Staff members of the Aquinas College Jane Hibbard Idema Women's Students Center have selected Monday, February 14 as the day to spotlight the inequality in pay between men and women. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the lobby of the Academic Building, bake goods will be sold at prices that reflect the disparity between male and female wages in the United States. Members of the Aquinas community will be supplying the bake goods to be sold.

The following information was taken from the National Committee on Pay Equity (www.pay-equity.org): "The gap between median earnings of full-time, year-round workers widened in 2003, with women's earnings 76 percent of men's, down from 77 percent in 2002. Women's earnings were $30,724, compared to $40,668 for men. The last time the female-to-male earnings ratio declined was 1998-99.

"Median earnings for women of color continue to be lower, in general, than earnings for men as a whole. In 2003, the earnings for African American women were $26,989, 66 percent of men's earnings (down from 68 percent last year); Latinas at $22,363, 55 percent of men's earnings (down from 56 percent last year); and Asian American women at $32,446, 80 percent of men's earnings (wage gap remained the same)."

For additional information or questions, please call the Jane Hibbard Idema Women's Studies Center at (616) 632-2979.