CONFERENCE EXPLORES WOMEN'S OPTIONS.Byline: Cecilia Chan Staff Writer THOUSAND OAKS Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. - For Barbara Wray, spending Saturday at a daylong women's conference was worth the trip from Placentia. ``I just get a wonderful day to myself,'' said Wray, a 65-year-old administrative assistant. ``I get to meet so many interesting women. I get to hear women's ideas that I don't get a chance to do in a normal day.'' Wray was one of the 1,000 women and a couple of men whom event organizers estimate attended the 21st annual Creative Options at California Lutheran University Mission statement The University's mission statement is as follows: "California Lutheran University is a diverse, scholarly community dedicated to excellence in the liberal arts and professional studies. in Thousand Oaks. The event is organized each March to provide an educational experience for women and a chance for them to network. Participants had 99 workshops to choose from, with diverse topics ranging from ``How to Create a Web Page 101'' to ``In Chains and Chastity Belts,'' which focused on how women find and affirm personal space, empowerment and creativity within enclosures men impose, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. event literature. This year's keynote speaker was Marcia Ann Gillespie, editor in chief of Ms. magazine Ms. is an American feminist magazine founded by American feminist and activist Gloria Steinem, which first appeared in 1971 as an insert in New York magazine. . ``We have raised the roof in terms of access women have, but what we still haven't done is lift the floor,'' said Gillespie, named ``One of the 50 Faces in America's Future'' by Time magazine. ``If you want to talk about progress, my sisters and my brothers, you have to talk about the least of us.'' Gillespie said that while others talk about this being the post-feminist era, she disagrees, saying there is still much work left to do - when the face of poverty is still that of a woman and child, and a pay gap still exists between the genders. She told the audience members in order for them to have a clear direction forward they must know the past and the gains achieve, and she encouraged them to be agents of change not only for themselves but for future generations. Saturday's gathering was a mother-and-daughter event for Lana Schwartz, 54, of Westlake Village and Elissa Schwartz, 26, of Playa playa or pan or flat or dry lake Flat-bottomed depression that is periodically covered by water. Playas occur in interior desert basins and adjacent to coasts in arid and semiarid regions. Del Rey Del Rey may refer to:
``You get a very good feeling,'' Lana said of the Creative Options events, her fifth so far. ``You pick up a lot of good information.'' For Elissa, it was her first time at the event, which she said was bonding time for her and her mom. The duo planned to attend three workshops together: ``Women of Age,'' ``Dream Workshop'' and ``Impact of Color not of the white race; - commonly meaning, esp. in the United States, of negro blood, pure or mixed. See also: Color .'' Sixteen-year-old Joudine Frederick of Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. hoped to gain insight into women's issues at the event. ``I'd like to know more about women's rights The effort to secure equal rights for women and to remove gender discrimination from laws, institutions, and behavioral patterns. The women's rights movement began in the nineteenth century with the demand by some women reformers for the right to vote, known as suffrage, and ,'' said the teen-ager. Although today many doors are open to women, those interviewed said the struggle for women's rights is not over. ``We are getting ahead,'' Wray said. ``We are making our lives better and we have opportunities to make our lives better.'' However, as a grandmother of 10 grandchildren, mostly girls, Wray said, ``I hope their lives will be better than mine.'' CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color in Conejo edition only) The Rev. Peg Schultz-Akerson stands in front of a labyrinth, a walking meditation seminar offered at the 21st annual Creative Options conference. Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News |
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