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Show (JAW Symposium discuss IWY The Thursday evening women's symposium, jointly sponsored by the Utah Association of Women and the League of Women Voters, was successful in meeting its purpose of educating women as to the International Women's Year Convention (IWY) last year. That is the summation of UAW Iron Mission Region Chairman Ann Hansen. "I felt like it met our purposes," Ann Hansen said. "We have committed ourselves to studying both sides of women's issues and this was an excellent way to hear both the liberal and the conservative point of view." Mrs. Hansen said she was particularly pleased at the turnout for last week's affair, af-fair, held at the South Elementary. "There was alot of interest, in-terest, but I had no idea how big it (the symposium) was going to be. The general pulse of the women attending at-tending was that the majority were opposed to the ERA (Equal Rights Amendment) as it stands today." The viewpoint expressed by local IWY participant Ann Leavitt and that of Ruth Funk, Salt Lake City, was the professionalism" and "orchestration" of the IWY Convention. Mrs. Leavitt said manuevers by those in charge at the Houston convention made it difficult for the conservative point of view to be heard. Lynn Van Dam, proponent of the ERA, agreed that the IWY personnel were professionals, but disagreed that they staged the event. Opponents of the ERA, however, said they felt the die was cast long before the convention and that it was not an exchange of ideas in Houston, merely voting on already established resolutions, Mrs. Hansen said. "The question from the audience were very good and very interesting," Mrs. Hansen added. "And the answers were very interesting in-teresting too. This meeting of both sides was one of the first in the state." The event was opened by viewing a film "Bias: A Four-letter Word," which discussed the subtle ways bias creeps into our conversation con-versation and stereotyping of people. The film was a good way to lay the foundation foun-dation for the symposium, Mrs. Hansen said. "It reminded us we have to be open-minded," she added. The next major event for the UAW is a state convention con-vention in the Salt Palace, Mrs. Hansen said for all UAW members. At the convention the participants will pass resolution and formulate plans and guidelines. Keynote speaker at the convention will be LeNore Romney, wife of former Cabinet member George Romney. President of the State UAW is Nina Palmer Salt Lake City. Ann Leavitt is a member of the state Executive Board. |