Movie Night at WCRC
We have a few seats left for MOVIE NIGHT at WCRC. We will
be showing "Heart
of the Sea" about surf legend, Rell "Kapolioka'ehukai"
Sunn, one of Hawai'i's most beloved community leaders who
lived with breast cancer for fifteen years.
Tuesday Sept. 16th - Doors open at 6:30 PM, film starts
promptly at 7 PM and runs 57 minutes. We'll provide popcorn
and drinks but BYOC (Bring your own chocolate).
Since space is limited please RSVP to margo@wcrc.org or
510-420-7900 x111
Come visit our booth at the following events!
Community Healing Garden Festival
Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco
Saturday September 13, 12-4pm
Solano Avenue Stroll, Berkeley
Sunday, September 14, 10am-6pm
National Ovarian Cancer Conference
Sir Francis Drake Hotel, San Francisco
Thursday and Friday, September 18 & 19, 7am-5:30pm
Mills College Health Fair
Mills College Central Plaza
Thursday, October 2, 11:30am-1:30pm
UC Berkeley Service and Leadership Fair
Sproul Plaza
Friday, October 3, 12-3pm
UCB LGBT Resource Fair
Sproul Plaza
Monday, October 6, 10am-2pm
Swim a Mile for Women with Cancer!
This year we hold our eight annual swim! Registration is
available online at www.wcrc.org.
This year's swim will be held Saturday and Sunday, October
4 and 5, 2003 from 10 am to 5 pm at the lovely outdoor pool
at Mills College in Oakland. This is a non-competitive event
for all ages and ability levels – you may swim one
mile or one lap. You can also come by and pick up the brochure/
registration form or we can mail them to you.
Volunteer Training
The next volunteer training will be Saturday, October 18th,
from 10 am to 5:30 pm, and Monday and Tuesday October 20th
and 21st, from 6 to 9:15 pm. For more information please
contact: Emily Galpern, Volunteer Coordinator, (510) 601-4040
x109 emily@wcrc.org
Please Help Redecorate WCRC
Are you an interior designer, a therapist redesigning your
office, or someone else who has access to several soft chairs
and couches that are comfy, go together and are in good
condition? We'd love to have some beautiful nearly new furniture
to make our support group room more welcoming to the women
who attend our groups.
Action Alert from Organic Consumers Association and
Californians for GE-Free Agriculture
http://www.calgefree.org
(SAMPLE EMAIL BELOW)
On August 15th a one month public comment period was started
on Bayer's (formerly Aventis) petition to the EPA for final
tolerances of their herbicide Glufosinate (aka as Liberty)
for use on rice and also cotton.
Read
the petition. This is the final step in the regulatory
process and if their request is approved, genetically engineered
(GE) rice could be planted as soon as 2004. California is
the number one producer of rice in
the country.
Background:
California is now facing the choice between sustainably
grown or GE agriculture as biotech industry and university
researchers are poised to introduce the next generation
of GE crop varieties. Over 1,500 field tests of GE crops
have occurred in California since the early 1990s. In the
next few years the industry hopes to commercialize many
new crops including Bayer's Liberty Link herbicide-tolerant
rice and Monsanto's Roundup Ready strawberries, lettuce,
rice and pest-resistant wine grapes. Fortunately, this has
not yet occurred and there is still time for California
farmers and consumers to demand a different kind of agriculture.
The Californians for GE-Free Agriculture Coalition is bringing
together farmer-based organizations with consumer and environmental
groups to halt the introduction of economically and ecologically
destructive GE crops. The Coalition consists of California
Certified Organic Farmers, Center for Food Safety, Community
Alliance with Family Farmers, Ecological Farming Association,
Four Elements Farm, Genetic Engineering Action Network,
Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, and Organic Consumers
Association.
To get involved in the campaign please visit http://www.calgefree.org/active/
or email calgefree@calgefree.org
*****PLEASE SEND AN EMAIL TO THE EPA TODAY*****
All comments must be received by September 15th. Comments
may be sent by e-mail to opp-docket@epa.gov.
In the subject line please put: Docket ID Number OPP-2003-0274.
Or by mail to:
Public Information and Records Integrity Branch (7502C)
Office of Pesticide Programs
Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.
Washington, DC
**************SAMPLE COMMENTS*************
To Whom it May Concern,
I am writing in reference to Bayer CropScience's August
15th petition to establish a tolerance for Glufosinate in
or on rice and cotton. I believe that by approving the residues
requested by Bayer you will be exposing the public to unnecessary
health risks, potentially increasing use of toxic herbicides
on rice and cotton, and endangering the livelihoods of farmers
by shutting off valuable export markets that are rejecting
transgenic crops. I am concerned about the loss of overseas
markets for farmers growing transgenic crops and for farmers
whose own ability to market their crops is threatened by
genetic pollution. Many countries throughout the world are
refusing transgenic crops and USDA organic standards strictly
prohibit the use of transgenic seeds. Glufosinate tolerance
levels have not been established by the international food
standards commission, Codex Alimentarius. Events such as
StarLink and last year's ProdiGene incident highlight the
inadequacies of our current system in keeping transgenic
crops segregated.
In Canada, farmers growing transgenic crops have detected
triple herbicide resistance in weeds and volunteer canola
plants as a result of gene transfer, rendering the herbicides
useless. If Bayer's petition is approved, it will only be
a matter of time before Red Rice, which is the same species
as cultivated rice and also one of the most virulent weeds
on rice farms, becomes resistant to Glufosinate. Similar
gene transfer in rice will lead to the need for new, more
toxic herbicides. Peer-reviewed scientific studies have
shown Glufosinate to be "highly toxic" to aquatic
animals such as clams, oysters, water fleas, fish and birds
at doses as low as 0.5 ppm. As rice is grown in an aquatic
environment, the adoption of Glufosinate tolerant rice will
have tragic impacts for the ecosystems of rice growing areas.
The EPA classifies Glufosinate as "persistent"
and it has been found in the edible parts of spinach, wheat
and radishes more than 120 days after being sprayed with
the chemical.
The approval of Glufosinate tolerant rice and cotton will
send us a step backward in our efforts toward a more sustainable
agriculture. Please take action to ensure that our current
system of agriculture moves toward one that is less reliant
on chemicals, and ensures our farmers a prosperous livelihood.
I strongly urge you to deny Bayer's request for approval
of Glufosinate tolerance and to work with other government
agencies to enact a more rigorous approval and testing process
for transgenic crops.
Sincerely,
PLEASE FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO YOUR FRIENDS WHO WOULD
BE INTERESTED.
VOTE HEALTH UPCOMING EVENTS
Get involved in making health insurance affordable and
accessible to all residents of California!!!
Combined Local Issues/Single Payer Committees Meeting
When: Tuesday, September 16, 7-9 PM
Where: Local 616, 1630 Webster St at 17th Street, Oakland
What: A presentation on "Effective Ways to Work in
Coalition with Faith-Based Organizations"
Speakers Training on SB921--Single Payer Health Care
When: Saturday, September 20, 10-1 PM
Where: Local 616, 1630 Webster St at 17th Street, Oakland
What else: Refreshments provided; for further info.contact
Sue Bergman, (510) 540-7085.
Other questions? Feel free to call Catherine Porter,
WCRC, (510) 601-4040 ext. 102.
GIRLSTOCK BENEFIT FOR WCRC
Girlstock - September 22nd and 23rd at the Cherry Bar at
917 Folsom St. in San Francisco. Two evenings of performances
by bands, singers, spoken word artists as well as an art
exhibit. The events begin at 7 pm and 60% of the door receipts
will be donated to WCRC! Please see www.girlstock.com
for more information.
September 9th to October 5th: MadCat
Women's Int'l Film Festival, San Francisco
Sept. 13th: SAGE: Sustainable Agriculture Education,"AgriCultural
Roots Fair," Oakland Museum
September 13 & 14, 2003: Healing Journeys presents:
Cancer As A Turning Point: From Surviving to Thriving
Veteran's Memorial Auditorium, Marin Center, San Rafael,
CA
A FREE conference designed to help heal, celebrate, and
empower those whose lives have been touched by cancer. Lunch
included. Pre-registration required. For more information
or to register, visit http://www.healingjourneys.org
or call 1-800-423-9882.
September 17-19, 2003: Ovarian Cancer National Alliance
presents: 6th Annual Advocacy Conference on Ovarian Cancer
Held at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel in San Francisco, this
conference will include informative and empowering workshops;
sessions on the latest developments in ovarian cancer research
and treatments, wellness and survivorship, public policy,
awareness education efforts and organizational development.
$65 includes all conference sessions and materials, lunches,
snack breaks, and Wednesday hospitality session and an evening
reception on Thursday. For more information or to register,
visit www.ovariancancer.org
or email ocna@ovariancancer.org.
September 20th & 21st: The
Breast Cancer Fund's 8th Annual “Peak Hike.”
Mt. Tamalpais, Marin
