strengthen its financial foundation and insure its continuation for another 75 years and more! $25.00 _____ $75.00 _____ $150.00_____ other $______Name______Address______Email______Optional: In honor of: ______In memory of:______Make check payable to: LWV of Amherst Mail to: Box 2372, Amherst, MA 01004-2372

9 If this is April, it must be BOOK SALE TIME! March 31 through April 30: Pricing and sorting at the East Street School (across from the Fort River Elementary School) M-F 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sat 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.