A day to take daughters to work

By SUE WUETCHER

News Services Staff

The daughters, granddaughters, sisters, nieces and friends of UB faculty, staff and students will have a variety of activities to choose from during UB's first university-wide "Take Our Daughters to Work" program being held April 25, in conjunction with the national public-education program sponsored by the Ms. Foundation for Women.

In addition to visiting a parent's, relative's or guardian's work site, girls ages 9-14 can attend workshops on North and South campuses on topics ranging from self-esteem and assertiveness to computers and careers in such fields as athletics, dentistry and radio.

They also can tour the seismic simulator lab at the National Center for Earthquake Engineering Research, visit the Center for the Arts and tour the UB site of the Women's Health Initiative, the largest research study of women's health ever undertaken.

A special awards ceremony is scheduled for 1 p.m. in the Student Union Theatre on the North Campus. Molly McKeown, deputy for university relations to UB President William R. Greiner, will give the presentation.

While campus units have hosted activities for "Take Our Daughters to Work" day in past years, this is the first university-wide program, said Bernice K. Noble, UB professor of microbiology and organizer of the event.

"We felt this was an important opportunity for UB to open itself to the community and take on this particular issue-the exposure of young girls to opportunities for education and work," said Noble, who also serves as co-chair of the Task Force on Women at UB. "In addition, we thought this program would be a good morale booster for the women who work at UB, as well as an educational experience for young girls."

The Ms. Foundation for Women began the "Take Our Daughters to Work" program in 1993 as a response to research findings on the development of adolescent girls. Studies by Harvard University, the American Association of University Women and the Minnesota Women's Fund indicate that in adolescence, girls often receive less attention than boys in school and youth programs, suffer from lower expectations than do male counterparts and tend to like or dislike themselves based on aspects of their appearance.

The Ms. Foundation's solution was to prevent these problems from taking root by helping girls to strengthen their resiliency. In taking part in a day that celebrates themselves, girls begin to believe in themselves, their abilities, and by extension, their futures.

UB's "Take Our Daughters to Work" program is sponsored by the Association of Women in Science, the Department of Chemistry, CSEA, Office of Conferences and Special Events, Office of the President, Office of Student Life, Partner's Press, PEF, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, the Task Force on Women at UB, United University Professions, University Counseling Center and Women's Health Initiative.


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