For the first time in its 109-year history, a woman has become part of the Yale Whiffenpoofs, the oldest college a cappella group in the country. The first female Whiffenpoof is Sofia Campoamor. [WP 2/10/19]
Every year, the Space Telescope Science Institute in Maryland fields over 1,000 requests from scientists all over the world to use the Hubble telescope to advance their research, and it’s ultra-competitive: only 200 proposals are accepted. In 2014, the Institute observed that men disproportionately succeeded in getting that time.
Over the course of the four most recent cycles, they found 21.9 percent of proposals from men were accepted while 16.9 percent of proposals from women leads were accepted. After the introduction of a double-blind evaluation method — where the reviewers can’t see the name of the person who proposed the project — the acceptance rate leveled out, and this year the success rate was 8.7 percent for female researchers compared to 8 percent for male researchers. [Marina Koren, The Atlantic]
Sexual assaults at U.S. Military academies continue to rise. There were 117 formal complaints last year at Army, Navy and Air Force Academies, up from 112 the year before. An anonymous Pentagon survey found that 747 students said they received unwanted sexual contact, up from 507 a year earlier. [NPR]
Women now make up 16% of the active-duty military according to the Veterans Administration. In the 1990-91 period, they represented 11% of the active-duty military. [WSJ 3/2-3/19]
The Great Smokey Mountain National Park, the most visited national park in the United States, will be run by a woman for the first time in its 85-year history. Lisa Handy will become the Chief Ranger in April. She is currently the Chief Ranger at Big Bend National Park. Handy is not only a park ranger but a certified paramedic, firefighter, aviation manager and swift water rescuer. [CNBC 3/1/19]
In recent elections, white women have been a mainstay of the Republican party among female voters. In exit polls in the 2010 election Republicans outdrew Democrats by 19 points among white women, 58% to 39%. In 2012, Republicans outdrew Democrats by 12 points, 55% to 43%. In 2014 the Republicans outdrew the Democrats by 14 points 56% to 42%.
In 2016 Republicans outdrew the Democrats among white women by 12 points 55% to 43%. Then in 2018 Republicans and Democrats split the white female vote with 49% to each party. The last election at which that happened was in 2006. [Winston Group 3/1/19]