No Time for Television

Working women and mothers spend less time watching television and watch selectively on "a need to know" basis and rarely for entertainment, according to a new market research survey.

The Businesswomen's Research Institute also found that women are less likely to watch during prime-time and are multi-tasking or doing other things while they are watching television.

As a result, professional/managerial women are most likely to purchase products that are endorsed or recommended to them by other women, most often, friends orbusiness associates. High on their list of sources of information are tradejournals, newspaper headlines, and business magazines. Beyond that, radiodrive time and a "favorite" magazine ranked high.

Businesswomen's Research Institute is a subsidiary of MacDonald Communications Corp., publishers of Working Woman and Working Mother magazines.

Post-Partum Care Guaranteed

Ontario, Canada, Premier and Minister of Health Elizabeth Witmer recently confirmed that new mothers will be guaranteed up to a 60 hourpost-partum stay in the hospital to reduce the incidence of newborn readmissions.

"Our biggest concern," according to Ontario Public Health Association ChildHealth Workgroup chair Lynne Hanne, "has been the need for greaterflexibility for mothers to get what they and their baby need in hospital and asystem which provides for continuity of care after they leave. This program will complement existing Healthy Baby Healthy Children strategies and should significantly reduce the incidence of newborn readmission."

Year-Round Campaign

Although March is National Women's History Month, the campaign to promote and celebrate women's accomplishments is a year-round effort. The National Women's History Project conducts teacher training conferences throughout the year and produces curriculum units, posters and display sets and videos.

Ease the Burden of Business Travel

Get the whole family involved in planning and taking business trips to lessen the pains of separation, says a nationwide accounting, tax and consulting company.

"Working parents can make the separation of business travel less painfulfor themselves and their families by incorporating the trip into their role asa parent," says Kathie Lingle, National Director of Work/Life at KPMG LLP.

Lingle, whose job includes helping employees balance work and family responsibilities, offers these tips or working parents who must spend time on the road:

• Get your whole family, involved with the planning of the trip. Use the Internet or travel guides to help you pick where to stay, where to eat, etc.
• Get a map of your destination and have your family make a calendar out of it. Make blocks for each day you are away, and let your kids fill in each day as your return approaches. Use special stickers for the day you are to return.
• If your destination is a good place for a short vacation, plan your meeting on a Friday or a Monday and bring the whole family along for the weekend.
• Bring home gifts from the city or country that you visited, and use them as learning tools (e.g., a replica of the Statue of Liberty from New York, a T-shirt from the Alamo in San Antonio, etc.)

Center for Women's History Recommended

The President's Commission on the Celebration of Women in American History recommends a national center for women's history in Washington, D.C. and variety of national and local activities to acknowledge and celebrate the role of women throughout American history.

The recommendations are the result of a yearlong series of nationwidemeetings, during which the commission heard from numerous and diverse women,including well-known leaders in the women's movement, elected officials,academics and members of the public.

The report's national agenda recommendation include:

• Design and Display a Traveling Exhibit -- Two versions of a women's history exhibit are planned. One version will be specifically designed for children with interactive features and exhibited in children's museums across the country.
• Build a National Women's History Umbrella Web site -- Because of the growing importance of Internet technology in disseminating information, a significant aspect of the Commission's report is the development of an interactive Web site that would link to the large number of sites already in existence or that are likely to emerge.

The community agenda includes:

• Create Community Women's History Trails -- Engage school children in researching and developing a map of local women's history sites.
• Create a City Space to Honor Women -- Build a women's history park.

For a complete copy of the Commission's report, contact AprilKaufman at 202-501-1231.

Settling With DowCorning

In a significant milestone to resolve breast implant claims, women with silicone breast implant and other product liability claims can vote on whether to accept or reject a plan to end DowCorning's bankruptcy and resolvetheir claims. Those voting on the Plan must complete and mail their ballotsso that they are received by May 14.

The plan provides for payments of up to $3.17 billion over 16 years toadminister and pay all tort-related claims. Both the Tort Claimants Committeeand DowCorning support the plan and believe it is in the best interests of allclaimants.

In addition to plan documents, people with claims will be receiving anextensive question and answer booklet, and other materials describing theoverall Plan, and will be able to call a newly established "InformationCenter" set up by DowCorning and the Tort Claimants Committee to assist withprocedural questions.

People with claims can call the Information Center toll-free at 888-577-7526 between the hours of 8 a.m. to midnight Eastern time, Monday through Saturday from the U.S. or Canada, or call collect U.S. 718-361-4500 from outside of the U.S. and Canada.

The Tort Claimants Committee will also hold a series of meetings andconference calls for claimants to learn more about the plan directly fromthose who negotiated it on their behalf. Information on those meetings andcalls is included with the plan documents that have been mailed to claimants.Further information on the plan will be available at the Tort ClaimantsCommittee Web site or at DowCorning.

Time, Not Work, Is #1 Stressor

Women worry more about time, control and physical appearance, according to a study from the Lahey Clinic of Burlington, Mass.

The study, conducted by Lahey Clinic's Department of Psychiatry andBehavioral Medicine, looked at 386 patients who participated in StressManagement Programs between 1995 through 1998. The average age was 45.8years; 50 percent were male and 50 percent female; 67 percent were married;and all were employed. The purpose of the study was to determine who wasstressed and by what.

The ten top sources of stress were:

• time
• control
• physical appearance
• work
• physical health
• lack of joy
• family relationships
• friends/social life
• self-esteem
• marriage/primary relationship.

The greatest differences between men and women were found in self-esteem, social life, family relationships, physical appearances, time and depression.

Working women participating in this study, mothers in particular, frequently stated that they felt self and/or societal-placed expectations to be "superwoman." They reported feeling guilty when they didn't measure up andburned out when they did.

Flexing our Internet Muscle

Women now account for at least 39 percent of all Internet traffic, up from four percent a decade ago, according to a compilation of Internet traffic reports.

Because women on the Net are growing at a faster rate than men, just as many women should be using the Internet as men (between the ages of 18 and 64) by 2002.

According to numbers compiled from EMarketer, NetSmart, U.S. governmentand PCNovice Magazine:

• Women Internet users - 44 percent high (low 39 percent)
• Stay at home moms - 36 percent (low 28 percent)
• Work full-time - 64 percent
• Moms on-line - 54 percent
• Women spend between five to 10 hours on-line
• Women's $$ spending is 70 percent of on-line shopping
• Women in educational positions - 12.8 million

In addition, by 2001 there will be 20,966,400 stay at homemoms cruising the Internet and 74,880,000 total women on the Internet, according to a presentation at a recent meeting of the Women In Technology International.

Women's Groups Convene First Women's Equality Summit

More than 600 feminists from 35 states attended the Women's Quality Summit in Washington, D.C., to address key issues ranging from a women's stake in Social Security to supporting fair pay legislation.

The two-day meeting, held March 15 and 16, included in-depthbriefings on these issues:

• Securing affordable, quality child care as a national priority
• Improving access to health care by increasing funding forfamily planning and requiring contraception insurance coverage
• Supporting the ratification of the United Nations Conventionfor the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (Web site) bythe Senate, and measures to oppose gender apartheid in Afghanistan
• Supporting Fair Pay legislation
• Ending hate violence against all individuals and supporting theHate Crimes Prevention Act

Attendees also marched on Capitol Hill to lobby for each of the issues.

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