By MATT CHANDLER
Buffalo Law Journal

More than 500 middle-school girls from across Western New York will converge on the University at Buffalo North Campus on Saturday to take part in the fifth annual Tech Savvy educational conference.

The day-long event, which will feature 25 workshops aimed at exposing the students to careers in the sciences, is sponsored by the American Association of University Women. Tamara Brown is chair of the event and says that since its inception five years ago, Tech Savvy has grown dramatically.

The 2010 theme is problem solving, and attendees will have a chance to learn about a variety of career possibilities including one that has gained a pop culture following in recent years.

"They (the students) all watch "CSI" and they want to be forensic scientists," Brown says. "So I thought it would be exciting to bring in a real CSI." Filling that role will be Dr. Heather Rozzi, medical director of the forensic examiner team at York Hospital's Department of Emergency Medicine in Pennsylvania. Rozzi says she is excited about the opportunity to speak to the group about the career opportunities that are available to them.

"I was fortunate to have wonderful female role models and mentors all the way from high school through my residency, and with their encouragement, I have a wonderful career in emergency medicine," Rozzi said. "I am looking forward to demonstrating to the girls at Tech Savvy that a career in science can make the community a safer place - and that it can also be a lot of fun."

Brown said with the support of local sponsors such as Praxair Inc., the cost of the event is kept at $5 per student, a point she feels is critical to ensure the maximum number of girls are able to participate.

"One of the reasons the AAUW started and supports this event is that we know the state of education in New York is challenging," Brown said. "We want to make it affordable and possible for kids everywhere to get this unique view on these careers."

Nancy Langer is the president of NativityMiguel Middle School in Buffalo. She has been bringing students to Tech Savvy every year, including a group of 12-15 girls this year.

"I've seen this as an eye-opening experience for the girls," Langer said. Some of the girls we brought to the first programs tended to be not the most talkative girls, and they were so excited about what they learned that they talked about it long after the conference was over."

Langer said students who have attended the event in the past have gone on to apply what they learned in the school's science fair and she sees the event holding the potential to shape future career choices for those who attend.

"Even though they have teachers who are teaching many of these things in class," Langer said, "it seems to be much more meaningful to be with so many girls their own age and attend these workshops with women who are working in science."

Lilly Ledbetter saw her decade-long battle to secure equal pay for women culminate in President Barack Obama signing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 into law. Today, Ledbetter travels the country inspiring women to fight for their rights and it is a message the seventy-one-year-old Alabama resident brings to Buffalo on Saturday when she is scheduled to speak at the Tech Savvy conference.
"It is important to me to help young women, especially young students, understand how important it is to be paid what they are entitled to under the law," Ledbetter said. "It not only affects them and their families while they are working, but it goes on for the rest of their lives."
She said she wants the group to understand that despite progress, things are far from equal for women in the workplace.
"We need to wake people up to the fact that things still are not right. We are so far behind on our pay, on our benefits and we are being held back."
Ledbetter travels the country 10 months out of the year speaking to groups like the one in Buffalo. She says she is inspired everywhere she goes by the women she meets and the stories she hears.
"I've taken up this fight because it is right," Ledbetter said, "and I could never let it go."