Article here. Excerpt:

'Lisa Glide, a former Old Bridge High School drama teacher who pleaded guilty to having a four-month sexual relationship with a student, was sentenced Monday to five years' probation. She should have received at least a portion of the 364-day jail sentence recommended by the prosecutor.

Superior Court Judge Frederick DeVesa said he didn't think incarceration was appropriate, citing the physical illness and depression that Glide, 35, of Howell was struggling with when the affair with a 17-year-old student took place. DeVesa also gave weight to a letter he received from the former student, now entering his sophomore year in college, who said he was "clearly not a young child" and that he was "the initiator of the contact, not Lisa Glide."

Letter here. Excerpt:

'RECENT reports that there will be no more male teachers in 20 years’ time is a grave concern to the country.

In the 60s when I joined the teaching profession, we were fired with a sense of commitment, dedication and passion, and it was a vocation, but not anymore.

As accurately pointed out by my fellow teachers, now one enters the teaching profession only when one cannot find other jobs – a sad reflection on a profession that was once revered.

The current ratio of 72 females to 28 males for every 100 teachers is indeed a disturbing trend for the country’s education system. Why has the teaching profession become so unattractive to males?'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Why the downward trend in male teaching? According to Bryan Nelson, founder of MenTeach, a nonprofit organization dedicated to recruiting male teachers, research suggests three key reasons for the shortage of male teachers: low status and pay, the perception that teaching is "women's work," and the fear of accusation of child abuse.

"There's a lack of support for male teachers, a lack of respect, and a lack of being able to be involved in decision-making," says Reg Weaver, president of the National Education Association (NEA). "And I can't say it's getting better."

Low salary levels have also proved to be a deterrent, especially for those men who value being the breadwinners of the family. The average U.S. public school teacher salary for 2005-2006 was $49,026, according to the NEA. "There's a long-entrenched idea that males are supposed to make lots of money and be a big-time breadwinner," Brown says. "But teaching won't make anyone rich."'

Story here. Excerpt:

'An Abbotsford woman has been charged with public mischief after she created a frenzy by falsely reporting a man broke into her apartment then attacked and assaulted her two weeks ago, Abbotsford police said.

After skeptical police confronted Tammi Zall, 22, with some evidence gathered, she admitted she made up the story, police said in a news release on Wednesday.

After Zall called 911 on July 29, police had deployed officers and a K9 unit to search the area, and crime detectives and forensic identification unit members investigated.

Police issued a news release with a description of the supposed suspect and warned residents to lock their doors and windows. Several residents called and e-mailed, concerned the "balcony rapist" was at large, police said.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Has your better half become the bitter half of your life? Are you a tortured husband, falsely booked into a dowry case or under domestic violence act and there is no one to pay heed to your side of the story?
...
Man Cell or Patni Atyaachar Virodhi Morcha (PAVM) is an organisation working for the cause of harassed husbands. Man Cell, which was established in 1982 by R P Chugh, a Supreme Court advocate and president of Man Cell, has branches at many places all over the country. He himself has been a victim of women since his childhood and campaigns against the anti dowry legislations, specially section 498-A of IPC and the Domestic Violence Act, as he feels that these laws are biased and violate basic human right of equality before law. Man Cell believes that there is no use of making new laws as existing laws are sufficient. He feels, there is a need to amend such existing laws as they only speak of the harassment of women and not of men.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'CHENNAI: Women cheered and men looked up with awe and envy as the Ladies Special chugged out of the Tambaram station in all pomp and glory on Wednesday. For women, the induction of this special train has come as a blessing to provide them a little relief from the peak hour rush. While women extend their heart-felt thanks to the railways; the introduction of women’s only trains did not go down well with many a man.

Kumudam, a 25-year-old school teacher was all praise for this initiative of the railways. “This special train will prove to be a boon to women, who have to take the train during peak hours. We don’t have to worry about starring and ‘accidental’ bumping,” she said.

Letter here, written by an unnamed female Labor party MP. Excerpt:

'IT is with a heavy heart that I write to the Barry & District News to oppose the policy that has been forced upon the Vale of Glamorgan Constituency Labour Party, to select its next Parliamentary candidate from a women-only shortlist.

I know there is a silent majority of local Labour party members who would oppose the imposition of a women-only shortlist for the selection of our candidate to replace John Smith MP.

It is what I can only describe as bullying tactics from the national executive, which forced the local party to succumb to this policy.

The polls indicate the fight to return a Labour MP for the Vale of Glamorgan will be extremely difficult.'

Video report here. Article here. Excerpt:

'Home videos show 5-year-old Liam McCarty horsing around with his father, his blond curls bouncing around a cherubic face.

It's a face his father, Michael McCarty, hasn't seen in months.

Liam, an American citizen, was placed into the custody of an Italian orphanage this spring after his mother, Manuela McCarty, fled to her native Italy with the child in the middle of a custody dispute with Michael McCarty.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville men's basketball coach Rick Pitino told police he had sex with a woman accused of trying to extort him of $10 million and later paid for her abortion, a newspaper reported Tuesday.

The Courier-Journal of Louisville reported on its Web site that Pitino told police he had been drinking in a Louisville restaurant and had consensual sex with Karen Sypher in August 2003. The police report said the 56-year-old coach denied allegations by Sypher that he raped her after the restaurant closed and at another time somewhere else. He said he later gave her $3,000 for an abortion.

Sypher reported the rape allegations to police last month, but a Kentucky prosecutor said the complaint wouldn't be prosecuted because it lacked supporting evidence. Sypher, 49, has pleaded not guilty to federal charges of lying to the FBI and trying to extort money from Pitino, who is married.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'As first reported Tuesday on tulsaworld.com, Vicki Rae Smith, 50, who was recently reassigned from her post as principal at Houston Elementary School, is charged in Tulsa County District Court with contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Officers with the TPS campus police department reported that on April 2, Smith encouraged a 10-year-old boy and an 11-year-old boy "to become delinquent children by engaging in the offense of assault and battery."

Smith is accused of removing one boy from class to fight the other boy in a school hallway and not intervening "until she noticed that the fight was being observed by two visitors at the school," according to a police affidavit filed in court.

Records indicate that Smith was booked into the Tulsa Jail about 10 a.m. Tuesday and was released on a $1,000 bond about an hour later.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Drunk-driving mom Diane Schuler's tale is tragic, but her behavior is more understandable than we'd like to admit
...
Diane Schuler was a mother of two small children who loaded her own kids and three others into her minivan for a long drive home from a camping trip. Small children, because they are so tied to our hearts, have the ability to drive us crazy with their complaints and carsickness and impatience. (Small kids are special in this regard.) Perhaps to fortify herself for the drive, Schuler reached for vodka and pot, substances she had probably used in the past. It may not seem obvious to someone who has never had a drinking problem, but for a woman whose most reliable support had become alcohol, it could make a kind of sad, twisted sense.

Article here. Excerpt:

'I don’t which infuriated me more: Bob Herbert’s sanctimonious Sunday column describing American society as “saturated with misogyny,” or the unusually thoughtless, “right-on” commentary that followed it. Herbert’s thesis echoes the drumbeat of self-pity that has been coming out of paleo-feminist groups and women’s studies departments for decades: America, in their view, is a country where “barbaric treatment of women has come to be more accepted,” where we are all so inured to the victimization of the female half of the population that we don’t even notice it anymore. ...

Story here. Excerpt:

'ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- A Georgia man who spent a year in jail for nonpayment of child support -- despite the fact he has no children -- has been cleared of the debt, his attorney said Tuesday.

Frank Hatley, 50, spent 13 months in jail for being a deadbeat dad before his release last month. A judge ordered him jailed in June 2008 for failing to support his "son" -- a child who DNA tests proved was not fathered by Hatley.
...
When the child turned 2, Morrison applied for public support for the child. Under Georgia law, the state, can recoup the cost of the assistance from a child's non-custodial parent.

For 13 years, Hatley made payments to the state until learning in 2000 that the boy might not be his. A DNA test that year confirmed the child was not fathered by Hatley, court documents said.

Article here. Excerpt:

'In case you missed it, my College Sports Council colleague Clay McEldowney had a fantastic op-ed in yesterday’s Washington Post highlighting the disproportionate cuts being made to men’s collegiate sports programs due to the economic downturn and, you guessed it, Title IX. As Clay explains, the ax is falling regularly this summer, and when it falls, it falls hardest on men’s programs because of the quota enforcement of Title IX.

Clay also mentions a remedy that was put in place by the Bush administration but has been largely ignored by colleges and universities because of lawsuits threatened by women’s groups and the NCAA: surveys. Instead of using an arbitrary quota to see if schools are complying with Title IX, just ask the kids what sports they want to play and judge schools on the basis of the results.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Women are still segregated into college majors that will lead them to careers with less pay than men, said Donna Bobbitt-Zeher, author of the study and assistant professor of sociology at Ohio State University at Marion.

"Gender segregation in college is becoming more influential in how men and women are rewarded later in life," Bobbitt-Zeher said.
...
"A lot of people look at data showing that women are more likely to go to college than men, and that women get better grades in college than men, and assume that everything is all right," she said.

"But this research suggests there are still problems for women that relate to college."
...
"There's been a lot of attention paid to the fact that women seem to be doing so well in college compared to men. But what people don't know is that education is playing a bigger role than ever in perpetuating the gender income gap," she said.'