| MAKING WAVES, Feb. 2003 issue: Table of Contents | 
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| GIRLS AT THE BEACH 
Lillian and Kallie, age 3, are both from Santa Cruz Surfrider member families. "Get back in your kitchen, lady, and let me build my road!" -Anonymous engineer, to a protester attempting to stop a road in San Mateo, Ca., 1976 "It is a curious situation that the sea, from which life first arose, should now be threatened by the activities of one form of that life." - Rachel Carson So many of my heroes are heroines. Just a few that come to mind as I write this: Rosa Parks, Rachel Carson, Emma Goldman, Susan B. Anthony, Eleanor Roosevelt (who said, "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent"), Francis Lappé, Anita Roddick, Diane Wilson, and of course, Lisa Simpson. Then there's Mrs. Woulfe, my fifth grade teacher, who was the first to insist that my twin interests of art and science were fully compatible. Thank you Mrs. Woulfe, for introducing me to my career. My heroes tend to come from the ranks of those who challenge the status quo. Yet true change comes not from simply stopping bad things from happening, but from challenging the authority of those in power to set the rules of the game. In my experience, women tend to be much better than men at speaking truth to power. They're a little quicker to notice the emperor's lack of clothes. And it's usually emperors, not empresses we're dealing with. I find it a travesty of justice that while women comprise about half of the population, their proportion in political office and government is a mere fraction of that fraction. Last year, of the 535 members of Congress (House and Senate) only 13% were women, representing, for the fist time in twenty years, a drop in that proportion. In 1973, for example, there were 23 women in Congress. And the number of women who chair important Congressional committees, which is where the real power lies, is virtually nil. If politics were the world of surfing, we'd be faring much better. As Matt McClain points out on page four, the percentage of women who surf is skyrocketing. We need to see the same percentage increase in Surfrider membership, and we are actively working to achieve that goal. As the natural world shows us, diversity makes for a strong but flexible, and inherently stable, foundation. For the stability of the Surfrider Foundation, we need to strengthen the diversity of our members in order to strengthen our collective voice. For men, women, and children of all colors, from all walks of life, clean water is a right not a luxury. The ocean, the mother of us all, needs some new voices to speak up in her behalf. We need your voice. We need to change some of the stories, to change some of the damaging rules of the game. Speaking of change, hopefully you've noticed some of the changes we've made to Making Waves for the new year. It is our hope to make things just a little bit more engaging, dynamic, and relevant to our readers. One change to that effect is our intention to bring back a Letters to the Editor section. We welcome your input, criticism, reaction, and projection. Please send Email to makingwaves@surfrider.org -Joe Mozdzen
* * * Surfrider Foundation's MAKING WAVES, February 2003 SURFRIDER and the SURFRIDER LOGO are registered service marks of Surfrider Foundation Copyright © 2003 Surfrider Foundation All rights reserved |
Making Waves
The Surfrider Foundation is a non-profit environmental organization dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of the world's waves, oceans and beaches for all people, through conservation, activism, research, and education. Publication of The Surfrider Foundation A Non-Profit Environmental Organization P.O. Box 6010 San Clemente, CA 92674-6010 (949) 492-8170 fx (949) 492-8142 (800) 743-surf Web: http://www.surfrider.org e-mail: makingwaves@surfrider.org Executive Director Christopher J. Evans, Esq. Deputy Executive Director / Legal Director Michelle C. Kremer, Esq. Director of Chapters Edward J. Mazzarella Environmental Director Chad Nelsen Director of Development Kim Novick Marketing & Communications Director Matt McClain Coastal Science Manager Mark Rauscher National Grants Manager Lori A. Booth Membership Manager Teresa Rappé Membership Coordinator Jeff Petersen Blue Water Project Coordinator Karin Moran Coastal Management Coordinator Rick Wilson Pacific Northwest Coordinator Kevin Ranker Southern California Coordinator Joe Geever Mail Order & Office Services Sylvia Cantu Membership Assistant Nicki Hmielewski Mail Order Assistant - Chapin Tierney Controller - Toni Craw Web Master - Mark Babski Chief Financial Officer Christopher W. Keys, CPA Federal Policy Analyst Darryl J. Hatheway Making Waves Staff Editor in Chief: Joe Mozdzen Managing Editor: Matt McClain Contributors: Michelle Kremer, Ed Mazzarella, Nicki Hmielewski, , Joe Geever, David Pu'u 2003 BOARD OF DIRECTORS Chairman Mike Orbach Vice-Chair Jeff Berg Secretary Will Novy Hildesley |