sophie.tulane.edu

Fleshmeet 3pm today at NCCROW: Professor Dedra Johnson (Dillard U) delivers an Adele Ramos Salzer Lecture. Location: http://bit.ly/6WawR

What if Women Ran the World? - Christian Science Monitor

Mark Lange argues that the world’s troubles can be blamed mostly on men - and that the world would operate a whole lot more smoothly if women were behind the wheel.

“It is getting harder to escape the sense that most of the trouble in the world – whether it’s coming out of the Senate, a mortgage lender, or a tank turret – can be traced to one overriding problem: too many men steering. Had our economic, domestic, and foreign policy been more informed by women, we might be enjoying a safer ride.

Doubt it? Here’s a test. Would any of the women you admire have set up a healthcare system as byzantine, costly, and underperforming as America’s? Or a financial system where mortgage lenders don’t have to care about being paid back? Or a bailout that spends $1 trillion in public money to subsidize the purchase of junk debt from the same geniuses that generated it?

How to get a job in a recession- CNNMoney.com

It’s enough to drive the average job seeker to distraction. Like just about every unemployed twentysomething, Jamie Varon, 23, had her heart set on working at Twitter. She had already applied for a position through the company’s website. And asked a contact at Google to put in a good word for her. And showed up at the company’s headquarters with a bag of cookies in an attempt to charm a recruiter into talking to her. But she still hadn’t landed an interview.

What Varon did next made her feel a little crazy. But then, it’s a crazy time to be looking for a job. She created a website called twittershouldhireme.com, including her resume, recommendations, and a blog tracking her quest. Within 24 hours the company contacted her. She had a lunch meeting set up at Twitter, and in the meantime got two job offers from tech companies that had noticed her site, which has even spawned imitators: googleshouldhireme.com and facebookshouldhireme.com.

Egypt Women Blog for Their Rights- BBC

Egyptian women are using blogs to fight for their rights in a traditionally male-dominated society. Women are utilizing the anonymity offered by the internet to voice dissenting opinions in Egypt’s climate of censorship. Their topics include the Middle East’s preoccupation with virginity, Saudi Arabia’s draconian discrimation laws, and the prevalance of sexual harassment. Many women are also turning to audio-blogging and pod casting to make their voices heard: “Banat wa bas” or “Girls Only” is the first Arabic radio station entirely run by women.

Young women enamoured of the net - The Star, Malyasia

Vietnamese women are proving just as internet-obsessed as their Western counterparts. According to a recent study conducted in urban Vietnam, women use the internet to get most of their information. 92% of Hanoi women use the Internet for news and information before any other source, and internet use rates are growing all the time.

India’s Virtual Vigilantes- Asia Times Online

Indians are using the Internet to promote social change and keep an eye on government and society in general. Social networking sites like Facebook provide a novel way for people to arrange and carry out acts of protest and civil disobedience. However, there’s a downside to all this internet-driven vigilantism: radical groups such as the Shiv Sainiks have been known to vandalize internet cafes and block websites in an effort to impose their agenda.  Neeta Lal poses a compelling question: how long will India’s new upswing in Internet activism go unregulated?

Let’s Hear it for Women in Technology - Guardian.uk

Did you know March 24th was Ada Lovelace day?

The new holiday was organized by Suw Charman-Anderson, who convinced more then 1000 bloggers to post about a woman in technology they admire. Lovelace, widely considered the world’s first computer programmer, is a fitting inspiration for the endeavor - which seeks to recognize and give credence to the many women making strides in technology and science today. As Naomi Alderman points out, it’s time to give women in tech their proper accolades - instead of consigning them to the sidelines or pretending they just don’t exist. (I’m looking at you, American media. Beauty and the Geek? Really? Really?)

Still a Can-Do Woman - China Daily

Guan Yuxiang, chairwoman of ORG Can Manufacturing, is an entirely self-made woman: who started her business when she was 60 years old. She’s an examplar of the astonishing strides women have made in China’s new economic reality.

In Houston, Clinton says women’s rights shape US policy - Houston Chronicle

Hillary Clinton spoke at the Planned Parenthood Federation of America conference this Friday, stating that protecting women’s reproductive and health rights is an important component of US foreign policy. Clinton noted that, “A society that denies and demeans women’s rights and roles is a society that is more likely to engage in behavior that is negative, anti-democratic and leads to violence and extremism.” Clinton also expressed gratitude for recieving Planned Parenthood’s Margaret Sanger award, named for the organization’s founder.

Another positive step for women’s rights world-wide. Maybe we can finally stop sweeping these all important issues under the table.

25 Ways to use your Blog and Social Media to Create Change - Politcoholic

Nisha Chittal of Politcoholic lists 25 great ways to harness the power of blogs and social media for good (rather then, presumably, evil.) Nisha points out that any audience, even a small one, has the power to generate positive change.

Faine here. Back from break and ready to get blogging again!

WITI Announces Women Selected for 2009 WITI Hall of Fame Awards - FOXBusiness

Women in Technology International has released its 2009 roster of award-winners, forming the Hall of Fame’s 14th class. The women include NASA research pyschologist Patricia S. Cowings, vice President of the Technology and Manufacturing Group for Intel Corporation Maxine Fassberg,vice President Big Green Innovations, IBM Corporation Sharon Nunes, and distinguished computer science researcher Dr. Carolyn Turbyfill.

According to WITI, the award exists to “recognize women’s innovation across different fields of science and technology and to encourage young girls and women to become more technologically literate, as well as choose careers in science and technology.” Congrats!

Follow @FindingAda for official Ada Lovelace Day updates + mark 3/24 on your 2010 calendars. Shoutouts: @faineg @mmmleisa

Unmarried women boost record ‘07 U.S. birth rate

From USA Today

Birth rates are up for women in their 20s, 30s and early 40s as well as for teens 15-19, according to a government report based on 2007 birth certificates.

Most of the age-related increases were 1% or less, but the largest bump was 2.3% for women ages 30-34, says Stephanie Ventura, a demographer at the National Center for Health Statistics, which released the preliminary data.

On Tuesday, March 10th Michelle Kohler presented the first lecture of the Joan Didion Reading Series, “Where She Was From: Joan Didion and the Conundrum of Place.”

Listen to the lecture with an introduction by Paula Morris

The Joan Didion Reading Series is presented by the Tulane Department of English Creative Writing Fund and the Newcomb-Tulane College Office of Co-Curricular Programs.

Joan Didion will read at McAlister Auditorium, Tulane University on the evening of Monday 6 April 2009 as part of the Tulane English Department Great Writers Series.

Look for Sophielab tomorrow at the NO Alternative Media Expo at the CAC: http://www.myspace.com/alternativemediaexpo

LECTURE: Jessie Poesch, “Newcomb Pottery in Context.” 530pm today. Freeman Auditorium. Sponsored by http://www.newcombartgallery.com

http://twitpic.com/26qh0 - Running 2 Cudd Hall for 1230 lecture on Didion by Prof Louise Hornsby