Women cadets at the Virginia Military Institute are being allowed on the school’s cheerleading squad for the first time this year. Previously, women from nearby colleges and men from VMI led cheers. Their presence on the squad has been met with much condemnation from male peers. “They shouldn’t be down there,” said cadet Jason Clough […]
A lawsuit against a Catholic hospital that allowed autopsies on two fetuses without parental consent was dismissed by a judge Friday. The hospital justified their move by declaring that the fetuses were not “persons” as defined by NJ law. The parents plan to appeal the case. The parents’ lawyer argued that St. Peter’s University Hospital […]
Peter Wallis, charged in a paternity suit by former girlfriend Kelli Rae Smith this summer, is suing his ex-girlfriend for getting pregnant. Wallis has charged Smith with “breach of contract” for allegedly breaking their agreement to avoid pregnancy by taking birth control pills. Smith denies that such an agreement existed and says that her pregnancy […]
A government study has revealed that nearly one in five women in the United States have been raped or faced an attempted rape at least once in their lives. Over half of the rape victims identified by the Justice and Health and Human Services departments reported that they were under the age of 17 when […]
The Taliban has declared Osama bin Laden innocent of all charges and a free man today. Bin Laden was indicted by a U.S. Court for the August 7 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania which killed 224 people. The U.S. has offered a $5 million reward for bin Laden’s capture. After a three […]
The booming economy and welfare-to work programs have contributed to a sharp decline in the number of people receiving welfare, which has declined by 31 percent in two years. The 3 million Americans who are still out of work are in desparate need of support, education and work experience. Vice President Gore will announce a […]
The USPS breast cancer postage stamp has successfully raised $3.6 million dollars for research since its introduction just three months ago. Close to 45 million stamps have been sold, allocating 8 cents per stamp for use in breast cancer research. Each stamp costs 40 cents and can be used for standard 32 cent first-class postage. […]
American Leaders of the Catholic Church are moving to increase their political activism by starting a new lobbying campaign against abortion and encouraging pro-choice candidates to change their stances on the issue. The campaign was approved by a vote taken during the semiannual meeting of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops passing by a margin […]
Substantive health care information is now a phone call or a mouse click away. The U.S. Public Health Service has announced the launch of the National Women’s Health Information Center (NWHIC), which features a toll-free hotline (1-800-994-WOMAN) and a Web site www.4woman.gov. “This information center represents the federal government’s most comprehensive resource for women’s health,” […]
French author Paule Constant won France’s prestigious Goncourt prize Tuesday for her novel about a Kansas professor who attends a feminist colloquium on witches. Confidence Pour Confidence (Confidence for Confidence) is Constant’s eighth book. In France, she is regarded as one of the country’s top contemporary writers. She also teaches foreign students French literature. The […]
Doctors in Cornwall, England are pinning up notices for women in their offices. They are urging women to refrain from becoming pregnant this month due to a rare solar eclipse that will occur nine months from now. The Local Medical Committee of Cornwall issued the notices due to their fear that women will find it […]
Suzanne Jackson died at age 46 from breast cancer Wednesday. She was often called the most respected rules official in golf. Since 1985, Jackson was a member of the USGA Rules of Golf Committee, and was one of the first three women to officiate a U.S. Open. She was the very first woman rules official […]
Top female law enforcement Chief Carol Mehrling of the Montgomery County police department in Maryland will retire in February. “It’s a loss to women in policing,” said Penny Harrington, director of the Feminist Majority’s National Center for Woman and Policing. “There were only two [female] big-city chiefs – Carol was one, and Beverly Harvard in […]
Women who eat meat cooked very well done may be four times more likely to contract breast cancer than women who eat meat cooked rare or medium, according to findings published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Researchers caution that it is would be premature for anyone to change their eating habits at […]
U.S. labor activists are again raising concerns over apparel and shoe manufacturers’ poor labor practices, with the help of ex-Nike factory worker Julia Esmeralda Pleites. Pleites earned 40 cents an hour making T-shirts for Nike in an El Salvador factory until she was fired for not showing up to work one day. She missed her […]
Lois Farnham and Holly Puterbaugh have been together for over twenty-five years. Still, they have never been able to share the many benefits of marriage because they are lesbians, and the state of Vermont prohibits same-sex couples from marrying. In 1975, the state’s Attorney General, William Sorrell, defined civil marriage as the joining of a […]
A Washington DC grand jury indicted District of Columbia police officer Kenneth L. Nelson yesterday with 42 charges. Nelson repeatedly battered and threatened to kill his wife and tormented his 8-year-old stepson with an extension cord. Nelson’s violence also extended to the family cats, Tigger and Frisky, whom he killed. Despite a court order restricting […]
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif recently revealed his intention to follow in the footsteps of Afghanistan’s Taliban militia by introducing a similar form of strict Islamic rule to Pakistan. In August, Sharif announced his goal to run Pakistan under a system of Islamic Shari’a law, but, for the first time, he has linked his vision […]
Following the lead of similar programs across the U.S., police officials in Northern Virginia’s Fairfax County announced Monday that they will begin offering free cellular phones to high-risk victims of domestic violence. The phones will be programmed to call the police and domestic violence hotlines only. Similar programs are in place in nearby Arlington County, […]
Women athletes in the United States feel cheated by the lack of media coverage on women in sports, according to a survey conducted by the non-profit group Women, Men, and the Media, chaired by Betty Friedan. Over half of the 130 women athletes surveyed were dissatisfied with the amount and quality of coverage their teams […]
