Cheers
In commemoration of the 40th anniversary of Title IX on June 23, the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators (NACWAA) invited athletics departments, conference offices and organizations across the nation to nominate a gender equity trailblazer. A total of 25 trailblazer tribute videos are now on NACWAA’s YouTube channel.
The video with the most views between April 9-23 will win a $9,000 gift from the NACWAA Foundation Fund in support of its women’s athletics programs and/or female staff professional development, as well as being invited to attend and be recognized at the 2012 NACWAA National Convention in October in Kansas City.
More News to Cheer This Week:
- The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Michigan confirmed that the Michigan Department of Corrections has abandoned degrading body cavity searches in which prisoners were forced to spread open their labia using their hands, often under unsanitary conditions and sometimes in full view of other prisoners.
- Boris Johnson, the Conservative mayor of London, has pulled an “offensive” Christian campaign advertising “gay conversion,” which was due to appear on London‘s buses next week, reported the Guardian April 12.
- American Red Cross founder Clara Barton’s Civil War-era office in Washington, D.C., long-neglected, may become a national museum focusing on her groundbreaking work to help missing soldiers, reported the AP April 12.
- Six nail salon workers, employed by Long Island salon chain Babi Nails, were awarded nearly $250,000 in unpaid wages and overtime on March 22, reported the New York Times April 10.
- Teen births have fallen to record lows in the United States, continuing an overall trend — partly due to programs aimed at preventing pregnancies among teenagers, the federal Center for Disease Control and Prevention found, The Los Angeles Times reported April 10
- Transgender women will be allowed to participate in the Miss Universe beauty pageant next year, the Associated Press reported April 10.
- The continent of Africa now has a second woman holding the top leadership role in her country after Joyce Banda was sworn in Saturday as the new president of the nation of Malawi, AllAfrica.com reported April 9.
- Qatar has increased its women’s team for the London Games this summer, adding a third competitor for the first appearance by its women at an Olympics, The New York Times reported April 8.
Jeers
Gov. Jan Brewer has signed legislation making Arizona the seventh state that generally bans abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, reported CBS News April 13. Yet Arizona’s law is considered more extreme than other state laws, because the 20-week clock begins at gestation, defined as the first day of a woman’s last menstrual cycle. Other states start the clock at 20 weeks post-fertilization, which is equivalent to about 22 weeks gestation. The difference is critical because Arizona’s definition of pregnancy enters into the time frame when women may begin to screen for fetal anomalies, according to RH Reality Check April 12.
The Arizona law only makes an exception if the pregnancy will “create serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function.”
More News to Jeer This Week:
- Virginia’s House Speaker Bill Howell (R-Stafford) made a “condescending and demeaning” remark to the executive director of ProgressVA, Anna Scholl, during a press conference, reported the Washington Post April 12.
- President Obama will not sign an executive order banning discrimination by employers with federal contracts, reported the New York Times April 11.
- Corporate executives connected with Augusta National Golf Club ducked the issue of its all-male membership throughout the four-day Masters Tournament, Bloomberg News reported April 9.
- The gains made to protect and guarantee women’s rights in Afghanistan are threatened as the end of the tenure of the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, is coming to an end, The Los Angeles Times reported April 9.
- Peripheral artery disease, which affects at least 12 million Americans, is often overlooked or misdiagnosed in women, according to the April 2012 Harvard Women’s Health Watch.
Noted:
- The Obama campaign, along with prominent female TV hosts Soledad O’Brien and Mika Brzezinski, condemned comments made by a Democratic strategist, who said that Ann Romney could not be an expert on women and the economy because she has “never worked a day in her life,” reported Politico and Slate April 12.
- A male employee of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is suing the agency for gender discrimination, claiming that a physical fitness test to become an FBI agent is biased against men, reported ABC News April 12.
- When it comes to sinking ships, male chivalry is “a myth” and more men generally survive such disasters more than women and children, according to two Swedish researchers, reported the AP April 12.
- Romney clarified his position on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, a spokesperson for the candidate explaining that he “supports pay equity and is not looking to change current law,” reported the Huffington Post April 11.
- Planned Parenthood is suing Texas for barring the group from participating in a program that provides contraception and check-ups to women, reported the Associated Press April 11.
- Women who do not have an increased risk for ovarian cancer should not undergo screening tests for the disease, according to new recommendations released April 10 by a leading U.S. government panel, reported Medical Daily April 11.
- Female voters play a significant role in President Barack Obama’s current lead over Mitt Romney among 2012 voters, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll, ABC News reported April 10.
- Rush Limbaugh’s show has been moved from Philadelphia’s top conservative radio station, WPHT, The New York Times reported April 10.
- Police arrested two additional suspects in the case of two youths who were calling for segregation between the genders outside Jerusalem’s Dung Gate, The Jerusalem Post reported April 9.
