Letters to the Editor
Published Letters: 141 Editor's Choice: 12
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When CFLs were new...
[Read the article: Women to blame for global warming?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]... my utility company came around door-to-door, giving away up to 10 CFL bulbs per household. (They replaced bulbs that were in lamps and took the incandescents away, one-for-one only.) CFLs were expensive at the time (it was about 1992). They could not be put into enclosed globes, so they were pretty much only for table lamps. I thought it was a great idea, because I certainly wasn't going to go out and spent $15 on a light bulb, even if that bulb was going to last 10 years. (And I still do have many of those bulbs, though they have had mixed usage in the intervening years, since I've moved several times in the interim).
The problem I had with them is that they were touting a 20-watt bulb, an 85-90watt-equivalent, as a replacement for a 100watt incandescent. Obviously not a one-for-one on the brightness scale! (At the time that was as high as they went.) They are definitely NOT great to read by. I still have one of them in my bedroom lamp, and I have the lamp poised on the edge of the night table, and I still curse its lack of brightness. But I won't replace it because it's not "out" yet. So, I'll just wait another 10 years, and continue to curse the lack of brightness in the meantime.
PS I'm female. And if you have a lampshade on your lamp, then what's the problem with what the bulb looks like...
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Too many variables.
[Read the article: Does acting like "one of the boys" make you more likely to be harassed?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I think there may be too many variables to know whether the author's conclusions are valid. For example, in study 3 she used three factories as examples of "male-dominated" organizations, vs two "community service centers" as female-dominated. So not only do you have a macho "personality" of factory work itself, but you also have the majority of the employees themselves being men. What about harrassment by men at a factory with more female employees than male ones? Hard to find them to make that comparison, I'd guess, but unless you do, you won't be sure your conclusions are valid.
Long story short, I think Mikes Pace hit it on the head. If you work with pigs, harrassment will happen. I work in a male-dominated (but not macho) field and I'd say I'm pretty assertive and ambitious. But I've never chosen to work for a company that tolerates harrassment, or that doesn't promote BASIC RESPECT for all employees. And I think that's why I've never been harrassed. Because I don't work with pigs.
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Younger vs Older Men
[Read the article: Does acting like "one of the boys" make you more likely to be harassed?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Nancy Ott, you've made an excellent observation about younger men having more of a problem than older men, contrary to expectations. My opinion as to the reason, you alluded to but didn't spell out, so I will.
These older men don't see these (mostly younger) women as competition for wages, promotions, etc. And the reason is, they're NOT competition. By 50-65, the women that started out at the same time are now making much less money, have been passed over for promotions, have probably taken time off to have children, and while they're still the same AGE as the men, they're one, two, three levels below them on the job ladder. The women that are on the same spot on the job ladder are older, and if not already retired, then looking at that a lot more closely and thus their careers more conservatively than men at the same level. Thus, no competition. And face it. In this industry in particular, there just aren't that many women in those same upper job levels.
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Study doesn't reflect reality
[Read the article: Are you being mommified?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I linked back to the original article, and saw that the "survey" was taken by CORNELL UNDERGRADUATES, not hiring managers! It's hard to know whether or how that would translate into the actual work environment. But certainly there should be some more education to correct this notion, at least at Cornell, to keep this from happening in the actual workplaces where these students will eventually get jobs.
Also, there should have been an extra commitment added to the other resumes as well. The one with the extra PTA commitment might then seem overextended in their personal life. The extra commitment for the others could include something like "officer with Boys and Girls Club" (child related but tending to signify a single, non-parent) and "officer on city beautification council" (not related to children at all). I know that the fact that the men's resume with the additional tidbit shows a striking difference from the woman's, but you can't really attribute it to mommification vs perceived over-commitment to extracurricular activities (which would still be sexist, but would not be related to mommy vs daddy).
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Yes, but.
[Read the article: A bicycle built for a better world]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Everything you said is pretty much also true for the automotive industry, isn't it? So, with that being equal, and the improvements to health and fitness, global warming, and dependence on foreign oil going to bikes instead of cars, I'd say advocacy is still overwhelmingly a good idea.
Of course when I mentioned the need for more bike lanes to my congressman (Jerry McNerney), he stated that Americans will always love their cars. And this is an alternative-energy guy! But he's right, that without a big push for bike advocacy that will always be true. So it's a long uphill battle from here, isn't it?