The Feminist Majority Foundation Online has won another award, the Gold Award for the best overall nonprofit site from the Zeff Group, a Web site design and training firm. The Feminist Majority Foundation’s site was chosen from over 200 sites nominated for ten awards. The judges chose the Feminist Majority Foundation’s site for its navigability, design, the fit with our mission, and the quality of the writing.

The Feminist Majority Foundation Online can be reached at . The site, which turned one year old in August, has gathered a number of other awards, including Top 5% of the Web and Best Non-Profit Women’s Site.

The Feminist Majority Foundation Online features the popular Feminist Daily News, which is read by thousands every day for the latest news on issues that affect women. During October, the Feminist Majority Foundation Online featured our Domestic Violence and our Breast Cancer Awareness Centers. As the November elections approach, look for more information on issues like affirmative action and expanded links in the Women in Politics section of our Internet Gateway.

San Francisco may become the second city in the United States to vote for its Board of Supervisors (which is like a city council) using a ‘preferential voting’ system, if a measure titled Proposition H passes this November. This system, widely used in European countries, generally provides women and minorities with better representation.

The most common voting system in the United States is ‘winner-take-all,’ in which the candidate with over 50% of the votes wins, leaving the other 49% of the voters unrepresented. In the ‘preferential voting’ system that San Francisco is considering, voters would rank the candidates instead of just voting for one person per public office. Once a particular candidate wins enough votes to be elected, the surplus votes for that candidate are transferred to the voters’ second choices.

The measure is supported by the Board of Supervisors itself, as well as the San Francisco Democratic Party, the Green Party, the San Francisco chapter of the National Organization for Women, unions, and Hispanic, Black, Gay and Asian groups. Cambridge, Massachusetts is the only other city in the United States where preferential voting is used to elect the city council.

It took 70 years for women to win the vote; it took 75 years for Congress to decide to move a statue of three women’s suffrage leaders back to its rightful place in the Capitol Rotunda.

The statue of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Lucretia Mott was dedicated in the Capitol Rotunda, the main circular area under the dome, in 1921. Almost immediately it was moved to the basement, where it has languished because Congress refused to spend the $75,000 to move it upstairs again, where visitors would more easily see it. The Women’s Suffrage Statue Campaign raised the money, won a Congressional vote, and later this year the statue will be moved. There are currently no women’s statues in the Rotunda.

The Ms. Foundation for Women is accepting Letters of Intent from organizations which promote girls’ and young women’s health. The Foundation will award grants averaging $50,000 for each of three years to between seven and 15 organizations. To request an application for Letters of Intent, call 1-800-809-8206, or (212) 742-2300 ext. 346.

Crossing state lines to intimidate or threaten someone and cause the person to fear death or serious bodily injury, is now a federal crime. President Clinton signed into law anti-stalking legislation introduced by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas). Stalkers convicted under the law face up to five years in prison for harassment, or life in prison for bodily injury. Before the law was passed, stalkers could escape conviction under state laws simply by moving to another state. The bill also expands the definition of a stalking victim from someone pursued by a spouse or intimate partner, to include stalking by a stranger.

Unfortunately, the law does not include a measure, introduced by Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) but defeated in the House of Representatives, to prevent people convicted of domestic violence from owning a gun. That measure was reintroduced and passed separately. Hutchison was stalked by a man who worked on her 1972 campaign for the Texas House.