International
Britain looks to end sexist dress codes
The British Parliment debated the legality of corporations establishing dress codes that apply to women and not men on Monday, Mar. 6. These dress codes include forcing women to wear high heels, makeup and more.
The debate started when receptionist Nicola Thorp created a petition after she was sent home without pay for wearing flat shoes to a temp job in December 2015. The online petition reached 150,000 signatures, enough for it to be sent to parliament.
“We found attitudes that belonged more – I was going to say in the 1950s, but probably the 1850s would be more accurate, than in the 21st century,” said Labour lawmaker Helen Hones to lawmakers during the parliamentary session, as reported by the Associated Press.
Thorp told AP that dress codes should reflect society.
“Twenty years ago, women weren’t allowed to wear trousers in the same role that I’m doing now,” Thorp said to AP. “And it’s only because some women spoke up about that and said, ‘We feel like we have a right to wear trousers,’ that that’s changed.”
National
Arkansas plans rapid executions.
After 11 years of not putting anyone to death, Arkansas plans to execute eight men over a 10-day span, Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s office told CNN on Monday.
The state plans to execute the inmates two at a time from Apr. 17 to Apr. 27. No state has ever executed that many people in a span of 10 days, and many people are protesting it.
“The Arkansas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (ACADP) is outraged by… plans to carry out eight executions within the span of ten days in April,” the organization said, according to CNN. “This planned mass execution is grotesque and unprecedented.”
Attorneys have begun the process of blocking the executions, mainly because they say lethal injection is inhumane.
“Unless the prisoner is unconscious, then drugs two and three will cause pain— torturous punishment, in violation of the Eighth Amendment and state guarantees against cruel and unusual punishment,” said Jeffrey Rosenzweig, attorney for three of the inmates, as reported by CNN.
Local
WCSD considers class size increase
The Washoe County School District announced Friday, Mar. 3, that it is considering an increase in classroom sizes in order to cover a $30 million budget deficit.
“We are doing this and notifying schools early,” said Deputy Superintendent Kristen McNeill to the Reno Gazette-Journal.
The number of teachers the schools are allotted and their enrollment figures from this year will be the factors of whether or not the school district raises the classroom size. The decision varies per school.
This proposal is an option for the school district in order to balance their $472 million operating budget. The shortfall stems from the recession affecting the size of the budget for education and savings accounts being depleted during those times.
Madeline Purdue can be reached at mpurdue@sagebrush.unr.edu and on Twitter @madelinepurdue.
