Argonaut Online News

TUES 18 NOV 2003

Women discuss what they want

By Tara Karr
Argonaut Staff

In the film “What Women Want,” Mel Gibson acquires the unusual ability to hear women’s thoughts and analyze their inner workings.

At the forum “What Women Want,” UI students will have the opportunity to hear and discuss what prominent campus and community women want — without Hollywood psychic powers, of course.

The forum will be at 4 p.m. Thursday at the Ag Biotech Interaction Court. It was organized by Elizabeth Morrow, an Australian graduate student currently interning at the Women’s Center. Morrow said she was inspired by a televised forum of the same name that airs yearly in Australia.

“I have always thought of it as a wonderful opportunity for women to voice the wants, needs and concerns of women in contemporary society,” Morrow said. “I thought this would be such a neat concept to apply within a university setting.”

Key speakers at the forum include Margrit von Braun, associate dean of the College of Graduate Studies; Noemi Herrera, UI student and co-chair of the Women of Color Alliance; Sharon Kehoe, director of the Campus Christian Center; and Joann Muneta, chair of the Latah County Human Rights Task Force.

Katherine Aiken, a UI professor and chair of the history department, will also speak at the forum. She said the question “What do women want?” has been asked for ages by distinguished women such as author Virginia Woolf.

“I would like it to be the case that we don’t ask that anymore,” Aiken said. “That we would (instead) ask what people want, and it would be the same stuff.”

Kari Galloway, interim director of the Women’s Center, said she decided to speak at the forum because it is not every day that she is asked what she wants, and she is interested in hearing how other women answer the same question.

“We need to make more opportunities to have open and honest dialogue with each other, men and women, about what it is we really want,” Galloway said.

Morrow said the topics will range from small things to ideas of world-changing power.

One speaker will address the challenges of being a successful student, single parent and nontraditional student, and the desire for students with these characteristics to be acknowledged, Morrow said.

Other topics include the importance and interaction of arts and human rights causes, the significance of women of all colors uniting and supporting each other, and the movement beyond stereotypes about class, race and sexual orientation.

“I want the modern-day woman — whether she be a student, a girlfriend, a wife, a boss, an employee, a mom, a lesbian, a single parent, a woman of color, rich or poor, satisfied or not — to have a voice,” Morrow said. “I want people to realize that we all have the ability to say something that matters.”

News Editor: Abbey Lostrom Webmistress: Amanda J Hundt
UI Argonaut, 301 Student Union, Moscow, Idaho 83843 208.885.7845

TODAY

Interdisciplinary colloquium
“The Chicano-Chicana Experience in the Pacific Northwest”
Idaho Commons Whitewater Room
12:30 p.m.

Work and Life Program workshop
“What You Need to Know About Food Safety”
Student Recreation Center Classroom
3:30 p.m.

Genesis: A Living Conversation
Campus Christian Center
5:30 p.m.

WEDNESDAY

GIS Day
Idaho Commons Horizon Room
9 a.m.

Noontime concert
Singer-songwriter David Harris
Idaho Commons Food Court
noon

Work and Life Program workshop
“Building Meaningful Relationships”
Student Recreation Center Classroom
3 p.m.

Women’s Center discussion
“What Women Want”
Memorial Gym Room 109
4 p.m.

All-American music concert
Presented by Phi Mu Alpha
University Auditorium
8 p.m.

THURSDAY

Art opening and reception
Pritchard Art Gallery
5 p.m.

Diversity awareness movie
Alex Haley’s “Roots”
Campus Christian Center
6 p.m.

UI Volleyball vs. Cal State Northridge
Memorial Gym
7 p.m.

Slideshow on the Arctic
SUB Silver and Gold rooms
7 p.m.

Opera scenes
School of Music Recital Hall
8 p.m.