A short blurb in a recent issue of Time magazine caught my attention - in an attempt to increase the number of black male teachers in inner-city schools, three historically black colleges in South Carolina will be offering full tuition scholarships to male students. The catch is they must work for a minimum of four years in the state after they graduate. This sounds like a much needed incentive to get more male role models in public schools as teachers.

The New York Times (free registration required) had an insightful article about making metaphors for the current crisis of on-line privacy issues. Rather than describing it in terms of "Big Brother" (from the novel 1984), Carl Kaplan believes that Kafka's The Trial does a better job explaining the consequences of ignoring the need for privacy standards on-line. It's a good read, and relevant to all readers of Mensactivism.org. To drive the point in a bit further is news that Michigan state is considering a law that will require local ISPs to register their customers' e-mail addresses with a valid phone or credit card number, to ease law enforcement tracking of users based on their activity on-line.

Not PC writes "Erik Bullock, 30, received an automatic sentence of life in prison in addition to a 20 year sentence for hiring others to beat his girlfriend to kill her fetus. She lived, but the "choice" was stillborn. The case was the first brought under Arkansas' Fetal Protection Act. The 1999 law allows murder charges if a fetus in at least the 12th week of gestation dies as a result of a violent crime. The prosecutor described the defendant as a selfish person, but of course, not the mother. DNA TESTS LATER SHOWED THAT BULLOCK WAS NOT THE FATHER OF THE CHOICE, er, child. Click here to read the article." This is yet more disturbing news which attests to the despair and resentment of men who are forced into paternity - and in this case, the child wasn't even his! This is NOT the way to lobby for male reproductive rights, but I feel it's important to report on these kinds of events to force people to see what they might otherwise be able to ignore.

Trudy W Schuett writes "
Trudy Mackay, wife of Rev. Laughlin Mackay of Arizona announced today the formation of a prayer circle to aid men in crisis. This global effort will link e-mail volunteers from many countries to offer prayers for men in cases of domestic violence, divorce and other situations. To request prayers e-mail desertlight@angelfire.com with the word Request in the Subject line. Requests will be kept entirely confidential and e-mail addresses will not be used for any other purpose. More volunteers are also needed! For more information, send an e-mail to desertlight@angelfire.com with the words Volunteer Info in the subject line." Thanks for this information, Trudy! I know many men who will appreciate this kind of spiritual support network.

Anonymous User writes "This Ottawa Sun report is an article about how women can be sex offenders and not always the victims as feminists would have us believe." From the article: "The criminal acts of pedophiles are similar, whether it is committed by a female or male perpetrator...Rick Goodwin, director of The Men's Project counseling program for male survivors of sexual abuse, agrees that female offenders tend to go unnoticed. He calls sex abuse by women the 'invisible crime.' There is usually no physical evidence; cases go unreported; allegations aren't believed or can't be proven." While the article doesn't include much in the way of statistics, it is an encouraging break from the silence which is too often heard on this important issue.

Not PC sent in another story, this one about Rosie O'Donnell, an outspoken talk show host who has recently started helping adoption agencies give children to celebrity single mothers. And it's specifically for single mothers, married ones or single fathers she will not work with. The second half of the article attempts to refute O'Donnell's work, and demonstrate that she will be directly harming children, especially young boys, by promoting fatherless families. The article is from WorldNetDaily News.

E Zielin writes "From the More Wild Exaggerations and Misandrist Propaganda Dept: An effort by feminists across the country to transform Valentine's Day, a millennia-old celebration of romance and friendship, into a "Violence Against Women Day" - a day of resentment against men. Click here for the story." Thanks also to Ed Bartlett for submitting this.

Not PC submitted a link to this article from the Sacramento Bee. The article describes how the University of California at Davis obtained a U.S. Dept. of Justice grant for over half a million dollars to fight sexual assault on campus. The grant application stated that over 700 rapes or attempted rapes happen each year at UCD, but public data shows that one rape occurred there between 1995 and 1998. This discrepancy, of course, is the cause of much controversy, and amazingly, the counsel for the University is trying to claim that since rapes are so underreported, that the 700 figure is still accurate!

This is a long, informative article from the Boston Globe about the alarmingly high suicide rate for students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Comparisons were made with several other top engineering schools and MIT had the highest suicide rate overall. Many of the deaths, of course, are men. There is an effort to increase counseling services at MIT and to try and do more to prevent suicide. Certainly, the stress and pressure on men to perform and achieve is very prevalent at such a prestigious school, and I also hope that steps will be taken at the other schools listed in the article which had disturbingly high suicide rates.

This UK Telegraph article was submitted by AngryHarry, and discusses the obstacles many men with erectile dysfunction have to deal with in order to obtain treatment. As the article says, "we should not lightly dismiss the significance of the condition by regarding it as trivial, or unimportant or a bit of a joke." Currently, drugs such as Viagra can only be administered in Britain to men with certain medical conditions, and doctors are lobbying to allow the administration of these treatments on the grounds of clinical need.

Charles E. Corry from the DV Against Men - Colorado group wrote up an informative article about what happens when 911 is called during a domestic dispute, and why this shouldn't be used (by either party) even if one is already in extreme danger. Dr. Corry believes that calling 911 can make the situation worse and has irrevocable consequences for both parties involved. Click "Read More" below to read this article.

David Byron writes "An article from the New York Times (free sub required) tells the story of a male gynecologist who was fired because of his sex. Women are demanding female gynecologists. Behind the usual male bashing put-downs the story describes a highly discriminatory field of medicine. What I found especially interesting was the legal angle. Apparently the issue "tests the limits of a longstanding tenet of employment law, namely, that customer preferences generally do not justify discrimination in hiring or employment". Well as you could expect the rules seem to have changed when the customer wants women, not men. It seems anti-male bias is routine in this field where female-only practices openly discriminate. Also interesting to see that the preference for female gynecologists is largely limited to middle class women. Overall a sympathetic article (see the last paragraph)."

David Byron writes "An article about Lynne Cheney in the New York Times (requires free subscription) compares her to Hilary Clinton as a political wife who may have considerable influence on the administration. She is a member of the Independent Women's Forum and although she's kept a pretty low profile so far didn't give the usual answer that so many public women opposed to feminism give when asked about feminism ("That depends what you mean by feminism"). Here's a quote from the article: "Asked if she considers herself a feminist, Mrs. Cheney, who is 59, said: 'In the early days I certainly did, though now that's identified with a political philosophy I don't agree with. I'm pro-life and think Clarence Thomas is a wonderful justice.'"

The UK Times reports that a new parenting law will by default presume that a man declared the father of a child by the mother is indeed the father if he refuses to take a DNA paternity test. This is a very serious civil liberties issue, as we should all have the ability to safegaurd our genetic information, and not relinquish that right simply because a person names you as the father. The potential for misuse of this law is staggering. Click here to read the article.

Salon.com just did an interview with Warren Farrell about his new book Father And Child Reunion to give us a small preview of what to expect in the book. While the interviewer did seem a bit condescending at times, it's a great personalized insight into Warren and his life, so click here to read it.