Her Daily News

Just a few short months ago, singer and Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson faced what nobody should ever have to - the untimely death of three family members in a brutal triple homicide. However, tomorrow she will be back doing what she does best, and on the national stage, no less - she will perform the national anthem at the Super Bowl. The Dreamgirls star, who most recently appeared in The Secret Life of Bees, sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the Democratic National Convention in August, and a source told E! Online that “she certainly can nail it.” She has shown grace under pressure so far, and many anticipate that she will continue to do so as she returns to the public eye.

Jennifer’s hometown paper, the Chicago Tribune, recently published an article by Mark Caro where he discusses the impact of the tragedy on her career - even though she released an album less than a month prior to the death of her mother, brother, and nephew, any follow-up promotion of it has been derailed for obvious reasons. The star has withdrawn from interviews, as any questions that the media would have for her would be rather difficult. However, Caro writes that the public will embrace Jennifer when she does come back; he quotes Billboard’s Gail Mitchell as saying, “I think she’s going to be able to pick up where she left off and move forward.” She doesn’t just have the Super Bowl coming up either - she is set to perform at the Grammy Awards one week later, and she is up for four awards there. Best of luck to this talented young woman.

In 2005, two female students were expelled from a private Lutheran school in California after engaging in behaviors that were considered to be “characteristic of a lesbian relationship,” according to the Los Angeles Times. A recent court case maintained that the school was within its rights to do so, much to the dismay of those who believe this to be discrimination, not to mention the students themselves. The school’s position is that the disciplinary action was consistent with its religious mission, and that as a private institution, they were within their rights to enforce a code of conduct based upon Christian values. However, what was really protected here - freedom of religion, or the right to discriminate?

It is widely known that anti-discrimination laws protect citizens from discrimination based on sexual orientation, among other criteria. Indeed, the decision in California’s 4th District Court of Appeal hinged upon the court’s decision that the school was not a business, and therefore was not obligated to abide by these laws. However, despite the exemption that the law allowed, the question remains: Were the school’s actions moral?

As a Christian institution, the school has a conduct code that is likely to include rules in keeping with Christian teachings, and this includes the belief that homosexuality is a sin. The code forbids students from deviating from those rules whether they are on or off campus, and it is stated in the conduct code that to do so is grounds for expulsion. However, it seems to me that such a policy is overly restrictive for high school students. The teaching of religious principles is one thing - however, for a student’s academic career to be derailed by way of expulsion for anything less than strict adherence does more harm than good. While individual institutions may have their own agendas, religious or otherwise, they are primarily educational institutions. Discipline should not come at a disproportionate cost to the student’s academic development, nor should it stifle self-discovery.

This morning brings tragic news: Mariana Bridi da Costa, a Brazilian model who had been fighting a severe infection, has died at the tender age of 20, according to CNN.

Ms. Da Costa, who had been a finalist on the Miss World pageant circuit, was a healthy, active young woman just one month ago - she showed no sign of illness until December 30, when upon her arrival at the hospital, she was diagnosed with a kidney stone and sent home.

Her boyfriend Thiago Simoes tells Britain’s Daily Mail that her condition worsened two days later - she returned to the hospital, where it was determined that she had a severe infection. As the antibiotic-resistant bacterial strain Pseudomonas aeruginosa spread through her system, her blood flow was severely compromised, and doctors eventually amputated her hands and feet in an effort to stop the infection’s spread. She also underwent surgery to remove her kidneys and part of her stomach, and eventually went into organ failure as a result of her illness. She passed away at 3 a.m. today.

Da Costa’s loved ones have told the media that she was a rising star with a warm heart. Simoes told CNN that she expressed hope, even in the throes of her illness: “She told me she was praying to stay alive, that she still had a lot to do on this earth, that she wanted to go on with her plans.” He says that she had been well on her way to becoming a star, having signed with renowned modeling agent Dilson Stein. On his blog, da Costa’s friend Renato Lindgren expressed gratitude for the solidarity shown by supporters all over the world: “On behalf of all the family, we are grateful for the support and the affection that the entire world has sent to us.”

Yesterday afternoon, Hillary Rodham Clinton was sworn in as Secretary of State, joining President Obama’s foreign policy and national security team and resigning her post as a New York Senator. The official start of her duties began after the Senate confirmed her in a 94-2 vote, along with a day-long debate on the potential consequences of her husband’s overseas fundraising.

Prior to the vote to confirm Clinton as Secretary of State, Senator Jim Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, expressed concern over foreign donations to the Clinton foundation, and urged the Clintons to fully disclose all foreign donations, including those from individuals. Ultimately, though, Clinton was confirmed by a 94-2 margin, with Cornyn among the votes for her confirmation. Only Jim DeMint and David Vitter voted against her.

According to New York Newsday, Clinton resigned her Senate post immediately after she was sworn in - it is now up to New York Governor David Patterson to appoint her successor. While Caroline Kennedy was previously a contender to fill the vacancy, she recently withdrew her name from consideration; according to Newsday, Patterson has not made his selection yet, but hopes to make an announcement by Friday or Saturday. Ms. Kennedy has cited personal reasons for her decision to withdraw - as many of us already know, her uncle, Senator Edward Kennedy, has been diagnosed with brain cancer and suffered a seizure on Tuesday during an inaugural luncheon. Newsday’s Dan Janison reports on the consequences of Kennedy’s withdrawal. He reports that Andrew Cuomo, Thomas Suozzi, and Steve Israel are among the remaining contenders.

By now, we have watched President Obama take the Oath of Office, and with that, he has taken on the tremendous responsibility of seeing this country through today’s trying times. According to Hyde Park resident Byron Houzz, however, the new Chief Executive has had plenty of practice.

“He was president of Hyde Park before he was President of the United States,” said Mr. Houzz this morning, as he enjoyed his morning coffee at Third World Cafe, a coffee shop a mere five blocks from Obama’s Chicago residence. In fact, he enjoyed his coffee so much, he declared that it was “presidential coffee” and that shop owner Robert Raymondo would do well to sell it as such.

Mr. Houzz, who works for Chicago Public Schools, said that he had set up his recording device at home to record today’s historic event: “This is something you play back. These are memories.” Those memories-to-be were on everybody’s lips this morning. Another patron wished Mr. Raymondo a “happy blue year.” Newspapers at the nearby CVS Pharmacy sold like hotcakes, while Obama’s campaign mantra of “hope” echoed in the sentiments of many Hyde Park residents.

“I don’t have any illusions, but if anything, we’re moving in a good direction,” said Kimberly, a University of Chicago graduate student. She said that her first thought when she woke up on this snowy January day was that today is Inauguration Day, and that she hasn’t been this excited about a presidential inauguration since Jimmy Carter’s inauguration when she was a small child.

Third World Cafe employee Diana Sturdivant-England shared some memories of her own. A 1970 graduate of nearby Kenwood Academy, she has lived in Hyde Park for decades, and she was in Grant Park for Obama’s victory speech in November. She remembers a Hyde Park of earlier days - a place of mom-and-pop businesses and neighborhood camaraderie.

She says, “I’ve seen a lot of changes, not always good but you’ve got to change with the times.” Where chain restaurants now stand, neighborhood institutions used to cater to locals. Chess players used to flock to Harper Court to play, but that practice has since stopped. However, Ms. Sturdivant-England is still proud to be a Hyde Park resident - she cites the neighborhood’s diversity as a major asset.

The Third World Cafe is a community-oriented independent business where many University of Chicago students are employed, and all of its coffee is free-trade and organic. According to Mr. Raymondo, President Obama has never stopped by, although the Secret Service has, along with members of the international press. He did mention that another notable local resident has come by more than once - Mr. Raymondo said, “You know who did a couple of interviews here? Bill Ayers.”

The spotlight has been on this South Side neighborhood for many months, and while today is an important day for the country and the world, Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood is standing just a little bit taller today. The road ahead for President Obama and the nation is a long one, but the consensus here seems to be that if anyone is up to the challenge, our newly inaugurated Commander-in-Chief is.

Tomorrow marks a big day in American history, as Chicago’s own Barack Obama is inaugurated as the nation’s 44th President and the very first African-American Commander-In-Chief. Everyone wants to watch history unfold as it happens - but where and how will you do it?

Some lucky souls will have the opportunity to witness the occasion in person - in fact, nearly two million people are anticipated in the nation’s capital tomorrow. However, if you are unable to make the trip, television is an obvious second choice. However, this time around, it’s not so simple - Yahoo! News lists the other ways to view the inauguration.

Can’t stay away from your caffeine fix? You’re in luck - select Starbucks locations in New York, Seattle, and San Francisco will host viewings of the inaugural ceremony. If you think our President-elect is larger than life, there’s a viewing for you as well - select cinemas will show MSNBC’s coverage of the ceremony on the big screen. PIC2009.org provides information on viewing parties near you. Webcasts of the day’s festivities will also be widely available.

So we all know how our President-elect will spend his day tomorrow - but what did he do in his last day before taking the Oath of Office? He volunteered! Today, in the spirit of public service, he spent time helping out at D.C. homeless shelter Sasha Bruce House, according to Yahoo! News. It is reported that he impressed his fellow volunteers and the press with his good humor - at one point, while painting a wall, he said, “This is good practice because I’m moving to a new house tomorrow.” He may be on the verge of taking on a daunting responsibility, but as he was throughout his campaign, he is still as cool as a cucumber.

Considered to be a silent killer among cancers, ovarian cancer is one of the hardest cancers to diagnose. The symptoms are vague - things like abdominal pain and fatigue can be attributed to any number of less severe conditions, so ovarian cancer is often not caught until it is very advanced. With knowledge of risk factors, however, women and their doctors can be more vigilant in early detection, and with that, new findings have brought to light one risk factor in particular.

A new study at the U.S. National Cancer Institute has found that there is a relationship between obesity and ovarian cancer risk, according to a story on Yahoo! News. While obesity was previously thought to be an insignificant risk factor, new findings do find a correlation between weight and ovarian cancer occurrence. Researchers followed women between the ages of 50 and 71 over a period of 7 years and found that those who were obese were more likely to develop ovarian cancer. These results, however, were mitigated by the presence of another risk factor - hormone replacement therapy. Those who took hormone replacement therapy for menopause were not found to have a significant difference in occurrence based on weight. However, it was not just weight at the time of occurrence that was shown to have an effect - women who had been obese at the age of 18 were also shown to have an elevated risk, regardless of any changes in weight later in life.

While the reasons for this finding were not determined, it is speculated that the effects of weight on a woman’s estrogen levels play a part, although further research would be necessary to determine whether this is, in fact, the case.

On my summer vacation, I . . . went under the knife? Believe it or not, it’s happening. Elective plastic surgery has long been considered the domain of adults with considerable discretionary income, but today, the New York Times reports that an increasing number of teens have opted for cosmetic procedures, often with financial support from their parents. Despite the recent economic downturn, adolescents are going under the knife at a record rate, citing self-esteem and “fitting in” as factors. However, are these young patients getting the desired result - and is it healthy?

Traditionally, the youngest plastic surgery patients tended to be those undergoing reconstructive procedures - for a long time, plastic surgery in children and adolescents was a corrective measure for those suffering from trauma or congenital deformity. However, the recent trend indicates an ever-escalating pursuit of perfection, as teens undergo procedures such as rhinoplasty and liposuction with the intention of looking “normal” - or rather, a heightened version of normal.

The very idea that fitting in as a teen includes the pursuit of a specific physical ideal doesn’t sit well with me. Teenagers are still growing and changing, and while most surgeons take this into account when evaluating a prospective patient, many of these teens seek instant gratification when often, all they need to do is wait for that bigger bustline to develop. Above all, though, I do wonder about the actual social aftereffects of the procedures that the patients have undergone simply to fit in. Is it the perceived flaw that gets the child teased, or is it teen social structure at work? Will conforming to the perceived expectation actually change the patient’s social reality?

My own experience inclines me to believe that simply changing the feature in question is not enough to create instant social acceptance - and if it was, I would question the quality of the social connections forged based on that. However, with proper support and follow-up, a long-term effect of surgery may be an increase in self-esteem. It is important for us to realize that the scalpel is not a magic wand - while plastic surgery can be a catalyst for increased confidence, the most important work takes place within.

As consumers of popular media, we often find favorite personalities to identify with. We might imitate their clothing choices and hairstyles, but do we imitate their lifestyles as well? Recently, I came across a list by Soraya Roberts of AOL of the Worst Female Role Models on TV. Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) of Sex and the City is on the list, for her tendency to drop everything for Mr. Big, along with Felicity’s Felicity Porter (Keri Russell), who changed her college plans to follow a crush cross-country. These fictional femmes, along with the 8 other characters on the list, have the utter nerve to make mistakes, fall too hard, and do the things that no self-respecting “role model” would ever dare to do.

My first reaction was that these women are not necessarily role models in the sense that Ms. Roberts seems to imply - as a single gal in the city, I might envy Carrie’s wardrobe, but I draw the line at her love life! I watched Friends for the witty one-liners rather than a realistic portrait of twenty-something living, and while as a college-bound teen I was an avid Felicity fan, never once did I watch her Ben-Noel melodrama and actually think that this was something to aspire to! My knee-jerk reaction is to view television as pure escapism, and I was at first taken aback by the idea that anyone should expect a television character to serve as a moral compass - don’t we have our own principles and real-life role models to guide us? However, a recent study at Herriot Watt University in Edinburgh (source: BBC) showed that people who watch romantic comedies often have expectations in their own love lives shaped by the happy endings in the movies - needless to say, those expectations are often unrealistic.

It seems to me that popular culture does have the potential to shape our behavior - but only if we let it. The characters in our favorite TV shows and movies make very real mistakes, but in a fictional world, where the consequences are often done away with in a plot twist or simply nonexistent. In fact, some of the most entertaining characters are often the most flawed - it is up to us to separate fact from fiction and to make the right decisions for ourselves.

Hi! My name is Erin, and I am the new blogger for Her Daily News. Here, I will bring you a woman’s take on the stories that shape our lives. They may be fun and fanciful, or completely serious, but they’re all a part of a woman’s experience.

A bit about me: I am a 25-year-old woman who lives and works in Chicago. I first became a part of the 451 Press family nearly two years ago, as a writer for Jennifer Aniston Watch on the Celebrities channel. The blogging experience has been a fulfilling one for me, and I look forward to taking on the additional challenge of this blog, along with Hot or Not Beauty, another 451 Press blog. As I write, I look forward to your comments and feedback - after all, we, as women, are an opinionated bunch!