Young Women

It was a few days after Christmas when 16-year-old Amanda Custer and her mom made a rare stop for a takeout burger. The indulgence ended badly for Amanda. Soon after, she said, "I felt real nauseous. Food was, like, gross. I got really bad cramps, a whole bunch of heartburn and an upset stomach. " And it didn't go away. "I would feel OK and try to eat something, and then I'd regret it," she recalled. "The pain afterwards was horrible. A couple of hours after I ate, I'd be going to the bathroom, feeling nauseous.

Winifred "Wink" Jonas remembered her initial encounter with the world's first computer. She had taken a mathematician job at Aberdeen Proving Ground in 1946 and was soon promoted to programmer for the ENIAC — Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer. The astounding machine had taken eight months to assemble, weighed 30 tons and took up an entire room. "I have never been intimidated in my life by anything or anybody," Jonas said in her Southern drawl. "And I certainly wasn't intimidated by a computer, even though it filled a whole room.

Nearly 35,000 low-income women in the state are now eligible for free pregnancy counseling, contraception and screenings for sexually transmitted diseases and breast cancer under a program that starts at the beginning of the year. Lawmakers and health officials announced Monday that women with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty line — or $22,000 per year for a single woman — can gain access to the free family planning services beginning Jan. 1. The program was made possible by the Family Planning Works Act, legislation enacted during the last General Assembly session.

Democrats must believe they are in the middle of a lovely dream - and they must hope they never wake up. Not even the most conniving strategist in the belly of the White House could have spun this narrative: drop a packet of birth control pills into the middle of the Republican extreme-a-thon primary season and watch as the candidates attempt to alienate half of the voting population. This isn't the "war against women" we expected when Republican state legislatures began to nibble away at reproductive decision-making and then over-reached with "personhood" language and the hideous requirement that women submit to vaginal sonograms before an abortion.

I wrote a column last month, in the wake of the acquittal of Naval Academy Midshipman Lamar Owens on rape charges, saying that any young woman who knowingly drinks herself to the point of blacking out bears some responsibility for what happens next, be it an auto accident or sexual assault. I wrote that the verdict was a warning to all college-aged women that society is unlikely to consider them a victim if they deliberately drank themselves stupid. "It is not that a man is free to have sex with a woman who is too drunk to object.

3/8 TC Howard County police are continuing their four-month investigation of a Columbia man accused of fondling four young women in county parks while posing as a professional photographer, and they are seeking information from other possible victims, they said yesterday.Police said they arrested Richard Charles, 28, of the 8800 block of Flowerstock Row at his home Aug. 12 in connection with the investigation after the four women, between the ages of 15 and 21, said they had been fondled by a man who posed as a photographer.

Tom Peters has asked several colleagues to guest-author his column while he is traveling abroad. This is the third of five guest columns. Mr. Peters will return later this month.Your daughters are at risk. Your sons are, too, though in different ways. But until the American Association of University Women published its report ("How Schools Shortchange Girls") and the Ms. Foundation urged everyone to "take them to work," girls got precious little attention.Consider this: 40 percent of teen-age girls will get pregnant at least once before the age of 20. The school dropout rate for teen-age girls in urban centers is often as high as 60 percent.

MY DAUGHTER WILL enter what I like to call the grown-up workplace this summer. By that, I mean that she is not life-guarding, busing tables or scooping ice cream. She will be reporting for duty in corporate America. And like so many milestones in Jessie's life -- from first Holy Communion to prom -- this one requires shopping for clothes. This time, however, Abercrombie & Fitch and The Gap were not on the travel schedule. Pre-ripped clothing, pre-wrinkled clothing, bare midriffs and shrink-wrapped bosoms are not on the real-world dress code.

Washington -- I didn't see Denise Brown, although I heard about the T-shirt she contributed. I saw Salt of Salt 'N Pepa. And either Cagney or Lacey, whichever one has dark hair.Toad the Wet Sprocket showed up. BETTY and Joan Jett were there.So was Jesse Jackson. And Jesse Jackson's daughter Santita, described as a singer/activist.But I didn't come for the celebrities.I didn't come for the nun carrying the pro-choice sign either, or even this choice sign: "Republicans Don't Need Abortions, They Eat Their Young."

"I am not a feminist," she said. "I don't believe in feminism."She said it as if she didn't need to be a feminist. As if it wasn't relevant anymore. As if she would get by on her own merit. She is a college student, and she said the feminists on her campus offended her. Their ideas offended her. And she said it as if feminism means hating men, forswearing marriage and children, behaving like a battle ax in public.I had heard it before from young women, this notion that you don't have to be a feminist to succeed.

A rundown, vacant rowhouse in Southwest Baltimore will soon offer homeless and drug-addicted women a respite from the streets. The house on Wilkens Avenue is undergoing extensive renovations that will turn it into a day shelter for women that will be known as Brigitte's Place. Pam Moniger, a recovering addict who said she spent 10 years homeless, will help staff the shelter. "When I was out there, this would have meant so much," Moniger said. "Most of these women are just walking the streets and looking for a place to rest.

Nearly 35,000 low-income women in the state are now eligible for free pregnancy counseling, contraception and screenings for sexually transmitted diseases and breast cancer under a program that starts at the beginning of the year. Lawmakers and health officials announced Monday that women with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty line — or $22,000 per year for a single woman — can gain access to the free family planning services beginning Jan. 1. The program was made possible by the Family Planning Works Act, legislation enacted during the last General Assembly session.

Listings are accepted on a space-available basis. Events must be open to the public, and priority will be given to those in Howard County. Items typically appear two weeks prior to the date included in the listing if sent far enough in advance. Deadline is 5 p.m. Thursday prior to date of publication at the latest. To submit calendar items, mail to Up & Coming, Patuxent Publishing Co. Editorial, 501 N. Calvert St., Baltimore, MD 21278; email hccalendar@patuxent.com ; fax 410-332-6336; or call 410-332-6497.

It was a few days after Christmas when 16-year-old Amanda Custer and her mom made a rare stop for a takeout burger. The indulgence ended badly for Amanda. Soon after, she said, "I felt real nauseous. Food was, like, gross. I got really bad cramps, a whole bunch of heartburn and an upset stomach. " And it didn't go away. "I would feel OK and try to eat something, and then I'd regret it," she recalled. "The pain afterwards was horrible. A couple of hours after I ate, I'd be going to the bathroom, feeling nauseous.

April is Financial Literacy Month. Imagine how different the economic meltdown might have been if every school-aged child were taught some basic economic skills, from learning how to earn, save and budget to investing and donating money. Financial literacy is the intellectual raw material for crafting goals and shaping strategies in the new global economy. It's like learning another language, putting a "D" for "dollars" into the ABCs of education. Twenty years ago the term "financial literacy" was barely in the lexicon.

It's still National Financial Literacy Month, and so the Consumer Website of the Week is Learnvest.com . The site offers a budgeting tool to show folks who earn a biweekly paycheck how much you're taking home, how much you're saving and how much discretionary income you have. There's also checklists for many of the life changes that people often experience in the spring: graduation, first job, first independent housing. The site is geared toward young women, though many of the tips could benefit people regardless of their age or gender.

Fourteen young women, elegantly dressed in full-length white gowns, high-heel shoes and long gloves, will walk into Richlin Ballroom tonight on the arms of their tuxedo-clad fathers, grandfathers or family friends. After presenting their mothers with a red rose, they will dance one waltz with their escort and another with a young man of their choosing. After more than six months of workshops on issues that included money management, communication, charm and poise, and many hours of community service projects, these high school students are presenting themselves to society in the 30th annual Debutante Ball, organized by the Black Youth in Action.

NEW YORK -- Young women in New York and several of the nation's other largest cities who work full time have forged ahead of men in wages, according to an analysis of recent census data. The shift has occurred in New York since 2000 and even earlier in Los Angeles, Dallas and a few other cities. Economists consider it striking because the wage gap between men and women nationally has narrowed more slowly and has even widened in recent years among one part of that group: college-educated women in their 20s. But in New York, young college-educated women's wages as a percentage of men's rose slightly between 2000 and 2005.

A new generation of female philanthropists is growing up in Howard County thanks to the Women's Giving Circle and 14 teenagers who feel as passionately about helping others as their mothers and grandmothers. The Young Women's Giving Circle formed last year as a pilot project, with the goal of teaching high school girls how to become an informed and intentional force for good in the county. Led by high school seniors Jackie Dawson, of Mt. Hebron, and Julie Factor, of Glenelg, members of the small circle with big intentions spent the past 10 months attending workshops on grant making and fundraising, interviewing and visiting various nonprofits, all so they could learn how to raise money and then give it away to a cause they care about.