Speaker to discuss women's
roles
By Heather Mangold
City
Editor
In honor of Women's History Month, the Purdue Student
Government will present its final speaker, in a series of three, to
discuss women's issues of the past, present and future.
Mary Ellen Bock, head of the department of statistics
at Purdue, will speak to Purdue students representing the sphere of
women in academia tonight at 7 p.m. in Stewart Center, Room 214A.
"She was recommended as an excellent speaker and,
as head of the statistics department, she has already proven that she
would be a heck of a woman to speak to us," said Corina Atherton—Lira,
executive director of PSG.
Atherton—Lira and other members of PSG wanted
to present a series of speakers that would represent women's roles in
society. The first speaker was Julia Vaughn of the Indiana HealthCare
Coalition. Vaughn discussed past, present and future issues of women
in the health care world.
The second speaker in PSG's series was West Lafayette
Mayor Sonya Margerum. Margerum told students about the role of women
in politics throughout the history of society. She attributed much of
her success to the women she had come to know through politics.
Bock will represent the final sphere of women presented
by PSG, the women of academia.
"I am definitely looking forward to it," said Bock.
Bock said that she is a supporter of PSG's celebration
of Women's History Month.
"Actually one of the reasons people developed Women's
History Month in the first place was that if you never read anything
about what women have done, you don't think that they've done anything,"
said Bock.
Atherton—Lira said that she recognizes that
these three spheres of women do not represent all women, but said that
they do a good job of providing information that could be of interest
to many Purdue students, men and women.
"My thought was to show people that there is more
to women's history than what has happened in the past," said Atherton—Lira.
"These women will talk about what people are doing now; where they came
from and where they are going."
She wants students to use the information provided
by the series of speakers to get where they want to go in the workforce.
She said that it does not matter anymore to many people whether a job
has been traditionally reserved for men or for women.
Atherton—Lira said that the series of speakers
presented to the students would be a successful event if just one student's
perspective was changed for the better.
"Someday, maybe a student will be going to a job
interview for something that isn't traditionally for women and say,
'Wait a minute, Sonya did it and Mary Ellen did it'," said Atherton—Lira.
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