News of the week! feb.11th - 18th
"San Francisco Extends Parking Meter Hours to Boost Revenue for Muni Services"
San Francisco's transportation agency is proposing to extend metered parking hours to weekdays evenings and Sundays in order to help pay for the city's Muni service. The agency is facing a projected budget deficit of $214 million by 2026 and is hoping to raise money by increasing parking fees. Currently, San Francisco enforces metered parking from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and Saturdays across its 28,000 parking meters, with free parking on Sundays. The exact specifics of the changes have yet to be announced, but the Municipal Transportation Agency is expected to announce a timeline in the spring. The changes could extend metered hours to 10 p.m. on weekdays and introduce metered parking on Sundays, and would take at least five months to implement.
"Miraculous Rescues Amid Devastation: 70-Year-Old Woman and 16-Year-Old Boy Pulled from Rubble in Turkey After Deadly Earthquake"
The earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on Monday, February 7th, 2023 has had devastating consequences. According to reports, over 25,000 people have been killed and tens of thousands have been injured. The magnitude 7.8 earthquake is the deadliest to hit the region in over 80 years. Rescue operations have been underway since the earthquake struck,
but the rescue efforts in rebel-held areas in northwest Syria have been complicated by the long-running civil war. Despite the challenges, some survivors have been pulled from the rubble, including a 70-year-old woman named Menekse Tabak who was rescued 121 hours after the earthquake hit. However, the search and rescue window is coming to a close and the probability of finding more survivors is decreasing as temperatures drop.
"ER Outsourcing to Private Equity Firms Leads to Fewer Doctors, Concerns Over Quality of Care"
ERs are increasingly being staffed by health practitioners who can perform many of the same duties as ER doctors for less pay.
This staffing strategy is being adopted by hospitals to reduce their top expense: physician labor.
Natasha Valle went to a Tennova Healthcare hospital in Clarksville, Tenn., in January 2021 and had a negative experience, visiting the ER three times over three days before seeing a doctor who confirmed her fears.
17 months before Valle's experience, the hospital outsourced its ER to American Physician Partners, a medical staffing company owned by private equity investors that employs fewer doctors in its ERs as a cost-saving initiative.
Critics of this strategy argue that it results in treatment by someone with less training than a doctor, leading to misdiagnoses, higher medical bills, and inadequate care.
A working paper published in October by the National Bureau of Economic Research analyzed 1.1 million visits to 44 ERs throughout the Veterans Health Administration and found that treatment by a nurse practitioner resulted in a 7% increase in cost of care and an 11% increase in length of stay.
The study also found that ER patients treated by a nurse practitioner were 20% more likely to be readmitted to the hospital for a preventable reason within 30 days.
Research echoes smaller studies, such as one from The Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute that found non-physician practitioners in ERs were associated with an increase in imaging, which could unnecessarily increase bills for patients.
Title: ERS Hiring Fewer Doctors Source: National Public Radio (NPR) Link:
Sex and the City writer Candace Bushnell, 60, admits she regrets choosing a career over having children as she is now 'truly alone'
Candace Bushnell, the creator of the popular TV series "Sex and the City," has expressed regret for choosing a career over having children. She said she is now "truly alone" and wishes she had started a family in her 30s and 40s when she did not think about it. After her 2012 divorce from her husband, Bushnell realized the importance of having children as an anchor in life. The TV series was based on a writer in New York who chose independence over motherhood, a theme that resonated with many women. In her upcoming book, "Is there still Sex in the City?," Bushnell writes about the difficulties of bouncing back in one's 50s and "middle-aged sadness." She also shares her personal experiences with Botox and the dating scene in modern New York.
Title: "Candace Bushnell Regrets Choosing Career Over Children" Author: Daily Mail Reporter Publication: Daily Mail Date of Publication: July 29, 2019 URL:
The Gender Gap in Education, Workforce, and Leadership: Women’s Advancement in Today’s Society
I. Women in Education A. Dominance in teaching profession
76% of women teachers in 2015-2016 school year
Women earning higher levels of education a. 57.3% of bachelor's degrees b. 59.4% of master's degrees c. 53.3% of doctorates in the 2016-2017 graduating class
II. Women in the Workforce A. High representation in certain fields
63-73% of public relations field
94% of home furnishings purchase decisions
92% of vacation decisions
91% of home purchase decisions
60% of automobile purchase decisions
51% of consumer electronics purchase decisions
58% of government service jobs
56% of financial-related positions
III. Women in Leadership Positions A. Increasing representation in senior positions
78% of new Chief Human Resource Officers (CHROs) in 2019
HR becoming a female-dominated profession in Fortune 200 firms
IV. Women in the Nonprofit Sector A. High representation in the nonprofit workforce
73% of the American nonprofit workforce
45% of nonprofits have women among their executives
V. Reasons for Gender Distribution A. Women may be more drawn to social services and social justice organizations or female-dominated fields
Reference List:
Kelly, Jack. "Women Now Hold More Jobs Than Men." Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 13 Jan. 2020. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2020/01/13/women-now-hold-more-jobs-than-men/.
"The Female Economy." Harvard Business Review, Harvard Business Publishing, Sept. 2009. https://hbr.org/2009/09/the-female-economy.
"The Explosion of Women Teachers." The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, Feb. 2019. https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2019/02/the-explosion-of-women-teachers/582622/.
"The Nonprofit Gender Gap: How a Female-Dominated Industry Still Has a Huge Equality Problem." The Financial Diet, 16 June 2020. https://thefinancialdiet.com/the-nonprofit-gender-gap-how-a-female-dominated-industry-still-has-a-huge-equality-problem/.
