Gerry Kruger and Dena Imlay, members of the International Relations Committee of the Charlottesville/Albemarle League of Women Voters, were delegates to the LWVUS Convention held in Portland Oregon from June 13-17. The opening session emphasized the Membership Recruitment Initiative (MRI), visibility, and advocacy. Declining membership is a growing concern in the League. In her State of the League address, President Mary Wilson told us that $80,000 has been pledged to training and development, the second phase of MRI. Five per cent of all bequests go to this fund as well, and local leagues may apply for grants from it.

The convention theme was "Reaching New Heights Together." Speakers this year were former governor of Oregon, the Honorable Barbara Roberts, who spoke on the value of public service and the making of history as the first woman governor; former governor and physician, John Kitzhaber, who addressed universal health care and the value of preventive medicine; and former justice of the Colorado Supreme Court, Rebecca Love Kourlis, who emphasized the need for judicial independence and judicial reform. We also heard two speakers on a global climate change panel. V. (Ram) Ramanathana, a Distinguished Professor of Climate and Atmospheric Sciences from Scripps Institute of Oceanography, spoke on the origins and effects of global warming, and Heather Kaplan, representing Oxfam, addressed the subject of "climate refugees."

Throughout the convention numerous caucuses and workshops were offered, and we attended separate sessions in order to take advantage of as many of them as possible. The first caucus that Dena attended was a session on how the League can be responsive to grassroots participation; in fact, grassroots participation versus top-down power from the national board became an underlying thrust of the convention throughout.

Some other caucuses and workshops we attended were on education and the federal government, diversifying membership, local leagues coordinating with community radio, voter service, the importance of being an informed citizen, and developing an effective advocacy campaign. We both have extensive materials on these topics that we would be happy to share. We were encouraged by the other Virginia delegates to attend the caucus on a Virginia/Oregon concurrence on redistricting and adding justice to the LWVUS principles. After witnessing a spirited debate, we voted with the majority in the first plenary session to move the concurrence forward for consideration by the delegates, but the concurrence was defeated in a close final vote in the following session.

One of the most interesting sessions Dena attended concerned using radio and Internet to publicize the League's work and projects. The LWVUS has an updated Web page and a presence on the Internet site, "Facebook." This caucus stimulated some thought on how the Charlottesville/Albemarle chapter could gain more visibility and members, and serve the advocacy mission as well through radio and television public service announcements and programs.

Another inspiring caucus presented an exciting lesson taught to high school seniors on the subject of registering young Americans to vote and involving them in the electoral process. Gerry saw "Sick Around the World," a DVD on health care in the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Taiwan, and Switzerland. Surprising comparisons were made between the US and these countries. She recommends that we look into getting the DVD for a community dialogue.