Uncategorized

U.S. Olympic Women’s Basketball Team Gains Prominence

The National Basketball Association will be publicizing the U.S. women’s basketball team, the first women’s national team recruited by USA Basketball a full year before the Olympics. NBA Properties markets the team, negotiating deals between it and corporate sponsors, licensees and television partners. It also creates advertising campaigns and helps plan exhibition games for the […]

Uncategorized

Mammogram Accuracy May Decrease With Estrogen Therapy

Postmenopausal women taking estrogen therapy may find reduced accuracy in their mammogram screenings for breast cancer. According to Dr. Mary Laya, a University of Washington assistant professor of medicine, estrogen replacement therapy often increases breast tissue density which increases the overall difficulty in reading mammograms. It may also lead a physician to mistakenly diagnose benign […]

Uncategorized

Poll Shows Strong Support for Minimum Wage Increase

Efforts to raise the minimum wage are favorable to 81 percent of people polled by USA Today/CNN/Gallup. Democrats are leading the fight to raise the minimum wage. The Republican proposal to repeal the gas tax is favored by 56 percent. Of the 3.66 million workers earning the minimum wage of $4.25/hour, 63 percent are women.

Uncategorized

North Carolina Legislator Censured for Harassing Women

North Carolina state representative Ken Miller was publicly censured by the state House of Representatives Monday (5-13) for sexually harassing women. A House Ethics Committee found that Miller had made unwanted advances and inappropriate sexual remarks to three women, including a 16-year-old volunteer page. The committee recommended the public censure after an expulsions proposal failed. […]

Uncategorized

UC System Allows Out-of-State Alumni Legacies to Apply as Residents

The San Francisco Chronicle reported Monday (5-13) that the University of California allows children of alumni to apply as residents of California, giving them an admissions advantage. California residents can typically be admitted to the UC system with lower grades and test scores than applicants from other states. The “legacy” admissions policy considers children of […]

Uncategorized

Court Allows Men to Appeal Pay Raises Given to Women

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has decided to reinstate a lawsuit brought by male professors at Virginia Commonwealth University who objected to giving women faculty members pay raises to eliminate disparities in salary. A pay equity study had shown women making far less money than their male counterparts of similar rank and experience. […]

Uncategorized

Frank Criticizes Republican Assault on Same-Sex Marriage Issue

Representative Barney Frank (D-Mass.) has called Sen. Dole’s anti-same-sex marriage bill a “sleazy” attempt to divide President Clinton and his supporters. While Clinton has said he does not favor same-sex marriages, he has not taken a position on Dole “Defense of Marriage Act” which would define marriage as a union between a man and a […]

Uncategorized

Mitsubishi Hires Former Labor Secretary to Lead Harassment Investigation

Officials at Mitsubishi Motor Corporation announced Tuesday (5-14) that they have hired former Labor Secretary Lynn Martin to investigate claims of sexual harassment at the company’s Normal, Ill. plant. The former Republican Congresswoman will investigate the claims filed by the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission in what could be the largest sexual harassment case in U.S. […]

Uncategorized

Muslim Women Discuss Equal Rights

Two hundred people from 20 nations attended “Beijing and Beyond,” a weekend conference called to discuss rights denied to Muslim women and to urge Muslim communities to pursue the goals for the U.N. Fourth World Conference on Women held last September in Beijing, China. The Sisterhood is Global Institute sponsored the conference and issued a […]

Uncategorized

NOW Protests Mitsubishi

National Organization for Women chapters across the country picketed Mitsubishi auto dealerships this weekend to protest the company’s handling of charges of pervasive sexual harassment at its Normal, Ill. plant. Carrying signs that read, “Solutions, not retaliation” and “Mitsubishi, women are watching,” the protesters expressed their outrage over Mitsubishi’s denial of the claims made by […]

Uncategorized

Clinton Opposes California Initiative to End Affirmative Action

As a board member of the “No on CCRI” Campaign and the executive director of the Lawyers Committee on Human Rights in San Francisco, Eva Paterson met with President Clinton last week to discuss his opposition to an anti-affirmative action measure on the November ballot in California. Clinton said he believed the “California Civil Rights […]

Uncategorized

Clinton Asks for Longer Hospital Stays for New Mothers

During his Saturday radio address (5-11), President Clinton asked Congress to pass legislation that would require insurance companies to pay for 48-hour hospital stays for women and their newborn babies. Currently, many insurance companies refuse to pay for stays beyond 24 hours, and some recommend releasing women only eight hours after delivery. Mothers who giving […]

Uncategorized

Lesbians and Gay Men Win Legislative Victory in Canada

The Canadian House of Commons overwhelmingly passed legislation Thursday (5-9) to ban discrimination against gays and lesbians. In an amendment to the 19-year-old Human Rights Act, isexual orientationi will be added to a list of characteristics that may not be used to discriminate in the hiring or promoting of workers in federal civil service or […]

Uncategorized

Women Denied Parity in Pensions

According to research released Thursday (5-9), women are half as likely to receive employer-provided pensions, and men typically collect more than twice the amount of benefits that women receive. At a National Press Club luncheon for the Women’s Research and Education Institute, Labor Secretary Robert Reich called the situation the “glass ceiling of retirement security” […]

Uncategorized

Maryland County Gives Phones to Domestic Violence Victims

A pilot program in Montgomery County, Maryland plans to supply women at risk of being abused by male partners cellular phones to call 911. The county sheriff’s office began distributing twenty-five phones donated by Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile Thursday (5-9) to women who deputies considered to be in imminent danger. The women, victims of prior […]

Uncategorized

Congress Attacks Same-Sex Marriage

Republicans introduced bills to the House and Senate Wednesday (5-8) to define marriage as “only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife.” The measure would allow states to refuse to recognize the legality of same-sex marriages performed in other states, but it would not ban gay marriage in any […]