The Oregon Women's Report - Women's News from Oregon

As our kids gets more connected with the internet, texting and iPhones, Oregon parents should be aware of the hidden dangers our kids will be facing.

MONDAY, June 29 (HealthDay News) — Bullying still makes life miserable for plenty of students, only these days some aggressors apparently operate electronically.  A new study shows that many children in grades 6 through 10 have either bullied classmates or been bullied by them, sometimes online or through cell phones.  The study by the National Institutes of Health, released online June 29 in the Journal of Adolescent Medicine, analyzed data from the World Health Organization’s 2005/2006 survey of human behavior in school-aged children. According to the study, 20.8 percent of respondents reported being perpetrators or victims of physical bullying in the past two months; 53.6 percent were victims of verbal bullying; 51.4 percent were victims of relational bullying, which involves social exclusion, and 13.6 percent of cyber bullying on a computer, cell phone or other electronic device.

By Lori Brownell,
GM of Product Quality & Support for Microsoft

We all have that person we call with our computer questions.  It might be a friend who works in IT or a nephew who knew the difference between a right click and a left click before he could ride a bike.  We come to rely on these trusted advisors, as they’ve done their fair share of saving us from countless digital disasters. But what about when that friend is busy with her real job, or your nephew goes off to college?  Who can you call on then?

Guess what?  It’s likely you do not need to call on anyone but yourself.  Software support isn’t what it used to be and is actually becoming more automated, intuitive and preventative than ever before.  For example, did you know that …

By Evergreen,

An estimated 8 million Americans suffer from an eating disorder.  Ian Halperin, author of Michael Jackson the Final Years, wrote about Michale Jackson’s eating disorder.

“Meanwhile, everybody around him noticed that Jackson had lost an astonishing amount of weight in recent months. His medical team even believed he was anorexic. ‘He goes days at a time hardly eating a thing and at one point his doctor was asking people if he had been throwing up after meals,’ one staff member told me in May. ‘He suspected bulimia but when we said he hardly eats any meals, the doc thought it was probably anorexia. He seemed alarmed and at one point said, ‘People die from that all the time. You’ve got to get him to eat.’’Indeed, one known consequence of anorexia is cardiac arrest. ”

According to CareerBuilders.com: “Four-in-ten (40 percent) workers reveal they have dated a co-worker at some time during their careers, with 18 percent admitting to doing it twice or more, according to CareerBuilder.com’s annual office romance survey of more than 8,000 workers. More than three-in-ten (31 percent) said they went on to marry the person they dated at work.  Office courtships may be stemming from current workplace crushes. Ten percent of workers currently work with someone who they would like to date, with more men (14 percent) than women (5 percent) reporting they would like to do so.  Workers aren’t just interested in dating their peers. Among workers who dated a co-worker in the last year, thirty-four percent admit they have dated someone with a higher position in their company.”

HealthDay News– A new survey finds that 70 percent of American women have experienced a sexual health issue, and 22 percent felt very or extremely concerned about it. The survey defined a sexual health issue as any one of the following conditions: lack of desire for sexual activity, inability to become sexually aroused, inability to have an orgasm, pain during intercourse, vaginal dryness, or excessive desire for sexual activity.

By Jean Tracy, NW Author
KidsDiscuss.com, Parent Newsletter

How do you discipline your kids when they break things? First, decide whether it’s a rare accident or a pattern that stems from disobedience rooted in impulsiveness or not caring. If it’s a rare accident, the consequences you deliver may be simple and straightforward, “Get the broom and clean up the mess.” If it’s a disobedience pattern, then you need to be on the lookout for blaming (“The teapot was too close to the edge of the table.”) or not caring (“What’s the big deal? That’s an ugly old teapot.”)

How will you discipline?

by Kay Helbling

The beautiful Pittock Mansion seems an appropriate place to celebrate the last 150 years of Oregon architecture. As a part of the state’s sesquicentennial celebration, they are exhibiting some of Oregon’s familiar structures–as well as those not-so-well-known. More than 30 works were juried for their beauty, utility, or ingenuity and hang in the Mansion’s 23 rooms.

The Pittock Mansion in its own right is an architecural marvel. As a piece of Oregon history it’s a favorite stop for many tourists who visit Portland. The beauty of the structure is enhanced by the grounds and the panoramic view of the city. On a clear summer day, six mountain peaks can be seen, including the majestic Mt. Hood.

It was on just such a day that I took a tour of the mansion with my father. After walking through her rooms, we stepped out onto the wide porch that surrounds the structure. We began talking about all the wonderful parties they must have had at this amazing home. At that moment, we took a step back into history. My dad took me in his arms and we danced a slow waltz, following the porch around the structure then down the steps and across the lawn.

From Evergreen,

Rollasole is a new invention where you can buy foldable shoes from a vending machine.  It was featured on NBC News this week and is opening up in clubs in Los Angeles and New York. The inventor has experienced 600% increase in sales in the last six months and was quoted in the BBC News sas saying, “He came up with the Rollasoles idea after being inspired by a stiletto-loving girlfriend who complained about her crippled feet every time they went out.”After getting tired of giving my girlfriend a piggyback home every Saturday night, I had a ‘eureka’ moment,” he said. “Within six months we were selling thousands of them.” Read whole story here.

By Erika Weisensee

Over the years, our dinner plates have grown larger and larger. Unfortunately, so have our waistlines. The Small Plate Movement is aimed at helping American families lose weight and feel healthier by reducing the size of dinnerware. Can losing weight really be as simple as eating off of smaller plates? Well, it’s a start. According to scientific research, people take up to 25% more food when they use larger plates.

The Small Plate Movement is a combined effort of the academic, medical and government communities, as well as private industries. The coalition, whose work centers around a media and public awareness campaign, is currently promoting its “Small Plate Movement Challenge,” urging people to eat their largest meal of the day off a plate that is 10-inches or smaller.

HealthDay News — Dizziness typically isn’t a serious problem. Most of the time, dizziness resolves itself or the underlying cause can be treated fairly easily.  The U.S. National Library of Medicine offers these common reasons for dizziness:

* Standing up too quickly.
* The flu.
* The common cold.
* Allergies.
* Low blood sugar.
* Vertigo.

Mehgan Daum of the Los Angeles Times detailed new national figures in a recent article.

“A study released last month from the National Bureau of Economic Research and the University of Pennsylvania showed that even though men’s and women’s happiness levels have both gone down over the last few decades, women’s “subjective well-being” has declined “both absolutely and relatively to men.” The data came from a cross-section of ethnic and socioeconomic groups in several industrialized countries, and appeared to be big news primarily for one reason: When the same research was conducted in the 1970s, women reported higher levels of happiness than they do today.”

What is your opinion?

HealthDay News — Price and style — not protection from the sun’s harmful rays — are most people’s main considerations when buying sunglasses, a new survey has found. But that’s not a good thing, health-wise, says the American Optometric Association, which conducted the survey. “Overexposure to UV [ultraviolet] rays has been linked to a variety of problems, including age-related cataracts and degeneration of the cornea,” Dr. Gregory W. Good, an optometrist and association spokesman, said in a news release from the group.

by Cathy Rae Smith
founder of Culture Magazine

During the reign of King Louis XV, known as the Rococo period for its decorative flourishes and curvilinear style, lace enjoyed popularity unprecedented in history. During this time of the 17th century, the wearing of lace carried such status that law to be worn by anyone outside of nobility restricted it. By the 18th century its use knew no such bounds. Anyone who could afford this delicately hand fashioned bit of finery donned it as a symbol of status. The more money one had, the more lace. According to the Costumes Organization, a lace called “Alencon” was considered the most elegant and aristocratic due to its rarity and high cost. By the late 18th century, lace took a less conspicuous role, remaining underground to women’s lingerie. It transformed from a status symbol to an accessory for women of sensual enticement.

Below is an excerpt from an article entitled  NO-COST or LOW-COST Father’s Day ideas!,
From Four Reluctant Entertainers
More to read, view full article here.

1. Have each one of your kids tell their father what they admire about him. You can do this around the dinner table.  Using words is very meaningful.

2. Have your kids take their “words” and put them into an art project. Generate using their own writing or on the computer, buy a frame from the Dollar Store, or look around your house and find an unused frame lying around.

By Jean Tracy, NW Author
KidsDiscuss.com, Parent Newsletter

When you discipline with yells, arguments, and threats, you set up the routine for more yells, arguments, and threats. Your family life becomes like a mud pie. The bigger portion is discipline that repeats itself. The left over sliver is tastier like fun activities. Why not make fun activities the largest portion and discipline the sliver? You can do that with logical consequences.

We also discussed 3 problems with children and homework. Kevin watched TV and ate chips. He hadn’t started his homework. Emma handed in homework with scribbles and smudges. Robert “forgot” his homework. How will their grades improve?

A new report finds..  “Health experts have long warned of the risk of obesity, but a new Japanese study warns that being very skinny is even more dangerous, and that slightly chubby people live longer.People who are a little overweight at age 40 live six to seven years longer than very thin people, whose average life expectancy was shorter by some five years than that of obese people, the study found.” “We found skinny people run the highest risk,” said Shinichi Kuriyama, an associate professor at Tohoku University’s Graduate School of Medicine who worked on the long-term study of middle-aged and elderly people.

By Kay Helbling

I was stunned to find that in many schools across Oregon the Pledge of Allegiance is only recited during the week we celebrate Flag Day. It is worked in as a “lesson plan”. We’ve come a long way from showing daily allegiance for our country to simply discussing it in a lesson plan. But, I guess one week out of the year is better than none.

As a little girl I was taught the importance of honoring our country’s flag in school by a daily recitation of the Pledge. At home, my dad, the consummate veteran, would require that we all stand with hand over heart at the end of each days television broadcast when they lowered the flag and played the National Anthem. Those were the days when programming ended at midnight. Guess I’m showing my age a bit.

HealthDay News, June 16 — If you have a purpose in life — lofty or not — you’ll live longer, a new study shows.  It doesn’t seem to matter much what the purpose is, or whether the purpose involves a goal that’s ambitious or modest.  “It can be anything — from wanting to accomplish a goal in life, to achieving something in a volunteer organization, to as little as reading a series of books,” said study author Dr. Patricia Boyle, a neuropsychologist at the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center and an assistant professor of behavioral sciences at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.