This is: Equal Pay Day. Equal Pay Day has been sponsored by the National Committee on Pay Equity (NCPE) since 1996 and is intended, in their words, "as a public awareness event to illustrate the gap between men's and women's wages." (Currently, women earn 78 cents for every dollar earned by men.) To commemorate it, the New York City chapter of the National Organization for Women is encouraging women to walk out of their places of employment at 3:15 PM, after having worked 78% of the day.
Spirit food: "They say that time changes things...but you actually have to change them yourself." --- Andy Warhol
Brain food: "Is Marriage Good for Your Health?" (via The New York Times)
Young adults today...: are "deeply conventional and traditional"; "overwhelmingly disapprove of college men who hook up with a lot of partners." (via Slate)
Media-generated controversy of the day -- *NEW!*: Unschooling. This educational philosophy---in which children and youth don't "do school" but instead decide for themselves both what and how they'd like to learn at home---was first advocated by John Holt in the 1970s. Good Morning America just discovered it yesterday and expects you to be outraged. (To read about the UUs who unschool, see this post at Green Betty.)
UU news: The Unitarian Universalist Association reported last week that its membership has decreased this past year by 267 people, or .16 percent. As of February 28th, total membership in the UUA stood at 156,015 adult members. (No young adult-specific membership statistics exist, as far as I can tell.) (via UU World)
UU voices: Andie at Towards a Holy Theatre wonders if it's possible to have a spiritual and vocational calling...and then lose it. I suspect she's not alone. Go check out her post!
A joy: The US indicated yesterday that it will review its opposition to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Declaration was adopted in 2007 and "affirms the equality of indigenous peoples and their right to maintain their own institutions, cultures and spiritual traditions." It also "establishes standards to combat discrimination and marginalization and eliminate human rights violations against them." (via AP)
A concern: According to a new poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, 80% of Americans "say they do not trust the U.S. government to do what is right." (via NPR)
What you can do:
- To learn about organizations working to empower Native American communities: visit "PlanetYouth: The Native American Youth Connection" at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Also see the website of the American Indian College Fund to see how it's helping young adults of Native ancestry further their education. (Bonus: "5 Native Myths You Really Oughta Know About," via Feministing)
Unchurchy things: It's been 169 years since Edgar Allan Poe published "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" and introduced the world to the detective story. (via Wired)
Young adults of note: Fifteen veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan---most of them under age 30, all of them having had their legs amputated---competed in yesterday's Boston Marathon on behalf of the Achilles Freedom Team of Wounded Veterans. (via The Boston Globe)
